March 3, 1864
On March 3, 1864, the U.S. War Department issued General Orders, No. 87, announcing that Congress had revived the grade of lieutenant general in the United States Army.
General Orders, No. 87
War Department, Adjutant General's Office
Washington, March 3, 1864
The following act of Congress is published for the information of all concerned:
PUBLIC – No. 12
AN ACT reviving the grade of Lieutenant General in the United States Army.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the grade of Lieutenant General be, and the same is hereby, revived in the Army of the United States; and the President is hereby authorized, whenever he shall deem it expedient, to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Lieutenant General, to be selected from among those officers in the military service of the United States, not below the grade of Major General, most distinguished for courage, skill, and ability, who, being commissioned as Lieutenant General, may be authorized, under the direction and during the pleasure of the President, to command the armies of the United States.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Lieutenant General appointed as hereinbefore provided shall be entitled to the pay, allowances, and staff specified in the fifth section of the act approved May twenty-eight, seventeen hundred and ninety-eight; and also the allowances described in the sixth section of the act approved August twenty-three, eighteen hundred and forty-two, granting additional rations to certain officers : Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed in any way to affect the rank, pay, or allowances of Winfield Scott, Lieutenant General by brevet, now on the retired list of the Army.
Approved February 29, 1864.
BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:
W. A. NICHOLS,
Assistant Adjutant General.
