_USNM 66478-M. Figures 63, 64._
[Illustration: FIGURE 63]
[Illustration: FIGURE 64]
Excavated on the site of Smith's Cantonment at Sackets Harbor, New
York, this plate is interesting in that it differs in both
construction and method of attachment from similar plates of the same
period in the national collections. Rather than being struck in thin
brass with a backing and fasteners applied to the reverse, this
specimen is cast in brass and the edges rather unevenly beveled, with
two studs and a narrow tongue for attachment cast integrally with the
plate and with hexagonal heads forced over the ends of the studs. This
means of attachment, which indicates that the plate was intended to be
utilitarian as well as merely ornamental, is similar to that on
British plates of the period between the Revolution and the War of
1812. The plate could have been worn by either infantry or artillery,
for both were issued brass plates during this period,[87] however, it
is more probable that it was worn by the infantry, since the majority
of the artillery in the Sackets Harbor area were stationed nearby at
either Fort Pike or Fort Tomkins.
[Footnote 87: Letters from Irvine in Records AGO: To Colonel Bogardus,
February 16, 1814; to James Calhoun, January 14, 1815.]