Prior to the institution of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1903, there was generally a single senior-most officer in the army. From 1783, he was known simply as the Senior Officer of the United States Army, but in 1821, the title was changed to Commanding General of the United States Army. The position was abolished with the creation of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1903.

United States Army Commanding Generals

Continental Army General and Commander In Chief

	Name	Photo	Term began	Term ended
1.	LTG George Washington		15 June 1775	23 December 1783

Senior Officer

	Name	Photo	Term began	Term ended
1.	MG Henry Knox		23 December 1783	20 June 1784

United States Army Senior Officer

	Name	Photo	Term began	Term ended
1.	MAJ John Doughty		20 June 1784	12 August 1784	served when all of the Army but 80 men was discharged
2.	BG Josiah Harmar		12 August 1784	4 March 1791
3.	MG Arthur St. Clair		4 March 1791	5 March 1792
4.	MG Anthony Wayne		13 April 1792	15 December 1796
5.	BG James Wilkinson		15 December 1796	13 July 1798
6.	LTG George Washington		13 July 1798	14 December 1799
7.	MG Alexander Hamilton		14 December 1799	15 June 1800
8.	BG James Wilkinson		15 June 1800	27 January 1812
9.	MG Henry Dearborn		27 January 1812	15 June 1815
10.	MG Jacob Brown		15 June 1815	June 1821)

Commanding General

	Name	Photo	Term began	Term ended
1.	MG Jacob Brown		June 1821	24 February 1828
2.	MG Alexander Macomb		29 May 1828	25 June 1841
3.	LTG Winfield Scott		5 July 1841	1 November 1861
4.	MG George B. McClellan		1 November 1861	11 March 1862	[1]
5.	MG Henry Wager Halleck		23 July 1862	9 March 1864
6.	GEN Ulysses S. Grant		9 March 1864	4 March 1869
7.	GEN William Tecumseh Sherman		8 March 1869	1 November 1883
8.	GEN Philip Sheridan		1 November 1883	5 August 1888
9.	LTG John Schofield		14 August 1888	29 September 1895
10.	LTG Nelson A. Miles		5 October 1895	8 August 1903

See also

• List of United States military leaders by rank

References

• Historical Resources Branch; United States Army Center of Military History.
• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

Notes

1. ^ Eicher, Civil War High Commands. The gap from March 11, 1862, to July 23, 1862, was filled with direct control of the army by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with the help of an unofficial "War Board" that was established on March 17, 1862. The board consisted of Ethan A. Hitchcock, the chairman, with Department of War bureau chiefs Lorenzo Thomas, Montgomery C. Meigs, Joseph G. Totten, James W. Ripley, and Joseph P. Taylor.

External links

• Chronological List of Senior Officers of the United States Army, in Bell, William Gardner. COMMANDING GENERALS AND CHIEFS OF STAFF 1775-2005: Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer, Center of Military History, United States Army, 2005. (ISBN 0-16-072376-0)

This article on a military rank or appointment is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.