i^UNIFORM CAP, 1832-1851, INFANTRY-ARTILLERY 



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I HE 183 J UNIFORM REGULATIONS prescribed a cap 

 of "black bea\er, 6 inches deep, with lacquered sunlc 

 tip, 1 1 inches in diameter, communicating by black 

 leather side straps, with a band of the same, which is 

 to encircle the bottom of the cap; black patent leather 

 peak; gilt eagle, number, and scales as at present 

 worn." '- This was a return to the yeoman crown cap 

 worn by the light and foot artillery and rifle regiments 

 during the War of 1812 and a definite continuation 

 of British influence."'' Indeed, Major John Garland, 

 head of the Clothing Bureau in August 1832 wrote 

 General John E. Wool, the Inspector General of the 

 Army then on an official trip abroad, to send home pat- 

 terns of British uniforms and equipment for the use of 

 the Clothing Bureau, stating "for I perceive we have 

 copied from the English in most of the changes which 

 have been made. . . ." "* Despite this and the fact that 

 Wool did forward a number of British uniforms,"' the 

 cap was not adopted and there is no evidence that it 

 was ever made up in pattern form. Actually, the regu- 

 lations were hardly off the press before Garland wrote 

 Irvine that "some further change [was] contemplated 

 in the uniform cap." °'' By March 1833 a new pattern 

 cap had been made and approved and contracts let."' 

 When it was first issued is not known, but it seems 

 probable that it was available for recruits in mid- 1833, 

 as Cressman, one of the early contractors, was well 

 known for his reliability in meeting delivery schedules. 

 In any case, in July 1834 all leather caps of the 1821 

 pattern were ordered turned in, the surplus being sold 

 to the Marine Corps which continued to use the bell 

 crown for several years."" 



General Regulations for the Army issued in 1834 

 describe the officers' cap as: "" 



. . . black beaver, seven and a half inches deep, with 

 lackered sunk tip seven and a half inches diameter, 



with a band of black patent leather to encircle the 

 Ijottom of the cap; black patent leather peak, gilt eagle 

 and cross cannons [a "silver bugle" in the case of the 

 infantry] and number of regiment as at present 

 worn ; '"" a strap of black patent leather, fastened to 

 each side of the cap, to be worn under the chin. 

 Plume — red cock-feathers [white for infantry], falling 



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Figure 23.— Infantry Cap, 1832-1851. 



