Field-Marshal
The title of Field-Marshal is one of comparatively modern date, having been first created only so far back as the reign of George I. In the London Gazette for the month of January, 1736, we find it announced that “His Majesty has been pleased to erect a new post of honour, under the title of Marshal of the Armies of Great Britain, and to confer the same on the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Orkney, as the two eldest generals in the service.” The corresponding title up to that time would seem to have been that of “captain-general,” which was subsequently revived, as a distinction, in the person of William Duke of Cumberland, just previous to the Rebellion of ’45, and again in that of the late Duke of York in 1799. The title of field-marshal has been but sparingly conferred—only about thirty individuals, exclusive of royalty, having been gazetted as field-marshals during upwards of 120 years.