Officer with some sort of chevron

[Tyler Underwood]

Found this image on ebay. It appears to be a colonel but what is on his sleeve?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/c-1864-Quarter-Pl-CIVIL-WAR-SOLDIER-OFFICER-w-UNUSUAL-ARM-PATCH-CROSSED-SWORDS-/221143839684?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item337d3333c4

[Phil McBride]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

I'm sorry. But was this guy a Sergeant-Colonel as opposed to a Sergeant-Major? Again, I'm sorry, but the devil made me ask.

Phil McBride
The Alamo Rifles

[4VADRUMMER]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Looks like it may be a Spanish American war era signal corps insignia. Wonder where the seller got the date of 1864 from. They don't say in the listing. Cool image never the less!

[CompanyWag]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Strange image. The colonel straps are oddly placed and look like they are merely sitting on his shoulders unattached. The frock coat is of course a line officer's rather than a field officer's. Something smells post-war to me here...but by 1872 all officers wore double-breasted frock coats. The odd, small size chevron on the single sleeve is unlike anything I'm familiar with. The seller states they are crossed swords (and appear to be) and not crossed signal flags. I hate to admit it, I'm stumped.

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

I tried to find other examples of the chevron but I haven't been able to come up with anything even close to what is shown in the image.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Hallo!



The NCO chevrons do not conform to any of the 1872 through 1888ish patterns. (Nor would a federal commissioned officer wear them.)

My guess is that he is a pre/war/post War "militia" officer. Militia or state officers are sometimes seen with star devices on their sleeves or collars, as well as sundry chevrons whose meaning or sigficance is unknown or lost in time.

Officer shoulder boards were sometimes seen, especially pre/early War, worn centered on the shoulder so that the fringed epaulettes could be worn underneath. In that case, "tabs" were attached only at the front and back.

Just a WAG....

Curt
Officer shoulder boards

[Bushrod Carter]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

My guess is that he is not military at all and could be from some little known Fraternal order.

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Thats a good possibility as well. I have seen an 1850-1860's Odd fellows apron that had the crossed swords like that.

[ScottCross]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

The image appears to be an 1/8th plate format. This format was used primarily between the late 1860s through about 1900. I really doubt that the image dates to the Civil War. I would also agree that this is a fraternal organization uniform and not military at all.

[Uncle Pig]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Could this be a case of a postwar soldier showing his brevetted rank?

Years ago I read about the confusion in the post war years where men were one rank but could still wear the uniform and insignia of the rank they were brevetted to during the war. Could this be a regular army sergeant brevetted to a colonel in the war?

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Hallo!

Possibly.

But NUG brevet rank (and status) goes up.

Curt

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

After pointing it out, I am leaning more toward Mr. Craddocks idea of being a fraternal organization. If you look at some of the insignia's that the Oddfellows used you will find crossed swords very similar to those on his sleeve. Plus I have never seen chevrons that looked like that in the U.S. military. The only thing close to it was the German Army. I could be wrong and if I am someone please correct me. Also note that even though you don't have a full view, you should at least be able to see a partial section of the chevron on the right arm and if your going to go to the trouble of putting one on, why not do both? I am not aware of any rank that only wears one set of stripes. If you check out this website http://www.remainstobeseen.com/search.php?crt=|fratern you will see that most of all the men in these pictures are wearing a military style uniform. Some of them also have the crossed swords or a sword crossed with a gaff, unfortunately none with the chevrons.


Insignia used by the Oddfellows

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Hallo!

Over time, and in other countries, the wearing of one set of chevrons (often on the left sleeve) was not unusual. Late WWI (rarely), Weimar, and WWII Germany is one.

Curt

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Curt,
Sorry, my fault, I guess I should have specified that I didn't know of only wearing one set of rank insignia that early on, but thank you for the information.

[jake.koch]

Re: Officer with some sort of chevron

Maybe he was an extra for Little Women as both the father and the future husband of the oldest daughter both sported chevrons and shoulderboards in that well researched film!