Subject. REPORTS OF THE SECOND AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY. With copies of such accounts as have been rendered by persons charged REPORTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PUBLIC PRINTING. Of the operations of his office during the year 1853.. DECEMBER 6, 1853.—Read, and ordered to be printed; and that 10,000 copies in addition to REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 1, 1853. SIR. I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this department during the past year: The authorized strength of the army (as now posted) is 13,821, officers and men; but it will be seen by the accompanying table, prepared in the Adjutant General's office, from the latest returns, that the actual strength is only 10,417. Of this number, 8,378 are employed in the frontier departments or are now on the route to them. It gives me pleasure to say that the measures taken for the protection of the inhabitants of our frontiers have, under the direction of able and zealous commanders, been more than usually successful. The troops have everywhere been actively and constantly employed. Indian depredations have been comparatively infrequent, and, except in California and Oregon, have not attained more than a local importance. In the Indian country immediately west of the Mississippi but two or three instances of collisions have occurred. Arrangements are now in progress which, by the establishment of new posts in more favorable positions, will enable the department to dispense with a number of the smaller and less important posts; to give increased security to that frontier; to employ a greater force for the protection of the emigration crossing the great plains of the west; and, at the same time, materially diminish the expenses of the military establishment in that part of the country. In Texas, Indian hostilities have diminished in frequency and in importance, and in a majority of the cases that have been brought to the notice of the department, the depredations have been committed by Indians from Mexican territory. As the Rio Grande is the boundary between this country and Mexico, and the positions to be occupied on it for the protection of that frontier and the fulfilment of our treaty stipulations with the republic of Mexico will, in all probability, be permanent, the force on that river has been considerably increased, and arrangements are now being made, under the direction of Major General Smith, aided by an experienced officer of engineers, to select the most suitable positions for the attainment of these objects, and for the construction of field works for their defence. As a part of this system, orders have been given for the establishment of a strong post on the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican town of El Paso, in the neighborhood of which Indian hostilities and collisions between the frontier inhabitants of the two countries have occurred. It is also in contemplation to establish a large post at the point where the great trail of the Comanche Indians crosses the Rio Grande. Other dispositions for the control of the Indians on the northern frontier of Texas are also in progress, and, when they are completed, the department hopes with confi dence to give a very great degree of security to both the Mexican and Indian frontiers of that State. New Mexico has been comparatively exempt from Indian disturbances during the past year. The few that have occurred have generally been traced to marauders and outlaws, for whose actions none of the tribes of that country can justly be held responsible. Those to which they nominally belong have given assurances which, it is believed, they are endeavoring in good faith to carry out, of their intention to apprehend and deliver up these marauders, and restore the property plundered by them. The Indians of California and Oregon are numerous and warlike; but as they were divided into small independent bands, having no general head, and were in a great measure destitute of firearms, their hostilities in previous years were not important. Now, however, that the rapidly extending settlements of those countries are driving the Indians from their accustomed haunts and crowding them into narrower limits, they are forced into combinations both formidable and frequent. Within the past three years their hostilities, the result in many instances of the intrusion and aggressions of the whites, have been almost uninterrupted; and it is officially known that, in northern California and southern Oregon alone, within this period, the lives of more than a hundred whites and several hundred Indians have been sacrificed in collisions between the two races. The force in that country is not now, and never has been, sufficient; and, impressed with the idea of its entire inadequacy, the department some time since ordered a regiment of artillery to the Pacific, and it was designed to send there an additional regiment of infantry, but it was found that the state of the service would not then, nor does it yet, admit of it. The first mail from the Pacific, subsequent to the issuing of this order, brought intelligence of renewed hostilities, in which more than forty lives were lost. By the zeal and activity of General Lane, (delegate from Oregon Territory,) in command of a volunteer force, aided by the few regular troops that were in the neighborhood, hostilities were suppressed, and the Indians compelled to sue for peace. These operations appear to have been conducted with great energy and judgment, and, in the final conflict, General Lane and Captain Alden (the latter in command of the regular troops) were both severely wounded while gallantly leading a charge against the Indians. There is, however, no assurance that peace can be maintained, unless a force adequate to the control of the Indians is stationed in their midst. It is the intention of the department that this shall be done, and as soon as possible a considerable additional force will be sent to the Pacific, and one of the brigadier generals of the army ordered there to command. The vast territories between the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Nevada are inhabited by numerous and warlike bands of Indians. Hostilities are now existing between them and the inhabitants of Utah Territory, and they are constantly occurring on the emigration routes through that country from the western States to our possessions on the Pacific. It is due to our citizens who are settled in, or pass through, those remote regions, that their lives and property should be protected; but the department is without the means of fulfilling this duty. |