_USNM 604526 (S-K 673). Figure 159._
[Illustration: FIGURE 159]
Although this plate appears to be of possible French or British
origin, close examination indicates that it is probably an American
Militia device of the 1840's. Its looped-wire fasteners indicate that
it is a cap plate. The design of the modified Napoleonic-type eagle is
almost exactly that used in the 1833 Regular dragoon cap plate and
other Militia plates; and the period of apparent manufacture coincides
with the early use of the flaming grenade as an American device.
Incorporating two devices common to the period, it would have been a
stock pattern.