i^THE CHAPEAU 



1 



,N THE LATTER HALF OF THE 1 7TH CENTURY, the 



high-crowned, wide-brimmed, felted civihan headgear 

 gradually became the typical European military hat. 

 In time, the crown gradually became lower and the 

 brim narrower, with one side looped up to permit free 

 use of weapons and to give a rakish appearance. A 

 plume of feathers and a cockade were often added and 

 the whole was generally termed a cocked hat. By the 

 1 8th centuiy the sides had become turned up to form the 

 well-known three-cornered hat, sometimes called a tri- 

 corn, which predominated in most European armies 

 for almost one hundred years. 



The American settlers living in British colonies gen- 



erally followed the British military' styles in such early 

 uniforms as they had. In the main, the Continental 

 Army wore the British-type tricon during the Revolu- 

 tionary War. 



An example of a tricorn of the Revolution is that 

 worn by Colonel Jonathan Pettibone, 18th Connecti- 

 cut Militia, in 1775 and 1776 (figs. 1-3). Civilian 

 rather than military in general appearance, with its 

 rather high crown and wide brim, it is in effect a 

 transition between the earlier tricorn and the later 

 military pattern with its neater and more compact 

 design. 



This specimen, of black wool felt with a small ad- 



Figure 1. — Pettibone Tricora, ca. 1776. 



