Figure 160
The 1840 button for the Ordnance Corps bears a flaming grenade over crossed cannon, devices that date from 1832 and 1834 respectively. Consequently, it seems likely that this combination emerged as a stock pattern for Militia artillery early in the 1840's. This specimen, struck from a single piece of brass, is a copy of the French artillery device of the same period, and, while it is believed to be American, it may be a foreign insignia. Confusion arises in the case of foreign designs, for die sinkers often used as a model either an actual imported badge or a scale drawing of one.
CAP PLATE, ARTILLERY, C. 1840
USNM 604548-M (S-K 695). Figure 161.
Figure 161
This is a variation of the pattern of the preceding specimen in which silver-metal 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.