Figure 43
Worn attached to the base of the pompon by all enlisted personnel, this brass eagle, similar in general design to that worn on the shako in the 1830's, stands with wings upraised, olive branch in right talon, three arrows in left talon, and a scroll, with national motto, in beak. Above are stars, clouds, and bursts of sun rays. Officers wore an eagle of similar design of gold embroidery on cloth.
CAP INSIGNIA, GENERAL AND STAFF OFFICERS, 1851
USNM 604862 (S-K 1007). Figure 44.
Figure 44
This specimen, in accord with regulations, is on dark blue cloth and consists of a gold-embroidered wreath encircling Old English letters "U.S." in silver bullion. Embroidered insignia of this period were all made by hand, and they varied considerably in both detail and size. During the 1861-1865 period the same design was made about half this size for wear on officers' forage caps, and the device appeared in variant forms. One example is known where the numeral "15" is embroidered over the letters "U.S.";[79] and Miller's Photographic History of the Civil War includes several photos of general officers whose wreath insignia on the forage cap substitute small rank insignia stars for the letters.
CAP INSIGNIA, OFFICER, ENGINEERS, 1851
USNM 300720. Figure 45.