Joseph E. Johnston a right to assert it. Having been educated in such opinions, I naturally determined to return to the State of which I was a native, join the people among whom I was born, and live with my kindred, and if necessary, fight in their defense." He was initially commissioned as a major general in the Virginia militia on May 4, but the Virginia Convention decided two weeks later that only one major general was required in the state army and Robert E. Lee was their choice. Johnston was then offered a state commission as a brigadier general, which he declined,
Commander of the Army (Sri Lanka) late as the 1960s. Brig. Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness was the first Commander of the army of independent Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Since the 1980s serving army commanders have by convention been of the rank of Lieutenant General who are promoted to the rank of full general after taking the responsibilities of the Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff. But some commanders were promoted to full general after retirement or posthumously, e.g. Denis Perera, who was promoted to full general in 2007 after 26 years of retirement in recognition to his service. The official residence of