Daily AncestorFirst sergeant
A first sergeant, also called an orderly sergeant, was the senior noncommissioned officer of a company, ranking above its other sergeants.
A Civil War company had four or five sergeants, and one of them served as first sergeant, the company's most senior enlisted man under its captain and lieutenants. The army treated first sergeant and orderly sergeant as separate pay grades from 1833 until they were combined in 1851, so older records use both terms.
As seen in a recordCivil War compiled service record card
Promoted 1st Sergt. Apr. 1, 1863
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Daily Ancestor. "First sergeant." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/first-sergeant. Last checked 2026-10-03.