1830"s, although the lightning in the eagle's left talon 

 and the arrows in its right taloia are usually associated 

 with plates designed prior to 1821. It has been 

 suggested that this is the plate worn by the West Point 

 cadets after 1821, but such seems doubtful. 



^1 No Militia plates enjoyed \vider use or longer life 

 than those patterned after the plate that disappeared 

 from the Regular Establishment with the disbanding 

 of the dragoons in 1815. More than a dozen die 

 variants are known, several worn by more than one 

 Militia unit. Although size and shape may vary, any 

 plate exhibiting a mounted trooper with upraised 

 saber can safely be assigned to mounted Militia. 

 However, the dating of such plates is a real problem 

 because they are known to have been in use as late as 

 1861. 



A Huddy and Duval print of the Washington 

 Cavalry of Philadelphia County shows that unit 



66 



