acanthus leaves in unusually delicate Mennese 

 baroque design. 



The maker of this buckle is unknown, but since it is 

 reasonably certain that the hilt of the sword was de- 

 signed by Moritz Furst (see p. 12), it is possible that 

 the design of the buckle is his also, especially in view 

 of the Viennese touch in the acanthus leaves, his 

 training at the mint in Vienna, and the probability 

 that he designed the 1812 infantry cap plate. 



^Although the 1821 regulations were very specific 

 about the prohibition of nonregulation items of uni- 

 form and equipment, they were somewhat vague 

 regarding specifications. General staff and engi- 

 neer officers were to wear black belts with a "yellow 

 plate," artillery "yellow oval plates . . . with an 

 eagle in the center," and infantry the same but 

 "white" instead of yellow.'" No oval plates meeting 

 these vague descriptions are known, but the speci- 

 mens described below may well have been those ac- 

 tually approved by the Ordnance Department, and 

 thus, worn. 



WAIST-BELT PLATE, INFANTRY OFFICER, C. 1822 



USNM 604118-M (S-K 174). Figure 68. 



This plate, struck in copper and silvered, is round 

 with an outer ring. It is attached to a white buff 

 belt. The plate proper contains an eagle with wings 

 outspread, shield on breast, olive branch in right talon. 



and three arrows in left talon. The whole is within 

 a ring of 24 5-pointed stars. The outer ring is decorat- 

 ed as a wreath, and the narrow rectangular belt 

 attachments are embossed with a floral pattern. The 

 24 stars place this specimen between 1822 and 1836. 

 Similar buckles are known in yellow metal for either 

 staff or artillery and containing 24, 26, and 28 stars, 

 indicating that they probably were worn until the 

 rectangular eagle-wreath plate was prescribed in 

 1851. 



WAIST-BELT PLATE, INFANTRY OFFICER, I82I-I835 



USNM 60454 CS-K 270). FJgure 69. 



This specimen is offered as another possibility for 

 the 1821 regulation plate. It is identical in size and 

 similar in design to the preceding plate. The plate 

 proper contains an eagle with wings spread, a breast 

 shield containing the letter "i," an olive branch in 

 right talon, and three arrows in left talon. There is 

 no outer ring of stars. The outer ring of the buckle 

 is decorated with a wreath, but the rectangular belt 

 attachments are plain. The 1821 regulations called 

 for eagle buttons of "yellow" and "white" metal with 

 the letters "a" and "i" (for artillery and infantry) on 

 the eagle's shield, and the belt plate may have been 

 designed to conform. There is also the possibility 

 that this plate, as well as the one described below, 

 was designed to conform to the 1835 regulations 

 which prescribed a waist belt with a "round" clasp." 



Figure 68 



Figure 69 



' General Regulations Jor the .'lrrny\ pp. 154-162. 



Genernl Regulations for the Army oj the I'nileJ States, p. 222. 



38 



