Figure 8, right.

This is the second pattern of the infantry cap plate described in the 1812 regulations as an "oblong silver plate ... bearing the name of the corps and the number of the regiment." The specimen was excavated on the site of Smith's Cantonment at Sackets Harbor, New York, known to have been occupied by Regular infantry during the 1812-1815 period. The piece is struck in "white metal" and tinned [the term "silver" in the regulation referred only to color]. It is rectangular, with clipped corners, and is dominated by an eagle, with wings outspread, grasping lightning bolts in the right talon and an olive branch in the left talon. Below is a panoply of stacked arms, flags with 6-pointed stars, two drums, and a cartridge box marked "U.S." The corps designation "U.S. INFANTRY" is above; the unit designation is blank with the letters "REGT." on the left. The plate is pierced with four pairs of holes on each side for attachment.

Another example of this second pattern is known; it is attached to an original cap and bears the unit designation "12 REGT."

CAP PLATE, INFANTRY, 1812 (REPRODUCTION)

USNM 60249 (S-K 7). Figure 9.

Figure 9

This is the third pattern of the infantry cap plate prescribed in the 1812 regulations. Like the preceding plate, of the second pattern, the original plate from which this reproduction was made was excavated on the site of Smith's Cantonment at Sackets Harbor, New York. Made of tin-alloy, as is the original, and rectangular with clipped corners, the piece is dominated by an unusually fierce looking eagle that first appeared on one of the 1807 half-dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint. The eagle has an out-sized, curved upper beak and is grasping lightning bolts in the right talon and an olive branch in the left. Below is a panoply of flags and muskets with drum, saber, and cartridge box. The corps designation "US INFANY." is above, and the unit designation "16 REGT" is below. The "16" appears to have been added with separate die strikes. The specimen is pierced with two pairs of holes on each side for attachment.

This third pattern was also struck in brass and silvered for wear by officers. Several fragments of such a plate were excavated at Sackets Harbor; these, although of the third pattern, are the product of a die different from that used in striking the piece described above.