Note 80 — Insignia of the Regular Army

¶ In 1846 the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen was organized to consolidate the northern route to the Pacific by establishing and manning a series of posts along the Oregon Trail.[80] The outbreak of the War with Mexico postponed this mission and the unit was diverted to the theater of operations. Shortly after the regiment was constituted it was authorized to wear a forage cap device prescribed as "a gold embroidered spread eagle, with the letter R in silver, on the shield."[81] No surviving specimen of this insignia is known, and there seems some doubt that it was ever actually manufactured.[82]