30 



AKMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



employed 4,000 ambulances, 10,000 horses, and 

 10,000 picked men, and had attained a state of 

 great efficiency. In view of the speedy open- 

 ing of the spring campaign, and the probability 

 of battles being fought, the project to entirely 

 reorganize this department, and to substitute 

 raw recruits for the practised men then attach- 

 ed to it, was deemed too hazardous an experi- 

 ment, and no further action was taken in the 

 matter. The various corps at present in exist- 

 ence have been organized in compliance with 

 general orders from generals commanding the 

 several departments, and form essentially one 

 system. 



A signal corps was organized under an act 

 of the 37th Congress, of which the average 

 number of officers on duty has been about 200. 

 The Secretary of War observes that the full 

 capacity of this branch of the service has not 

 been developed, and different opinions as to its 

 value seem to be entertained by the command- 

 ing officers. In combined land and naval oper- 

 : ations it has been considered useful, and com- 

 manding officers of Western armies have com- 

 mended it with favor. The continuance of the 

 corps was recommended by the War Depart- 

 ment, with proper restrictions upon number 

 of officers, and limiting them to their proper 

 scope of duties. 



During the year, 1,755 miles of land and sub- 

 marine telegraph were constructed under the 

 direction of the military telegraph corps, 

 making the total number of miles of land and 

 submarine military telegraph lines in operation 

 during the year five thousand three hundred 

 and twenty-six. At least 1,200,000 telegrams 

 were sent and received over the military lines in 

 operation during the fiscal year ending June 

 30th, 1863 being at the rate of about 3,000 per 

 diem. These messages varied in length from 

 ten to one thousand words and upward, and gen- 

 erally were of urgent or important character. 



The number of Revolutionary soldiers borne 

 upon the pension rolls had dwindled down to 

 eighteen on the 30th of June, 1863, of whom 

 only ten had made application for their sti- 

 pends on the 4th of March. The number of 

 widows of Revolutionary soldiers on the rolls 

 at the same period, was 1,573. The whole 

 number of army invalid pensioners on the rolls 

 the 30th of June was 7,248, most of whom 

 were pensioned on account of wounds received 

 or disease contracted in the service during the 

 present war. The widows, orphans, and de- 

 pendent mothers of 3,573 deceased soldiers of 

 the present war were inscribed upon the rolls 

 during the fiscal year, making the whole num- 

 ber of this class on the rolls at the close of the 

 year, 4,820. The number of army pensioners 

 of all classes, on the rolls on the 30th June 

 was 13,659, drawing pay to the amount of $1,- 

 227,641 per annum. 



The expenditures during the fiscal year end- 

 ing June 80th, for arms and munitions of war, 

 furnished by the Ordnance Department for sea 

 coast and frontier fortifications, and for the 



forces in the field, amounted to $42,313,630. 

 The cannon, small arms, accoutrements, and 

 equipments for men and horses, and ammuni- 

 tion obtained during the same period by pur- 

 chase and manufacture, were as follows : 



field, siege, and sea-coast cannon, with car- 

 riages, caissons, and other implements. 



muskets and rifles for foot soldiers. 



carbines and pistols for mounted troops. 



cannon balls and shells. 



pounds of lead and lead bullets. 



cartridges for artillery. 



cartridges for small arms. 



percussion caps. 



friction primers. 



pounds of gunpowder. 



sets of accoutrements for men. 



sets of equipments for cavalry I 



sets of artillery harness, each si 

 horses. 



1,577 



1,082,841 



282,389 



1,251,995 



48,719,862 



1,435,046 



259,022,216 



347,273,400 



3,925,369 



5,764,768 



919,676 



94,639 



3,281 



dorses, 

 set for two 



The quantities of the principal articles of 

 ordnance materials in the control of the de- 

 partment at the beginning of the war, the 

 quantities of those articles that have since been 

 procured, and the quantities of those articles 

 on hand on June 30th, 1863, are shown in the 

 following table, viz. : 



From a report furnished to Congress by the 

 Secretary of War, it appears that at the close 

 of the year the following general officers were 

 without commands, equal to a brigade : 



MAJOR-GENERALS. 



George B. McClellan, relieved Nov. 7, 1862. 



John C. Fremont, relieved Aug. 12, 1862. 



David Hunter, relieved June 12, 1863 ; on a tour of 

 inspection through the military district of Mississippi. 



E. A. Hitchcock, commissioner for exchange of 

 prisoners ; has had no command. 



