Figure 109
Although the Regular riflemen wore a diamond-shaped plate from 1812 to 1814, this shape does not appear on Militia caps until the mid-1820's. It was a common form through the 1830's, but since it was always made as a one-piece die-struck plate it became out-dated in the late 1830's when the composite plates came into vogue.
This plate, struck in brass and bearing the eagle-on-cannon device, must be considered a stock pattern available to many organizations. Insignia struck from the same die could have been easily made into shoulder-belt plates as well.
CAP PLATE AND PLUME HOLDER, C. 1825
USNM 604748 (S-K 893). Figure 110.
Figure 110
This brass plate is similar in many respects to the regular infantry cap plate, type I, 1814-1821. It is attached to a bell-crowned shako of distinctly Militia origin and is cut in the diamond shape popular with the Militia in the 1820's and 1830's. The design lies within a raised oval dominated by an eagle similar to ones used on War of 1812 insignia. Below the eagle is a Federal shield and a trophy of stacked muskets, a drum surmounted by a dragoon helmet, a gun on a truck carriage, and colors—one the National Colors with 16 stars in the canton.
The plume holder attached to the cap above the plate is an unusually interesting and distinctive device. It is a hemisphere of thin brass with a round plume socket at the top. The hemisphere has an eagle on a shield and a superimposed wreath device in silver. The blazonry of the shield cannot be identified with any particular state or locality.