Historical ranking of the highest officers in the United States

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The historical ranking of the highest officers in the United States ( military seniority ) is a loosely defined term for the general meaning of the various generals and admirals in the context of United States history . It is widely recognized in United States military history . The ranking was significant for officers of the same rank. Seniority (lat. Senior "the elder") describes the principle of the priority of officers with a higher rank or an earlier promotion of the same rank.

Age
order		 rank
order		 Surname Area rank date Historical meaning
1. 1 George Washington US Army General of the Armies of the United States July 4,
1776		 1775 Commanding General of the United States Army , Chief of the Continental Army in the War of Independence , 1789 US President
2. 1 John J. Pershing army General of the Armies of the United States September 3,
1919		 1917 General in World War I and Mayor in Europe, 1921 Chief of Staff of the Army
3. 1 or
2		 George Dewey marine Admiral of the Navy March 2,
1899		 Sole holder of the rank, 1898 Spanish-American War , Asia Squadron
4th 4th Winfield Scott army Lieutenant General March 29,
1847		 Commanding General US Army (1841–1861), 1846 Mexican-American War
5. 3 Ulysses S. Grant army General of the Army of the United States July 25,
1866		 Commanding General US Army (1864–1869), Civil War , US President 1869
6th 3 David Farragut marine admiral July 25,
1866		 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay , 1866 First US Admiral, Commander in Chief of the Navy, Civil War
7th 3 William T. Sherman army General of the Army of the United States March 4,
1869		 Commanding General US Army (1869–1883), Civil War, Indian Wars
8th. 3 David D. Porter marine admiral July 25,
1866		 1864 OB of the Mississippi Fleet, Civil War
9. 4th Stephen Clegg Rowan marine Vice admiral August 1,
1870		 1867 OB of the Asian fleet
10. 3 Philip Sheridan army General of the Army of the United States June 1,
1888		 Commanding General US Army (1883–1888), Civil War, Indian Wars
11. 4th John Schofield army Lieutenant General February 5,
1895		 Commanding General US Army (1888–1895)
12. 4th Nelson A. Miles army Lieutenant General 6. 6.
1900		 Commanding General US Army (1895–1903), Spanish War
13. 3 Tasker H. Bliss army general October 6,
1917		 Chief of Staff of the Army , First World War
14th 2 William D. Leahy marine Fleet Admiral December 15,
1944		 1942 Joint Chiefs of Staff , 1945 participant in the Potsdam Conference
15th 2 George C. Marshall army General of the Army December 16,
1944		 1939 Chief of Staff of the Army
16. 2 Ernest J. King marine Fleet Admiral December 17,
1944		 1941 OB of the United States Fleet, 1942 Chief of Naval Operations
17th 2 Douglas MacArthur army General of the Army December 18,
1944		 1930 Chief of Staff, 1941 OB in the Pacific and Korea
18th 2 Chester W. Nimitz marine Fleet Admiral December 19,
1944		 1941 OB of the Pacific Fleet, 1945 Chief of Naval Operations
19th 2 Dwight D. Eisenhower army General of the Army December 20,
1944		 1942 mayor in Europe, 1945 chief of staff, 1953 US president
20th 2 Henry H. Arnold Army
Air Force		 General of the Army
General of the Air Force 		December 21,
1944		 1941 OB of the US Army Air Forces
21st 2 William Halsey marine Fleet Admiral December 11,
1945		 1942 OB of the South Pacific Fleet, 1943 OB 3rd Fleet
22nd 2 Omar Bradley army General of the Army September 20,
1950		 1944 mayor of the 1st Army and the 12th Army Group , 1948 Chief of Staff
23. 3 Raymond A. Spruance marine admiral February 4,
1944		 1942 Battle of Midway , 1943 OB of the 5th Fleet, 1945 OB of the Pacific Fleet
24. 3 George S. Patton army general April 14,
1945		 1944 OB of the 3rd Army
25th 3 Matthew Ridgway army general May 11,
1951		 1951 OB in the Korean War, 1953 Chief of Staff
Washington
Pershing
Dewey
Scott

history

General of the Army, 1866-1872, Grant, Sherman
General of the Army, 1872-1888, Sherman, Sheridan
Badge of rank General of the Armies, Pershing
general
Badge of rank 5-star general
General of the Army
Fictional badge of rank General of the Armies
Weft and shoulder piece, Admiral of the Navy
Fleet Admiral
admiral
General of the Air Force

army

The ranking was based on complex interrelationships such as congressional resolutions, position in the military system, time of the ranks and the involvement of the admirals.
First rank was given only to Washington. He was posthumously awarded the highest rank of General of the Armies of the United States "for the past and the present" in 1976 by the United States Bicentenary Act .

After the civil war, the rank of general was not awarded. In the 19th century, there were only three ranks of general in the United States, Brigadier General , Major General and Lieutenant General . The latter rank was only given to one officer who was also Commander-in-Chief of the Army. The first lieutenant general was Washington (1798); it was followed by Scott (1855 - as brevet rank ), Grant (1863), Sherman (1866), Sheridan (1869), McAllister (1895) and Schofield (1895). From 1900 this rank was given to the Army Chief of Staff.

In 1866 the new, singular rank of General of the Army was awarded to Grant for the first time by a congressional resolution . He wore four stars on the epaulets, while later Sherman and then Sheridan preferred two stars and the US coat of arms.

After the USA entered the First World War, the ranks of Lieutenant General and General were awarded again for the first time in 1917. In 1917 Pershing became four-star general (after Sheridan in 1888 the fourth general) and a little later in October 1917 (temporarily during his tenure until May 1918 and permanently as a character from 1930) the chief of staff Bliss. The list excludes Peyton C. March , John L. Hines, and Charles Pelot Summerall , who like Bliss were temporary four-star generals as chiefs of staff and permanent generals after retirement.

In 1919 the Congress of the unique rank of General of the Armies of the United States awarded to Pershing, who therefore took second place in the historical ranking. He was allowed to choose his own insignia. He chose to wear a general's four stars, but in gold. Fictitiously, the insignia of a six-star general was later proposed as a distinction .

In 1944 four officers were appointed General of the Army . Since the four-star general had existed since 1917, the badge of rank of a five-star general was introduced. The appointments took place alternately with the naval officers on seven consecutive days in order to clearly determine the ranking.

Bradley became the last five-star general in 1950. Thereafter, no further appointments were made, as the considerations for Generals Colin Powell (1989–1993: Chief of Staff ), Norman Schwarzkopf (1991: OB in the Second Gulf War ) and David Petraeus (2011: OB of the United States Forces Iraq , 2012 Petraeus Affair ) would not have found approval in Congress.

marine

Dewey is in third place in the historical ranking. In 1903 he was awarded the highest possible rank in the US Navy as Admiral of the Navy by Congress retroactively from 1899 , roughly comparable to that of a six-star general. His shoulder piece only had four gold stars. As the first Rear Admiral (1862), Vice Admiral (1865) and Admiral (1866) of the US Navy Farragut is listed as sixth in the historical ranking. The navy knew the three ranks of rear admiral ( rear admiral ), vice admiral and admiral.
Later, at the end of the, the rank of Rear Admiral was split into Rear Admiral (lh) (1 star) and Rear Admiral (uh) (2 stars). From the Second World War there was the temporary rank of Commodore (-Admiral) (1 star, 1981-1884 also permanent) and Rear Admiral (2 stars). In 1984 a distinction was made between Rear Admiral (lower half) (RDML) and Rear Admiral (upper half) (RADM).
The rank of Fleet Admiral was introduced in 1944. Since Admiral Leahy had been Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy since 1942 , he was the first to be awarded the rank of Fleet Admiral, a day before George C. Marshall was Chief of Staff of the Army.

The list does not include the Chiefs of Naval Operations (1915-1937, 1939-1942), Admirals William S. Benson , Robert Coontz , Edward W. Eberle , Charles Frederick Hughes , William V. Pratt , William Harrison Standley and Harold R. Stark .

air force

Only one representative of this type of weapon, Arnold, is included in this ranking. The Air Force was not established as an independent branch of service until 1947. Arnold was the only one to hold the rank of General of the Air Force (five-star general, equivalent to the rank of General of the Army ) granted by Congress in 1949 .

Four-star officers

Four-star generals 1917 to April 1945

Since 1917, this rank (general, full) has been awarded to the following officers, often on a temporary basis and then permanently after retirement:

Six of the above officers were promoted to General of the Army or General of the Armies . These six and three other four-star generals are in the above ranking. It is unclear why only these three four-star generals are mentioned in this list.

marine

The rank of admiral as the third highest admiral rank has existed with David G. Farragut since 1866 and until 1916 he was awarded 12 times. In 1917, with the introduction of the rear admiral (upper half) (RADM) as a two-star admiral (higher rear admiral ) in addition to the rear admiral (lower half) (RDML), the United States Navy also had four-star admirals ( full admirals ). Initially, the rank was mostly awarded for a limited period of time for u. a. the commanders in chiefs of the navy or fleets in Europe, Asia, the Atlantic and the Pacific. By the end of 1945 the rank was awarded 57 times ( see List of United States Navy four-star admirals in Wikipedia). One exception was George Dewey , who in 1903 received the special rank of Admiral of the Navy , which was only awarded once .

today

Historical rankings were rarely mentioned after the Korean War , as they no longer corresponded to today's military system.
The United States military hierarchy is headed today (all four-star officers in 2019) by the

as well as de facto and in case of war or emergency by order of the President

Compare with European ranks

Heer: A historical comparison with European ranks is difficult due to different developments. Until 1854, Prussia had the four ranks of Major General, Lieutenant General, General and Field Marshal General . In 1854 the fifth rank of colonel general was introduced above the general . The United Kingdom had the four ranks of Major General , Lieutenant General. , General and Field Marshal . The brigadier introduced in 1928 is not a general rank.
These respective ranks carried several officers at the same time, while the rank of Lieutenant General and General of the Army of the US Army in the 18th and 19th centuries was a singular rank, linked to the position of the Army Commander in Chief.
The rank of General of the Army , awarded four times during World War II, corresponded to that of General Field Marshal (Germany since 1618) or Field Marshal ( United Kingdom since 1736).

The honorable rank of a General of the Armies is not comparable although the title Generalissimo is mentioned in US-American representations and Washington was also mentioned as such as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the War of Independence.

Navy: In the Navy, the rank of Fleet Admiral is comparable to that of Grand Admiral (Germany since 1900) or Admiral of the Fleet (United Kingdom since 1796).
The rank of Admiral of the Navy once conferred is often equated with that of the General of the Army, but also with that of the General of the Armies.

Air Force: The General of the Air Force has existed in the USA since 1949 , which is comparable to the rank of Marshal of the Royal Air Force ( NATO rank code OF-10) introduced in the UK since 1921/27 . The Soviet Union , too , had known the rank of Marshal of the Air Force (маршал авиации) since 1943 , as a marshal of the armed forces , but who was below the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union .

See also

swell

  • Department of the Army: US Army Leadership Handbook: Skills, Tactics, and Techniques for Leading in Any Situation . Skyhorse Publishing, 1st Edition from March 2012
  • Chester Hearn: Navy: An Illustrated History: The US Navy from 1775 to the 21st Century . Zenith Press, 2007.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Public Law 94-479 . Wikisource.