NCO Warrant of Rank

[Raymond]

According to both US and CS Army Regulations, each non-commissioned officer was issue a Warrant to certify his rank.

The revised US Army Regulations of 1861 state under no. 80: "Every non-commissioned officer shall be furnished with a certificate or warrant of his rank, signed by the colonel and countersigned by the adjutant. Blank warrants, on parchment, are furnished from the Adjutant-General's office. [...]" The CS Army Regulations of 1861 state the same under no. 76.

What did such a blank look like?

I have not been able to find an original in the online collections of MHS, MOC, LOC, nor in Kautz' books which provide most forms. M.A. Schaffner in his School of the Clerk (2007 edition) gives a Sutler Warrant based on the text of an NCO Warrant, but does not include that original. That is as far as I got. Any help is appreciated!

[Jeremy Bevard]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank

Sullivan Press has these and it looks just like an original that own from a corporal in the 30th Michigan.

[Scott Sheets]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank

I've got an original sergeants warrant from an Illinois Sergeant at home. I'll grab a picture if it tomorrow. The Sullivan press one looks pretty good. We've been talking about filling them out for our guys in the future. I've never seen a Confederate one, though I would love to see one.

[Raymond]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank

Thank you, Jeremy and Scott for your replies. A photo of one of your originals would be of great help!

I would also be interested to know the paper size and the text used on the certificate.

As in your case, Scott, I would like to reproduce warrants for members in our group.

[Scott Sheets]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank



Ok, here's my original Sergeants Warrant. It measures 14x10", due to fading it's pretty hard to read the hand writing on it. If I can find a large enough scanner I'll can it so you can see the text better. Drop me a PM if your interested in a .pdf I have of a slightly different version.

[Raymond]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank

That looks great, Scott. Thanks for sharing!
It is difficult to see what parts of the text are hand-written and what parts are printed. A (university) library could help you digitizing it to high resolution without damaging the material.
What kind of paper is it made of? Is it parchment as required by the Regulations?
It surely was a treasured possession of the Sergeant, judging by the need folds and the state it is in.

[Raymond]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank

So far, I have not been able to obtain the text of an NCO Warrant. The photos that have been generously shared sadly do not allow for reading the words. Could anyone help?

I am trying to make a few hand-written ones for our Early War Confederate impression, when printed forms were scarce.

[4vaadjutant]

Re: NCO Warrant of Rank

Raymond: For decades I have been producing replicas of original Union and Confederate Army forms, including NCO Warrants. (Replicas are produced from templates made using the same typefaces as originals according to original dimensions, and on appropriate paper as the originals.) Please feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more about the NCO Warrants I produce.

Your ob't servant,
Tom Williams
4th Virginia Infantry
Indianapolis