Originally posted by rhony2
So since the lowest commanding officer rank is Colonel, these units are supposed to be Regiments? BTW, anyone know when the Colonel rank came into being?
The Colonel rank was originally Spanish. The first Spanish 'standing army' was based on the Burgundian model of Charles the Bold, formed infantry into 100 man companies with mixed weapons (pikemen, sword/buckler men, crossbowmen, arquebusiers, etc). These troops were divided into 'Colunelas' or Columns, originally of about 600 men each, by 1505 standardized at 1000 to 1500 men. In that year 20 permanent Colunelas were established as regular infantry for the Spanish forces. Each Column was commanded by a 'Coronel', which is the origin of the rank Colonel. Later, around 1530, three colunelas were amalgamated into a Tercio of around 3000 men.
Virtually all the modern ranks from Colonel up appear first in the EU period. 'Brigadier' appeared as a rank to command several regiments in a Brigade. Generals commanded wings or armies, and had assistant generals called Lieutenant General and Sergeant-Major General, later shortened to Major General. The medieval functionary who marshalled or formed the force on the battlefield became the Field Marshal, in European countries the highest military rank below the king himself.
Just to completely confuse the issue, note that the Brigadier in the British Army is not a general rank, but in the US Army he is a one-star Brigadier General while in the French Army he was at the end of EU times, a General de Brigade. In the Germanic states a Colonel General rank developed, while the number of stars-equivalent for a major or lieutenant general is not the same in the US, Russian, British, or German armies. At least it's little better than the late medieval period, when everyone below the Marshal was a Captain, and actual authority depended on their noble title, not military 'rank'!
I don't know really but the highest ranked oens gets the command.
