Military rank

“ He says, “Rank in the line of the army is conceived to be rank in a military body specially organized for the exertion of physical force, or in other words, for combating an enemy; and an officer in such a body has a direct and paramount command over the troops which compose it. The expressions ‘rank in the line of the army,’ ‘rank in the line,’ ‘lineal rank,’ are generally used in contradistinction to staff appointments.” ”

“ THE VARIOUS RANKS IN THE BRITISH ARMY, AND HOW TO DISTINGUISH THEM.
The civilian is often wofully puzzled when trying to make out the rank of a military man in uniform. He sees a venerable, soldier-like man, in scarlet or blue, marching beside a body of men. This personage is crowned with a cocked hat with white plumes, with all the pomp of sword, &c., and is immediately selected as “the General.” ”

“ To bow in meek submission to the uneducated authority of the civilian, or to the soldier whose record was such as not to command the respect of his fellows, was the lot of thousands of intelligent and brave soldiers, the superiors in all respects, save that of military rank alone, of these self-same officers ”

“ Local, State, civil and militia rank held by persons not in actual military service will not be recognized, the basis of exchange being the grade actually held in the naval and military service of the respective parties. ”

“ These ranks being fixed and known, we can now compare the staff and civil branches of the army with them. The great advantage of “rank” to the civil branches is not merely the position, but the power of choosing quarters in garrison, cabins on board ship, &c., before officers who are junior in rank. No nominal rank allows any person except a regular officer to have any military command; thus, if an Ensign were on board ship with troops, as also an old Surgeon and Paymaster, the Ensign would command the troops, though the Surgeon and Paymaster both rank as Captains. ”

“ Rank and grade are synonymous, and in their military acceptation indicate rights, powers, and duties, determined by laws, creating the different degrees of rank, and specifying fixed forms for passing from grade to grade and when rank in one body shall give command in another body; and also when rank in the army at large shall not be exercised. Rank is a right of which an officer cannot be deprived, except through forms prescribed by law. When an officer is on duty, the rank itself indicates his relative position to other officers of the body in which it is created. ”

“ I would then style them, and cause them to act as chiefs of engineers or artillery, and which rank they should hold for the same number of years as lieut.-colonels commanding regiments, when, like them, they should become major-generals; and enabling them also to take advantage of the retirement from the country, and of the system to be proposed for the military fund, these accomplished officers, if they thought fit to remain upon the effective list, could become available for staff or any other appointments the same as other generals, and at the same period of life. ”

“ The military hierarchy is determined and consecrated within its sphere of action by grades of rank created by military laws, by other laws regulating the exercise of rank, by military insignia, by military honors, and by the military oath. ”

“ Rank, is a straight line made by the soldiers of a battalion, or squadron, drawn up side by side: this order was established for the marches, and for regulating the different bodies of troops and officers which compose an army.
Doubling of the RANKS, is the changing one rank to two, by telling off the files, one, two, one, two, &c. and by the word, even files to the rear double; this method is frequently used in the manœuvres of a regiment.
Rank and file, men carrying the firelock, and standing in the ranks, are called rank and file. ”

“ Rank in its military sense is the character or quality bestowed upon the men of the military and naval services which carries with it the eligibility to exercise command or authority over other members of the services within the limits prescribed by law and regulation. ”

“ By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure. ”

“ Delighting in military exercises and outdoor sports, he grew tall, strong, and well proportioned, and at nineteen was chosen adjutant-general with the rank of major, to inspect and exercise the militia of his district. ”

“ If, upon marches, guards, or in quarters, different corps of the army shall happen to join or do duty together, the officer highest in rank of the line of the army, marine corps, or militia, by commission, there on duty or in quarters, shall command the whole, and give orders for what is needful to the service, unless otherwise specially directed by the President of the United States, according to the nature of the case. ”

“ And as the major, in the discharge of this honourable and important duty, would be afforded numerous opportunities of bringing his military acquirements under the eyes of his superiors, it is obvious that he could not be appointed to a situation better calculated to bring him into notice in that quarter, towards which the eyes of all those who look forward to rank, and honours are continually bent. ”

“ The Army may be regarded, in consequence of the small number of the rank and file in each company and regiment, as little more than a nucleus around which to rally the military force of the country in case of war, and yet its services in preserving the peace of the frontiers are of a most important nature. ”

“ Many men have not had the advantages of others before they enter the ranks, and for them to have the same chances of promotion post-schools are provided, each with a competent instructor, and under the charge of a commissioned officer.
On becoming a corporal some increase of responsibility is given our young soldier. He must wear as an indication of his rank two V-shaped stripes upon his arms and a narrow one down each trousers leg, of the color of the service insignia—red for artillery, yellow for cavalry, white for infantry. ”

“ The corps is the true unit for grand campaigns and battle, should have a full and perfect staff, and every thing requisite for separate action, ready at all times to be detached and sent off for any nature of service. The general in command should have the rank of lieutenant-general, and should be, by experience and education, equal to any thing in war. ”

“ From the false maxim, that the second rank, if they are shorter men, cannot fire over the front, the lesser men are ranged in the first, and the taller in the second rank through the whole army of the United States, and this produces a great eye-sore. ”

“ In the army and navy, there are hierarchical ranks from the Marshal to the private or bluejacket which bind together the whole for purposes [42] of command, and there are the gradations of seniority within the same rank. The junior must obey the senior; the inferior must take orders from the superior, who transmits them to Our direct command; and inferior and junior officers and men must pay respect to their superiors and seniors, even though they be not their direct superiors and seniors. ”

“ Besides a reinforcement of numbers, the excellence of French troops, that perfect discipline and order in the corps already sent, which have so happily tended to improve the respect and confidence of the people for our allies, the conciliating disposition and the zeal for the service, which distinguish every rank, sure indications of lasting harmony, — all these considerations evince the immense utility of an accession of force to the corps now here. ”

“ The ranks are closed; the void is filled without haste, disorder, or confusion.
Nothing could be more beautiful, nothing could be more magnificent than a regiment of the line advancing for a bayonet charge upon the enemy. Search the ranks; examine one by one these soldiers blackened with powder, try to find the foot-soldier you have seen lounging about the shop windows in large cities, with his shako on the back of his head. The lounger of yesterday is the hero of to-day. Now, danger illumines every face; courage, like an aureole, shines resplendent on every brow. ”

“ The above are the five grades of higher officers. To all intents and purposes, no nation has more than four of these five ranks, while France and the United States, the great republics, have only two. The correspondence between rank and functions cannot be exactly laid down, but in general an officer of the rank of lieutenant-general commands an army corps and a major-general a division. Brigades are commanded by major-generals, brigadier-generals or colonels. Armies are as a rule commanded by field marshals or full generals. ”

“ When this is the case, and any duty specially concerning Artillery is carried on, it is usual for an officer not to attend in the dress of a General or Field-Marshal but in that of the Colonel of the regiment to which he belongs.
RANKS.
Next to Field-Marshals come Full Generals. After a General comes a Lieutenant-General, and then a Major-General. The civilian usually makes a mistake in the relative rank of these two officers; for as a Major is higher in rank than a Lieutenant, so he considers a Major-General must be higher than a Lieutenant-General. ”

“ The room was crowded by officers of every rank and arm in the service. The old, gray-headed general of division; the tall, stout-looking captain of infantry; the thin and boyish figure of the newly-gazetted cornet,—were all there; every accent, every look that marked each trait of national distinction in the empire, had its representative. ”

“ In the Army and the Marine Corps all commissioned officers, line and staff, have positive rank in the several grades, and it is customary to address them when communicating orally with them by the name of the rank they hold, the variations being that all General Officers (Generals, Lieutenant Generals, Major Generals and Brigadier Generals) are commonly addressed as “General,” that Lieutenant Colonels are addressed as “Colonel,” and that all subalterns (First Lieutenants and Second Lieutenants) are addressed as either “Lieutenant” or as “Mister.” ”

“ We discovered from the Commander afterwards that the whole army consists of officers, very few of them below the rank of Major-general. They are inordinately proud of their medals, and quite amazingly inefficient. ”

“ To-day, generals commanding armies rather search for honour in the field of duty—duty accomplished, orders obeyed. These simple formulæ have always been the watchwords of the soldier-unit, whether that unit be a man, a platoon, a company or a regiment. Now, with the limitless increase in the size of armaments, a unit may well be an Army Corps, or even a combination of Army Corps, and the highest aim of the general officer commanding such a unit must be—as of old—fulfilment of duty, obedience to orders. ”

“ Most of the officers in the American army and navy, and most of the rank and file, had probably entered the service with no expectation of ever shedding the blood of men. The navy and army were looked on as instruments of peace ”

“ Basic soldiers hold the ranks of private and private first class. Conscripts serve their entire tours as privates unless they acquire a speciality or are put in charge of a small group. Corporal is the lowest noncommissioned-officer rank. ”

“ Proud of the gallant officer who had won the daughter whom she loved so tenderly, she still believes, in the depths of the boundless mother-love, that no man can quite surpass her soldier son.
THE END. FOOTNOTE
[A] By act of Congress, officers may be addressed by the title of the highest rank held by them in the volunteer service during the war. The colonel always punctiliously so addressed his friend and subordinate, although in the army his grade was simply that of first lieutenant. ”

“ They have taken the matter into their own hands; they have brought themselves into order of battle and line, without the word of command from any political leader. Here they stand, with front rank, and rear rank, and rank of file-closers in position, with bayonets at a charge. ”

“ No one could ever hope to find a more thorough Fusilier than the man who went to sleep on guard and let a calf eat his clothes off. Such conduct deserved most distinguished regard, as an encouragement to the Fusiliers. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General of the Battalion, the highest rank in our corps. ”

“ Thus encouraged they made essay of their strength on the ranks of the regular army, and were fortunate enough to be able to add to their Society no inconsiderable number of associates, both of the rank and file, and of officers. ”

“ It is ordained that in the event of a gallant and daring act having been performed by a squadron not under 50 in number, or by a brigade, regiment, troop, or company in which the admiral, general, or other officer commanding such force may deem that all are equally brave and distinguished, and that no special selection can be made by them; then in such case, the admiral, general, or other officer commanding, may direct, that for any such body of sailors or soldiers, one officer shall be selected by the officers engaged for the decoration ”

“ Sir Evelyn Wood bears evidence that “in tactical skill, officers of all ranks have improved to a very great degree; but the improvement in military spirit, in eagerness to learn, and to submit cheerfully to great physical discomforts is even more remarkable, and this spirit reacts naturally on the lower ranks.”
The armament of all arms is altering. In the cavalry the front ranks of all heavy and medium regiments are armed with the lance, as well as sword and carbine, and only the hussars retain the two latter for both ranks. ”