AEMY, UNITED STATES. 



39 



General McDowell ; of the Columbia, by Brig- 

 adier-General Howard; and of Arizona, by 

 Colonel A. V. Kautz. 



General Sheridan's command embraces sub- 

 stantially the vast territory west of the Mis- 

 sissippi, to and including the Rocky Mountains, 

 from the Canadian line to the Mexican fron- 

 tier, containing the great majority of the no- 

 madic and hostile Indians of the country; 

 headquarters, Chicago, 111. General Hancock's 

 comprises, substantially, all the country east 

 of the Mississippi, bordering the Northern lakes, 

 the Atlantic and Gulf coasts; headquarters, 

 New York City. General McDowell's includes 

 the States and Territories bordering on the 

 Pacific Ocean ; headquarters, San Francisco, 

 Cal. 



Besides the above, there is the Department 

 of West Point, commanded by Major-General 

 Schofield, which is somewhat exceptional in 

 its nature, being designed to give due impor- 

 tance to the Military Academy, and to invest 

 the commanding general thereof with power 

 to exercise all the functions necessary to se- 

 cure thorough discipline and administration. 



The Secretary of War recommends that au- 

 thority be given to the President to increase 

 the strength of the depleted companies now 

 embraced within the Army organization. He 

 says: 



The Army now has a sufficient number of officers, 

 regiments, and companies; but the companies are 

 too small. I recommend that the President be au- 

 thorized to recruit all companies of infantry to 50 

 men each, and all batteries of artillery to 75 men each, 

 with power, in his discretion, in case of emergency, 

 to increase the former to 100 and the latter to 122 

 men each. We may safely assume that such a dis- 

 cretion would be exercised with becoming modera- 

 tion and prudence ; and the result would be that 

 the grand aggregate would never ? in any probable 

 emergency arising in the recess of Congress, exceed 

 40,000 men, while 30,000 would suffice to meet any 

 demands upon the Army that can at this time be 

 certainly anticipated. 



It must not be forgotten, in considering this ques- 

 tion, that there must always be a large percentage 

 of an army not available for duty in the field. Be- 

 sides the "number of soldiers on the sick-list, and 

 those employed on detached duty of various kinds, 

 a large number of men are always needed for guard 

 and garrison duty. For example : we have now 

 about 226 military posts, at most of which men are 

 necessarily employed continually in taking care of 

 and guarding government property. We have some 

 18 arsenals tnd armories, besides about 40 store- 

 houses or depots, at each of which is stored prop- 

 erty of great value belonging to the Government. 

 The vast interests involved in the protection of the 

 property of the United States at these numerous and 

 widely-scattered places renders it necessary to keep 

 a considerable force on duty for that purpose, and 

 therefore withdrawn from other service. 



The number of desertions during the year 

 ending June 30, 1877, was 2,516; 1876, 1,844; 

 1875, 2,521 ; 1874, 4,606 ; 1873, 7,271. 



The Signal Service has continued its useful- 

 ness in the diffusion of scientific and practical 

 information. The duties now devolved upon 

 that service are, besides the instructions in mil- 

 itary signaling and telegraphy, to conduct the 



observation and report of storms ; to report 

 upon the average depth of water in the great 

 rivers of the interior, and give notice of their 

 dangerous rises ; to give assistance to the life- 

 saving service on the coast ; and to construct 

 and repair military telegraph lines. There 

 have been maintained, during the year, 159 sta- 

 tions of observation. Of the published " In- 

 dications," 86.16 per cent, have proved correct. 

 The average of 90 per cent, is believed to be 

 attainable. These reports appear regularly in 

 almost all of the daily newspapers of the coun- 

 try, and no great storm has passed over the 

 United States without pre-announcement. 



The publication of the official records of the 

 Civil War has been diligently and systemati- 

 cally pursued during the past year. Since the 

 beginning of the work, several years ago, there 

 have been published 47 volumes, containing 

 more than 33,000 pages, of which 37 volumes 

 relate to the United States, and 10 to the Con- 

 federacy. The war-records of the Confederate 

 States have been published up to the end of 

 the year 1861. A very large amount of mate- 

 rials remains for publication. It is the inten- 

 tion to print all records pertaining to the war. 

 But there are important documents in the 

 possession of State and private societies and 

 individuals. This fact explains the marked 

 difference between the quantity of Federal and 

 that of Confederate documents that have been 

 issued ; since the records are published in chro- 

 nological order, and many early ones relating 

 to the Confederacy are not yet in the posses- 

 sion of the Government. 



The estimates of the War Department for 

 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878, amount to 

 $43,115,443, as follows: 



Salaries, contingent expenses, and postage $1,198,884 



Military establishment 81,597,270 



Public works 7,953,078 



Miscellaneous 2,371,210 



The most important army operations during 

 tlie year were those against the Nez Percys In- 

 dians under Chief Joseph. The great body of 

 the Nez Perces have been for several years on 

 the Lap wai Reservation, in the northwest part 

 of Idaho Territory. But ever since 1863, Jo- 

 seph, at the head of about 500 Indians, has 

 claimed the boundaries of the reservation as 

 established by the Stevens treaty of 1855, more 

 especially that part of it west of Snake River, 

 in Oregon, and known as the Wallowa Valley. 

 Though this valley was never the home of Jo- 

 seph and his followers, who usually lived on 

 Salmon and Snake Rivers, nevertheless they 

 persisted in their claims to it. It was conceded 

 to them by President Grant, in his executive 

 order of June 16, 1873 ; but on June 10, 1875, 

 this order was revoked, and all that part of 

 Oregon west of Snake River, embracing the 

 Wallowa Valley, was restored to the public do- 

 main. It has been partly surveyed ; forms a 

 part of Union County, Oregon, and settlers 

 have acquired legal titles under the laws of the 

 United States. 



