Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-11-05
Te|egraphic Tjdilgs !g
ARMY AFFAIRS.
Annual Reports by Gems. Merritt and
Howard The Culored Officer.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5.-The report o
Brig. Gen. Merritt, commanding depart
ment Of the Missouri, has been made pub
lie.
Thesgreater part CT Gen. Merritt's report
is taken up with ala account OF tie opera
tons in oklahoma last summer He
thinks the presence Of the troops was
an important factor in preserving order.
lie proposes to hold camp OF instruc-
ton in the Indian territory during the en-
suing year,
The general complains that there are
too many officers absent from their COM
mands. 1t is difficult, he says, to find an
officer ior each command, especially in
the infantry division. One-half ofthe 18th
infantry are absent.
| Referring to Fort Logan and the aban-
donment Of Fort Hayes, Gen. Merritt
says: -
THE building of the new posts referred
to i'll my. last report is still progressing
favorably. Forts Sheridan, Logan and
Riley, in the coursesof time, will be model
posts, each large enough for q regiment.
Fort Hayes is scarcely fit for habitation
during the summer and should be aban-
doned before the winter sets in.
1T was my intention to remove the
garrison from that post to Fort Logon, but
1t Is not practicable now unless some pro-
visions are made for two companies of
the 9TH infantry, now stationed at Fort
Logan"
The report of Gen. O. 0. Howard,
commanding the division of the Atlantic,
to the adjutant general for the year end
ing September 80, calls attention to the
lack OF armament of nearly all the sea
coast stations. "Our needs in this direc-
tlon," he says, "have been SO often and
recently reported on by my predecessors
that deem it useless to more than call
attention to the subject again. The time
has undoubtedly come when some asser-
tive action in the matter of permanent
teienses is in demand" In this connec-
zion the matter of high explosives is dis
'ussed. He calls attention to the Ameri- !
'anlte invention OF young Russian, for !
nerly botanist of the Point Barrow expe-
iltlon, which is the safest and best explo- 1
i've the general has known. With such c
powerful agent, the problem OF coast de- {
ense is resolved almost into one of range, Y
md seaport cities can be made compara- 9
lVely safe without excessive expendi- I
ure. r
The transfer of I'd Lieut.. Charles s
ioung from the 25th infantry to the 9th t.
avalry is the happy solution OF q mat II
er that might have caused some little S
'ouble. S
Lieut.. Young is the colored cadet re- II
emily graduated from West Point, and lt
18th one exception is the only colored Of b
Ger in the line of the army. After grad
alton, he was assigned to the 10th caval- c.
7, one of the two colored regiments OF n
le army as an additional, there being no Il
acancies On any of the colored regiments ol
the time. He had just gone to the ex- RI
ense OF equipping himself as q cavalry
ticer when orders came, assigning him "
the 18th Infantry, one OF the colored al
giments. NJ
The reason of this change was obvious. 10
vacancy was soon to occur in one of ~
Q white regiments and under terms of
g law it would have been necessary to til
omote Lieut.. Young from the addition ov
in the colored cavalry regiment to TO-
IL second lieutenant in the white regi. an
ent where the vacancy would occur be- XII
re one would happen in the regiment to
llch he was originally assigned. To
Old this he was transferred to colored BY
fantry regiment. ne
Having undergone considerable expense me
lifting himself out as mounted Off w
+, the young man naturally felt he had COZ
en- unfairly treated. The department ms
,ognized that justice had not been done, pc
d fortunately u recent casualty in the val
l cavalry made it possible to correct it. no