As early as January 1799 War Office orders specified: "All persons belonging to the Army, to wear a black cockade, with a small white eagle in the center. The cockade of noncommissioned officers, musicians, and privates to be of leather with Eagles of tin."[39] This regulation was repeated in 1800.[40] By 1802 these cockade eagles had taken the colors used for the buttons and lace of the different arms. The Purveyor of Public Supplies in that year purchased cockade eagles in tin (white) for infantry and in brass (yellow) for artillery enlisted men at a cost of one and two cents, respectively.[41] The cockade eagles of infantry officers were to be of silver and those of artillery officers of gold. Cockades for company officers and enlisted personnel were to be of leather. The loosely worded regulation of 1813 infers that field officers' cockades might be of silk similar to the "black Ribbon" binding specified for their hats.[42]
It is extremely difficult to determine whether cockade eagles are of Regular Army or Militia origin, and to date them if the latter. They have been found in a wide variety of design and size, ranging from the rather plain example (fig. [6]) to the highly refined one on the general officer's chapeau de bras (fig. [4]). Examination of hats worn by both Regulars and Militia prior to 1821 reveals that there is little to choose between the eagles worn by the two components. After 1821, however, when Militia insignia tended to become more ornate and Regular devices more uniform, some of the Militia specimens emerge as distinct types because they have no Regular counterparts. Origin of the specimen, including excavations of military cantonment sites where the make-up of the garrison can be determined, has been the primary criterion used in assignment to either Regular Army or Militia, and to a lesser extent in dating. Over-all design and method of manufacture have also been considered in dating.
COCKADE EAGLE, GENERAL OFFICER, 1800-1812
USNM 12813. Figure 4.
Figure 4
Unusually refined in design, the eagle is of gold, with head to right, federal shield on breast, and olive branch in right talon. Three arrows, with points outward, are held in left talon.
This cockade eagle is on a chapeau de bras formerly belonging to Peter Gansevoort, brigadier general of the New York State Militia and brigadier general, U.S. Army, 1809-1812. Although Gansevoort wore this chapeau while serving as a Militia officer, as evidenced by a New York State button attached to it, this eagle is included with Regular Army devices because it is typical of those probably worn by high-ranking officers of both components.