# Field cornet

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{{Short description|South African military or municipal rank}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Abo-f2.jpg | thumb | right | alt=Portrait photograph of a middle aged Caucasia male in a suit. He has a full beard and moustache. The inscription below the image includes his name and his date of birth and death. | Generaal [Koos de la Rey](/source/Koos_de_la_Rey) was a field cornet at one stage]]
'''Field [cornet](/source/cornet_(rank))''' ({{Langx|af|veldkornet}}) is a term formerly used in [South Africa](/source/South_Africa) for either a [local government](/source/local_government) [official](/source/official) or a [military officer](/source/military_officer).

The office had its origins in the position of ''veldwachtmeester'' in the [Dutch Cape colony](/source/Dutch_Cape_Colony), and was regarded as being equivalent to a sergeant. The British administration enhanced its importance with the term field cornet, making it equivalent to an officer's rank.

The term was used for a [civilian](/source/civilian) official in a local government district (''[drostdy](/source/Landdrost)'') of the [Cape Colony](/source/Cape_Colony), acting as and invested with the authority of a [military officer](/source/military_officer) and empowered to act as a [magistrate](/source/magistrate).<ref name=DSAE/> The field cornet was subject to the [landdrost](/source/landdrost) of the district and acted as his representative. As such, a field cornet performed important functions in administrative, [judicial](/source/Jurisprudence) and [police](/source/police) matters. In addition, in peacetime the field cornet was the head of the [militia](/source/militia), was responsible for maintaining law and order in his area, and was tasked with supervising the handover of postal items on arrival in his district.<ref name=DSAE/>

The term later came to denote a [military rank](/source/military_rank) equivalent to that of a [lieutenant](/source/lieutenant) in the [Boer](/source/Boer) [armies](/source/army) as well as in the [South African Army](/source/South_African_Army) between 1960<ref name=DSAE/> and 1968.<ref name="Duxbury 1968"/><ref name=SESA/> A [second lieutenant](/source/second_lieutenant) was referred to as an ''assistant field cornet''.<ref name="Duxbury 1968"/>

The term '''field cornet''' replaced the word '''adjutant''' in the [commando](/source/commando) organisation in 1968.<ref name="Duxbury 1968"/>

== References ==

<references>

<ref name=DSAE>
{{cite web
 | title = A dictionary of South African English on historical principles
 | url = http://dsae.co.za/#!/word/2373/field+cornet%2C+n.+phr.
 | publisher = Dictionary Unit for South African English - Rhodes University
 | accessdate = 29 December 2014
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Duxbury 1968">
{{cite journal
 | last = Duxbury
 | first = G. R.
 | title = Changes in Ranks and Designations in the South African Defence Force
 | journal = Military History Journal
 | date = June 1968
 | volume = 1
 | issue = 2
 | url = http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol012md.html
 | accessdate = 29 December 2014
 | publisher = The South African Military History Society
 | issn = 0026-4016
}}
</ref>

<ref name=SESA>
{{cite book
 | last = Van Jaarsveld
 | first = F.A.
 | title = Standard Encyclopædia of Southern Africa, 12 volumes
 | date = 1970–1976
 | publisher = Nasou Ltd
 | location = Cape Town
 | volume = IV
 | pages = 488
 | quote=The title of field-cornet disappeared finally as a civil office and was replaced by ‘justice of the peace'. In 1960 the military rank was restored and took the place of lieutenant, to denote an officer of a particular rank in the South African army, but only in the land forces. The former second lieutenant now became assistant field-cornet.
}}
</ref>

</references>

Category:Military ranks of South Africa

{{SouthAfrica-mil-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Field cornet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_cornet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_cornet?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.