Is this Something to do with Artillery or Photography

[callicles]

Can't sleep, so I'll throw this picture up. 

It is a picture of captured artillery.  If you look at the foreground, though, you'll see a strange wagon which does not fit with the other rolling stock in the picture.  Is this a wagon related to the photographer, or is it related to artillery? 

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

my best guess would be the photography people because 1) the doors are open on the back of the wagon as it would be when they took their equipment out of it and 2) it is not in the style of an artillery travling forge.

[6lbgun]

Callicles,
     Not sure what it is either.  I don't think it is the photographer's.  It looks like it is stored with the rest of the equipment (no horse equipments being present).  It may just be a civilian wagon stolen from some poor southern farmer by  the pillaging Yankees.  There is writing on the side of the box and possibly on the back above the door.  If you can enlarge it without blowing out the pixels the mystery should be solved.
Dan

[uscs digger]

Whats odd about the wagon is there is no place to sit on it. Almost looks like it was ment to be pilled behind another wagon.

[Selma Brooke Gunner]

i have done some research and it is possible that it could be an artillery battle wagon where they would carry spare parts for the cannons, carriages, and caisons. I havent found anything saying that it is one but knowing the Confederacy they would use what they could find or make. They were crafty people you know.

[callicles]

Just a mystery. 

6lbgun, I wish I were smart enough to enhance the photo, but I'm not.  You're right, read the letters and the puzzle is solved.

One person told me that because the wording was "curved" it was probably civilian. He said military wording was straight. I don't know if that is true or not.

Another person stated that it looked like a "battery wagon box." This theory is pretty much the same as Selma Brooke Gunner. This guy said it would be used to carry spare parts, just as Selma said.  Selma calls it a "battle wagon," the other guy called it "battery wagon box."  But look how small it is.  What parts would you carry in it?

Its wheels are thinner than the other rolling stock pictured, so it was not, apparently, designed to carry as heavy a load.

It has a "roof." I can't tell what the roof is made of, but it might be made of some sort of "tin."

No person, evidently, rode on it, so it must have been hauled behind another wagon.

The whole contraption seems to be designed to keep out moisture -- which leads me back to a photographer's wagon, or some sort of artillery wagon used for items which were in need of escaping moisture.

Thanks for the thoughts.  Surely, there are other pictures out there of the same type "wagon."

[Jine]

 "Control" & "=" ("+" w/o requiring the "Shift" key? ) will pull the image in to where you can make out some lettering; to me it appears the top lettering is actually horizontal but the top is missing in an arc pattern:



 My aging eyes fail me fairly regularly, but it almost looks like the first letter is a cut-off  K or R, followed by an E, then maybe...

 Maybe it's just the roach-coach/snack wagon!

 Incidentally, it was not a cardinal rule that all martial lettering had to be formally horizontal:
 

[dlw1610]

Kristy Kreme, jsut betcha

[Jine]

 I consulted with Creskol on this, and he theorized it might be an acquisitioned/liberated civilian farrier's equivalent of a battery wagon, described at Wiki as follows:

 "A battery wagon accompanied each traveling forge carrying additional blacksmith, wheelwright, and carriage repair supplies."

 I have to agree with his assessment, unless someone identifies this as otherwise with certainty.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

My eyes have low vision also  but the top word on the center wagon has enough letters and i think reads "Ammunition"
John

[CarlS]

It does appear to be an arched word over a flat horizontal word.  I think you would need a higher resolution scan to be able to read it since the lettering is so light.  Is there another place this image can be found on the web?

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Carl,
  I uploaded it into my drawing program and it is NOT Ammunition, however the the first letter is "A" and the lasnt two are "on".
John

[callicles]

Someone from another site claims to have enhanced the image.  Don't know what to think about his observance of the item behind what we are all looking at.  Anyway, this is what he said:


The stencil on the wagon reads "ARTILLERY AMMUNITION DEPARTMENT", in 2 lines, with department on the lower line. It is probably from the ammunition manufacturing facility in Richmond. Did anyone notice the item behind the wagon? It is one of those multi-barreled contraptions that fired 20 or so musket barrels at the same time. That makes me think that some of these items were from and ordnance depot and accumulated here.

[callicles]

Here are pictures from the other site.  The first is the enhanced picture of the "wagon." The second is a picture of what the guy is calling the multiple-barelled contraption which is located behind (to the other side) of the wagon under discussion.  Anyway, does anyone here know about such a weapon?  I think he's right about what is stenciled on the wagon (see my above post).

[emike123]

Looks like a Billinghurst-Requa volley gun.  Wonder how the rebs got their mitts on one of those

http://www.virginialighthorse.freeservers.com/catalog.html