Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-11-09
MILITARY OFFICERS.
THE VARIOUS RANKS FROM
CORPORAL TO GENERAL.
ONLY FOUR AMERICANS HAVE so FAR
SUCCEEDED IN OBTAINING THE
HIGHEST MILITARY TITLE.

was n private soldier. The word soldier
has been dropped, for brevity's sake, and
now the man with the gun is simply a
private.
The rank and file is what the private
belongs t. A rank Is line OF men stand
ing side by side; file is line of men
standing one behind another. The front
of file liz always one man; its depth may
be any number When men are formed in
two ranks n file consists OF two men. The
rank and file therefore constitutes the body
of u force of soldiery.
Tho title of the lowest noncommissioned
officer is corporal He has charge of u
squad. posts and relieves sentries and has
certain disciplinary control in camp and
barracks Sergeant (Which is properly
pronounced sargcnD is appointed to pre-
serve discipline teach the drill, command
detachments Of escorts and the like
The lowest grade of commissioned off
GERS is lieutenant, and the title comes from
the French lieu, place, and tenant from
the Latin tcHensl, holding. A lieutenant
therefore is ono who holds or supplies the
place of his superior in the performance OF
any duty or in his absence and conse-
quently the officer is one who acts for his
captain
The tide captain, applied to the COM
mander % company is from the Latin
caput "a Lead In the Bible the title WAS
given to kings or princes, generals or COM
manders OF armies, governors of provinces,
etc, and Shakespeare used 1t In the sense
of a chief commander.
Major is the title OF the officer next In
rank above a captain. He commands
battalion. The word is compounded with
the titles OF certain noncommissioned Off
oh hat ha oh Of
their ranks as sergeant major, drum ma
jor, etc.
lieutenant colonel Is an officer who
holds the same relationship TO n colonel
that a lieutenant holds to a captain. In
some European armies the lieutenant col
oncl Is the actual commander OF his rcgi
mcnt, the colonelcy being honorary. For
example, Queen Victoria and the Prince
of Wales are honorary colonies of certain
regiments in the German army.
Colonel WAS originally coronel and was
introduced into English from the Spanish
about the middle of the sixteenth century
With each regiment are u number OF
staff officers, commissioned and noncom-
misSioncd i com ni>sioned officer is one
to whom the head of the national or state
government has given u document cen
ferriug upon him authority to perform tho
commissioned company officer holds his
place By appointment ot tue company com
mander with she approval ofthe com
mander of the ,<intent, tacntber OF tho
noncotntHissioIrs s. stan Is apRolnted 10y the
reginieutat COMMANDER.
\ very III tatrt.uJ commissioned oiliee.
of the rc1tu4ou,.i staff j. the adjutant,
whose title caHrs from adJutaas the pres
ent Yarticfple 81 the LatJn verb adjutare
{to assist arr, whose prov incc 1t is tn aid
his commander IN the discharge of the de
tails OF his military duty The records Of
the regiment are In his Charge he re
ceives the returns from company com
manders, reserves and communicates or
dcrs, forms he farhtit, etc. His duties
are multitari5ts, aud lie Is altogether the
busiest ot'ie,r0 - a regiment If he performs
them all faithfully.
The functions Of the rcgincntal com.
missariat il. the United states army are
divided between the quartermastor and
the cumUtissarv OF subsistence These off
GERS are usually iike the adJutaut. lieu
tenants The Quartcrnastcr furnishes
TRANS pUrtatian, quarters clothing and
camp and garrison cqaiFaEc, fuel, horses,
forage and ,'ahling, and the commissary
of Subsistence prov food supplies. a
quartcrnaei,r is literally an officer In
charge OF the housing Of troops Head
quarters l. naturally the quarters OF the
head or conn anding officer Of IA company,
battalion, regiment, brigade, division
corps army and may be in the field or
elsew here
The uuHeuH5Elissioneds staff includes the
sergeant MAJOR, who i an assistant TO the
adjutaHt, the quartermastcr sergeant and
commissary sergeant, assistants to the
b,,
tai steward, assistant n the surgeon. etc.
Officers atoFo The rank Of colonel are
called general officers. The holder OF a
general cumiuie sion c;,,He Ia be called u
general, aud general commissions We're in
course of time granted to officers lower in
rank than u commander in chief
brigadier general ranks next above cot
oncl and commands q brigade a major
general is Tho next step higher and nlay
command IA division, u corps, an army or
a department. 4 MAJOR general Is the
highest permanent rank in our army. In
the British AID German armies, however,
major generals are the lowest permanent
general officers and in action usually com
nand brigales In modern European
armies the specific rank uf general Is tsUai-
ly subordinate to u marshal or field mar
shall In this country it is the highest
military rank attainable
The president is titular commander in
chief OF the armies of tho United states,
but tho rankhf general has been conferred,
under temporary laws only, upon four
American oflirurs-Washington Grant,
sherman and short time before his
death, in 1855, Sheridan The rank OF
lieutenant general is, like that Of general,
honorary and conferred by act OF congress.
1t has been held by Washington, Grant,
Sherman aud Sheridan and is now held by
Schofleld who is ON the retired list. Gen
eral Scott was only brevetted lieutenant
general.
The United states army has at Wash
ington an adJutant general, aquartermas-
ter general, Il paymaster general, com
missary general, a surgeon general, an in
spector general, judge advocate general
,.Li- 4