Note 98 — Insignia of the Regular Army

The ordnance regulations of 1839 and the ordnance manual of 1841 brought in two distinctly new types of plates, the familiar brass oval waist-belt and cartridge-box plates with the letters "U. S." and the round shoulder-belt plate with the eagle. The oval plates fall into two general sizes, 3.5 inches by 2.2 inches (for plates on the infantry's cartridge box and the cavalry's waist belts)[98] and 2.8 inches by 1.6 inches (for plates on the infantry's waist belts and the cavalry's carbine cartridge boxes and pistol cartridge boxes). The use of each plate is determined by the type of fastener. These plates were struck in thin brass and the backs generally leaded, although some were used without such backing, probably to save both weight and material. Cartridge boxes were also embossed with the outline of this oval plate in lieu of the plate itself. It is interesting to note that the larger plates with lead backs weighed about 5-1/2 ounces and the smaller ones just over 2 ounces.