Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-28
REPORT OF GEN, MILES
Was Not Made Public When
Sent to Secretary.
TO IMPROVE SERVICE
IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATION
FOR MODERN EQUIPMENT.
Building Of Roads and Use Of Bicycles
and Automobiles
Urged.

! Secretary of War for the stated reason
that the recommendations contained in II
would be better acted on before they were
made public.
There are a number of important recon-
| mendatiOns for the improvement of the
army. among them one that mounted rifle
men would be vast improvement on the
| present system Another Is for the organi
cation of corps of war motor cycles and
| armed automobiles to replace in a measure
| the cavalry branch of the service. Still an
| other is for the equipment of strong corps
| of road builders to work in time of Ieace
| as well as in war to build and keep in good
| order all highways having military value
The full text of the letter is as follows:
General Miles Report.
| Headquarters of the Army.
| Washington, D. c., August I. 1903.
The Honorable the Secretary of War:
| Sir: Within the past year have seen the
! principal part of the army wherever 1t has
been serving. have carefully inspected the
! defenses of the Pacific coast, and within
| the last few months have inspected some
of the principal Notifications on the Allan
| tic and gulf coasts.
| There are some features concerning the
army that L deem 1t my duty to lay before
| the authorities
| My views concerning the organization of
| the army have been presented in official
communications and in testimony whenever
| required by the committees of Congress
My recommendation to the strength
| of the mounted force in proportion to the
| infantry was at no time. the extreme
| limit that 1 felt justified in recommending.
! and a much larger percentage than
l would have advocated but for certain cir
cumstances existing at that time; yet even
| on that recommendation, the infantry regf-
| ments were cut down and the cavalry
force increased until now the latter Is en-
tirely out of proportion, useless and enor-
mOuSy expensive.
Experienced Cavalry.
At the commencement of the Spanish
war, when we had well-trained, thoroughly
equipped hardened and experienced cav
airy, a portion of it was obliged to remain
at Tampa and in it's place newly organized
troops were sent to the front. Now that
was either all wrong or the present or
ganiZation of the army, with the great ex-
pense incident thereto, Is unwise and In
judicieus, and this subject requires, In my
judgment. the serious attention OF the
government.
There Is no country, with the possible ex-
ception of Russia, that has so large num-
Der Of men who are accustomed to live in
the saddle and are experienced and expert
horSemen as the United States. 1t Is SAFE
to say that there are tens OF thousands OF
men in our country who are in the saddle
every day who are skilled in landcraft and
the use Oh dTulS, dHu WIZ Cdu NC easily
converted into a most formidable corps of
mounted riflemen.
More Mounted Men.
In fact, there could easily be modified
in our country at least ten times many
mounted men. many Of whom have had
military service, as could be landed on our
shores by any government or governments
! within any rea sonable time. We have
1OO 400 man accustnuned In the saddle and
rifle that could be used to quickly Overrun
either Canada Mexico hence the dis
proportion of our mounted forces to that
of the main body of the army is unneces-
the proportion of mounted troops to infan-
try is from one-fourth to one-fifth. in the
English army it is one-seventh. while in
our army there are one-half as many cav
airy as infantry regiments.
The marvellous development In modern
arms-rfies. machine guns and quick fir ng
field artillery-renders the cavalry as for
meriy used on the battlefield obsolete.
while the wonderful development in the
use of motor power and electrical appli-
ances has rendered the horse far less i'm
portant than formerly. These are facts
doubly significant and should be recognized
by the military authorities and the gov
eminent.
Bicycle and Automobile.
There is, however, a corps or force re-
qured in our army that could be rendered
of great utility not only to the military
but to the people Of this country. This
power is being recognized by European
governments, and 1 have several times
recommended it's use by ours. 1t will be
utilized in the next war; and preparation
for it's by our army should no longer
be neglected. l have reference to the BIZ
cycle, motorcycle and the automobile which
have been developed to that extent that
they have become a most valuable means
of communication and transportation. Five
regiments of cavalry should be discontinued
and corps of five regiments should be
organized, thoroughly trained and constant
ly employed in the use of these modern
appliances. 1t should be regarded as a
dying corps or a corps OF observation, to
open the way for the advance of an army.
to obtain information to reconnoiter the
country and to repair or build roads and
bridges. Officers and men of the cavalry,
artillery and infantry, and of the quarter
| masters and medical departments and en-
gineer and signals corps should serve two
| or four years with this corps.
Road Building Recommended.
The modern appliances of road building
| are vastly superior to those formerly used
! lin fact, the work is now done principally
| by machinery, and this corps should be
| supplied with all the recent inventions and
| improvements for that purpose. 1t should
| be constantly moved about through differ
| ent parts of the country. where 1t would
| have every opportunity for experience in
| improving the roads suitable for the move
ment of an army, making careful study OF
| the topography. surveying and mapping the
| different sections as 1t passes over them,
| making both officers and men familiar with
| this most important work. and at the same
! time benefiting the country wherever the
| corps may be operating. In fact such a
| corps would be of more important, prac-
| teal and direct benefit to the country in
| time of peace than all the rest of the army,
| and in time OF war would be Invaluable.
| The millions of dollars that are now use
| lesSly expended for one-third of the mount
| ed force could in this way be utilized In
| bringing about great Improvement in the
| army, comforting a great benefit upon the
| country at the same time training 4 most
| important corps for military serd e, and ]
urge that this measure be recommended ia
and authorized by Congress.
| Very respectfully.
/ NELSON a MII ia