Major general Army, a major general commands a corps of 30,000–40,000 soldiers and is capable of fully independent field operation. Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, Maj. Gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparently confusing phenomenon whereby a lieutenant general outranks a major general while a major outranks a lieutenant. In the Commonwealth and the United States, it is a division commander's rank subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of
General officers in the Confederate States Army rank, all in the PACS. Divisions were authorized by the Congress on March 6, 1861, and major generals would command them. These generals were to be nominated by Davis and confirmed by the Senate. Major generals outranked brigadiers and all other lesser officers. This rank was not synonymous with the Union's use of it, as Northern major generals led divisions, corps, and entire armies. This rank is equivalent in most respects to major general in the modern U.S. Army. "Not further promoted" Evander Mclver Law was promoted to the rank of Major General on March 20, 1865; on the recommendation