American Military Insignia 1800-1851 Part 27

-- Shoulder-belt plates underwent the same transition as cap plates did beginning about 1837-1838, with the single die strike plate yielding to the composite plate, and applied devices being attached to oval, rectangular, or rectangular "clipped corner" plates. While some single die plates were made and worn after 1840, no composite types that predate 1835 are known. The following group of shoulder-belt plates are typical of those that first appeared about 1840. Of these, several continued unchanged through the Civil War and into the 1870's and 1880's.

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840

_USNM 604341-M (S-K 497). Figure 217._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 217]

This unusually large, oval, bra.s.s plate with the letters "C G" in silver applied with wire fasteners is another of that sizable group of lettered insignia that cannot be attributed definitely to a particular organization. The "C G" may stand variously for City Guard, Cleveland Greys, Charleston Guard, or some other organization. With a stock of oval and rectangular blanks and a set of lettering and number-cutting dies, an almost limitless combination of plates could be turned out by a single manufacturer.

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK, C. 1840

_USNM 604470-M (S-K 617). Figure 218._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 218]

The basic form of this bra.s.s plate--with one of the many variations of the seal of the State of New York[133] applied with wire fasteners--is a copy, with minor changes, of the bevelled plate prescribed for the Regular Establishment in 1839. Distinctly an officer's plate, it would have been appropriate for artillery or staff.

[Footnote 133: ZIEBER, p. 166.]

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840

_USNM 604331-M (S-K 487). Figure 219._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 219]

This composite plate, struck in bra.s.s, has a bevelled, rectangular base almost identical to the base of the 1839 regulation plate (see fig. 86). The design consists of a silvered center ornament comprising a trophy of flags, a sword, and a liberty pole surmounted by a wreath of laurel inclosing fasces and a Federal s.h.i.+eld with 26 stars in its canton. This silver ornament is applied with four simple wire fasteners rather than soldered. Since the sun rays in the background radiate outward not from the center but from the edge of a circle about 1-1/2 inches in diameter, almost any desired center ornament could have been added to the basic strike, or the plate could be struck a second time to add a device integral to it. Thus the background portion of the specimen must be considered a stock pattern.

A print of the National Guards of Philadelphia in _U.S. Military Magazine_ for October 1841 shows an officer wearing a similar plate.

If the stars are significant, the plate can be dated between 1837 and 1845.

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840

_USNM 604471-M (S-K 618). Figure 220._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 220]

In this plate, the center ornament used in the preceding specimen has been struck directly in a rectangular, bevelled background. However, the background of this plate has a stippled surface rather than a sunburst. An interesting feature is that there are four slots punched through the plate for the attachment of an additional device over the wreath and s.h.i.+eld. This is another of the many examples of how a unit might have an insignia distinctive to itself at little extra cost.

This plate is obviously of a stock pattern. The national collections also contain a die sample of this particular plate.

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840

_USNM 604472-M (S-K 619). Figure 221._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 221]

Another example of the rectangular, bevelled-edged, shoulder-belt plate for officers is this bra.s.s-cast copy of the 1839 Regular Army pattern with the wire-fastened letters "S V G" subst.i.tuted for "U. S."

The specimen bears a touchmark "W. Pinchin Philad" on the reverse (see p. 33). The unit for which this plate was made is unidentified.

SHOULDER-BELT(?) PLATE, C. 1840

_USNM 604394-M (S-K 541). Figure 222._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 222]

The silver letters "S F" applied with wire fasteners to the small bra.s.s plate are most appropriate for the State Fencibles of Philadelphia, and it is believed to have possibly been worn by that unit in the 1840's. A print in the _U.S. Military Magazine_[134]

portraying this unit shows an officer wearing a plate of an entirely different design, but since a plate in this simple form would most probably have been worn by enlisted personnel, and the soldier in the print is to be seen only from the rear, such identification as to unit may be correct.

[Footnote 134: March 1839, pl. 2.]

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, BOSTON LIGHT INFANTRY, C. 1840

_USNM 604339-M (S-K 495). Figure 223._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 223]

This unusually large silver-on-copper plate with its bra.s.s letters "B L I", "1798", and bra.s.s tiger's head is attributed to the Boston Light Infantry. The applied devices are attached with simple wire fasteners.

The date 1798 is believed to be the year of the original organization of the unit, but the adjutant general of the Commonwealth of Ma.s.sachusetts was unable to verify this.

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK LIGHT GUARD, C. 1840

_USNM. 604351-M (S-K 507). Figure 224._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 224]

The _New York Military Magazine_ provides us with a strong clue in identifying this clipped-corner, bevelled-edged bra.s.s plate with a silver-on-copper tiger's head applied. In a sketch of the Light Guard of New York it is related that, following a visit in 1836 to the Boston Light Infantry, members of the company "adopted, as part of their uniform, a silver tiger's head, to be placed on the breast plate, as a further memento of the spirited and elegant corps whose guests they had been."[135] This specimen is in agreement with that description.

[Footnote 135: _New York Military Magazine_ (1841), vol. 1, p. 118.]

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, DRAGOONS, C. 1840

_USNM 604352-M (S-K 508). Figure 225._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 225]

An unusual manufacturing technique was used in making this plate. It was struck in very heavy bra.s.s about 1/16 inch thick and the whole tinned; then, all the tin on the obverse, except that on the crested helmet device, was buffed away, giving the center ornament the appearance of having been silvered. The specimen obviously was made for a particular mounted unit, designation unknown. An interesting detail is the letter "A" on the half-sunburst plate of the dragoon helmet device.

SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840

_USNM 604350-M (S-K 506). Figure 226._