| Ranks, Insignias and Pay |
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Ranks have always existed in the military. Someone has to be in charge. Most soldiers start out as a Private. Some work their way up the ladder of command. Uniform insignias help soldiers tell who is who on the battlefield and which branch of the service they were in. Each rank has its own pay rate. Confederate soldiers had slightly different insignias and pay.
The chevrons were different colors to indicate which branch of the military each soldier was in. Red was for Artillery, yellow indicated Cavalry, blue was for Infantry and green indicated the soldier was a Sharpshooter. When it came to the officer's insignias, the four stars for General was not actually used. Ulysses S. Grant was the first full General since George Washington, but he never wore the insignia during the war. Generals Sherman and Sheridan were promoted to four star Generals after the war.
During the Civil War, a Union Private was only paid 13 dollars per month, while a Southern Private was only paid 11 dollars per month. In comparison, a modern private is paid 1,274 dollars per month. During the Civil War, Northern troops were supposed to be paid every two months, but were lucky if they were paid every four months. Confederate troops were lucky if they were paid every six to eight months.
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