majors, captains, lieutenants, ensigns, and cornets or cadets, are also either attached to the staff, or form a part of the staff corps.  The titles of “adjutant-general,” and of “inspector-general,” are given to staff officers selected for these special services, either in the general staff or in the several corps d’armee.  No special rank is attached to these offices themselves, and the grade of those who hold them is fixed by some special rule, or by their general rank in the army.

In the war of the Revolution, Washington held the rank of General, and in 1798 the rank of Lieutenant-general.  In the war of 1812, the highest grade held by any of our officers was that of General of Division, or Major-general, as it was called.  The highest grade in our army at the present time is called Major-general—­a title that properly belongs, not to the general of an army, but to the chief of staff.  Hamilton had this title when chief of Washington’s staff; Berthier and Soult when chief of Napoleon’s staff, the former till the close of the campaign of 1814, and the latter in the Waterloo campaign.  General Jomini first greatly distinguished himself as chief of Ney’s staff, and afterwards on the staff of the Emperor of Russia.  Other generals have owed much of their success to the chiefs of their staff:—­Pichegru to Regnier, Moreau to Dessoles, Kutusof to Toll, Barclay to Diebitsch, and Bluecher to Sharnharst and Gneisenau.

The generalissimo or commander-in-chief of an army is the person designated by the law of the land to take charge of the organized military forces of the state.  In this country the President, through his Secretary of War, exercises this general command.  In England, Wellington acts in the capacity of commander-in-chief of all the British military forces.  In France, the Minister of War, under the king, has this general direction.  In other European services, some prince of the blood, or distinguished general, exercises the functions of generalissimo.

An active army in the field should be commanded by a general, or, as is done in some European countries, by a marshal.  These may be regarded as of assimilated rank.

A corps d’armee should, be commanded by a Lieutenant-general.  This rule is almost universal in Europe.  The number of marshals in France under Napoleon was so great, that officers of this grade were often assigned to corps d’armee.

A grand division of an army should be commanded by a General of Division.  In England, the assimilated grade is that of major-general, and in France at the present time, the younger lieutenant-generals, or the marechaux-de-camp, command divisions.

A brigade should be commanded by a Brigadier-general.  At the present time in the French service, marechaux-de-camp act as commanders of brigades.

The several corps d’armee are designated by numbers, 1st, 2d, 3d, &c., and in the same way the several divisions in each corps d’armee, and the several brigades in each division.