Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1865-12-20
The War Rcpert.

The Secretary emphasizes the beginning
Of his report by contrasting ths expendi-
lures of the Department in the last year
Of the war and the first of peace-the
former being &5i6.240I3l 20, the latter.
by estimate. S33. .ST4fGl So On the 1st
Of May, 1865, there were million of men
in the army; to~day there are less than
100000, and by May next it IS expected
the number will not exceed 10000 The
progress and success of the war which
made this vast reduction possible are de
tailed at considerable length Immedi-
ately after its close, orders were issued to
stop drafting and recruiting, reduce pur-
chases Of arms, &c, muster ont super
numerary officers, and unfettcr trade ard
commerce From the veteran reserve
corps nearly all the enlisted men have
been mustered out at their own desire
Recruiting for the regular regiments
continues. Lest it be thought that
the proposed standing army Of $4,000
(Which will be capable of increase to So
600 without additional organization be
too small for possible emergencies, the
Secretary reminds us that either against
a renewal Of the insurrecti00 or in case
Of foreign war it will be possible to call
out on the instant an immense number OF
veteran troops that the Government has
in It's arscnals more than n million Of
small arms, more artillery than il can
conveniently take care of three years
supply OF ammunition, and an abundant
stock Of clothing and Qnartermaster ;
stores. The present military organization
embraces nineteen departments.
The operations Of the different bureaus
arc detailed at considerable length Eight
volumes of reports Of battles, with maps
and indexes, arc in press. The Adiutant-
General describes the rapidity and precis-
ion with which the mastering out of troops
proceeded Regiments began leaving the
Army of the Potomac numbering l63, SJl
officers and men, May 90, and in six
weeks the whole were gone, The average
per month for the whole army was 296, :
442 The Provost Marshal General in
ciudes in his statistics the enormous mum
Der Of 2.7j90f0 men ms the aggregate Of
quotas called for. The number construc
tiveiy put into serviee was 1855 ,5J3, and
the deficiency cf 102 496 would'have been
speedily made un hnt Tor the close Of the
war The total disbursements Of the Pay
master General since the beginning of the
war, were 81. .O29 239. 900. Of which during
] the year ending June 30. 1865, $500, 1888,
! f35 % were paid to volunteers Losses
and delalcations were S54l 900, expenses
/ of disbursement Sc 100, 600, being les.
than hree-fourths Of one per cent The
+ Surgeon General reports that during the
last yea- there were 204 general hospitals
! alone. 9j7 ,423 cases of sick and wound
ed have been treated during the war, the
rate of mortality being S per cent.
The extraordinary service OF the Quar-
termaster-G Generals Bureau are du'y re-
counted. among which not the least re
markabIe was the transfer of Hooker
command, in 1865. numbering %, 600 mer
with artillery, trains, animals, and bag
gage, from the Rapidan to Stevenson, I
distance of ,192 miles, in seven davs
The Quartermaster department supplies
to the army during the war $4,000 0y
bushels Of corr, 100000 of oats, 500
600 tons OF hay, $4,000 cords of wood
and 100000 tons Of coal, During tn
I last fiscal year alone 14l,632 cavalr
horses were purchased. The retrench
, ments in the Department since the clos