Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-11-13
General Sherman's Annual Report.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8.
GENERAL SHERMAN's annual report
to the Secretary of War was completed
to-day. 1t is prefaced with the usual
tabular statements and returns COM
piled by the Adiutant- General, COM
menting on which General Sherman
says:
The eleven Generals, 1859 officers, 20, 56t
men and 233 Indian scouts, together with such
officers of staff as are assigned by the War
Department to duty with the troops constitute
the army proper, or the combatiVe force"
All other parts Of the military establishment
are provided by law for special service, more
or less connected with the army or militia, but
are not available for frontier defenses. Thus,
! for instance, the 37 enlisted men ofordnance
are in fact WOrkmen at the arsenals. The 1872
men of the Engineer Corps are at Willet's
Point undergoing instructions in torpedo
practice and are not subject to the division
commander. The 456 men of the Signal Corps
are employed in observing the weather or In
working telegraphs. The ia ordnance SER
geants have charge of old forts or fixed maga-
zines. The 15l commissary sergeants are
In charge Of stores, and 1S7 men are
stewards in hospitals. The West Point de-
tachment, 1856 In number, is localized at the
military dChuGIuys IuG pIIbOu kudLu az pOIb
Leavenworth comprises seventy men, and the
recruiting detachments absorb LILO men at
Davis Island, Columbus, Ohio, and Jefferson
Barracks, Missouri. These various detach-
ments, aggregating S,468 enlisted men of the
highest grades, compose about onesixth part
Of the enlisted men provided by law for the
whole army, leaving but 2O,799 for sctual
service
| mention these figures in some detail be-
I 1 Ia "A ha1taf
by many members Of Congress- that we have
$4,000 men on duty. have done all in my
power to reduce these detachments to the
lowest number possible, 30 as to afford more
men to our skeleton companies, but have found
1t impossible, and notice that similar detach-
ments are reported on all the army returns
for fifty years back. There are i3O companies
In the regular army, and $4,000 men would
give dfty-eight to each, which is as small as
any company should be, and / earnestly rec
ommend that you ask Congress to so legislate
that the 25,0OO now provided by law may be
allowed exclusively for regiments of the line,
and that special provision be made for these
several detachments as has already been done
for the Signal Service. The army can not,
with Justice, be held responsible for the work
Of $4,000 when so large a fraction is necessa-
rily diverted to other uses, perhaps of equal
Importance
The tables above referred to show that the
grand aggregate Of the army roll is 9187 Off
GERS and 24,2 26l men In the service and 3SS Off
GERS retired.
General Sherman refers at some length to
last summers incursions Of Indians from Sit
ting Bulls camp and kindred subjects and re-
marks that some more permanent security
must be found than results from the good will
OF our neighbors He therefore recommends
that Congress be asked to appropriate $780,
900 to complete Fort Assinnibione and $780,
600 to build a new post near Wood Mountain,
and says: "In this connection also beg to
submit my conviction thatVery soon the prog
ress Of events will make It absolutely neces-
sary to move all Indians on the Upper Mis-
souri,, viz; Arlckarees, Gros Ventres, Piegans
BloOds and Crows to the Sioux reservation
below Cannon Ball Creek, and to open up for
actual settlers all the land In the region north
and west of that reservation"
General Sherman reports highly satisfac
tory condition or affairs in the Department Of
Texas, and especially along the Rio Grande
frontier, The large immigration which has
poured into Texas having extended to what
were formerly her waste lands, the removal Of
some Of the frontier posts further west is
necessary, and General Sherman therefore
earnestly indorsed the recommendations to
him by General Ord for Congressional appro-
priatlons to construct military posts on the
new Western frontier.
Referring to the troubles caused during the
past year by attempted emigration into Indian
Territory from the southern border Of Kansas,
General Sherman says the delicate duties inn
posed upon the military we're admirably per-
formed by the troops under orders OF General
Pope. The opinion is expressed that at least
thirty superiluous military ryposts might be sold
to great advantage.
The report, In conclusion, treats Of the sub
feet Of military education, and after referring
10 the artillery school at Fortress Monroe and
the academy at West Point, says: Similar
schools should be established and maintained
for cavalry and infantry These have re-
been attempted at Forts Leaven-
worth and Smelling, but no sooner have they
been begun than some Indian outbreak has
lmperatlvely called away the troops, so at this
time we have nothing Of the kind. But the
day must come when schools for infantry and
for cavalry viii be established IN the nature
Df postgraduate course, and, II possible, for |
Instruction 10 the use OF rife and horse before |
our officers and recruits are pushed into bat |
.le and danger.
BEN. LOWE, circus acrobat, stood
N dis head for two hours in a Texas