Huntsville gazette., 1888-08-18
THE COMMAND or THE ARMY,

Presidential Prerogative as Comman.
der-in- Chief,
ASHtNGTON, Aug. 14.-The somew what
strained relations that subsisted between
the Secretary Of War and General
sheridan, not personally, but with refer
enoe to their relative official functions,
may perhaps be inherited by the latter's
successor IN the command Of the army.
General Schofleld has been conspicuous
IN his opposition to Secretary Endioott's
famous order, issued in 1885. limiting to
-four years all details as aides de camp.
he net only took ground like that of
General Sheridan on this subject, which
IN turn followed that of some former
heads of the army, but as late as
February of the present year, he filed
protest with the President against the
operation of the order as applied to Cap
tain j. P. Sanger of his staff. Thus the
occasional friction between the War
Office and army headquarters as to their
relative Jurisdictions seems likely
enough to be kept up. On the other
hand, 1t may be noted that although the
| President sustained Secretary Endicott
in the contention over Captain Sanger,
personal good will was shown by allow
ing that officer to be retained for time
at Governors Island on special duty
after his detail as aide de- camp had ex-
pired.
The main question of interest now is as
to whether General Schofield will retain
his present rank, or whether the grade of
Lieutenant General will be revived for
him. This question, which may seem
simple enough in itself, is subject to
variety of influences tending to make its
decision q matter of doubt. An army
like ours does not need Lieutenant.
| General in time of peace. UP to con.
siderable time after the end Of the Mexi-
can war the highest grade was that of
Major Gener al, the salary paid to the
senior officer commanding the army be-
ing $4,000.
| One apparent exception occurred in
the case of Washington, for whom
higher grade was created, although he
did not exercise the routine control Of
the army, it not being intended to draw
him from retirement at Mt. Vernon, ex-
cept in case of war. In more;modern
days we have seen the rank of Lieuten-
ant General conferred by brevet on GEN.
eral Scott, in honor of the success with
which he conducted the Mexican war.
Like considerations caused the same'rank
and higher one to be given to Grant,
Sherman and Sheridan, the original pro-
motion of Grant above the grade Of Ma
jor-General being also of practical ad-
vantage during the progress of the war.
But when the army was reduced to it's
present size, and peace had;been restored,
nobody looked on the grades of Lieuten-
ant-General and General as necessities,
but as rewards of honor and emolument
nn1l nat
Several influences work in favor
of reviving the grade of Lieu
| tenant General as permanent
one for the ranking officer of the army in
virtue Of his command. One argument
is that this will be the simplest way to
preserve the present arrangement Of
divisions and departments without COM
plication. 1t is urged, for example, that
General Schofeld would not only have
to assume command of the army as q
whole, but also to discharge his present
duties as commander Of the military
division OF the Atlantic and also of the
Department of the East.
Lieutenant General Sheridan, though
for very brief period, held the three
commands spoken of for General Scho-
field, as he also held temporarily the
command Of the army and of the Division
of the Missouri. There is no reason why
the senior Brigadier, General Miles,
| should not have command of one of the
divisions, thus relieving General Scho-
field of all but the command of the army;
and either two departments could then
be consolidated or else a competent
Colonel assigned to one of them. At one
time two Of the military divisions were
commanded by ajor-Generals, and
the third by Lieutenant General,
thus showing that there is not
need of uniformity of grade in this
matter. The movement to make the
senior officer a Lieutenant General for
the sake of the Office Is likely to gain
force. Were General Hancock still
alive and Sheridan's successor in COM
mand the sentiment in favor of his pros
motion would be strong, but the antagon'
ism between friends of Thomas and some
friends of Schofeld, growing out of the
National campaign, is doubtless some
what prejudic1al to the latter's chances.
Army officers, as whole, would be likely
to urge the revival of the grade of Lieu
tenant General, first, because of its i'm
mediate lift through the successive va
cancies created, but chiefly because of its
holding out higher prize for all to aim
at.
WASHINGTON, Aug. l4-General Scho.
field, the ranking Major General, speak
ing of the succession to General Sheri-
dan, says: ''Rank and commander are
two entirely different things, but people
outside of military circles dc not seem to
think so. If an officer is a Brigadier-
General, that is his rank. 1t has been
conferred upon him by and with the
advice and consent Of the Senate;
but it doesn't decide any thing
about the assignment or command
which may be given him. The President
may put him in command of depart
ment or even division; indeed he may,
if he choose, detail him to command the
army. The President may now designate
aBrigadier General to command the army
IN place of General Sheridan, but that
assignment would necesitate some other
changes. 1t would necessitate the retire.
ment of three Major Gene rails, or put
ting them on waiting orders,
for no officer can command
another Of higher rank. The
President, however, could order all these
changes if he so desired. AS matter of
! fact the PreSidant iS Commander in