British infantry battalions during the Napoleonic Wars normally comprised ten companies, each commanded by a Captain. Up until the 25th of May 1803, three of those Captains also ranked as Field Officers; that is Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Major.

Whilst the most senior of these, the Colonel, was of course the commanding officer of the Regiment he normally exercised that function in a purely administrative sense and rarely clapped eyes on it. Indeed in the majority of cases he was a superannuated General officer 'given' his regiment as a reward for past services. Generals as we shall see were only paid as such whilst actively employed and so were dependent to a very great degree upon the pay and perquisites attaching to their regimental rank.

Less commonly encountered was the Lieutenant Colonel Commandant. As his title implies, this officer was indeed expected to command his regiment. This particular rank was initially granted to officers of newly raised regiments and in the recruiting boom of the 1790s it was in fact common for the prospective raisers of new corps to be successively granted the rank of Major Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Commandant or Colonel Commandant according to their success in recruiting their regiments. In more stable times, however, the rank could also be given to the officers in actual command of the several battalions making up the 60th (Royal American Regiment), and occasionally other multi-battalion corps as well.

While both the Lieutenant Colonel and Major generally spent far more time with their battalions than the Colonel himself, holding down two jobs at once was clearly undesirable. Regulations forbade both officers to be absent on leave at the same time, but all too often this was interpreted as carte blanche for one or other to be absent at any one time, leaving the other in sole charge. Moreover in wartime it was equally likely that one of the two field officers might be serving in a staff appointment or commanding a detachment or post. As early as 1725 Colonel Henry Hawley had suggested that the service would benefit from the field officers being deprived of their companies and a first step towards this came on the 1st September 1795 [2], when the establishment was also increased to two Lieutenant Colonels and Majors to each battalion.

This at first produced something of an anomaly in that the number of companies in the regiment was not correspondingly increased. Consequently the senior Lieutenant Colonel and senior Major in each battalion at first retained command of their respective companies and the "emoluments" which came with them, while the new appointees had only their Field Officers' pay.

The final step was only taken in a War Office circular dated 27th May 1803 [3] which stated that; "in future each Troop and Company throughout the Army shall have an effective Captain, and therefore that the Colonels, First Lieutenant Colonels, and First Majors, in the respective Regiments, shall no longer have Troops or Companies;"

By way of compensation those officers deprived of their companies were to continue to receive their pay as Captains and an additional £ 20.00 per anum to cover the customary "emoluments".

Rather more excitingly three additional Captains were added to the establishment in order to take over the vacated companies -- incidentally abolishing the now redundant rank of Captain-Lieutenant in the process.

Captain

The Captain was of course the backbone of the service as far as the commissioned ranks were concerned and his sphere of command and responsibility could often spread far beyond his company. He might be required to take command of a detachment comprising several companies, a wing of his battalion or even the whole battalion in the temporary absence of all the Field Officers. He could also be promoted to Field Rank by brevet, though this usually came about through his appointment to extra-regimental duties.

Until 1803 the Colonel's company was actually commanded on a day-to-day basis by his Captain-Lieutenant. This individual occupied an ambiguous position in that he was theoretically no more than the senior Lieutenant in the regiment and paid accordingly, but in practice he normally enjoyed both the status of junior Captain and the courtesy of being addressed as such, just as a Lieutenant Colonel is invariably addressed as Colonel. He was, moreover, rewarded for his not inconsiderable pains when he received any subsequent promotion, in that his seniority as a fully fledged Captain was accounted from the date of his earlier appointment as Captain-Lieutenant rather than the actual date of his promotion to the higher rank.

The Lieutenant, as his title suggests, was second in command of the company. Flank Companies - Grenadiers and Light Infantry - boasted Second Lieutenants as well, but otherwise there was originally only one to each company (including the Captain-Lieutenant).

However for most of the period there were two Lieutenants in the ordinary battalion companies as well. It was a rank easily attained since the difference between a Lieutenancy and the lowest commissioned rank of Ensign was comparatively negligible, but it was much less easy to climb out of it and not surprisingly Lieutenants appear to have formed the most numerous class of officers on the Half Pay lists.

The most junior commissioned officer in a company was the Ensign. Fusilier regiments had a Second Lieutenant instead although beyond the fact that their commissions were slightly more expensive to purchase, this appears to have been little more than a terminological distinction. Given the absence of formal training or qualifications for the post, the average Ensign was probably more ornamental than useful but the rank was an essential first step in a military career - officers transferring from Fencible or Militia units could not normally carry over their existing rank, but had to enter the regular army as Ensigns.

Cavalry regiments were similarly organised with six, or occasionally up to eight Troops (in place of companies), each again commanded by a Captain, Lieutenant and, in place of the Ensign, a Cornet.

Guards

The Guards, quite naturally had their own rank structure. All Field Officers in the Footguards ranked or rather were breveted as General officers and similarly all Captains were styled "Captain and Lieutenant Colonel", the former being their regimental rank and the latter their Army rank - a point further confused by several being full Colonels by brevet. Lieutenants similarly ranked as Captains in the Army and only Ensigns were considered on a par, militarily if not socially with their counterparts in the line.

With the exception of the Blues, who were organised like any other regiment of Horse, the mounted Household units at first boasted an even more arcane rank structure, comprising three troops of Lifeguards and three troops of Horse Grenadiers, and perusing the Army List one could easily be forgiven for wondering whether they employed more officers than troopers. The rest of the army certainly thought so and on the whole tended to be quite rude when referring to them.

However a massive shake-up in 1788 placed them on a more conventional footing, re-organised into the 1st and 2nd Lifeguards. Both the new regiments had a conventional rank structure saving only the addition of a supernumerary Lieutenant Colonel and Major in each, and the curious insistence that the Adjutant should always be a Lieutenant.

In addition to these company grade or line officers in each infantry battalion or cavalry regiment, whether belonging to the Household troops or the Line, there were a certain number of what are generally referred to as regimental (as distinct from general) staff officers; Surgeon, Chaplain, Quartermaster, Paymaster and Adjutant.

More Officers and Gentlemen Part I

Part I: Introduction
Part I: Regimental Officer Structure
Part I: Surgeon, Chaplain
Part I: Quartermaster, Paymaster, Adjutant, Agent
Part I: Staff Officers