The native American., 1840-04-18
THE NJ


Sau we WOulQ refer 10 lIllS lellcT from Tie &C.
cre,ary of War TO the House of Representa-
tives, i'll future number of orr paper. We
will now merely endeavor to give an outline
ii the plan upon which the Secretary proposes
10 organize this arm of our defence Intro
cucing this subject he says:
"The mass of the militia of the United
States, rs at present organized, does not 1aii
short of one million five hundred thousand
men; and every day they are mustered for
inspection or exercise abstracts at least one
million of dollars from the earnings of labor,
without adding any thing whatever TO the
military efficiency of the country, and too often
affecting injuriously the moral condition OF
those who are assembled for the purpose
After giving detailed statement of the ex-
penses, organization, &c, he proceeds TO the
"Details of the proposed system:
alt should be provided-that each and every
free able bodied white male citizen of the re-
spective States, resident therein, who is or
shall be of the age of twenty and under that
stated, shall severally and respectively, be en-
rolled in the militia by the captain or COM
manding officer of the company within whose
bounds such citizen shall reside"
aThat the citizens thus enrolled shall con-
stih1te the FIRST CLASS, and be denominated
the MASS of the militia and the said MASS
shall be divided into divisions, brigades, regl-
Yent,, and companies"
"I'hat from each regiment OF the MASS
there shall be formed two companies to serve
as light infantry or rifenen; and that to each
division of the MASS there shall be attached
one company of artillery and one company of
horse formed of volunteers, at the discretion
of the commander in-chief Of the State, not
exceeding one company from brigade, and
shall be clothed and equipped at their own ex-
pense. the color and fashion to be determined
bv the bigadier general commanding the brig
ade to which they belong"
"That within - months after the adop-
ton and establishment of this system, there
Shall be taken from the MASS of the militia, in
each state Territory, and District the United
States by draft, or by voluntary service such
number between the ages of twenty-one and
;hjrtv-seven years. so that the whole may not
exceed 100000 men, and in the following pro-
portions for each State, Territory, and Dis
trict, respectively, TO wit: Maine 400 men
New Hampshire 2,40O Vermont 400; Mas.
sachusetts 5000; Connecticut $500; Rhode
Island 800; New York $1,000; New Jersey
$500; Pennsylvania lO,4OO: Delaware 500;
MARYLAND 1900; Virginia 5000; District of
Columbia 400; North Carolina 4,4oO; South
Carolina 2,4OO; Georgia $500; Florida 400;
Alabama 1000 Mississippi 500; Louisiana
1900; Tennessee 44CO; Arkansas 400 Mis-
souri, 1900; Iowa 400; Kentucky 44OO
Illinois 1900; Indiana $500; Oh'o 5000
This force to constitute the second class, and
tod tha ht0v
force.
"That the ACTIVE or MOVABLE force shall
be divided into companies and battalions, and
be organized as follows: A company shall
consist Of one captain, one first and one second
lieutenant four sergeants four corporals, one
drummer and one fifer, and ninety privates
A battalion shall consist of one major, all ad-
iutant. with the rank of first lieutenant, one
urarter-master, with the rank of first lieuten-
ant, one sergeant-major, one quarter master
sergeant, and four companies. And that the
said ACTIVE or MOVABLE force shall be held
{, serve as such, and be governed by such
rules as may be prescribed, for the period of
four years-one fourth of the same in each
State, Territory, and District going out annu-
ally; the order Of succession to be determined
in the first instance by lot ..
"That there shall be a third class of the
militia of the United States, to be denominated
the RESERVE OR sEDENTARY force, which
shall be organized in the same manner as the
ACTIVE force And that the RESERVE force,
so organised, shall be composed Of all those
who shall have served the legal time ndl-
Gated for the second class, and be held to serve
for four years in the same at the expiration
Of which time they shall return TO the MASS
and BE- subject to no further military or militia
duty, unless in cases of invasion, or leuee
en- masse. And such portions of the ACTIVE
force as may 90 out OF the same annually, shall
forthwith be considered as belonging to the
RESERVE or sEDtNTARY force; ard after the
termination of the first four years service of
any portion of the RESERVE, one-fourth of that
body shall 90 out of service annually, in the
same manner rs prescribed for the second
class.
';That the deficit occasioned by the transfer
annually of one-foarth of the ACTIVE to the
RESERVE force, by the discharge annually of
onc-fourth of the RESERVE, be yearly supplied
by draught, or by voluntary service, tlom