Cornet (rank)
Cornet is a military rank used for junior officers. Originating in late 16th century Europe from the pennon-shaped standards of the same name carried by cavalry troops, the rank was used to refer to the junior officer who carried the standard. Cornets existed as a counterpart to ensigns in infantry units who carried the unit's colours and the rank was adopted by armies across Europe and North America. During the 19th century the rank was gradually replaced by other ranks until being completely phased out. The Blues and Royals and Queen's Royal Hussars of the British Army continue to use the rank of cornet in an informal capacity.
Origin
[edit]The rank of cornet originated from a pennon-shaped standard of the same name carried by cavalry troops in 16th-century Europe. Over the course of the century European military literature gradually began referring to the entire troop as "cornets" (the spelling "coronet" was also used) and by the late 16th century the term was also used to refer to the junior officer in the troop who carried the standard, resulting in the rank's creation. The rank existed as a counterpart to ensigns in infantry units who carried the unit's colours. Though the usage of cornet to refer to troops gradually died out in the 17th century the rank remained.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
By country
[edit]Denmark
[edit]By 1717, the ranks of Fendrich and Cornet of the Royal Life Guards were officer ranks placed in the Eight class in the Danish order of precedence, normal Fendrichs and Cornets were placed in the Ninth class.[7] The rank was reintroduced in 1910–1951 as an enlisted rank.[8]
The Netherlands
[edit]The rank Kornet in the Dutch armed forces is used for last year (most senior) officer cadets who pursue a career in the Royal Marechaussee (gendarmerie/policing), or in the cavalry and artillery branches of the Royal Netherlands Army. Cadets of the same seniority in other branches of the Army or in the Royal Netherlands Air Force are designated the rank Vaandrig and those with the Royal Netherlands Navy Adelborst.
South Africa
[edit]During the late 19th century, the rank of field cornet was used in the militaries of the Boer republics of the South African Republic and Orange Free State for the senior officer of a ward or sub-district. Field cornets were elected by the commandos of their ward for periods of three years. In the case of large wards, an assistant field cornet could also be chosen.[9] The rank was reminiscent of its use by Dutch cavalry troops that the commandos most closely resembled. In apartheid-era South Africa, the rank of field cornet was used in the South African Army from 1960 to 1968.[10][11]
United Kingdom
[edit]
Cornet was originally the lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, the modern equivalent being a second lieutenant. Although obsolete, the term is still used as an internal title of address when referring to a second lieutenant within the British Army regiments of the Blues and Royals and Queen's Royal Hussars.[13]
The rank was in use by the time of the English Civil War. Among famous cornets in that conflict were George Joyce, Robert Stetson, and Ninian Beall.[14] It was abolished along with the purchase of commissions in the Regulation of the Forces Act 1871, replaced by sub-lieutenant.
United States
[edit]General Alexander Macomb was initially commissioned a cornet in a career in which he eventually became Commanding General of the United States Army.[15]
The ranks of ensign and cornet were abolished in the United States Army in 1815.[16]
Traditional duties
[edit]The subaltern rank of cornet was the equivalent of the contemporary infantry rank of ensign; today both have been supplanted by the rank of second lieutenant. The cornet carried the troop standard, known as a "guidon".[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Mahillon, Victor-Charles; Schlesinger, Kathleen (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). pp. 170–173, "see para 1.".
- ↑ Bismark, Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von; Beamish, North Ludlow (12 November 1855). "On the Uses and Application of Cavalry in War from the Text of Bismark: With Practical Examples Selected from Ancient and Modern History". T. & W. Boone – via Google Books.
- ↑ O'Sullivan, Harold (1990). "Military Operations in County Louth in the Run-up to Cromwell's Storming of Drogheda". Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society. 22 (2): 187–208. doi:10.2307/27729697. JSTOR 27729697.
- ↑ "Definition of cornet | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com.
- ↑ "Cornet | Definition of Cornet by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Cornet". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020.
- ↑ Johnson, Samuel (12 November 1818). "A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from Their Originals; and Illustrated in Their Different Significations, by Examples from the Best Writers: Together with a History of the Language, and an English Grammar". Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown – via Google Books.
- ↑ Ilsøe, Lars. "Holberg og rangvæsenet". holbergsskrifter.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ↑ Hansen, Bert (2010). Skøtt, Ole (ed.). "Danske Uniformer 1910–1920 del 1" [Danish Uniforms 1910–1920 part 1]. Vaabenhistoriske Aarsbøger (in Danish). 55. Devantier: 124, 135. ISSN 0108-707X.
- ↑ "The Project Gutenberg e-Book of History of the War in South Africa, Vol. 1 of 4; Author: Sir Frederick Maurice". www.gutenberg.org.
- ↑ "A dictionary of South African English on historical principles". Dictionary Unit for South African English - Rhodes University.
- ↑ Duxbury, G. R. (June 1968). "Changes in Ranks and Designations in the South African Defence Force". Military History Journal. 1 (2). The South African Military History Society. ISSN 0026-4016.
- ↑ "No. 26600". The London Gazette. 19 February 1895. p. 1001.
- ↑ "The Armed Forces (Forms of Address)". Debretts. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ↑ Magruder, Caleb Clarke (1937). "Colonel Ninian Beall". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 37/38: 17–29. JSTOR 40067489.
- ↑ Bell, William Gardner, Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff, 1775–2005: Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 2006) Archived 22 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine. ISBN 0-16-072376-0.
- ↑ p.973 Tucker, Spencer C. The Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Early American Republic, 1783–1812: A Political, Social, and Military History [3 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History ABC-CLIO, 11 Jun 2014