Corporal of the field explained

Corporal of the field is a former military rank.

The rank is mentioned in William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost and Ben Jonson's The New Inn. The rank was formerly of an officer in one source equivalent to a "captain of horse"^[1] or a brigade major^[2] or aide-de-camp^[3]

A corporal of the field served as an aide to a staff officer or sergeant major.^[4]

Notes and References

1. p. 240 Longman, T. The Plays of William Shakspeare: In Fifteen Volumes. With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators. To which are Added Notes, Volume 5 William Shakespeare T. Longman, 1793
2. p. 190 Yule, Henry Fortification for Officers of the Army and Students of Military History (Google eBook)1851
3. p.581 Shakespeare, William The Stratford Shakspere: The Tempest. Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Merry Wives of Windsor. Measure for Measure. Comedy of Errors. Much Ado About Nothing. Love's Labour's Lost (Google eBook)C:Griffin & co., 1867
4. p.74 Estes, Kenneth W. & Heinl, Robert Debs Handbook for Marine NCOs Naval Institute Press, 1996