The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-11-12

far as relates TO their nomenclature
are peculiar, There. for instance, n,
one ever speaks Of private or ~
enlisted man" In the cavalry; the lat
ter term Is never used In any arm o
the Queens service. and the former |,
replaced, In speaking OF cavalry, 10y
trooper Again the prematurely Ell
Client youngstar ~ fourteen In the
Llncers who distinguished himself NJ
Elandslaagte by shooting three Boers
with his little revolver would probably
srlilc. perhaps be seriously annoyed al
seeing himself described, as he was, IN
the dispatches as "huglcr''; there are
neither bugles nor buglers to blow
them In a British cavalry regiment,
hut trumpeters and trumpets, and the
distinction Is not by any means merely
verbal; any one with the least eer can
tell the difference In sound between the
general salute" played at inspection
by the snare drums and bugles " an
infantry regiment and that played by
the kettledrums and trumpets " u
cavalry regiment. even II he does not
happen to know the difference bctween
the two regulation tunes.
But the greatest number ot lnac'
eurRcles and Commissions which have al
ready appeared In dispatches have
been in the regard 10 the titles OF the
commissioned officers. and the blunder-
ers are not without ample excuse, The
Americans who has had the pleasure ot
meeting Major Blank. OF Her MaJcsty's
Blankshlre Regiment, and then turns
up the Blankshlre Regiment In Brit
lsh Army List. Is likely to b. somewhat
surprised TO find his acquaintance
Blank among the captains, He CtheI
Americ1n) wiz hardly be- enlightened
by the little M In italics after the
name The true explanation is that
Blank is a full major In the army. but
only captain In his regiment I'M
something the same way the unpostcd
an, liable TO mystihcation by the intri-
cacles OF local rank" To take an
example. the victor of Glenooe Was a
colonel In the army when he command
ed in that engagement but owing tol
the exigencies OF the campaign, being
appointed to the command of division,
he took the theoretical rank of COM
general. Having |
been promoted, h. now becomes u ma
jor general In the army, and many |
civilians. even among the countrymrn
OF Sir William Symons. will be pug
zled to understand how that gallant
officer can have been promoted from
the higher rank Of lieutenant general
to that OF major general which Is next
below II.
But the greatest and most frequent
sntanglem ents occur at the very top
II the list The commander-in-chirf
5 a field marshal and lord, and both
lignities constitute stumbling blocks
o the scribe. At once since the be-
,innng OF this African unpleasantness
4ord Wolseiey has been printed Gen
raj Lord Garnet wolseley. Field Mar
hal Commander-ln-chi As mat.
er OF fact. he Is not Lord Garnet
and not general. Lord !
iarnet WoIseey" could only nt a
son Of marquis or a duke
Is for general. captain promoted 1
o b. q major in the army may remain q
captain In his own regiment. and J
many generals are colonels OF regi- :
1ents, but a major general promoted 4
0 be lieutenant general ceases to be- j
major general. and full general pro-
noted to be field marshal ceases 10 BE-
general So Lord Wolseley ceased =
} be a general more than Ave years 4
60 The difficulty in this case appears .
D be in understanding that field mar n
hal is a distinct grade In the British .
rmy, Just as much as captain or col :
mel. 1t is 50. although there are only :
Ight field marshals In the army all =
Did, and two Of those--the Prince Of r
gales and the Duke Of Cambridge r
rlnces Of the royal blood.