the.com/captain general
The rank so supreme that having it usually means you're a king playing soldier.
means The highest military rank in certain armed forces, denoting supreme command over an entire army or all of a nation's land forces.
from A pairing of two Latin-rooted words: 'captain,' from Late Latin 'capitaneus' ('chief'), itself from 'caput' ('head'); and 'general,' from Latin 'generalis' ('pertaining to the whole'), as in a commander whose authority extends to all the troops rather than one unit. Stitched together, the title literally means 'head over the whole' — a chief of everything. It came into English from the parallel French and Spanish military titles ('capitaine général,' 'capitán general'), where it marked the topmost commander, a rank so lofty that monarchs frequently kept it for themselves.
- Spanish crown
- Reserved exclusively for Spain's reigning monarch today
- colonial power
- Ruled vast Spanish American territories as captaincies general
- Washington's rank
- He declined this grandiose title for plain general
- artillery roots
- Originally commanded a nation's entire gunpowder forces
captain general of castile — spanish military rank held by the monarch, created in 15th century during the reconquista
captain general of catalonia — regional military governor position in catalonia, spain, established during the hapsburg period
captain general of cuba — spanish colonial administrator who ruled cuba from 1762 onwards, including the famous captain general butarque