ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



"I submit this," said Secretary Cameron, 

 " without further comment than to remark that 

 this is not an ' estimate ' in the sense of the esti- 

 mates asked for other purposes ; it is not ap- 

 proved nor disapproved, but it is forwarded 

 in response to various acts of Congress calling 

 for surveys and estimates for- improvement at 

 various localities." 



For all purposes except those above named, 

 the estimates for 1877-78 amount to $37,583,- 

 555. The appropriations for 1876-77 were 

 $30,610,351; for 1875-'76, $31,325,822; and 

 1874-75, $30,915,265. The increase in the 

 present estimates over the appropriations for 

 the current year is made up as follows : 



Civil establishment $48.437 80 



Military establishment 4,078,655 40 



Public works 2,201,902 TO 



Miscellaneous 644,203 81 



Total $6,978,203 77 



The public works are the new building for 

 the War, State, and Navy Departments, the 

 Rock Island Hospital, and the hospital and 

 other works at West Point, all of which are in 

 course of construction. The increase in mis- 

 cellaneous estimates is made up of $350,000 

 for refunding to States the expenses incurred 

 in raising volunteers; $98,000 for furnishing 

 artificial limbs under existing laws; $50,000 

 for the Signal Service ; $77,850 for printing 

 and binding; and the remainder, $88,358, for 

 various minor objects. The increase asked 

 for the military service is made up of $1,385,- 

 030 for armament of fortifications, manufact- 

 ure of small-arms, and the purchase of a site 

 for a powder-depot, and nearly $3,000,000 for 

 quartermasters' and subsistence supplies. " The 

 appropriations for the current year," says the 

 Secretary, " furnish no criterion of what is re- 

 quired for the support of the Department. It 

 is probable that a deficiency will be necessary 

 in order to meet the expenses during the 

 latter months of the year, although no efforts 

 will be spared to avoid it." 



The report of the Inspector-General shows 

 that the desertions have decreased from about 

 30 per cent, of the entire force in 1871 to 

 about 7 per cent, in 1876. That officer recom- 

 mends that Congress pass a law making deser- 

 tion a felony cognizable by the ordinary courts 

 of the country invested with jurisdiction over 

 criminal cases. 



Nearly 30,000 claims of loyal citizens, amount- 

 ing to $8,000,000, are pending in the Quarter- 

 master-General's office, under the act of July 

 4, 1864. It is stated that the only difference 

 between this class of claims and those before 

 the Southern Claims Commission is in the 

 residence of the claimants, the Quartermaster- 

 General investigating those in Northern States 

 and the Southern Claims Commission those in 

 States proclaimed as in insurrection against 

 the United States. 



There are now seventy-eight national ceme- 

 teries, which were maintained during the past 



year at a cost of $146,960. The number of in- 

 terments June 30, 1876, was 310,356, of which 

 164,655 were of unknown persons. The work 

 of erecting head-stones over the graves has 

 been completed at fifty-seven of the cemeteries, 

 and 92,046 known and 87,242 unknown graves 

 have been marked. There are about 17,000 

 graves of Union soldiers who fell during the 

 war and were buried by the War Department 

 in various public and private incorporated 

 cemeteries ndt known as national military 

 cemeteries. 



The health of the Army during the year has 

 been good, and the mortality from disease (8 

 per 1,000 of mean strength) unusually small. 

 The number of deaths from wounds has been 

 exceptionally large (15 per 1,000). 



The Signal-Service organization comprises 

 145 stations, from which telegraphic reports of 

 observations are received in addition to the 

 reports from the Dominion of Canada. From 

 these reports tri-daily forecasts or " probabili- 

 ties " are made in the Central Office, and fur- 

 nished to the press throughout the country. 

 Of these probabilities 88 per cent, are verified. 

 Cautionary signals, of which 77 per cent, have 

 been justified, are displayed when necessary 

 by day and night at forty-eight of the principal 

 ports of the sea and lake coasts. Farmers' 

 bulletins, containing much information valu- 

 able to agriculturists, are posted daily in sever- 

 al thousand post-offices. River reports, giving 

 the depth of certain rivers at certain points, 

 are published daily. 



The small force of effective troops in the 

 Army has been actively employed during the 

 past year. Their employment has been mainly 

 directed to two objects : First, to compel the 

 Sioux Indians to acknowledge the authority 

 of the Government ; and, second, to preserve 

 order at the South. To be prepared for any 

 disturbance that might arise during the excite- 

 ment of the presidential election, Lieutenant- 

 General Sheridan was instructed to concen- 

 trate a sufficient number of troops in New 

 Orleans under Brigadier-General Augur, com- 

 manding the Department of the Gulf; and 

 Major-General Hancock was directed to detach 

 a sufficient number of companies from the gar- 

 risons on the sea-coast and send them to South 

 Carolina for duty, under the orders of Colonel 

 Ruger, who had lately been assigned to the 

 command of the Department of the South, and 

 ordered to make his headquarters temporarily 

 at Columbia. 



In the early part of the year W. W. Belknap 

 was charged with official corruption, and re- 

 signed his position as Secretary of War. He 

 was succeeded by Judge Alonzo B. Taft, of 

 Ohio, who after a short term of service in the 

 War Department was made Attorney-General; 

 and in May J. Donald Cameron, of Pennsyl- 

 vania, son of Senator Simon Cameron, became 

 Secretary of War. 



In the early part of the year military oper- 

 ations were begun against the hostile Sioux 



