"Red" wrote in message
. ..

Many, many years ago I heard an explanation for this. As best I recall
they
said Lt Gen was a rank in the regular army. The mounted (calvary) army
decided to be different and call their general of the same pay grade a
MajGen. Of course it wasn't long before they were trying to convince
everyone that MajGen out ranked Lt.Gen. The regular army didn't buy it.

Your fables may vary.


It's simpler than that. Originally (17th century) it was "Captain General,"
"Lieutenant General," and "Sergeant Major General." That's "general" as in
above all others, like Attorney General or Postmaster General. Over the
years the "captain" and "sergeant" were dropped, and "general" went from an
adjective to a noun.

--Justin