General of the Armies in chief of the Army of the [United States]". but only wore the three-star insignia of an Army lieutenant general. As of 1782, when Washington was listed as a lieutenant general on the rolls of the United States Army, his rank was informally called "three-star general". The United States at this point had no four-star general rank and would not until 1866. At that time, the European rank of captain general was shortened to simply "general"; there would also be no lieutenant generals in the American army until Winfield Scott was "brevetted" to the rank of lieutenant general in 1855.
Major general (United States) and took command of the Union forces, he used the three-star insignia formerly assigned to that position. The Confederate States Army maintained a similar rank of major general, usually associated with the command of a division, while lieutenant generals often commanded corps and full generals led armies as a general convention. There was no major general in the U.S. Marine Corps until Commandant Charles Heywood was specially promoted by Act of Congress in July 1902. From his retirement on October 3, 1903, brigadier general was again the highest rank in the Marine Corps until May 21, 1908, when the rank