Figure 3 



officers of gold. Cockades for company officers and 

 enlisted personnel were to be of leather. The loosely 

 worded regulation of 1813 infers that field officers' 

 cockades might be of silk similar to the "black Ribbon" 

 i)inding specified for their hats.'- 



It is extremely difficult to determine whether cock- 

 ade eagles are of Regular Army or Militia origin, and 

 to date them if the latter. They have been found in a 

 wide variety of design and size, ranging from the 

 rather plain example (fig. 6) to the highly refined 

 one on the general officer's chapeau de bras (fig. 4). 

 Examination of hats worn by both Regulars and 

 Militia prior to 1821 reveals that there is little to 

 choose between the eagles worn by the two compo- 

 nents. After 1821, however, when Militia insignia 

 tended to become more ornate and Regular devices 

 more uniform, some of the Militia specimens emerge 

 as distinct types because they have no Regular 

 counterparts. Origin of the specimen, including 

 exca\-ations of military cantonment sites where the 

 make-up of the garrison can be determined, has been 

 the primary criterion used in assignment to either 

 Regular Army or Militia, and to a lesser extent in 

 dating. Over-all design and method of manufacture 

 have also been considered in dating. 



specified black leather cockades of 4 inches and 4j^ 

 inches in diameter respectively. However, since the 

 Militia generally did not start adopting Regular Army 

 devices until the 1820's it seems probable that this 

 cockade was an item of Regular Army issue, despite 

 the lack of evidence of specific authorization. 



As early as January 1799 War Office orders speci- 

 fied: "All persons belonging to the Army, to wear a 

 black cockade, with a small white eagle in the center. 

 The cockade of noncommissioned officers, musicians, 

 and privates to be cf leather with Eagles of tin."''* 

 This regulation was repeated in 1800."" By 1802 

 these cockade eagles had taken the colors used for the 

 buttons and lace of the different arms. The Purveyor 

 of Public Supplies in that year purchased cockade 

 eagles in tin (white) for infantry and in brass (yellow) 

 for artillery enlisted men at a cost of one and two 

 cents, respectively.^' The cockade eagles of infantry 

 officers were to be of silver and those of artillery 



'' Todd, ''Three Leather Cockades," pp. 24-25. 

 « General Order, March 30, 1800 (Records AGO). 

 *' "Statement of Articles of Clothing, 1802,"' in papers of 

 Purveyor of Public Supplies (Records AGO). 



COCKADE EAGLE, GENERAL OFFICER, I800-I8I2 



USNM 12813. Fif^nre 4. 



Unusually refined in design, the eagle is of gold, 

 with head to right, federal shield on breast, and 

 olive branch in right talon. Three arrows, with 

 points outward, are held in left talon. 



This cockade eagle is on a chapeau de bras formerly 

 belonging to Peter Gansevoort, brigadier general of 

 the New York State Militia and brigadier general, 

 U.S. Army, 1809-1812. Although Gansevoort wore 

 this chapeau while serving as a Militia officer, as 

 evidenced by a New York State button attached to it, 

 this eagle is included with Regular Army devices 

 because it is typical of those probably worn by high- 

 ranking officers of both components. 



<- General Order, Southern Department, U.S. Army, Jan- 

 uary 24, 1813 (photostatic copy in files of division of military 

 history, Smithsonian Institution) ; also, American Slale Papers, 

 p. 434. 



