The Washington union., 1858-02-13
THE ARMY BILL IN THE SENATE.


in all the business of the Senate to look practically TO the
subject which is before it, When rose this morning,
and addressed remarks to the pending amendment
and confined myself strictly that subject it because
supposed it was not probably the wish of the Senate to
go into general debate Since that however, under
stand from the remarks made to the Senate well as
made to myself that explanations are expected on
the whole BILL rather than remarks addressed to the
pending amendment
have also been instructed by the Committee on Mill
tary Affairs to announce to the Senate in conformity
with the opinion which L expressed this morning aud
which the opinion of the committee, as WAS aware
that should the Senate think proper to retain the first
section of the BILL then the committee will move To retire
the second section, simply to provide for the add
ton of the thirty companies. Believing that there is
objection to the paper increase 1t is merely on
paperwe will withdraw the proposition to increase the
maximum strength Of the company to ninety six leaving
it AZ 1t stands at average of (sny) fftyt for
varies in different arms with authority to the President
in certain contingencies to raise it 10 seventyfou That
is the present law by the act of 1850.
On account of the statements which have been made in
relation to the strength of the army greatly exaggcr
ated beyond the reality have thought it necessary to
make exact statement of what the army is 1t is
composed including all arms of the service which into
the field mot including engineer soldiers ordnance
soldiem,)of hundred and ninety eight companies,
which, according the fixed establishment of the army
be found In table I'm the Army Register of this year.
at page Al gives number of prvates equal to nine
thousand and sxtysix, supposng every company to be
full up to the organization of the peace establishment
adding commissioned officers and musicians, you get
the total of enlisted eleven thousand eight hundred
and thirtyeght. In 1850, account Of the necessity
of troops the frontier Congress provided that at dis
ant stations and the emigmnt routes the President
should have authority to increase the privates in any
company employed to scventyfour; and this is the
number which is taken from the Secretary of Wars
port 1t is not the peace establishment it is not the
fixed establishment of the army but it is the temporary
increase authorized by Congress to be made in certain
contingencies That gives possible number of
teen thousand five hundred and two, exclusive of the
three four hundred men who belong to the engineers
and ordnance and who, being added in the report con-
fuse the view which has been taken. That possible in
of the army it being stationed almost entirely
the frontier brings it up to that number If every
company in the army duty, in campaign there
would be n still higher possible number. 1t might in
that contingency go up to about nineteen thousand.
Mr. 1VERSON. The senator will allow me to interrupt
him have authentic statement from the Adjutant
General office, showing the present numerical dstribu
ton of the army by military departments The depart
nent of the East including forts and fortresses has eight
hundred aud sixty mine the department o! Florida
three hundred and thirtyseven Kansas Nebraska, Min
nesota and Arkansas, three thousand six hundred and
scventysx; the department of Texas two thousand and
forty mine New Mexico two thousand two hundred and
forty the department of the Pacific, two thousand five
hundred and seventeen the army of Utah. thousand
eight hundred and eightyscven making the total of the
army of the United States at present only thirteen thou
sand five hundred and sevcnty-fvc That is the whole
army at present.
Mr DAVIS That is in consequence of the wasting
which occurred after the month of june when the actual
force stated in the report of the Secretary Of War;
which has been often read to the Senate The actual
number is uctuating number and the only thing upon
which any calculation be made in relation to the
broader question of the policy of the il
fixed legal establishment how many men may
happen to be in the service to-day, may be tomorrow,
fuctating under the sliding scale established by the act
of 1850, but what you will have for permanent peace
establishment That be determined by principles of
craftsmanship much broader than the question Of
how many necessary 10 chase down some Indian
tribe. The policy of our military establishment was
framed by who stood upon higher pedestal, and
looked wider sphere 1t carrying out the pol
icy proclaimed by Washington''n peace prepare for
war 1t enabling government TO move step by
STEP and keep easy progress with foreign nations with
whom might be involved in
In the time, certain portion of the army
from the beginning employed in the defence of from
tier settlements, then easy task. AS that task in
creased In difficulty, the army increased and every
reduction proved unfortunate reduction 1t has been
very well established that the war with the Sacs and
Foxes commonly known the Black Hawk war, which
extended two campaigns resulted from the fact that
had not sufficient number of troops in position to
punish the first acts of aggression 1t finally involved
both parties in open hostility 1t has equally well been
established in regard to that long and vastly expensive
in Florida where each Indian head cost that
expended than would deem it possible could have
been fairly expended worthless Indian tribe say
has been established that if one at most two regi
ments had been in position when the first inception of
that movement commenced those expensive of 1888
and 1912 might have been avoided
But sir, predecessors had wiser policy, say than
merely protecting the frontier settlers They had the
policy of keeping army instructed in all that belongs
to civilized war; training artillery, training all the vari-
of service in the science of war; which is not
to be learned merely by campaign utytat is the prac
ticc, not the science of war.
The necessities for frontier vice, with the augmcna
tons of the army which have been made have caused its
whole dposbe force to be thrown to the exterior of
line, and scarcely any left to hold the great foca
tons along the seaboa and there to learn those lessons
in artillery practice that would be essential to us in
We have Dragons cavalry in any schools of
instruction practice They kept constantly the
frontier and only much may be learned in
sional cncampmentsso much may he learned in hot
pursuit with aded holses-is all that he taught the
cavalry of the United States This the great de-
parure not the increase of the army, but the refusal
to keep up those garrisons where military instruction
may be perfected is the great departure from the policy
of our fathers.
According to the report of the Secretary Of War,
now have one hundred and thirty posts Accord
ing Also TO his report have exterior boundary of
eleven thousand miles and of emigmn routes requiring
military supervision by the military force, we have six
thousand hundred miles; giving total of seven
teen thousand hundred miles. From this aggre-
gate il excluded the whole amount of Indian from
tiers being two lines extending from northern to
southern boundary and the whole amount of the
vaons where by the reports to the Secretary of the Intc
rior from his agents in different parts the country it
is made apparent that the ment of obligations to
the Indian tribes requires the establishment of posts
This may be taken quite equal to the amount stated in
the report of the Secretary of War and then have
seventeen thousand hundred miles stated, which
may be considered about half the demand and for
which we may possibly have by posting them stated