page_title: General officers in the United States
section_title: American Revolutionary War era
hierarchical_section_title: General officers in the United States / History / American Revolutionary War era
caption_attribution_description: Charles Willson Peale painted Knox's museum portrait in the spring of 1784, when Knox came to Philadelphia for the first national meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati. At that time, Major Pierre L'Enfant brought the Society members their newly cast medals from Paris. Knox wears his in the museum portrait in the upper left button hole.
context_page_description: A general officer is an officer of high military rank; in the uniformed services of the United States, general officers are commissioned officers above the field officer ranks, the highest of which is colonel in the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force and captain, in the Navy, Coast Guard, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps.
  General officer ranks currently used in the uniformed services are:
  One-star – Brigadier general in the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force and rear admiral in the Navy, Coast Guard, PHSCC, and NOAACC
  Two-star – Major general in the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force and rear admiral in the Navy, Coast Guard, PHSCC, and NOAACC
  Three-star – Lieutenant general in the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force and vice admiral in the Navy, Coast Guard, PHSCC, and NOAACC
  Four-star – General in the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force and admiral in the Navy, Coast Guard, PHSCC, and NOAACC
  Above these four general-officer ranks are five-star ranks, but these are generally reserved for wartime use. They are the General of the Army, Fleet Admiral, and General of the Air Force.
context_section_description: During the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress appointed general officers to lead the Continental Army. They were usually distinguished community leaders and statesmen, and several had served as provincial officers in the British Army. While there were some general officers who were promoted to the grade from lower ranks, most held their ranks by initial appointment and then with such appointment at the pleasure of the Congress, to be expired or revoked at the end of a particular campaign.
  With the exception of George Washington, the general officers at that point were brigadier generals or major generals. Their insignia was one or two stars worn on a golden epaulet. Washington was the highest-ranking officer of the Continental Army, holding the title of "General and Commander in Chief" of the Continental Army.  He wore three stars on his epaulets.
  A year prior to his death, Washington was appointed by President John Adams to the rank of lieutenant general in the United States Army during the Quasi-War with France. Washington never exercised active authority under his new rank, however, and Adams made the appointment to frighten the French, with whom war seemed certain.
  In an act of Congress on 3 March 1799, Congress provided "that a Commander of the United States shall be appointed and commissioned by the style of General of the Armies of the United States and the present office and title of Lieutenant General shall thereafter be abolished."  The proposed senior general officer rank was not bestowed, however.  When George Washington died, he was listed as a lieutenant general on the rolls of the United States Army.
  After the Revolutionary War, the tiny United States Army at first had no active duty General Officers.  When General Officers were appointed again, the highest rank in the Army was Major General, with the senior Major General on the Army rolls known as the Commanding General of the United States Army. The position was abolished at the start of the 20th century and replaced by that of Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
caption: Henry Knox in the uniform of a major general
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