SERHUD, Ind. A boundary, or frontier.
| SERGEANT, | - | |
| SERJEANT, | ||
| SERGENT, Fr. |
in war, is a non-commissioned or inferior officer in a company or troop, and appointed to see discipline observed; to teach the private men their exercise; and to order, and form ranks, files, &c. He receives the orders from the serjeant-major, which he communicates to his officers. Each company has generally four serjeants.
SERJEANT-Major. The serjeant-major is the first non-commissioned officer in the regiment after the quarter-master in the English army. He is, in fact, an assistant to the adjutant.
It is his peculiar duty to be perfect master of every thing which relates to drills; and it is always expected, that he should set an example to the rest of the non-commissioned officers, by his manly, soldier-like, and zealous activity.
He must be thoroughly acquainted with all the details which regard the interior management and the discipline of a regiment. For this purpose he must be a good penman, and must keep regular returns of the serjeants and corporals, with the dates of their appointments, as well as the roster for their duties, and rosters of privates orderly duty and commands, as far as relates to the number which each troop or company is to furnish. He is in every respect responsible for the accuracy of these details. He must look well to the appearance of the men, and order such to drill as he sees awkward, slovenly, or in any way irregular. If it be meant as a punishment, he specifies the time for which they are sent to drill: if only for awkwardness, they remain there until their faults are removed.
When he has occasion to put a non-commissioned officer in arrest, he must report him to the adjutant.
It is the duty of the serjeant-major, under the direction of the adjutant, to drill every young officer who comes into the regiment in the manual and marching exercises: he is likewise to instruct him in the slow and quick marches, in wheeling, &c.
He reports regularly to the adjutant the exact state of the awkward drill, &c.
It is scarcely necessary to observe in this place, that the good or bad appearance of a regiment, with or without arms, depends greatly upon the skill and activity of the serjeant major; and that he has every inducement to look forward to promotion.