This plate came from a sword belt worn by General Horatio Phillips Van Cleve. General Van Cleve graduated from the much-respected military college West Point before joining the Army. Even before the Civil War began, he was a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He joined the Second Minnesota Infantry Regiment and was wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee during the war. The belt attached to this plate held Van Cleve's sword while he wasn't using it.