File:Bulletin - United States National Museum (1969) (20319989638).jpg

Title: Bulletin - United States National Museum
Identifier: bulletinunitedst2691969unit (find matches)
Year: 1877 (1870s)
Authors: United States National Museum; Smithsonian Institution; United States. Dept. of the Interior
Subjects: Science
Publisher: Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, (etc. ); for sale by the Supt. of Docs. , U. S. Govt Print. Off.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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porary descriptions are scanty, Major Garland merely stating that it was "of leather with a patent leather visor . . . made with one fold at the top; the only ornament ... the letter of the Company placed in front." "The letter ... is to be yellow in all cases." " The dragoon caps differed from those for the infantry and artillery in having wider vLsors and folds in the back which could be let down some 6 inches to cover the neck in bad weather.^'" For winter wear in cold climates a band of black fur 2^2 inches wide, attached to the bottom and tied in front, was prescribed." The caps for the line units were to be of morocco, those for the cadets at the Militar>' Academy of goatskin."^ The precise measurements of the cap were given as follows: Poke from point to point 7 34 inches Poke width in center 3 inches Depth of crown, center 7 J/o inches Breadth across top center 7 J/2 inches Length of top 12/2 inches Depth of hood 6^/2 inches Length of hood connected with crown 14^2 inches Length of hood at bottom 16/2 inches "° Priced at 87/2 cents for dragoons and 75 for the other branches in 1833 and 1834, the price leveled at 80 cents for all branches in 1835 and 1836, but rose to 85 for dragoons and dropped to 75 for other branches in 1837 and 1838."' The price to the Corps of Cadets was much higher—$2.00, which included the profit allowed the storekeeper."" This would indicate that the line units received imitation and the cadets gen- uine morocco. There are several contemporary illustrations of the cap: one in an engraving after a painting by Robert W. Weir, another in an engraving by R. Wallis after W. H. Bartlett, several, although rather poor as to de- tail, in paintings by George Catlin, and an excellent one (fig. 33) by Seth Eastman done in Florida in 1840- 1841. Two Edwin Forbes drawings in Rodenbough's From Everglade to Canyon with the Second Dragoons .... show the dragoon form of the cap, but they were
Text Appearing After Image:
Figure 33.—Infantryman wearing 1833-183!) Forage Cap. Watercolor by Seth Eastman. Knoedler Galleries. 38

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