the.com/general
The strategist who plans for years, then loses to weather, ego, or one bad Tuesday.
means Describing something that applies broadly rather than to specifics, or denoting the highest-ranking officer who commands an army's whole sweep.
from From Latin generalis, "relating to all, of a whole kind," built on genus, "kind, class, race" — the same root that gives us genus, gender, and generate. The military rank is a clipping of an older phrase like "captain general," meaning the captain over the entire force, not just one part; over time the adjective "general" simply walked off on its own and became the title.
- five stars
- Only nine Americans ever wore five-star rank
- latin root
- Means belonging to the whole, not the part
- napoleon's edge
- He valued lucky generals over merely skilled ones
- leading from front
- Roman generals fought visibly to inspire the legions
- desk vs field
- Modern ones win wars over maps, not muskets
general george washington — commanded continental army during american revolution, 1775-1783
general dwight eisenhower — supreme commander allied forces europe in world war ii, 1944-1945
general napoleon bonaparte — french military commander who conquered much of europe, 1799-1815