The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-07-06
REMOVING THE ARMY HEADQUARTERS

Tho Powers OF the Comma nding Genera
Of the Army shorn by Jeffe rson Davis an
Floyd-Gen. Grant Refers to EmbarrassiSe
Features in the Present Position Of the com
manding General,
Washington Dune aQ Dispatch to the New Yor
Tribune. :,
The following official letter, tor the hrs
time made public, gives some insight int
the causes which have led to the proposed
removal of army headquarters.to St.Louis
It will be seen that the controversy is O.
long standing. The letter of Gen. Sher
man has not been answered by the Secre
tary of War.
GEN. SHERMAN RECITES THE GRIEVANCE
OF HIS POSITION.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON, d. &. Aug. H. 1870.
Gen, W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War.
GENERAL: | most respectfully and ur-
gently invite your attention, at leisure, tc
matter of deep interest to future Com
manding Generals of the Army more thar
to myself-of the imperative necessity Of
fixing and clearly defining the limits Of the
powers and duties of the General of the
Army, or Of Whomsoever may succeed t.
the place Of Commander in Chief. The
case is we'll stated by Gen. Grant in his
letter of Jan. 20, 1866, to the Secretary of
War lMr. Stanton) hereto appended and
though find no official answer recorded, |
remember that Gen. Grant told me that
the Secretary of War had promptly as
sured him, in conversation, that he fully
approved OF his views as expressed in
this letter. At that time the subject was
much discussed, and, soon after, Congress
enacted the bill reviving the grade of Gen
eral, which bill was approved July 70,
1866, and provided that the General when
commissioned, may be authorized under
the direction and during the pleasure to
command the armies OF the United
States, and few days after, viz !; July
2S, 1866, the law was enacted which de
fined the military peace establishment. |
The enacting clause reads That the |
military peace establishment of the United |
States shall hereafter consist of five regi |
ments of artillery, ten regiments OF caval /
ry, forty-ive regiments Of infantry, the |
Professors and corps of cadets Of the Unit /
ed States Military Academy, and such .
other forces as shall be provided for by
this act to be known as the army Of the
United States
The act then recites in great detail all
the parts OF the army, making no distinc-
ton between the line and staff, but clearly
makes each and every part an element Of
the whole.
Sec. 81 provides Tor a Board to revise
the army regulations and report, and de
cides that the regulations then in force
namely, those in lS63-shOuld remain un-
til Congress shall act on said report;
and See. So, and last, enactS and provides
that all laws and parts Of laws inconsis.
tent with the provisions Of this act be, and
the same are hereby repealed. "
Under the provisions of this law my pre-
decessor, Gen. Grant, did not hesitate to
command and make orders to all parts of
the army, the Military Academy and staff :;
and it was under his advice that the new
regulations were compiled in 1868, that
drew the line more clearly between the
high and responsible duties of the Secre-
tary OF War and the General commanding
the army. He assured me many time
before ! was called here to succeed him,
that he wanted me to perfect the dstinc-
ton, and it was by his express orders that
on assuming the command OF the army |
specifically placed the heads of the staff
corps here in Washington in the exact re
lation to the army which they would bear
TO an army in the field
am aware that subsequently, in his
order Of March 26, he modified .his former
orders of March 5, but only as to the heads
of Bureaus IN " ashington, who have, he
told me, certain functions of office imposed
on them by special laws of Congress, which
laws, of course, override all orders and reg.
ulations but did not understand either
from him In person or from Gen. RaWlins,
at whose instance this order was made
that it was designed in any way to modify,
alter, and change his purpose that the de
partment and division commanders, as well
as the General Of the Army, should exer-
else the same command of the staff as they
do of the line Of the army.
L need not remind the secretary that or
ders and reports are made to and FROM the
Military Academy which the General does
not even see, though the Military Academy
is specifically named as a part of that army
which he is required to command. Leaves
of absence are granted, the stations of off
GERS are changed, and other orders are now
made directly to the army, not through |
the General, but direct through other oil. |
GERS or the Adiutant-G General
SO long as this is the case, | surely do
not command the army of the United
States, and am not responsible for it, [
am aware that the confusion resulting
from the thirty seventh section of the act
OF July q, 1866, clothes the army regula-
tons OF 1868 with the sanction of law, but
the next section repeats all laws and parts
OF laws inconsistent with provisions of this
act The regulations of 1863 are but a
Of others made prior to the
war, when such men rs Davis and Floyd
took pleasure in stripping Gen. Scott of
even the semblance of power, and purpose
Y reduced him to a cipher in the govern
nent of the army. Not one word can be
ound 10 those regulations speaking of the
iutles OF the Lieutenant General com
handing the army, or defining a single act
i authority that rightulIy deyolyed on
nun Not single mention is made of the
lghts and duties OF Commander-in- Chief
u the army lie is ignored, and purpose
100 as L Part o! the programme result
ng 10 the rebellion, that the army without
legitimate head should pass into the an.
rchy which these men were shaping for
be whole country.
J Invite your attention to the army reg
latlOns Of 1917, when our best soldiers
we'd, among whom was your own father;
nd see paragraphs - and 40, page :, aud
hey are SO important that we quote them
ntire:
As The military establishment Is placed under
,e orders al me Maior-General CVmmAudeT-n-
lief In al mar regards its discipline aud military
Dntrol: IL penal arrangement properly belong TO
lie Administrative Department 81 thS stah aia 20
le Treasury Department under the direction Of the
eoretary u War.
so The General Of the army will watch over the
conouy of the service in all that relates the
Expenditure of money. supply Of arms, ordnance
nd ordnance stores clothing. equipments. camp
quipage, medical and ho-piJai Stones. barracks
,uarters, transportation. military academy, paw
lud subsistence; In short. everything which snfef.
nto the expenses Of the military estahli-hulgut-
Ehether personal or national. He will also -