Major general (United States) fact that at his death George Washington was officially listed as holding the rank of lieutenant general, rather than full general, and it was regarded as improper for an officer to hold a rank equal to or superior to Washington's. To address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976. The position of Major General Commanding the Army was entitled to wear three stars according to General Order No. 6 of March 13, 1861. When Ulysses S. Grant was appointed lieutenant general on March 9, 1864,
Major general French Army, Major General (in full "Major General of the Army", "Major général de l'armée de terre") is a position and the major general is normally of the rank of corps general. Historically, the French army had some "sergent-majors généraux", also called "sergents de bataille", whose task was to prepare the disposition of the army on the field before a battle. These "sergents-majors généraux" became a new rank, the "maréchal de camp" (not the same as a field marshal, in the French Army from antiquity called a "Maréchal de France"), which was the equivalent of the rank of major general.