This is a fine example of a pre-Civil War U.S. Model 1832 artillery accouterment set, consisting of a white buff leather waist belt fitted with a two-piece brass "US” oval buckle and an integrated sword frog designed to carry the Model 1832 artillery short sword. The belt is maker-marked "R & H.A. Dingee, New York” on the reverse, indicating production by one of the principal New York contractors supplying the U.S. Army and state militias in the 1840s and 1850s.

The Model 1832 belt and artillery short sword were adopted in the early 1830s as part of the uniform and equipment for U.S. foot artillery. The short, heavy-bladed sword (often called the "foot artillery sword”) was intended primarily as a sidearm for close-quarters defense of gun positions and for general utility duties around the battery. The white buff belt, secured by the distinctive two-piece "US” oval buckle, was the regulation pattern for artillery enlisted men through the Mexican-American War and into the 1850s. Although largely superseded by the Model 1857 sword belt for active field service by the Civil War, many of these earlier sets remained in use with state militia units and for garrison or ceremonial purposes well into the 1860s.

R. & H.A. Dingee was a New York City firm active from the mid-1840s through the 1850s that specialized in the manufacture of military leather accouterments, belts, cartridge boxes, and related equipment. Brothers Richard and Henry A. Dingee supplied both the regular U.S. Army and numerous state militias under contract; their products are frequently encountered on surviving pre-Civil War artillery and infantry equipment. The firm’s output reflects the transitional period between the older "white buff” era and the later black-leather patterns that became standard during the Civil War.