36 



ARMY, UNITED STATES. 



surgeons of volunteers and chaplains attached 

 to these hospitals, were mustered out of service 

 during the year. The health of the troops was 

 fully equal to that of preceding years, notwith- 

 standing military movements of unprecedented 

 magnitude were pushed to a successful com- 

 pletion, and, except among the returned pris- 

 oners, who were more or less affected by typhoid 

 fever, no unusual epidemic prevails. The re- 

 turns of sick and wounded show that the num- 

 ber of cases treated in general hospitals from 

 1861 to July 1, 1865, amounted to 1,057,423. 

 The medical bureau is in possession of 30,000 

 special reports of the more important forms of 

 surgical injuries, of diseases and operations, 

 which, together with an extensive pathological 

 collection, it is proposed to employ in the prep- 

 aration of a medical and surgical history of the 

 war. 



The sea-coast defences progressed during the 

 year only to such an extent as the services of 

 competent officers to superintend them could 

 be spared from active military operations. The 

 permanent forts on the Gulf have, since their 

 repossession by the Government, been repaired 

 and put in a defensive condition, and great 

 activity has been manifested in mounting these 

 works, as well as those on the Atlantic coast, 

 with guns of a heavier calibre than were em- 

 ployed before the war. Efforts have also been 

 made to increase the capacity of manufacturing 

 sea-coast carriages, and it is contemplated here- 

 after to mount all siege and field-pieces on iron 

 carriages. The Ordnance Department has dis- 

 covered nothing yet to supersede the large 

 smooth-bore cast-iron pieces, of which the 

 Government now possesses so considerable a 

 F.nniber. No rifled cannon that can be im- 

 plicitly relied upon have been yet manufactured. 

 Nearly a million of good Springfield muskets, 

 and about half as many of foreign or captured 

 muskets, are now in the national arsenals, and, 

 in view of such a supply, the enormous manu- 

 facture of small arms carried on at the armories 

 during the war was, subsequent to the termina- 

 tion of hostilities, reduced to the peace standard. 

 Notwithstanding many experiments have been 

 made, no satisfactory breach-loading musket 

 has yet been invented, and the infantry continue 

 to be arm'ed with the muzzle-loading piece here- 

 tofore in use. Experiments have latterly been 

 instituted, however, with reference to convert- 

 ing the old muzzle-loaders into breech-loaders. 

 The immense amount of equipments, projectiles, 

 and other material of war which accumulated 

 during the progress of military operations, has, 

 as far as was practicable, or consistent with 

 economy, been stored away for future use, ren- 

 dering the Government far better prepared for 

 lio-tilitics than at any previous period of the 

 national history. "The artillery on hand," 

 says the Secretary of War, " tasks the depart- 

 ment for its means of storage. The manufac- 

 ture of ammunition requires materials for which 

 we have in some degree relied upon other coun- 

 tries, because they could be had cheaper. For 



this reason, and to guard against mischance, 

 three years' stock of material for ammunition 

 has already been kept in store, and the supply 

 on hand is ample for any war that can be waged 

 against us by any nation." The number of 

 arms in the national depositories would have 

 been much greater at the close of the year, had 

 not the soldiers been allowed, when mustered 

 out of the service, to retain their arms at a nomi- 

 nal price, which most of them willingly paid. 



The signal corps, which at the close of 1864 

 numbered over 1,500 officers and enlisted men, 

 was, subsequent to the termination of hostilities, 

 reduced to about one-tenth that number. On 

 account of the usefulness of the services ren- 

 dered by the corps during the war, it has been 

 determined to retain in the service this nucleus 

 of an organization, which can be hereafter en- 

 larged as circumstances may require. To the 

 12,000 miles of military telegraph in operation 

 at the close of 1864, over 3,000 were added pre- 

 vious to the close of the war. Upwards of 

 6,000 miles are still in use. 



The business of the Bureau of Military Justice 

 has experienced no diminution since the close 

 of hostilities. The Judge-Advocate General 

 reported that subsequent to March 2, 1865, 

 16,591 records of general courts-martial had 

 been received, reviewed, and filed, and 6,123 

 special reports made as to the regularity of 

 proceedings, the pardon of offenders, &c., be- 

 sides numerous miscellaneous questions. A new 

 and enlarged edition of the "Digest of Opinions 

 of the Judge-Advocate General" is about to 

 be published. For the discharge of military 

 prisoners and the military departments of the 

 country, see ARMY OPERATIONS. 



In compliance with a resolution of the thirty- 

 ninth Congress, adopted at its first sessidn, the 

 Secretary of War, early in 1866, reported the fol- 

 lowing general officers of the regular army and 

 of volunteers in service on February 1st, 1866 : 

 Regular Army. 



LIE UTEN ANT-GENERAL. 



Ulysses S. Grant, Washington, D. C., command- 

 ing Army United States. 



MAJOR-GENERALS. 



Henry W. Halleck. San Francisco, Cal., command- 

 in"; Military Division Pacific. 



William T. Sherman, St. Louis, Mo.-, commanding 

 Military Division Mississippi. 



Geo. G. Meade. Philadelphia, Pa., commanding 

 Military Division Atlantic. 



Philip II. Sheridan, New Orleans, La., command- 

 ing Military Division of the Gulf. 



George H. Thomas, Nashville, Tenn., commanding 

 Military Division of Tennessee. 



BRIGADIER-GENERALS. 



Irvin McDowell, San Francisco, Cal., commanding 

 Department of California. 



W. S. Rosecrans, on leave of absence till July 1, 

 1866. 



Philip St. George Cooke, New York, General Re- 

 cruiting Service. 



John Pope, St. Louis, Mo., commanding Depart- 

 inrnt of Missouri. 



Joseph Hooker, New York, commanding Depart- 

 ment of the East. 



W. Si Hancock, Baltimore, Md., commanding Mid- 

 die Department. 



