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A finance guy from the Cheese Belt read our bit about coffee coolers.  He was inspired to conduct a few hours of followup research -- on the clock, I presume, since finance guys have time to burn these days.  This thoughtful reader then submitted intriguing images from an 1896 regimental history.

Here's how the story goes.  The soldier pictured above, Charles Holt, "received a musket ball to the face" and (sparing you the gruesome details) ultimately recovered, living to a ripe old age as proprietor of an inn.  His tin coffee mug didn't exactly survive the ordeal.  Perhaps it found second life as a pencil holder, but almost certainly never got filled with java again.

The musty old book also contains a reference to the "skulkers and skedaddlers" -- also known as coffee coolers -- who snuck away from combat zones while their fellow soldiers fought.   There is no claim that Holt himself was shirking his duty.  Seems that he and his "mug" were shot on the battlefield.

Anyway, thanks for writing in.  We're just getting this blog party started.