Lieu·ten·ant gen·er·al n. An army officer in rank next below a general and next above a major general.
 Note: ☞ In the United States, before the civil war, this rank had been conferred only on George Washington and (in brevet) on Winfield Scott. In 1864 it was revived by Congress and conferred on Ulysses S. Grant, and subsequently, by promotion, on William T. Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan, each of whom was advanced to the rank of general of the army. When Sheridan was made general (in 1888) the rank of lieutenant general was suffered to lapse. See General.

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