Figure 150
This cap plate is a somewhat wider variation of the 1833 dragoon device than most of the Militia plates of that type popular in the late 1830's and the 1840's. While the brass sunburst has the usual 8-pointed form, the eagle, applied to the center, is unusually small (1-3/8 by 1 in.) and gives every indication of having been originally designed as a cockade eagle at a somewhat earlier period.
CAP PLATE, C. 1836
USNM 60274-M (S-K 32). Figure 151.
Figure 151
This pattern of the 1833 dragoon eagle on a half-sunburst, struck in brass and silvered, was worn by the Washington [D.C.] Light Infantry [118] and possibly by other units of the period. Both the eagle and the half-sunburst were obviously stock items.
CAP PLATE, REPUBLICAN BLUES, C. 1836
USNM 604606 (S-K 753). Figure 152.