SHOULDER-BELT(?) PLATE, C. 1840
USNM 604394-M (S-K 541). Figure 222.
Figure 222
The silver letters "S F" applied with wire fasteners to the small brass plate are most appropriate for the State Fencibles of Philadelphia, and it is believed to have possibly been worn by that unit in the 1840's. A print in the U.S. Military Magazine[134] portraying this unit shows an officer wearing a plate of an entirely different design, but since a plate in this simple form would most probably have been worn by enlisted personnel, and the soldier in the print is to be seen only from the rear, such identification as to unit may be correct.
SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, BOSTON LIGHT INFANTRY, C. 1840
USNM 604339-M (S-K 495). Figure 223.
