The record-union., 1898-05-10
BRIGADE OF Engineers.
ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL AND
MILITARY ENGINEERS.
House OF Representatives Passes
Bill for the Organization of
This Important Brigade.


NEW YORK, May 6.-The organiza-
ton of volunteer brigade of en-
gineers to number $500 men regularly
enlisted and commissioned in the ser
vice of the United States is progressing
rapidly under Captain Eugene Griffin,
now First President of the Gen
eral Electric Company. The proposed
! brigade is to be composed of three regi-
ments, as follows: One Colonel, one
! LieutenantC Colonel, three Majors, one
Lieutenant and Adjutant, one Lieuten-
/ ant and Quartermaster, six Lieuten
ants, Adjutants and Quartermasters of
the three battalions; one Sergeant Ma
! jor, one Quartermaster Sergeant, twelve
companies, A to NJ, inclusive, each COM
pany differed as follows One Captain,
two Lieutenants, one First Sergeant,
! five Sergeants, seven Corporals, sew
/ enty-seven privates; total officers and
men in each company, 93 total officers
and men in each regiment, lib:
The brigade will be composed of civil,
mechanical and electrical engineers,
practical electricians, mechanics, arti-
sans, draughtsmen. and men familiar
with all kinds of engineering work, all
capable of being rapidly converted into
military engineers with proper training.
In his letter to the Secretary of War,
Captain Griffin gave interesting stat
istics concerning the engineer forces of
our army during the Civil War.
1.-THE strength of the Army of the
Potomac under Generals Grant and
Meade, in January, 1865 was 107 1928
men. The Volunteer Engineer Brigade
(Benham's) had present for duty 4,39o
men, or about per cent. of the total,
not including the regular battalion OF
engineers. which was also with the
Army of the Potomac, nor the engineer
regiment with the Army of the James.
1.-The strength of the Army of the
Cumberland General George H. Thorn
as) October 81, 1864, was 76,9SS, and
the engineer troops present for duty
were $500, or per cent.
1.-THE strength of General Sherman s
army in the march to the sea, Novem-
Der 10, 1864, was 10000, and the en-
gineer troops constituted 4,575 out Of
the total, or ~ per cent.
These were the organizations near
the close of the war, when Grant, Sher-
man, Meade and Thomas had learned
by bitter experience the value of the
/
to suit our needs. The experience of all
foreign armies confirms these proper
tons"
Captain Griffin stated in an inter-
view had with him to-day that "in the
contemplated occupation Of Cuba, the
character of the country and the prob
ability of siege operations against Ha-
vana make it obvious that an unusual
= fyann ono
will be required. The President has
called for 125,O0O volunteers. Five per
cent. of this number, or $3.50, would
be a reasonable minimum number to
fix as the strength Of the volunteer en-
gineers The proposed volunteer brig
ade is about one-half of this number.
Zone regular battalion of engineers
of only 500 men, even if expanded to a
war footing of $50 men, is entirely in
adequate for such work, and, moreover,
| considerable numbers are now de-
tached on torpedo work in connection
with our sea coast defenses.
1.-THE Volunteer Electrical Corps,
raised from the employees of various
electrical companies, which have been
assisting the regular engineer officers
in torpedo work at Boston, New York,
| Philadelphia and elsewhere, has dem
onstrated the feasibility of using such
men in the planting of torpedoes, in
the absence of engineer soldiers
"Detachments from the proposed vol
unteer brigade could, if it be deemed
best, relieve nearly all Of the regular
engineer soldiers and many of the en-
| gineer officers from their present tor
| pedo duty, and leave the regular bat
talon of engineers free for service with
the rest of the regular army. Such de-
tachments are also capable Of installing
4 and maintaining all electrical appli-
ances used in connection with our
coast defenses.
| Like the engineer troops of all ar
mics, the proposed Engineer Brigade
would be armed and drilled as infan-
try and would be quite ready to take
its place in the line of battle in case
| Of necessity. The record of our en-
gineer troops in the last war, the good
work done on the line Of the Fifth
Corps in the battle of the Wilderness
and in other places shows that the
highest technical skill and training ex-
acted Of the engineers detracts in no
wise from their fighting capacity. The
fact that they must be drilled as in
fantry, in addition to the necessary
technical instruction and training,
makes it especially imperative that the
Volunteer Engineers should be among
the first troops to be organized. to the
end that time may be given for them to
reach the highest possible state of eff
cheney"
Captain Griffin has received so large
a number of letters and offers of serv-
ice from prominent mechanical, cleo
trical, civil and military engineers
throughout the country as to make it
certain that there will be no difficulty
in organizing the proposed brigade with
picked men. Special legislation au-
thorizing the organization of a Brigade
| of Engineers from the nation at large
is now pending in Congress, and will
probably be enacted into law this week.
In the meantime, however, it is under
stood that Captain Griffin is organizing
one regiment of engineers at the re-
quest Of the Secretary of War, which
regiment can be afterward expanded
into a brigade when the law permits the
organization of such brigade.
Captain Griffin is peculiarly fitted for
the organization of a body of this char
acter. A skilled engineer and electri-
clan himself, with q good army record,
his influence in the engineering and
electrical field is very wide. He grad
uated from West Point in 1875, was
appointed Second Lieutenant of En-
gineers in the United States army, and
assigned to duty at the Engineering
School of Application at Willets Point,
where he remained until 1877 During
the next two or three years he was in