The Paducah daily sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1896-1898, 1898-09-14
MILITARY TITLES.
Meaning and Origin Of the Various
Distinctions.

To begin with the military unit,
private is an adjective that has be-
come a noun. Originally the man in
the ranks was a private soldier The
word soldier has been dIoppcd for
bI,yity's sake, and now the man with
the gun is simply private.
The rank and file il what the pri-
waite belongs to. 4 rank is a line of
men standing side by side; file is g
llne OF men standing one behind an
other. The trent Of file is always
one man; ito depth may b. any num-
Der. When men are formed into two
ranks a file consists Of two men. The
nnk aud file, therefore, constitute
the body Of force of soldiery.
The title Of the lowest noncommis-
stoned officer is corporal. He has
charge Of squad, posts and relieves
sCntrios and has certain disciplinary
control in camp and barracks. Ser
geant (which is properly pronounced
sarcnO is appointed TO preserve dis
cipline, teach the drill, command de-
tacsmgnts Of escorts and the like.
The lowest grade Of commissioned
officer is lieutenant, and the title
comes from French lieu, place, and
tenant from the Latin tcnrns, hold.
ing \ lieutenant, therefore, is one
who holds or supplies the place Of
his superior in the performance Of
any duty or 10 his absence, and conse.
qu,u;ly the officer is one who acts for
hi- captain. In England the word is
always pronounced lcft-terant-ob.
yiously a corruption of the French
pronunciation.
The title Of captain, as applied to
the commander Of a company, il from
the Latin caput, head. In the Bible
the title was given to kings or princes,
generals or commanders Of armies,
governors Of provinces, etc, and
Shakespeare used it in the sense Of
chief commander.
Major is the title of the officer next
in rank above a captain. lie com.
manls a battalion. The word is com.
pounded with the titles Of certain
noncommissioned officers to show
that they are chiefs Of their ranks, as
sergeant major, drum major, etc.
\ lieutenant colonel is an officer
who holds the same relationship TO
colonel that a lieutenant holds to q
captain. In some European armies
the lieutenant colonel is the actual
commander of the regiment, the
colOnelcy being honorary. For cxa.
pie, Queen Victoria and the prince Of |
Wales are honorary colonies Of Ger.
t@isa -sssisasnts iu tio ao,n,an army
Colonel was originally coronel, and
was introduced into English from the |
Spanish about the middle of the six |
tenth century.
With each regiment are a number |
of staff officers, commissioned and |
nOncommissioned. A commissioned |
officer is one TO whom the head of |
the national or state government has
given a document comforting upon
him authority TO perform the yariou.
Of his rank. A noncom
company officer holds hi.
place by appointment OF the com.
pany commander with the approval
Of the commander Of the regiment
a member Of the nOncommissioned
staff is appointed by the regimental
commander.
a very important commissioned Of.
fcer Of the regimental staff is the adj.
iutant, whose title comes from ad.
lutans, the present particle of the
Latin verb adjutare Ito assist, and
whose province it is to aid his com.
in the discharge Of the detail.
If his military duty. The records Of
he regiment are in his charge, he re.
,eiyes the returns from company
commanders receives and communi.
'atcs orders, forms the parades, etc
Ills duties are multifarious, and he il
the busiest officer of a regi
nent if he performs them all faithful.
y. In England the adjutant was for.
nerly called the aid major.--St, Louis
;.ar. II