General Staff
ordinarily a group of officers acting as an advisory board to the commander-in-chief of an army, each member of which is responsible for the detailed working out of the chief's orders in one particular field. The general staff of a commanding general may be compared to the cabinet of a premier in civil government. There is also a Great General Staff, not subservient to any commanding field officer, which plans the tactics and strategy of the whole national army. This system of military organization was first adopted in Germany. In the United General Staff Corps was first established by an act of Congress passed in 1903.
Frequent amendments have since been made to the original act, notably in 1918, after the World War, when a thorough reorganization took place. The Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1920 was General Peyton C.
March, who occupied this position during the war with the Central Powers. Under his authority there were four chiefs of divisions; Chief of the Executive Division, the War Plans Division, the Purchase of Supplies Division and the Army Operations Division. Each of these chiefs is directly responsible to the Chief of General Staff and Secretary of War.
The General Staff as a whole, together GENERATOR with the Secretary of War, is responsible for the working out of all the plans of campaign of the United States Army in the field. See MILITARY ORGANIZATION, UNITED STATES.
GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMI- NARY, the most important Protestant Episcopal seminary in the United States.
It was established in 1817 in New York City by order of the General Convention, and began its work in 1819. From 1820 to 1822 the seminary was located in New Haven, but in the latter year was re-established in New York. For many years it suffered from the lack of the necessary financial backing. This condition, however, was remedied during the administration of Eugene A. Hoffman, which began in 1878 and lasted until his death in 1902. Through his own large gifts, as well as a result of his ability to interest other wealthy men, the seminary was established on an independent basis. The regular course covers three years. A graduate course is also offered. The degrees of D. D. and B. D. are conferred. The seminary is controlled by a Board of Trustees. No tuition fees are charged and there are many prizes and scholarships available. In 1921 the number of students was 71, and the number of teachers, 15. The governing official was H. E. Fosbroke, D. D.