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A Small Barrel From Another Time In History 

By Dan Harshman

While going through some older items I came across a small but very well made barrel; it measures around 12 inches long and 8 inches in diameter. The thing that caught my attention was that it had a metal and wood bale type handle in the middle running along its length with a single 3/4 inch hole directly under the handle. Like the barrel itself, the bale handle is well made and secured to the 2 center straps of 1 inch metal holding the wood staves together along with another 1 inch metal strap encircling the staves at each end. The barrel obviously has some age on it and must been made for some specific use. It turns out that a small wooden barrel, sometimes called a keg or rundit, with a carrying handle primarily dates from 1750 to the late 1800s.

This style of water canteen was heavily used by soldiers and civilians for camp use, rations and the transport of water throughout the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War.

Simple in design, the canteen is critical to the hydration of a soldier on the move. Canteens have been a vital part of military operations for centuries. Our keg is larger than what a Revolutionary or Civil War soldier might have carried for his personal use. However, smaller wooden canteens, often called “wooden bottles” and wood drum canteens served as rugged portable hydration vessels since the 18th century. America’s Continental Forces would have preferred the lightweight tin canteens like those carried by the British soldier.

But stocks of metal were depleted within the first year of the Revolution with the British tightening their blockade of the American seaports.

By the spring of 1775, with the summer campaign ahead, the availability of canteens of any kind was essentially gone. The Congress authorized the production of wooden canteens to be issued to its troops. Wood was readily available and the only metal the Colonies could produce was iron, which was far too heavy for a canteen.

Two main wooden styles were produced, the “drum” and “cheese box”. Even with a push for speedy production, the Continental Army continued to have a shortage of canteens throughout that summer. It was not until well into 1777 that canteen production had finally reached a point where the Army had enough for each soldier and actually were able to build a surplus. However, even with an improving supply system the availability of canteens varied throughout the war.

The “Drum” canteen was the more popular of the two produced. It was constructed like a barrel by experienced craftsman with the distinctive rim of staves bound together by wooden hoops. Later examples used thin iron bands to bind the staves. These were rugged and serviceable canteens that held about a quart of liquid. The “Cheesebox” canteens were also constructed by skilled craftsman called “cedar coopers” or “white coopers”, who were experienced in making compact articles for domestic uses. The “cheesebox” canteen was simply a strip of cedar formed around circular sides of the same type of wood. Small iron rivets were used to secure the overlapping rim and small nails or wooden pegs fastened the rim to the round sides of the canteen. Many of the “cheesebox” style canteens were produced in the area of New York and New England.

During the American Revolution, some canteens were also hand crafted by the person carrying them. However, for the most part canteens were supplied by the governments of both sides. Parliament included canteens as part of a British or German regular’s gear. This included the loyalist partisan troops that were trained and equipped as regulars. Some of this equipment might have found its way into stockpiles of arms, ammunition, and other critical supplies to help equip the Colonial army. Hingham, Massachusetts’s was an area well known for its woodworking skills. By April 14, 1775, just five days before the Battle of Lexington and Concord officially started the war, 15,000 wooden canteens were shipped from Hingham to be stored in the Town of Concord. During the Siege of Boston, the wooden canteens stored in Concord were sent out to supply depots and to the troops surrounding Boston. These same troops would become our newly formed Continental Army.

Throughout the siege, Hingham continued producing canteens. Shortly after assuming command of the Continental Army on July 4, 1775, General George Washington asked for an inventory of stored munitions and supplies. The list included 13,000 wooden canteens.

Like Hingham in the north, Peytonsburg, Halifax County, Virginia manufactured wooden canteens for the Continental Army in the south. Coopers throughout the colonies were also contracted to supply canteens. By the time the War officially ended in 1783, documents listed an ample supply of wooden canteens remaining in the storage depots. Many of these canteens went into service nearly 30 years later in the War of 1812.

While we don’t know the exact date of our small barrel keg, it’s interesting to think that it might have seen the beginning of our country.

Happy 250th, America.