New to the collection is this carte de visite of two Union comrades flanking a column. Both men wear the chevrons of a sergeant on their uniform; the soldier on the right has a diamond at the inner angle of the chevron, which indicates that he is a first sergeant. Selected by the company captain, a first sergeant was the ranking non-commissioned officer in a Civil War company. It is his job to receive orders from the captain and be sure they are carried out.
This image is now available on Pinterest, Tumblr, and Flickr: