Rotamaster ("Ride master" or "Cavalry master") was the military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in charge of a squadron (a troop in the United States), the equivalent of O3 or Captain, in the German-speaking armies, Austro-Hungarian, Polish-Lithuanian, Russian and some other states.[1][2] The exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spellings in different languages:
The Dutch equivalent, Ritmeester, still serves as the official designation for officers in the cavalry branches of the Royal Dutch Army.[3]
The Norwegian equivalent, Rittmester, still serves as the official designation for officers in the armoured and mechanized infantry branches of the Norwegian Army. In Sweden the rank was known as Ryttmästare, and in Denmark (until 1951) as Ritmester.
The Polish army also used (from the 15th century to the mid-20th century) a similar rank, Rotmistrz, which commanded a rota. The Lithuanian name was rotmistras. In earlier times the rotmistrz served as the commander of an infantry or cavalry company, though sometimes he would temporarily be assigned field-grade tasks commanding an entire regiment or even a larger formation. In the cavalry the rank continued until 1945 as a company-grade title. Applied to the commander of a troop, it was equivalent to a modern-day Captain.
The rank was also adopted into Russian New Regiments as rotmistr (ротмистр) and later legalized in Table of Ranks as the cavalry position; in 1798, a lower-ranking Stabs-Rittmeister was created.