The Louisiana Democrat., 1889-01-09
RANKS IN THE ARMY.
Tho Successive Grades from Private 81
der tn NIalor-lsanaral

The Successive Grades from Private SOL
dier to MaJor-General.
In times of peace it is not very prob
able that private soldier could be
successively promoted to the rank of a
General, but it is possible. By recent
legislation, the private soldier who
has acquired non-commissioned Off
GERS stripes and has served two years,
may, upon application, be examined
for promotion to the rank of Second
Lieutenant, and if he gets the appoint
ment, he is then in the straight line
of promotion to the highest rank.
The chances are that after thirty or
forty years of service he will not have
risen higher than Major. and by that
time he will be retired on account of
old age or disability. Yet there are
very few grades between the lowest
non-commissioned officer and the high
est commissioned officer, which is at
present that of Major-General.
Here are the successive grades, be-
ginning at the lowest: Corporal, SER
geant, Second Lieutenant, First Lieu
tenant, Captain. Major, Lieutenant
Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier-General,
Major-General.
Here are eleven steps which the pri-
vate soldier must mount before he can
reach the prize. The first three are
comparatively easy, and may be
climbed inside of three years, but there
is likely to be long wait before the
First Lieutenancy is gained.
Each rank has it's distinguishing
marks. All on-commissioned officers
wear "chevrons," which are bars on
each sleeve, sewed on above the elbow
from the outer and inner seams of the
sleeve, running obliquely down and
toward the centre, forming a V. The
color of the chevrons indicates the
branch of the service-white for in
fantry. yellow for cavalry, red for
artillery and orange for the signal
corps.
Corporals have two bars on each
sleeve. Sergeants wear three bars.
The first, or orderly sergeant, has a
lozenge, or diamond, in addition to the
bars. The quartermaster sergeant
wears three stripes and three bars
across the top The signal-corps SER
geant wears crossed signal flags on
each sleeve. The ordnance sergeant
has three stripes and star in red.
The sergeant majors chevrons have
three stripes above. forming an arc
over the stripes. A hospital steward
has green half chevron, with cadu-
ceus embroidered in yellow.
Commissioned officers wear shoulder
straps. The groundwork indicates the
branch of the service, the same as in
the chevrons. The ornaments inside
the strap indicate the rank.
The Second Lieutenant has plain
strap. The First Lieutenant has one
bar near each end of the strap. The
Captain has two bars near each end of
the strap. These three grades are
regimental officers, promotion being
confined to the regiment to which they
are attached.
The Major is the first staff officer
eligible to LieutenantC Colonelcy in
any regiment. He wears GOLDEN
broidered leaf near each end of the
strap. The Lieutenant Colonel has a
silver-embroidered leaf in the same
place.
The Colonel has silver-embroidered
eagle in the center of the strap. The
Brigadier-General has star in the
center, and the Major-General wears
two stars.
In addition to these insignia, officers
Of the medical department have the
letters NJ. S. on their shoulder straps;
officers Of the pay department, the let
ters P. D.; officers of the quartermas-
ter's department, @. d., and officers of
the commissary department, C. D.
Golden Days.