American Military Insignia 1800-1851 Part 19

CAP PLATE, WASHINGTON GRAYS, C. 1835

_USNM 60251-M (S-K 9). Figure 139._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 139]

This bra.s.s, diamond-shaped plate was worn by the Washington Grays, a light artillery outfit of Philadelphia. Within a raised oval are a profile of Washington--with his shoulders draped in a toga, a typically neocla.s.sic touch--and, below, the unit designation "GRAYS"

in raised letters. A matching oval shoulder-belt plate struck from the same die is known.[113]

[Footnote 113: See _U.S. Military Magazine_ (April 1839), pl. 5.]

Many Militia units named themselves after prominent military personalities. There were Washington Guards, Washington Rifles, Jackson Artillerists, and so forth.

CAP PLATE, NATIONAL GREYS, C. 1835

_USNM 60291-M (S-K 49). Figure 140._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 140]

An ill.u.s.tration in _U.S. Military Magazine_[114] shows this plate being worn by the National Greys; however, with such a nondistinctive center ornament as the rosette of six petals, it must surely have been a stock pattern sold to many different organizations. The sunburst proper is struck in bra.s.s, as is the rosette, and each of the rays is pierced at the end for attachment. The rosette is affixed with a bra.s.s bolt, also for attachment, which must have extended through the front of the cap.

[Footnote 114: May 1839, pl. 7.]

CAP PLATE, ARTILLERY, C. 1840-1850

_USNM 60333-M (S-K 89). Figure 141._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 141]

This plate is struck in very thin bra.s.s. The combination of devices in the design, especially of the cannon and cannon b.a.l.l.s, indicates that it was probably made for Militia artillery. Its shape suggests that it may have been worn high on the cap front, with the sunburst serving an added function as a c.o.c.kade of sorts. It was very probably a stock pattern.

CAP PLATE, MOUNTED TROOPS, C. 1836

_USNM 60319-M (S-K 75). Figure 142._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 142]

From the size of this bra.s.s plate it can be a.s.sumed that it was worn without other ornament on the front of the round leather cap a.s.sociated with mounted troops. The upper portion of the shield bears 8-pointed stars, an unusual feature. The arrows in the eagle's left talon point inward, a characteristic of eagle representation between 1832 and 1836. The plate is known both in bra.s.s and with silver finish. It was probably a stock pattern issued to both cavalry and mounted artillery.

CAP EAGLE, C. 1836

_USNM 60391-M (S-K 147). Figure 143._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 143]

This bra.s.s eagle was worn in combination with backgrounds of full-, half-, and three-quarter sunbursts and as a single ornament on the cap front. The inward-pointed arrows in the left talon place it in the 1832-1836 period. Known in both bra.s.s and silver-on-copper, it was a popular stock pattern sold to many units.

CAP PLATE, C. 1836

_USNM 60381-M (S-K 137). Figure 144._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 144]

Struck in copper, and silvered, this eagle, which is very similar in design to that prescribed for the Regular Establishment in both 1821 and 1832, was made for Militia infantry from about 1836 to perhaps as late as 1851. Specimens struck in bra.s.s are also known, and the same eagle is found on half-sunburst backgrounds. It is quite possible that this is the eagle ill.u.s.trated in the Huddy and Duval prints as being worn by both the Washington Blues of Philadelphia and the U.S. Marine Corps.[115]

[Footnote 115: _U.S. Military Magazine_ (February 1840), pl. 28; (November 1840), unnumbered plate.]

CHAPEAU ORNAMENT, C. 1836

_USNM 60287-M (S-K 45). Figure 145._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 145]

This bra.s.s ornament is a die sample or unfinished badge. After the circular device was trimmed from the bra.s.s square, it would have been worn as an officer's chapeau ornament or as a side ornament on the round leather dragoon cap of the period. The four arrows in the eagle's left talon are unusual.

CHAPEAU c.o.c.kADE, GENERAL OFFICER, C. 1840

_USNM 604962-M (S-K 1156). Figure 146._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 146]

This large, round chapeau c.o.c.kade with its gold embroidery and sequins on black-ribbed silk and its ring of 24 silver-metal stars appears to be identical to c.o.c.kades that have been shown as being worn around 1839 by Gen. Edmund P. Gaines and Gen. Winfield Scott[116] but without the added center eagle. Close examination of this c.o.c.kade shows it to be complete, with no traces of a center eagle ever having been added.

The 24 stars would have been appropriate at any time between 1821 and 1836.

[Footnote 116: _U.S. Military Magazine_ (May 1841), unnumbered plate; (March 1841), unnumbered plate.]

CAP AND CAP PLATE, JACKSON ARTILLERISTS, C. 1836

_USNM 604780 (S-K 925). Figure 147._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 147]

The Jackson Artillerists of Philadelphia, after the appearance of the regular dragoon cap plate in 1833 and the large crossed cannon of the regular artillery one year later, lost no time in combining these two devices to make their distinctive cap device.[117] It seems probable, however, that the plate was adopted by other artillery units and eventually became more or less of a stock pattern.

[Footnote 117: Ill.u.s.trated in _U.S. Military Magazine_ (January 1840), pl. 26.]

CAP PLATE, WASHINGTON GRAYS(?), C. 1836

_USNM 604608-M (S-K 755). Figure 148._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 148]