This is the regulation US insignia for an officer in the Corps of Engineers. The silver castle with turrets surrounded by a gold bullion wreath was adopted 1839/1840. The corps was small and drew from the top the class at West Point. Both Lee and McClellan got their start in that branch of service. During the Civil War volunteer officers with state regiments increased the numbers for a time, but the regular army engineer officer corps remained small, even after the reintegration of the topographical engineers into it.

The backing has been to an oval for mounting on a cap or hat, but lacks the backing and jaceron wire border. The reverse shows some stains, likely from a paper backing. The wreath does not differentiate between laurel and palm branches, indicating the manufacturer likely used a stock pattern for a US staff wreath for it. This would point to a wartime product though some later examples are known. O’Donnell and Campbell, however, note that the background color changed from black to blue in 1872, giving this an early date. See Emerson, Encyclopedia of U.S. Army Uniforms, and Campbell and O’Donnell, Headgear Insignia; this exact insignia is featured in the latter book.

This is a very good example and any engineer officer’s material is scarce.  [sr]

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