Military Rank & Insignia: The Civil War in Four Minutes
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Kristopher White of the American Battlefield Trust details the rank of soldiers in the Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War, and how those ranks were displayed on uniforms.
We acknowledge the error at :22 of grouping privates in with corporals and sergeants as Non-commissioned officers. Privates of course were a rank below NCOs and were referred to as enlisted men. We have a small team working on a lot of content and unfortunately this slipped through the cracks. Thanks for your understanding and continued support.
Technically speaking, even NCOs and Staff NCOs are considered enlisted men. In the modern Marine Corps, those enlisted men that are below NCO rank are called non-rates.
Lowest ranking officers are privates????????????
I'm outa here!
You didn't even group them with "Non-commissioned officers" he straight up said, "the lowest ranking officers"
Edited: To be less confrontational
You called them the lowest ranking officers. They arnt officers at all niether are NCO. Being an officer means they have a commission. They “hold an office” in the army, there position and authority is given to them by congress. Congress gives officers a certain number of enlisted men that can serve under them to carry out the tasks of the army.
@@iamkurgan1126See ya! 😂
Privates were never referred to as non commissioned officers (NCOs).
@@jayjones722 Lack of proper research.
I believe it was unfortunate phrasing. I'm not sure he meant it that way.
In other armies (Great Britain, Germany, France) a "lowly E2" could command lower ranked troops "when everyone else was hors de combat."
There is no way he meant it that way. It's not lack of proper research but lack of proper "proofreading" of the video before uploading. When you make videos, you should watch them at least once to check for any errors that you may have made. It's like when people cite a date as 1964 when they meant 1864. It happens. Most of us make this kind of mistake all the time. I get that they can't go back out on location, but a pinned comment acknowledging the er... oh wait, they did that, but I guess "you are very smart" Mr Alonso Cushing, and they are amateurs and this guy should be fired, and they should hire you to do his job. Yep, you, who is probably unemployed or at the very least in a sub-par job where you are not very happy, and you daydream all day about living in the 1860s or about being a history professor who makes a million dollars a year and has a supermodel for a wife. Both are unrealistic as time travel is not possible yet, history professors don't make even remotely close to that many zeroes, and no one who has a supermodel for a wife has ever left a comment on RUclips because that kind of thing is for losers like us.
Thank you for posting, it helped clear up some questions I had about upper officier ranks in the CSA.
I like how Stand Watie was one of the highest ranking officers.
LTrain 45 nice
Actually, commissioned officers in the Union Army wore their rank insignia on shoulder Straps, not shoulder Boards. "Boards" ran from collar to shoulder, as in the modern US Navy and Coast Guard.
Enjoyed the review of the ranks ..thanks for the re-refresher on ranks
What about 1st Sgts. and Sgt. Majors?
03.45 First Sergeants. 00.19 Sergeants Majors.
That's the limitation of a four minute video. You can't show everything.
The shoulder chevrons were John Fremont's idea when he was running the show in Missouri. Fremont didn't last but the chevrons are still in use.
Lee was a full bird Col when he was in the US army before the Confederacy so he just kept wearing that rank in the Confederate army. I guess as a full general you can do whatever you want.
Pershing only wore 4 stars.
Robert E. Lee was in the "Army of Northern Virginia!" For the Lee Family was the "Common Wealth of Virginia!"
A SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT North American FAMILY that signed the "Declaration of Independence!"
Robert E. Lee referred to "Virginia, as his Country,"
They were NOT States until after Mr. Lincolns' War of Northern Aggression: With the rewriting of the Constitution determined by the WAR.!) The Common Wealths even had different geographical boundaries and borders.
At one time: Virginia was half of Tennessee, half of North Carolina, West Virginia and ALL of Kentucky, to the Ohio River. And Tennessee was called the "State of Franklin," for Ben Franklin.
so glad i found this channel
David = Me too, while reading the comments that are saying most of this video is wrong, I'd like to say how much I appreciate the time people take to produce & upload these videos.
Was just thinking the same thing!
So, you're saying everybody was an officer? That's just wrong. Privates, Corporals, & Sargents should be just plain soldiers. Not sure when the non-commissioned officers were per sides but definitely not an actual Officer.
Sgts. are non-commissioned officers., corporals are jr. non-commissioned officers.
@Strange Highways In the Marine Corps we call E7 & above Staff NCOs.
@@Riceball01 * E6 and above.
Theory: Robert E Lee wore the rank of Colonel instead of General because he only really achieved the rank of Colonel. Discuss.
The famous Supreme commanders at the time tends to downplay their rank. For examples Grant and Sherman.
Colonel General perhaps?
Robert E. Lee is a General by ALL RANKINGS.
EVEN WITH CENSORSHIP!
😂😂😂@@thefrenchareharlequins2743
Lee was a colonel when he resigned from the US army correct? I find that very telling and interesting that despite being a top general in the confederate army, he keeps his rank displayed as colonel.
The general ranks are always the ones that confuse me, one would think a major general is higher than a lieutenant general.
Privates are NOT officers. They are enlisted men and NCO ranks are Corporal on up to Sergeant Major. Officers wore shoulder STRAPS, not shoulder boards on their field uniforms. The fancy gold shoulder boards were worn only on the dress uniforms. Shoulder boards are worn outward from the collar to the shoulder (i.e. US Navy officer rank insignia) , shoulder straps follow the curve of the shoulder from back to front. Also, the color of the enlisted rank insignia denoted the branch of the Army. The color schemes were used by both sides:
Light Blue: Infantry
Gold/Yellow: Cavalry
Red: Artillery
Black(Confederate): State Militia
Union officer shoulder straps also had the color of their branch in the field of the shoulder strap with the exception of Generals who had black fields on their shoulder straps.
Confederate officer rank insignia were very different from Union officer rank insignia and were worn on the collar:
Single hashmark: 2nd Lieutenant
Two hashmarks: 1st Lieutenant
Three hashmarks: Captain
Single star: Major
Two stars: Lt. Colonel
Three stars: Colonel
General Officers' had a laurel wreath around their stars differentiating them from lower ranking officers.
Interesting that both sides used to wear chevrons point down as in the British Army
I think people are more familiar with the Civil War Ranks... I think what's a lot less clear is the ranks in the Revolutionary War, I have an ancestor that was an Ensign (and no, he didn't serve on a boat).... I'd be greatly interested in that video, but with that said, I like this video too.
@@jayjones722 I'm definitely on board with you... But it's been a frustration over the years to have to explain that there "was no boat" that my ancestor served on... His father (my 13th great grandfather) was a 7 year's war vet as well, so he held the rank of Captain during the revolution. I'm just saying that when I say one of my ancestors was a Captain, most people understand, but when I say his son was an Ensign... There is much confusion... Lol
U.S. Military ranks from Washington on: www.thebalancecareers.com/military-rank-history-3354123
You forgot to address the number of buttons on an officer's jacket (with regard to generals).
What's cool is that if you look at the United States Army ranks of today they haven't changed all that much from the Civil War. There are a lot more ranks of sergeants, multiple ranks of lower enlisted men, and the officers' ranks are a bit more refined looking.
I think it would be interesting to go through the actual photos used here and tell us a bit about each man, and what he did in the war... even if all that's known is his photo.
I was disappointed that you did not mention the spacing of the buttons denoting Confederate Generals.
Or the true difference between Officer and enlisted
At anytime in the Civil War, did any Union members use Austrian braiding on their sleeves do denote rank? Thanks
"Lowest ranking officers were privates" What? If they can't get that right, then why am I watching this for factual information?
An official guide: www.thebalancecareers.com/military-rank-history-3354123
He misspoke. Relax, it happens.
Nicely done. The Confederate and Union high command was confusing. Wonder how a supreme commander rank would look.
Id assume even more buttons(3×4, 4×3)
Confed sleeve braid having extra strip
anyone know where I can learn about the army of the republic of Texas, and the Texas Ranger divisions?
It’s kind of funny how the Confederates never adopted the “The Full Bird” as a colonel insignia.
The general ranks are not so difficult, look to the buttons on their frock coates, the pairing of them is what is important and more 'eccentric' generals like Picket did had their own design. Picket for example did not had the Austrian knot design on the sleeves ( at least on his Gettysburg outfit ) but some gold braid only on the cuffs. So, the uniform regulations where clear, also for generals but the difficulty is on the 'eccentric' side of them....like Lee, Picket, Stuart, Buford ( his uniform at Gettysburg had only 1 row of simple buttons, sort of sack coat, more difficult to see from a distance that he was a general ) and some more higher officers. Also there where major/colonels with 'strange' uniforms....so it was not the later regulations but the officers themselves made it sometimes confusing what exact rank they did hold or what department they served.
What about naval insignia?
See you guys again in a few years.
Thanks, the Confederates had me confused, but the Federal is just like it is today
you can hate the confederacy but got to admit there uniforms always looked badass and fancy then the union
Privates weren't NCOs
Thanks for the video. Short and interesting, nice.
There was way more than 7 corps in the federal army.
Yea there was like 25!
For the confederate officers to use Stars on the ranks,of Major,Lt.Colonel,and full bird Colonel.Talk about being,VAIN,and having Self Esteem and Ego Problems.
Confederates had a difference but similar
Not enough detail. No explanation of the colors of the ranks for officers, i.e., gold or silver bars, gold or silver oak leaves. Probably requires two four-minute videos, one for the union and one for the confederacy.
Omg. Other than Lee, the confederate generals look so evil 2 min Mark