US Army by Rank - June 1945

Note: Includes Air Corps

General of the Army - 4 (Marshall, Eisenhower, Arnold, MacArthur)
General - 13
Lt. General - 50
Major General - 392
Brig. General - 1,060
Colonel - 10,721
Lt. Col. - 29,077
Major - 70,000
Captain -198,000
Lt. -525,000

Master and 1st Sargent - 112,000
T.S. Sargent -215,000
Staff Sargent -612,000
Sargent - 1,051,000
Private and Corporals - 5,250,000

MacArthur and Marshall - Career Paths

George Marshall and Douglas MacArthur were both famous Generals in WW II and were both born in 1880. Given the small size of the US Army before WW II you'd think these 2 men would have been friends or rivals in the 38 years from MacArthur's graduation from West Point in 1903 to Pearl Harbor December 1941. Yet, the 2 men rarely served together and had little personal contact for the following reasons:

1) Marshall went to VMI, MacArthur to West Point.
2) Marshall was an infantry officer, MacArthur an Engineer.
3) In France During WW I, Marshall was a staff officer, MacArthur a combat officer.
4) Both men served overseas but almost never at the time. When Marshall was stateside, Mac was in the Philippines, and vice-versa.
5) MacArthur became a general in 1920, Marshall languished as Captain/Major until 1927 and only became a General in 1936.

As far as I can tell the 2 men were only in the same general area twice. In 1908-1910 both men were stationed in Ft. Leavenworth Kansas and in 1917-1919 both were in France during WWI. The two men' s service record looks like this:

MacArthur

• June 1903 - Graduates West Point.
• Oct 1903- June 1905 Philippines and California
• June 1905-June 1907 Aid to his father (General Arthur MacArthur) and President
• June 1907-June 1908 - Various posts in USA as Engineer
• 1908-1912 Engineer Ft Leavenworth and Ft Riley Kansas
• 1913-1917 Engineer attached to the General Staff - Washington DC
• 1917-1919 - France with 42nd Rainbow Division - Promoted Brigadier General
• 1919-1922 - Commandant West Point
• 1992-1925 Philippines
• 1925-1928 Corps Commander - Baltimore MD - Promoted Major General
• 1928-1930 Philippines
• 1930 1935 Army Chief of Staff - Washington DC
• 1935 - 1938 Commander US Army Philippines
• 1938 - 1941 Retired from US Army. Head of Filipino Army
• July 1941 - Recalled to active duty.

George Marshall

• Feb 1902-Oct 1903 Philippines
• 1903-1906 - Infantry Officer - Oklahoma
• 1906-1908 - Student at Ft Leavenworth Staff College - Kansas
• 1909-1910 - Instructor Ft Leavenworth Staff College - Kansas
• 1910-1913 - Company Commander and Instructor various posts in USA
• 1913-1916 Philippines
• 1916-1917 - Aid to General Bell - California
• 1917-1918 - Staff Officer - 1st Division - France
• 1918-1919 - Staff Officer - 1st Army - France - Promoted to Colonel (Temporary)
• 1919-1924 - Aid to General Pershing (Reverts back to Regular Army Captain in 1920)
• 1924- 1927 - China (Promoted to Lt Col)
• 1927-1932 - Head Ft Benning Infantry School
• 1933 - Service with Illinois National Guard - Promoted to Colonel
• 1934-1938 - Service with CCC - (Promoted to Brigadier General - March 1936)
• Oct 1938 -Sept 1939 - Deputy Chief of Staff - DC
• Sept 1939- Nov 1945 - Army Chief of Staff

Joesph Hooker - A mystery

Sometimes its hard to figure out Civil War generals. We have tons of letters, written correspondence and memoirs - yet questions remain. For example, why was Joesph Hooker so disliked by his fellow Generals. His list of enemies is really quite long:

01) Halleck & Hooker disliked each other so much that Hooker refused to take orders from him.
02) Burnside wanted Lincoln to Dismiss him from the army
03) Reynolds disliked him
04) Couch resigned rather than continue to serve under him
05) Heade told Lincoln he didn't want him as a AoP Corp Commander & got him transferred
06) Slocum tendered his resignation rather than serve with him (it was refused)
07) Sherman loathed him, trashed him in his memoirs, and passed him over for promotion
08) Grant minimizes his contributions at Chattanooga
09) Stanton Disliked him and threatened to resign when he was appointed AoP Commander
10) Lee had contempt for him and called him "Mr. F.J. Hooker"

Civil War Generals - Murdered

As an interesting comment on how different American society was in the 1860s, several Generals (North and South) were murdered by private citizens and fellow Generals. Amazing, no one ever arrested or convicted for the following deaths:

1)CSA Major General Van Dorn - Killed on May 7, 1863 by a Dr. Peters. Van Dorn was a bit of a ladies man, and Dr. Peters alleged Van Dorn had "violated the sanctity of the home".
2)CSA General Brantly was assassinated in Mississippi in 1870 while riding his buggy.
3)CSA Major General Hindman was assassinated in his Arkansas home in 1868
4)CSA General W.W Adams was killed in an 1888 street encounter with a Newspaper Editor
5)CSA General Wharton Killed by CSA Col George Baylor April 6, 1865 because "Wharton called Baylor a liar and slapped his face".
6)US General Jeff Davis murdered US Major-General "Bull" Nelson on Sept 29th 1862 because Nelson insulted Davis and slapped his face.

In addition:

7)CSA General B.Grimes was assassinated in 1880 by William Parker a "hired assassin". Parker was later acquitted, but was lynched by an angry mob.
8)CSA General Lucius Walker was killed in duel with General Marmaduke on Sept 6, 1863. Walker felt Gen Marmaduke had questioned his courage and was killed in duel with Pistols at 20 paces.

CW Generals - Civilians from West Pont

Sometimes Grant is classified as a failure because he left the army and only rejoined at the start of the Civil War. But this was normal behavior in mid-century America. Of the 40 odd graduates in Robert E. Lee's Class of 1829, only 14 were still in the Army after 20 years (1849). The following were graduates of West Point but civilians when the shooting started:

1. Jefferson Davis - President CSA
2. Braxton Bragg - Planter
3. Stonewall Jackson - Professor
4. Henry Halleck - Lawyer
5. U.S. Grant - County Engineer, Salesman
6. William T. Sherman - Professor
7. George McClellan - Railroad Executive
8. Joseph Hooker - Farmer, land developer
9. Ambrose Burnside - Businessman
10. Leon Polk - Episcopalian Bishop and Educator
11. William Rosecrans - Inventor and Businessman
12. D.H. Hill - Professor
13. Daniel Couch - Cooper Fabricator
14. Issac Stevens - Governor
15. Jubal Early - Lawyer
16. A.P. Stewart - Math Professor
17 Simon Buckner - Illinois property owner


Also, P.G.T Beauregard ran for Mayor of New Orleans in 1858, while George Meade left the US Army in 1836 but re-entered in 1842 to find employment.