The phrase Grand Old Man of the Army refers to Gen. Sir Anthony Blaxland Stransham, GCB, of the Royal Marines, who served Britain in a series of colonial wars in the 19th century. Twice knighted by Queen Victoria, he was the oldest living Grand Commander of the Bath when he died, and the senior officer in the Army. See: Order of the Bath.

In America, Gen. Winfield Scott was known as the Grand Old Man of the Army.