American Military Insignia 1800-1851 Part 17

The diamond-shaped plate was in vogue with Militia units during the late 1820's and the 1830's. Examples of such plates for the Was.h.i.+ngton Grays (Philadelphia) and the Philadelphia Grays are recorded in _U.S.

Military Magazine_.[105] This bra.s.s plate, possibly made for a particular unit from stock dies, is a typical example of the endless variety possible with the use of a few dies. The blank was struck with a die for the center device of eagle and horn, but the irregularity of the s.p.a.cing of the stars shows that they were added later by hand.

Similar plates may be found with essentially this same device, but placed on small s.h.i.+elds or backgrounds of other shapes.

[Footnote 105: April 1839, pl. 5; June 1839, pl. 11.]

CAP PLATE, C. 1835

_USNM 604851-M (S-K 996). Figure 121._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 121]

The eagle and horn devices were sometimes separated by the manufacturer to produce this type ornament open with cord and ta.s.sels.

Struck in bra.s.s, it differs in form and detail from the silver horn adopted by the Regular infantry in 1834 as a cap plate.

Several Militia units of the late 1830's and 1840's used a horn as an additional ornament on the rear of the cap, notably the State Fencibles (Philadelphia) and the National Guard (Philadelphia). On the rear of the leather cap of the State Fencibles were "two broad rich stripes of silver lace, starting from the same point at the top and running down, forming an angle, in the center of which is a bugle ornament...."[106] The cap of the National Guard has been described as being "of blue cloth ... and in the rear a plated bugle ornament."[107]

[Footnote 106: _U.S. Military Magazine_ (March 1839), p. 3 and pl. 2.]

[Footnote 107: _U.S. Military Magazine_ (October 1841), p. 32.]

-- In the following series of rather similar plates, four different dies are used for the center ornament, perhaps made by as many different die sinkers. The relatively large number of these plates still in existence suggests that they were worn very extensively.

Those with silver finish were used by infantry; the gilt or copper ones by artillery and perhaps by staff officers. All specimens are currently fitted with plain wire fasteners and plume sockets, both of which may or may not be original.

CAP PLATE, INFANTRY, C. 1825

_USNM 60271-M (S-K 29). Figure 122._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 122]

The floral-bordered s.h.i.+eld outline of this silver-on-copper infantry plate is known to have been used also with the rifleman's eagle-horn device in the center. The panoply of arms and flags used as a background for the center device, which is characterized by the long neck of the eagle swung far to the right, links it closely to the plate of similar type worn during the period 1814-1821. Because of its large size, it is a.s.signed to the post-1821 era of the bell-crown cap, contemporary with the riflemen's large plates. The 13 5-pointed stars were added with a hand punch.

CAP PLATE, C. 1825

_USNM 60298-M (S-K 56). Figure 123._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 123]

This bra.s.s plate is a duplicate of the preceding, lacking only the hand-applied stars. The crispness of detail indicates that it was one of the very early products of the die.

CAP PLATE, C. 1825

_USNM 60269-M (S-K 27). Figure 124._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 124]

The second variation of the series is a product of perhaps the best executed die of the group, with unusually fine detail in the eagle's wings and with neatly stacked cannon b.a.l.l.s at the bottom of the center device. It includes other excellent detail not found in other dies: an eagle-head pommel on one sword, a star pattern made of smaller stars in the cantons of the flags, and crossed cannon, rammer, and worm behind the Federal s.h.i.+eld. It is struck in bra.s.s.

CAP PLATE, C. 1825

_USNM 60297-M (S-K 55). Figure 125._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 125]

A tall, slender, rather graceless eagle with broad wings and erect head reminiscent of the Napoleonic eagle is the outstanding difference in this third example of the series. The floral border lacks a finished look because the plate, which is of bra.s.s, was apparently hand trimmed.

CAP PLATE, C. 1825

_USNM 60270-M (S-K 28). Figure 126._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 126]

This fourth variation, of silver-on-copper, bears an eagle with very small legs (somewhat out of proportion), an erect head, a fierce mien, and a heavy round breast. The design is struck on a s.h.i.+eld-plate with the exact measurements as on one of the riflemen series.

CAP PLATE, MUSICIAN, C. 1825

_USNM 60302-M (S-K 60). Figure 127._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 127]

The oldest known plate made expressly for musicians, this silver-on-copper, floral-bordered s.h.i.+eld bears an eagle similar to one for riflemen of the same period (see fig. 116). Among the early musical instruments easily identifiable in the design are the tambor, the serpent, the French horn, and the rack of bells. Such a plate was undoubtedly a stock pattern, available in either gilt or silver finish, and was probably sold well into the 1840's. The reverse is fitted with what appears to be a contemporary plume socket, although resoldered, and two simple wire fasteners.

CAP PLATE, MUSICIAN, C. 1835

_USNM 6030-M (S-K 61A). Figure 128._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 128]

This gilded bra.s.s plate, while not as old as the preceding one, is of an unusual pattern. Made for New York State Militia, it carries the eagle-on-half-globe device at the top. The central design includes a French horn, a serpent, and a straight horn, all intertwined about an open roll of sheet music. It is probably a stock pattern. The reverse is fitted with three simple bent-wire fasteners.

CAP PLATE, C. 1830

_USNM 60250-M (S-K 8). Figure 129._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 129]

The design on this bra.s.s plate, reminiscent of that on the regular infantry cap plate, 1814-1821, was adopted for wear by the Militia after being discarded by the Regular Establishment. The ornate floral border and diamond shape place it in the late 1820's and the 1830's, although the lightning in the eagle's left talon and the arrows in its right talon are usually a.s.sociated with plates designed prior to 1821.

It has been suggested that this is the plate worn by the West Point cadets after 1821, but such seems doubtful.