American Military Insignia, 1800-1851

The catalog presents a descriptive and interpretive survey of United States Army insignia used between 1800 and 1851, excluding buttons, epaulets, and horse furniture. It organizes material by Regular Army and uniformed Militia, with chapters on cap and helmet devices and shoulder- and waist-belt plates, illustrated from major museum and private collections. The authors discuss sourcing and dating methods, documentary gaps, notable collectors and excavated finds, and they offer representative chronological cross-sections of design development and variations while providing bibliography and specimen notes to assist identification.