The Colonel practically owned the Regiment he raised, and especially the first Company of it, from which he derived his emoluments. It thus became a practice for men of position to raise Regiments, first of Horse--then the nobler Arm--and later of Foot also. Such noblemen were often too busy, or too grand, to attend personally to their Regiment, and soon became mere absentees. Their Command was then gradually transferred to their _locum tenens_, the _lieu-tenant_ of the Colonel, so called because the Command of the Company, or Troop, of which the Colonel was nominally the Captain, always devolved on his Lieutenant. Thus the officer styled the _Lieutenant-Colonel_ began to act as Commander of the Regiment, as he is to this day in England. EARLIEST REGIMENTAL ORGANIZATION The origin of the modern organization of Regiments of Horse and Foot can be traced in most of its details to that of the German _Landsknecht_ Infantry and _Reiter_ Cavalry in Germany towards the end of the fifteenth century. The organization of both was nearly identical, being no doubt adapted from the Swiss, and the Italian _Condottieri_, or the English _Free Companies_, typical fourteenth-century mercenaries. The Regiment was raised as follows: A leader of distinction, the _Colonel_, selected his _Captains_; the latter raised the Troops or Companies to form the Regiment, by enlisting recruits in their districts with beat of drum and proclamation, exactly as in England for centuries later. The Captain of Horse was called _Rittmeister_ (_Reiter meister_, or _master of Reiters_), and the Captain of Foot, _Hauptmann_ (_Head-man_), as they are in Germany to this day. The Colonel chose his _locum tenens_, or _Lieutenant_, as did also each Captain. A _Fähnrich_ (_Flagbearer_) was appointed to each Troop or Company, that his flag might present a conspicuous rallying point. To the Flagbearer was attached a _Trumpeter_ in each Troop of Horse, or a _Fifer_ and _Drummer_ in each Company of Foot, so that the men could rally to the flag by sound, as well as by sight, in the confusion of battle. The flag of the Horse was triangular or hornshaped, whence it was called in French a _Cornette_, while that of the Foot was square, and termed the _Enseigne_ (Latin _Insignium_). Hence the officers who carried the flags were later designated _Cornets_ and _Ensigns_, in Cavalry and Infantry Regiments respectively. These titles for the junior Lieutenants who carried the flags survived in England till late in the nineteenth century, and it seems a pity to have replaced so picturesque and concise a designation of rank by the cumbrous and un-English term _Second Lieutenant_. There were thus, in each Troop or Company, three Officers, the _Captain_, the _Lieutenant_, and the _Ensign_, the same found in the subsequent organization of all armies.