_USNM 604533-M (S-K 680). Figure 162._
[Illustration: FIGURE 162]
The palmetto of South Carolina in outline form first appeared as a
large cap ornament about 1840, after having been worn in smaller size
as a cockade ornament and on the side of dragoon caps. A Huddy and
Duval print shows it on the caps of the DeKalb Rifle Guards of Camden,
South Carolina.[122] The illustrated specimen was worn into the
1850's, and it is highly probable that some South Carolina troops wore
plates such as this in the early days of the Civil War.
[Footnote 122: _U.S. Military Magazine_ (August 1841), unnumbered
plate].
The palmetto was adopted as the principal heraldic device of South
Carolina in commemoration of the defeat of Admiral Sir Peter Parker's
fleet by the garrison of Sullivan's Island under Col. William Moultrie
in June 1776. The defenses of the island were constructed primarily of
palmetto logs. The devices comprising this brass plate are all taken
from the state seal, including the mottos _Animis Opibusque Parati_
and _Dum Spiro Spero Spes_. The date "1776" alludes to the year of
Moultrie's victory and not to the organization date of any particular
unit.