Figure 215 



j^lOAj 



Figure 216 



after 1840, no composite types that predate 1835 are 

 know n. The following group of shoulder-belt plates 

 are typical of those that first appeared about 1840. 

 Of these, several continued unchanged through the 

 Civil War and into the 1870"s and 1880's. 



SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840 



USNM 60434 l-M (S-K 497') . Figure 21 7 . 



This unusually large, o\al, brass plate with the 

 letters "c g" in silver applied with wire fasteners is 

 another of that sizable group of lettered insignia that 

 cannot be attributed definitely to a particular organi- 

 zation. The "c g" may stand variously for City 

 Guard, Cleveland Greys, Charleston Guard, or some 



other organization. With a stock of oval and rec- 

 tangular blanks and a set of lettering and number- 

 cutting dies, an almost limitless combination cf plates 

 could be turned out by a single manufacturer. 



SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK, C. 1840 

 USNM 604470-M (I-K 617'). Figure 118. 



The basic form of this brass plate — with one of the 

 many variations of the seal of the State of New York "' 

 applied with wire fasteners — is a copy, with minor 

 changes, of the bevelled plate prescribed for the Reg- 

 ular Establishment in 1839. Distinctly an officer's 

 plate, it \\-ould have been appropriate for artillery or 

 staflT. 



SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, C. 1840 



USNM 604331-M QS-K 487). Figure 219. 



This composite plate, struck in brass, has a be\elled, 

 rectangular base almost identical to the base of the 

 1839 regulation plate (see fig. 86). The design con- 

 sists of a silvered center ornament comprising a trophy 

 of flags, a sword, and a liberty pole surmoimted by a 

 wreath of laurel inclosing fasces and a Federal shield 

 with 26 stars in its canton. This silver ornament is 

 applied with four simple wire fasteners rather than 



"^ ZlEBER, p. 166. 



103 



