porary descriptions are scanty, Major Garland merely 

 stating that it was "of leather with a patent leather 

 visor . . . made with one fold at the top; the only 

 ornament ... the letter of the Company placed in 

 front." "The letter ... is to be yellow in all cases." "'' 

 The dragoon caps differed from those for the infantry 

 and artillery in having wider vLsors and folds in the 

 back which could be let down some 6 inches to cover 

 the neck in bad weather.^'" For winter wear in cold 

 climates a band of black fur 2^2 inches wide, attached 

 to the bottom and tied in front, was prescribed."'' The 

 caps for the line units were to be of morocco, those for 

 the cadets at the Militar>' Academy of goatskin."^ The 

 precise measurements of the cap were given as follows : 



Poke from point to point 7 34 inches 

 Poke width in center 3 inches 

 Depth of crown, center 7 J/o inches 

 Breadth across top center 7 J/2 inches 

 Length of top 1 2/2 inches 

 Depth of hood 6^/2 inches 



Length of hood connected with crown 14^2 inches 

 Length of hood at bottom 1 6/2 inches "° 



Priced at 87/2 cents for dragoons and 75 for the 

 other branches in 1833 and 1834, the price leveled at 

 80 cents for all branches in 1835 and 1836, but rose to 

 85 for dragoons and dropped to 75 for other branches 

 in 1837 and 1838."' The price to the Corps of Cadets 

 was much higher — $2.00, which included the profit 

 allowed the storekeeper."" This would indicate that 

 the line units received imitation and the cadets gen- 

 uine morocco. 



There are several contemporary illustrations of the 

 cap: one in an engraving after a painting by Robert 

 W. Weir, another in an engraving by R. Wallis after 

 W. H. Bartlett, several, although rather poor as to de- 

 tail, in paintings by George Catlin, and an excellent one 

 (fig. 33) by Seth Eastman done in Florida in 1840- 

 1841. Two Edwin Forbes drawings in Rodenbough's 

 From Everglade to Canyon with the Second Dragoons 

 .... show the dragoon form of the cap, but they were 



Figure 33. — Infantryman wearing 1833-183!) Forage Cap. Watercolor by Seth Eastman. Knoedler Galleries. 

 38 



