Historedia
Episode 2 of 2

Congressional Promotion

When
1866-07-25
Where
Legislative chamber
Part of
General of the Army Act, 25 July 1866

Congress promoted Grant to the newly created rank of General of the Army on July 25, 1866, following the Civil War.

The legislation authorized a grade above generals, equivalent to a fleet admiral. Grant, who had led the Union Army to victory in 1865, became the first to hold this rank. The grade was reserved for the Commanding General of the United States Army.

Sources

  1. Ulysses S. Grant Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-06
  2. General of the Army (United States) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-26

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.