United States Army Headgear 1855-1902 - Libreria Militare Ares

NUMBER 30 71FIGURE 48.—Officers' helmets: a, field and mounted officers' helmet(spike substituted for plume); b, foot officer's helmet.The helmet cords are attached to the left side of thehelmet, and come down to the left shoulder, where they areheld together by a slide; one cord then passes to the frontand the other to the rear of the neck, crossing upon theright shoulder, under the shoulder strap, and passing separatelyaround to the front and rear of the right arm, wherethey are again united and held together by a slide underthe arm; the united cords then cross the breast and arelooped up to the button of the shoulder-strap on the leftside."""And in 1889, all band musicians were given theprivilege of wearing mounted helmet trimmings,that is, plumes and cords."'Reaction to the helmet, pro or con, was slow tosurface. Military Storekeeper Rogers, on a tour ofwestern posts in 1883, found troop units generallysatisfied with the change except for several easilycorrected small details, such as the length of thechin straps."" Not until the 1890s was there anyadverse comment. Captain H. F. Kendall, 8 thCavalry, in writing on the uniform in the Journalof the United States Cavalry Association, stated:"Beginning with the head, we have the forage cap,the helmet, and the campaign hat. The two formeroffer us object lessons on the military supremacyof the two leading nations of Europe, which is justabout the limit of their utility."'" Others calledFIGURE 49.—Helmet for enlisted men.the helmet "hot and heavy," "uncomfortable forall occasions," and "frequently causing headache.""Perhaps it was time for a change. Still, allin all, it must be remembered that this helmet continuedin use for a total of 21 years, longer thanany previous piece of dress headgear.