(fig. 26) was authorized[70] in 1817. Apparently it was worn until 1821, since several examples of it have been found at Atkinson; other examples also are known. [Footnote 66: See KUHN, pp. 263-267, and DAVIS, pp. 13-14 and pl. 3.] [Footnote 67: Act of February 10, 1814 (_Military Laws_, pp. 251-252).] [Footnote 68: Letter dated January 12, 1814, from Irvine to Secretary of War (Records AGO).] [Footnote 69: See KIVETT, p. 59.] [Footnote 70: A letter dated July 29, 1817, from Irvine to Secretary of War describes the device; a letter dated August 4, 1817, from the Adjutant and Inspector General (Daniel Parker) to Irvine authorizes the plate but gives no description. Both letters are in Records AGO.] [Illustration: FIGURE 24.--Specimen in Campbell collection.] [Illustration: FIGURE 25] [Illustration: FIGURE 26.--Specimen in Campbell collection.] [Illustration: FIGURE 27.--Specimen in collection of Waverly P. Lewis, Devon, Connecticut.] The cap plate for the U.S. Military Academy, c. 1815, is illustrated (fig. 27) because it completes the cycle for insignia of the Regular Establishment for the period. Apparently it is the work of the same designer as most of the insignia of the period 1812-1815. Scratched on its reverse side is the name George W. Frost, a Virginian who entered the Military Academy as a cadet in 1814 and resigned on March 8, 1816. The two plates of the U.S. Marine Corps, despite the fact that they are naval rather than military, are included because they fit very precisely into the device design pattern of the strictly army items of the period and because they are unique in their rarity. CAP PLATE, U.S. MARINE CORPS, C. 1807, DIE SAMPLE _USNM 58671-N-(1). Figure 28._ [Illustration: FIGURE 28] This specimen was extremely puzzling for many years. The design is obviously that of the War of 1812 period, bearing strong similarity to both the 1812 and 1814 infantry plates and the 1814 Artillery Corps plate, possibly the work of the same die sinker. The 1804 Marine Corps uniform regulations specified merely a "Brass Eagle and Plate," but the 1807 regulations called for "Octagon plates."[71] Thus there was considerable reluctance to accept this die sample as the authentic design. In the summer of 1959, however, the authors, excavating at Fort Tomkins, New York, which was known to have had a small barracks for the use of naval personnel ashore, recovered parts of two brass plates of this identical design, and in the octagon shape--that is, rectangular with clipped corners (fig. 29). The design may thus be precisely dated. [Footnote 71: See MCCLELLAN, pp. 25, 44.] [Illustration: FIGURE 29]