THE COMPLETE
STORY OF THE LOOPED MILITARY CARTRIDGE BELT AND GEN. ANSON MILLS
The
development of the looped cartridge belts used by Frontiersmen, Buffalo Hunters,
the US Army and Navy, from the Civil War until World War I, has never been told
until now.
Senior
collector, historian and writer, R. Stephen Dorsey, in his definitive book,
AMERICAN MILITARY AND NAVAL BELTS 1812-1902, has devoted over 160 pages of
detailed history, color photographs and patent drawings and commentary to the
development of the looped military cartridge belt and the role played by General
Anson Mills; his successor, T.C. Orndorff and the world famous Mills Woven
Cartridge Belt Company.
The story of
the American looped cartridge belt, though, apparently started during the Civil
War with the issuance of metallic cartridges for some weapons (e.g. Maynard,
Henry). The idea moved into the Frontier West and may have been been the genesis
for Anson Mills' first trial cartridge belts (in leather!) and, later, the 1874
Army issuance of the Hazen Loops. In1876, the Army adopted the first of the
famous 1876 Prairie Belts which were supplanted by the first of the superior
Mills Cartridge Belts in 1880. From that time on, the Mills Belt, in one
variation or another, was the preferred way to carry metallic cartridges.
From the
first Anson Mills trial cartridge belts, through the army cartridge belts of the
Old West, to the Spanish American War and, finally, the patent drawings and
markings of the pouches, belts and fittings of the World War I Army – all of
these are shown in photos and drawings from major collections and the US Patent
Office. It's all there.
If you want
the full, illustrated story of the Looped Cartridge Belt, Anson Mills and his
company and much, much more, this is the one book for you. It is the last
word. 11.2" x 8.5" x 1.2" 468 pages hard bound.
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