Civil War Officers

What’s the difference between an admiral and a general? What’s the difference between an enlisted and a commissioned officer? If you’ve ever found yourself confused when military rank when reading about the Civil War, then you are not alone - the intricacies of military rank, especially as they apply to as many different officers involved in the Civil War, can be confusing indeed.

First, it’s helpful to know that all United States military personnel are classified in three categories: (1) enlisted members, (2) warrant officers, and (3) commissioned officers. Warrant officers outrank enlisted members, and commissioned officers outrank warrant officers and enlisted members. So what’s the difference? Commissioned officers have extensive training as leaders, and therefore hold leadership positions, while warrant officers have appointed rank. Enlisted members are everyone else!

As far as rank goes, there is a whole additional hierarchy in the U.S. Army. Here goes:
- General of the Army: the General of the Army is the person in charge of the entire Army. Ulysses S. Grant is thought to have been the first person to hold this rank, which is Five Star General. A special rank of “General of the Armies of the United States,” was bestowed upon William Tecumseh Sherman in 1869, and conferred posthumously on Grant in 1885.

- General: A regular General, which is a four star rank, commands an entire Army. An example of this is General Robert E. Lee’s command of the Army of Northern Virginia.

- Lieutenant General: Lieutenant General, a three star rank, would be in command of an Army or Army Corps. This rank was used rarely in the Civil War; the only two men to hold this rank were Lieutenant General Winfield Scott and Ulysses S. Grant.

- Major General: A Major General, a two star rank, commands a single division of the Army.

- Brigadier General: A Brigadier General, a one star rank, commands on the regimental level typically commanding two or more regiments.

- Colonel: A Colonel, commanded the regiment, which was the basic army unit of the 18th and much of the 19th Centuries. Since regiments were usually raised on the state or local level, a Colonel may have been given rank by local authorities rather than the U.S. Army.

- Lieutenant Colonel: the Lieutenant Colonel was historically second in command to a Colonel in the traditional Regiment.

- Major: A Major was third in command after the Lieutenant Colonel.

- Captain: A Captain commands a company of soldiers.

- First Lieutenant: A First Lieutenant acts as an assistant to the Captain.

- Second Lieutenant: The lowest ranking commissioned officer, a Second Lieutenant trains for the same duties as the First Lieutenant.

Rank is especially confusing in Civil War history because the dependence on local regiments and other volunteer companies, whose rank system mimicked that of the U.S. Army. It is also helpful to note that the Confederate Army used basically the same rank structure as the U.S. Army, but that its volunteer companies and local regiments also bestowed rank.