Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac,att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: mp3o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Francis Polis) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Army customs...saluting Message-ID: <1991Mar19.043528.7511@cbnews.att.com> Date: 19 Mar 91 04:35:28 GMT References: <1991Mar4.212815.9865@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar6.042927.25702@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar8.023526.10578@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar14.014317.17212@cbnews.att.com>, Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (william.b.thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 18 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Michael Francis Polis > "Major" General - 2 star (major general) > "Lieutenant Colonel" General - 3 star (lieutenant general) I believe the terms have their origins in Cromwell's New Model Army. A liuetenant general was a lieutenant to the commander-in-chief, and outranked the major (or sergeant major) general. "The third officer in rank was the major-general, or sergeant-major-general. ... The sergeant-major-general was the commander of all the infantry of the army, and was sometimes styled the major-general of the foot. One of the functions of the major-general was the drawing up of the army on the field of battle. To draw up an army in the elaborately formal battle array recommended by military writers of the time required great technical skill, and the major-general was usually a veteran of long experience. ..." - C.H. Firth, _Cromwell's Army_, p 61, New York, Barnes & Noble Inc.