Civil War Knapsack

This Civil War knapsack belonged to Augustus Holway of Sandwich, who served as a private in Company D of the 45th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. His name—painted in white across the flap—helped identify the pack among the thousands of similar items carried by Union soldiers during the war.

The 45th Massachusetts was organized in 1862 as a nine-month regiment and served in North Carolina during the Civil War. Like many men from Sandwich, Holway joined a volunteer regiment raised from communities across Massachusetts.

Knapsacks carried the necessities of daily military life: clothing, personal belongings, tools, and keepsakes from home. Worn on long marches and exposed to weather, they became deeply personal objects shaped by experience and survival.

Donated to the Sandwich Historical Society in 1915 by Mrs. A. R. Holway, this knapsack reflects not only military service, but also the ways families and communities preserved the memory of the Civil War long after it ended.