page_title: Forage cap
section_title: United States military
hierarchical_section_title: Forage cap / Usage / United States military
caption_attribution_description: English: 95th Regt, P[ennsylvania] V[olunteers], Goslin[e]'s Zouaves, by Xanthus Smith, 1861
context_page_description: Forage cap is the designation given to various types of military undress, fatigue or working headwear. These varied widely in form, according to country or period. The coloured peaked cap worn by the modern British Army for parade and other dress occasions is still officially designated as a forage cap.
context_section_description: The M1825 forage cap (also known as the pinwheel cap) was worn by the United States military from 1825 to 1833 when it began to be replaced by the M1833 forage cap.  It was used in conflicts such as the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Winnebago War of 1827 by American forces. The cap was also adopted by the Texan Army and worn by American volunteers in the Texas revolution from 1835 to 1836. The M1839 cap of the Mexican War was of an identical pattern to the 1833 cap, but with the addition of a neck flap as protection from the sun. In the Civil War the M1858 forage cap, based on the French kepi, was the most common headgear worn by union troops even though it was described by one soldier as "Shapeless as a feedbag". There were two types of brims: the first, called the McClellan cap was flat; the second, called the McDowell cap, was curved. U.S. Army regulations called for insignia to be put on the top of the cap, with branch of service (infantry, cavalry or artillery) in the middle, company letter above and the regimental number below. In 1863 the corps badge was introduced in the Army of the Potomac in an attempt to boost morale among the troops; this badge was also added to the cap. If the soldier was in the infantry the bugle horn was put below the disk, with the regimental number inside the infantry horn, the company letter above the horn and the corp badge above that. More frequently than not the soldier lacked this degree of insignia. Occasionally, the branch of service, company letter or regimental number insignia was also used. After the Civil War, the forage cap fell into disuse; it was rarely worn, but was in use until the 1870s.
caption: Painting of a Union soldier (in zouave uniform) wearing the 1858 pattern kepi during the American Civil War
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