Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-12-01
Gen. Sherman's Report.
In his annual report to the Secretary of
War Gen. Sherman Saws;

In his annual report to the Secretary OF
War Gen. Sherman says:
The aggregate force of the army now con-
sists OFFS ,33l men, all of whom are as active
ly employed as though war existed. BY the
subdivision of territory every foot of the
country is under the supervision Of general
officer, near at hand with part of the army,
proportioncd to the supposed necessity to
maintain order and peace, whereby the set
tlement of the country may progress and
civil officers be enabled to enforce the laws
of the United States
In the Military Division OF the Atlantic
there are no hostile Indians, but the troops
have been actively employed in aiding
United States Marshals in enforcing the
revenue laws and in protecting the weak
against the prejudices of the strong in the
frequent cases Of civil elections. These
duties call for the highest qualities Of firm
ness and prudence, and | am sure the
behavior Of the troops in every instance has
commanded the respect of all men. The
care and preservation of public property
and of the sea.coast forts is a chief duty Of
the troops.
The chief military events of the year have
transpired in the Military Division of the
Missouri, where q state of actual war has
existed for many years, and still continues.
| am not yet in possession of Gen. Sberidan's
report, but in anticipation of its receipt will
endeavor to give a concise account of some
of the chief events as gathered from reports
and letters received during their progress.
In the Department of the Gulf the troops
under Gen. Augur have been shifted from
place to place, in the aid of the civil author
tiles, under the same state of facts as in the
Department of the South, with similar re-
suits, and have always used their power with
consummate discretion ana good judgment.
On the Texas frontier, especially the Mex
lean border, has long existed an unsatisfactory
condition of affairs. Civil war has existed
In, 4 thoh hos tatn f,x
ton has at turns sought an asylum on this
side of the Rio Grande, but from Gen. Ord's
letters and reports there seems to be an
organized system of robbery by small bands
of Mexicans and Indians, who cross to the
Texas side, commit murders, steal horses
and cattle, etc, and cross back with their
stolen property to the other side, where they
are comparatively safe from pursuit from
our troops, who rarely hear of the raid until
it is too late to intercept it. | believe no
one supposes the authorities of the National
Government of Mexico can be privy to this
nefarious business, and tits probably carried
IN in spite of the better people on both sides
of the border. There are now in Texas
two regiments of infantry, the Eighth
and Tenth, which will be filled up
as rapidly as possibly to the maximum
standard; also three regiments of infantry,
the Tenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-ffth,
which are necessarily very small under the
existing laws. Still l hope with increased
activity that the troops will suffice to protect
the border from incursions which discourage
settlement, aid are otherwise very irritating
and demoraliZing.
In the Department Of the Missouri the In
dians of New Mexico have been remarkably
good, and the Kiowas, Comanches, Chey
ennes and Arapahoes located on the reserva-
ton at and near Fort Sill have been eXcep-
tionally quiet this summer, though requir-
ing, for reasonably security to the Kansas
Sill, Elliott, Dodge and Supply, and small
garrisons along the Arkansas River and the
Kansas Pacific Railroad.
The chief events to which Gen. Sherman
refers are those relating to the war with the
Sioux, and after giving a detailed history
concerning the late expeditions against them,
and the death of Custer with his command,
etc, he says: Col. Hazen, of the Sixth In
fantry, commanding Fort Buford, has
started up the Missouri River for Fort Peck
with four companies of his regiment, the
Sixth Infantry, to head off Sitting Bull, who
is reported by surrendered chiefs to have
slipped out with thirty lodges of his own
special followers during the retreat down
Bad Route Creek, and to have resumed his
course for Fort Peck or the British
Possessions. Col. Miles reports his purpose
to replenish his supplies and to turn north
and follow this last desperate band to the
DEATH Gen. Crook reorganized new col
umn at Fort Fetterman, with which he left
on the 27th of October for another early
campaign against that fraction of the
hostile Sioux under Crazy Horse. Gen.
Sheridan, in his last dispatch on this subject,
uses language which cordially indOrse: "If
successful, of which | do not doubt, the
Sioux war and all other Indian wars in this
country of any magnitude will be over for
ever" Arrangements made for hemming in
and capturing the remainder of the hostile
Sioux during the winter must result in com
parative or complete success. Meantime no
change can be attempted this year at the
agencies, but trust next year all the Sioux
Nation will be compelled to remove to the
Missouri River, near Fort Randall, where
they can be guarded and fed at one-half the
present cost, and where, If there be any
chance to civilize them, the opportunity will
be far better than in their present scattered
agencies
BY the assignment of Mai. Gen. Schofeld
to the Superintendency of the Military Acad-
emy that Institution is raised to a command
equal to that of a division, and West Point
should rightfully constitute military de-
partment, SO that its Superintendent, as the
commanding General of a department, may
exercise all the powers and functions of
such commander-especially to order gem
eral courts-martial to approve or disap'
prove of their findings, and to execute all
sentences not especially reserved by the ar
ticles of war to the President and Secretary
of War. The Military Academy, in addition
to its well,established character as a literary
and scientific school, should form the model
for an army, and the habits of the youth
trained therein should be in exact accord
auce with what experience has demonstrated
to be necessary for the efficient government
of an army in the field. Gen. Sherman says
the academy, under Gen. Schofeld's admin
istratiOn, will take rank among the first ed
ucational establishments of the world.