Editing Sergeant major (section)

==History==
In 16th century Spain, the {{lang|es|[[sargento mayor]]}} ("sergeant major") was a [[general officer]]. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in the army's command structure; he also acted as a sort of [[Chief of staff (military)|chief of staff]] to the army's commander.

In the 17th century, sergeant majors appeared in individual [[regiment]]s. These were [[field officer]]s, third in command of their regiments (after their [[colonel]]s and [[lieutenant colonel]]s), with a role similar to the older, army-level sergeant major (although obviously on a smaller scale). The older position became known as "[[sergeant major general]]" to distinguish it. Over time, the term "sergeant" was dropped from both titles, giving rise to the modern ranks of [[Major (rank)|major]] and [[major general]].

The full title of sergeant major fell out of use until the latter part of the 18th century, when it began to be applied to the senior non-commissioned officer of an infantry [[battalion]] or cavalry regiment. At about this time, the U.S. and British histories of the title diverge, with the [[American Revolutionary War]].