From: COWAN@ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu (Paul L. Cowan)
Subject:  Re: USA Rank Limitation (was Re: Flag Officers)
Organization: Pacific-Plate Residents (Motto: 54-40 or Bust!)
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 22:19:37 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.24

In <1992Oct15.143040.9081@NOC.Vitalink.COM> roy_wells@qm.vitalink.COM writes:

:   pan2765@seas.gwu.edu (Crazyman Pan) writes...
:  
:  >I was not aware of the limitation by Congress upon the Union Army that the
:  >highest rank be Major General.  It seems peculiar, since Ulysses S. Grant
:  >was promoted to Lieutenant General (the next higher rank than MG), the 
:  previous
:  >Lt.Gen having been George Washington.
:  
:  I know this was stated in Ken Burns' series, but I have a book at home 
:  with an 1861 photo of 
:  General Winfield Scott wearing 3 stars.  Is it a mislabeled photo, or was 
:  this another Ken Burns 
:  error?
:  

Ken Burns was correct and the photo was also. Winfield Scott held the rank
of Lt. Gen by brevet, i.e. his promotion was not authorized by Congress
(presumably in deference to Washington) but he exercised authority as if he
held the rank (and perhaps his pay was increased?) He was also entitled to wear
3 stars.

Determining the rank of a Union army officers is fraught will pitholes.
Some held one rank in the regular Army and a different one by brevet.
There were also distinctions between the rank held in the volunteers vs. 
that held in the regulars.

"General" Custer was one of several young West Point grads that Meade promoted
by brevet from Captain to Brig. Gen. in one step (just before Gettysburg).
By the end of the war he had been breveted to Maj. Gen. I believe his actual 
rank at his death was Lt.Col. (having just been promoted from Major).
Nevertheless he was entitled to the prefix "General" by virture of his 
Civil War brevet.

Congress, in their own inimitable fashion, has circumvented the problem of
promoting people past Washington by simply giving him posthumous promotions.
He is currently either a 6-star or 7-star General (don't remember the official
name). By law he is the only person who will ever be entitled to that rank,
but thay've said that before.

This is getting far afield, but Congress promoted General Pershing while he 
already held the rank of General (4-stars) to a specially created rank of 
"General of the Armies" which they reserved for him alone (and Washington?) 
                ^^^^^^plural
I don't know if he wore 5 stars. Later, during WW II Congress created the 
new rank of "General of the Army" which is the 5-star rank held by McArthur, 
Eisenhower, etc.            ^^^^ singular

To get back to the subject, R.E. Lee was also promoted by the CSA Congress 
to a newly created rank of "General in Chief" while he was already a full
General. I have no idea whether this involved any new insignia.

I wonder whether U.S. Grant has had any posthumous promotions. (To 5-star?)


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
P. L. Cowan     Please send replies, comments etc. (no flames thank you) to 
COWAN@ANL.GOV  (I'm posting from my own account, but not the preferred one)
        "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is a War Room!"
from _Dr._Strangelove_or:_How_I_Learned_to_Stop_Worrying_and_Love_the_Bomb_
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.war.civil.usa