Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1820-12-07
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
NJ, ~


An en!i3h,eued care ct ourselves il The
b'sl are hal can be taken of posieriiy.
IL The present and future value of an ar
nay were mol one aud The same thing: if
Tie acis thai Reuter- il ctli irni, did not
al 'hr same time render 1t cheaper, This
would no' BE- the moment 10 SUPPORT or
H. lend il.
ihere are three departments moi ipcIu
dPd among llips" inrniiuucl il, NY LAST
a, VIA! {" The inieres, at an army proprT.
These are The departments oi engineers.
o. topography a. a part az HE same, and
al ordnance aS collateral branch of the
national armWles their conuexion with
an army. IN ,.r uses 10 which they are
apphtu III HIS county, is ra'rirsic, heir
more ialmciiia'e aud direct value is 10
lhe patton Itself. Will or wiihcm' an army.
y these TIE iiisi and most vitality inpor-
'dh' Is w department NJ engineers. 'f!c
more . ua,iun abaudons liSeIi TO iyno-
rance of tactics and discipline, the greater
Ia" necessity "f rendering lis passes i'm
pTrEnal!~, AMI OF givlus tn lis irregular
means iheIs ouly cctta.u tfliracy.
II stranger were Ia ~ il "a, The man
OF Il county, whose maritime frontier pre-
s'i'rd a series of bays and ig!cis, of vast
e-'uarivs WHICH convey tie dangers and
ia''ililes oil the ocean ino The heart
OF The land, ot MYERS TO The mouths If
which, are dravn by cOBverSlng lines The
resources of the interior, AMI learn that
these avenues aud tPrnrta'ions TO naval
agercs si"n, ~err lett uU4uardcd, would
not the FIRST remark be that whatever
might be the iniarles inflicted on sncl a
country, less would be lost by enduring.
Than hy resisting them ? While IA force
was raising 10 dIslotge an enemy from
ret A
would announce The plumber Of another.
The very storms thar drive him from The
ocean, would enable him TO inilici safer
inJury IN the interior without changing his
ct m"n,; and of What avail the Industry
ct that interior, II the products Of il must
seek Their maikei through channels pos
sessed by the enemy If on the etber
frontier, II were found that every advance
OF civilization opened an avenue to incur
SION; that the restless enterprise of the
while man crcroscbcd upon The savage.
aud that there were no barriers 10 Dreyent
He savage from carrying his rciTibution
hey the offender, would not the Sc
cond ,c'nark be ihai The ocean and the
land were alike forbidden TO the improyi.
dem?
There have been periods Of our history
to illustrate every part If this From lie
peace 1T 1883, until The victory of Gene
raj wayne 10 1904, our Indian frontier
bears the most painful testimony. At
the commencement OF The war between
France and Or N Britain in 1893. all
that we bad gained in our own, Was leo.
paid zed from iDCapaCiiy 10 maintain the
neutrality OF Our own shores. The edicis
oi government, our only means Of project.
ing our poiis, were Of iiiIlr moment 10 eli.
Tier bei'igrrent, while there vera no can.
non III The ports themselves To- jnIorce
''em. ibelr war was in many cases car
ried on within the limits OF our own terri-
i0ridl jurisdiction auI wien these out
rags ceased, from The French being dyis
ven iton The ocean, commenced The series
at too vel remembered and unrevenged
lnrn'ts from The British. In The wear 1902
'he determination 10 give efficient pro-
lectiOn tn Our borders, WAS eviuced in the
formation OF Tie present corps OF engi-
Deers. Previously TO that period the few
anu Ie' O'c barriers That were opposed 10
Inc inr0ads Oft Indians were constructs
ed by cheers OF the artillery; the more
feeble drfences on The Atlantic we're the
remnants Of The experience of the reyo-
iuiion. The new corps struggled under
The Inadequacy Of lis own attainments.
and The snplnrDrss of government TO ac.
compllsb the little that was done 10 pro-
teci The sea coast. BY a miserable dis
trust, general system OF defence was
thought too vast forour capacity. few
ioTtIficailOns, some useful and useless,
were scattered along The coast without
concert or connection, and when the war
OF 1879 burst upon us, il found the grand
av uues 10 the country on both frontiers
open and unprotected. National nioriifi-
Gallon and individual calamity, The waste
OF means, aud the ravages made by dis
case on The militia, embodied TO protect
passes which, d single fortress would have
guarded more efficiently, are among the
records OF HE omission. In The year
1917 we're commenced The first meihodi-
cal survey OF the coast, aud general sys
ten Of defending il il is iE Tie perform
ance OF His duty, that The relation Of the
corps of engineers is dirett 10 The nation,
rs among It's most Important institutions.
There can be no pressure of times, that