The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-20
OUR MILITARY FAMILY
BUREAUS AND OFFICERS THAT MAKE
UP THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
stan Department of the Army an En-
pensive Branch-The Duties of
the Various officials.


As result OF what until Sunday was
spoken of as the recent war with Span
but which the dispatches from Manila
plainly show would be more accurately
termed the pending contest with the Iberian
Kingdom, the narrator is flooded with in
quries as to the official makeup of Uncle
Sans military family, 1t is a matter about
which there appears to be little accurate in
formation possessed by the general public
A Washington correspondent of the New
York Sun at the breaking out of hostilities
collected many interesting facts bearing on
this subject, and the narrator will talk to
you from the information thus carefully
gathered. The permaent bureaus, or staff
departments, of the regular army, whose
proceedings as a rule are cloaked from
the eyes of humble civilians, number ten
and have their headquarters in the War
Department at Washington. 1t is oblga-
tory that the head of each shall be an
army officer of the rank of brigadier gen
eral and he occupies his soft berth-for
his lines generally fall unto him in pleas
ant places-unti he has reached the age
of sixty-four, when he is compulsorily re-
tired unless, of course. he has previously
been tried and convicted of some offense
against the army regulations. Each one
of these chiefs is supported by numerous
assistants of various rank in the service
and these, by virtue of such appointments,
hold places that are colloquially, but graph
ically, termed soft snaps
The ten bureau chiefs and the duties
assigned to their positions are as follows:
The adjutant general is the military clerk
or secretary, as it were, of the army in all
IT'S branches. through nm all the orders OF
the President and Secretary of War are
issued, and he keeps the record of everything
done by the army. He mas charge of muster
Ing the volunteer army and all analogous
duties. The adiutant general is considered
the chief staff officer though he can issue no
the name of the President or Secretary of
War. His duties are more various than those
of any other staff chief.
THE DEPARTMENTS.
The duties of the inspector general are
fully indicated by his title His business in
general is to guard against abuses of every
kind and description in the military service.
he looks into the condition of the troops, the
state of their quarters. clothing, food and
arms, inspects soldiers homes and all mill
tary property of the United States
The judge advocate general is the legal
authority of the military hierarchy. He
prosecutes military criminals decides legal
questions relating to the army and construes
all new enactments when he is required to
do so.
The quartermaster general has to do with
the clothing and sheltering of the troops.
transporting them from point tc point to-
gether with their supplies furnishing horses
duties.
The surgeon general supplies its medical
and surgical requirements
The paymaSter general pays it.
The chief of engineers has charge of
building Notifications, river and harbor i'm
prOvements details of siege operations the
nSCeTtalnment " lines nj a.
and retreat, the building of bridges and
kindred duties, the character of which his
The CHIEF of ordnance supplies the army
with fighting equipments; the latest i'm
proved cannon, firearms and ammunition.
The chief signal officer. who has but little
10 do except in time of war, attends to the
military telegraph and signal service. For
time he had charge of the weather bureau
but that was transferred to the Department
of Agriculture a few years ago.
In time of war the duties of these staff
work is vastly increased. The change is felt
less, perhaps, in the judge advocate gen.
erals bureau than in any other. With two
or three exceptions each one OF these bu-
reaus will have one of its representatives.
regular or volunteer. with every important
command in the active service. That is to
say with each brigade organization or any
independent command of any consequence
or permanence, there viii certainly he an
assistant adjutant general a quartermaster,
commissary and inspector general a sur
geon and an ordnance officer, each looking
after their particular branch of the service.
The engineer and signal officers are gener-
ally only with corps headquarters in the
field. Paymasters visit the troops at stated
or convenient intervals The judge advo-
Gates go only when required to deal with
some important matter. All these staff Off
GERS whether regular or volunteers. report
through their immediate superiors in the
field 10 the chief of their particular staff
department at Washington.
ARMY OFFICERS.
In its entirety. and divided among the
staff departments OF the regular army Uncle
Sam has 10 brigadier generals. % colonies,
60 lieutenant colonies. 1856 majors ieS cap
tains. 81 lieutenants and 10 second lieuten-
ants a grand total of 49, officers in the staff
departments Of the regular army alone
apart from the volunteer officers enlisted in
the Spanish war whose positions are tenn
porary The pay OF the STAFF bureau OH
GERS Is as follows Brigadier general. 500
per annum; colonel $500. lieutenant colo
mel $500; major, $500 captain 81 500: first
lieutenant 1920. second lieutenant So leo
These figures are the maximum pay of eacn
grade. which, by law. Is that OF mounted
officers (dismounted of foot officers nav is
somewhat less), and include the service per-
centage Increase UP 10 40 per cent. for twenty
years continuous service Some of the
younger officers have not served twenty
but most Of the captains. and probably ali
above that grade, get the full amount
There are many variations in army pay
~ addltion 10 their regular pay all officers
VINO 90 not occupy government houses have
an allowance FOR rent, 10 use the everyday
civilian expression, or quarters" in military
NOMENCLATURE. This Is paid IN cash at the
rate OF ~ per room per month, the units