In a lonely corner of the Marblehead Civil War Museum, a dirty metal flask announces that soldiers once “drank from the same canteen.” Members of the John Goodwin Post 82, our local veteran organization, obtained the canteen in Boston during the 25th anniversary celebration of the war’s end in 1890.
The motto owes its origin to a poem by Union soldier Miles O’Reilly, who wrote of the camaraderie forged by battle: “We have shared our blankets and tents together / We have marched and fought in all kinds of weather / and hungry and full we have been / but this memory I cling to, and love the best / we drank from the same canteen.”
While canteens played the crucial role of carrying water, soldiers drinking from a common canteen went beyond mere survival; it represented the trust that fellow soldiers relied on and highlighted the shared dangers they faced each time they shouldered a rifle.
This camaraderie continued well after the Confederate surrender in 1865. At soldier reunions, Union and Confederate veterans who once fought each other on smoky battlefields drank from the same canteen. Some canteens had two spouts so soldiers could literally drink together, a powerful symbol of reconciliation. As veterans aged and faced the prospect of life in a new American century, they found common ground in the shared trauma of war and its lasting injuries, both physical and mental.
The Civil War Museum and G.A.R. Meeting Room is located on the second floor of the Old Town House and is open by appointment. To make an appointment, contact the museum at 781-631-1768 or email info@marbleheadmuseum.org. Advance notice of seven days is appreciated.
Jarrett Zeman is the assistant director of the Marblehead Museum. From the Vault is a regular segment highlighting an item from Marblehead Museum’s collection of more than 60,000 artifacts. Learn more and explore at marbleheadmuseum.org.
