Figure 159 



CAP PLATE, ARTILLERY, C. 1840 



VSNM. 604548-M (I-K 695 J. figure 161. 



This is a varlati(jii ot" the pattern of the preceding 

 specimen in which silvcr-mctal devices have been 

 placed on a small, gilt, half-sunburst plate. This was 

 probably a stock pattern available to any Militia 

 organization beginning about 1840 and worn for the 

 next 20 or 30 years. 



CAP PLATE, SOUTH CAROLINA, C. 1840 



USNM 604533-M (_S-K 680). Figure 162. 



The palmetto of South Carolina in outline form first 

 appeared as a large cap ornament about 1840, after 

 having been worn in smaller size as a cockade orna- 

 ment and on the side of dragoon caps. A Huddy and 

 Duval print shows it on the caps of the DeKalb Rifle 

 Guards of Camden, South Carolina.'-- The il- 

 lustrated specimen was worn into the 1850's, and it 

 is highly probable that some South Carolina troops 

 wore plates such as this in the early days of the Civil 

 W^ar. 



The palmetto was adopted as the principal heraldic 

 device of South Carolina in commemoration of the 

 defeat of Admiral Sir Peter Parker's fleet by the 

 garrison of Sullivan's Island under Col. William 

 Moultrie in June 1776. The defenses of the island 

 were constructed primarily of palmetto logs. The 

 devices comprising this brass plate are all taken from 

 the state seal, including the mottos Animis Opibiisque 

 Parati and Dum Spiro Spero Spes. The date "1776" 

 alludes to the year of Moultrie's victory and not to the 

 organization date of any particular unit. 



CAP PLATE, SOUTH CAROLINA, C. 1840 



VSNM 6045V--M QS-K 679). Figure 163. 



Struck from a dilTercnt die, with broader fronds and 

 a wider base, this brass plate is of the same period as 

 the preceding one. 



CAP PLATE, C. 1840 



USNM 60295 -M (i'-K 53). Figure 164. 



This grenadier-type plate, struck in brass, is one of 

 the most beautiful examples of the die maker's art in 

 the national collections. On a sunburst-over-clouds 



Figure 160 



'- U.S. .Military Magazine (.\ugiist 18411, unnumbered plate. 



648531—63 7 



81 



