# Generals' ranks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generals-ranks/680619>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 5, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generals-ranks/680619 "2014-02-05T23:54:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generals-ranks/680619/21 "2014-02-06T15:05:41Z")

</div>

Remember, it’s “marshal” with one L. The story goes that, after the U.S. entered World War II and its military was drastically expanded, FDR didn’t ask Congress to create the rank of field marshal in keeping with the British practice because he didn’t want to have a “Marshal [George C.] Marshall.”

David McCullough told of President Truman, at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, being amused by the Soviet delegation’s deference to a U.S. marshal who was part of his entourage.

> **[United States Marshals Service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marshals_Service)**
>
> The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the attorney general, but serves as the enforcement arm of the United States federal courts to ensure the effective operation of the judiciary and integrity of the Constitution. It is the oldest U.S. federal law enforcement agency, created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 during the presidency of George W The...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generals-ranks/680619/22 "2014-02-06T23:46:35Z")

</div>

Ok gents, last Q. What would be a proper long form of a general (four stars)? Would it be captain general, or commanding general?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generals-ranks/680619/23 "2014-02-06T23:57:20Z")

</div>

> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> Ok gents, last Q. What would be a proper long form of a general (four stars)? Would it be captain general, or commanding general?

The “proper” form in the United States is just plain “general,” it originated historically as “captain-general,” but that is a historic form only. To the extent that there might be ambiguity, you can say “four-star general,” but it’s not proper or formal, just like “full colonel.”

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/generals-ranks/680619.md?page=1)