BRIGADIER, a military rank conferred by Louis XIV. upon the commander of several regiments. The British copied it from the French very early and a Royal warrant of 1699 states that "the Major General of Our Ordnance within our Kingdom for the time being shall have rank and precedency as Brigadier," evi dence that the title was stabilized at that date. In fact the cor porals of the Life Guards in 1679 were commissioned officers, their rank being "eldest Lieutenants of horse" but they were generally styled brigadiers. In the French army at present a "brigadier" is a corporal (i.e., an N.C.O.). In the British service the rank of brigadier-general (held by the officer commanding a brigade of cavalry or infantry, or an equivalent staff appointment) was abol ished just after the World War, being superseded by "colonel commandant," but since 1928 "colonel-commandant" has been abolished and superseded by "brigadier." See F. Grose Military Antiquities (1812) ; J. Sibbald Scott The British Army