American Military Insignia 1800-1851 Part 5

CAP PLATE, INFANTRY, 1812 (REPRODUCTION)

_USNM 60249 (S-K 7). Figure 9._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 9]

This is the third pattern of the infantry cap plate prescribed in the 1812 regulations. Like the preceding plate, of the second pattern, the original plate from which this reproduction was made was excavated on the site of Smith's Cantonment at Sackets Harbor, New York. Made of tin-alloy, as is the original, and rectangular with clipped corners, the piece is dominated by an unusually fierce looking eagle that first appeared on one of the 1807 half-dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint. The eagle has an out-sized, curved upper beak and is grasping lightning bolts in the right talon and an olive branch in the left.

Below is a panoply of flags and muskets with drum, saber, and cartridge box. The corps designation "US INFAN{Y}." is above, and the unit designation "16 REG{T}" is below. The "16" appears to have been added with separate die strikes. The specimen is pierced with two pairs of holes on each side for attachment.

This third pattern was also struck in bra.s.s and silvered for wear by officers. Several fragments of such a plate were excavated at Sackets Harbor; these, although of the third pattern, are the product of a die different from that used in striking the piece described above.

DRAGOON CAP PLATE, 1812

_USNM 62054-M (S-K 1807). Figure 10._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 10]

This is an almost exact duplicate of the 1800 dragoon plate except that it is struck in pewter, "white metal," the color used by the infantry and dragoons. It is rectangular with clipped corners that are pierced for attachment. No detailed description of the 1812 plate has ever been found, but several identical specimens are known attached to dragoon helmets made by a contractor named Henry Cressman. The name "Cressman" is stamped on the lower side of the visor alongside the initials of an inspector named George Flomerfelt, who is known to have been employed by the Army as an inspector in Philadelphia during the period. Henry Cressman is listed in the Philadelphia directories from 1807 through 1817 as a shoemaker. From 1825 to 1839 he is listed as a military cap maker.

-- On January 12, 1814, Irvine wrote to the Secretary of War as follows: "I send herewith an infantry cap plate which, with your permission, I will subst.i.tute for that now in use. The advantages of the former over the latter are that it is lighter, neater, and will not cost half [the] price. The present plate covers the greater part of the front of the cap, is heavy in its appearance, and adds much to the weight of the cap ...[57]" This proposal was approved on January 18.[58]

[Footnote 57: Letter in Records AGO.]

[Footnote 58: Letter from Secretary of War to Irvine (Records AGO).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 11.--Specimen in Campbell collection.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 12.--Specimen in Campbell collection.]

But here we enter an area of some confusion and controversy. Were these new plates to carry the name of the corps and/or the number of the regiment? Irvine's correspondence gives us no clue, but on the following March 28 he wrote at least two of his deputy commissary generals that he was forwarding 8,752 plates for distribution to 14 specifically named infantry regiments plus 851 "blank" plates.[59]

From the total of 8,752 forwarded for specific units, it would seem that these were probably plates of the new design, but then the variance in the number sent for individual regiments--from a low of 152 for the 5th Infantry to highs of 1,016 and 1,050 for the 19th and 25th, respectively--appears odd. Specimens of the 1812 pattern are known both with and without the regimental number, while no examples of the 1814 pattern have been found with unit designation. Two extant examples of the 1814 pattern, representing two very similar but distinct designs (figs. 11, 12), were excavated at Sackets Harbor, New York, and Fort Atkinson, Nebraska, where Regular infantry served during 1813-1816 and 1819-1821, respectively. Both plates are "blank,"

and there is no appropriate place on either for the addition of the number of the unit, as in the case of the 1812 pattern.

[Footnote 59: Letters in Records AGO.]

Another example of the 1814 pattern is known; it is attached to a bell-crowned cap of Militia origin, which indicates that the plate was adopted by the Militia after being discarded by the Regular Establishment. A plate of the same design, but struck in pewter and cut in the diamond shape popular in the 1820's and 1830's, is also known; it is obviously a Militia item.

INFANTRY CAP PLATE, 1814-1821, DIE SAMPLE

_USNM 60284-M (S-K 42). Figure 13._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 13]

Like practically all die samples, this one is struck in bra.s.s. It is rectangular with unclipped corners, but is marked for clipping.

Within a raised oval an eagle, very similar to that on the 1812 plate, carries an olive branch in its beak, three arrows in its right talon, and thunder bolts and lightning in its left talon; below, there is a trophy of stacked muskets, drum, flag, and s.h.i.+eld. Although this specimen is struck in bra.s.s, the plate in used specimens is known only in silver on copper, despite the fact that there was considerable talk of issuing it in bra.s.s.[60]

[Footnote 60: Letters in Records AGO: Irvine to James Calhoun (Deputy Commissary General of Purchases, Baltimore), January 14, 1815; Irvine to General Scott, January 13, 1815; Irvine to George Armitage, July 10, 1815.]

CAP PLATE, INFANTRY OFFICER, 1814-1821

_USNM 604747 (S-K 892). Figure 14._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 14]

This plate, which is original to the hat to which it is affixed, may well have been worn by a regular infantry officer during the period 1814-1821. The cap is of the style first issued in October 1813, with the front rising above the crown.[61]

[Footnote 61: See MCBARRON, "The 18th U.S. Infantry," pp. 48-49.]

The plate, of silver on copper, is rectangular with four scallops top and bottom. A floral border, 3/16 of an inch wide, that surrounds the whole, strongly suggests that it was an officer's plate. Within a central oval an eagle, with wings outspread, is superimposed upon a trophy of arms and flags; above, on a ribbon, are "E PLURIBUS UNUM"

and 15 5-pointed stars. It is possible that this plate is a Militia item, but the fact that it appears to be original on a leather cap of the type worn by Regulars makes it more likely that it is another example of officers' license in the matter of insignia during this period. Its attachment to the cap is a variant method: two hasp-like metal loops, affixed to the plate, have been run through holes in the hat and a leather thong threaded through them. Most cap plates of this period were pierced at the corners for attachment by threads.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 15.--Specimen in Fort Erie Museum, Ontario, Canada.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 16.--Specimen in Campbell collection.]

-- The cap plates issued to the artillery regiments (less the Regiment of Light Artillery) and the riflemen during the period 1812-1821 are known, but only a fragment of one is represented in the national collections. Ill.u.s.trations of all extant are included to complete the picture. Two of the 1812 plates issued the 2d Regiment of Artillery (fig. 15) have been excavated at Fort Erie, Ontario, and are in the collections of the museum there. A plate of the 3d Regiment (fig. 16) excavated at Sackets Harbor, New York, is of an entirely different design. The lower third of a plate of the 1st Regiment (fig. 17), again of a different design, was excavated by the authors in 1961. In 1814, when the three regiments were consolidated into the Corps of Artillery, these plates were superseded by one bearing the eagle-on-cannon device closely resembling the b.u.t.ton of the artillery for the period 1814-1821, which has the word "Corps" inscribed.[62]

Specimens of this latter plate representing two distinct though similar designs have been excavated at posts known to have been manned by Regular artillery in 1814 and later (figs. 18, 19). The same general design appears also on cross-belt plates and waist-belt plates (see below pp. 34-35).

[Footnote 62: See JOHNSON, vol. 1, p. 45, and vol. 2, p. 10.]

CAP PLATE, 1ST REGIMENT ARTILLERY, 1812

_USNM 67240-M. Figure 17._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 17]

The over-all design of the plate of which this bra.s.s-struck fragment represents approximately one-third can be rather accurately surmised by comparing it with several of the ornamented b.u.t.tons issued to the infantry in 1812-1815. It is probably the work of the same designer.[63] The plate is rectangular with clipped corners. Within a raised border is an oval surrounded by cannon, cannon b.a.l.l.s, and a drum, with the unit designation "1 R{T} ART{Y}". At the top of the oval can be seen grasping claws, obviously those of an eagle (as sketched in by the artist) and similar to those on the b.u.t.tons referred to above. Single holes at the clipped corners provided means of attachment. It seems probable that the design of the missing portion also include flags and additional arms and accoutrements.

[Footnote 63: See JOHNSON, vol. 2, specimen nos. 183, 184, 210-213.]

-- The design of the "yellow front plate" authorized and issued to the Regiment of Light Artillery[64] in 1812 was unknown for many years. In May 1961 one of the authors fortunately located this plate (fig. 20) in the collections of the Niagara Historical Society Museum at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, included in a group of British badges of the War of 1812 period. There can be no doubt that the specimen is American: the eagle's head is of the same design as that on the third pattern 1812 infantry cap plate (fig. 9); the wreath of laurel appears on both the 1800 and 1812 dragoon helmet plates; and the thunderbolts in the eagle's right talon are wholly American, as opposed to British, and are of the period. In the Fort Ticonderoga Museum collections there is a gold signet ring (original owner unknown) that has an almost identical design.

[Footnote 64: Letter dated February 26, 1812, from Irvine to Secretary of War (Records AGO). In clothing returns for 1812 of light artillery companies stationed at Williamsville, N. Y., "caps and plates" are listed as being "on hand" (Records AGO).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 18.--Specimen in Campbell collection.]

This is one of the largest plates ever worn by the Regular Establishment. It measures 4-1/4 by 5-1/4 inches, and it is not surprising that it was replaced because of its size. On May 19, 1814, the Commissary General of Purchases wrote Lt. Col. J. R. Fenwick, second-in-command of the light artillery, asking his opinion of a new design and stating flatly: "The present light artillery plate is too large by one-half."[65] The plate ill.u.s.trated as figure 21 is offered as a possible example of the 1814 design. A matching waist-belt plate is described below (p. 34).

[Footnote 65: Letter in Records AGO.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 19.--Specimen in U.S. Army Artillery and Missile Center Museum, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.]