Grades or Levels of General in The Union and Confederate Armies
Until Ulysses S. Grant was appointed lieutenant general and General-in-Chief in 1864, the Union Army had only two grades of general: major general and brigadier general. In the Union Army, major generals commanded armies as well as corps and divisions, the armies’ largest units. Seniority was determined by the date of rank stated in the Senate's confirmation resolution, which could have been a date earlier than the confirmation date. Otherwise, rank would be determined by the order of names on the lists of multiple officers confirmed in the same resolution on the same date to rank from the same date.
The Confederate Army had four grades (or levels or "ranks") of general officers, much like the modern U.S. Army: general, lieutenant general, major general and brigadier general. In theory, full generals commanded armies, lieutenant generals commanded corps, major generals commanded divisions and brigadier generals commanded brigades. Lower ranking officers might temporarily command a unit designated for a higher ranked commanding officer when the unit's commander was killed, wounded or unavailable. Some small Confederate armies of about corps size were formed and were commanded by lieutenant generals.
The Confederate Regular Army did not proceed beyond the planning stage and the appointment of six brigadier generals and a few lower grade officers. Since the Provisional Army, Confederate States (PACS) was the only Confederate Army that was organized by the Confederacy, the Confederate Army and the PACS were identical. Additional reference and distinction between a regular Confederate Army and the PACS is superfluous except perhaps as a minor historical footnote.
Read more about this topic: List Of American Civil War Generals, Identification of American Civil War Generals
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