The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-30
THE INSIGNIA OF RANK.
Meaning of Some of the Devices
Worn by STAFF Officers.

" Urn ny sum
Since the arrival of the Seventh Army
Corps in Savannah and the appearance
upon the streets of numerous officers,
commissioned and non-commissloned, pri-
vate citizens have in many instances, been
puzzled as to how to distinguish the grade
of this or that officer from the insignia
which he wears.
Among the non-commissioned officers the
distinction is not difficult A corporal
wears two ehevrons on the sleeve. a SER
geant wears three chevrons on the sleeve,
while a first sergeant has the same with
the addition Of a diamond above
A quartermaster sergeant wears three
chevrons Joined by a straight horizontal
bar, and a sergeant major three chevrons,
the lines of which continue in an arch
above. Hospital stewards wear three chew
rons of green, with a red cross.
All of the commissioned officers wear
shoulder straps, shoulder knots or epau-
lettes The knots or cpaulettes are seen
only on the fun dress uniform, while on
the uniforms seen now on the streets
every day have only the shoulder straps
On the kharld uniform, however, the in
sigma of rank is applied directly TO the
shoulder.
The shoulder strap is a small oblong
piece of cloth, bordered with gold except
in the case of contract surgeons. The
ground is white for infantry, red for ar
tillery yellow for cavalry and black for
surgeons, signal corps and staff officers.
4 second lieutenant wears simple strap
with no insignia in the field. A first lieu
tenant wears one silver bar at each end
Of the strap. A captain wears two silver
bars at each end of the strap. major
wears a god leaf similarly placed, and
a lieutenant colonel wears a silver leaf.
A colonel wears a silver eagle In the cen
ter of his shoulder strap. a brigadier gen.
eral one silver five-ponted star, a ma
jor general two such stars, and a lieu
tenant general three.
The department or corps insignia of the
various branches of the staff are in vari-
Gus designs, and are on the collars of the
officers coats. The adjutant general and
those of his department wear on the col
lar a small shield with the Stars and
Stripes. The chief surgeon and all the
medical officers wear a gold maltese cross
The chief commissary and all those of the
subsistence department. wear a silver
crescent. Thecchief quartermaster and all
quartermasters wear wheel crossed with
a sword and key, surmounted by an eagle.
The chief signal officer and the men of
his department wear a bunch of signals
with a torch between. The sign of the
chief ordnance officer Is a bursting bomb,
while all engineer officers wear a turreted
castle. The Inspector general and all the
officers of hIsadepRrtment wear a sword
surmounted By the Roman fasces, the
emblem of law within a laurel wreath,
upon which appears this motto, 'Droit ct
Avant," which, according to Davy Crock
EFT. means BE sure you are right and
then go ahead" The judge advocate gen.
eral and those of his department wear a
pen above a sword.
The emblems signifying the grades of
officers are purely conventional. They
have existed for years, and will no doubt
be used for years to come. 1t is easy to
figure out many of the department in
sigma, but there are others which are
somewhat puzzling. Even with the officers
there is some mystery about the signin-
canoe of some of these signs. 1t is easy
enough, for instance, to catch the signh-
canoe of the bursting bomb and the bunch
of signals but IL is hard to explain just
why the adjutant general should wear a
shield. The crescent worn by the COM
mlssary officers is shaped like the letter
&c" the initial letter of the name of their
department. The castle of the engineer
is a fertilization. and appertains to his
line of work The Roman fasces above
the sword as worn by the inspector gen.
eral, means that the sword must be ruled
by law The maltese cross worn by the
surgeons is taken from the Knights OF
ST. Johns of Hosptalers, 1t being the
device used by a benevolent order we'll
known in the time of the crusades.