Figure i i 3 



even today readily discernible, even after very ap- 

 parent use. Made for New York Militia, its central 

 theme is the eagle-on-half-globe superimposed on a 

 trophy of arms and flags. 



Many of the facets of detail are of particular interest. 

 Almost every ray of the aura of sunlight can still be 

 clearly seen; the North Pole is well marked with a 

 vertical arrow; the Arctic Circle, Tropic of Capricorn, 

 and the Equator are included on the half-globe, as are 

 the meridians of longitude and the parallels of latitude; 

 both North America and South America are shown, 

 and that portion of North America east of the Missis- 

 sippi basin is clearly denominated "United States." 

 An unusual feature of the design is the way the arrows 

 are held in the eagle's left talon — some of the arrow 

 heads point inward, some outward. What appears 

 to have been a contemporary plume socket has been 

 resoldered to the reverse. 



Although this plate is unmarked as to maker, 

 another plate of a similar design but of silver-on- 

 copper has the maker's mark "j. joull.'Mn, maker, n. 



Figure i 14 



YORK." Since two distinct but similar designs are 

 known, and the finished product is found in both brass 

 and silver-on-copper, it seems probable that this plate 

 was produced by more than one maker, and for all 

 arms of the service. It is therefore deemed a stock 

 pattern. 



CAP PLATE, RIFLEMEN, C. 1825 



USNM 60267-M (S-K 25). Figure 116. 



Almost immediately after the last Regular rifle regi- 

 ment was disbanded in 1821, Militia riflemen adopted 

 the large open horn with loops and tassels that the 

 Regulars had worn from 1817 to 1821. The basic de- 

 vice was altered slightly by showing an eagle in flight 

 and the horn suspended much lower on its cords. 

 The illustrated brass plate is one of four die variants, 

 and more than a dozen similar to it have been exam- 

 ined. It is significant that all are of brass, for these 

 were made and worn during the period when the 

 trimmings for infantry were silver or "white metal." 



This plate differs from the others examined in that 

 it has 17 6-pointed stars along the upper and lower 

 parts of the shield inside the border. The number of 

 stars cannot be significant in dating for the plate was 



60 



