Such words, spoken by the Bayard of India, must have been grateful to the Naval Brigade after all their toils and privations. When the banquet was over, they were dispersed among the different vessels to which they belonged. Peel and his Naval Brigade have ceased to exist, but if England should require their services other Peels and other brigades will spring up to prove that our sailors have not degenerated—that they belong to the same race and inherit the same qualities as those who in former times secured for Britannia the empire of the waves, and the enjoyment of that freedom which we still prize as our noblest birthright.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
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.” Impressed with the appearance of the hero, his importance and rank, the speaker inquires who the general officer is, and in reply will be informed “that is the quartermaster, who has just been promoted from the rank of serjeant-major.” Again, a ferocious-looking man, who, with long beard and moustache, walks (not marches) in rear of the regiment, with cocked hat and trailing sword, is neither a fire-eating general nor dashing colonel, but our kind medical friend, who looks at our tongue and feels our pulse. A quiet-looking man, in a dark frock coat, who is the least conspicuous of a group of officers, is General Sir Blank Blanco, K.C.B., the hero of so many battles.
The two principal points by which rank is indicated are the collars and sleeves of the various coattees and jackets. A crown and star, used either singly or in combination, denote three different degrees of rank. Commencing at the highest rank, viz., Field-Marshal, we will now describe the principal peculiarities of dress, so that the reader may be able to form a generally correct opinion of the rank and occupation of each member of the military service.