oljviously made long after 1812 when the 18th state, 

 Louisiana, was admitted to the Union. A plume 

 socket affixed to the reverse appears to be original. 



Undoubtedly made as a stock pattern by several 

 manufacturers, these plates continued in use for at 

 least 15 years after they first appeared about 1825. 

 Although U.S. Military Magazine illustrates many 

 large cap plates for the period 1839-1841, none has a 

 shield outline. This may indicate a decline in the 

 popularity of the design, but it must be remembered 

 that Huddy and Duval presented the uniforms of 

 only a small cross-section of the Militia of the period. 



CAP PLATE, RIFLEMEN, C. 1825 



USNM 60267-M QS-K 26). Figure 117. 



This is a second form of Militia riflemen's plates. 

 Struck in brass, it differs from the preceding primarily 

 in the placement of 17 5-pointed stars along the upper 

 half of the shield, between the borders. Other small 

 differences show that the basic die was not that used 

 for the preceding specimen. The most obvious dif- 



FlGURE I I 7 



61 



