Commissariat
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A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries.
In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary.
In some armies, commissaries are logistic officers. In those countries, a commissariat is a department charged with the provision of supplies, both food and forage, for the troops. The supply of military stores such as ammunition is not included in the duties of a commissariat. In almost every army the duties of transport and supply are performed by the same corps of departmental troops.[1]
British Army
17th century
When
18th century
After 1694 the appointment lapsed, though it was reinstated subsequently from time to time on a more geographically-specific basis, for a particular expedition,
19th century
In 1809 things began to change with the appointment of a Commissary-in-chief to superintend both the home and foreign Commissariat services. The Commissariat was still a department of HM Treasury and its personnel were uniformed civilians (though they were subject to military discipline). It now supplied food, fuel and forage for all troops, as well as certain other equipment including barrack stores. The main items outside its remit were arms and ammunition, which were the responsibility of the
After the end of the
The Commissariat raises keeps and disburses, according to fixed regulations, the whole of the funds required to carry the foreign expenditure of this country. […] An account is constantly kept open by means of the Commissariat chests between Great Britain and all its Foreign dependencies so that if a sum has to be received or paid in Canada, Australia or China for any branch of the Public Service it may be done by a transfer in the Commissariat Chest Account, without any remittance. The Commissariat officers act in effect as Sub Treasurers to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury in the foreign possessions of the Crown".[3]
Provision of food, forage and fuel for the army abroad remained a (albeit secondary) responsibility of the Commissariat at this time.
In its much reduced form, the Commissariat infamously struggled to deal with the complexities of supplying the Army during
In popular culture
In the "
Penal colonies in Australia
In the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land (now Tasmania), the Commissariat Department also had responsibility for the needs of convicts and, in the early days, provisions sold by storekeepers, as well as for military garrisons and naval victualing. This practice dated from the inception of the colony in 1788, before the colony was self-sufficient in food production. The Governors of the colonies were military men, and the administration of stores was performed by commissary officers. After 1855, the Commissariat Department only had responsibility for the provisions of military forces, the few remaining convicts, and lunatics. It was abolished, in New South Wales, in 1870 when the last British military forces departed.[4] Similar arrangements applied in the Moreton Bay penal colony (originally part of New South Wales) and Western Australia.
Soviet Army and modern Russian Army
Military commissariats of the Soviet Army and modern Russian Army is а local military administrative agency that prepares and executes plans for military mobilization, maintains records on military manpower and economic resources available to the armed forces, provides pre-military training, drafts men for military service, organizes reserves for training, and performs other military functions at the local level.
Religious usage
Roman Catholic
Among
Zoroastrians
The term is also used among Indian Zoroastrians.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Commissariat". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 774. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ a b c Roper, Michael (1998). The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964. Kew, Surrey: Public Record Office.
- ^ Thomas, Francis Sheppard (1846). Notes of Materials for the History of Public Departments. London: HMSO.
- ^ "Commissariat". Research Data Australia. Retrieved 2021-09-25.