Cornet (officer)
The cornet ( traditional German spelling Cornet , French cornet , English cornet , derived from Latin Cornu , "horn", "(army) wing") was the youngest officer in the cavalry in the 17th and 18th centuries . During the battle and on parade he carried the unrolled cornette , that is, the standard of the squadron . Subordinate to him was the standard junker (this officer candidate carried the rolled-up standard, among other things during long marches).
Equal rank to the cornet in Germany and in many other countries were the ensign ( infantry , dragoons ) and, in the artillery, the sub-lieutenant , sometimes also the junker (the latter only if he was not merely established as an officer candidate).
In Germany, at the beginning of the 19th century, in many places, based on the French model, the rank was renamed to Unterleutnant or Second Lieutenant.
Cornet in other armed forces
In the kingdom of France was Cornet of the lowest officer rank of light cavalry, dragoons, hussars and hunters on horseback. There he ranked immediately below the lieutenant or sous-lieutenant . The Cornet corresponded in function to the guidon , the lowest officer of the heavy cavalry, but ranked behind him.
In England, the Cornet was from the English Civil War (1642-1649) to 1871 the youngest officer in the entire cavalry, with the exception of the Horse Grenadier Guards (grenadier guards on horseback; there the guidon ranged between lieutenant and sub-lieutenant ). In the Horse Guards (guards on horseback), the cornet and guidon were established together, with the cornet placed in front of the guidon (in reverse of French custom!). In the heavy cavalry ( horse ), the cornet led the standard (originally a pennon shortened to a cornet , later of rectangular shape), in the light cavalry (dragoons etc.), however, the guidon, slotted at its free end like a dovetail .
The rank was abolished in the British armed forces in 1871 . Only with the Blues and Royals (Guard Cavalry) and Queen's Royal Hussars (Hussars of the Queen), the name Cornet is still used today. He ranks with the lieutenant (OF-1).
The term was also used in the Swedish, the Tsarist Russian armed forces and the American Continental Army .
In the Austrian Armed Forces of the Second Republic, the second year at the Theresian Military Academy held the rank of cornet for a while (first year: cadet, third year: ensign). Before and after this time, all three cohorts held the rank of ensign.
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Johann Georg Krünitz: Economic Encyclopedia , 1773-1858, p. 338
- ^ Johann Georg Krünitz: Economic Encyclopedia , Vol. 50, 1773-1858, pp. 425 ff.
- ↑ GENDARMERIE DE FRANCE ET MAISON DU ROI after "(Lucien) Mouillard: Les régiments sous Louis XV (Paris 1882)"
- ^ THE GENTLEMAN'S AND LONDON MAGAZINE, Dublin 1766, p. 426
- ^ [Clifford Walton: History of the British Standing Army, London 1894, p. 409 u. P. 458]