Figure 45.— Forage Cap, 1839-1851, Type 2. 



Type three is identical to type two except that it 

 carries no chin strap, and the cape, when folded, since 

 it could not be buttoned to the chin strap buttons, is 

 attached by means of a metal hook fitting into a 

 threaded eye (fig. 47). This type is the latest of the 

 three, dating no earlier than 1851, the cloth portions 

 being machine-stitched throughout.'' ' None of the 

 specimens bears a maker's mark and, with the excep- 

 tion of the pattern piece, must be assumed to postdate 

 Irvine's decision to manufacture the caps at Schuylkill. 



The caps worn by officers in the several extant 

 photographs and the Duncan cap in the West Point 

 Museum are all type one. The only difference between 

 this cap and that of the enlisted men is in the stitched 

 visor. 



The "water-proofed" feature of the cloth is in- 

 teresting. If it was developed by Lawrence, who first 

 submitted samples to the War Department, he did not 

 patent it. The waterproofing was a method of treating 



the cloth with a compound (ingredients unknown) 

 rather than a method of weaving, for Lawrence also 

 "water-proofed"" cotton drilling and paper, the latter 

 proposed for use in making cartridges.''^ In any case, 

 the process was not successful as evidenced by the 

 numerous complaints to the 1844 Uniform Board and 

 the board's recommendations that an oil cloth cover 

 be provided. 



NOTES 



"^ Barnes, op. cit., p. 140, and pi. 12. For an excellent 

 representation of the "hacking" cap, see lithograph 

 "Peytona and Fashion's Great Match," H. R. Robinson, 

 New York, 1845, in Peters Coll., Smithsonian Institution. 



'« Macomb to Whiting, 24 Apr. 1839, LR, Cloth. Bur., 

 tray 65, RG 92, NA. 



"" Whiting to Macomb, 17 May 1839, LS, Cloth. Bur., 

 RG 92, NA. 



^" Two copies of this lithograph are extant : in Records 

 of the Office, Chief of Engineers, Record Group 77 

 (hereinafter cited as RG 77), drawer 178-3B, Audio- 

 Visual Branch, NA, and in CG of P, LR, tray 69, RG 92, 

 NA. For these pattern caps see Whiting to St. John, 31 

 May 1839, LS, Cloth. Bur.; Irvine to Maj. Lorenzo 

 Thomas, acting head of the Cloth. Bur., 2 July 1839, LS, 

 CG of P; Thomas to Irvine, 5 July 1839, LS, Cloth. 

 Bur.— all RG 92, NA. The clothing year ran from 1 Nov. 

 to 31 Oct. 



"^Drawer 178-9, RG 77, Audio-Visual Branch, NA. 



'" L. Thomas, AAG, to Col. J. J. Abert, 7 May 1839; 

 Abert to Officers of Corps of Topographical Engineers, 

 8 May 1839— both in T.E., LS, Microfilm Roll 66, RG 

 77, NA. The actual order, undated, is found between the 

 entries for 8 and 9 May. 



"nVhiting to Irvine, 4 Nov. 1839, LS, Cloth. Bur.; 

 Irvine to Whiting, 8 Nov. 1839, LS, CG of P; Whiting to 

 Ii-vine, 23 Dec. 1839, LS, Cloth. Bur.— all RG 92, NA. 



'''= Irvine to Ebenezer Druiy, Phila., 16 Mar. 1840, 

 LS, CG of P; contract with John T. Holloway, Phila., 

 in Irvine to D. L. Brown, a cloth manufacturer, 16 Apr. 

 1840, LS, CG of P; Whiting to Col. John Walbach, 4th 

 Arty., 18 Sept. 1839, LS, Cloth. Bur.; Whiting to Lt. Col. 

 Alexander Fanning, 4th Arty., 9 Sept. 1840, LS, Cloth. 

 Bur. — all RG 92, NA. The new caps were actually issued 

 in limited quantity as early as September, probably to 

 recruits. See Irvine to E. S. Favssoux, MSK at Phila., 19 

 and 22 Sept. 1840, CG of P, LS, RG 92, NA. 



156 "Proceedings of Board of Inspectors of Clothing," 

 1840, MS book in USMA Libraiy. The difference in 

 price between the enlisted and cadet models (the latter 

 included 34 cents profit for the storekeeper) indicates the 

 difference in quality between officers' or cadet caps as 

 opposed to those of enlisted men. 



'•■ Ir\ine to M. Howard, Jan.-Apr. 1841, in CG of P, 

 LS; Irvine to W. H. Scovill, button manufacturer, 10 



50 



