SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM

BULLETIN 235
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1963

Publications of the United States National Museum

The scholarly publications of the United States National Museum include two series, Proceedings of the United States National Museum and United States National Museum Bulletin.

In these series are published original articles and monographs dealing with the collections and work of the Museum and setting forth newly acquired facts in the fields of Anthropology, Biology, History, Geology, and Technology. Copies of each publication are distributed to libraries and scientific organizations and to specialists and others interested in the different subjects.

The Proceedings, begun in 1878, are intended for the publication, in separate form, of shorter papers. These are gathered in volumes, octavo in size, with the publication date of each paper recorded in the table of contents in the volume.

In the Bulletin series, the first of which was issued in 1875, appear longer, separate publications consisting of monographs (occasionally in several parts) and volumes in which are collected works on related subjects. Bulletins are either octavo or quarto in size, depending on the needs of the presentation. Since 1902 papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum have been published in the Bulletin series under the heading Contributions from the United States National Herbarium.

This work is number 235 of the Bulletin series.

Frank A. Taylor
Director, United States National Museum

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C.—Price $2

Shoulder-belt plate of Vermont Militia, attributed to Ethan Allen, about 1785. In collection of Dr. John Lattimer.

MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

American Military Insignia
1800-1851

J. Duncan Campbell and Edgar M. Howell

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
1963

Contents

Preface

This catalog is a descriptive and interpretive listing of the insignia of the Army of the United States—other than buttons, epaulets, and horse furniture—in the National Collections that were prescribed or worn during the period 1800-1851. The subject of early American military buttons has been covered by L. F. Emilio in The Emilio Collection of Military Buttons (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1911), W. L. Calver and R. P. Bolton in History Written with Pick and Shovel (New York: New York Historical Society, 1950), and David F. Johnson in Uniform Buttons, American Armed Forces, 1784-1948. (Watkins Glen, New York: Century House, 1948, 2 vols.). For epaulets, see Mendel L. Peterson, "American Army Epaulets, 1814-1872," Military Collector and Historian (March 1961, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1-14).

Most of the specimens described here are from the huge W. Stokes Kirk Collection acquired in 1959, supplemented by the War Department Collection and the numerous biographical collections of the United States National Museum; in addition, a few insignia in the collections of J. Duncan Campbell and others are included.

The unique W. Stokes Kirk Collection, unmatched in scope, volume, and rarity, is worthy of special note. It was begun in 1878 by W. Stokes Kirk, Sr., of Philadelphia, a dealer in U.S. Government surplus. Struck by the beautiful design and delicate art work in some of the early insignia, Mr. Kirk put aside all old and unusual devices for his personal collection. As his business expanded, so did his interest in military rarities and curios. After each bulk purchase from government sources, he would have all the odd and unusual items sorted out for his examination. The best of such items went into his personal collection, which included rare firearms, powder flasks, insignia, epaulets, military caps, and the like. W. Stokes Kirk, Jr., who succeeded his father and expanded the business nationally until it became almost as well known as Bannerman's Military Store in New York City, maintained and enlarged the collection. After his death, in 1946, the collection was continued by his widow, Mrs. Linnie A. Kirk Mosler. Items in this catalog from the W. Stokes Kirk Collection are indicated by the letters "S-K" in parentheses following the United States National Museum number.

Although this catalog is, in more than one sense, a developmental history of American military insignia, it is not, and is not intended to be, a definitive study. The picture is far too incomplete. Whereas the record of Regular Army devices after 1821 is fairly clear—despite the fact that the uniform regulations continued sometimes to use the