Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-12-14
pUBLIC DOCUMENTS.
Report of the Secretary CT War.
lConclnded.l

in our possession INTO Inc enelny'S coun'ty 60 ~
cover and snbjec, 10 our control some OF niS ''e"
mining districts and productive asti'u"uid, ' :.
gions. II is not deemed proper TO poiAt ou' ID
more detail IN. movements AMI objects conlempla
rcd in the Inr,her prosec ulion OF the war upon this
plan. - r.,.,;on n ,be
,,o,ns considered necessary tor This purpose. lEe
twenty.fve regiments Of The regular army, as u's
tippuished from The volunteer force. when h'leu "
10 the limit fixed by law, would be twenty.eish
thousand eight hundred and fourteen, exclusive o.
officers. but Inc actual strength as near as can be
ascer,ained is now tweniy-one tnousahu 1--WE nun
dred and hirty.lhree; il will, therefore, require
seven thousand three hundred and eishty.one en-
listed men 10 complete The regular military es'aO
lishment.
During the last year, the recruiting service iol
the regular army has been attended win consider
able success. The recruits enlisted Tor Inc nieen
old regiments, amount 10 eleven lhousahu dpI
eighty one. and those for The ten regiments raised
under the act of the last session Vi Congress die
eleven thousand one hundred and sixly-'wo.
Rv The onerations of the recruiting service, II IS
believed that the present strength oil hese regular
regiment. will be fully sustained, and prooaDly H.
creased.
The accompanying tables from the Adlulan'
Generals Office show there are now IN ser
~, engaged for ID war, tWenty-'hree ;es,-
Ms OF VOIQuleeTS, SSSCu uo'toAAo'St y
thru companies no, organized into regiments or
batlalions; but the rank aud file oil all these 10
no, probably exceed twenty thousand men,
Most of the voluncer forces have borne con-
spicuous part iuylhe present arduous campa,sn
and particularly in the series OF severe conhic's
with the enemy The casualties OF the service
have, therefore, fallen heavily upon theHl. iney
have become considerably reduced. 10 give
those serving for the war their compete o!sanr
za,ion, will require an addition ot aoou' Twelve
thousand FIVE hundred men,
Attempts have been made, under Inc &C! Passea
at The last session OF Congress, 10 engage Voiun'
teers 10 fill up the companies IN service, ana Oh
ficers have been detached from their comanos lot
thai purpose. These efforts have mol oeen sue
cessful: only eight hundred and twenty-one nave
been procured. One Of the disadvantages at
tending these attempts has been Inc want OF au-
,hority 10 place them on the same footing IN re-
sn.c, 70 compensation as recruits for the regular
army As,he volunteers engage Tor the same
term as The recruits for the Ten regiments, mere
can be no reason for not holding out TO them The
same inducements to enter the public service
II is. therefore, respectfully recommended tnal
CONGRESS- be asked 10 authorize like bounty 10
volunteer recruits.
also suggest that those raised in the same
State be consolidated temporarily, and the super
nnmerary officers sent home 10 obtain recruits ior
prove unsuccessful, then recommend that The
consolidation be made permanent, and that en-
tire compapies Of volunteers be accepted 10 taHe
the Mace of the vacancies in regiments and BAL
talions which may be occasioned by The consoli-
dation.
The forces now in service, augmented by re-
cruils TO the extent which il is reasonable 10 e4-
pect, will not, in my opinion, be sufficient for our
contemplated military operations. l therefore
Consideration and approval the
proposition 10 raise ten additional regiments OF re-
eular forces for the war. l. is important that au-
ihority should lie given for this purpose at an early
period in The approaching session OF Congress
A delay even Of few months, would be very IN
furious, as il would give lime to the enemy to re-
organize his shattered forces and recruit MS ex-
hausted strength. II such authority De al once
given. the new regiments might be raised and sent
10 the seat Of war in season TO pass Inc unheai-
Inv district along the coast OF The Gull before
the return of the epidemic, and 10 participate IN
the next campaign Ii is desirable that Congress
should be impressed with The importance oil pro
yidine at once for This increase OF our troops
The increase of the regular force 10 the pro
posed extent is much preferred 10 further call
for volunteers-noi, however, because the former
are preferable 10 the latter for courage endurance,
or gallant deeds of daring for, in these high al
tributes the regular troops and the volunteers
have been alike eminenty distinguished, and
have. on every trying occasion, noby commended
for excellence; but Judging from past experience,
il is believed that IN this way The army can be
more expeditiously reinforced and The regiments
more effectively recruited and kept up, and in
some respects better adapted to the services likely
TO be required OF them
The exisencies Of The war may requires larger
force Than can be brought Into the field, including
the proposei new regiments II is therefore urged
that authority should also be given 10 accept the
services of more volunteers. II should mol lie re-
strcled IL a number less than twenty thousand
With the increase of our present force by The ten
new regiments, i, is not probable that there will
he occasion to exercise this authority; yet an
emergency may arise when resort 10 il would be
OF great Importance 10 The public interest.
The department has presented estimates for
considerable deficiencies in some OF The war ap-
propriations for The current fiscal year. Provi
sion was made in these appropriations for CONT
nunp 10 service, besides The regular troops, len
thousand volunteers; but il was subsequently
deemed important greatly 10 augment this vOlun-
teer force The excess Of volunteers called out
beyond that number is over fifteen thousand, for
which no appropriation was made The expenses
OF organizing aud transporting them 10 The seat OIL
war. together with their pay, subsistence, aud al
lowance for clothing, have produced considera-
bic part OF these deficiencies. The unforeseen
and extraordinary rise in the price OF articles OF
subsistence, has also caused much larger e1pen-
dilure in the Commssary's Department than was
eYnected when The estimates for subsistence were
presented 10 the last Congress. The largest
amount of disbursements has been in the Guar
termasers Department For statement OF This
amount as we'll as the necessity for II, respect
fully refer to the report oil The Quartermaster nc-
neIs, The duties Of that branch Of the public
service are numerous and difficult at all times in
war-and particularly in foreign war, carried
ON a, A great distance from our ordinary sources
Observation-Disclosures duties are vastly multiplied
and Complicated. The difficulties under which
thai depa rtment has labored from the commence
menl oil the war, suddenly called on, as IL 'hen
was, in an uupreparcd state, TO provide lor seVe-
raj armies destined for different and distant ne'os
of action, and subsequently in fitting out The I'M
norlant expedition against Vera Cruz, and pro-
curing transportation by sea and land IN our
wide spread operations, and the manner in which
,hese dificultie. have been met and overcome, oi-
ten under the most unloward circumstances, are
we'll presented in the accompanying report OF the
Quarlermaster General.
As measure for reducing expenses in one I'M
nortant branch OF duties OF the Quar'ermaslers
Depa,lment, and al the same Time giving IL great
er efficiency, invite special attention TO his re-
communication in regard 10 the mode OF employ
inc ,eams,eIs, mechanics and other laoorers -
Tb.se amount 10 several thousand and the dith-
cui,y in procuring them in sufficient numbers,
and retaining them in service al places where
they are wanted, has forced upon lha, department,
The necessity of paying e1travasant wages, and
in other respects mourning large expenses, which
might, 10 considerable extent, be avoided IN The
manner suggested.
II authority were given to enlist the men re-
ouired In the Quarlermasiers Department, WIN
all the advantages 10 which troops OF inc line are
entitled and subject 10 similar obligations, the
nubic expenses on this account would be much
diminished, and the Quarermasler's Department
relieved, TO considerable extent, from serious
embarrassment.
In the estimates for the next fiscal year, deduc-
,;ons have not been made for the contributions
which may be collected at the Mexican ports, or
levied in The interior Of the country nor for the