Figure 223
This unusually large silver-on-copper plate with its brass letters "B L I", "1798", and brass tiger's head is attributed to the Boston Light Infantry. The applied devices are attached with simple wire fasteners. The date 1798 is believed to be the year of the original organization of the unit, but the adjutant general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was unable to verify this.
SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK LIGHT GUARD, C. 1840
USNM. 604351-M (S-K 507). Figure 224.
Figure 224
The New York Military Magazine provides us with a strong clue in identifying this clipped-corner, bevelled-edged brass plate with a silver-on-copper tiger's head applied. In a sketch of the Light Guard of New York it is related that, following a visit in 1836 to the Boston Light Infantry, members of the company "adopted, as part of their uniform, a silver tiger's head, to be placed on the breast plate, as a further memento of the spirited and elegant corps whose guests they had been."[135] This specimen is in agreement with that description.
SHOULDER-BELT PLATE, DRAGOONS, C. 1840
USNM 604352-M (S-K 508). Figure 225.