_USNM 604397 (S-K 544). Figure 92._
[Illustration: FIGURE 92]
The reverse side of this plate is fitted with the rather rudimentary
wire fasteners similar to those on shoulder-belt plates of the
1812-1821 period. In other respects the specimen is identical to the
preceding ones of 1839.
¶ The 1839 regulations specified a bayonet-belt plate "round, brass,
with eagle." The 1841 ordnance manual was more exact, specifying the
plate to be "brass, circular, 2.5 in. diameter, with an Eagle," and
then stating: "The bayonet belt is about to be discontinued ..."
Although not so authorized at the time, this plate, so familiar during
the Civil War period, was switched over to the shoulder belt
supporting the cartridge box. Such plates were manufactured in great
quantities and in many variations of the original design by a dozen or
more contractors during the period 1861-1865.