Why is a Lieutenant General a higher rank than a Major General?

Question

Being that in the army ranks, a Major is a higher rank than a Lieutenant.

Answer 1

When Flag ranks (General ranks) were established, the term for Major General was actually Sergeant-Major General, and since Lieutenants outranked Sergeant-Majors, Lieutenant Generals outranked Sergeant-Major Generals. Somewhere along the line the 'Sergeant' was dropped from Sergeant-Major General, and now Lieutenant Generals outrank Major Generals.

Answer 2

It's the same reason a Lt Col outranks a major. In the three tiers of the officer rank system, lieutenant is always the second highest, exception being the navy of course. Company Grade 0-3 Captain 0-2 1st Lieutenant 0-1 2nd Lt. Field Grade 0-6 Colonel 0-5 Lt. Colonel 0-4 Major Flag Grade 0-10 General 0-9 Lt. General 0-8 Maj Gen 0-7 BGen As you can see the second to highest rank in each tier is classified as a lieutenant. And lieutenant basically means one below the superior.

Answer 3

I will try to explain this and not confuse myself. The word Lieutenant means second and the prefix Lieuntenant implies he or she is second in command to a 4 star general.

Answer 4

A Lt. Gen is a 3 star general, and a Major general is a 2 star general. You are confusing a major, with a major general. A major is just one step up from a captain in the army and marines.

Answer 5

Three things I will never understand
-ways of a woman
-wants of the world
-how the military establishes a lot of things including rank
We do not have a "Field Marshall" (5Star), because General Marshal (5Star) did not want to be called "Marshal Marshal" (he was our first 5 star)

Answer 6

Bob G is right. It dates back to Oliver Cromwell's reorganization of the British Army.

Answer 7

it's just a rank. why is a sargent higher than aprivate. Semantics