_USNM 604167-M (S-K 323). Figure 258._
[Illustration: FIGURE 258]
This plate is known both in heavy metal stamping and in thin, cheap
brass. Examples of the latter type appear to have been struck in the
period of the 1890's from a die then 50 years old. A plate similar to
this one has been excavated from a Civil War battlefield site. A stock
pattern, the design was obsolete for issue to Militia before the
Civil War, but it is known to have been continued almost to the end of
the century for use by groups such as secondary school cadet corps.
¶ The shoulder-belt plates worn in the 1850's were little changed from
those of the preceding decade. In the Regular Establishment the
shoulder belt and plate for officers had been discarded in favor of
the waist belt for carrying the sword, but Militia officers--bound by
no regulations--continued to wear the shoulder belt. Enlisted
personnel wore at least one shoulder belt, and in many cases used two
belts, which crossed, one belt carrying the cartridge box and the
other the bayonet and scabbard. Mounted Militia sometimes wore the
saber on a waist belt and the carbine cartridge box on a shoulder
belt. It is interesting to note that the custom of using elements of
state seals on waist-belt plates was not followed to any great extent
in the embellishment of shoulder-belt plates except in the Southern
States.