Hat Insignia
Soldier's Forage Cap with Placement of Insignia
This infantry private displays his forage cap showing one of the common patterns of placement for regimental numbers and company letters. The forage cap is one with a sloping visor, commonly called the McDowell style cap. What is not typical is his infantry horn, which appears to be a metallic false embroidered horn believed intended for wear by officers. This type of insignia appears frequently in photographs of soldiers from New England states, particulary New Hampshire. An example can be seen of one on an original forage cap on page 176 of the book Echoes of Glory. A more conventional U.S. Army issue enlisted man's infantry horn lacks the three tassels at the bottom of the horn.
The photograph was taken by G. H. Houghton of Brattleboro, Vermont who accompanied the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862.