American Veterans of the War of 1812: Illustrated London News, April 1, 1865
American Veterans of the War
of 1812.
Our New York Correspondent has furnished the sketch of a couple of the old soldiers of the war of 1812, who may still be met with, occasionally, in the streets and at the public-houses of New York, Boston, and other American cities. These worthy veterans are fond of wearing a cocked hat, with tricolor plume, and a sword, with a white scarf about the breast, upon such occasions as the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the appointed day of thanksgiving for national victories, or that of the inauguration of a President of the Federal Union. They are, however, now becoming rare, since forty years and more have elapsed from the date of their military achievements, and the conflict in which they were engaged, though its recollection may be flattering to American patriotism, has been quite thrown into the shade by the enormous battles of the present civil war.