Crossword Genius

Military officer in swamp with a rear admiral (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

marshal

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'military officer' is the definition.
(I know that general are military)

'swamp with a rear admiral' is the wordplay.
'swamp' becomes 'marsh' (I've seen this before).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'a rear admiral' becomes 'al' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'marsh'+'al'='MARSHAL'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for marshal that I've seen before include "High officer" , "Assemble and arrange" , "Arrange in order" , "put in order" , "Muster" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.