The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-01-11
ARMY REORGANIZATION.

ARMY REORGANIZATION.
GENERALS SHERIDAN AND POPE ON THE BURN
| INrERcHANGEABIILTY OF LINE AND STAFF
coNDEMNED-sAMPLEs OF cIRcuMLocUTioN
WlsBrNGIos. Jan. 10, 1879.
| The following letter from General p. H. Sheridan
with reference to the Burnside Army bill. was re-
ceived to-day by General Sherman
CHICAGO, Jan. A. 1870
DEAR GENERAL sHEHMAS-Your Kindness in giving
me the Burnside Army bill il fully appreciated.
have carefully examined it. and give to that portio on
OF it which covers the general administration of
the army my hearty approval. 1t defines the
duty of the Secretary of War and the General
OF the army, and can candid man object to what
should be an exposition of the duties which belong
to each. The supreme power OF the Secretary is
knowledged as paramount. No Infringement is made
upon his authority by the power conferred on the
General or the Army and the whole system Of army
administration Is made homogeneons throughout.
The Secretary loses nothing the General of the Army
gains nothing; but the heads of bureaus lose an in
dependence which. think, should not be claimed by
any ofhcer holding acommisson ana subject to army
OBJECTION REoRG Aviation.
As to the reorganization of the under the bill
cannot give it my cordial support. / think the
present organization is good and well snited TO our
Western frontier. and ] am not willing to give my
consent to any new and untried organization Think
it unfortunate TO diminish the cavalry strength
BY cutting OFF two of the regiments. What
Der OF regiments more soldiers The bill
bears heaviest on the line Of the army by setting
officers. from major down, back number OF years
in position, while loss is sustained by the staff
departments except to change the duties of the off,
GERS. The stan departments should be cut down to
the figures named in the BILL but it would he best il
1t could be done by stopping promotion in the lower
grades of the stan or by retirement, or by both.
70 d;rin;sb;ne the pumber evan down -, ooJ H.
figures of the bill if it could be done in this
other good way. and it would meet with less
iti.N., fhuVna
Congress. do not like to see the number Of gen.
eral officers diminished. Those now holding such
rank of all right, but the aspiring buug
colonies are cut of from all hope. and fear they do
not look upon that portion of the bill which covers
the reorganization of the army with much favor
Yours truly,
p H. SHERIDAN. Lieutenant General.
LETTER FROM GENERAL POPE.
The General of the Army received to-day letter
from Major General Pope, dated Fort Leavenworth
january O. in which the latter reviews at length the
salient features of the Burnside Army BILL which had
been sent to him by General Sherman for examine
ton. and criticises somewhat unfayorably its prin-
cipal provisions. The following full abstract Of
the more important parts of the letter.
FonT LEAvENwoRTH, KAN, Jan. g. 1879
GENERAL-In compliance with your request that
should examine the bill for the reorganization OF the
army presented by Generals BurnsiW and Banning in
the Senate and House, submit few remarks upon
the general subject without undertaking criticise
The organization of tho staff department has al
ways appeared to me good as good. indeed ex-
perience is likely to make it, It has stood the test
of great war. and If changes be made in it they
should be carefully considered and adopted with
treme caution The msfortunes of the army have
been not due to the organization of the staff but to
the methods in which its duties have been admins
tered; methods with regard to which have often
expressed my opinion, officially and otherwise The
evils, however, OF which complain can be easily
romedied by regulations which shall be Of binding
legal force and shall not be altered except by the au
| fhnrtt ~ xxh n!. nfadt her,,
THE MATTER SUPPLIES
| In my opinion the great defect in present
system OF staff lies, not in the form of its organiza-
tion but in the practice of centrazing in Washing
ton the whole administration of the respect
to supplies For example. when there arsenal
here, directly in sight of these headquarters, could
not with all my authority department COM
nander, procure so much as q wooden compton
to close the muzzle of piece of art-
lery without forwarding requisition to division
headquarters in Chicago, to be thence forwarded to
the Adjutant General for the Chief thence
to the Secretary OF War; from him to the Chief of
Ordnance. and finally back to me through the same
channels.
such practice, it is doubtful whether the chief Of
staff corps in Washington. who has direct respon
sibility for the condition. efficiency of the troops
military department, is better judge of the
needs of these troops than the department CON-
nander himself who is responsible, and upon the
| accuracy OF whose knowledge and Judgment depends
his official character and standing. cite this merely
to call attention to the manifest good
| as well as in civil affairs. instead of too
much Capitalization. The system itself seems
have been the result of private combinations be-
tween Secretaries of War and the chiefs of supply
departments; while the army, which alone profits or
suffers by it, not considered i'll the matter all
1t Is not therefore, much change in the organiza-
ton of the staff, which seems to me desirable, as
change in its administrative system.
GRADED RECIPROCAL AUTHORITY.
Secondary military organization whatever. to be
efficient should have from bottom to continuous
chain of official control and responsibility, that
every officer may understand perfectly his rights, OBJ
legations. duties and authority. Why this system Of
graded reciprocal authority and responsibility is
now enforced throughout the line OF the army
aud is not enforced upon the chiefs of stats
and their subordinatcs in Washington is of those
strange anomalies which, to at least is past find
ing out These details of Administration however.
subjects for army regulations. and to a large
extent Independent of the forms of organization.
The Burnside bill in no respect cures these evils,
either by it's forms Of organization by its code of
regulations aud articles OF
LINE AND STAFF.
Tnird-I cannot understand by what process the
belief arrived ut that the army would be benefited
by an interchangeable relation between the line aud
staff The bill provides that none but officers mex
perienced in staff duties shall the staff as 1t
enforces their Withdrawal they are com
petent to perform the duties and their replacement
by new and inexperienced men. How efficiency il
to be secured in this way it is hard to
see. Such q system would not be adopted or
considered in accordance with common sense in any
other business. The work of each Of the staff de-
partments is specially and to perform it requires
minute details which cannot be had without study
and experience captain lieutenant of the line.
whose WnOlc service mas Dccn the From
tier cannot have the slightest acquaintance
with business methods business mon. The
idea appears to me to carry absurdity it's face.
But the effect Of this interchange of positions be-
tween the line and staff would in my opinion DO
extremely injurious in another way. 1t would de-
stroy the personal pride which every officer takes in
his regiment staff corps by constantly changing
him about from the line to the staff. from
one department to another, until he would be-
come q jack-ofall-trades, and not only master
OF none, but absolutely without special interest in
any In my Judgment the eject of the bill in this
respect will DO to insure inefficient officers both in
the staff and in the line and will work equal injury
to all of the service. cannot, therefore, con-
in that part of the bill recognizing the staff do
partments.
RELATION OF THE ARMY THE PEOPLE.
But, above all, object to the bill because 1t APP
pears to me to lead the army further and further
away from that relation to. and influence with, the
people of the country which indispensable to its
life well ps necessary to the satisfaction of the
nation. In order that the army should be main
tanned in anything like satisfactory efficient
state 10 IL essential that its relations to the
people and to the government should be made closer
aud harmonious. Unless this be done IL