, 1870-11-28
THE ARMY.
annual Report Of t:encra al sherman.

AAAS oALm mAs
Annual Report Of t:eucral sherman.
HkAperAR1EEs or 1us Aaxr, I
WAsHladfoS, u. T., Nov. 10. 19to. !
GENERAL: Since thy annual report OF No
IN the distribution Of the army incident TO tho
restoration Of the Statea Of Virginia, Missis-
.ippi, and T1xse, ard to the gradual re3u.tlon
II The force. Tne geographical tcsntosy OF
the United Staten ii nov divided into ten de-
pattmcnta. and these arc grouFed into four
Military Divisions The Military Division Of
he East il commanded By Msjor General g.
O. Meade, and IS compo.sd Of tha Department
nf tho East. DEigz9icr Gtncralf Mcdowell, aud
The Department Of the Lakes. HnK1dler Gouer-
al r. st. George Cooke. The Military Division Of
Tho South il commanded by Major General II.
". HallecE, and is composed Of tho Depart
nent Of the South. BHgadier General A. Il:
j. J. Reynolds. The Military Division OF tho
Miesouri ir commanded ty Lieutenant General
+. II. Sheridan, and ia composed OF the De-
r11tmeEt OF Dakota, Major General ". $.
HaLccck; the Department Of the plstte,
BriglGi ier General C. e. Augur, and the De-
},artment Of the Mirtouri. Btig ,lier General
John Pope. The Military Dtsison Of the
Pacific IL commanded by Major General john
NJ Scho6eid. aud ia conposed Of the Depart
mcnt OF the Colutnbia, Nrigsdier General E.
il. $. Canby; the Department OF California,
1:risatie1 General L. O. c. Ord, aud the De-
paIt1nert Of arizona, Colonel George Stone
Ian.
This eub3iyi.iou Of the country is found to
lie we'll adapted to the use Of our military
iorccs il, tic diversified eections and interests
committed to their charge, and the geuerAl
officers in command are all well Quslsiied for
their respective ln.iee. incloee herewith tho
enIual reports OF all those commanders, e1-
cept Of General Sheridan, who il Absent in
Larore, aud Ct colooelstonensn, Eho is II
unr communications are difficult, and his re-
port is not 3e1 received, but will be submitted
ID eoon H possible. To these reports nl1,at
refer you fer the actual distribution Of the
troops and details Of the years. work.
According tc tic latest reports. the Regular
Amy is composed 0: 2.4Ss officers aud 81 $40
emitted men. Under the operation OF tins
ticers ii being rapidly reductI, 70 that hy. the
LET Of Janusrv, proxtmo, 1t ~ill reach the legal
STANDARD OF q, III. or enlisted men, tho pres
ent number Ii made mp IS follows: Ten regi-
,nenta Of cavalry, 9,ss2 five regiments Of A.
tl1lety, 4.303 twenty-five reEtmentE OF ln-
fantry. Il. .G; :ot.l troops Of the line, 81, l!s-
In addition to which there are lve coulpAnics
OF engineer troops. 560; permhnetlt recruiting
psrtles and recruits, 1920; enlisted men Of
ordnarce, 7oG Vest Point detachment, 26l !;
+ign,l actachment, 80; hospital stewards,
X:s' Ordinances Sergeants, 12l-5, ,69l; grand
Total, 81 ,B70. By the Same act, this number
must be reduced BY the Let Of July, i67l, to
the limit Of 50, coo:
Az matter OF course desire that ths To-
luc,ion should fail As lightly ss possible on
the troors Of the line, for il tho companies OF
cavalry and infantry which cccupy the rBmoto
! otis are too small. Department Commanders
asli 10 forced to brsak up 1yof tha snailat
roets. sud to uee two companies where one
now sni,ires. II tho Ion.combat1nt class be
there will be left for the line only ~, a0a,
~tich, divided up among the 43o companies
Which ccmPote tho present Organization, viii
:lIaW but sixty men to company. Tbs uns.
settA experience IL that the constant loss By
,lc.tl, IitchsfEe, deeertiou, &e especially IN
The mora remote and most dangerous dig
tricis, will reduce the actual number present
fer dntS to about two-th.rds Of tue preecribeG
: limit, or viii bring the companies down tc
aEout fcsty men, which IL too email for eli.
cient service believe that, On fair repro.
tentation, Congress will make direct rroviaio1
Tor the engineers, ordnance, siEnaf dctach
n,ent, aud hospital stewards, Tlts ,sou1t
leave the limit Of shir:y thousand to appl.
rnly to the troore Of tho line aud their naces
eary recruiting parties.
On the examination OF the reports herewith
invite your attention 10 that tTeeonmandatial
OF GeLeral Halleck which refers to the use o
troops IN assisting the civil authorities il
maintaining rsace, collecting the revenue
&c, which las bt:come 80 comn1on 0. late
The duties Of the solliery in tits connection
are not prescribed By statute 10 cleatl
that the officers can understand thci
rights and dutics, and tha civil agents An
authorities often expect more than eau b
rigltfusly CT lawfully done. think Il,
soldiers ought not to be expected to make in
divilual a1tehtn, or to DO any act nf %ioleaee
except in their organized capacity Al ross
con.uatus duly summoned by the Unite
States Marrl,al, aud acting in his person,
preeence. Yet, II il ~ deemed lawful an
lIorer that the soldiers should do norc til,
tllr, concur with Genusal I1allock tha
Congrtes should 70 enact III clear, 1slihe
se!1ne:
msndets have given great attention 10 til
Instructions AID discipline Of their troopt
nLL As our force becomes less and less,
deem it important that they should roce,v
sve1y encouragement, for we knot
that from tho IesulAr Army thu vol
unteers, when called in:o active eel
vice, expect to learn the routine OF sc:yiee
In ,hi1 connection, Colonel ]. J. Reynolds,
-, Tsxss, objects. with good reason, that bo
. forced TO uec llls men greater part Of the
time AZ lzbcrtra on rnblic buildings, road
tnd other work, which 1isaua1ifiea them =
ec1di+rr. beeides preventing them from sceu
iug the frontter al much AZ would otherwit
must labor in taking cal Of themselves a1ld {
ti'eit necessary supplies; but to build perm
i,rtt works On which they 1Ara bu. pkr:i
interest is 1 kind OF labor that ought uot 10 /
iMposea on our reincsd establishment.
/ would advice to Secretary Of War 10 pr
etribe some plain rule, dtaAing clcAt III
i tinction between theee two kinds of ikoor, Al
tn hi fr,f vAFu1
t,uat. so that It would enter Into The coatra
IT enlistment, and soldiers wunl1 not, a. tlt
! frequently DO, plead this caass AZ jssssiacatit
Of Getertion.
! Dutirg the ra.t year the troops h.vc be
well supt lied in all respects. and have bet
Laid regularly every two months. Genct
| AuEurn Recommendation that the troops
| aid at elort intervals is uosthy OF svory co
| ridetstiop, fer il il known that pay day cor
ing TO -tllom is apt to be considered \ tott
holiday, and not unfrequtnlly results IN d.
orders. snc1 AZ recently occurred at Bray
] which reflect uroa tho usual good fame
! The board OF Officers. assembled At s
! 1ouir, 80, b. Sirtuo Of oeneTal Orders n;
! 10 and =, Of 1868, have reported that tn
lnhors have been substantially concluded. y
! although not set in possession Of tho text
/ cctire 10 c1rre4e my opinion of the impo
arec Of their work. This bosrd, composed
Officers Of great experience, vas required
I rtport on the best email arms :
also to pa parc system Of tactics for
; ARMS Of the service. Their conc
,, ! tion on the first branch Of the subject h
! heretofore been laid before The Secretary
: War, Who las ordered supply Of the ar1
Irc. 1nm.ns'el by the board to be di-,,ibu1
to tie army for further practical testr =; bu
: ! o:strvo that the Chief OF Ordnance, in
alt,ua report, atlviscs that another fifty tht
sand Of tic Springfield uauekcss should
altered accorting TO the orcnAuca patte11
the one now in general use by our iufAut
,, This would imply selection Of that fosn
, 1.u=ket before the practical tests already
progress arc completed. Tho zfcomment
: lion Of the board was strongly in favor
the 1temineton system, and concur with
. entirely, ana, therefore, euggcst 10 the Sec
t.rS that ho awslt the result OF tho teets
las already ordered before incur
tho expense OF tic second fifty th
sand. All officers agree that the rrcp
> nuskct IL an admirable weapon, but
. bresch-lock not suited to tho carbine 1
2 whereas tho Remington system 10 cqu,
:, suited to al, so that We cou1d hare idenuc:
! the Same calih1e and cartridge for all arm.
matter u Infinite importance LII action,
especially 20 for our troops, who are Of
;, detached from their own baggage for nnont
;. and come On for re-surply Of anmuns,
:. NJ tosts where th6y ottan find no cart1i1
= suited to their special weapon Tho Kemi
:. ttal is already adopted by the navy, and
is an additional good reason for its a4lop
: III the army, for in combined operations {
= srur ard ammunition could be mutually in
changed Itiov to our civil war We vlrtu
: locked for eystem Of t1etics to the exr
>, enee Of Euroj can armies: and, ae ac.nssl.
: currtd, ono hAi ths iuf6ntry tic,lca Of
= l:a'ion, cavalry Of smother, and artillery
:. :. n iAed sott. 20 that there MAS 10 just harm
- between them.
" There is no Encd rrason Why tho same {
- tr1l rules OF command and signals should
~ be uniform fos all 'arms nf service. and