Does "the cornet of horse" mean a knight/rider? [closed]

Solution 1:

As Matt hasn't expanded his comment into an answer, I will. In dictionary.reference.com, sense 8 of cornet is

(formerly) the officer who carried the colors in a troop of cavalry: the cornet of horse.

Thus, “the soft and amorous Louisa” (a woman) and a cavalry officer (a man) were the first couple of the ball. As Felix Goldberg commented, “cornet here is meant as a subaltern rank”; wikipedia says:

The subaltern rank of Cornet was the equivalent of the contemporary infantry rank of ensign, today’s Second lieutenant in each [service]. The cornet carried the troop standard, known as a “cornet”.

A related meaning of “cornet of horse” is given in wiktionary:

(obsolete) A troop of cavalry; so called from its being accompanied by a cornet player. [eg] A body of five cornets of horse (Clarendon)

In the latter example, sense 3 of horse applies:

(military, sometimes uncountable) Cavalry soldiers (sometimes capitalized when referring to an official category). [eg] We should place two units of horse and one of foot on this side of the field.