34 



AEMY, UNITED STATES. 



the disasters on the Peninsula in 1862, over 

 80,000 troops were enlisted, organized, armed, 

 equipped, and sent to the field in less than a 

 month. 60,000 troops have repeatedly gone to 

 the field within four weeks. And 90,000 in- 

 fantry were sent to the armies from the five 

 States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and "Wis- 

 consin within twenty days." As a corollary 

 from the above he concludes that our resources 

 in men, arms, and ammunition, clothing, trans- 

 portation, and subsistence supplies are so exten- 

 sive a to enable the Government to reduce its 

 standing military force in time of peace to a 

 lower degree lhan any other nation. 



Accordingly the estimates for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1867, are $33,814,461.83 as 

 against $516,240,181.70 for the preceding year, 

 and are based upon a standing force of 50,000 

 men, so organized as to admit of an increase, 

 without additional organizations, to 82,000 

 troops of all arms. The public mind does not, 

 however, appear to be yet settled with regard 

 to the size or composition of the force to be 

 retained as a standing army in time of peace, 

 and several projects for the reorganization of 

 the army have been initiated at the first session 

 of the thirty-ninth Congress. A bill reported 

 by the Senate Committee on military affairs 

 provides that the army shall consist of 



Five regiments of artillery 9,000 mpn. 



Twelve regiments of cavalry 12,000 u 



Fifty -five regiments of infantry 85,000 " 



Total 56,000 " 



to be called the Army of the United States. 

 The artillery regiments are to have the same 

 organization as at present, and the President 

 may at his discretion cause four of the cavalry 

 regiments to be drilled as infantry. The in- 

 fantry regiments are to consist of the ten regi- 

 ments of ten companies each now in the ser- 

 vice ; the remaining nine regiments made into 

 twenty-seven, by adding to each of the three 

 battalions of eight companies each, of which 

 they are composed, two companies ; ten regi- 

 ments of colored men, and eight of disabled 

 men, or men discharged by disability. The offi- 

 cers of the two latter classes of regiments are 

 to be taken from the officers of colored troops, 

 the veteran reserve corps, and other officers of 

 volunteers disabled in the service. No officer 

 below the rank of general officer is to be pro- 

 moted without passing an examination, and 

 those failing in such examination are to be sus- 

 pended or dropped. No persons are to be 

 commissioned in any regiment until examined 

 by boards convened by the Secretary of War, 

 which are to ascertain the candidate's attain- 

 ments in military history, his services during 

 the war, and general qualifications. The in- 

 fantry regiments can bo increased if necessary 

 to fifty-five thousand men, which would make an 

 army corresponding, both on a peace and a war 

 footing, very nearly with the estimate of the 

 Secretary of Wnr. The general officers contem- 

 plated by this bill are one lieutenant-general, five 

 major-generals, and ten brigadier-generals. 



Another project for the reorganization of tha 

 army provides for a force of 160,000 men, com- 

 posed of regiments ten companies strong each, 

 and commanded by a general-in-chief, three 

 generals, sixteen major-generals, and thirty-two 

 brigadier-generals. A field staff and depart- 

 ment staff are also provided for. One-half of 

 the promotions are .to be made according to 

 seniority and the other half according to merit, 

 to be determined by boards of examiners. It 

 requires an officer to serve two years in the 

 line before entering the staff of the army, and 

 makes "West Point a staff school. Any one 

 who can pass the necessary examination may 

 enter the army as second lieutenant. The plan 

 exempts officers' salaries from taxation, allows 

 officers to be retired after twenty -five years' -ser- 

 vice, and gives them the right to hold civil office 

 while in retirement. It incorporates the old 

 regular army as a part of the new army, and 

 prescribes rules for uniform, leaves of absence, 

 furloughs, and court-martials. 



Pending the adoption of a plan of reorgani- 

 zation, the forces in the service at the close of 

 1865 comprised the old regular army, viz.: 

 nineteen regiments of infantry, of which ten 

 are of ten companies each, and nine of twenty- 

 four companies each ; six regiments of cavalry, 

 and five of artillery, together with somewhat 

 over a hundred thousand troops, white and col- 

 ored, of all arms, the remains of the veteran 

 reserve corps and old volunteer organizations. 

 The latter are being gradually mustered out as 

 occasion ceases for their services, while active 

 efforts are making to recruit the regular regi- 

 ments, service in which was never so popular 

 during the war as in the volunteer organiza- 

 tions. From the report of the adjutant-general 

 it appears that the number of regular recruits 

 enlisted for all arms from October 31, 1864, 

 to October 1, 1865, was 19,555. The regular 

 regiments are now distributed over all parts 

 of the country, and have an authorized strength 

 of 952 officers and 41,819 men. Their actual 

 strength in January, 1866, according to a return 

 made by the Secretary of "War, was 1,124 of- 

 ficers and 23,795 men, an aggregate of 24,919. 

 Of the officers, 100 in the cavalry are absent, 

 113 in the artillery, and 368 in the infantry. 

 Of the men, 5,472 are recruits assigned since 

 the last return. All the regiments except the 

 17th are assigned to military departments. At 

 the close of the year several thousand applica- 

 tions for commissions in the regular service 

 were on file, and for the purpose of securing 

 the requisite number of competent officers, a 

 board was appointed to examine applicants and 

 determine their relative merits. Two years' 

 actual service in the war are indispensable for 

 appointment. 



With the termination of the war, the opera- 

 tions of the Provost-Marshal General's bureau, 

 which in former years were of great importance 

 and extent, have been very considerably cur- 

 tailed. At the close of the year, the surgeons 

 and commissioner* of boards of enrolment in 



