turned inside. Top arched. Front of the cap supported 

 by the arch of the top, which slopes down from its 

 top." ■" 



There were nimierdus \ariations in these caps be- 

 tween 1813 and 1821, partially owing to the large 

 number of difTerent contractors who made them during 

 the period and partially to the minor changes author- 

 ized by the Secretary of War in his original letter of 

 appro\al in which he stated : "with such impro\c- 

 ments as experience may suggest." "' Among others 

 these \ariations included the method of attaching the 

 front to the crown, painting the edge of the "front 

 piece" white, a molding of blocked tin around the cap, 

 and the height of the "front piece" above the crown. "'- 



This cap followed a pattern adopted by the British 

 in 1812. In that year they replaced their leather "stove- 

 pipe" with a new shako of felt, still cylindrical but with 

 the body shortened and a false front added to give the 

 ilusion of height. This new type was generally termed 

 the "Waterloo" after 1815.'* It is interesting to note 

 that the United States adopted a British pattern even 

 though at war with them at the time. 



Two specimens of this pattern cap which can be as- 

 cribed to the Regular Establishment with fair degree of 

 certainty have been examined and are almost identical 

 in construction and appearance, although differing 

 somewhat in height. Both are of basic three-piece con- 

 struction, that is cylinder, visor, and crown, well-made 

 throughout, and painted black. The one in the national 

 collections (figs. 13-15) is believed possibly to have 

 been an officer's cap in \iew of the very stylish, albeit 

 non-regulation, front plate which gi\es e\idence of 

 being original."* Not quite cylindrical, the cap meas- 

 ures 6 /a inches in diameter at the top and 7/2 in the 

 base. Overall height with the false front is 9/2 inches 

 with the height to the .seam 6/2-'''' The visor measures 

 2 inches at its widest point, and is 9 inches from side 

 to side. Its underside is painted green. The \ertical 

 seam of the cylinder is on the left and is covered by 

 a leather strip y^ of an inch wide. Perforations around 

 the top of this strip indicate that the prescribed leather 

 cockade and pompon were once attached at that point. 

 Although no examples of the plaited cord are known, 

 a contemporary drawing (fig. 16)'" indicates that it 

 ran diagonally across the front of the cap from upper 

 right to lower left and was attached to two silver-on- 

 copper semi-spherical buttons present on this specimen. 



Figure 13.— Infantry Cap. 1813-1821. 

 16 



Figure 14.— Infantry Cap, 1813-1821. 



