posts occupied may render nec ssary; and, 2. That the organization of the line ought, as far as practicable, to be such that, in passing from peace to the war formation, the force may be sufficiently augmented without adding new regiments and battalions; thus raising the war on the peace establishment, instead of incurring a new army to be added to the old, as at the commencement of the late war (1812). The next principle to be observed is, that the organization ought to be such as to induce, in time of peace, citizens of adequate talents and respectability of character to enter and remain in the military service of the country, so that the government may have officers at its command who to the requisite experience would add the public confidence. The correctness of this principle can scarcely be doubted, for surely if it is worth having an army at all, it is worth having it well commanded."

Since the date of that report the country has had the experience of three great wars and innumerable conflicts with the Indians, yet the principles enunciated are the same to-day as in 1820. The various changes of organization and of the strength of parts are better illustrated by the documents and tables herewith than by any written statement I might attempt, but it is seen clearly that the present organization and strength of the Army result logically from antecedent events; and that measured by any standard-of the population of the country, its wealth, the extent of territory, the number of posts to be maintained, the routes of travel to be guarded, the public lands from which trespassers are to be excluded, or indeed by any fair inference of necessity-it Can be demonstrated that the existing military establishment, including all officers and ested men, aggregating 27,489, is less in proportion than was the Legion of the United States, fixed by General Washington in 1792.

Therefore it would seem to be the part of wisdom to let well enough alone, and to slow the existing Army to increase or diminish by natural causes, according to the ecessities of the country.

But on the supposition that the present commission prefer to accomplish a thorough reorganization, I have prepared the accompanying table, exhibiting an organization casily reached from the present standard, and which would better fulfill the second of Mr. Calhoun's principles, of being enlarged to a war standard with the least possible "confusion or disorder" and "at the least possible expense."

It will be observed that I assume the new force, or peace establishment, to consist of five regiments of artillery, ten of cavalry, and twenty of infantry, each to have the same identical organization, leaving to the artillery and cavalry the same number of companies as now, and diminishing the number of infantry regiments by five, but adding two companies to each regiment, thus only disbanding ten of the existing companies. I take from the artillery and cavalry fifteen majors, and give twenty to the infantry, an increase of five; and give to each company of cavalry and infantry two first lieutenants, the same that the artillery now have. This will increase the number of first lieutenants in the Army by three hundred and sixty; a most valuable increase, because they are the active "duty-officers," and they constitute the school from which the country will, in times of war and danger, habitually draw the chief officers for hard service.

Examining the table further, we find that each regiment of every arm of service is composed of twelve companies, susceptible of being grouped into three battalions of four companies each, to command and administer which are

One colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, two majors (one field-officer to command each battalion, one adjutant, and one quartermaster and commissary, making six officers;

and

One sergeant-major, one quartermaster-sergeant, one commissary-sergeant, and one principal musician, making four non-commissioned staff.

Each company will have one captain, two first lieutenants, and one second lieutenant, making four officers; one orderly-sergeant, three sergeants, three corporals, two artificers, two musicians, and fifty privates, making four officers and sixty-one enlisted

men.

Each regiment would then contain, for a peace establishment, fifty-four officers and seven hundred and thirty-six enlisted men, aggregating seven hundred and ninety; or

the

5 regiments of artillery = 60 companies= 270 officers, and 3,680 men.

To increase to the war standard, simply add to each company one sergeant, one corporal, and fifty privates, which would result as follows:

To further increase for war purposes, add four new companies to each battalion, and we have

5 regiments of artillery- =120 companies 510 officers and 13,700 men.

10

20

240 cavalry infantry 480

The Germans now use companies as large as two hundred and fifty men, so that a battalion of eight companies numbers two thousand men. maximum, we will have

Assuming that as the

on a minimum, or peace basis, of 27,650. Thus an effective and well-organized army of over 200,000 can be created: promptly, "without the least confusion or disorder,” fulfilling all the conditions of Mr. Calhoun's second great principle, which he regarded as of more national importance than the first.

On considering any paper organization, it is safe to assume that about one-third are usually absent. This seems a large proportion, but it is the result of experience extending back for centuries. Good discipline and good administration diminish this ratio; while bad discipline and worse administration increase it largely. The usual causes of diminished ranks are wounds and sickness, furloughs and leaves of absence, confinement by way of punishment, details for cooking, for care of sick, as teamsters, care and distribution of supplies, detachments for escorts of trains and exposed points along the routes of supply, &c. These causes are common to all armies in peace and in war; besides which our peace establishment is specially subject to canses which take officers away from their legitimate regiments and companies. It is a very common popular error that an army is necessarily idle in time of peace; and, for this alleged reason, influential families strive to draw their sons and friends away from their duty. No army in war performs more real hard work than does our Amerjean peace establishment, building forts and posts along our ever-changing frontier, building roads hundreds and thousands of miles in extent, guarding trains, and in explorations, which cause them to march thousands of miles in a single season, &c. Among these special causes, I will enumerate the following: The Military Academy at all times draws from the regiments thirty officers; the civil universities are entitled to thirty by law; the recruiting service requires forty; besides which are courts-martial, boards of survey, boards to examine new inventions in arms, accouterments, clothing, and equipments, "Centennial Boards," &c. At this very time there are three hundred and thirty-five officers so absent from their proper companies, besides many more who have leave of absence from their division and department commanders. I am satisfied that discipline and good economy demand that there never should be less than two, and habitually not less than three, officers present with each organized company; and it is for this reason that I have added one first lieutenant to each company of cavalry and infantry, the same as now exists in the artillery companies.

The company is the foundation of all good armies. It is here the officers and soldiers learn guard-duty, picket-duty, the drill, the mode of cooking, the manner of sleeping in barracks or in the field, the indispensable habit of subordination and obedience; how to preserve the health and strength of the men; how to care for the sick and wounded; the muster, embracing the history of individuals, on which are based all claims for pensions, bounties, and provision in old age and infirmity.

Four such companies united form the battalion, with a field-officer to command, which is a spendid unit for peace or for war; and the value of this organization is, that, in the ever-varying phases which military duty assumes in our country, two of these battalions may be easily strengthened by the transfer of all the effective officers and privates of the third battalion to the other two, thus constituting an effective force of eight companies, each of which will have about seventy-five privates, eleven non-commissioned officers, and four officers, while the reduced battalion would remain at some depot, constituting a sufficient guard, and be useful in collecting a reserve force of

recruits.

The three battalions habitually compose the regiment, which is the most perfect organization, common to all civilized arms, where administration and discipline are

united under the colonel, an officer of experience, who should be qualified for every manner of duty-field and staff-in peace or war; and who would be ready for the most parsimonious administration, or for an enlargement of his command to the equivalent of an ordinary division.

Having thus disposed of the Army proper, I will now pass to the subjects of "generals" and of "general staff," which have given rise to so much controversy,

According to existing laws, there are in the military establishment to-dayOne general, one lieutenant-general, three major-generals, six brigadier-generals. These are all now employed on duties commensurate with their rank, yet there are employed two other officers of the grade of colonel, who command departments, viz: Colonel Ruger, Department of the South, and Colonel Kautz, who commands the Department of Arizona. Should vacancies occur in the grades of general and lieutenantgeneral, they could not be filled, and the command of the Army would devolve on the senior major-general. In my judgment this law should be modified so as to leave the rank of lieutenant-general permanent; for all the world over 25,000 men are held to be the equivalent of a corps d'armée, the legitimate command of a lieutenant-general, and the title alone will be an incentive to honorable conduct and competition among the general officers of the Army.

In discussing the general staff, I will treat of the several parts, with the titles by which they are at present known, following the classification of the Army Register of 1876. Aids-de-camp and military secretary are personal staff, selected by each general officer, from officers in the regiments or staff, without increasing the general aggregate. They simply receive additional rank and pay while so acting, which rank and pay have been sanctioned by long experience, and are necessary, by reason of their increased expense while following the fortunes of their chiefs.

I recommend that no change be made in existing laws, but, if reduction is inevitable, then that the general have four aids, that the lieutenant-general have three aids, instead of two aids and one secretary, thus avoiding a title which is in fact obsolete; that major-generals have two, and brigadier-generals one each-in all nineteen.

The Adjutant-General's Department consists of one brigadier-general, two colonels, four lieutenant-colonels, and ten majors, seventeen in all-a number which is not deemed excessive; nor do the rank and pay exceed their necessities.

The Inspector-General's Department consists of three colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, and two majors, certainly as low in numbers and rank as the most rigid economy could demand. I advise that the senior colonel be made a brigadier-general, on a par with the other heads of departments.

The Bureau of Military Justice consists of one brigadier-general and four majors, which also seems as small as possible.

The Quartermaster's Department has one brigadier-general, four colonels, eight lieutenant-colonels, fourteen majors, and thirty captains-fifty-seven in all. When we contemplate the extent of our country, the scattered condition of the troops, and the important functions performed by this branch of the staff, I surely see no good reason for further reduction.

The Subsistence Department consists of one brigadier-general, two colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, eight majors, and twelve captains-twenty-six in all. To fulfill their proper duties there is now, and will likely continue to be, plenty of work for this num

ber of officers.

The Medical Department now consists of one brigadier-general, two colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, fifty majors, ninety-two captains, and fifty-eight first lieutenants: also, four storekeepers and seventy-nine hospital stewards-in all two hundred and nine officers and seventy-nine enlisted men. The rank of these officers is assimilated for the purpose of pay and quarters, and their functions are so professional that I dislike to venture the expression of an opinion as to their number or rank; but the Medical Department does seem too large, and I have always preferred that each regiment should have one surgeon and two assistants, leaving a small number as a general staff for assignment to divisions and departments.

The Pay Department consists of one brigadier-general, two colonels, two lieutenantcolonels, and fifty majors; in all, fifty-five,

By existing laws, every regiment, company, and detachment of the Army must be mustered and paid every two months. When we contemplate the necessarily scattered condition of the Army, I do not see how a less number can, by the utmost activity, succeed in fulfilling this task.

The Signal Department consists of one brigadier-general; and the officers necessary for the execution of the duties devolving on this department are detailed from the line of the Army, at present eighteen. These duties are more civil than military; and I confess that I would prefer that they should be devolved on some civil branch of the government, such as the Coast Survey.

Chaplains. Of these the law provides for thirty post chaplains and four regimental chaplains; the latter provided specially for the regiments of colored troops. I have no hesitation in advising that chaplains, as an Army rank, should be abolished. It is

notorious that these chaplains are not serving at the remote posts, for which they were specially provided. It would be preferable that, in place of commissioning the chaplains as Army captains, that the Secretary of War be authorized to designate fifty of the military posts as chaplain posts; that the council of administration at each of said posts be authorized to select and employ a chaplain, who shall receive, while performing the duties, one hundred dollars a month. The aggregate cost of fifty thus selected would not exceed that of the present thirty-four. In this connection I will also say that I believe the time has come when the words "white" and "black" should be omitted in all military laws; that recruits should be enlisted and distributed to all companies and regiments without reference to color or previous condition. Time would soon, in the Army as it already has in the Navy, obliterate the old prejudice that led to the formation of the regiments of colored cavalry and infantry. All should be alike. There still remain the Corps of Engineers, consisting of one brigadier-general, six colonels, twelve lieutenant-colonels, twenty-four majors, thirty captains, twenty-six first lieutenants, ten second lieutenants, thirty-eight non-commissioned officers, eight musicians, one hundred and fifty-four privates-in all, one hundred and nine officers and two hundred enlisted men.

The enlisted men of engineers are now organized into three companies, two of which are at Willet's Point, New York, under Maj. H. L. Abbot, a most thorough and competent officer, as a school of instruction in pontooning, torpedoes, and in modern galvanic appliances; the other company is at West Point. So far as the Army is concerned, these companies are not available to the general commanding the department in which they are stationed, and are held as only subject to the orders of the President. In like manner the officers, with few exceptions, are not subject to army inspection and association, being employed in the construction of military and civil works. I have the most unqualified respect for the superior qualifications and attainments of the officers of this corps, always selected from the highest graduates of the Military Academy, and only regret their isolation from the Army proper. I am satisfied that both parts would be benefited by a closer alliance, but in this connection will only recommend that, in the estimates for the maintenance of the military establishment, the pay, allowances, transportation, and incidental expenses of the Army, the Engineer Corps be made distinct, so that Congress may see at a glance the cost of this corps, when compared with the infantry, cavalry, &c. Instead of three companies, I suggest a battalion of four companies of the exact standard of the other arms of service.

The Ordnance Department consists of one brigadier-general, three colonels, four lieutenant-colonels, ten majors, twenty captains, sixteen first lieutenants, one hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers, and two hundred and eighty men-in all fiftyfour officers and four hundred men. The officers and men of this corps also are so parated from the Army proper, that both are the losers thereby. The arsenals are not subject to the supervision or inspection of the generals commanding divisions or departments, so that the isolation is perfect. In years past the policy of the government was to distribute the ordnance stores to arsenals in almost every State, but now that railways admit of the prompt distribution of such stores, the tendency is to contraction, so as ultimately to have but four great arsenals-one on the Atlantic (Springfield, Massachusetts), one on the Pacific (Benicia, California), and the third at Rock Island, Illinois; the fourth, to be chiefly a powder-depot, has been wisely recommended by the present Chief of Ordnance, General Benét, to be located near New York City. All the other arsenals could be dispensed with, sold, or converted to some other public use. This would require an act of Congress authorizing the construction of the powder-depot near New York and the sale of the surplus arsenals, most of which are in fact mere magazines." Certain of these magazines, located at military centers, should be held, subject to the supervision and control of the commanding generals of the departments wherein they happen to be. To dignify them by the title of arsenal is a misnomer. They are, and should be, magazines in charge of an ordnance sergeant and a commissioned officer of ordnance, who should be a staff officer to the department or division commander. If thus modified, I advise the retention of those at Fort Columbus, Fort Monroe, Leavenworth, San Antonio, Texas, Augusta, Georgia, and Vancouver, Washington Territory, and all others to be sold, and proceeds applied to the four main arsenals. The manufacture and preparation of ordnance stores should be, as now, in charge of this department, under the immediate and sole control of the Secretary of War; but the magazines could be guarded by the department commander, and the stores therefrom issued under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe. This would reduce materially the force and expenses of this department, make it far more efficient, and bring it into closer harmony with the rest of the Army. I advise that this department be styled a corps, the same as the Engineers, and that it have four companies of enlisted men, of the same strength as other companies of the Army, these companies to be officered by the corps. This would give one company to each of the four great arsenals proposed.

There remains a subject which has been discussed in the Military Committee, one of