Dear Lina, The British Army in those times sold positions of rank for Officers to the aristocracy. I believe the purchaser had to be approved by the Colonel of the Regiment concerned. The officer had to provide his own horse, uniforms, tailor made of course, servant, weapons and the accoutrements that went with it. The quality of these Officers left a lot to be desired when it came to combat, they might have been the ants pants in the social aspects of things but they cost many a 'tommy' his life because of their stupidity, arrogance and general lack of common sense. Several events spring to mind, the Charge of the Light Brigade, the withdrawal from Afghanistan in the 1800's, the Indian Mutiny, Isandlwana. The term vice followed by a name indicates the person being replaced. The following explanation may help. You supplied, 17 Rgt of Lt Drag-Brevet Major J Lawrence to be Major, by purchase, vice, St. Quentin. Translation 17th Regiment of Light Dragoons - Brevet Major J Lawrence to be Major (Brevet - rank given to an officer as an honorary position, without the corresponding pay. Lawrence would have been paid as a Captain.), by purchase (he got the money together to pay for his Majority), vice (replacing) St.Quentin. The changes of rank for all officers where gazetted and you can believe this was a very popular read amongst the officers. Also in your email in the same section there is an instance of a gentleman being promoted from that illustrious position to Cornet. Cornet equates to todays rank of second Lieutenant, pronounced 'Lefttenant' in the British and Australian armies and 'Lootenant' in the American. I think I would prefer to be Left than a Loo. Hope I have not been stating the obvious to you Lina, but I got the impression that the double speak of military aphorisms had left you in the dark, a bit. If any of the above helps, enjoy. Best Regards Paul Kinney >From: [email protected] >Reply-To: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Subject: AUS-MILITARY-D Digest V03 #16 >Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 11:00:01 -0700 > ><< message2.txt >> ><< message4.txt >> ><< message6.txt >> ><< message8.txt >> ><< message10.txt >> ><< message12.txt >> ><< message14.txt >> ><< message16.txt >> _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus