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 general is the army rank of "generale di divisione". In the army, the "generale di divisione" is the commander of a division. Because no brigadier-general rank is used in Japan, major-general is the rank of brigade commander. For this reason, the French are represented in the manner as and some countries, such as Brazil and Chile, follow it also words of some countries of the Italian and Spanish, and the like. In the past, "rikugun-shōshō"(陸軍少将) in the Imperial Japanese Army was equivalent to major-general, in the current,"rikushōho"(陸将補) in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and "kūshōho"(空将補) in the Japan Air Self-Defense