USNM 604533-M (S-K 680). Figure 162.
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 ornament 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.[122] The illustrated 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 War.
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 Opibusque 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
USNM 604532-M (S-K 679). Figure 163.
