Custom Leatherwork by Mike McCubbins

Mike McCubbins works on a leather wallet at the Fredericktown event in 2013.

Company M member Mike McCubbins has been making leather accoutrements for Company M for over 10 years. He makes artillery, infantry, and uniform accoutrements, including hard-to-find items like Walker Colt and Colt Dragoon holsters and mountain howitzer gunner’s knee guards and bricoles. Also available are dispatch and document cases and wood-frame knapsacks. Some of his items are available at Adler’s Dry Goods. Contact Mike for pricing and availability at (636)232-3521 or cubby1865@hotmail.com.

One of Mike’s artillery gunner’s haversacks that has been in service several years.

The 1863 Manual for Light Artillery, which uses the pack mountain howitzer for its instruction, states in the section on “Service of the Piece”, states:

13. At the command TAKE EQUIPMENTS, the gunner distributes the equipments. No. 1, with the assistance of No. 3, takes out the sponge. The gunner equips himself with the belt containing the hausse and priming wire, and with the knee-guard and the finger-stall, wearing the last on the second finger of the left hand. No. 3 wears the tube pouch containing the friction tubes and the lanyard. Nos. 1 and 2 wear bricoles hung from the left shoulder to the right side. Nos. 2 and 5 wear haversacks hung from the right shoulder to the left side.

One of Mike’s mountain howitzer gunner’s knee guards that has been in service several years.

One of Mike’s mountain howitzer bricoles. Company M uses them in sets of four attached to the traces of its prairie limbers. They can also be used on standard limbers in that manner.