BLACK COCKADE
BLACK COCKADE (IN
U. S. HISTORY). Throughout the American revolution a black cockade upon the side of the hat was a part of the continental uniform. When, therefore, the intense war feeling against France, roused by the dispatches from the X.Y.Z. Mission, became useful in politics, the black cockade was mounted by the federalists, partly as a patriotic badge, and partly as a popular reminder of the tri-color cockade, which the republicans had been accustomed to wear as a mark of affection for France. The new badge provoked the anger of the more violent republicans, and several persons were beaten for wearing it. In the decadence of the federal party, “black cockade federalist” became a common term of reproach.
—See 5 Hildreth’s
United States, 207; 1 Schouler’s
United States, 387.
A. J.
