With every regiment there are, besides the medical officers, a Quartermaster and a Paymaster. The Quartermasters wear the dress of their regiment, but wear also a cocked hat, this being the insignia of what is termed the Staff of an Army, viz., of General Officers, Aides-de-Camp, Surgeons, Quartermasters, Adjutant-Generals, &c. The Paymasters also wear the dress of their regiments with cocked hats, the Quartermaster’s hat having a white cock’s feather five inches long, mushroom shape, with red underneath, whilst the Paymasters wear no feathers. The waist-belts are black for both these departments.
In almost all the Cavalry Regiments, including the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, the ranks are distinguished as follows—
All Field Officers have a row of embroidery round the collar and cuffs, whilst those below that rank have none. A Full Colonel has a crown and star in silver at each end of the collar, with embroidery; a Lieutenant-Colonel a crown only, with embroidery; a Major, with star and embroidery; a Captain, crown and star; Lieutenant, crown; Sub-Lieutenant, star. The Veterinary Surgeon has a cocked hat with a red feather.
We next come to a long list of Staff Officers, among whom are Adjutant and Quartermaster-Generals with their Deputies, Assistants and Deputy-Assistants, Brigade Majors, Military Secretaries, Aides-de-Camp, Staff of Garrisons, &c. The general principles of these dresses are the same. The tunic is scarlet or blue, edged round with gold cord; on each side of the breast four loops of the same cord with caps and drops.
The ranks of Staff Officers are distinguished by the knot on the cuff and the crown and star. All the Staff wear the cocked hat, the general form of feather being upright, with white and red swan feathers.
In many cases officers of the rank of General or Field-Marshal are Colonels of particular regiments. The present Commander-in-Chief, for example, being Colonel of the Royal Artillery. 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 principle by which to remember this, however, is to deduct from General the prefix, and the remainder indicates the rank thus, deducting Lieutenant from General we have a larger remainder than if we deduct Major.
Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel come next; then Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, and Cornet or Ensign.
A Second Lieutenant takes precedence of a Cornet or Ensign.