Of the thousands of these dovetailed crates that were made for transporting artillery shells few have survived. They were so handy for shipping crates, strong boxes, tool boxes, kindling boxes and the like that most simply got used up after the war. Even the Richmond Arsenal re-used this one. (An earlier stencil is visible beneath the final one.) Eric Kane wrote an article about this exceptional box for North South Trader's Civil War magazine after the relic surfaced some years ago. It was in the family descendents of a West Virginia Confederate veteran of the 2nd Virginia infantry. The box measures 10" x 12" x 20". After the war the veteran put hinges and a lock on the lid and must have used it as a household strongbox since its condition is so good. This may be the best surviving Confederate artillery box to have survived the war. The box was also owned at one time by Shannon Pritchard who can attest to its remarkable condition.