Every Confederate soldier that carried a gun had to have a waterproof cap box to store and protect a supply of percussion caps. A firearm without a cap was useless. All over the South, contractors sought to fill the need. Unlike their Union counterparts, which were virtually identical, Confederate cap boxes came in assorted sizes and materials. To the modern collector, the most desirable of all Confederate percussion cap boxes is the box with CS impressed into the face.

Confederate accoutrements having the CS impressment are exceedingly rare and are eagerly sought after by collectors for their visual appearance, but Confederate manufacturers were more concerned with functionality than appearance and very, very few have the CS impressment. So few, that I am sure that I have seen no more than ten of these rare boxes in my life.

This particular example has had the belt loop restored by the soldier during the War. The body, the flap, ears, the CS impressment and the lead finial are original.

The CS is very hard to see because the box’s front was painted with either gold or white (gold if GAR and white if Virginia) and has covered the CS. I don’t know if the paint can be safely removed or not.

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