Major general (United States) and two of artillery commanded by a brigadier general. The rank of major general was abolished in the U.S. Army by the Act of March 16, 1802, and restored by the Act of January 11, 1812, as preparations were being made for the War of 1812. Major general has been a rank in the U.S. Army ever since. Until the American Civil War, major general was the highest rank that could be attained by an officer in the U.S. Army, though Winfield Scott had been given the brevet rank of lieutenant general in 1855. This was a consequence of the
General of the Armies "six-star general" and "general of the armies". When MacArthur died in 1964, proponents for his promotion petitioned both the Army and Congress to grant a posthumous promotion to General of the Armies, and even went so far as to obtain a vote of neutral support from Harry S. Truman (meaning he would neither support nor attempt to scuttle the promotion). In 1965, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Personnel contacted the Institute of Heraldry and requested the feasibility of creating a six star general insignia in the event that MacArthur was in fact posthumously promoted. At the same time,