General of the Armies (Six-Star General)

The highest ranking officers of the American army during the Revolutionary war were Brigadier Generals and Major Generals, with the exception of George Washington. Their insignia was one or two stars worn on a golden epaulette. Washington was the highest ranking officer and held the title of “General and Commander in Chief” of the Continental Army. His epaulettes had three stars.

Just one year before his death in 1799, Washington was appointed to the rank of Lieutenant General. Washington never exercised active authority in this new rank, which was bestowed upon him by President John Adams during the Franco-American War in order to frighten the French.

In an act passed on March 3, 1799, Congress stated, "that a Commander of the United States shall be appointed and commissioned by the style of General of the Armies of the United States and the present office and title of Lieutenant General shall thereafter be abolished." No one, however, was appointed to this proposed rank, and at his death, George Washington was listed as a lieutenant general on the rolls of the United States Army.

After the Revolution, the Army, at first, had no active duty general offices. When general officer ranks were recreated, the highest rank was Major General, with the senior Major General on the Army rolls referred to as the Commanding General of the United States Army.

The ranks of Lieutenant General and General were reauthorized temporarily during World War I, and John J Pershing was promoted to the rank of General in October 1917. In recognition of his performance commanding the American Expeditionary Force, Pershing was promoted to the rank of “General of the Armies” on September 3, 1919. After the war ended, the Lieutenant Generals and Generals reverted to their permanent rank of Major General. Pershing, however, retained his rank as “General of the Armies” until his death in 1948.

Because the rank of “General of the Armies” had not existed prior to Pershing’s appointment, he was given the choice of the design of the insignia he would wear. He chose to continue wearing the four stars of a General, but in gold, instead of the silver color used on the insignia of the regular general. However, no official insignia was assigned to the rank, and when the five-star rank of “General of the Army” was created during World War II, a design was proposed for an insignia which incorporated a sixth star into the five-star general insignia. This design has never been made official due to the fact that no new “General of the Armies” has been appointed.

When the five-star rank of General of the Army was established during World War II, it was decided that General Pershing, who was still living at the time, would be senior to all of the new General of the Army officers. Military regulations do not declare the “General of the Armies” to be a six-star rank, however historians have understood General Pershing’s seniority to mean that “General of the Armies” is a six-star rank.

In 1945, and again in 1955, attempts were made to promote General Douglas MacArthur to the rank of “General of the Armies”. However, due to the fact that General George C. Marshall was senior to MacArthur and because of other complications that would arise, MacArthur declined the promotion at the second attempt.

In 1976, Congress past a joint resolution, which was approved by President Ford, that posthumously appointed George Washington to the rank of “General of the Armies”. This action, which was made retroactive to July 4, 1776, was taken in order to maintain Washington’s seniority above all military officers of the United States, including Pershing.

USS Maine (ACR-1)

The USS Maine was the second battleship commissioned in the United States Navy. She was originally classified as Armored Cruiser #1 (ACR-1), however she was later classified along with the USS Texas as a second class battleship. Both, the Maine and Texas shared the unique design in which the turrets were mounted projecting off the sides of the ship. This greatly hindered their ability to fire broadside, and the ships were inferior to the later Indiana-class battleships, which were developed soon after. The ship was ordered by congress on August 3, 1886. Her keel was laid on October 17, 1888 and the hull was launched November 18, 1889. She was commissioned on September 17, 1895.

The Maine was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron, and spent most of her career operating on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Due to the struggle between Spain and the Cuban revolutionaries, she was sent on January 24, 1898 to Havana in order to provide protection for American citizen in that city. The Maine had remained anchored in the center of the harbor for three weeks when, at 9:40 p.m. in the evening of February 15, an explosion tour apart the forward third of the ship. Out of 350 officers and men on board that night (4 officers were ashore), 252 were dead or missing. Eight more were to die in Havana hospitals during the next few days. The destruction of the Maine helped spur the U.S. closer to war with Spain and served to rally public opinion in America in favor of intervention in Cuba.

On March 28, the US Naval Court of Inquiry in Key West declared that a naval mine caused the explosion. However, it was inconclusive as to who was responsible for the destruction of the battleship. On 5 August 1910, Congress authorized the raising of Maine and a second board of inquiry inspected the wreck. This board reported that damage to the bottom of the ship was caused by an external explosion of low magnitude which ignited the forward magazine, destroying of the ship. It has never been determined who placed the explosive.

Technical experts at the time of both investigations disagreed with the findings, believing that spontaneous combustion of coal in the bunker adjacent to the reserve six-inch magazine was the most likely cause of the explosion on board the ship.

On February 2, 1912, the Maine’s hulk was finally floated and towed out to sea where, on March 16, it was sunk in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico with appropriate ceremony and military honors.