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Thread: NCO swords

  1. #31

    USA General of the Army

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    Quote Originally Posted by Extracrispi View Post
    Sorry to resurrect a month-old thread but does anyone here know the Confederate Army's rules were for NCO swords (when they were available that is)? What was the lowest and highest rank permitted to wear them and the like.

    Being as how the CSA Military Organizations rose from the U.S. Military Organizations, they adopted pretty much everything from their experiences as U.S. military members. Their Ordnance Manual, their Regulations, etc., were exact copies of the Federal versions, with minor changes when mentioning governments in force at the time.

  2. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by A. P. Hill View Post
    Being as how the CSA Military Organizations rose from the U.S. Military Organizations, they adopted pretty much everything from their experiences as U.S. military members. Their Ordnance Manual, their Regulations, etc., were exact copies of the Federal versions, with minor changes when mentioning governments in force at the time.
    I take it that it you would generally wouldn't see lower-ranked NCOs like corporals and mere sergeants (as opposed to senior NCO such as 1st Sergeant or Sergeant Major who reported directly to an officer and were thus, an extension of his authority) wearing them then?

    Asking because I found this Dan Nance painting featuring a Confederate Army corporal wearing a sword and trying to figure out whether he's infantry or cavalry. He's wearing black service colors so he could be either.

    confederate corporal pack.jpg
    Last edited by Extracrispi; 10-20-2017 at 07:24 AM.
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  3. #33
    WoR-Dev GeorgeCrecy's Avatar
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    That would most definitely be cavalry, perhaps one of the Virginia cav units, though black was a popular trim color for several states and branches, as you were mentioning. He is also wearing the M1860 Light Cav Saber, in no relation to the NCO Sword. He is also carrying in hand the iconic 1859 McClellan saddle, so that was an immediate dead giveaway!

    And as a fuller answer than was already given, AP Hill mentioned it perfectly in that most of the regulations of the two sides were nearly identical short of a few details, which does include regulations regarding which NCOs received the sword or not. In practice, as with most things regulation, it actually varied. I have heard tell of a few photographs where little old corporals are wearing them, though I have not seen them personally so take such stories with a grain of salt. Most of the time however, the only SGTs that would really bother with the sword would have been the SGT Majors, as their job was less front line and more beaureaucratic, rather than necessarily needing to take part in the actual fighting as most SGTs did.
    Last edited by GeorgeCrecy; 10-20-2017 at 08:27 AM.

  4. #34

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    I should have realized that was a saddle he was carrying. How silly of me.

    I've also seen a few post-war artists' depictions of corporals wearing swords. Although artists, even during the war, tended to take "creative liberties" with the events being depicted. Hence all the lithographs with Confederate soldiers wearing clean and identical uniforms (when they would have been filthy from weeks of marching without rest and wearing uniforms of varying type and quality).

    Corporal_Artillery_CS_Army.jpg
    Last edited by Extracrispi; 10-20-2017 at 07:05 PM.
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  5. #35
    WoR-Dev GeorgeCrecy's Avatar
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    In that picture, that is an example of an artilleryman, and all ranks of light artillery were permitted to wear the light artillery saber, as he does. Note I said light artillery, as there was a difference between light and heavy artillerymen.
    However, very few really bothered with them or were issued them, as the theory of their being used to help defend the artillerymen didn't bear out in practice with all the modern arms available.
    On a different note, light artillery officers were the only ones I have found to have (on rare occasion) worn the shoulder knot in the Civil War, the same sorts of knots that really came into vogue from about 1880 through WW1. I just thought that was rather neat.

  6. #36

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    I personally want to see flag bearers with a sword or at least a dagger or bayonet, maybe a melee mode for the flags?

  7. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by Migs View Post
    I personally want to see flag bearers with a sword or at least a dagger or bayonet, maybe a melee mode for the flags?
    devs said they are not going to give a flag bearer a weapon. hence the reason for a color guards
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  8. #38

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    I believe at one point they were given to senior NCO's as an alignment tool. Not sure how much they were actually used in the field.

  9. #39

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    Would be cool to see such a thing
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  10. #40

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