Plate with a stamped brass eagle design from a cartridge box belt

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Depicted at the center of a circular brass plate is a spread eagle bearing three arrows in his proper right claw and an olive branch in his proper left claw. A pair of raised circles decorates the edge. A pair of eyehooks on the reverse indicates that the plate was attached to a leather cartridge box belt. Two holes would have been punched in the belt and a leather tie was threaded through the eyehooks to secure the plate. In 1862, the U.S. government contracted for the purchase of cartridge box belt plates at a cost of $.06 per item. The eagle plate, often referred to as a Dingee eagle plate for its first manufacturer, became part of military equipment for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers beginning in 1833. At first it was made in white metal but yellow metal was designated for use in 1839.

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