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1813 Pattern Leather Infantry Cap On May 10, 1813, an unidentified infantry officer stationed in the Niagara area offered a critique of the new caps just received by his unit. He complained the caps should be deeper before and behind than at the ears so as to hold onto the soldiers head better. The moment the caps changed in their construction is lost to us. We can only assume it occurred in late 1813, or early 1814, and that it was the result of an attempt to save on leather. Whenever it occurred, the caps in 1814 appear to have been produced with the integral raised front pieces, or the Type II. Some early examples of the Type II had similar white lines painted in a pattern on the front of the cap, no doubt to assist in their blending into the Type I caps in the line. There are a few surviving Type II caps with the large shako plates already mentioned.
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