Figure ioo 



struck in brass and silvered and has two simple wire 

 fasteners soldered to the reverse. A very similar badge 

 is shown by Rembrant Peale in an oil portrait of 

 Col. Joseph O. Bogart of the 3d Flying Artillery. '"- 



COCKADE EAGLE, C. I8I4 



USNM 60379-M (_S-K i35). Figure 101 . 



This eagle, of the general design first seen on the 

 1807 half-dollar, is very similar to the one on buttons 

 ascribed to staff officers, 1814-1821. "^ The eagle, 

 struck in brass, has wings upraised and the familiar 

 hooked beak; it stands on a wreath of the colors. 

 The wire fasteners on the re\-erse are of a somewhat 

 unusual type and may not be contemporary. 



^ Die work for cap, shoulder-boh, and \vaist-bclt 

 plates was expensive, and many Militia organizations 

 found it expedient to purchase de\ices "ready made" 

 from existing dies. By varying the trimming and 

 adding borders of various designs, the same dies could 



'"- Reproduced in Antiques (July 1947), vol. 52, no. 7, p. 16. 

 '"'Johnson, specimen nos. 101-105. 



Figure ioi 



be used to strike all three types of plates. Such badges 

 are called "common" plates. 



The common plates that follow were very popular 

 during the period 1812-1835 and, although relatively 

 rare today, were made in considerable quantity and 

 in many die variations for the Militia in every part of 

 the country. They are known in brass, copper, and 

 silver-on-copper. It is possible that specimens such 

 as these may have been worn by some officers of the 

 Regular Establishment between 1814 and 1821. 



CAP PLATE, 1814-1825(7) 



USNM 6026'5-M (i'-K 2/). Figure 102. 



This is a typical example of the common plates of 

 the 1814-1835 period. The piece is struck in brass 

 and has an edged and stippled border. The design 

 is dominated by an eagle with wings outspread, head 

 to left, arrows in right talon, olive branch in left talon, 

 and with the national motto on a ribbon overhead. 

 The whole is superimposed on a trophy of arms and 

 colors with an arc of 13 6-pointcd stars above. A 

 plume socket, apparently original, is soldered to the 

 reverse, as are two looped-wire fasteners. The 

 fasteners are of a later period. 



53 



