During the course of the War millions of canteens were manufactured in the South. Every man in the Southern Army carried a canteen and most would go through several by War’s end. To supply this need, canteens were manufactured at Confederate government facilities, but the government facilities could supply only a small fraction of the canteens required to equip the army. In order to meet the pressing need for canteens the Confederate government purchased the vast majority of canteens from private manufacturing concerns, though they had to meet the specifications set by their respective Depots.

This, the most widely used Confederate canteen was made of wood because any cooperage could easily convert to the manufacture of wooden canteens as they required exactly the same skills as barrel making. Revolutionary War canteens were also made of wood and are often confused with Confederate era canteens. The Confederate canteen can be differentiated from its Revolutionary War counterpart by the lathe turned front and back faces. The front and back faces of the Revolutionary War canteens were cut and shaped by hand, consequently they lack lathe turning marks. The lathe marks are readily apparent on faces of Confederate manufactured canteens like that shown here. The lathe turned wood faces were joined by horizontal slats and banded with iron. The bands were held together with strips of copper or tin that not only formed strap loops, but pulled the outer bands towards the center, tightening them.

This particular canteen is the standardized 7 by 2 ¼ inches, held by two iron bands. Two of the tin cross straps are missing. The large carving on the face originally read "A Rebel Canteen” but during its period of use the humor took its owner to carve out the "teen” leaving only "A Rebel Can” The patina on the entire canteen is original and even, leaving no doubt that it was all done at nearly the same period. The is an X in a circle below the text, which could have been merely a decoration or possibly a good luck or Christian symbol. A large "P” and a small "v” are deeply carved into the opposite face. There are also two period cut nails driven into the bottom. The were driven at opposite angles so they would cross each other to make a loop that was suitable to tie to.

The canteen remains perfectly tight, (though the outer loops can be pulled off) and totally original to the period.

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