“That being the case, I must give you another of my military sayings. A private should be proud of his general good character. A staff-officer should lean on nothing but his merit. The major part of a captain’s duty is the care of his company. A quarter-master should do the whole of his duty, and the highest officer in the army should remember that he is but a man.”
“Capital! capital! We shall not forget that, you may depend upon it.”
“It sometimes happens that good soldiers are obliged to take up with very bad quarters. Officers themselves are, at times, very slenderly provided for—in such cases, and indeed in all others, a good temper, and a good stock of patience, are excellent things. I will give you an instance of the good temper, steadiness, and fortitude of an officer’s daughter, Miss Elizabeth Smith, when deprived of common comforts. This young lady had taught herself, with little assistance, the French, Italian, Spanish, German, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages, and somewhat of the Arabic and Persic:—she was the daughter of Captain Smith; and her mother gives the following account:—We had spent three happy weeks at the hospitable mansion of Lord Kingston, from whence we set off on horseback for our quarters, which were about twenty miles distant. During the last ten miles of the journey it rained most heavily, and without ceasing. We arrived at the barracks dripping wet; our luggage was not come, and, owing to the negligence of the quarter-master, there was not even a bed to rest on. The whole furniture of our apartments consisted of a piece of a cart-wheel for a fender; a bit of iron, probably from the same vehicle, for a poker; a dirty deal table, and three wooden-bottom chairs. It was the first time we had joined the regiment; and I was standing at the fire, meditating on our forlorn state, and perhaps dwelling too much on the comforts we had lost, when I was roused from my reverie by my daughter Elizabeth, exclaiming, ‘Oh! what a blessing!’ ‘Blessing!’ I replied, ‘there seems none left.’ ‘Indeed there is, my dear mother, for see, here is a little cupboard.’ I dried my tears, and endeavoured to learn fortitude from my daughter.”
“Very good! That young lady had a very happy temper, or she would not have been so pleased with only a cupboard.”
“I have told you of the ranks of the officers of the army only. The officers of the navy are divided into flag-officers; captains who command post-ships; commanders who command sloops; lieutenants, and sub-lieutenants. But I had better tell you how officers rank with one another in the army and navy.”
| Navy. | Army. |
|---|---|
| The Admiral-in-chief ranks the same as | Field-marshal. |
| Admirals of the red, white or blue ranks the same as | Generals. |
| Vice-admirals ranks the same as | Lieutenant-generals. |
| Rear-admirals ranks the same as | Major-generals. |
| Commodores ranks the same as | Brigadier-generals. |
| Captains of post ships, three years after commission ranks the same as | Colonels. |
| All captains of post ships ranks the same as | Lieutenant-colonels. |
| Captains not taking post ranks the same as | Majors. |
| Lieutenants ranks the same as | Captains. |
“But there are lower ranks than these: midshipmen on board ship, and sergeants and corporals among soldiers?”
“Yes, there are. The officers in a ship under a lieutenant are, the sub-lieutenant, master, second master, gunner, boatswain, carpenter, master’s-mate, and midshipman. And the officers in the army under the captain, as I have already told you, are, the lieutenant, ensign, sergeant and corporal. If you can remember all I have said, it will be a proof that you are not deficient in memory.”
“What do you mean by the admiral of the red?”
“An admiral who carries a red flag. I have said something of admirals’ flags before, but will be a little more particular now. Flag-officers are of three ranks: admirals, vice-admirals, and rear-admirals; and each rank is divided into three squadrons, distinguished by different coloured flags; so that there are, besides the admiral of the fleet, the commander-in-chief, admirals of the red, of the white, and of the blue; vice-admirals of the red, of the white, and of the blue, and rear-admirals of the red, of the white, and of the blue.”