General-in-chief military forces in the field, as the generals-in-chief did in the 19th century. The rank of "General of the Armies of the United States" was conferred upon General John J. Pershing in 1919 and to Lieutenant General George Washington (posthumously) in 1975 by acts of Congress. Washington's date of rank was retroactively dated to 1799, so that he will always be the senior ranking general of the United States Army. (American general ranks and titles may be a little confusing; however, as reference is cited the public domain information of the Center for Military History of the United States Army
Major (France) rank of Major also designated the general officer () in charge of maintaining the materials and security of a port or naval base, the position was known as the "Major" General of the Arsenals (). In a squadron, the Squadron Major (), was a general officer as Ship-of-the-line captain, and upheld the function of the general staff headquarters of the squadron. The actual organization of the Armies instituted, first in the military hierarchy, a "function" (not a rank) of "Major General" for the ensemble of the Armies or each one of the: Major General of the Armies (), Major General