joined by a number of others. Prominent among 

 these were Charles John Joullain, who made plates 

 in New York during the 1820's, and WilHam Pinchin 

 of Philadelphia. Joullain is first listed in New York 

 directories, in 1817, as a "gilder," and so continues 

 through 1828. Sometimes his given name is listed as 

 Charles, sometimes as James, and finally as Charles 

 James. From 1820 to 1828 his address is the same, 

 32 Spring Street. There is a William Pinchin 

 (Pinchon) listed in the Philadelphia directories as a 

 silverplater or silversmith almost continuously from 

 1785 through 1863, indicating the possibility of a 

 family occupation. 



It is believed that some of the New England makers 

 of uniform buttons also manufactured plates. Among 

 such buttonmakers of the 1820's and 1830's were R. 

 and W. Robinson, D. Evans and Co., Leavenworth and 

 Co., Benedict and Coe, and others in Connecticut 

 and Massachusetts. Buttonmakers often stamped 

 their names or easily recognizable hallmarks on the 

 back of their products. 



In most cases it is virtually impossible to ascertain 

 the precise units for which these different plates were 

 first designed, and the problem is further complicated 

 because the maker would sell a specific plate design to 

 several different units. Those designs that incorpo- 

 rate all or part of a state's seal were originally made 

 for Militia organizations of the particular state, but in 

 several instances these plates were sold — altered or 

 not — to units in other parts of the country. Militia 

 organizations that were widely separated geograph- 

 ically purchased cap plates from distant manufac- 

 turers who had perhaps a dozen or more stock patterns 

 to offer at a cost much lower than that involved in 

 making a new die from which to strike custom-made 

 ornaments. It made no difference to the Savannah 

 Greys, in Georgia, that their new cap plates were the 

 same as those worn by organizations m Pennsylvania 

 and Massachusetts. Toward the end of this period 

 of large cap plates, manufacturers came out with two- 

 piece ornaments. After 1833, when the Regiment of 

 United States Dragoons was authorized its large sun- 

 burst plate with separate eagle ornament in the center, 

 insignia makers introduced a veritable rash of full 

 sunburst, three-quarter sunburst, and half-sunburst 

 cap plates with interchangeable centers. And for the 

 first time small Militia units could afford their own 

 distinctive devices at little extra cost. Shoulder-belt 

 and waist-belt plates underwent the same evolution, 

 and by the late 1830's such plates had become a mix- 



ture of either single die stampings or composite plates 

 made of several parts soldered or otherwise held onto 

 a rectangular or oval background. 



Study of cap plates and other insignia in the Huddy 

 and Duval prints in U.S. Military Maaaxine points to 

 the years between 1833 and perhaps 1837 or 1838 as 

 the transition period from single to composite orna- 

 ments, years during which there was also tremendous 

 gro\vtli in the popularity and number of independent 

 Militia units. In contrast to the 1820's when the Mi- 

 litia often waited until the Regulars discarded a de- 

 vice before adopting it, in 1840 there were no less than 

 five organizations, mounted and dismounted, wearing 

 the 1833 dragoon plate in full form while it was still 

 in use by the Regulars. U.S. Military Magazine 

 illustrates such plates for the Richmond Light In- 

 fantry Blues, the Georgia Hussars, the Macon Vol- 

 unteers, the Jackson Rifle Corps of Lancaster, Pa., 

 the Montgomery Light Guard, and the Harrison 

 Guards of Allentown, Pa. The plate of the Harrison 

 Guards is an example of the license sometimes 

 practiced by Huddy and Duval in the preparation 

 of their military prints. The color bearer in this 

 print is depicted wearing a full sunburst plate, while 

 the description of the uniform called for " a semi- 

 circular plate or gloria." '"^ 



In the following descriptions of plates, the term 

 ''stock pattern" is used because the insignia are known 

 to have been worn by inore than one organization, 

 because their basic designs are so elementary that it 

 appears obvious that they were made for wide dis- 

 tribution, or because they are known to have been 

 made both in silver and in gilt metals. 



CAP PLATE, ARTILLERY, C. 1825 



USNM 60307-M (S-K 64). Figure 107. 



On the raised center of this shield-shaped plate is 

 the eagle-on-cannon device within an oval floral 

 border; the Federal shield is below. The whole is 

 superimposed on a trophy of arms and colors with 

 portions of a modified sunburst appearing on the 

 sides. The plate is struck in brass. The eagle-on- 

 cannon first appeared on Regular artillery buttons in 

 1802. About 1808 it was used as an embossed device 

 on the leather fan cockade, and in 1814 it became 

 the ]">rincipal design element of the cap plate for 



U.S. Military .Magazine (March 1839), p. 4. 



56 



