FIELD MARSHAL (As per Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_marshal
Field marshal is a
very senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks.
Usually it is the highest rank in an army, and when it is, few (if any) persons
are appointed to it.
The origin of the term
dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's
horses (from Old German Marh-scalc = "horse-servant"), from the time
of the early Frankish kings.
Promotion to the rank
of field marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military
achievement by a general (a wartime victory). However, the rank has also been
used as a divisional command rank and also as a brigade command rank. Examples
of the different uses of the rank include Austria-Hungary, Prussia and Germany
for an extraordinary achievement; Spain and Mexico for a divisional command
(Spanish: mariscal de campo); and France, Portugal and Brazil for a brigade
command (French: maréchal de camp, Portuguese: marechal de campo).
The traditional
attribute distinguishing a field marshal is a baton. The baton nowadays is
purely ornamental, and as such may be richly decorated. That said, it is not
necessary for the insignia to be a baton. (Such is the case in Russia post-1991
and the former Soviet Union, which use a jewelled star referred to as a
marshal's star.)
The exact wording of
the titles used by field marshals varies: examples include "marshal"
and "field marshal general". The air force equivalent in the
Commonwealth and many Middle Eastern air forces is marshal of the air force
(not to be confused with air marshal). (Navies, which usually do not use the
nomenclature employed by armies or air forces, use titles such as "fleet
admiral," "grand admiral" or "admiral of the fleet"
for the equivalent rank.) Note that 'Field Marshal' or 'Marshal' is never
written as 'Marshall' with two ls.
