Mestre de camp
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Mestre de camp (corresponds approximately to a colonel or colonel) was a rank in the military of the Ancien Régime in France . He replaced the "Brigadier" , which was only introduced on June 8, 1657 at Turenne's request .
The rank was divided into three classes:
- Mestre de camp commandant ( Colonel and regimental commander )
- Mestre de camp en second - also Mestre de camp-lieutenant (colonel or lieutenant colonel and deputy regimental commander). He led the regiment when the actual Mestre de camp z. B. was the queen, as in the Régiment la Reine Cavalerie
- Mestre de camp à la suite (assigned or surplus lieutenant colonel )
Since 1569, the service of a regimental commander of the cavalry and infantry was referred to as Mestre de camp . When the rank of " Colonel général " was abolished in the infantry in 1661 , the Mestre de camp there took over the name "Colonel". This was valid until 1730, then the old name was reintroduced, which lasted until 1780, then Colonel until 1793 (who was replaced by the Chef de brigade in the years 1793 to 1803 ). The next higher rank was the Brigadier des armées du roi .
The first company of the infantry regiment was personally run by the regimental commander body company and was called la Mestre de camp (after, or ever as Compagnie colonelle ), respectively.
The cavalry regiments, however, remained under the command of a Colonel général and were commanded by their Mestres de camp until the Revolution . The first company of the cavalry regiment was the personal company led by the regiment commander personally and was known as la Mestre de camp .
Even if the position of the Mestre de camp was to be filled by older and more experienced soldiers (according to the “Èdit du mois de mars 1600”), the bad custom of the time was to sell the commanders' posts. I.e. a regiment that had become vacant was not necessarily assigned to the better man , but to the man who, regardless of experience, age or military training, had better financial possibilities.
The rank of mestre de camp was not always tied to a noble origin (Arrêt du conseil du 4 juin 1668), which was more of a theory.
After the introduction of badges of rank, these consisted of epaulettes with gold or silver cantilles (the Mestre de camp à la suite only had an epaulette on the left shoulder).
During the French Revolution , the Mestre de camp was replaced by the Colonel in 1791 and by the Chef de brigade from 1793 to 1803 .
The 2nd e régiment de cavalerie of the French cavalry was temporarily called "Régiment Mestre de camp géneral". However, this was not an owner-related honor.
The military history of Spain knows the comparable rank of maestre de campo , which was introduced by Charles V in 1536.
literature
- Pierer's Universal-Lexikon , Volume 11. Altenburg 1860, p. 175.
- Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais , Dictionnaire encyclopédique de la noblesse de France , Paris, 1816.