This list is for people who held general officer rank (including, after 1946, Brigadier General) in the regular Hellenic Army since 1828. It does not include the numerous generals of the irregular troops appointed during the Greek War of Independence, unless they also received a general rank in the post-war regular army. This list is not complete – please add to it if you know of any omissions.
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Prince Andrew | 1882 | 1944 | Commander of II Corps (1921–22), V Corps (1922) |
General | King Alexander | 1893 | 1920 | Held the rank of General as King of Greece (1917–20) |
Lieutenant General | Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos | 1918 | Chief of the Central Intelligence Service (1965) | |
General | Odysseas Angelis | 1912 | 1987 | Chief of the Armed Forces (1967–73), Vice President of the Republic (1973) |
General | Dionysios Arbouzis | 1912 | 1987 | Commander of the Greek Battalion in Korea and ELDYK, Chief of the Armed Forces (1974–76) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Bakopoulos | 1889 | 1950 | Commander of Eastern Macedonia Army Section (1941) |
Major General | Georgios Bakos | 1892 | 1946 | Commander of 3rd Division (1940–41), Defence Minister in the collaborationist government (1941–43) |
Major General | Kostas Botsaris | 1792 | 1853 | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence, Senator |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Anastasios Charalambis | 1862 | 1949 | Chief of the Army Staff Service (1917), Commander of II Corps (1918), Prime Minister, Minister of Military Affairs (1922) |
Lieutenant General | Aristeidis Chasapidis | 1875 | 1941 | Commander of 10th & 8th Divisions, II Corps. Chief of the Army General Staff (1935–36) |
Major General | Nikolaos Christodoulou | 1863 | 1924 | |
General | Richard Church | 1784 | 1873 | British military officer, commander-in-chief of the Greek forces during the last stages of the Greek War of Independence, Secretary of Military Affairs (1835) Senator |
Field Marshal | King Constantine I | 1868 | 1923 | Lt. General as Crown Prince and Inspector-General of the Army until 1913, commander-in-chief of the Greek Army in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the Balkan Wars. General and soon after Field Marshal as King of Greece (1913–17, 1920–22) |
Field Marshal | King Constantine II | 1940 | Held the rank of Field Marshal as King of Greece (1964–73) | |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Damianos | 1853 | 1915 | Commander of 3rd Division (1911–13), IV Corps (1914–15) |
Lieutenant General | Panagiotis Danglis | 1853 | 1924 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1912), Commander of V Corps (1913–14), member of the "Triumvirate of National Defence", leader of the Liberal Party |
General | Ioannis Davos | 1918 | 2008 | Commander of III Corps (1973–74), Chief of the Army General Staff (1974–76) and the Armed Forces Command (1976–80) |
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Delagrammatikas | 1853 | 1938 | Commander of 6th and 8th Divisions (1912–13) |
Lieutenant General | Panagiotis Demestichas | 1885 | 1960 | Commander of I Corps (1940, 1941), V Corps (1940–41), Interior Minister in the collaborationist government (1941) |
Lieutenant General | Dimosthenis Dialetis | 1869 | 1954 | Chief of the Greek Gendarmerie (1928) |
Major General | Kimon Digenis | 1871 | 1945 | Commander of 13th Division (1920–21) and II Corps (1921–22) |
Lieutenant General | Viktor Dousmanis | 1861 | 1949 | Chief of the field staff in the Balkan Wars, Chief of the Army General Staff (1914–16, 1921, 1922) |
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Douvas | 1947 | Chief of the Army General Staff (2004–06) | |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Dovas | 1898 | 1973 | Chief of the National Defence General Staff (1954–59), interim Prime Minister (1961) |
Lieutenant General | Markos Drakos | 1888 | 1975 | Commander of Epirus Army Section (1941) |
Lieutenant General | Antonis Drosogiannis | 1922 | 2006 | Deputy and Alternate Minister of National Defence (1981–86), Minister of Public Order (1986–88) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major General | Athanasios Exadaktylos | 1869 | 1936 | Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Service, Chief of Staff of the Interior Army (1921) |
Lieutenant General | Joseph-Paul Eydoux | French Army general, head of the French military mission (1911–14) | ||
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Evangelos Florakis | 1943 | 2002 | Commander of II Corps (1999–2000), and the Cypriot National Guard (2000–02) |
Lieutenant General | Frangoulis Frangos | 1951 | Chief of the Army General Staff (2009–11), Minister for National Defence (2012) | |
Lieutenant General | Athanasios Frangou | 1864 | 1923 | Commander of 1st Division (1920–22) and of the "Southern Group" (August 1922) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Ioannis Gennimatas | 1910 | 1981 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1964–65) |
General | King George I | 1845 | 1913 | Held the rank of General as King of Greece (1863–1913) |
Field Marshal | King George II | 1890 | 1947 | Held the rank of General, and from 1939 of Field Marshal, as King of Greece (1922–24, 1935–47) |
Lieutenant General | Dimitrios Giatzis | 1891 | 1964 | Commander of 9th Infantry Division (1945), I Corps (1946–47), First Army (1947), Chief of the Army General Staff (1947–49) |
Lieutenant General | Solon Gikas | 1898 | 1978 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1954–56), Minister for Public Works (1958–63), Minister for Public Order (1974–76) |
General | Phaedon Gizikis | 1917 | 1999 | Commander of First Army and Military Commander of Athens during the Regime of the Colonels, President of the Republic (1973–74) |
Lieutenant General | Stylianos Gonatas | 1876 | 1966 | As a colonel, one of the leaders of the 11 September 1922 Revolution. Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government (1922–24), Senator and President of the Senate, Minister for Public Works. Awarded the rank of Lt. General by the National Assembly in 1924. |
General | Dimitrios Grapsas | 1948 | Chief of the Army General Staff (2006–07), Chief of the National Defence General Staff (2007–09) | |
General | Agamemnon Gratsios | 1922 | 1993 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1976–80), Chief of the National Defence General Staff (1980–82) |
Major General | Neokosmos Grigoriadis | 1879 | 1967 | |
General | Georgios Grivas | 1898 | 1974 | Cypriot-born officer, leader of the royalist Organization X, leader of EOKA against British rule in Cyprus (1955–59), awarded the rank of General in retirement by the Greek Parliament. Held active rank as commander of the Cypriot National Guard (1964–67), leader of EOKA B against Archbishop Makarios (1967–74) |
Lieutenant General | Theodoros Grivas | 1797 | 1862 | |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Emmanuel Han | 1801 | 1867 | |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Hatzianestis | 1863 | 1922 | Commander of the Army of Asia Minor (May–August 1922). Tried and executed as responsible for the Asia Minor Disaster in the Trial of the Six. |
Major General | Christos Hatzimichalis | 1866 | Commander of II Corps (1922–23) | |
Major General | Christodoulos Hatzipetros | 1798 | 1869 | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence, aide-de-camp to Kings Otto and George I |
Major General | Christos Hatzipetros | 1873 | 1945 | |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major General | Dimitrios Ioannidis | 1923 | 2010 | One of the leaders of the Regime of the Colonels, head of the Greek Military Police (1967–73). De facto dictator from November 1973 until the junta's overthrow in August 1974, when he was forcibly retired. Tried and convicted of high treason to life imprisonment. |
Lieutenant General | Dimitrios Ioannou | 1861 | 1926 | Commander of the Archipelago Division (1916–18), I Corps (1918–19), Smyrna Army Corps (1919–20) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Stylianos Kalfelis | 1950 | Inspector-General of the Army (2006–09) | |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Kallaris | 1858 | 1940 | Commander of the 2nd Division (1911–13), I Corps (1914), Minister of Military Affairs (1916) |
Major General | Dimitrios Kallergis | 1803 | 1867 | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence, one of the leaders of the 3 September 1843 Revolution. Minister for Military Affairs (1853–55). |
Lieutenant General | Andreas Kallinskis-Roïdis | 1868 | ||
Lieutenant General | Spyridon Karaiskakis | 1826 | 1899 | Minister for Military Affairs (1875–76, 1878, 1880, 1882), MP |
Lieutenant General | Vasileios Kardamakis | 1900 | 1971 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1959–62) |
Major General | Georgios Katechakis | 1881 | 1939 | MP and Senator, Minister for Military Affairs (1924, 1930–32), Governor-General in Thrace (1922–23) and Crete (1928–30) |
Lieutenant General | Dimitrios Katheniotis | 1882 | 1947 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1933–35) |
Lieutenant General | Charalambos Katsimitros | 1886 | 1962 | Commander of the 8th Division (1938–41), Minister of Labour and Agriculture in the collaborationist government (1941) |
Major General | Pafsanias Katsotas | 1896 | 1991 | Commander of I Greek Brigade at El Alamein, MP and Minister in several portfolios, Mayor of Athens (1954–59) |
Major General | Kleomenis Kleomenous | 1852 | ||
Major General | Miltiadis Koimisis | 1878 | 1935 | |
Major General | Gennaios Kolokotronis | 1805 | 1868 | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence, aide-de-camp of King Otto and Prime Minister (1862) |
Field Marshal | Theodoros Kolokotronis | 1770 | 1843 | Klepht leader, he served under the British in the 1800s. One of the main Greek leaders in the Greek War of Independence, as general-in-chief of the Morea. After Independence, he was a political opponent of the regency during King Otto's minority and imprisoned, narrowly escaping execution. |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Kondylis | 1878 | 1936 | Suppressed the royalist revolt of 1923, overthrew the dictatorship of Theodoros Pangalos in 1926, suppressed the March 1935 Venizelist coup attempt. MP and Minister of Military Affairs (1924, 1926, 1932–33, 1933–35), Prime Minister (1926, 1935). Abolished the Republic on 10 October 1935, restoring the Greek monarchy |
Lieutenant General | Alexandros Kontoulis | 1858 | 1933 | Commander of I Corps (1921–22), Ambassador to Albania |
Lieutenant General | Aristotelis Korakas | 1858 | Commander of V, III Corps (1917–18), Head of Royal Military Household (1918–20) | |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Kosmas | 1884 | 1964 | Commander of IV, V, I Corps (1940–41), Governor-General in Thrace (1947–48), Chief of the Army General Staff (1949–51) |
General | Michail Kostarakos | 1956 | Chief of the National Defence General Staff (2011–2015) | |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Koumanakos | 1913 | 2003 | |
Lieutenant General | Alexandros Kontoulis | 1858 | 1933 | Commander of I Corps in the Asia Minor Campaign, Ambassador to Albania |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Koumoundouros | 1846 | 1924 | MP, Minister for Naval Affairs (1890–92), Minister of Military Affairs (1899) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major General | Nikolaos Makris | 1829 | 1911 | Chief of the Gendarmerie, Commander of 1st Division (1897) |
Major General | Ioannis Mamouris | 1797 | 1867 | Fighter in the War of Independence |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Manetas | 1879 | 1960 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1931), MP and minister |
Lieutenant General | Theodoros Manetas | 1881 | 1947 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1931–33), MP and minister |
Lieutenant General | Christos Manolas | 1959 | Chief of the Army General Staff (2014–) | |
Lieutenant General | Emmanouil Manousogiannakis | 1853 | 1916 | Commander of 1st Division in the Balkan Wars, II Corps thereafter |
Major General | Manolis Mantakas | 1891 | 1968 | Leader of the leftist Cretan Resistance and PEEA member in World War II |
Lieutenant General | Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos | 1861 | 1923 | Commander of the 5th and 8th Divisions in the Balkan Wars |
Antonios Mavromichalis | 1792 | 1873 | Fighter in the War of Independence | |
Lieutenant General | Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian | 1874 | 1943 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1924–25, 1926–27, 1929–31), minister |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian | 1869 | 1949 | Fighter in the Macedonian Struggle, Commander of Xanthi Division in the Asia Minor Campaign |
Lieutenant General | Vasileios Melas | 1879 | 1956 | Commander of Cavalry Division in the Asia Minor Campaign |
Lieutenant General | Dimitrios Meletopoulos | 1796 | 1858 | Fighter in the War of Independence |
Major General | Alexandros Merentitis | 1880 | 1964 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1928–29), General Director of the Aviation Ministry (1930–34), Minister |
Lieutenant General | Ioannis Metaxas | 1871 | 1941 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1915), leading figure of the National Schism, Prime Minister and dictator of the 4th of August Regime (1936–41) |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Miliotis-Komninos | 1869 | 1949 | Commander of 6th Division in the Balkan Wars, and the Army of Asia Minor in the Asia Minor Campaign |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Moschopoulos | 1854 | 1942 | Commander of 4th Division and various divisional groups in the Balkan Wars, III Corps, Chief of the Army General Staff (1916) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Nider | 1865 | 1942 | Fighter in the Macedonian Struggle, Commander of 1st Division in the Macedonian front, of the Army of Occupation and the Army of Thrace in the Asia Minor Campaign |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Alexandros Othonaios | 1879 | 1970 | Fighter in the Macedonian Struggle, Commander of Kydoniai Division (1919–20), II and III Corps (1923–25), Prime Minister in March 1933 emergency cabinet |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Pallis | 1871 | 1941 | Chief of Staff of Army of Asia Minor (1920–22), Chief of Army General Staff (1940–41) |
Lieutenant General | Dimitrios Papadopoulos | 1889 | 1983 | Inspector of Artillery (1938–40), Commander of II Corps (1940–41) |
Field Marshal | Alexandros Papagos | 1883 | 1955 | Minister of Military Affairs (1935), Chief of the Army General Staff (1936–40), Commander-in-Chief of the Army (1940–41, 1949–50), Chief of the National Defense General Staff (1950–51), Prime Minister (1952–55) |
Lieutenant General | Leonidas Papagos | 1844 | ||
Lieutenant General | Anastasios Papoulas | 1857 | 1935 | Commander of the Army of Asia Minor (1920–22) |
Lieutenant General | Leonidas Paraskevopoulos | 1860 | 1936 | Commander of I Corps (1917–18), Commander-in-Chief of the Army (1918–20), Senator |
Field Marshal | King Paul I | 1901 | 1964 | |
Brigadier General | Stylianos Pattakos | 1912 | 2016 | One of the leaders of the 1967 coup, Interior Minister (1967–71, 1973), Deputy Prime Minister (1967–73) |
Major General | Christoforos Perraivos | 1773 | 1863 | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence |
Lieutenant General | Periklis Pierrakos-Mavromichalis | 1863 | 1938 | Olympic medallist (1986), Interior Minister (1922–23), Minister for Military Affairs (1924), Senator |
Lieutenant General | Ioannis Pitsikas | 1881 | 1975 | Commander of I Corps (1940), W. Macedonia Army Section and Epirus Army Section (1940–41), Mayor of Athens (1946–50), Minister of National Defence (1952), Minister for Northern Greece (1961) |
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Plastiras | 1883 | 1953 | As Colonel, one of the leaders of the 11 September 1922 Revolution. Prime Minister (1945, 1950, 195–152). Awarded the rank of Lt. General by the National Assembly in 1924. |
Lieutenant General | Andreas Platis | 1865 | Commander of 7th Division (1921–22), Smyrna Superior Military Command (1922) | |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Polymenakos | 1859 | 1942 | Commander of III Corps (1921), Northern Group of Divisions (1921–22) |
Lieutenant General | Theodoros Pangalos | 1878 | 1952 | Chief of staff of the Army of Asia Minor (1919–20), Commander of the Army of the Evros (1922–23), Prime Minister (1925–26) and President (1926) as dictator |
Lieutenant General | Achilleas Protosyngellos | 1879 | 1943 | Director-General of the Ministry of Military Affairs (1930–34), Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff (1934–35), Commander of the Supreme War School (1935–36). |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Sapountzakis | 1846 | 1931 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1906–09), commander of the Army of Epirus (1912–13) |
Lieutenant General | Vasileios Sapountzakis | 1811 | 1901 | Inspector-General of the Army (1878), Minister of Military Affairs |
Major General | Ptolemaios Sarigiannis | 1882 | 1958 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1925–26) |
Major General | Chrysanthos Sisinis | 1857 | ||
Major General | Dimitrios Sisinis | 1861 | ||
Major General | Ioannis Sismanis | 1859 | ||
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Skarlatos | 1872 | 1969 | |
Commander General Colonel | Nikolaos G. Skarvelis | 1821? | 1858? | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence, Commander of the Athens Infantry in the 3 September 1843 Revolution. |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Smolenskis | 1842 | 1915 | Commander of 1st Division (1897), Minister of Military Affairs (1897, 1903–04) |
Lieutenant General | Napoleon Sotilis | 1860 | 1953 | Deputy Chief of Army General Staff (1912), Commander of 7th Division (1912–15), V & II Corps (1915–16) |
Major General | Spyridon Sotiropoulos | 1859 | ||
Lieutenant General | Petros Soumilas | 1861 | 1955 | Commander of 12th & 10th Divisions (1920–22), III Corps (1922) |
Lieutenant General | Grigorios Spandidakis | 1909 | 1996 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1965–67), Deputy PM and Minister of National Defence (1967) |
Lieutenant General | Panagiotis Spiliotopoulos | 1891 | 1962 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1946–47), Minister for National Defence (1951) |
Lieutenant General | Spyromilios | 1800 | 1880 | Fighter in the War of Independence, Minister of Military Affairs (1850–53, 1859, 1862, 1867–68) |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Stanotas | 1888 | 1965 | Commander of the Cavalry Division (1939–41), Peloponnese Mil. Command (1947–48) |
Major General | Xenophon Stratigos | 1869 | 1927 | Deputy Chief of Army General Staff (1916–17, 1920–21) |
Major General | Ioannis Stratos | 1793 | 1848 | Fighter in the War of Independence, Major General in the Royal Phalanx |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major General | Nikos Toskas | 1952 | Deputy Minister for National Defence (2015), Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection (2015–) | |
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Trikoupis | 1868 | 1956 | Commander of 3rd Division (1917–18, 1921), II Corps (1921), I Corps (1921–22) |
Lieutenant General | Ioannis Trilivas | 1868 | Commander of 5th Division (1921–22), IV Corps (1927) | |
Lieutenant General | Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos | 1897 | 1989 | Commander of I and II Corps (1948–49), Chief of the Army General Staff (1951–52) |
Major General | Ioannis Tsangaridis | 1887 | 1939 | |
Lieutenant General | Athanasios Tselios | 1956 | Chief of the Army General Staff (2013–14) | |
Lieutenant General | Charalambos Tseroulis | 1879 | 1929 | Commander of Archipelago Division (1920), IV Corps (1922–23) |
Lieutenant General | Efthymios Tsimikalis | 1879 | 1943 | Commander of Crete Division (1920–21), 10th Division (1922–23), IV Corps (1923–25) |
Major General | Nikolaos Tsipouras | 1880 | ||
Lieutenant General | Vlasios Tsirogiannis | 1872 | 1928 | Commander of 3rd & 2nd Division, III Corps (1922–28) |
Major General | Christos Tsolakopoulos | 1868 | 1923 | Posthumous honorary promotion |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Tsolakoglou | 1886 | 1948 | Commander of III Corps and W. Macedonia Army Section (1940–41), Collaborationist Prime Minister during the Occupation (1941–43) |
Lieutenant General | Georgios Tsontos | 1871 | 1942 | |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major General | Michalis Vardanis | 1936 | 2014 | |
Major General | Timoleon Vassos | 1836 | 1929 | |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Ventiris | 1892 | 1960 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1944, 1947) |
Lieutenant General | Étienne de Villaret | French Army general, head of the French military mission (1914) | ||
General | Alexakis Vlachopoulos | 1780 | 1865 | Fighter in the War of Independence, Minister of Military Affairs (1841-1843), Member of Parliament (1859) |
Lieutenant General | Aristotelis Vlachopoulos | 1866 | 1960 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1920–21), Commander of IV Corps (1922) |
Lieutenant General | Konstantinos Vlachopoulos | 1789 | 1868 | Fighter in the War of Independence, Commander of the Hellenic Gendarmerie |
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Vlachopoulos | 1868 | 1957 | Chief of the Army General Staff (1922–24, 1927–28) |
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Vorvolakos | 1931 | 2014 | Chief of the Cypriot National Guard (1993–98) |
Lieutenant General | Vasileios Vrachnos | 1887 | 1971 | Commander of 1st Division (1940) |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
General | Demetrios Ypsilantis | 1793 | 1832 | |
Rank | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Nikolaos Zafeiriou | 1871 | 1947 | Commander of 1st Division (1919–20), 3rd Division, II, III and V Corps (1923–1926) |
General | Dimitrios Zagorianakos | 1918 | 1977 | Chief of the Army Command (1972–73) and the Armed Forces Command (1973) |
Major General | Nikolaos Zervas | 1800 | 1869 | Fighter in the Greek War of Independence |
Major General | Ioannis Zisis | 1941 | Commander of Evros Brigade (1941) | |
General | Georgios Zoitakis | 1910 | 1996 | Commander of III Corps (1966–67), Regent (1967–1972) |
Lieutenant General | Emmanouil Zymvrakakis | 1861 | 1928 | |
Lieutenant General | Emmanouil Zymvrakakis | 1856 | 1931 | |
Lieutenant General | Epameinondas Zymvrakakis | 1863 | 1922 |
United States military seniority is the method by which the United States Armed Forces determines precedence among commissioned officers, in particular those who hold the same rank. Seniority is used to determine assignments, tactical commands, promotions and general courtesy. To a lesser extent, historical seniority is used to recognize status of honor given to early United States military leaders such as inaugural holders of certain ranks or those officers who served as leadership during major wars and armed conflicts.
In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. An officer so promoted was referred to as being brevetted. The promotion would be noted in the officer's title.
John Cleveland Robinson had a long and distinguished career in the United States Army, fighting in numerous wars and culminating his career as a Union Army brigadier general of volunteers and brevet major general of volunteers in the American Civil War. In 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated and the U.S. Senate confirmed Robinson's appointment to the brevet grade of major general in the regular army. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in action in 1864 near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, where he lost a leg. When he retired from the U.S. Army on May 6, 1869, he was placed on the retired list as a full rank major general, USA. After his army service, he was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1873 to 1874 and served two terms as the president of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Army of the United States is one of the four major service components of the United States Army, but it has been inactive since the suspension of the draft in 1973 and the U.S. military's transition to a volunteer force. Personnel serving in the United States Army during a major national emergency or armed conflict were enlisted into the Army of the United States without specifying service in a component. It also includes the "Retired Reserve." Those are retired soldiers who have reached the required years of creditable service, or creditable service and age; regardless of the component, or components they formerly served in.
The Regular Army of the United States succeeded the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional land-based military force. In modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army. From the time of the American Revolution until after the Spanish–American War, state militias and volunteer regiments organized by the states supported the smaller Regular Army of the United States. These volunteer regiments came to be called United States Volunteers (USV) in contrast to the Regular United States Army (USA). During the American Civil War, about 97 percent of the Union Army was United States Volunteers.
General of the Army is a five-star general officer and the highest possible rank in the United States Army. It is generally equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in other countries. In the United States, a General of the Army ranks above generals and is equivalent to a fleet admiral and a general of the Air Force. The General of the Army insignia consisted of five 3⁄8-inch (9.5 mm) stars in a pentagonal pattern, with touching points. The insignia was paired with the gold and enameled United States Coat of Arms on service coat shoulder loops. The silver colored five-star metal insignia alone would be worn for use as a collar insignia of grade and on the garrison cap. Soft shoulder epaulettes with five 7⁄16-inch (11 mm) stars in silver thread and gold-threaded United States Coat of Arms on green cloth were worn with shirts and sweaters.
In the United States military, a general is the most senior general-grade officer; it is the highest achievable commissioned officer rank that may be attained in the United States Armed Forces, with exception of the Navy and Coast Guard, which have the equivalent rank of admiral instead. The official and formal insignia of "general" is defined by its four stars.
In the United States Armed Forces, a lieutenant general is a three-star general officer in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.
Absalom Baird was a career United States Army officer who distinguished himself as a Union Army general in the American Civil War. Baird received the Medal of Honor for his military actions.
In the United States Armed Forces, a brigadier general is a one-star general officer in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.
In the United States Armed Forces, a major general is a two-star general officer in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.
The general officers of the Confederate States Army (CSA) were the senior military leaders of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War of 1861–1865. They were often former officers from the United States Army before the Civil War, while others were given the rank based on merit or when necessity demanded. Most Confederate generals needed confirmation from the Confederate States Congress, much like prospective generals in the modern U.S. armed forces.