The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-12-09

ever should be put o them Az the, are not intended
and ought not 10 be allowed TO advance officer his
ought to be forbidden, ss it nov s in the regiment
troop company where the officer belongs and is mus
difficulty of stl greater magnitude is found in the
enactments intended to regulate rank and command
when different regiments and corps do duty together
The general provision that the command shall devolve
upon the officer highest in rank in the line OF the
army but these words in that connection,
and Of underlined Specification and it cannot be deter
mined whether they were intended to include officers
holding commissions by brevet in the staff or in certain
special corps The Interpretation that has prevailed in
our service that they do not embrace any officers Of
the general staff except the Major General and the two
Brigader Generals; but this is not acquesced in by
many and the question is still productive Of frequent
attended with all the evils which have been
above enumerated.
find much difficulty in proposing any general rule to
govern this particular such military organization as
ours II is clearly improper TO exclude from command,
according to their rank the officers Of the military staff
whose duties important to the service 9TH
er class OF military duties below the chief command, and
require equal general capacity professional skill aud ex
perience. This would, in effect, convert the military
staff essential to an army, into quasi civil corps
On the other hand officers whose duties being confined
to a special corps them from the ordinary
vice troops ought not TO take by seniority the mill
tary command for which their special service has not
qualified them.
This remark does not, indeed apply to all officers
of the staff corps, in the higher grades Of which are
found many officers who having long served with troops,
and distinction in battle, transferred to the
has been since applied to these corps and under it's
operation, their places must ultimately be filled by Off
early separated from the general service and thence
forth confined to round Of special duties. These diff
cuties be obviatcd only by change in the organi-
zaton of the general staff itself and propose it with
less reluctance share the conviction entertained by
officers Of experience that the organization is well
calculated for the duties of the staff itself And think
that not only tho efficiency Of the staff but the general
good IL the whole military service would be promoted
by essential changes which shall proceed 10 sub
init to your considerations.
Our military general staff, besides the major general
and the two brgndier generals, who habtually in
command OF troops, Is composed Of an Adjutant Gene
RAILS Department, Inspector Generals, Quartemaster
Generals Department, and Commssariat of Subsst-
The officers OF these departments, all of whom
have military rank, form so many corps distinct from
the of the army with promotion confined to their
corps The embarrassments in regard to rank and
command resulting from this arrangement, have been
stated But worse evils result from ii in the ordi.
nary staff service. In the first place. most of these
staff duties require military knowledge, onty to be de-
rived from general service and experience. In the
may be made in the first selection; either the officers
selected may not be qualified, they may become dis
qualified tor their special functions and yet be ht Tor
eminent should, at all tmes, be allowed the means
Of correcting good stan is so essential to army ope
raons that f is important to its constant eff
cheney There are 10 my mind, conclusive why
the staff should not be organized into permanent
and experience in the administration OF the War Depart
ment has furnished practical proofs Of them II
the duties of the staff were performed by officers holding
temporary appointments for such services all the benefits
open of general experience in the service and OF spe
cia qualifications for sta duties The principal officers
FOUND particularly qualified Tr their special duties
useful the staff would be replaced in their regiments
Either class not having been confined always to staff
corps would be qualified for such military duty com
mand the Of service according to their rank
might devolve upon them.
II has been stated that organization is peculiar.
brief reference to Of the European systems may
aid in illustrating the views hereinafter submitted OF
we'll organized stall
The French staff is divided into two branches--a mill
tary and civic The military has charge of all that
lates to orders, movements and military operations
The civil furnishes all the supplies of the army.
The officers who furnish the supplies have rank.
The military staff have rank, and succeed ordinarily
to command by virtue OF it, This military staff is
posed OF two classes of ocersthe highest positions in
il filed by selection from the general officers of the
army to the best capacity and experience
in the service For the subordinate and routine
this corps Of much Importance; and to supply it with
fit officers they have provided special military school
and complete system Of instruction in all its duties.
This system is simple, with many obvious merits. II
brings all the military staff into line and under
head II the double benefit OF experience the
general service and in the special duties of the corps
But il system only practicable in large army The
permanent corps must be such as to afford sufficient
field Of promotion. small establishment does not
allow Of both selections and permanent appointments.
Nor is the separate school and corps for the staff needed
in army in which large proportion OF the officers
prepared for such duties by the complete Of
studies at military academy. This is advantage
which service has those services whore the
armies the education OF officers by
government except for those corps in which it is indis
pensabe and has attracted the attention Of foreign
officers and writer's.
Instead of one corps to which all the military staff
business is assigned the English army has principal
military staff departments the Adjutant Generals and
tie Generals The chief officers of these
are gen erals of the army appointed on the
staff the inferior are appointed in like manner from
the regiments Neither class gain rank by these ap
p0intments.
The Adjutant Generals is the department Of military
orders and regulations OF the recruiting OF the army
and of al correspondence connected with the discipline
and equipment u the troops
The duties Of the Quarermaster Generals department
relate to the marching, embarkng, transportation, bill
letting encampng and cantoning Of the troops and the
distribution Of their quarters. Il the Office Of all cor
respondence relating 10 military science and topography
Besides these military departments of the STAFF is the
ordnance, which, though not strictly staff department.
and having many important functions not Of the STAFF
yet provides many supplies for the army and is charged
with much Of that part Of its staff business.
Both these systems II win be observed, avoid the mis-
ours limited to permanent Offices. As to which is best
where they differ the English in dividing, the French in
uniting the military functions OF the staff there
not much for doubt If the purely military business
of the staff only in question The advantages gain
ed by unity Of Responsibility and authority in military
oyerbaance those of special experience and
of stat duties not purely military connected with
army supplies and equipments. All these cannot be
which provides only single military stall makes
sary the employment Of other agents for supplies.
But supplies essential as the movement OF troops
to the operations Of army To separate the furnish
ing Of army supplies from the other staff duties is at
last to destroy the unity Of military administration in
point where il is always useful and sometimes necessary
to preserve it, And to conGde the supplies to civil
agents to lose the control where it is important
retain il, which commanders exercise military Off
II in his first great campaign to the frontiers
Of Russia that the Emperor Napoleon found the great
utility Of giving military organization not only TO his
artillery trains, but also to the general equipage and
transportation trains Of his armies The civil machine
ry Of the French staff is censured by Of their
able military critics ~ too expens ive and too much
removed from military control In these respects II
is eontrasted with the Prussian system where every
branch Of the army administration is brought under
military supervision AMI direction: to which is at.
tributed that admirable efficiency and economy which
enable Prussia to maintain so large army in pro.
portion to her revenue. In lieu Of this control the
French system substitutes as q machinery Of paper
checks mass OF writings and amount Of bureau
labor which have been justly condemned hardly pos
sble in war, and really aording efficient security
for the fidelity and economy Of the expenditures. In
comparison Of the relative expense of the systems
the French is stated At than 81 02o 900 year in
salaries, and the Prussian at $4,000.
II ID h~sr