_USNM 604879 (S-K 1024). Figure 50._
[Illustration: FIGURE 50]
Comprising crossed sabers of gold, with edges upward, this insignia is
similar to the well-known device worn by the Regular cavalry as late
as 1953.
¶ In 1846 the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen was organized to
consolidate the northern route to the Pacific by establishing and
manning a series of posts along the Oregon Trail.[80] The outbreak of
the War with Mexico postponed this mission and the unit was diverted
to the theater of operations. Shortly after the regiment was
constituted it was authorized to wear a forage cap device prescribed
as "a gold embroidered spread eagle, with the letter R in silver, on
the shield."[81] No surviving specimen of this insignia is known, and
there seems some doubt that it was ever actually manufactured.[82]
[Footnote 80: Act of May 19, 1846 (_Military Laws_, pp. 371-372).]
[Footnote 81: General Order No. 18, June 4, 1846, War Department
(photostatic copy in files of division of military history,
Smithsonian Institution).]
[Footnote 82: Insignia of the riflemen are discussed by Townsend and
Todd, pp. 2-3.]