STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENT BUILDING. A 
HISTORY 
OF THE 
War Department 
OF 
THE UNITED STATES. 
WITH 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE 
SECRETARIES. 
BY 
L. D. INGERSOLL, 
Author of “The Life and Times of Horace Greeley,” 
“ Iowa and the Rebellion,” etc. 
WASHINGTON, D. C.: 
FRANCIS B. MOHUN, 
Successor to Mohun Brothers. 
1879. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 
L. D. INGERSOLL, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. 
THE main scope and design of the following work are set 
forth in the introductory paragraphs of the history itself. I 
beg only to add, in general terms, that a full and candid history 
of the War Department would be fairly entitled to a permanent 
place in American literature because of the long and successful 
labors of that Department in the spread of commerce and civili- 
zation. Herein, as will be seen in this history, no other agency 
has been so potent. 
1 have quite freely referred to the authorities for statements in 
the text, especially in all cases where treating of points still in 
dispute. These authorities have been of unspeakable value to 
me in the preparation of the work as will readily be seen by 
those who note their character. I am under scarcely less obliga- 
tions to living authorities, — to the General of the Army; to the 
chiefs of the various staff departments at the Capital; to the 
chief clerk of the War Department, Mr. H. T. Crosby, and his 
assistant, Mr. John Tweedale; to the chief clerks of all the 
bureaux of the Department. These, with great kindness, have 
supplied me with pamphlets, official publications, and oral infor- 
mation of the greatest use. 
It may be proper to add that no one except myself has had 
anything to do in the literary preparation of the work. No one 
else has been permitted to see or to revise a sentence of it. It 
is purely unofficial; entirely the private essay of 
THE AUTHOR. 
Washington City, May, 1879. CONTENTS. 
PART I. 
General Narrative. 
CHAPTER I. 
FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT TO THE 
WAR OF 1812- 
Introduction — History of the Organization of the Depart- 
ment — Organization of the State Militia — Dispute with 
the Treasury Department — The American Navy Founded 
by the War Department—Early History of Sea-Coast 
Defenses — Of the Corps of Engineers — Of the Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point — The First Government 
Expedition Across the Continent — The “ Whiskey In- 
surrection”— Indian War—Difficulties with France 
— Defective Organization of the Staff Departments . 17-41 
CHAPTER II. 
DURING THE LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 
General History of the Department During the Last War 
with Great Britain — The Conduct of the War — The 
Army—Certain States Refuse to Call Out the Militia—■ 
Outline History of this Imbroglio — Correspondence 
of the Secretary of War with Governors of the States in 
Default — The Disasters of 1812 — Hull’s Surrender — X 
CONTENTS. 
General Armstrong Appointed Secretary of War — 
Army Regulations of 1813 — Organization of the Army 
at that Time — The Military Successes of the Year — 
The Battle of Bladensburgh — The Capture of Washing- 
ton and Burning of the Public Buildings — Resignation 
of General Armstrong — His Vindication — End of the 
War — Its Lessons ....... 42-73 
CHAPTER III. 
FROM THE LAST WAR WITH ENGLAND TO THE WAR 
WITH MEXICO. 
The Reduction of the Army in 1815 — Reorganization of 
the Military Establishment under Secretary of War John 
C. Calhoun—The Opinions of that Statesman on a 
Requisite Staff Department — The Army Regulations of 
1825 — General History of the Department down to the 
beginning of the War with Mexico .... 74-107 
CHAPTER IV. 
ACCOUNT OF THE DEPARTMENT BUILDINGS. 
A Sketch of the Public Buildings Occupied by the War 
Department — A Fuller Account of the Building so Oc- 
cupied from the Secretaryship of Mr. Calhoun till the 
Year 1879 — The Different Secretaries’ Apartments — 
Its Works of Art — Its Prospective Destruction — The 
Structure known as “ The War, State, and Navy De- 
partment Building” ...... 108-118 
CHAPTER V. 
CONDUCT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS BY THE WAR 
DEPARTMENT. 
The General Indian Policy of the Government — The 
War Department in Charge of Indian Affairs until the 
Year 1849 — The Situation of the Indians at the Time 
of the Establishment of the Government — An Account CONTENTS. 
of their Gradual Removal Westward, as the Result of 
Wars and by the Operation of Treaties — Their Prog- 
ress in Civilization while under the Control of the War 
Department—Their Former and Present Situation com- 
pared ........ 119-138 
CHAPTER VI. 
THE BUREAUX OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
History of the Different Bureaux of the Department — 
The Adjutant-General’s Department — The Inspector- 
General’s Department — The Bureau of Military Jus- 
tice— The Signal Office — The Quartermaster’s De- 
partment ........ 139-197 
CHAPTER VII. 
THE BUREAUX OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. —{Continued.) 
The Subsistence Department — The Medical Department 
— The Pay Department — The Corps of Engineers — 
The Ordnance Department — Resume of the Practical 
Labors Performed by the Different Bureaux . . 198-319 
CHAPTER VIII. 
DEPARTMENTAL HISTORY FROM THE MEXICAN WAR 
TO 1879- 
The Success of the System of Volunteers — Secretary 
Marcy and the War with Mexico — The Interim be- 
tween that War and the Late Civil War — The War 
Department During the War of the Rebellion — Secre- 
tary Stanton and the Assistant Secretaries — The Pro- 
vost-Marshal-General’s Department — Colored Troops 
— Military Railroads and Telegraphs — Exchange of 
Prisoners — The Disbandment of the Volunteers—Re- 
organization of the Army—The Freedmen’s Bureau — CONTENTS. 
Secretary Stanton and President Johnson — General 
Grant — Soldiers’ Homes — National Cemeteries — 
Recent History — Secretary McCrary and the Signal 
Office 320-386 
PART II. 
Lives of the Secretaries. 
General Henry Knox, First Secretary .... 389 
Hon. Timothy Pickering, Second Secretary . . . 409 
Hon. James McHenry, Third Secretary . . . .422 
Hon. Samuel Dexter, Fourth Secretary . . . - . 428 
General Henry Dearborn, Fifth Secretary . . -432 
Hon. William Eustis, Sixth Secretary .... 439 
General John Armstrong, Seventh Secretary . . . 441 
James Monroe, Eighth Secretary ..... 446 
Hon. William H. Crawford, Ninth Secretary . . 454 
John C. Calhoun, Tenth Secretary 460 
Hon. James Barbour, Eleventh Secretary . . . 468 
General Peter B. Porter, Twelfth Secretary . . .471 
Major John H. Eaton, Thirteenth Secretary . . . 474 
General Lewis Cass, Fourteenth Secretary . . . 476 
Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, Secretary Ad Interim . 481 
Joel R. Poinsett, Fifteenth Secretary .... 483 
Hon. John Bell, Sixteenth Secretary . . . .487 
John C. Spencer, Seventeenth Secretary .... 490 
James M. Porter, Eighteenth Secretary .... 493 
William Wilkins, Nineteenth Secretary .... 495 
William L. Marcy, Twentieth Secretary . . . -497 
George W. Crawford, Twenty-first Secretary . . .501 
General Winfield Scott, Secretary Ad Interim . 503 
Hon. Charles M. Conrad, Twenty-second Secretary . 512 
Jefferson Davis, Twenty-third Secretary . . . .514 
John B. Floyd, Twenty-fourth Secretary . . . .518 
Hon. Joseph Holt, Twenty-fifth Secretary . . -520 
Simon Cameron, Twenty-sixth Secretary . . . *523 CONTENTS. 
Edwin M. Stanton, Twenty-seventh Secretary . . *53° 
General U. S. Grant, Secretary Ad Interim . . 535 
General John M. Schofield, Twenty-eighth Secretary . 543 
General John A. Rawlins, Twenty-ninth Secretary . 549 
General Wm. T. Sherman, Secretary Ad Interim . 551 
General William W. Belknap, Thirtieth Secretary. . 566 
Alphonso Taft, Thirty-first Secretary . . . *572 
Hon. J. D. Cameron, Thirty-second Secretary . -575 
Hon. George W. McCrary, Thirty-third Secretary . -578 
APPENDIX. 
Roster of the Medical Department . . . .589 
<c ic THE pAY Department 591 
“ “ Corps of Engineers 591 
“ “ Ordnance Department 592 
State, War, and Navy Department Building Frontispiece. 
Old War Department Building 109 PART I. 
GENERAL NARRATIVE. HISTORY 
OF THE 
War Department 
Part I. 
GENERAL NARRATIVE. 
CHAPTER I. 
FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT 
TO THE WAR OF 1812. 
Introduction—History of the Organization of the Depart- 
ment— Organization of the State Militia — Dispute with 
the Treasury Department — The American Navy Founded 
by the War Department — Early History of Seacoast 
Defenses — Of the Corps of Engineers — Of the Military 
Academy at West Point — The First Government Expedi- 
tion Across the Continent — The "Whiskey Insurrection”— 
Indian Wars — Difficulties with France — Defective Or- 
ganization of the Staff Departments. 
DURING the autumn of 1878, being in charge of 
the War Department Library, I received a letter 
from the Honorable George W. McCrary, Secretary 
of War, requesting me to write for publication a 
history of the War Department. The request was 
made with particular reference to the forthcoming 
destruction of the Department building and the 
transfer of the offices and archives to the new struc- 18 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
ture called “the State, War, and Navy Department 
Building.” There were many interesting and not a 
few sacred associations connected with the old build- 
ing, many facts also in themselves valuable, which it 
was thought ought to be preserved in the permanent 
form of a printed volume. Moreover, several of the 
most illustrious statesmen and warriors of our country 
had at different times directed the affairs of the De- 
partment, while in but very few instances had it been 
given in charge to men of ordinary abilities or of 
little reputation. It will be seen that in nearly all 
instances it has been placed in the control of men 
of high renown throughout the republic, and indeed 
throughout Christendom. There could, of course, be 
no history of the War Department without large men- 
tion of these eminent men. Biographical sketches 
of all the Secretaries have therefore been prepared, 
in the opinion that such is the best and, if I may be 
allowed to say so, the most interesting form in which 
the personal history of the Department could be 
presented to the public. While I ask the generous 
judgment of criticism and of my readers at large 
upon the whole work, I especially beg all, in consid- 
ering the biographical portions of it, to reflect that 
in this style of composition considerable freedom of 
expression is allowable, and that upon the different in- 
dividuals whose lives are here sketched, notably those 
still living and recently dead, there are wide differ- 
ences of opinion. The judgments I express of the 
men who have presided over the affairs of the War 
Department, and of public men associated writh them, 
may not in all instances be correct. Certainly they 
do not all agree with the opinions generally received THE OLD BOARD OF WAR. 
19 
I honestly entertain my own opinions and candidly 
express them. As they are based upon a more com- 
plete study of the “ inside history ” of affairs than 
most persons are able to give to it, they are entitled 
to respect, if not to assent. These observations on 
the occasion and on the general character of this 
work may serve as an introduction to the formal 
narrative. 
During the war of the Revolution, military admin- 
istrative affairs were conducted by a Board of War, 
the nature of which was once or twice changed dur- 
ing the conflict. The Congress, by resolution, fre- 
quently directed the control of military affairs, and 
issued all of the general and staff commissions. 
After independence had been achieved, a Depart- 
ment of War was established, and the distinguished 
General Benjamin Lincoln appointed to take charge 
of it. He was the first American Secretary of War. 
Afterwards the no less distinguished General Henry 
Knox was Secretary. He was engaged in this pub- 
lic employment at the time of the establishment of 
the government of the United States under the Fed- 
eral Constitution in 1789, and was continued in office 
by President Washington. It is of the Department 
as it has existed since the year just named that this 
volume will treat. 
Among the earliest branches of the executive por- 
tion of the government to be organized by a law 
of Congress was the Department of War, which, 
singularly enough, received the consideration of the 
national legislature some weeks before the Treasury 
Department. The act establishing the Department 20 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was very broad in its generalizations, providing, 
“That there shall be an Executive Department to 
be denominated the Department of War; and that 
there shall be a principal officer therein, to be called 
the Secretary for the Department of War, who shall 
perform and execute such duties as shall from time 
to time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the 
President of the United States, agreeable to the 
Constitution, relative to military commissions, or to 
the land or naval forces, ships, or warlike stores of 
the United States, or to such other matters respect- 
ing military or naval affairs as the President of the 
United States shall assign to the said Department, 
or relative to the granting of lands to persons en- 
titled thereto for military services rendered to the 
United States, or relative to Indian affairs; and, 
furthermore, that the said principal officer shall con- 
duct the business of the said Department in such 
manner as the President of the United States shall 
from time to time order or instruct” The act fur- 
ther provided that the Secretary should “ forthwith 
after his appointment be entitled to have the custody 
and charge of all records, books, and papers in the 
office of Secretary for the Department of War here- 
tofore established by the United States in Congress 
assembled.”1 That is to say, in the Congress of the 
old Confederation. 
It will appear from the foregoing that upon its or- 
ganization ninety years ago, the Department of War 
had assigned to it the control of: i. All military 
commissions ; 2. The land and naval forces, ships, 
and warlike stores of the government; 3. All mat- 
xAct of Aug. 9, 1789. U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 49. GENERAL KNOX. 
21 
ters, generally, pertaining to military and naval af- 
fairs ; 4. The distribution of “bounty lands” to all 
soldiers and ex-soldiers entitled thereto; 5. Indian 
affairs; 6. And, generally, all such duties connected 
with these various affairs as might be assigned to the 
Department by the chief magistrate. The Depart- 
ment was almost equivalent, therefore, in the scope 
of its operations, to the three executive departments 
of War, the Navy, and the Interior, as now consti- 
tuted in law and conducted in fact. 
In about one month after the Department of War 
was thus instituted by law, President Washington ap- 
pointed General Henry Knox Secretary, and he was 
promptly confirmed by the Senate. He had been 
Secretary at War under the government of the Arti- 
cles of Confederation, and his appointment under the 
new government was a significant fact. Under the 
Confederation, the Secretary at War had been vested 
with large executive powers in military affairs, which, 
under the new government, were placed in the hands 
of the President as the chief executive officer of the 
nation and the commander-in-chief of the Army and 
Navy. The appointment of General Knox establishes 
a strong presumption that, in the opinion of President 
Washington, the duties and powers of the Secretary 
of War were to remain the same as they had been 
under the Confederation, except so far as they had 
been changed by the Constitution, or might be mod- 
ified by the laws of Congress. As a matter of history 
the Department was conducted by Secretary Knox 
and his immediate successors upon this idea, and has 
ever since been so conducted, it being regarded, in 
fact and in law, as the general agent, with full powers, 22 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of the chief executive, with respect to all administra- 
tive control of the army and of military affairs. 
It thus happened that the War Department was 
established from the beginning of the government 
under the Constitution on a substantial basis, which 
up to the present time has been enlarged and im- 
proved, rather than radically changed. Among the 
subjects which early received the study and labors 
of Secretary Knox, was the establishment of “an 
uniform militia throughout the United States,” that 
being one of the powers expressly conferred upon 
the general government by the Constitution. In 
1789, Secretary Knox prepared a very lengthy and 
elaborate paper upon the subject, in which he set 
forth a plan establishing the militia upon the le- 
gionary system. It was regarded in many of its 
recommendations as too rigid in its requirements of 
military duty for approval by the people, and was 
accordingly rejected by the Congress. After much 
labor in the Department, and much discussion in the 
national legislature, a plan was agreed upon, and 
became law on the 8th of May, 1792.1 The act pro- 
vided that within one year from its passage the mili- 
tia of the different States should be arranged into 
divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and com- 
panies, in accordance with the directions of the re- 
spective legislatures, and made other provisions for 
the organization of the militia upon this general plan, 
for instruction and drilling. The act provided that 
the militia should be officered by the States as fol- 
lows : To each division, one major-general and two 
aids-de-camp, with the rank of major; to each bri- 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 271. THE MILITIA. 
23 
gade, one brigadier-general, with one brigade-in- 
spector to serve also as brigade-major, with the 
rank of major; to each regiment one lieutenant- 
colonel commandant; to each battalion one major; 
to each company one captain, one lieutenant, one 
ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, 
and one fifer or bugler. It was directed that the 
regimental staff should consist of one adjutant and 
one quartermaster with the rank of lieutenants, one 
paymaster, one surgeon and one surgeon’s mate, one 
sergeant-major, one drum-major, and one fife-major. 
Such, briefly, are the general outlines of the orig- 
inal establishment of an uniform militia throughout 
the United States by act of Congress. It will be 
seen that the military organization here provided is 
substantially that which has generally obtained in 
the infantry of the armies of the United States from 
about the beginning of the present century up to 
this time. During the war of the rebellion army 
corps, and definitive armies, and grand armies, were 
added, but they did not at all disturb their elemental 
organizations — the company, the battalion, the regi- 
ment, the brigade, and the division. 
The machinery of organizing the militia was mainly 
left with the State authorities. Nevertheless, the 
arms were generally, or at any rate largely, supplied 
by the federal government through the War Depart- 
ment. Moreover, the Department was constantly in 
the receipt of letters asking for instruction and guid- 
ance, in the supplying of which it exerted large influ- 
ence in the practical organization of the militia in 
all the States. In the original act there were not a 
fev substantial defects in the judgment of Secretary 24 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Knox, who preferred a far more stringent system. 
But some of these were cured by the action of State 
legislatures, so that early in President Jefferson’s 
administration the system was pretty thoroughly 
organized in all the States of the Union. It re- 
mained in existence for many years, and undoubt- 
edly did much to maintain the military spirit of the 
people, of which, during its entire existence, it was 
the handiwork rather than of the law of Congress 
which originated it, but without providing any penal- 
ties for its non-enforcement. 
The distinguished statesman Alexander Hamilton, 
who was the first Secretary of the Treasury, thought 
that the purchase of military stores and supplies 
properly came under the jurisdiction of the depart- 
ment of which he was the head. Through his influ- 
ence, Congress enacted in 1792: “That all purchases 
and contracts for supplying the army with provi- 
sions, clothing, supplies in the quartermaster’s de- 
partment, military stores, Indian goods, and all other 
supplies for the use of the department of war, be 
made by or under the direction of the treasury de- 
partment.”1 This anomalous arrangement produced 
no practical good results. On the contrary, a main 
cause of the terrible failure of General St. Clair’s 
campaign in the North-west was directly traced to 
the mismanagement of the Treasury Department in 
the matter of supplies; for practically then, as well 
as under the law just quoted, the Treasury Depart- 
ment undertook to perform these duties, so appro- 
priately belonging to the Department of War. Not- 
withstanding the ill results of the anomalous system, 
aU. S. Stat. at Large, I., 280. A DEPARTMENTAL DEBATE. 
25 
Mr. Hamilton persisted in advocating it. Even three 
years after the disaster to St. Clair, he wrote: “ The 
procuring of military supplies generally is, with great 
propriety, vested by law in the Department of the 
Treasury. That department, from situation, may be 
expected to feel a more habitual solicitude for econ- 
omy than any other, and to possess more means of 
information respecting the best modes of obtaining 
supplies.” 1 Both of these statements are pure as- 
sumptions, but being taken as true, the argument 
was considered good, and the system continued. 
Mr. Hamilton, however, in view of the greatness and 
importance of this branch of the public business, 
asked that a special officer be created by law to at- 
tend to it, the officer to be of the Treasury Depart- 
ment. This request was complied with and the office 
of purveyor of supplies created. Thus matters con- 
tinued until 1798, when the anomaly was abolished 
by the act of July 16,2 wherein it was provided that 
supplies and stores should be purchased under the 
direction of the chief officer of the Department of 
War. By the act of March 3, 1799, the Secretary of 
War was directly authorized to make such purchases.3 
Thus ended a long dispute between two of the 
executive departments of the government, the claims 
of the Department of War in this regard being rec- 
ognized as sensible and just. One happy result of 
this debate on the appropriate division of depart- 
mental labors was a considerable reform in the or- 
ganization of the staff departments. For by the act 
xLett. of Dec. 2, 1794. Am. St. Papers, I., Mil. Af., 69. 
2U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 610. 
8Ibid., I., 754, (Sec. 24.) 26 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of Congress just cited there was, in substance, an 
organization of the quartermaster’s department on 
correct principles, and a marked improvement in 
the organization of the Adjutant-General’s, Inspector- 
General’s, and Pay departments. Later, when the 
army came to be reduced, some of these reforms, it 
is true, were permitted to become obsolete; but the 
principles of them were henceforth recognized as 
correct, and were substantially applied in that com- 
plete and philosophical organization of the depart- 
ment which now obtains, and by means of which its 
vast affairs are conducted with promptness, regu- 
larity, and notable official harmony. Not by the 
same act, but almost at the same time that Congress 
thus organized and reformed the staff" departments 
mentioned above, it organized the medical depart- 
ment on a very much more sensible and liberal plan 
than had before been adopted.1 From the organiza- 
tion thus effected has the present medical depart- 
ment of the United States Army, whose beneficent, 
practical and scientific works are recognized through- 
out Christendom, naturally grown. 
Thus it happened, as a result of the dispute be- 
tween the two departments, that two important truths 
were established, namely: That the Department of 
War was entitled to manage all the public business 
connected with military affairs; and that the magni- 
tude and variety of this public business demanded, 
for its vigorous and harmonious conduct, the estab- 
lishment and permanent maintenance of various staff" 
departments. 
But it was not only the public business connected 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 72x. ALGERINE DEPREDATIONS. 
27 
with military affairs, of which the Department of 
War in its origin had control. It was charged with 
the management of naval affairs also. On account 
of the poverty of the Treasury, and because of 
pressing political questions demanding the first at- 
tention of government, the establishment of a navy 
received little attention from the authorities for sev- 
eral years after the successful launching of our ship 
of state. The depredations of Algerine corsairs at 
length became so serious, atrocious in fact, that the 
government, poor or rich, could not in decency longer 
ignore the subject. Secretary Knox had constantly 
advocated the establishment of a navy, but, for the 
reasons stated, his appeals were unheeded. There 
being a large number of Americans held in slavery 
by the Algerines, the country became indignant upon 
the subject, and the government sympathized with 
the country. On March 3, 1794, President Wash- 
ington sent a message to Congress communicating 
the facts connected with the Algerine depredations. 
On the 27th of the same month, an act was approved 
authorizing the construction or purchase of six frig- 
ates, or of such other naval force that should not be 
inferior to that of the six frigates, provided that no 
vessel should mount less than 32 guns. Of the six 
frigates first named in the act, four were to mount 
44 guns each and two 36 each. The law had special 
reference to the difficulties with Algiers, and it was 
expressly provided therein that no further proceed- 
ings be had under the act in case peace should take 
place between the United States and the Regency of 
Algiers. “ The executive was no sooner authorized 28 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
to proceed by the law,” says Cooper,1 “ than meas- 
ures were taken to build the vessels ordered. The 
provision of the first paragraph was virtually fol- 
lowed, and the six frigates were laid down as soon 
as possible. These vessels were the 
Constitution, 44, laid down at Boston. 
President, 44, “ “ New York. 
United States, 44, “ “ Philadelphia. 
Chesapeake, 38, “ “ Portsmouth, Va. 
Constellation, 38, “ “ Baltimore. 
Congress, 38, “ “ Portsmouth, N. H.” 
Work proceeded vigorously on these vessels, and 
commanders for them were selected. They were, 
ranking in the order named: John Barry, Samuel 
Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale, 
and Thomas Truxtun. Except the last, all these had 
served in the navy during the revolution, and Trux- 
tun had, during the whole war, served on vessels of 
his own, had captured many prizes, and was distin- 
guished as a spirited seaman. Barney declined the 
appointment, and Captain Sever was named in his 
place. Nearly all of these are the names of historic 
men. But these labors in the building of war ves- 
sels, and in instituting a naval command, were sud- 
denly suspended by the signing of a treaty of peace 
with Algiers in November, 1795. We have seen that 
in such case operations under the law were to cease. 
Congress, however, speedily provided for the com- 
pletion of three of the vessels, two forty-fours and 
one thirty-eight, and work upon them continued ac- 
cordingly. These were the frigates of historic fame, 
the United States, the Constitution, and the Constella- 
1 Hist, of the Navy of the United States, 149. THE NAVY FOUNDED. 
29 
tion. The United States, with poetic appropriate- 
ness, was the first vessel launched under the pres- 
ent organization of the American navy. She wras 
launched July io, 1797. The Constellation followed 
on September 7, and the Constitution not long after- 
wards.1 Thus was founded, under the administrative 
supervision of the Department of War, the Navy of 
the United States. Thus was it at the beginning 
supplied with vessels and commanders who became 
illustrious in history and of invaluable practical ben- 
efit to the country. The primal vessels of the Navy, 
it has been said by a New England writer, were laid 
down by Secretary of War Knox, largely constructed 
by Secretary of War Pickering, completed and 
launched by Secretary of War McHenry. In April, 
1798, Congress created a regular navy department, 
which was practically organized in the following June, 
when, of course, the conduct of the naval affairs by 
the War Department came to an end. 
If the poverty of the treasury prevented the es- 
tablishment of a navy immediately after the institution 
of the government, common prudence and a regard 
for the national safety demanded such means of 
defense against foreign attack as were within the 
capacity of the young nation to supply. These, 
believed to be at once the strongest and the cheap- 
est, were what were called “ seacoast defenses ” or 
“harbor fortifications;” and to these the Department 
of War gave great attention and vast labor from the 
beginning. Hence have grown, in the course of 
time, some of the most stupendous and magnificent 
works of the government — the chain of forts and 
1 Cooper’s Naval Hist., 150 et seq. 30 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
fortifications along our entire Atlantic seaboard and 
the Gulf of Mexico, with their powerful armaments ; 
vast extents of public highways; improvements in 
navigable rivers and in harbors of the oceans, the 
gulf, and the lakes, all of great value to the con- 
venience and extension of our commerce, whether 
this be or be not the best and wisest mode of secur- 
ing that convenience and extension. 
In the early history of the Department works for 
defense against foreign aggression were confined to 
the principal seaports of the Atlantic coast, namely, 
Portland, Maine; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Sa- 
lem, Marblehead, and Boston, Massachusetts; New- 
port, New London, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Annap- 
olis, Norfolk, Alexandria; Ocracoke, North Carolina ; 
Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina ; Savan- 
nah and St. Mary’s, Georgia. Others were from 
time to time added on the Atlantic, and still others 
on our acquisition of Louisiana during the presidency 
of Mr. Jefferson, which gave us an extensive frontier 
on the Gulf of Mexico. Upon these fortifications 
there had been expended, exclusive of the amount 
expended for armament, up to the close of the year 
1805, the sum of $943,619.56.1 Afterwards, and 
especially as threatening appearances of war with 
England approached, these expenditures were in- 
creased. Thus for the year 1808 we find the expen- 
ditures made on these already formidable works to 
have been considerably more than for the whole of 
the above named period, being reported by the Sec- 
retary of War as follows: 
1 Report of Secretary of War Dearborn. Am. St. Papers, Mil. 
Af., I., 197. SEABOARD DEFENSES. 
31 
For New Orleans, $ 80,373 
Georgia, North and South Carolina, . 204,289 
Virginia and Maryland, 111,432 
Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, 5,000 
New York, 379D33 
Connecticut and Rhode Island, . . . 11,000 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, . 223,475 
$1,014,7021 
In the latter part of 1811, the then Secretary of 
War, Mr. Eustis, made an elaborate report to a com- 
mittee of Congress, on the situation of our maritime 
fortifications, and the number of troops necessary for 
their defense. According to this report, there were 
at that time completed, no less than twenty-four 
works sufficiently strong to be called forts, thirty-two 
enclosed batteries and works of masonry, the whole 
mounting about 750 heavy guns, and requiring for 
their defense 12,610 men.2 Thus extensive and pow- 
erful had became our line of coastwise defenses from 
Passamaquoddy to New Orleans, when we were about 
to enter upon our second war with the greatest mar- 
itime power on the globe. 
These extensive and powerful fortifications, an 
early source of pride to the Department of War, 
were the special handiwork of the Corps of En- 
gineers of the United States Army. They were 
commenced about the year 1794, under an act of 
Congress authorizing the President to fortify certain 
works along the seaboard, and appropriating money 
therefor. At this time there were no engineers in 
1 Report of Secretary of War Dearborn. Am. St. Papers, Mil. 
Af., I., 239. 
*See the Report in Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 307 et seq. 32 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the army to carry on these works, and the President 
made temporary appointments of gentlemen of for- 
eign birth to superintend the work. Some of them 
had served in our Revolutionary army, and all were 
skilled engineers. Soon afterwards, Congress pro- 
vided for raising a corps of artillerists and engineers, 
in organizing which a number of the persons who 
had been temporarily employed on the harbor de- 
fenses, were commissioned as officers in the corps, 
and continued their labors on the sea-coast works. 
This was the origin of the Corps of Engineers, whose 
great and varied scientific and useful works are now 
to be seen in all parts of the republic. A few years 
afterwards it was increased by an additional regiment, 
later by an additional battalion. On the establish- 
ment of the Military Academy at West Point, it was 
placed under the charge of this corps, and so re- 
mained until after the close of the war of the rebel- 
lion. Aside from the management of that institution, 
the principal work of the corps from its origin to the 
war with Great Britain was the planning and con- 
struction of our vast system of seaboard defenses. 
In that war it was found to be vulnerable nowhere; 
for though a British army effected a landing on our 
gulf coast, where we had been in possession only a 
few years, it was only to meet with the most complete 
and utter defeat of the whole war at the battle of 
New Orleans. 
As has been intimated, the Military Academy at 
West Point was the foster-child of the Corps of En- 
gineers from the beginning. The Academy, in its 
origin, was a private school. In a report of March 
14,1808, to the Secretary of War, Jonathan Williams, THE MILITARY ACADEMY. 
33 
Colonel of Engineers, thus dryly speaks of the origin 
of the Academy: “This institution was established at 
West Point, in the year 1801, under the direction of 
a private citizen, and was nothing more than a mathe- 
matical school for the few cadets that were then in 
service. It was soon found that the government 
of young military men was incompatible with the 
ordinary system of schools, and, consequently, this 
institution ran into disorder, and the teacher into 
contempt.”1 By the act of Congress of March 16, 
1802, fixing the military peace establishment of the 
United States, the Corps of Engineers was authorized 
to be organized anew, and it was provided: “ That 
the said corps, when so organized, shall be stationed 
at West Point, in the State of New York, and shall 
constitute a military academy; and the engineers, 
assistant engineers, and cadets of said corps, shall 
be subject at all times to do duty in such places, and 
on such service, as the President of the United States 
shall direct; that the principal engineer, and in his 
absence the next in rank, shall have the superinten- 
dence of the said military academy, under the direc- 
tion of the President of the United States; and the 
Secretary of War is hereby authorized, at the public 
expense, and under such regulations as shall be di- 
rected by the President of the United States, to pro- 
cure the necessary books, implements, and apparatus 
for use and benefit of the said institution.”2 
Such was the legal establishment of the Military 
Academy at West Point as an institution of the 
United States government. Not long afterwards, 
'Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 229. 
2U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 137, Secs. 27 and 28. 34 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
additional teachers were authorized. It is a note- 
worthy fact that President Jefferson, who, as a member 
of Washington’s Cabinet, had opposed the establish- 
ment of the Academy on constitutional grounds, be- 
came its friend and advocated the enlargement of its 
functions. President Madison was an ardent friend 
of the institution. It was during his administration, 
and shortly before the declaration of war with Eng- 
land, that Congress provided: “ That the military 
academy shall consist of the corps of engineers, and 
the following professors in addition to the teachers 
of the French language and drawing already pro- 
vided, viz., one professor of natural and experimental 
philosophy ; one professor of mathematics ; one pro- 
fessor of the art of engineering in all its branches ; 
each of the foregoing professors to have an assistant 
professor, which assistant professor shall be taken 
from the most prominent characters of the officers 
or cadets.”1 The rank and pay of these teachers 
were provided for by the same act, and rules laid 
down for the appointment of cadets and their assign- 
ment in the army after graduation. Thus was the 
United States Military Academy fully established by 
law just before the last war with England began. It 
was at once practically organized as directed by the 
law into “a regularly constituted military body, whose 
officers and professors are appointed, confirmed, and 
commissioned in the same manner and form as other 
army officers, and subjected to the same rules and 
articles of war as govern all the land forces of the 
United States.”2 
1 Act of April 29, 1812. U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 720. 
2Boynton’s Hist, of West Point, 200. THE LEWIS AND CLARKE EXPEDITION. 
35 
It may not be improper to observe that though 
our first four Presidents were from the beginning, or 
became, friendly to the establishment of a military 
academy, and though all the Secretaries of War 
earnestly advocated the measure, yet is it true that 
in this particular, as well as in argument for the sep- 
arate and independent nature of the Corps of En- 
gineers, Secretary McHenry was more clear and 
convincing than any other head of the Department 
from the establishment of the government to the 
establishment of the institution itself. 
A very noteworthy matter in the history of the 
Department for the period now under review was 
the exploring expedition under Captain Meriwether 
Lewis and Lieutenant William Clarke across the con- 
tinent to the Pacific Ocean and return. There is 
hardly an American citizen who has not heard much 
and read more of the famous “ Lewis and Clarke 
Expedition.” These officers, with four sergeants, 
twenty-three privates, and a number of Indian inter- 
preters, between midsummer 1803 and the autumn 
of 1806, traversed the continent from east to west 
and back again from west to east. The journey from 
St. Louis was made by the Missouri River in canoes 
to its sources and thence to the Pacific, by the Co- 
lumbia River, and by similar means of conveyance. 
Many dangers of storms and hostile Indians and 
inhospitable lands and climate were overcpme, and a 
vast deal of valuable information collected. Intelli- 
gence of the safe return of the explorers to St. Louis 
was received throughout the country with every 
manifestation of satisfaction. Congress soon took 
the matter up with the view of providing extra 36 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
gratuities to the officers and men of the expedition 
for their extraordinary labors. A committee of the 
House of Representatives addressed a communica- 
tion to the Secretary of War upon the subject. On 
January 14, 1807, Secretary Dearborn replied, say- 
ing : “ Agreeably to the request of the committee, I 
herewith transmit a list of the officers, non-commis- 
sioned officers, and privates who formed the party 
recently returned from an enterprise which they 
commenced and prosecuted with a degree of bold- 
ness, perseverance, judgment, and success that has 
rarely, if ever, occurred in this or any other country. 
The quantum of gratuity, either in land or money, 
or in both, to which such meritorious and unusual 
services may be entitled on the score of national 
justice, or on the principles of sound policy and 
national liberality, being principally a matter of opin- 
ion, it is with diffidence I take the liberty of proposing, 
for the consideration of the committee, a grant to 
each non-commissioned officer and private of 320 
acres of land; to Lieutenant Clarke of 1000; and to 
Captain Lewis of 1500; with the addition of double 
pay to each while engaged in the enterprise.” 1 In 
other ways the executive department of the govern- 
ment manifested its appreciation of both Lewis and 
Clarke, each of whom became Governor of a portion 
of the vast territory whose immense expanse and 
varied natural resources they had done so much to 
make known to the world. The expedition under 
Lewis and Clarke was the pioneer in a long line of 
topographical, railway, military, and scientific explo- 
1 Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 207. THE “ WHISKE V INSURRECTION 
37 
rations under the direction of the War Department 
of which it will be proper to speak later.1 
I have said nothing of the history of the Depart- 
ment in connection with active military affairs in the 
field during the period now being considered, pre- 
ferring to group such matters together after setting 
forth the outlines of administrative organization. 
The wars of this period were not formidable, but the 
rumors of wars were many and exciting. In 1790, 
General Harmar commanded an expedition against 
the hostile Indians of the North-west. He was de- 
feated, but not decisively. In the following year, 
General St. Clair undertook to chastise the savages, 
but met with a terrible disaster. Two years later, 
General Wayne invaded the Indian country, and 
gave the savages such severe punishment that they 
sued for peace and conveyed to the United States a 
vast extent of territory. In the following year, the 
famous “whiskey insurrection” occurred in Western 
Pennsylvania. This, though for some time threaten- 
ing serious trouble to the government, and about 
persuading President Washington to take the field 
in person, was, as a movement against the United 
States, constantly exaggerated. The moment a 
considerable military force was known to be march- 
1 Lieutenant Clarke took full memoranda, almost daily, of the 
events of this remarkable expedition, from which Nicholas Biddle 
and Paul Allen prepared a work in two large volumes, which was 
published in 1814, and had great popularity. It was afterwards 
published in cheaper editions and sold in large numbers. A 
memoir of Captain Lewis, by Thomas Jefferson, accompanied the 
work. It is melancholy to add that this pioneer explorer, in a fit 
of insanity, died by his own hand about three years after his great 
work. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
ing on Pittsburgh, the insurrection vanished away. 
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, we were 
for some time on the verge of war with France. 
On the high seas there was actual war. A large 
provisional army was organized, and Washington 
himself was appointed commander-in-chief. Prepa- 
rations for war were made on every hand, and very 
few persons supposed that the dread arbitrament 
could be avoided. In all of these operations against 
savages and insurgents, and these preparations for 
war against our ancient ally, the War Department, 
as of course, had the principal administrative labors 
to perform. These, in the case of the rumored war 
with France, were enormous, amounting to the or- 
ganization, on paper, of a large army, with all the 
office work that that implies. Happily, the war was 
avoided, but the records of the War Department 
during this interesting period at least form an im- 
perishable monument to the indefatigable labors of 
Secretary McHenry. 
I have said that “ happily the war was avoided.” 
It could scarcely have been otherwise than disastrous 
to our country, particularly during its earlier stages. 
For, fourteen y$ars later, when we entered upon the 
war with England, with less military though more 
naval strength than France, we were compelled to 
submit to a series of humiliating defeats in battle, 
the stain of some of which has hardly yet been re- 
moved. Nearly every one of these defeats was due 
to the poor statesmanship which had failed to see 
the difference between a considerable standing army 
and a considerable military establishment, by reason 
of which failure the republic suddenly found itself STAFF DEPARTMENTS. 
39 
left naked to its enemies. Had a considerable and 
well-organized military establishment been in exist- 
ence, the impromptu army of militia — at that time 
well trained and disciplined — and volunteers could 
have been quickly made efficient and capable of per- 
forming almost every service like veteran soldiery. 
I attributed this defect above to poor statesmanship. 
Perhaps, at that time, the poverty of the treasury 
may both more charitably and more justly account 
for it. But, however this may be, every one will per- 
ceive, upon a moment’s reflection, that whether the 
army for the time being be composed of one hun- 
dred men or of one million, the staff departments of 
the national war office should at all times be suffi- 
ciently large and comprehensive to organize, equip, 
and put in the field, ready to fight an enemy, an army 
large enough to make formidable opposition to any 
foreign enemy, or to domestic rebellion. The smaller 
the standing army, the more necessity for a complete 
system of staff departments of thoroughly trained 
and scientific men. Without such a system, a nation 
with a small regular army is simply guilty of the folly 
and madness of inviting foreign aggression and do- 
mestic violence. 
These general observations are called forth by 
the situation of our military establishment about the 
time of the beginning of the war with England. In a 
speech in Congress, in April, 1812, the distinguished 
George M. Troup, of Georgia, said: “ The Secretary 
of War had to perform, besides the duties appropri- 
ately belonging to the head of the War Department, 
the duties of the Quartermaster-General, Commis- 
sary-General, and Master of Ordnance, the business 40 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of the Indian Department, military lands, and invalid 
pensions. Fortifications, arsenals, armories, maga- 
zines, and military posts, advances to contractors, and 
all the correspondence growing out of these various 
branches must have made no trifling addition to 
them. In the year 1808, we added 6,000 men to the 
establishment, more than doubling the duties at a 
dash. We gave no additional aid to the Department. 
It was in the year 1809 that General Dearborn, a 
man of vigorous mind, of extensive knowledge of 
detail, and of indefatigable industry, going out of 
office, declared that the business of the Department 
had increased beyond what the capacity of any one 
man could perform, and that some aid and assistance 
were indispensable to the public service, whoever 
might be his successor.” In another part of the 
same speech Mr. Troup said : “ Gentlemen who are 
equally opposed to war, and every preparation for 
war, were consistent when they object to a measure 
which is as necessary to the war as arms or ammuni- 
tion. In the wretched, the deplorably wretched or- 
ganization of the War Department, it was impossible 
either to begin the war or to conduct it.” 1 I make 
these quotations as matter of history showing the 
situation of the organization of the War Department 
on the eve of war with Great Britain. It is no 
wonder that disaster after disaster overtook our 
arms, or that for a considerable period almost all the 
cheering intelligence the nation received came from 
the high seas. It is true that before the declaration 
of war, the organization of the quartermaster, com- 
missary, ordnance, and pay departments was author- 
Annals of Congress. 12th Cong., Pt. I., 1359, 1361-62. STAFF DEPARTMENTS. 
ized by law. But the practical organization required 
time, and meanwhile the republic suffered serious ills. 
History has been defined as philosophy teaching by 
example. Our early calamities in the war of 1812 
were chiefly due to the want of an organized system 
of staff departments in the military establishment,— a 
system the necessity of which equally exists in peace 
and in war, whether the army be large or small. The 
Georgia statesman, in the speech from which I have 
quoted above, speaks of the more complete organi- 
zation of the War Department as being “as neces- 
sary to the war as arms or ammunition.” The figure 
might seem to be sufficiently strong; and yet it does 
not convey the whole truth. A thoroughly organized 
and intelligent staff department is as necessary to 
war as arms, ammunition, and armies; for it is the 
staff departments which supply the arms and ammu- 
nition, the military organization, the means of sub- 
sistence and of transportation, by help of which com- 
manders are enabled to strike the enemy in battle. 
Battles, or series of battles, are always less or more 
distant in time from each other. The operations of 
the staff departments are ceaseless. 
These vital lessons our statesmen and people had 
not learned when we entered upon the war with 
England. CHAPTER II. 
DURING THE LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN 
General History of the Department During the Last War 
with Great Britain — The Conduct of the War — The Army 
— Certain States Refuse to Call Out the Militia — Outline 
History of this Imbroglio — Correspondence of the Secre- 
tary of War with Governors of the States in Default — 
The Disasters of 1812 — Hull’s Surrender — General Arm- 
strong Appointed Secretary of War — Army Regulations of 
1813 — Organization of the Army at that Time — The Mili- 
tary Successes of the Year — The Battle of Bladensburgh 
— The Capture of Washington and Burning of the Public 
Buildings — Resignation of General Armstrong — His Vindi- 
cation — End of the War— Its Lessons. 
ONLY a short time before the declaration of war 
with England, as has already been stated in gen- 
eral terms, several bureaux of the War Department, 
or staff departments of the military establishment as 
they may be more comprehensively described, were 
organized with a view to aid the army in a vigorous 
conduct of the impending conflict. Though some of 
the excellent provisions then enacted into law were 
not permitted to remain long after the treaty of 
peace, it will be in order here to speak of them in 
such detail as to show the general current of depart- 
mental history. 
In the present state of general knowledge with 
respect to military affairs, it goes for the saying that 
three staff departments of an army are notably essen- 
tial for the successful conduct of campaigns in the 
field. These are the ordnance, quartermaster, and 
subsistence departments; the first of which, accord- A QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT. 
43 
ing to the rules of military science, properly supplies 
the army with arms and accoutrements ; the second, 
with clothing, quarters, fuel, forage, all the means for 
the transportation of the army and its material; the 
third, as its name fully imports, with the means of 
subsistence, that is to say, with daily food. It will be 
seen, from the mere statement of the case, that with- 
out these staff departments in some degree of organ- 
ization for efficient labor, an army in the field would 
be about as ill off as a hotel without kitchen, dining- 
room, or bed-chambers. By the act of March 12, 
1812, Congress established a quartermaster’s depart- 
ment, which, so far as that department itself is con- 
cerned, was in many respects well enough, and just 
about what it should have been. Thus, it provided 
for the establishment of a quartermaster’s depart- 
ment for the army of the United States, to consist 
of a quartermaster-general, four deputy quartermas- 
ters, and as many assistant deputy quartermasters as, 
in the opinion of the President, the public service 
might require. The President was furthermore au- 
thorized to appoint, from the line or not at his discre- 
tion, not exceeding four additional deputy quartermas- 
ters, if in his judgment the public service should require 
them. The rank and pay of these officers were fairly 
provided for. It was also enacted: “ That in addition 
to their duties in the field, it shall be the duty of the 
quartermaster-general, his deputies and assistant dep- 
uties, when thereto directed by the Secretary of War, 
to purchase military stores, camp equipage, and other 
articles requisite for the troops, and generally to pro- 
cure and provide means of transport for the army, 
its stores, artillery, and camp equipage.” Provision 44 
HISTOR Y OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was made as to responsibility for money and property, 
and as to the rendering of accounts to the Depart- 
ment of War.1 Further on in the act, clerks, and 
other proper employes of a quartermaster’s depart- 
ment — wagon-masters, forage-masters, etc. — were 
provided for, and by the act of the 23d of the follow- 
ing month,2 a good corps of artificers was added to 
the department. All of which, it will be observed, 
made a good organization of the department. But 
in the act establishing the quartermaster’s depart- 
ment, there were other provisions which in practice 
confounded the appropriate operations of that de- 
partment with those of the ordnance and subsistence 
departments, with the inevitable practical result — 
confusion and delay. These provisions were as fol- 
lows : “ That there shall be a commissary-general of 
purchases, and as many deputy commissaries as, in 
the opinion of the President of the United States, 
the public service may require; that it shall be 
the duty of the commissary-general of purchases, 
under the direction and supervision of the Secre- 
tary of War, to conduct the procuring and providing 
of all arms, military stores, clothing, and, generally, 
all articles of supply requisite for the military service 
of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the 
deputy commissaries, when directed thereto, either 
by the Secretary of War, the commissary-general 
of purchases, or, in cases of necessity, by the com- 
manding general, quartermaster-general, or deputy 
quartermasters, to purchase all such of the aforesaid 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 696, 697. 
2Ibid., 710. THE ORDNANCE BURE A U. 
45 
articles as may be requisite for the military service 
of the United States.” 1 
Fortunately, Secretary of War Eustis persuaded 
Congress to perceive the importance of more inde- 
pendent functions for the ordnance department. An 
act was accordingly passed which, so far as the sup- 
ply of arms and ammunition was concerned, happily 
prevented that confusion and delay which became 
so annoying, in some instances so disastrous, in the 
course of the war, with respect to supplies pertaining 
to the subsistence department. And this, to very 
large extent, at any rate, because there was no or- 
ganized, independent subsistence department at all. 
The duties properly pertaining to that department 
went around begging, so to say, between the quar- 
termaster’s department and the nondescript depart- 
ment, the only name for which is “ the purchasing 
department,” whatever it might have been. Not to 
put too fine a point upon it, the downright practical 
effect of the law was about the same as if it had 
been a successful measure entitled “ an act for the 
speedy enrichment of contractors and the periodical 
starvation of the troops of the army of the United 
States.” Such was the unfortunate situation, by. rea- 
son of the failure of Congress to provide a proper 
and logical system of staff departments, when our 
armies undertook to get ready to combat the armies 
of Great Britain in the field. 
Comprehensively stated, the result was as follows : 
First, by reason of the want of a complete system of 
staff departments composed of officers of skill and 
training, our armies at the beginning of the war suf- 
1 U. S. Stat. at’Large, II., 697. 46 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
fered disasters and defeats where they should have 
been successful. Secondly, that while the staff de- 
partments which were organized on the eve of the 
war sooner than might have been expected rendered 
invaluable service to the combatant armies, yet be- 
cause of the defect of leaving unestablished a single 
department, vital in every well regulated military 
establishment — a department of subsistence — dis- 
asters and defeats continued to occur until near the 
close of the war, when commanders in the field prac- 
tically surmounted the difficulties by taking power 
into their own hands, and virtually establishing inde- 
pendent subsistence departments in their respective 
commands. It is doubtful whether the war could 
have been successfully ended had not this been 
done; and it is certain that General Harrison, com- 
manding in the North-west, would have suffered great, 
perhaps irreparable, disaster so late as the spring of 
1814, had he not for the time-being metamorphosed 
himself into an uncommonly energetic commissary- 
general of subsistence, and in a tolerably high- 
handed and sublimely patriotic manner supplied his 
famishing army with rations. Other commanders 
performed similar invaluable service, to the gratifi- 
cation of the country and the disgust of the con- 
tractors. 
Happily, the Engineer Department had for some 
years been organized and, in charge of the Military 
Academy at West Point and of many field works, 
had educated not a few men in the art of war. The 
Adjutant-General’s and Inspector-General’s depart- 
ments, under a single head, were practically pretty 
well organized and able to .perform efficient services, THE ARMY IN 1812. 
47 
more as the result of army orders than by virtue of 
any well-considered legislation. 
These facts, without noting others of a similar 
nature, showing the imperfect, immature condition 
of the staff departments about the time of the be- 
ginning of the war now to come under review, of 
themselves, very largely account for the inefficient 
conduct of the war at several points, and for nearly, 
if not quite, all of the misfortunes of our arms dur- 
ing the whole conflict. 
The first thoroughly vigorous measure in prepara- 
tion for the impending war was the act of Congress 
of January n, 1812, being entitled “an act to raise 
an additional military force.” It provided, with very 
liberal provisions as to pay, bounty, and pensions, 
for the immediate enlistment of ten regiments of in- 
fantry, two of artillery, and one of light dragoons for 
the period of five years. The regular army thus 
provided for would have consisted, at the maximum, 
of 25,484 officers and men, exclusive of general, field, 
and staff officers. For it was provided that each 
infantry regiment should contain 1,800 privates, each 
artillery regiment 1,440 privates, and the regiment 
of dragoons 960 privates, each having a full quota 
of line and non-commissioned officers and musicians. 
The act also provided for two major-generals, five 
brigadier-generals, an adjutant-general and an in- 
spector-general, each with the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral. The law also provided for the appointment of 
a judge-advocate for each division of the army with 
the pay and emoluments of a major of infantry, and 
for additional pay to officers serving on courts-mar- 
tial, there being herein a faint prophecy of that system 48 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of military justice which of late years has been so 
distinguished a feature in the Army of the United 
States.1 For the army thus authorized by law, full 
appropriation was made by an act of February 21 
following. The “ additional military establishment ” 
thus provided for was in augmentation of the army 
according to the regular peace establishment of the 
law of 1802, and as it had been increased by the act 
of April 12, 1808, providing an additional force of 
five regiments of infantry, one of riflemen, one of 
artillery, and one of dragoons. These regular regi- 
ments were never, of course, full to the maximum. 
Thus, in 1805, the entire army consisted of 2,732 of- 
ficers and men;2 in 1807, of less than 2,500;3 in 
1809, of 2,765 ;4 and on June 6, 1812, almost cotem- 
poraneously with the declaration of war, of 6,744, 
exclusive of the staff.5 
It was estimated that the army thus provided for 
would furnish about 38,000 men, as the regular army 
of the United States for the war. Large dependence 
was also placed upon the use of the militia of the 
different States of the Union, at the time quite well 
organized and armed, and accustomed by frequent 
drills and parades to military manoeuvres. The 
system of speedily raising an army of volunteers 
through the machinery of the thoroughly organized 
1The act of Congress thus providing, on paper, so strong a reg- 
ular army for the war then pending, will be found in U. S. Stat. 
at Large, II., p. 671 et seq. As a matter of fact, no such regular 
army was in the field during the war. 
2 Report of Secretary Dearborn. Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 
174 et seq. 
sIbid., 222-23. 
4 Report of Secretary Eustis. Ibid., 249 et seq. 
6Ibid., 319-20. VOLUNTEERS AND MILITIA. 
49 
staff departments of the regular military establish- 
ment cooperating with the State authorities, had not 
yet been invented, though before the close of the 
war it was put in operation in a crude and imperfect 
manner. It did not become a perfected “institution” 
until the war with Mexico, under the statesmanlike 
administration of the War Department by Secretary 
Marcy. The vital distinction between the two sys- 
tems, is that volunteers are for a stated period regu- 
larly mustered into the service of the United States, 
and become anywhere and everywhere subject to the 
lawful commands of the officers of the United States 
army, to the articles of war, and to the army regu- 
lations, whereas the militia are not bound to serve 
save under their own State officers, or under the 
immediate command of the President himself.1 Such 
claim, at any rate, as to the exemption from general 
discipline of the militia, was made by both Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut during the war of 1812-15, 
causing great embarrassment to the government and 
laying the foundation for unfavorable political com- 
ment, which even yet continues to harrass the patri- 
otic reputation of these New England States. 
An act of Congress of April 10, 1812, authorized 
1 The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, 
when called into the actual service of the United States.—Const., 
Art. II., Sec. 2. 
The Congress shall have power to provide for organizing, arm- 
ing, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of 
them as may be employed in the service of the United States, re- 
serving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, 
and the authority of training the militia according to the dis- 
cipline prescribed by Congress.—Ibid., Art. I., Sec. 8. 50 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the President “ to require of the executives of the 
several States and Territories to take effectual meas- 
ures to organize, arm, and equip, according to law, 
and hold in readiness to march at a moment’s warn- 
ing, their respective portions of one hundred thou- 
sand militia, officers included, to be apportioned by 
the President according to the latest militia returns.”1 
In accordance with this law, the apportionment was 
made as follows: 
New Hampshire, . . 3,500 
Massachusetts, . . 10,000 
Connecticut, . . . 3,000 
Rhode Island, . . 500 
Vermont, .... 3,000 
New York, . . . 13,500 
New Jersey, . . . 5,000 
Pennsylvania, . . . 14,000 
Delaware, . „ 1,000 
Maryland, . . . 6,000 
Virginia, .... 12,000 
North Carolina, . . 7,000 
South Carolina, . . 5,000 
Georgia, . . . . 3,500 
Kentucky, . . . 5,500 
Ohio, 5,000 
Tennessee, . . . 2,500 
Total, . ioo,ooo2 
In accordance with the law, and this apportionment 
authorized thereby, the Secretary of War proceeded, 
by circular of April 15, to call upon the different States 
for their respective quotas of militia. On June 12, he 
addressed the Governor of Massachusetts as follows: 
“War Department, June 12, 1812. 
“ Sir : I am directed by the President to request your Excellency 
to order into the service of the United States, on the requisition 
of Major-General Dearborn, such part of the quota of the militia 
from the State of Massachusetts, detached conformably to the act 
of April 10, 1812, as he may deem necessary for the defense of the 
sea-coast. 
“I have the honor to be, etc., W. Eustis. 
“ His Excellency Caleb Strong, 
“ Governor of Massachusetts.” 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 706. 
2 Report of Secretary of War Eustis, May 28, 1812. Am. St. 
Papers, Mil. Af., I., 319. MASSACHUSETTS AND THE MILITIA. 
General Dearborn, on the 2 2d of June, made requi- 
sition for the troops, but receiving no reply addressed 
the Governor again on the 26th. To which on the 
same day the Governor made an evasive reply. On 
july 21 st, Secretary Eustis again addressed Governor 
Strong on the subject, concluding his letter with this 
earnest passage: “The danger of invasion, which 
existed at the time of issuing the order of the Pres- 
ident, increases, and I am specially directed by the 
President to urge the consideration to your Excel- 
lency as requiring the necessary order to be given 
for the immediate march of the several detachments, 
specified by General Dearborn, to their respective 
posts.” To this, on August 5th, Governor Strong 
replied at considerable length. He said: 
“ Sir : I received your letter of the 21st July when at North- 
ampton, and the next day came to Boston. The people of this 
State appear to be under no, apprehension of an invasion ; several 
towns, indeed, on the sea-coast, soon after the declaration of war, 
applied to the Governor and Council for arms and ammunition, 
similar to the articles of that kind which had been delivered to 
them by the State in the course of the last war; and, in some 
instances, they were supplied accordingly. But they expressed no 
desire that any part of the militia should be called out for their 
defense, and in some cases we were assured such a measure would 
be disagreeable to them.” 
He proceeds to show that there was no danger of 
invasion whatever, and then to argue that the requi- 
sition of General Dearborn was without warrant of 
law. On this point, he was sustained by a written 
opinion, which he transmitted to the Secretary of 
War, of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court 
of the Commonwealth, Theophilus Parsons, Samuel 
Sewall, and Isaac Parker. “As the militia of the sev- 52 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
eral States may be employed,” said these eminent 
jurists, “in the service of the United States for the 
three specific purposes of executing the laws of the 
Union, of suppressing insurrections, and of repelling 
invasions, the opinion of the Judges is requested 
whether the commanders-in-chief of the militia of 
the several States have a right to determine whether 
any of the exigencies aforesaid exist, so as to require 
them to place the militia, or any part of it, in the ser- 
vice of the United States, at the request of the Presi- 
dent, to be commanded by him pursuant to acts of 
Congress. It is the opinion of the undersigned that 
this right is vested in the commanders-in-chief of 
the militia of the several States.” Judging that there 
was no danger of invasion, the commander-in-chief 
of the Massachusetts militia, Governor Strong, re- 
spectfully declined to comply with General Dear- 
born’s requisition. In concluding his long letter to 
the Secretary of War, Governor Strong said: “I 
have thus freely expressed to you my own senti- 
ments, and, so far as I have heard, they are the sen- 
timents of the best-informed men. I am fully dis- 
posed to afford all the aid to the measures of the 
national government which the Constitution requires 
of me; but I presume it will not be expected or de- 
sired that I shall fail in the duty which I owe to the 
people of this State, who have confided their inter- 
ests to my care.” 
To the circular of the Secretary of War, the Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut replied as follows: 
“Lyme, 20th April, 1812. 
“Sir: I had the honor this morning to receive your letter of 
the 15th inst., containing the directions of the President of the STATE AND FEDERAL CONFLICT. 
53 
United States for detaching three thousand of the militia of this 
State, agreeably to the provisions of the act of Congress of April 
10th instant. The act itself has not been received, and it will be 
very satisfactory to me to receive a copy of it, by the next mail, 
from your Department. In the meantime, every preparation will 
be made for detaching the officers and men, agreeably to the di- 
rections already received. I have the honor, etc., 
Roger Griswold. 
“The Honorable Secretary of War.” 
On June 12, the Secretary of War requested Gov- 
ernor Griswold to order into the service such part 
of the quota of the militia of Connecticut as Gen- 
eral Dearborn might make requisition for, for the 
defense of the sea-coast. This Governor Griswold 
respectfully acknowledged, and added: “ In obedi- 
ence to which request I shall, on the requisition of 
General Dearborn, execute, without delay, the request 
of the President.” A very few days afterwards, Gen- 
eral Dearborn made requisition for five companies 
of militia, and Governor Griswold refused to comply 
with it, taking substantially the same ground as that 
maintained by the Judges of Massachusetts. He 
refused, in a word, to allow the militia of his State 
to be placed under the command of any other of- 
ficers than their own. 
The Rhode Island legislature coincided in opinion 
with Massachusetts and Connecticut with respect 
to the right of the State authorities to judge of the 
exigency when the militia might be called out, but 
the Governor did not refuse to comply with the 
requisition made upon him. 
This question of the relative powers of the general 
and State governments over the militia, thus brought 
out into such bold relief at the beginning of the war, 54 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was brought up in debate in Congress at its close 
and elicited thorough consideration. An elaborate 
report was made upon the subject in the latter part 
of February, 1815, by the military committee of the 
Senate, of which the distinguished and pugnacious 
William B. Giles was chairman. The most valuable 
part of this report was a lengthy paper by James 
Monroe, at the time Secretary of War, upon the 
subject, in which he directly traversed the opinion of 
the Massachusetts jurists, and with great, if not un- 
answerable power of logic maintained the supremacy 
of the general government in this regard. The 
Senate Committee adopted the views of Mr. Mon- 
roe, and I believe they have been quite generally 
regarded as the true exposition of the Constitution 
ever since. “Whilst the committee will refrain,” said 
said Mr. Giles, “ from entering into arguments to 
fortify the grounds taken by the Executive Govern- 
ment on this subject, and explained in the letter of 
the Secretary for the Department of War, they feel 
themselves impelled by a sense of justice to express 
a decided approbation of its conduct in supporting 
and preserving the Constitution of the United States 
against the effects of the pretensions of the State 
authorities aforesaid, which, after full consideration, 
the committee believe not warranted by the Constitu- 
tion, nor deducible from any fair and just interpreta- 
tion of its principles and objects. The direct and 
inevitable tendencies of these pretensions would be 
to deprive the government of the United States of 
powers essentially necessary to insure the common 
defense, one of the great objects committed to its 
charge ; to introduce discordant and contradictory INEFFICACY OF STATE MILITIA. 
55 
counsels into the national deliberations, upon a point, 
too, of all others, most requiring union of thought 
and of action; to change the fundamental character of 
the Constitution itself, and thus eventually to produce 
its destruction by debilitating the government and 
rendering it incompetent to the great objects of its 
institution; and to substitute in its stead the dismem- 
berment of these United States, with all the horrible 
consequences resulting from disunion.” 1 
Difficulties of a different nature also grew out of 
the militia system, though some of them came of 
opinions with respect to the independence of the 
militia, not unlike those entertained by the authorities 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Thus the militia 
more than once refused to march into Canada, aver- 
ring that the war was one of defense, not of invasion. 
On other occasions they were found to be unreliable 
in action and mutinous in spirit. The experience of 
the entire war of 1812 clearly demonstrated the inef- 
ficacy of the militia system as a military system. It 
was found to be fit only for the peaceful parade and 
the bloodless review. 
An attentive consideration of the facts thus far 
stated in this chapter will make it apparent that the 
general ill fortune of the American arms during 
the years 1812 and 1813 was largely due to inade- 
quate staff departments and to the militia system. 
These do not wholly, but largely, account for that ill 
fortune. The war was declared in the midst of a 
heated presidential campaign. It is not pretended 
1 For the full correspondence relating to this practical difficulty 
and the official documents on the interesting question which was 
at issue, see Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 319-26, and Ibid.604-23. 56 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
that in three of the New England States, and some 
other considerable portions of the Union, the war 
was popular ; but those who understand the subject 
best will probably agree that with few individual ex- 
ceptions disapproval of the war did not amount to 
want of patriotism. The clashing of political ideas, 
however, was, as we have seen, a source of grave 
embarrassment to the Department of War with re- 
spect to the militia, as it must also have been a 
source of grave concern to the administration of 
President Madison. Unquestionably, then, the con- 
siderable disapproval of the war by large numbers 
of intelligent people was the cause of many a prac- 
tical difficulty in the conduct of the war. Another 
cause of disaster in the field must in justice be at- 
tributed to inefficient administration at the national 
capital. President Madison lacked the fine audacity 
necessary in an excellent chief executive during a 
period of war. The Secretary of War, though an 
intelligent and able man, was also lacking in two 
qualities preeminently demanded by the necessities 
of the crisis, namely, profound earnestness and the 
genius of organization. With an audacious Presi- 
dent, and a Secretary of War possessing these qual- 
ities in large degree, even the immense difficulties 
arising from the want of staff departments, from the 
militia system, and from political discontent might 
have been overcome, and victory organized for the 
American cause during the year 1812, and com- 
pletely consummated in the early part of the fol- 
lowing year. 
With the exception of a few unimportant affairs, 
the armies of the North, during the whole campaign GENERAL HULL'S SURRENDER. 
57 
of 1812, everywhere suffered disheartening disaster 
or failure scarcely less discouraging to the country. 
On the 17th of June, President Madison issued a 
proclamation, as directed by act of Congress, an- 
nouncing the declaration of war. In precisely one 
month, the American garrison at Fort Mackinack, 
Michigan, surrendered to a force of British and In- 
dians, the American commander being ignorant of 
the existence of war until the demand for his sur- 
render. Within a month from that time, General 
Hull, in command of the American army of the 
North-west surrendered Detroit and all Michigan to 
an allied army of British and Indians, considerably 
inferior in numbers to his own troops. Upon this 
ignominious surrender volumes have been written, 
very much in attempted palliation and even vindica- 
tion of the act. The General was afterwards tried 
by court-martial on charges of cowardice and trea- 
son. On the latter he was acquitted, but convicted 
on the former, and sentenced to be shot to death. 
He was pardoned by President Madison, having 
been recommended to mercy by the court. The 
cause of General Hull’s most unfortunate conduct 
is, perhaps, justly to be attributed to the fact that, 
by reason of the effects of age and of other causes 
tending to paralyze mental vigor, he was panic- 
stricken. That he was by nature and habit a brave 
and patriotic man, all persons familiar with his his- 
tory will agree. On this most melancholy day he 
yielded to the influences of unreasoning panic, and 
committed a deed over which just men may weep, 
but which they can never excuse. The effect upon 
the country was unspeakably disheartening, and upon HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the enemy correspondingly encouraging. This ter- 
rible disaster was followed by our defeat at Queens- 
town, on the Niagara frontier, in October, and by a 
melancholy fiasco under General Alexander Smyth, 
in the same locality, during the following month. 
About the time this remarkable General was issuing 
high-sounding manifestoes amid the very thunders 
of Niagara, and doing the least possible military ex- 
ecution, Major-General Dearborn marched with a 
considerable army on an expedition against Canada 
over against northern New York and Vermont. 
This expedition failed, largely because of the ill 
conduct of some of the militia. Nevertheless, his- 
torians have criticised General Dearborn for his 
conduct of this bootless expedition, averring that it 
might have succeeded but for his want of energy.1 
Such was the unfortunate nature of the conduct 
of the war during the year 1812. On the high seas 
it was different, and not a few fine victories won by 
our navy and merchant marine on the element of 
England’s boasted preeminence did much to encour- 
age both the government and the people of the 
Union. 
The ill fortune of the armies in the field caused 
the administration of the War Department to be 
quite generally and not infrequently severely criti- 
cised for inefficiency. It was in obedience to a wide- 
spread popular demand that Secretary Eustis, about 
the close of the year 1812, resigned the portfolio. 
Before the close of January, 1813, General John 
Armstrong, a soldier of experience, and a man of 
1 For unfavorable estimates of Gen. Dearborn, see Charles J. 
Ingersoll’s History of the Late War with England, passim. GENERAL ARMSTRONG. 
59 
recognized abilities and energetic spirit, was placed 
in charge of the Department. It is doubtless true 
that Secretary Armstrong had more of what we call 
executive force than his talented, intelligent, and con- 
scientious predecessor. Nevertheless, it is supremely 
probable that the military successes of the year 1813 
would have been the same had Dr. Eustis remained 
in office, and that some of the failures of the year 
might not have occurred at all. 
For the Army of the West, under General Har- 
rison, was quite thoroughly organized at the begin- 
ning of the year. Detachments of this army met 
with various fortunes in the early part of the year, 
and in the autumn, at the battle of the Thames, ut- 
terly destroyed the allied army of British and Indians, 
wrested upper Canada from the control of the enemy, 
and more than recovered all that Hull had lost. So, 
too, General Dearborn, commanding the Army of 
the Centre, captured York (now Toronto) in the 
early spring, with an army ready for the movement 
when Mr. Eustis retired. In the South the hostile 
Creek Indians were defeated, and almost annihilated 
as a warlike power, in a series of engagements con- 
ducted by militia under General Coffee and General 
Jackson, who had in a quite independent manner 
raised the troops for this purpose. 
These were the principal military successes of the 
year. It is to be observed that both as to the forces 
under General Harrison in the North-west and Gen- 
eral Jackson in the South, they were substantially 
volunteers, raised upon the exigency of the moment, 
rather by the patriotism of the people and the coop- 
erative action of State and Territorial authorities 60 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
with the commanders in the field, than by the ex- 
press authority of the general government. 
Later in the autumn, the enemy did considerable 
mischief to towns and garrisons on the Niagara 
frontier, but the principal military failure of the 
year was the expedition against Montreal. Secre- 
tary Armstrong himself planned this expedition, de- 
signing an invasion of Canada and the capture of 
Montreal by a cooperative movement of the Army 
of the Centre, General Wilkinson, and the Army of 
the North, General Wade Hampton. General Wil- 
kinson marched down the St. Lawrence, and had an 
affair or two of some little importance, but General 
Hampton refused to cooperate with him, and the 
campaign came to nothing. But the victories of Jack- 
son over the savages of the South, of Harrison over 
the savages and British in the North, and the admi- 
rable naval victory of Commodore Perry on Lake 
Erie, were sufficient to make the American cause 
appear much more hopeful at the end of 1813 than 
at the end of 1812. And this, notwithstanding the 
fact that though we had gained many gallant vic- 
tories, we had received several sad reverses on the 
ocean. In his annual message in December, Presi- 
dent Madison expressed cheerful words on the situ- 
ation, both military and naval, which were but a re- 
flection of the public feeling generally. 
Having thus treated at some length of the external 
affairs of the War Department, it will now be appro- 
priate to speak of its internal affairs, if I may so say. 
A very important official work of the Department 
about this time was the preparation of a complete 
army register and also a complete system of “ Rules THE ARMY IN 1813. 
61 
and Regulations of the Army of the United States,” 
from which we now have, as the natural outgrowth, 
the annual Army Register, and that important octavo 
volume, the “ Revised Army Regulations.” 
The “ Rules and Regulations of the Army of the 
United States” of which I now speak, were issued 
from the War Office, May i, 1813. They laid down 
the rank of regiments and of officers, rules with 
regard to promotions, the duties of different staff 
departments, and, generally, such instructions and 
schedules as were supposed to be instructive to the 
army, especially with regard to army business and to 
matters of tech,7iique not found in military publica- 
tions. The War Office has seldom performed a more 
valuable practical service to the army than in the 
publication of these “ Rules and Regulations ” of 
1813, which may be described as a fair epitome of 
the present elaborate work known as the “Army 
Regulations.”1 
The “ Register of the Army for 1813 ” was a pub- 
lication of more general historical interest than the 
one just spoken of. It was a complete roster of all 
the officers of the Army of the United States, and 
of the volunteers mustered into the service of the 
United States, from major-generals to cadets and 
ensigns. The Register was published in December, 
1813. From it we learn that “the Army of the 
United States ” at that time consisted of the follow- 
ing organizations, besides the staff departments: 1. 
The regiment of light artillery ; 2. Two regiments 
1 These “ Rules and Regulations,” promulgated under the ad- 
ministration of Secretary Armstrong, will be found in extenso in 
Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 425 et seq. 62 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of dragoons; 3. First, second, and third regiments 
of light artillery; 4. Twenty-five regiments of regular 
infantry; 5. The Rifle regiment; 6. Fourteen regi- 
ments of one-year infantry; 7. Five regiments of 
infantry enlisted for “during the war;” 8. Twelve 
companies of “ rangers ; ” 9. Four regiments, a bat- 
talion and a company of “United States Volunteers; ” 
10. Five companies of “sea fencibles.” The organi- 
zations of the regular army, if full, would have sup- 
plied a force of 36,374 men, which the one-year regi- 
ments and those enlisted for “during the war ” would 
have increased to 58,254. There were five major- 
generals, namely, in the order of their rank: Henry 
Dearborn, Thomas Pinckney, James Wilkinson, Wade 
Hampton, Morgan Lewis, and William Henry Har- 
rison. The brigadier-generals were: Joseph Bloom- 
field, James Winchester, William Hull, Thomas Flour- 
ney, T. H. Cushing, John Chandler, John P. Boyd, 
Thomas Parker, George Izard, W. H. Winder, D. Mc- 
Arthur, Lewis Cass, Benjamin Howard, D. R. Wil- 
liams, Jacob Brown, L. Covington. The country was 
divided into nine military districts, with a brigadier- 
general in command of each. The Register also 
gives in a portion of it set apart for this purpose the 
lineal rank of the general and field officers, and that 
also of the captains. This Register shows that the 
following staff departments were at the time to some 
extent definitively organized: The Quartermaster’s, 
the Topographical, the Adjutant-General’s, the In- 
spector-General’s, the Ordnance, the Judge-Advo- 
cate General’s, the Hospital, the Purchasing, the 
Pay, the Engineers’. Necessity, not liberally aided 
by legislation, had brought this much about to- CHIPPEWA AND LUNDY'S LANE. 
63 
wards a philosophical organization of a department 
of war. 
To this consummation is in no small degree due 
the fact, that during the residue of the war our arms 
were generally successful, there being but two notable 
instances of failure and disaster to the army from this 
time forth,— the discomfiture of General Wilkinson 
in the north, and the battle of Bladensburgh with all 
of its unfortunate results. Elsewhere our arms were 
successful, and this notwithstanding the fact that the 
British were heavily reenforced in the north, the 
centre, and the south by considerable armies of vet- 
erans who had fought under him now known as “ the 
Iron Duke ” in the famous campaigns of the Penin- 
sula. Still, it would be unjust to claim much for the 
better military organization in bringing about a gen- 
eral success without attributing much of it also to the 
somewhat slow-moving but almost invincible power 
of a free people. The war of 181 2-15 did much to 
demonstrate the truth that a free government may 
also be a strong government; the freest nation in 
the world the strongest. 
Though General Wilkinson was worsted in the 
spring of 1814 in the movement against Canada by 
Rouse’s Point, the battle of Plattsburgh, later in the 
year, redeemed the campaign of the Army of the 
North, though it was chiefly a naval victory. On 
the Niagara frontier, the battles of Chippewa, Lun- 
dy’s Lane, and Fort Erie, where Scott, Ripley, Brown, 
Wool, and Gaines were conspicuous, stirred the 
Americans with a fine enthusiasm. In the South, 
General Jackson, now a major-general of the United 
States army, gained notable victories over Indians 64 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
and British, at one time invading Spanish terri- 
tory in pursuit of the enemy. The closing as well 
as the crowning victory of the war was won by this 
illustrious soldier and statesman in the battle of New 
Orleans, where, with an army composed almost ex- 
clusively of volunteers, he defeated, terribly punished, 
and put to rout, an army of British veterans twice as 
large as his own. 
The most unfortunate disaster of this period of 
the war was that with which the history of the War 
Department is most intimately connected, the battle 
of Bladensburgh and the fall of the national capital 
consequent upon the defeat of the Americans. The 
battle was fought on the 24th of August, in view of 
President Madison and several members of his cabi- 
net, Secretary of War Armstrong inclusive. The 
American troops were chiefly militia, and were 
quickly placed in ignominious rout and flight, pell- 
mell. Bladensburgh is but a few miles from Wash- 
ington, and the British after a brief delay marched 
on the city. They there committed the enormous 
crime and blunder of burning the public buildings 
and destroying large amounts of private property 
in no manner used for purposes of war. The pub- 
lic buildings thus destroyed were the Capitol, the 
executive mansion, war, treasury, state, and navy 
departments. The post-office- department was not 
destroyed. Occupying part of the present site of 
the post-office building, it had been constructed by 
a private citizen for private uses, and the British 
were persuaded it was private property, and hence 
did not order its destruction. 
This vandal work of destruction was begun on the CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON. 
65 
afternoon of August 24th, and did not cease until 
the afternoon of the following day. The Capitol, 
the executive mansion, and the treasury department 
were fired on the 24th, the other public buildings 
on the 25th, the War Office about 10 o’clock in the 
morning of that day. The day of the battle, which 
was a Wednesday, had been excessively hot and 
sultry. Many soldiers fell dead on the march from 
the effects of the heat. Thursday morning was also 
warm, but in the afternoon there came on a storm 
of rain, which by dusk became a terrible and de- 
structive tornado, unroofing houses, uprooting trees, 
blowing down chimneys and even whole buildings, 
causing large loss of life and property and general 
terror. It was in such a scene of terror as this, 
when but for the flames of the burning buildings', 
which were reflected in a lurid red light from the 
clouds, the night would have been one of darkness 
visible, that the British army evacuated the city and 
marched towards Marlboro, without the beat of a 
drum or the sound of a bugle. “The sun set,” says 
an English officer of the invading army, “ before the 
different regiments were in a condition to move. 
The blazing of houses, ships, and stores, the reports 
of exploding magazines, and the crash of falling 
roofs, informed them, as they proceeded, of what 
was going forward. The sky was brilliantly illumi- 
nated by the different conflagrations, and a dark, red 
light was thrown upon the road, sufficient to permit 
each man to view distinctly his comrade’s face. The 
scene was striking and sublime as the burning of 
St. Sebastian’s.” 
A committee of the House of Representatives, of 66 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
which the distinguished General Richard M. Johnson 
of Kentucky was chairman, in an elaborate report 
upon the capture of Washington, estimated the loss 
by the destruction of the public buildings and prop- 
erty, exclusive of the Congressional Library, as fol- 
lows : 
The Capitol, $787,163.28 
The President’s House, 334,334.00 
War, treasury, state, and navy departments, 93,613.82 
Loss at the navy-yard, 969,171.04 
Making an aggregate loss of $2,184,282.14. There 
were many private residences and business estab- 
lishments destroyed, so that the total pecuniary loss 
by the capture of Washington was in the neighbor- 
hood of two and a half million dollars. The destruc- 
tion of the navy-yard was expressly ordered by the 
Secretary of the Navy, Mr. William Jones, of Penn- 
sylvania, but for which the loss of property there 
would probably have been much greater than it was. 
Admiral Cockburn was a leading spirit in the invad- 
ing force, was present in Washington during its en- 
tire occupancy by the British, personally directing 
much of the work of destruction. He would have 
taken especial delight in the utter demolition of the 
navy-yard and everything it contained; for a more 
hardened buccaneer the history of piracy hardly 
affords. 
This great disaster, while it called forth against the 
perpetrators of the vandal work the indignation of 
the American people, and the most unfavorable crit- 
icism of candid men throughout Christendom, also 
aroused no little clamor against the administration, 
and particularly against General Armstrong, Secre- SE CRE TARY ARMSTR ONG VINDICA TED. 
67 
tary of War. On this account, he felt called upon 
to resign, and did so a few days after the occurrences 
which have just been related, more, however, because 
the President had yielded to the storm of clamor, 
than because he himself believed in heeding it. He 
wrote a letter for publication on the occasion, which 
is so replete with historical matter pertaining to the 
War Department, that I herewith quote it at length: 
11 To the Editors of the Baltimore Patriot. 
“ It may be due to myself, and is certainly due to others, that 
the reasons under which I retired from the direction of the War 
Department at a juncture so critical as the present, should be fully 
and promptly known to the public. These reasons will be found 
in the following brief exposition of facts: 
“ On the evening of the 29th ultimo, the President called at 
my lodgings, and stated that a case of much delicacy had oc- 
curred ; that a high degree of excitement had been raised among 
the militia of the district; that he was himself an object of their 
suspicions and menaces; that an officer of that corps had given 
him notice that they would no longer obey any order coming 
through me as Secretary of War; and that in the urgency of the 
case, it might be prudent so far to yield to the impulse, as to 
permit some other person to exercise my functions in relation to 
the defense of the district. 
“ To this statement and proposition I answered substantially as 
follows—that I was aware of the excitement to which he alluded, 
that I knew its source and had marked its progress; that the present 
was not a moment to examine its more occult cases, objects, and 
agents; that it ostensibly rested on charges known to himself to 
be false, that it was not for me to determine how far the supposed 
urgency of the case made it proper for him to yield to an impulse 
so vile and profligate — so injurious to truth and so destructive of 
order; but that for myself, there was no choice ; that I could 
never surrender a part of my legitimate authority, for the pres- 
ervation of the rest — that I must exercise it wholly, or not at all; 
that I came into office with objects exclusively public, and that 
to accommodate my principles or my conduct to the humors of a 68 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
village mob, stimulated by faction and led by folly, was not the 
way to promote these; and that if his decision was taken in con- 
formity to the suggestions he had made, I intreated him to accept 
my resignation. This he declined doing. It was an extent, he 
was pleased to say, to which he meant not to go; that he knew 
the excitement was limited, as well with regard to time as to place ; 
that he was now, and had always been, fully sensible of the general 
zeal, diligence, and talent, which I had put into the discharge of 
my duty, and that it would give him pleasure, were I to take time 
to consider his proposition. I renewed the assurance of my great 
personal respect and my readiness to conform to his wishes on all 
proper occasions. I remarked, that whatever zeal, diligence, and 
talent I possessed, had been employed freely but firmly, and ac- 
cording to my best views of the public good, and that as long as 
they were left to be so exerted, they were at the service of my 
country—but that the moment they were made to bow to military 
usurpation or political faction, there should be an end of their 
public exercise. We now parted, with an understanding that I 
should leave Washington the following morning. 
“ It has been since stated to me as a fact (to which I give the 
most reluctant belief), that on the morning of the 29th, and before 
my arrival in the city, a committee of the inhabitants of George- 
town, of whom Alexander C. Hanson, Editor of the Federal 
Republican, was one, had waited on the President, by deputation, 
and had obtained from him a promise that I should no longer 
direct the military defenses of the district. On this fact, all com- 
mentary is unnecessary. 
“ It but remains to exhibit and to answer the several charges 
raised against me, and which form the groundwork of that ex- 
citement, to which the President has deemed it prudent to sac- 
rifice his authority, in declining to support mine. They are as 
follows: 
“ 1st. That from ill-will to the district of Columbia, and a 
design to remove the seat of government, I gave orders for the 
retreat of the army, in the affair of the 24th ult., under circum- 
stances not making retreat necessary or proper. 
“ This charge has not for its support the shadow of truth. The 
commanding general will do me the justice to say that I gave him 
no such order, and that he was and is under the impression that 
the retreat was made earlier than I believed to be proper. To the VINDICATION OF SECRETARY ARMSTRONG. 
69 
President, I appeal whether I did not point out the disorder and 
retreat of a part of the first line, and soon after the action began, 
and stigmatize it as base and infamous. 
“ 2d. That in spite of the remonstrances of General Winder, 
and by the interposition of my authority, I had prevented him 
from defending the Capitol. 
“This charge contains in it a total perversion of the truth. 
When the head of the retiring column reached the Capitol, it was 
halted for a moment. General Winder here took occasion to state 
to Mr. Monroe and myself, that he was not in condition to main- 
tain another conflict, and that his force was broken down by 
fatigue and dispersion. Under this representation, we united in 
opinion that he should proceed to occupy the heights of George- 
town. 
“ 3d. That I had withdrawn the covering party from the rear 
of Fort Washington, and had ordered Captain Dyson to blow up 
the fort without firing a gun. 
“ This charge is utterly devoid of truth. The covering party 
was withdrawn by an order from General Winder, and Captain 
Dyson’s official report shows that the orders under which he acted 
were derived from the same source, though, no doubt, mistaken 
or misrepresented. 
“4th. That by my orders the navy-yard had been burned. 
“ This, like its predecessors, is a positive falsehood. Perceiv- 
ing that no order was taken for apprising Commodore Tingey of 
the retreat of the army, I sent Major Bell to communicate the 
fact, and to say that the navy-yard could no longer be covered. 
The Commodore was of course left to follow the suggestions of his 
own mind, or to obey the orders, if orders had been given, of the 
Navy Department. 
“ 5th, and lastly. That means had not been taken to collect a 
force sufficient for the occasion. 
“As the subject of this charge may very soon become one of 
Congressional inquiry, I shall at present make but very few re- 
marks. 
“ 1st. That no means within reach of the War Department had 
been omitted or withheld — that a separate military district, em- 
bracing the seat of government, had been created ; that an officer 
of high rank and character had been placed in charge of it; that 
to him was given full authority to call for supplies and for a mili- 70 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
tia force offifteen thousand men; that to this force was added the 
36th regiment of the line, a battalion of the 38th, detachments of 
the 12th, of the artillery, and of the dragoons, the marine corps, 
and the crews of the flotilla, under the special command of Com- 
modore Barney — making a total of 16,300 men. 
“ General Winder’s official report of the engagement of the 
24th ult., shows us how much of this force had been assembled, 
and the causes why a greater portion of it had not been got to- 
gether. These will be found to have been altogether extraneous 
from the government, and entirely beyond its control; and 
“ 2d. That from what is now known of the enemy’s force, of 
the loss he sustained in the enterprise, of the marks of panic under 
which he retreated, etc., etc., it is obvious, that if all the troops 
assembled at Bladensburgh had been faithful to themselves and to 
their country, the enemy would have been beaten and the capital 
saved. John Armstrong. 
“ Baltimore, 3d September, 1814.”1 
Though there may be some manifestation of tem- 
per in this letter, its main averments are substan- 
tially correct, and have been vindicated by the verdict 
of history. Secretary of War Stanton, in accounting 
for certain things in the battle of Chickamauga, dur- 
ing the war of the rebellion, once made the strong 
remark that “ General Rosecrans had been stam- 
peded,” emphasizing the word stampeded. President 
Madison would appear to have been in this situation 
at and after the battle of Bladensburgh.2 In war, he 
was out of his element. To this fact is due the official 
sacrifice of General Armstrong as Secretary of War, 
one of the ablest and most energetic men with respect 
to all affairs pertaining to that office who ever filled it. 
1 Niles’ Weekly Reg., Yol. VII., 6 and 7. 
a “ Everything demonstrated,” says Charles J. Ingersoll, with 
caustic dryness, in his account of the battle of Bladensburgh, “ that 
a field of battle was not Madison’s theatre of action.”—Hist, of 
the Late U ar, II., 177. SECRETARY MONROE. 
71 
Secretary of State Monroe was designated to take 
Armstrong’s place, and immediately did so, but with- 
out vacating his position as head of the Foreign 
Office. Congress assembled on the 19th of Septem- 
ber, and at once proceeded to consider ways and 
means for the improvement and increase of the mil- 
itary establishment. On the 23d, the Senate resolved 
that the Committee on Military Affairs “ be instructed 
to inquire into the state of preparations for the de- 
fense of the city of Washington, and whether any 
further provisions, by law, be necessary for that 
object.” The committee, in transmitting the resolu- 
tion to the War Department, inquired: “ 1st. What 
are the defects in the present military establishment ? 
2d. What further provisions by law are deemed nec- 
essary to remedy such defects?” In reply, Secretary 
Monroe, on October 17, submitted a lengthy report, 
of which the following were the main propositions: 
1. That the existing military establishment, amount- 
ing to 62,448 men, be preserved and made complete, 
and that the most efficient means authorized by the 
Constitution, and consistent with the equal rights of 
our fellow-citizens, be adopted to fill the ranks and 
with the least possible delay. 
2. That a permanent force, consisting of not less 
than 40,000 men, in addition to the present military 
establishment, be raised for the defense of our cities 
and frontiers, under an engagement by the Executive 
with each corps that it shall be employed in that ser- 
vice within certain specified limits. And that a pro- 
portional augmentation of general officers of each 
grade, and other staff, be provided for. 
3. That the corps of engineers be enlarged. 7 2 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
4. That the ordnance department be amended. 
In support of these propositions the Secretary ad- 
duced many arguments which may to this day be read 
with profit by those who would have intelligent ideas 
on the subject of the substantial requirements of an 
American military establishment. About two months 
later, Secretary Monroe submitted also a lengthy re- 
port on the best system of subsisting the army to the 
Military Committee of the House, which is only less 
valuable.1 
Happily, our successes in the north, the spirited 
defense of Baltimore not long after the capture of 
Washington, and our fairly good fortune all along 
the lines, save at the capital, enabled our Commis- 
sioners for the negotiation of peace to conclude the 
Treaty of Ghent, which was signed December 24, 
1814, exactly four months from the capture of Wash- 
ington.2 The treaty was speedily ratified by our gov- 
ernment, the people welcoming the return of peace 
with almost universal joy. This great and happy 
event so changed the situation of affairs that there 
was no occasion for the energetic measures proposed 
by Mr. Monroe. On the contrary, the Department 
at once began to reduce the army, and Congress to 
devise measures for a military establishment on a 
peace basis. 
The vindication of the general efficiency of the 
Department of War during the contest with Eng- 
1 For the former of these reports, see Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 
514 et seq., and for the latter, Ibid., 590 et seq. 
2 The American Commissioners were John Quincy Adams, 
James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert 
Gallatin; the British, Admiral Gambier, Henry Goulbourn, and 
William Adams. LESSONS OF THE WAR. 
land is found in the result — an honorable and a 
lasting peace upon the basis of the complete, the 
perfect independence of the United States of Amer- 
ica, not before fully achieved nor unreservedly ac- 
knowledged. In this momentous result, a notable 
victory in the cause of freedom and of civilization, 
the War Department, and the armies thereby organ- 
ized and placed in the field, played an eminent, if not 
the preeminent part. We have seen that the De- 
partment was beset by not a few grave obstacles and 
difficulties — imperfect, confused staff departments; 
a vicious militia system ; considerable popular dis- 
content; conflicts with State authorities; a President 
ill fitted for the chief magistracy in a time of war. 
Notwithstanding these difficulties, some of which were 
in their nature insurmountable, the war was upon the 
whole a grand success for the country, in large meas- 
ure wrought by the military establishment. 
Those who have read the foregoing pages will 
agree that the history of the War Department, as 
connected with the last war with England, clearly 
teaches these valuable lessons: First, the almost re- 
sistless strength of a free government; second, the 
folly and madness of a free government in not per- 
petually maintaining a thoroughly organized and com- 
plete military establishment for the rapid formation 
of armies, in all respects ready to meet hostile armies 
in battle. Such an establishment can be wisely and 
economically abolished when that happy time shall 
come when the people “ shall beat their swords into 
plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; 
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
shall they learn war any more.” But not until then. 
73 CHAPTER III. 
FROM THE LAST WAR WITH ENGLAND TO THE 
WAR WITH MEXICO. 
The Reduction of the Army in 1815 — Reorganization of the 
Military Establishment under Secretary of War John C. 
Calhoun — The Opinions of that Statesman on a Requisite 
Staff Department — The Army Regulations of 1825 — Gen- 
eral History of the Department down to the beginning 
of the War with Mexico. 
THE war with England having terminated, as has 
been related, in the substantial success of the 
American cause, the immediate great reduction of 
the army became the most important labor of the 
Department of War. The militia and such volun- 
teers as were in the service were speedily mustered 
out, but the reduction of the regular army was a 
task of no little difficulty, and which required con- 
siderable time and a vast amount of work to accom- 
plish and to make the proper records of. 
By an act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1815 
— within two months of the battle of New Orleans 
— it was provided : “ That the military peace estab- 
lishment of the United States shall consist of such 
proportions of artillery, infantry, and riflemen, not 
exceeding in the whole ten thousand men, as the 
President shall judge proper, and that the corps of 
engineers, as at present established, be retained.” 1 
The act also provided for the retention of the corps 
XU. S. Stat. at Large, III., 224. SECRETARY WILLIAM II. CRAWFORD. 
7 5 
of artillery, and the regiment of light artillery as 
already organized, and prescribed rules for the or- 
ganization of the regiments of infantry and riflemen. 
It was provided that this military peace establishment 
should have two major-generals, four brigadier-gen- 
erals, four brigade-inspectors, four brigade-quarter- 
masters, and such number of hospital surgeons as 
the service might require, not exceeding five. “ The 
brigade-inspectors,” the law went on to prescribe, 
“ shall be taken from the line; and the brigade-quar- 
termasters, the adjutants, regimental quartermasters, 
and paymasters, from the subalterns of the line.” 
To this little army of ten thousand men and the 
corps of engineers, the Department of War was re- 
quired to reduce the military force which had just 
defeated the veteran armies of Great Britain, and 
to bring about the reduction, if circumstances would 
permit, within a period of two months. This great 
quantity of departmental labor was almost com- 
pletely accomplished in the time designated. 
And this was only a small part of the labors of 
the Department in the era of vast and varied work 
which followed the war with England. Liberal 
bounty-land grants had been provided for the sol- 
diers, and liberal pensions also to the disabled and 
to the heirs of those who had died in the service. 
At that time all this business was under the super- 
vision of the Secretary of War. Fortunately, the 
distinguished statesman, William H. Crawford, of 
Georgia, was at the head of the Department. So 
great and versatile were his intellectual powers that 
he may well be described as a man of genius. He 
also had rare executive faculties, and it hence hap- 76 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
pened that the immense labors of disbanding a large 
army, of organizing the new peace establishment, 
and of promptly conducting the business pertaining 
to extra pay, pensions, and bounties were smoothly 
and successfully conducted. From time to time, ad- 
ditional clerical force was added to the Department, 
a temporary commission for the examination and 
settlement of damages sustained by citizens during 
the war was provided, but this is about all the extra 
assistance allowed the Department. The illustrious 
Secretary inspired the officers of the staff 
ments, and the employes of the Department gen- 
erally, with somewhat of his sublime energy, and by 
this genius of work accomplished a vast deal in a 
short time.1 
On the i st of January, 1816, the Department pub- 
lished a Register of the Army as it had been organ- 
ized under the law providing for the military peace 
establishment already quoted. At this time the 
major-generals were Jacob Brown and Andrew 
Jackson; the brigadier-generals being Alexander 
Macomb, E. P. Gaines, Winfield Scott, and E. W. 
Ripley. The Register shows an ordnance depart- 
ment, medical department without any particular 
head, apothecary’s department with an apothecary- 
general, pay department, purchasing department, 
the corps of engineers, and two judge-advocates. 
Daniel Parker was “adjutant and inspector-gen- 
1 Some years later, as we shall see in the biographical portion 
of this work, Mr. Crawford was a candidate for President. Soon 
after the canvass of that year he became very ill, and never after- 
wards fully recovered. Great workers often die of over-work, 
after all. Such was the case with Mr. Crawford. STAFF DEPARTMENTS. 
eral,” and Robert Butler adjutant-general. There 
were eight regiments of infantry, one regiment of 
riflemen, a regiment of light artillery, and the 
“ corps of artillery.” The Register duly notes the 
officers and teachers at the Military Academy.1 
About the time of the publication of this Army 
Register, Secretary Crawford, in reply to an inquiry 
upon the subject, addressed a letter to the Military 
Committee of the House of Representatives on the 
subject of providing by law for the staff appoint- 
ments. In this letter he said : “ The experience of 
the first two campaigns of the last war, which has 
furnished volumes of evidence upon this subject, has 
incontestably established not only the expediency, 
but the necessity of giving to the military establish- 
ment, in time of peace, the organization which it 
must have to render it efficient in a state of war. It 
is believed also to be demonstrable, that a complete 
organization of the staff will contribute as much to 
the economy of the establishment as to its efficiency. 
The stationary staff of a military establishment should 
be substantially the same in peace as in war, without 
reference to the number or distribution of the troops 
of which it is composed.” He therefore recommended 
the organization of the staff as follows: one adjutant- 
and inspector-general; one quartermaster-general ; 
one paymaster-general ; one commissary-general; 
one apothecary-general; with officers of proper rank 
in these departments for each division of the army, 
and also three judge-advocates. He thought no 
change necessary in the corps of engineers (except 
that it might well be increased), the corps of artillery, 
1 For this Register, see Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 627 et seq. 78 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
or the ordnance department.1 This letter amply 
demonstrates the philosophical correctness of Mr. 
Crawford’s ideas of a military establishment for this 
republic. 
For a considerable period near the close of Madi- 
son’s administration, and for some months of the first 
part of President Monroe’s term, George Graham, 
the chief clerk of the Department, was, by designation 
of the President under the law then in force, the act- 
ing Secretary of War. As such, he performed all 
the duties of the head of the Department precisely 
the same as if he had been regularly appointed Sec- 
retary; and I find that on several subjects of general 
interest, he sent quite elaborate and intelligent com- 
munications to committees of Congress in response 
to inquiries therefrom. Among these are a plan for 
the reorganization of the militia, a statement of the 
numerical strength of the army, letters on the then 
existing war with the Seminole Indians, and other 
papers of less note. From the statement of the 
numerical strength of the army just referred to, it 
appears that the entire number of officers and men, 
including all officers of the staff departments and the 
corps of engineers, was 10,024 on the 1st of January, 
1817.2 
1 Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 636. 
2 Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 661-62. It seems not a little 
singular that Mr. Graham was not appointed Secretary of War ad 
interim. I judge that he was a competent and efficient officer. 
On Mr. Calhoun’s taking charge of the Department, Mr. Graham 
resigned, and I observe from the newspaper files that later he was 
a prominent man in the business and social circles of the capital. 
The office of chief clerk of the War Department is one of great 
labor and responsibility at all times, and there is never a year THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
79 
In December of this year the distinguished John 
C. Calhoun took charge of the Department. One 
of his first official acts was the preparation of a 
statement for the House of Representatives show- 
ing the strength of the army, with details as to the 
stations of the various corps, etc. From this return 
it appears that the army had been reduced nearly 
two thousand since the commencement of the year, 
the number being 8,221, according to the regular 
returns of December 1, 1817.1 
When Mr. Calhoun took charge of the War De- 
partment, he found raging that singular conflict of 
arms known as “ the Seminole war,” and which, 
though for a time brought to a close by the vigorous 
measures of Major-General Jackson during the year 
1818, again and again broke forth, and was not finally 
terminated until about a quarter of a century later, 
after the loss of very many lives, and, it is stated 
by some authorities, the expenditure of nearly thirty 
millions of dollars. The history of the connection 
of the War Department with what may be desig- 
nated the first Seminole war in Florida is substan- 
tially as follows: 
The Seminoles were a fierce and warlike tribe, 
whose very name indicated their wild and roving 
nature. It is believed that originally they were 
Creek outlaws. Inhabiting the everglades of Flor- 
ida, allied with many negroes who had escaped from 
when he is not called upon to be the acting Secretary for weeks at 
a time. Considering the great variety of his labors and the intel- 
ligence demanded of him, he is the least adequately paid of all 
the important officials of the government. 
1 Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 669 et seq. 80 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the cruel bondage of American slavery, and were 
scarcely less savage than their red-skin friends, they 
commenced a predatory warfare on the settlers of 
Georgia and Alabama, a year or so after the conclu- 
sion of our war with Great Britain. In their excur- 
sions of plunder and rapine, they on several occasions 
massacred whole families, and at length ambushed 
and killed a detachment of United States troops only 
a short time before Mr. Calhoun became Secretary 
of War. A troublesome difficulty in the matter was, 
that, having made a plundering, murdering incursion 
upon the settlers, the Seminoles and negroes would 
retire with their booty and scalps into Florida, which 
was at that time a province of * Spain, with which 
kingdom we were at peace. The conduct of the 
War Department, herein fully representing the 
government, was, under these trying circumstances, 
strictly in accordance with the law of nations, and 
respectful of the rights of Spain. On October 30, 
1817, acting Secretary Graham, in replying to a letter 
from General Gaines, commanding in the harried 
department, said: “ These papers have been sub- 
mitted to the President, and I am instructed by him 
to inform you that he approves of the movement of 
the troops from Fort Montgomery to Fort Scott. 
The appearance of this additional force, he flatters 
himself, will at least have the effect of restraining the 
Seminoles from committing further depredations, and 
perhaps of inducing them to make reparation for the 
murders which they, have committed. Should they, 
however, persevere in their refusal to make such 
reparation, it is the wish of the President that you 
should not, on that account, pass the line and make THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
81 
an attack upon them within the limits of Florida, 
until you shall have received instructions from this 
Department.” On the 2d of December, the acting 
Secretary again wrote to the same officer: “ The 
state of our negotiations with Spain, and the temper 
manifested by the principal European powers, make 
it impolitic, in the opinion of the President, to move 
a force at this time into the Spanish possessions for 
the mere purpose of chastising the Seminoles for 
depredations which have heretofore been committed 
by them.”1 On the 9th of the same month Mr. 
Graham again wrote to General Gaines: “ Referring 
to the letters addressed to you from this Department 
on the 30th of October and 2d of December as man- 
ifesting the views of the President, I have to request 
that you conform to the instructions therein given. 
Should the Indians, however, assemble in force on 
the Spanish side of the line, and persevere in com- 
mitting hostilities within the limits of the United 
States, you will, in that event, exercise a sound dis- 
cretion as to the propriety of crossing the line for 
the purpose of attacking them and breaking up their 
town.”2 The depredations of the savages increasing, 
and they being in heavy force on the American side 
of the line, Secretary of War Calhoun, on December 
16, wrote to General Gaines : “ On the receipt of this 
letter, should the Seminole Indians still refuse to make 
reparation for their outrages and depredations on the 
citizens of the United States, it is the wish of the 
President that you consider yourself at liberty to 
march across the Florida line and to attack them 
1 See Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 685-86 and 687,. 
2 Ibid. id. 688. 82 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT: 
within its limits, should it be found necessary, unless 
they should shelter themselves under a Spanish post. 
In the last event, you will immediately notify this 
Department.” It is a remarkable coincidence that 
on the very day Secretary Calhoun thus wrote to 
General Gaines, General Jackson, writing from Nash- 
ville to the Secretary of War, advised the same policy. 
“ If ever the Indians find out,” said Jackson, “ that the 
territorial boundary of Spain is to be a sanctuary, 
their murders will be multiplied to a degree that our 
citizens on the southern frontier cannot bear.” 1 
This vigorous policy of “ carrying the war into 
Africa,” instituted at the very beginning of his admin- 
istration of the affairs of the War Department by 
Mr. Calhoun, was at that time perfectly justifiable, 
the Spanish authorities in Florida having done abso- 
lutely nothing to prevent the hostile expeditions from 
their territory. General Jackson, in command of the 
military division of the South, now took the field in 
person, and conducted the war to a successful issue 
in a vigorous manner, with which all readers of gen- 
eral history are acquainted. He invaded Florida, 
defeated the Indians, captured from the Spaniards 
Fort St. Marks and Pensacola, with its strong fortifi- 
cations, and brought the Indians to sue for peace. 
This very vigorous campaign brought General 
Jackson under unfavorable criticism on two accounts. 
First, for the violation of the law of nations in invad- 
ing Florida at all, and for the somewhat high-handed 
manner in which he conducted his operations against 
the Spanish posts, and his correspondence with the 
Spanish authorities. Secondly, for his treatment 
'For ..both. see.Ara. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 689. GENERAL JACKSON IN FLORIDA. 
of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, two subjects of Great 
Britain, who were tried and executed in a somewhat 
summary manner, as was charged. The General was 
fully sustained by the government and people of the 
United States for his energetic measures against 
the Spanish posts; but with regard to the execution 
of Arbuthnot and Ambrister there has been great 
diversity of opinion among American statesmen and 
writers, who have expressed their views upon the 
subject. 
Alexander Arbuthnot was a Scotchman engaged 
in trade in Florida, owning sailing vessels, and doing 
a large business, much of it with the Indians. He 
was charged: i. With exciting and stirring up the 
Creek Indians to war against the United States ; 2. 
Acting as a spy, and aiding, abetting, and comforting 
the enemy, supplying them with the means of war; 
3. Exciting the Indians to murder William Hambly 
and Edmund Doyle. The court-martial, of which 
General Gaines was president, found the prisoner 
guilty of the first two charges, leaving out of the 
second charge “ acting as a spy,” and sentenced him 
to be “suspended by the neck until he be dead.” 
Robert C. Ambrister was an Englishman, and had 
lately been an officer in the British colonial marines. 
He was charged: 1. With aiding, abetting, and com- 
forting the enemy, supplying them with means of 
war ; 2. Leading and commanding the Lower Creeks 
in carrying on war against the United States. To 
the first charge, Ambrister pleaded not guilty; to the 
second, guilty and justification. He put himself upon 
the mercy of the court, the same which had just tried 
Arbuthnot. With the exception of some portions of 84 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the specifications, Ambrister was found guilty of both 
charges. The sentence was remarkable, the court 
saying, they “ do therefore sentence the prisoner, 
Robert C. Ambrister, to suffer death by being shot, 
two-thirds of the court concurring therein. One of 
the members of the court requesting a reconsidera- 
tion of his vote on the sentence, the sense of the 
court was taken thereon, and decided in the affirma- 
tive, when the vote was again taken, and the court 
sentenced the prisoner to receive fifty stripes on his 
bare back, and be confined with a ball and chain to 
hard labor for twelve calendar months.” The court 
then adjourned sine die. On the following day, April 
29, 1818, General Jackson issued general orders on 
the trials, from which I quote: “ The Commanding 
General approves the finding and sentence of the 
court in the case of A. Arbuthnot, and approves the 
finding and first sentence of the court in the case of 
Robert C. Ambrister, and disapproves the reconsid- 
eration of the sentence of the honorable court in this 
case. The Commanding General orders that Brevet 
Major A. C. W. Fanning, of the corps of artillery, 
will have, between the hours of eight and nine o’clock, 
a. m., A. Arbuthnot suspended by the neck, with a 
rope, until he is dead, and Robert C. Ambrister to be 
shot to death, agreeably to the sentence of the court.” 
Accordingly, the prisoners were promptly executed. 
These proceedings were generally discussed by the 
people of the United States, by the members of the 
Cabinet, and by both houses of Congress. The mil- 
itary committees of both the Senate and the House 
of Representatives reported strongly in condemna- 
tion of General Jackson’s course, but he was zeal- ORGANIZATION OF THE STAFF. 
85 
ously sustained by minorities upon the ground of the 
great value of his services and of the troops under 
his command to the country, and the fact that the 
confessedly guilty alone had suffered. Secretary 
Calhoun regarded General Jackson’s course in the 
premises as unnecessarily high-handed, as harsh, and 
as unjustifiable on the merits. A knowledge that 
such was Mr. Calhoun’s opinion coming to General 
Jackson when he was President, was largely instru- 
mental in causing the General’s intense hatred of 
the great Carolinian, which continued until the very 
moment of the General’s death.1 There are few 
now who would dispute the substantial accuracy of 
the Secretary’s opinion. 
The views of Secretary Calhoun on the organiza- 
tion of the staff departments were essentially the 
same as those of his predecessor, Mr. Crawford, 
which were quoted near the beginning of this chap- 
ter. Mr. Calhoun at once used his influence to se- 
cure the passage of a law incorporating those views 
in the form of positive statute. With this object 
he drafted a bill which, without material alteration, 
became law, being the act of Congress of April 14, 
1818, regulating the staff of the army.2 By this im- 
portant act, the medical, quartermaster’s, and sub- 
sistence departments were organized substantially as 
they exist at present, and the inspector and adjutant- 
1 For the full official literature on this subject — minutes of the 
Court, Congressional reports, General Jackson’s elaborate defense, 
etc. — see Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 721 to 769. Consult also 
the different lives of Jackson, and the Life and Works of Cal- 
houn, edited by R. K. Cralle. 
2U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 426-27. 86 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
general’s department was improved. A judge-advo- 
cate was also provided for each division. Thus, for 
the first time was a philosophical, harmonious system 
of staff departments for the army of the United 
States adopted. It has ever since proved to be of 
incalculable value to the army and to the country. 
It has from time to time been revised and improved, 
but not radically changed. 
During the same session of Congress in which 
this act was passed, the House of Representatives 
adopted a resolution, calling upon the Secretary of 
War to submit to the next session of the Congress 
his views upon the subject of the reduction of the 
army, the organization of the staff, the ration, and, 
in short, military administration generally. Accord- 
ingly, Mr. Calhoun prepared a report, which was sub- 
mitted to Congress in the following December, in 
which he exhaustively treats the whole subject of 
an American military establishment. The document 
is confessedly one of the ablest of American state 
papers. In consideration whereof, and of the fact 
that it relates much valuable history of the Depart- 
ment, I need ask no one’s pardon for here quoting it 
in full. The references to the documents which ac- 
companied the report are sufficiently explained for 
general historical purposes in the report itself, and 
are left in the technical form precisely as written by 
Mr. Calhoun: 
“ Department of War, December n, 1818. 
“ In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representa- 
tives passed the 17th of April last, directing the Secretary of War 
to report, at an early period of the next session of Congress, 
whether any, and, if any, what reduction may be made in the 
military peace establishment of the United States with safety to MR. CALHOUN'S REPORT ON THE STAFF. 
87 
the public service; and whether any, and, if any, what change 
ought to be made in the ration established by law, and in the 
mode of issuing the same; and also report a system for the estab- 
lishment of a commissariat for the army, I have the honor to sub- 
mit the following report: 
“In order to form a correct opinion on a subject involving so 
many particulars as the expense of our military establishment, it 
will be necessary to consider it under distinct and proper heads. 
To ascertain, then, whether any, and, if any, what reductions may 
be made in the expenses of our military peace establishment, I 
propose to consider its number, organization, pay and emoluments 
and administration. To the one or the other of these heads, all 
of its expenses may be traced ; and if they are greater than they 
ought to be, we must search for the cause in the improper extent 
of the establishment, the excessive number of the officers in pro- 
portion to the men, the extravagance of the pay and emoluments, 
or the want of proper responsibility and economy in its adminis- 
tration. | 
“ Pursuing the subject in the order in which it has been stated, 
the first question that offers itself for consideration is, whether our 
military establishment can be reduced with safety to the public 
service, or can its expenditures be with propriety reduced, by re- 
ducing the army itself. It is obvious that, viewed in the abstract, 
few questions present so wide a field for observation, or which are 
so well calculated to produce a great diversity of sentiment, as the 
one now proposed. 
“Considered as an original question, it would involve in its 
discussion the political institutions of the country, its geographical 
position and character, the number and distance of our posts, and 
our relations with the Indian tribes and the principal European 
powers. 
“ It is conceived, however, that a satisfactory view of it may be 
taken without discussing topics so extensive and indefinite, 
“ The military establishments of 1802 and 1808 have been 
admitted, almost universally, to be sufficiently small. The latter, 
it is true, received an enlargement, from the uncertain state of our 
foreign relations at that time; but the former was established at a 
period of profound quiet (the commencement of Mr. Jefferson’s 
administration), and was professedly reduced, with a view to econ- 
omy, to the smallest number then supposed to be consistent with 88 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the public safety. Assuming these as a standard, and comparing 
the present establishment (taking into comparison the increase of 
the country) with them, a satisfactory opinion may be formed on 
a subject which otherwise might admit of a great diversity of 
opinion. 
“ Our military peace establishment is limited, by the act of 
1813, passed at the termination of the late war, at ten thousand 
men. The corps of engineers and ordnance, by that and a sub- 
sequent act, were retained as they then existed ; and the President 
was directed to constitute the establishment of such portions of 
artillery, infantry, and riflemen as he might judge proper. The 
general orders of the 17th of May, 1815, fix the artillery at 3,200, 
the light artillery at 660, the infantry at 5,440, and the rifle 660 
privates and matrosses. Document A exhibits a statement of the 
military establishment, including the general staff, as at present 
organized, and B exhibits a similar view of those of 1802 and 
1808, by a reference to which it will appear that our military 
establishments, at the respective periods, taken in the order of 
their dates, present an aggregate of 3,323, 9,996, and 11,656. * It 
is obvious that the establishment of 1802, compared with the then 
wealth and population of the country, the number and extent of 
military posts, is larger in proportion than the present. To form 
a correct comparison, it will be necessary to compare the capacity 
and necessities of the country then with those of the present time. 
“Since that period our population has nearly doubled, and our 
wealth more than doubled. We have added Louisiana to our 
possessions, and with it a great extent of frontier, both maritime 
and inland. With the extension of our frontier, and the increase 
of our commercial cities, our military posts and fortifications 
have been greatly multiplied. Document marked C exhibits the 
number and positions of posts' in the year 1802, and document D 
those of the present time ; by a reference to which it will be seen 
that at the former period we had but twenty-seven posts, the 
most remote of which were to the north at Mackinaw, and to the 
south at Fort Stoddart, on Mobile River ; but now we have seventy- 
three, which occupy a line of frontier proportionally extended. 
“On the lakes, the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, and Red 
River, our posts are now, or will be shortly, extended, for the 
protection of our trade and the preservation of the peace of the 
frontiers, to Green Bay, the mouths of the St. Peter’s and the MR. CALHOUN'S VIEWS ON THE ARMY. 
89 
Yellowstone River, Bellepoint, and Natchitoches. Document 
marked E exhibits a statement of the extent of the line of 
our frontier, inland and maritime, with the distance of some of 
the most remote posts from the seat of government, drawn up 
by Major Long, of the topographical engineers, from the most 
approved maps. 
“If, then, the military establishment of 1802 be assumed to be 
as small as was then consistent with the safety of the country, our 
present establishment, when we take into the comparison the pro- 
digious increase of wealth, population, extent of territory, number 
and distance of military posts, cannot be pronounced extrava- 
gant ; but, on the contrary, after a fair and full comparison, that 
of the former period must, in proportion to the necessities and 
capacity of the country, be admitted to be as large as the present; 
and on the assumption that the establishment of 1802 was as small 
as the public safety would then admit, a reduction of the expense 
of our present establishment cannot be made, with safety to the 
public service, by reducing the army. In coming to this conclu- 
sion, I have not overlooked the maxim that a large standing army 
is dangerous to the liberty of the country, and that our ultimate 
reliance for defense ought to be on the militia. Its most zealous, 
advocate must, however, acknowledge that a standing army, to a 
limited extent, is necessary; and no good reason can be assigned 
why any should exist but which will equally prove that the present 
is not too large. To consider the present army as dangerous to 
our liberty partakes, it is conceived, more of timidity than wis- 
dom. Not to insist on the character of the officers, who, as a 
body, are high-minded and honorable men, attached to the prin- 
ciples of freedom by education and reflection, what well founded 
apprehension can there be from an establishment distributed on 
so extended a frontier, with many thousand miles intervening 
between the extreme points occupied ? 
“ But the danger, it may be said, is not so much from its num- 
bers as a spirit hostile to liberty, by which it is supposed all regu- 
lar armies are actuated. This observation is probably true when 
applied to standing armies collected into large and powerful 
masses; but, dispersed as ours is over so vast a surface, the danger, 
I conceive, is of an opposite character — that both officers and 
soldiers will lose their military habits and feelings, by sliding 
gradually into those purely civil. 90 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
“I proceed next to consider whether any reduction can be 
made, with propriety, by changing the organization, or by reduc- 
ing the number of officers of the line or the staff in proportion to 
the men. It is obvious that, as the officers are much more ex- 
pensive, in proportion to their numbers, than the soldiers, the pay 
of the army, in relation to its aggregate numbers, must be increased 
or diminished with the increase or diminution of the former. 
“It is impossible to fix any absolute proportion between officers 
and men which will suit every country and every service, and the 
organization of different countries, and of different periods in the 
same country, has accordingly varied considerably. 
“Our present organization, of which document marked A con- 
tains an exhibit, is probably as well or better adapted to the 
nature of our country and service than any other, as it seems to be 
the result of experience; for, by a reference to document marked 
B, it will be seen that it is nearly similar (with the exception of 
the general staff, in which the present is more extensive) to the 
organization of the military establishments of 1802 and 1808. It 
is believed that the proportion of officers of the line to the men 
will require no further observations. 
“The staff, as organized by the act of last session, combines 
simplicity with efficiency, and is considered to be superior to that 
of the periods to which I have reference. In estimating the 
expenses of the army, and particularly that of the staff, the two 
most expensive branches of it (the engineer and ordnance depart- 
ments) ought not fairly to be included. Their duties are con- 
nected with the permanent preparation and defense of the country, 
and have so little reference to the existing military establishment, 
that if the army were reduced to a single regiment, no reduction 
could safely be made in either of them. 
“ To form a correct estimate of the duties of the other branches 
of the staff, and, consequently, the number of officers required, 
we must take into consideration not only the number of troops, 
but, what is equally essential, the number of posts and extent of 
country which they occupy. 
“ Were our military establishment reduced one-half, it is obvi- 
ous that, if the same posts continued to be occupied which now 
are, the same number of officers in the quartermaster’s, paymas- 
ter’s, medical, and adjutant- and inspector-general’s departments 
would be required. MR. CALHOUN'S VIEWS ON THE STATE. 
91 
“To compare, then, as is sometimes done, our staff with those 
of European armies assembled in large bodies, is manifestly unfair. 
The act of last session, it is believed, has made all the reduction 
which ought to be attempted. It has rendered the staff efficient 
without making it expensive. Such a staff is not only indispen- 
sable to the efficiency of the army, but it is also necessary to a 
proper economy in its disbursements; and should an attempt be 
made at retrenchment by reducing the present number, it would, 
in its consequences, probably prove wasteful and extravagant. 
“In fact, no part of our military organization requires more 
attention in peace than the general staff. It is in every service 
invariably the last in attaining perfection; and if neglected in 
peace, when there is leisure, it will be impossible, in the midst of 
the hurry and bustle of war, to bring it to perfection. It is in peace 
that it should receive a perfect organization, and that the officers 
should be trained to method and punctuality, so that, at the com- 
mencement of a war, instead of creating anew, nothing more 
should be necessary than to give to it the necessary enlargement. 
“ In this country particularly the staff cannot be neglected with 
impunity. Difficult as its operations are in actual service every- 
where, it has here to encounter great and peculiar impediments, 
from the extent of the country, the badness and frequently the 
want of roads, and the sudden and unexpected calls which are 
often made on the militia. If it could be shown that the staff, in 
its present extent, was not necessary in peace, it would, with the 
view taken, be unwise to lop off any of its branches which would 
be necessary in actual service. With a defective staff, we must 
carry on our military operations under great disadvantages, and 
be exposed, particularly at the commencement of a war, to great 
losses, embarrassments, and disasters. 
“As intimately connected with this part of the subject, it is 
proper to observe, that so many and so distant small posts as our 
service requires, not only add to the expense of the army, by 
rendering a more numerous staff necessary, but they increase the 
price of almost every article of supply, and the difficulty of en- 
forcing a proper responsibility and economy. To an army thus 
situated, the expenses and losses resulting from transportation 
alone constitute a considerable sum. Under the best manage- 
ment our army must be more expensive, even were our supplies 
equally cheap, than European armies collected in large bodies, in 92 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the midst of populous and wealthy communities. These observa- 
tions are not made to justify an improper management, or to divert 
the attention of the House from so important a subject as the 
expense of our military establishment. They, in fact, ought to 
have an opposite effect; for just in the same proportion that it is 
liable to be expensive, ought the attention and effort of the Gov- 
ernment be roused to confine its expenses within the most moderate 
limits which may be practicable. 
“The next question which presents itself for consideration is, 
can the expenses of our military establishment be reduced, without 
injury to the public service, by reducing the pay and emoluments 
of the officers and soldiers? There is no class in the community 
whose compensation has advanced less since the termination of 
the War of the Revolution than that of the officers and- soldiers of 
our army. 
“ While money has depreciated more rapidly than at any other 
period, and the price of all necessaries of life has advanced pro- 
portionably, their compensation has remained nearly stationary. 
The effects are severely felt by the subaltern officers. It requires 
the most rigid economy for them to subsist on their pay and 
emoluments. Documents marked F and G exhibit the pay and 
subsistence during the Revolution and as at present established; 
and document marked H exhibits the allowance of clothing, fuel, 
forage, transportation, quarters, waiters, stationery, and straw, at 
the termination of the Revolutionary war, and in 1802, 1815, and 
1818. 
“ By a reference to those documents it will be seen that, under 
most of the heads, the variations of the different periods have 
been very small, and that, on a comparison of the whole, the pay 
of an officer is not near equal now, if allowance is made for the 
depreciation of money, to what it was during the Revolution. I 
will abstain from further remarks, as it must be obvious, from 
these statements, that the expense of our military establishment 
cannot be materially reduced, without injury to the public ser- 
vice, by reducing the pay and emoluments of the officers and 
soldiers. 
“ It only remains to consider, in relation to this part of the res- 
olution of the House, whether the expense of our military estab- 
lishment can be reduced by a proper attention to its administration, 
or by a more rigid enforcement of responsibility and economy. MR. CALHOUN'S VIEWS ON THE STAFF. 
93 
“ Our military establishment is doubtless susceptible of great 
improvement in its administration. 
“The field is extensive, and the attention of the Government 
has not heretofore been so strongly directed towards it as its 
importance deserves. Here all savings are real gain, not only in 
a moneyed, but a moral and political point of view. An ineffi- 
cient administration, without economy or responsibility, not only 
exhausts the public resources, but strongly tends to contaminate 
the moral and political principles of the officers who are charged 
with the disbursements of the army. 
“ To introduce, however, a high state of economy and respon- 
sibility in the management of a subject so extensive and compli- 
cated as our military establishment, is a task of great difficulty, 
and requires not only a perfect organization of the Department 
charged with it, but a continued energetic and judicious enforce- 
ment of the laws and regulations established for its government. 
The organization is the proper sphere of legislation, as the appli- 
cation of the laws and regulations is that of administration. The 
former has done all, or nearly all, that can be done. It is believed 
that the organization of the War Department, as well as the 
general staff of the army, is not susceptible of much improve- 
ment. 
“ The act of last session regulating the staff has not only made 
important savings in the expenses of the army, but has given both 
to the Department and the staff a much more efficient organiza- 
tion than they ever before had. Every department of the army 
charged with disbursements has now a proper head, who, under 
the laws and regulations, is responsible for its administration. 
The head of the Department is thus freed from detail, and has 
leisure to inspect and control the whole of the disbursements. 
“ Much time and reflection will be required to bring the system 
into complete operation, and to derive from it all the advantages 
which ought to be expected. The extent of the saving which 
may result from it can only be ascertained by time and experi- 
ence ; but, with an attentive and vigorous administration, it 
doubtless will be considerable. In war, it will be much more 
difficult to enforce economy and responsibility; but, with a sys- 
tem well organized, and with officers trained to method and 
punctuality, much of the waste and frauds, which would other- 
wise take place in war, will be prevented. 94 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
“In peace, there can be no insuperable difficulty in attaining 
a high degree of responsibility and economy. The mere moneyed 
responsibility, or that of purchases and disbursements, will be easily 
enforced. 
“The public now sustain much greater losses in the waste and 
improper use of public property than in their moneyed transac- 
tions. 
“ In our military establishment, responsibility in the latter is 
well checked and not badly enforced. The accounts are rendered 
with considerable punctuality, and are promptly settled ; and even 
neglect or misapplication of public funds by the disbursing offi- 
cers is not often accompanied with ultimate losses, as they are 
under bonds for the faithful discharge of their duties. Account- 
ability, as it regards the public property, is much more difficult, 
and has heretofore been much less complete. Returns of prop- 
erty in many cases, particularly in the medical department, have 
rarely been required; and even where they have been, they have 
not been made with punctuality. It cannot be doubted but that 
the public have sustained very considerable damage from this 
want of accountability. Every article of public property, even 
the smallest, ought, if possible, to be in charge of some person 
who should be responsible for it. It will be difficult to attain 
this degree of perfection; but it is hoped, by making each of the 
subordinate departments of the War Department liable for the 
property in its charge, a very considerable improvement and 
reduction of expenses will be made. 
“ On the quality of the ration, and the system of supplying and 
issuing it, which I propose next to consider, the health, comfort, 
and efficiency of the army mainly depend. Too much care can- 
not be bestowed on these important subjects; for, let the military 
system be ever so perfect in other particulars, any considerable 
deficiency in these must, in all great military operations, expose 
an army to the greatest disasters. All human efforts must, of 
necessity, be limited by the means of sustenance. Food sustains 
the immense machinery of war, and gives the impulse to all its 
operations; and if this essential be withdrawn, even but a few 
days, the whole must cease to act. No absolute standard can be 
fixed, as it regards either the quantity or quality of the ration. 
These must vary according to the habits and products of different 
countries. THE ARMY RATION. 
95 
“The great objects are, first and mainly, to sustain the health 
and spirits of the troops; and the next, to do it with the least 
possible expense. 
“The system which effects these in the greatest degree is the 
most perfect. The ration, as established by the act of the 16th 
of March, 1802, experience proves to be ample in quantity, but 
not of the quality best calculated to secure either health or econ- 
omy. It consists of eighteen ounces of bread or flour; one pound 
and a quarter of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork; one 
gill of rum, brandy, or whiskey, and at the rate of two quarts of 
salt, four quarts of vinegar, four pounds of soap, and one pound 
and a half of candles, to every hundred rations. 
“The objection to it, in relation to the health of the army, is 
fully stated in a report of the surgeon-general to the War Depart- 
ment, marked I, which I would respectfully annex as a part of 
this report. Under this view of the subject, more need not be 
added,,except to urge its importance, both on the score of human- 
ity and policy. 
“ Our people, even the poorest, being accustomed to a plentiful 
mode of living, require, to preserve their health, a continuation, 
in a considerable degree, of the same habits of life in a camp; 
and sudden and great departure from it subjects them, as it is 
proved by experience, to great mortality. Our losses in the late 
and Revolutionary wars from this cause were probably much greater 
than from the sword. 
“ However well qualified for the war in other respects, in the 
mere capacity of bearing privations, we are inferior to most 
nations. An American would starve on what a Tartar would live 
on with comfort. In fact, barbarous and oppressed nations have, 
in this particular, a striking advantage, which, however, ought to 
be much more than compensated by the skill and resources of a 
free and civilized people. If, however, such a people want the 
skill and spirit to direct its resources to its defense, the very 
wealth by which it ought to defend itself becomes the motive for 
invasion and conquest. Besides, there is something shocking to 
the feelings that in a country of plenty beyond all others, in a 
country which ordinarily is so careful of the happiness and life of 
the meanest of its citizens, that its brave defenders, who are not 
only ready but anxious to expose their lives for the safety and 
glory of their country, should, through a defective system of sup- 96 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
ply, be permitted almost to starve, or to perish by the poison of 
unwholesome food, as has frequently been the case. 
“If it could be supposed that these considerations are not suf- 
ficient to excite the most anxious care on this subject, we ought to 
remember that nothing adds more to the expense of our military 
operations, or exposes more to its disasters, than the sickness and 
mortality which result from defective or unwholesome supplies. 
“ Impressed with this view of the subject, considerable changes 
have been made in the ration, under the authority of the eighth 
section of the act regulating the staff of the army, passed at the 
last session of Congress. The vegetable part of the ration has 
been much increased. 
“ Twice a week a half allowance of meat, with a suitable quan- 
tity of peas or beans, is directed to be issued. 
“ Fresh meat has also been substituted twice a week for salted. 
In the southern division, bacon and kiln-dried Indian corn-meal 
has been, to a certain extent, substituted for pork and wheat 
flour. In addition, orders have been given, at all of the per- 
manent posts where it can be done, to cultivate a sufficient supply 
of ordinary garden vegetables for the use of the troops; and at 
the posts remote from the settled parts of the country the order 
is extended to the cultivation of corn and to the supply of the 
meat part of the ration, both to avoid the expense of distant and 
expensive transportation and to secure at all times a supply within 
the posts themselves. 
“In addition to these changes, I am of opinion that the spirit 
part of the ration, as a regular issue, ought to be dispensed with; 
and such appears to be the opinion of most of the officers of the 
army. 
“It both produces and perpetuates habits of intemperance, de- 
structive alike to the health and moral and physical energy of the 
soldiers. The spirits ought to be placed in depot, and be issued 
occasionally under the discretion of the commander. 
“Thus used, its noxious effects would be avoided, and the 
troops, when great efforts were necessary, would, by a judicious 
use, derive important benefits from it. 
“Molasses, beer, and cider, according to circumstances, might 
be used as substitutes. The substitution of bacon and kiln-dried 
corn-meal in the southern division will have, it is believed, valu- 
able effects. SUBSISTING THE ARMY. 
97 
“They are both much more congenial to the habits of the 
people of that section of our country. Corn-meal has another, 
and, in my opinion, great and almost decisive advantage — it 
requires so little art to prepare it for use. 
“It is not easy to make good bread of wheat flour, whilst it 
is almost impossible to make bad out of that of Indian corn. 
Besides, wheat is much more liable to be damaged than the Indian 
corn, for the latter is better protected against disease and the 
effects of bad seasons in time of harvest than any other grain; 
and, when injured, the good is easily separated from the bad. 
Experience proves it to be not less nutritious than wheat or any 
other grain. Parched corn constitutes the principal food of an 
Indian warrior, and such are its nutritious qualities that they can 
support long and fatiguing marches on it alone. 
“I next proceed to consider the system of supplying the army 
with provisions, or the establishment of a commissariat; and, as 
they are connected in their nature, I propose to consider that 
part of the resolution in relation to a commissariat and the mode 
of issuing the rations at the same time. 
“ The system established at the last session will, in time of 
peace, be adequate to the cheap a>nd certain supply of the army. 
The act provides for the appointment of a commissary-general, 
and as many assistants as the service may require, and authorizes 
the President to assign to them their duties in purchasing and 
issuing rations. It also directs that the ordinary supplies of the 
army should be made by contracts, to be made by the commissary- 
general, and to be delivered, on inspection, in the bulk, at such 
places as shall be stipulated in the contract. Document marked J 
contains the rules and regulations which have been established by 
order of the President, and presents the operations of the system 
in detail. It is believed that it is as well guarded against fraud as 
any other department of our military supplies ; and, judging from 
the contracts already formed under it, will, when improved by 
experience, probably make a very considerable saving. It would 
improve the system to authorize the appointment of two deputy- 
commissaries, one for each division, with the pay, rank, and 
emoluments of major of infantry, to be taken from the line, or 
from citizens, and so to amend the act of last session as to au- 
thorize the President to appoint the assistant commissaries either 
from the line or citizens. When the assistant commissary is not 98 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
taken from the line, to make his pay equal to that of a subaltern 
appointed from the line, it ought to be fifty dollars per month, 
with two rations a day. It should be the duty of the deputy 
commissaries to perform such service as the commissary-general 
might prescribe, and particularly to inspect the principal depots, 
and, in cases of necessity, to make the necessary purchases. When 
a suitable subaltern cannot be had, or when the services are neces- 
sary in the line, the power proposed to be vested in the President 
to select from citizens would be important. It is not believed 
that any other alteration would be necessary in peace; but the 
system would require great enlargement in war, to render it suffi- 
ciently energetic to meet the many vicissitudes incidental to the 
operations of war. 
“It would then be necessary to divide the system into two 
divisions, one for purchasing and the other for issuing of rations, 
with as many deputy commissaries of purchases and issues as there 
may be armies and military districts, to whom ought to be added 
a suitable number of assistants. The basis of the system ought 
in war to be the same as is now established. The ordinary supplies 
ought to be by contract on public proposals. By a judicious col- 
lection of provisions at proper‘depots, combined with an active 
and energetic system of transportation, it would be seldom neces- 
sary to resort to any other mode of purchasing. To provide, 
however, for contingencies, the purchasing department ought to be 
efficiently organized, and a branch of it, as already stated, attached 
to each army and military department. 
“As it is the means to be resorted to in cases of necessity, it 
ought to possess those high and discretionary powers which do not 
admit of exact control. It is, in its nature, liable to many abuses, 
and to prevent them from being great, more efficient regulations 
and checks are required than in any other branch of the general 
staff. 
“The defects of the mere contract system are so universally 
acknowledged by those who have experienced its operation in the 
late war, that it cannot be necessary to make many observations in 
relation to it. Nothing can appear more absurd than that the 
success of the most important military operations, on which the 
very fate of the country may depend, should ultimately rest on 
men who are subject to no military responsibility, and on whom 
there is no other hold than the penalty of a bond. When we add SUBSISTING THE ARMY. 
99 
to this observation that it is often the interest of a contractor 
to fail at the most critical juncture, when the means of supply 
become the most expensive, it seems strange that the system should 
have been continued for a single campaign. It may be said that, 
when the contractor fails, the commander has a right to purchase 
at his risk, by which the disasters which naturally result from a 
failure may be avoided. 
“The observation is more specious than solid. If, on failure 
of the contractor, there existed a well organized system for pur- 
chasing the supplies, there would be some truth in it; but without 
such a system, without depots of provisions, and with the funds 
intended for the supply of the army perhaps in the hands of a 
contractor, his failure must generally be fatal to a campaign. It 
is believed that a well organized commissariat, whose ordinary 
supplies are obtained by contract founded on public notice, pos- 
sesses (besides those peculiar to itself) all of the advantages fairly 
attributable to the system of issuing rations by contract. It is 
equally guarded against fraud, and its purchases can be made on 
terms more advantageous. A considerable objection to the system 
of issuing the ration by contract is, that the merchants and capi- 
talists are deterred from bidding, by the hazard of issuing the 
ration; and thus the sphere of competition is contracted, and the 
contracts for supplying of the army often thrown into the hands 
of adventurers. 
“ This objection is avoided under the present system, by which 
the nation will be cheaply supplied, and the danger of failure 
almost wholly removed. 
“All of which is respectfully submitted. 
J. C. Calhoun.”1 
It should be borne in mind, that when comparing 
the military establishment as provided by the law of 
1815 with that of 1802 and that of 1808, Mr. Calhoun 
was speaking of the organization of the army as pro- 
vided by law, not of its actual strength. There never 
was a time when the army was just full to the limit 
allowed by the organization. Just one month after 
'Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 779 et seq. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the foregoing letter, Mr. Calhoun transmitted to the 
President, for the use of the Senate, a detailed state- 
ment showing the actual numerical strength of the 
army at that time, according to the most recent 
returns. The total number, embracing the entire 
military establishment, was 7,676 officers and men, 
of which number 7,270 were on actual duty at the 
various military posts of the seaboard and frontier. 
At the same time, the Secretary sent down a report 
giving a return of the ordnance, mounted and un- 
mounted, at that time belonging to the United States, 
from which it appears there were then mounted 1,237 
mortars, howitzers, and cannon of various calibre, and 
1,580 pieces of unmounted ordnance.1 
There was at this time considerable discussion in 
the country and debate in Congress upon the subject 
of the Military Academy at West Point and the estab- 
lishment of an additional institution of the kind. Mr. 
Calhoun advocated the enlargement of the facilities 
of West Point for the reception and instruction of 
cadets, and thought that an additional academy might 
be desirable. Upon the general subject of military 
instruction he wrote several instructive and thought- 
ful papers. In one of these he said : “ No truth is 
better supported by history than that, other circum- 
stances being nearly equal, victory will be on the side 
of those who have the best instructed officers.”2 
xAm. St. Papers, Mil. Af., I., 8x3 et seq. 
21 quote this from memory, having loaned for the time the first 
volume of American State Papers, Military Affairs, near the close 
of which it will be found, substantially, if not literally, as given 
above. Mr. Calhoun had a fine capacity of saying a gopd deal in 
a terse sentence. The above is about as good as the famous saying 
of Bonaparte, that “ Heaven is on the side of the strongest bat- 
talions.” It is not true if the strongest battalions are ill handled. THE MILITARY ACADEMY. 
101 
Public discussion of the affairs of the Military 
Academy was greatly augmented during the year 
1819 by a series of insubordinate acts on the part 
of a number of the cadets. Some of these were 
summarily ordered to their homes, and, arriving at 
Washington, laid their grievances before the Secre- 
tary of War. Considerable excitement in the public 
mind grew out of the difficulty, but it was finally 
adjusted by the restoration of the principal offending 
cadets to the Academy pro forma, followed by their 
resignation. The affair was of value in that, in re- 
sponse to inquiries from Congress, it procured from 
the War Department elaborate statements of the 
money that had been expended upon the Academy, 
a complete register of the cadets from the beginning, 
and other facts of value pertaining to the institution.1 
The official labors of the War Department were 
doubtless as great and varied during its adminis- 
tration by Mr. Calhoun as at any other considerable 
period of its history. For some time during Mr. 
McHenry’s charge of the Department, while we were 
on the verge of war with France, during the war with 
Great Britain, and during the two general wars since, 
the routine labors of the Department were greater, 
but not such as originate and carry out reforms and 
institute and perfect material changes in establish- 
ments. Mr. Calhoun was very frequently called upon 
by Congress for information and for his views upon 
a great variety of matters connected with military 
affairs. I have already quoted at length his elaborate 
1 For all the particulars of the difficulty referred to, the Register 
of Cadets, etc., see Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 5-30, 51-67, 
75-98- 102 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
paper on the reduction of the army. On the 12th of 
December, 1820, he communicated to the House of 
Representatives another paper on the same subject 
with special reference to a bill then pending, propos- 
ing the reduction of the army to 6,000 men. Taking 
the same general views as those before presented by 
him, he enforced them with new facts and illustrations, 
making an unanswerable argument. On a very in- 
teresting point in the question, he said: 
“ No position connected with the organization of the peace 
establishment is susceptible of being more rigidly proved, than 
that the proportion of its officers to the rank and file ought to be 
greater than in a war establishment. It results immediately from 
a position, the truth of which cannot be fairly doubted, and which 
I have attempted to illustrate in the preliminary remarks, that the 
leading object of a regular army in time of peace ought to be to 
enable the country to meet with honor and safety, particularly at 
the commencement of war, the dangers incident to that state. To 
effect this object as far as practicable, the peace organization ought, 
as has been shown, to be such that, in passing to a state of war, 
there should be nothing to new model or to create; and that the 
difference between that and the war organization ought to be 
simply in the greater magnitude of the latter. . . Economy is cer- 
tainly a very high political virtue, intimately connected with the 
power and the public virtue of the community. In military oper- 
ations, which, under the best management, are so expensive, it is 
of the utmost importance; but by no propriety of language can 
that arrangement be called economical which, in order that our 
military establishment in peace should be rather less expensive, 
would, regardless of the purposes for which it ought to be main- 
tained, render it unfit to meet the dangers incident to a state of 
war. ’ ’1 
During the year 1820, the Department caused to 
be compiled, under the directions of Major-General 
1 For this valuable paper and the documents by which it was 
supported, see Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 188 et seq. REDUCTION OF THE ARMY. 
103 
Scott, a revised system of Army Regulations. A sys- 
tem of martial law for the army was also prepared, 
under the supervision of Judge-Advocate Storrow. 
The former was adopted by Congress — the section 
of the law so adopting being soon repealed, however 
— and the latter received also the sanction of Con- 
gress, with some modifications.1 
Early in the year 1821, the Secretary of War com- 
municated to the House of Representatives a state- 
ment of the number of militia called into the service 
during the years 1812, 1813, and 1814, that is to say, 
during our last war with Great Britain. This state- 
ment, prepared under the supervision of Peter Hag- 
ner, Third Auditor of the Treasury, embraced detailed 
statistics, showing the periods of service of the militia, 
their pay, and from what States and Territories drawn. 
The aggregate number of militia thus drawn is shown 
by this document to have been 4io,6c>3.2 
This valuable document was soon followed by an- 
other, under the same supervision, showing a list of 
all the real estate purchased by the government in 
the different States and Territories for military pur- 
poses. The statement gives the consideration and 
other facts.3 
The labors of the Department were temporarily 
augmented by the reduction of the army required 
by the act of Congress of March 2, 1821. This law 
provided that from and after the first of the following 
June, the military peace establishment of the United 
1 This edition of Army Regulations and system of martial law 
will be found in full Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 199-274. 
2 Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 279 et seq. 
3 Ibid., 282 et seq. 104 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
States should be composed of four regiments of 
artillery, seven of infantry, and certain officers of 
engineers, of ordnance, and of the staff; that the 
corps of engineers and the topographical engineers 
be retained ; for one major-general and two brigadier- 
generals; for one adjutant-general and two inspectors- 
general; for one quartermaster-general, two quar- 
termasters, and ten assistant quartermasters; for one 
commissary-general of subsistence and as many “as- 
sistant commissaries ” as the service might require, 
not exceeding fifty, to be taken from the subalterns 
of the line; for one paymaster-general and fourteen 
paymasters; for one surgeon-general, eight surgeons, 
and forty-five assistant surgeons; for one commissary 
of purchases and two military storekeepers, “ to be 
attached to the purchasing department.” The act 
also had this section: “ That the ordnance depart- 
ment shall be merged in the artillery; and the Presi- 
dent is hereby authorized to select from the regiments 
of artillery, such officers as may be necessary to per- 
form ordnance duties, who, while so detached, shall 
receive the pay and emoluments now received by 
ordnance officers, and shall be subject only to the 
orders of the War Department; and that the number 
of enlisted men in the ordnance department be re- 
duced to fifty-six.” 1 
With the exception of this merging of the ord- 
nance department in the artillery — which experience 
proved to be unwise — the appropriate staff depart- 
ments of the establishment were retained, with one 
in excess of philosophical requirement, namely, “ the 
rFor this act of Congress in full, see U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 
615-16. REDUCTION OF THE ARMY. 
I05 
purchasing department.” This always was a source 
of annoyance to the army, and of dispute between 
other staff departments. 
The delicate duties of reducing the military estab- 
lishment it would have been impossible to perform, 
without no little pain to the President and the head 
of the War Department, and disappointment and 
heart-burnings to officers discharged, “ razed,” and 
transferred. In the early part of 1822, the Military 
Committee of the House of Representatives inves- 
tigated this subject, and fully sustained the action of 
the President, which herein was the action of the 
War Department. “ While the committee,” said the 
report, “pay this just respect to officers retained in 
service, they wish not to detract from the merits of 
the many valuable officers who have been left out of 
the army or reduced in rank.” Which was precisely 
the feeling of those who were called upon to do the 
practical work of reorganization. There was, of 
course, considerable discussion in the executive ses- 
sions of the Senate upon the nominations of the 
officers sent down for confirmation, some of whom 
were rejected, but without any feeling of ill will 
against the administration.1 
The organization of the military establishment 
having been executed according to the requirements 
of the law of Congress, the army remained essen- 
tially the same in force down to the time of the 
Mexican war, the average strength in actual service 
being a little over five thousand, officers and enlisted 
men. The establishment of the staff departments 
1 See the House Report, Am. St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 379-80, 
and proceedings in the Senate, Ibid., 395-414. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
on the plan of independent bureaux, each responsible 
for the performance of its especial lines of duty, and 
all constantly reporting to the administrative head of 
the Department, was a notable success from the be- 
ginning, fully justifying the bright anticipations of 
Secretary Calhoun. In several reports to committees 
of Congress, he demonstrated the practical efficiency 
and economy of the system. 
Early in 1825 an edition of Army Regulations was 
published, being much the most complete and com- 
prehensive of any which had yet appeared. The 
work was prepared under the supervision of Major- 
General Scott, and its publication was among the 
last of the noteworthy events in the history of the 
War Department under the administration of John 
C. Calhoun. 
Henceforth, until about the time of the war with 
Mexico, the duties of the Department were princi- 
pally those of administering the affairs of the military 
establishment as at this time in law and fact organized. 
Considerable military works were constructed along 
the Atlantic sea-board and the Gulf of Mexico ; much 
was done on works of internal improvement, roads, 
rivers, and harbors; large quantities of arms were 
manufactured, distributed to the different States and 
Territories, placed in national works, supplied to the 
army, or stored for future use; Indian affairs were 
managed in the main with a success, as to the inter- 
ests of the Indians and of the republic, as great as 
has at any time since been achieved; expeditions 
across the continent were instituted, and were made 
so far successful during the period now under review 
as to fully warrant the prophecies of the few far-see- THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
107 
ing- statesmen who foretold that our Atlantic and Pa- 
cific coasts would be connected together by railways 
before the close of the nineteenth century. In that 
vast enterprise of material progress, and of national 
progress also, the Pacific Railroad, the War Depart- 
ment led the van. Some of the expeditions in this 
great work were in vigorous operation when the 
Mexican war began. CHAPTER IV. 
ACCOUNT OF THE DEPARTMENT BUILDINGS. 
A Sketch of the Public Buildings Occupied by the War De- 
partment— A Fuller Account of the Building so Occupied 
from the Secretaryship of Mr. Calhoun till the Year 1879 
— The Different Secretaries’ Apartments — Its Works of 
Art — Its Prospective Destruction — The Structure known 
as “ The War, State, and Navy Department Building.” 
WHILE the seat of government remained at New 
York, and also while Philadelphia was the capi- 
tal, the apartments used by the War Department were 
unpretending offices, very few in number, rented of 
private parties. Soon after Washington City became 
the capital, public buildings were ready for occu- 
pancy, namely: the Capitol, the Executive Mansion, 
and buildings for the War, State, Treasury, and Navy 
Departments. Round about the President’s house 
the government owned a large tract of land, the na- 
ture of which was very different from that which art 
has since caused it to assume. That which is now 
the beautiful La Fayette Park, with its wonderful 
variety of trees and shrubbery, and its much-debated 
statuary, was little better than a quagmire. There 
are men now living who have skated on its frozen 
waters in the cold snaps of nearly eighty years ago. 
The general surface of the land was also very differ- 
ent from what it has since been made by engineering 
skill and labor, which levelled hills down and valleys 
up in a remarkable manner. THE ORIGINAL PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 
But before the first public edifices were completed, 
the War Department occupied a building on Penn- 
sylvania Avenue, south side, between Twenty-first 
and Twenty-second streets — a large and handsome 
structure owned by Mr. Joseph Hodgson. This 
building, with many archives of the office, was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1801, and its blackened walls, long 
left standing, were for years called “ the Burned War 
Office.” 
The original design with respect to the construction 
of public buildings near the Executive Mansion, was 
that there should be four, one north-west, one north- 
east, one south-east, one south-west of the mansion, 
equidistant therefrom. This design was executed, 
and for many years the War Department building 
stood where it now (December, 1878) stands, the 
Navy Department also occupied its present position, 
the Treasury being near the present position of its 
south wing, and the State Department where the 
north wing of the Treasury now is. These buildings 
were all alike in exterior form, were built of common 
bricks, painted a drab color, and besides the base- 
ment contained two stories and an attic. In front of 
each, occupying about one-third of the elevation, was a 
colonnade, ornamented with Corinthian pillars, painted 
white. In fine, the illustration in this volume of the 
old War Department building is a representation of 
each of the four public buildings in the vicinity of the 
White House as they were originally designed, except 
that they were all one story less in height than ap- 
pears in the engraving. 
The distinguished financier and benefactor of his 
country’s capital, Mr. W. W. Corcoran, was a youth HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
living in Georgetown, when the public buildings were 
destroyed by the British in 1814. He saw the troops, 
about one hundred in number, as he thinks, march up 
the Avenue on August 25th, and set fire to the build- 
ings of the War and Navy Departments. He in- 
forms me that the building for the War Department 
first reconstructed, was the structure now occupied by 
the Navy Department, and which was for some time 
used by both Departments, what is known as the old 
War Department building having been completed 
about the year 1820, and first occupied by Secretary 
Calhoun. Entrance to the main floor of the old War 
and Navy building was for some years gained by a 
descent of several steps, so that there was a common 
saying: “the War Department is built in a hole in 
the ground.” The building first occupied as the War 
Office by Mr. Calhoun remained, until during the 
war of the rebellion, as originally constructed. Then 
its capacity was increased by an additional story. 
Secretary Calhoun, and his successors down to the 
time of Mr. Marcy, as nearly as I can learn from the 
traditions of the Department, occupied rooms in the 
south-eastern part of the first story of the building. 
Secretary Marcy removed departmental head-quar- 
ters one story higher, but in the same relative posi- 
tion. Here they remained until the secretaryship of 
Jefferson Davis, when they were removed to nearer 
the middle of the south elevation of the building, 
occupying a small room in rear of the stairway (now 
occupied by Colonel Henry Goodfellow, of the Bu- 
reau of Military Justice) and the two rooms next on 
the east. These were the apartments occupied by 
the different Secretaries until the time of Mr. Stan- OLD WAD DEPARTMENT BUILDING. DEPARTMENT PORTRAIT GALLERY. 
ton, though now and then a Secretary would occupy 
the room now occupied by Mr. Chief Clerk H. T. 
Crosby, at the south-eastern corner of the building. 
Secretary Stanton moved headquarters to the oppo- 
site side of the corridor, where they have since re- 
mained, the Secretaries themselves occupying the 
corner apartment, with consultation- and reception- 
rooms adjoining. Here Stanton, Schofield, Grant, 
Rawlins, Sherman, Belknap, Taft, the younger Cam- 
eron, and McCrary, have directed the affairs of the 
Department. 
Here also are the principal works of art belonging 
to the Department. Of these, the main attraction is 
“The War Department Portrait Gallery,” consisting 
of portraits in oil, in almost all instances by eminent 
artists, of all the Secretaries of War except the pres- 
ent incumbent of the office (Mr. McCrary, whose 
portrait will be added to the collection by his succes- 
sor), and of a number of other men distinguished in 
the conduct of military affairs. This interesting, in- 
valuable collection of paintings, is almost entirely of 
recent origin, nearly all of them having been fur- 
nished to the gallery during the administration of 
Secretary Belknap. 
Very appropriately, the portrait of General Knox 
is the largest of all in the collection; for Knox was 
the most prodigious of Secretaries. The portrait is 
a copy of a Gilbert Stuart, in Faneuil Hall, by a 
Boston artist, J. H. Young, and represents the Gen- 
eral in the Revolutionary buff and blue, and in full- 
dress of a major-general. The painting of Colonel 
Pickering is believed to be painted by Waldo, and 
;s certainly old. It was accidentally discovered 112 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
by General Belknap in an auction store in Warren 
street, New York, and, exactly corresponding with a 
picture by Waldo, mentioned by Mr. Pickering in his 
diary, was bought. It is enough like the painting by 
Stuart to justify the statement of its being a good 
likeness. The portrait of Mr. McHenry is a side- 
view, taken from an old, small picture, but is not a 
fine work. That of General Dearborn, by a Boston 
artist, is a very spirited work, representing the Gen- 
eral in full military dress. The portrait of Samuel 
Dexter is a fine copy by Professor R. W. Wier, of 
the Military Academy, as is that also of Mr. Eustis. 
General Armstrong was painted by Huntington, and 
the work, one of great spirit, presented to the De- 
partment by Mr. William B. Astor, of New York. 
Monroe is by Wier. William H. Crawford is repre- 
sented in an admirable copy of a Jarvis by Hunting- 
ton. The portrait of Calhoun is rather commonplace. 
Secretary Belknap found it at West Point, with the 
face turned toward the wall! He at once removed 
it to a prominent position in the Secretary’s room. 
The picture of Secretary Barbour is by Ulke, a copy. 
General Peter B. Porter is represented in a very 
spirited work by Huntington, from an original by 
Jarvis. The picture of Secretary J. M. Porter is by 
the same artist, from an original by a provincial art- 
ist, and is the representation of an unusually hand- 
some man. The Eaton is by Wier. General Cass 
is by Huntington, a most excellent work. Secretary 
ad interim Butler is by Wier, and presents a manly 
face and intellectual head above a standing collar 
and a high “stock.” The painting of Mr. Poinsett 
has been long in the Department, and the artist is d'epar tment for trait galter v. 
113 
unknown. That of John Bell shows a statesman in 
black coat and white vest, and is, I judge, by Le Cleary, 
though I do not find any record in this case. There 
are two paintings of Secretary Spencer, one poor, 
the other good, done by Huntington, from a family 
picture. The same artist supplied the likeness of 
Wilkins. Secretary Marcy is done in an admirable 
work by Ulke. Secretary G. W. Crawford, a fairly 
splendid-looking man, is by Huntington, from an 
original by Jarvis. The portrait of General Scott, 
which is rather effeminate, has been long in the office. 
His successor in charge of the Department, Mr. 
Conrad, is done in an animated work by Huntington, 
from a family picture. The portrait of Jefferson 
Davis, which occupies a prominent position in the 
Secretary’s room, is a flattering likeness by the same 
artist. This is also true of the painting of Secretary 
Floyd, which hangs by the side of that of Mr. Davis. 
Ulke has produced an excellent likeness and very 
superior work of art in the portrait of Judge Holt. 
Secretary Simon Cameron is well done by Thorp. 
One of the most spirited of all the paintings in the 
collection is that of Secretary Stanton, by Ulke. The 
portrait of Secretary ad interim Grant is one of the 
best in existence, and is by Huntington. There is- 
also a bust, in marble, of General Grant, by Preston, 
Powers, son of Hiram Powers. It is mounted on a 
pedestal of blue marble, and is a creditable but not 
surpassingly excellent work. I have never seen a 
first-rate picture of General Schofield of any kind. 
His portrait in this collection — by Alvord, of San 
Francisco, I believe — is as good as there is extant. 
Ulke has preserved General Rawlins in a noble por- 114 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
trait. General Sherman is by Huntington, and is a 
superb portrait. Secretary Belknap is by the same 
artist, but the work is not one of Huntington’s best. 
He also painted a spirited likeness of Secretary Taft. 
The younger Cameron, completing the list of Secre- 
taries up to the present head of the Department, is 
by Huntington, and is one of the most creditable 
works in the gallery. 
In addition to those of the Secretaries, there are 
three fine portraits of eminent soldiers of the Revo- 
lution—Washington, Lincoln, and Gates. These are 
copies of celebrated paintings by Huntington. A 
notable work in the ante-room is a half-length paint- 
ing of General Clarke, of the distinguished 
Virginia family of Revolutionary soldiers and ex- 
plorers. This fine portrait was placed in the collec- 
tion by Secretary Floyd. There are two portraits 
of General Jackson, one, in the dress of a major-gen- 
eral, by Sully. A fine portrait of General Worth, 
presented to Secretary Belknap by Inspector-Gen- 
eral Marcy, was donated by the Secretary to the 
“gallery,” which he did so much to found and per- 
fect. The spirited painting of General Zachary Tay- 
lor, is by W. G. Brown, of Richmond, Virginia. It 
was painted at Monterey, Mexico, during the Mexi- 
can war. Of soldiers distinguished in the late war, 
there are paintings of Generals McPherson, Meade, 
Blair, Sheridan, and Logan. The portrait of Gen- 
eral Blair is the most notable of these, being a fine 
likeness, remarkable for its accurate coloring, though 
painted from a photograph. The artist, Mr. Ulke, 
had been acquainted with General Blair during his 
lifetime, and memory supplied his art so well as to DEPARTMENT PORTRAIT GALLERY. 
enable him to produce this wonderfully accurate and 
animated portrait. The only civilian not at any time 
connected with the War Department whose picture 
belongs to this gallery, is the late distinguished 
Henry Wilson, who died while he was Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. Chairman of the Military 
Committee of the Senate during the entire period 
of the Civil War, and for several years thereafter, his 
likeness was appropriately made part of the War 
Department portrait gallery. A bust of Washing- 
ton, in bronze, from a plaster cast at Mount Vernon 
— the last taken from Washington in person — 
stands on the mantel in the room adjoining that of 
the Secretary. 
There are in the room of the chief clerk, twelve 
small paintings, representing as many battle scenes 
in the Mexican war. They are by Walker, who 
painted “ the Battle of Chapultepec,” which hangs in 
the west corridor leading to the Senate chamber. 
These small paintings have the same fulness of 
detail which characterizes the “ Chapultepec,” and 
are as spirited and gorgeous in coloring as that sin- 
gular work. The only other oil painting of note in 
the old Department building is a large work by Ore- 
gon Wilson, called “Woman’s Devotion,” showing a 
wounded Union soldier on a field being cared for by 
a beautiful woman. It is a work of great pathos. It 
is in the room of Colonel Poe, of General Sherman’s 
staffi but does not belong either to the army head- 
quarters or the Department. It is left on exhibition 
by the heirs of the artist, and I mention it here in the 
hope that Congress may make provision for its pur- 
chase. This dying soldier, with his magnificent maiden HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
lover, should be added to “ the War Department Por- 
trait Gallery.” In the same room and rooms adjoin- 
ing is the series of etchings of operations of the 
army, and incidents of the late war by E. Forbes. 
There are about fifty different pictures in the series, 
than which nothing could more successfully recall to 
mind the varied scenes and incidents of the war. 
Hanging among these graphic etchings are many 
engravings, all of superior artistic finish, of distin- 
guished American generals from the earliest times to 
the present. In the room of the popular Mr. E. M. 
Lawton, disbursing officer of the Department, are 
six large and elaborate French engravings of notable 
war scenes in the history of Bonaparte. In a room 
near by is the most spirited picture of General Jack- 
son extant, and is said by old citizens to be the best 
likeness of him. It is a lithograph, life-size. 
One of the most visited parts of the old War De- 
partment was the library, occupying rooms in the 
middle of the building adjoining those set apart for 
the Secretary. The library, comprising some fifteen 
thousand volumes of works of standard literature, 
and many recent publications, is always open for 
reference and consultation to the employes of the 
Department. Such employes and officers of the 
army sojourning at the capital, also have the priv- 
ilege of borrowing books from the library in limited 
number and for limited periods. About one thousand 
persons at this time avail themselves of this privilege. 
Connected with the library, but not for circulation, 
are great numbers of public documents, which have 
from time to time been issued by the authority of 
Congress. These, being chiefly legislative, executive, NEW DEPARTMENT BUILDING. ' 
117 
and departmental documents, are for consultation by 
such officials only as require their use in the line of 
their official duties. They have become so numerous 
that the large apartment devoted to their care is 
overcrowded, and the books have fallen into some 
confusion. 
A similar thing is true of the Department building 
itself, which has for many years been grossly inad- 
equate to accommodate the officers and employes of 
the Department. Hence bureaux and divisions of 
the War Department are scattered over a wide por- 
tion of the city, from Tenth to Twentieth streets, 
causing much inconvenience in the transaction of 
business, and vastly increasing the probabilities of 
loss of valuable property and invaluable archives by 
fire. Several years ago, Congress provided for the 
construction of a building for the use of the War, 
State, and Navy Departments. The southern por- 
tion has for some time been completed, and occupied 
by the Department of State. The middle eastern 
extension has now so far approached completion that 
it will be ready for occupancy during the spring of 
1879, whereupon the present occupants of the old 
War building will remove into the new one, trans- 
ferring thither the archives, files, works of art, the 
library, and all other movable property. Then the 
old building of so many historic associations will be 
razed to the ground, to make way for the north wing 
of the new structure. 
This edifice, commonly called “ the War, State, 
and Navy Department,” will be, when completed, an 
immense pile, occupying more ground than any 
other building in America. Its different floors will 118 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
consume several acres of superficial area, and it will 
contain every business day an average of more than 
two thousand men engaged in the service of the 
government, from statesmen renowned in both hemi- 
spheres to the common laborer. The plan of the 
building was designed by the noted A. B. Mullett, 
and the design is by many thought to be grand and 
beautiful. The immensity of the pile of itself will, 
perhaps, give it a grand appearance, but it may well 
be doubted whether we shall ever have anything in 
our architecture to equal the grand simplicity of the 
Patent Office, or the sublime beauties of the Capitol. 
If the men of the future who are called upon to con- 
duct the affairs of the War Department shall be equal 
to most of those who have conducted them in the 
past, they will honor the building, let its architecture 
be what it will. CHAPTER V. 
CONDUCT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS BY THE WAR 
DEPARTMENT. 
The General Indian Policy of the Government — The War 
Department in Charge of Indian Affairs until the Year 
1849 — The Situation of the Indians at the Time of the 
Establishment of the Government — An Account of their 
Gradual Removal Westward, as the Result of Wars and 
by the Operation of Treaties—Their Progress in Civiliza- 
tion WHILE UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT — 
Their Former and Present Situation Compared. 
AS has already been stated, the conduct of Indian 
affairs was in charge of the War Department 
from the beginning of the government. It so con- 
tinued until the year 1849, when the practical estab- 
lishment of the Interior Department by its first Sec- 
retary, the distinguished Thomas Ewing, resulted in 
the transfer of this portion of the public business to 
that Department, in accordance with the law under 
which it was organized. There the business has 
remained up to this time (January, 1879), with oft- 
recurring discussions in Congress and by the public 
press on the subject of retransferring it to the De- 
partment of War, where disinterested persons best 
informed upon the subject generally agree it appro- 
priately belongs. 
It would be difficult to understand the general In- 
dian policy of the government of the United States, 
without recollecting the fact that in its main features 
it is but the outgrowth of the general polity and prac- 120 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
tice of the nations of Christendom with respect to the 
inhabitants of the new world, after its discovery by 
Columbus, and during the long period of its original 
settlement and early development. 
The principle agreed upon by the nations of Europe 
with respect to their respective rights in America, 
was the principle of discovery. That is to say, dis- 
covery gave title to the government by whose sub- 
jects or by whose authority it was made, against all 
other European governments, which title might be 
consummated by possession. The exclusion of all 
other Europeans necessarily gave to the nation 
making the discovery the sole right of acquiring the 
soil from the natives, and establishing settlements 
upon it. It was a right with which no Europeans 
could interfere, which all asserted for themselves, 
and to the assertion of which, by others, all assented. 
Those relations which were to exist between the 
discoverer and the natives were to be regulated by 
themselves. The rights thus acquired being exclu- 
sive, no other power could interpose between them. 
In the establishment of these relations, the rights 
of the original inhabitants were in no instance entirely 
disregarded, but were necessarily, to a considerable 
extent, impaired. They were admitted to be the 
rightful occupants of the soil, with a legal as well as 
just claim to retain possession of it, and to use it 
according to their own discretion ; but their rights 
to complete sovereignty as independent nations were 
necessarily diminished, and their power to dispose 
of the soil at their own will, to whomsoever they 
pleased, was denied by the original fundamental 
principle that discovery gave exclusive title to those EARLY INDIAN POLICY. 
121 
who made it. While the different nations of Europe 
respected the right of the natives as occupants, they 
asserted the ultimate right to be in themselves, and 
claimed and exercised, as a consequence of this ulti- 
mate dominion, a power to grant the soil while yet 
in possession of the natives. These grants conveyed 
a title to the grantees, subject only to the Indian 
right of occupancy. The history of America, from 
its discovery to the present day, proves the universal 
recognition of these principles.1 
Upon these principles, which substantially amounted 
to the right of conquest, the Atlantic sea-board of the 
present United States was settled. The Indians in- 
habiting this portion of the continent were chiefly of 
the Algonquin stock, and Europeans gained posses- 
sion of the soil from what is now Maine to the Caro- 
linas by dispossessing, through one means or another, 
the Pequods, Narragansetts, Mohegans, Delawares, 
Powhatans, Catawbas, and some other tribes and 
bands. By the same policy, and the same resistless 
power, the frontier of settlements was pushed toward 
the interior, and the Indian occupancy still further 
toward the setting sun. In nearly, if not quite all 
instances, the Indian right of occupancy was bought, 
the bargain being in the nature of a treaty. Thus 
the original thirteen States of this Union were set- 
tled. 
The policy thus established by the consent of 
Christendom and the usage of centuries became at 
once, as by necessity, the established policy of the 
United States after the adoption of the federal Con- 
1 Graham’s Lessee vs. William McIntosh, 8 Wheaton’s Reports, 
543; opinion by Chief-Justice Marshall. 122 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
stitution. From the beginning the War Department 
was governed by this policy in all cases where the 
acquisition of Indian territory became necessary or 
desirable. It even had theoretical and practical diffi- 
culties to contend against which had not existed before 
the establishment of the government. These diffi- 
culties were settled by the authoritative announce- 
ment of the status of the various Indian nations with 
respect to the republic. They were denominated by 
the Supreme Court domestic dependent nations, 
rather than independent foreign nations. They oc- 
cupy a territory to which we assert a title indepen- 
dent of their will. Their relations to the United States 
resemble that of a ward to his guardian.1 
The duties of the guardian toward this singular 
and erratic ward were to be performed, by direction 
of law, by the War Department. Among its first 
performances in this line of duty was the negotiation 
of a treaty with “the Six Nations,” or Iroquois con- 
federacy, consisting of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onon- 
dagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras—powerful 
and warlike tribes inhabiting a large section of coun- 
try from Lake Champlain to the western extremity of 
Lake Erie. This treaty, negotiated in January, 1789, by 
General St. Clair, fixed the western boundary of the 
territory of this confederacy along what is now the line 
between Pennsylvania and Ohio. At the same time 
a treaty was negotiated with the Wyandot, Delaware, 
Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawatamie, and Sac nations, 
defining their boundaries in what is now north-eastern 
Ohio, northern Indiana, and Michigan, making sev- 
eral considerable reservations for the whites, and 
1 The Cherokee Nation vs. The State of Georgia, 5 Peters, 1. INDIAN TREATIES. 
123 
providing for trade with the Indians. In the follow- 
ing year a treaty was negotiated by General Knox, 
Secretary of War, with the Creeks, the most powerful 
tribe of the South, wherein the boundaries of their 
territory were agreed to. This territory embraced 
a large portion of Georgia. To the west, north, and 
north-west of the Creeks, in what is now Alabama, 
Tennessee, and the Carolinas, were the Cherokees, 
with whom a treaty of peace and friendship was about 
the same time negotiated. In 1795 another treaty 
was made with “ the Six Nations,” whereby they 
ceded a large quantity of lands to the United States, 
reserving to themselves a comparatively small area 
in New York. All north-eastern and much of west- 
ern New York were thus opened up to settlement. 
In the same year, General Wayne having defeated 
the Indians of the West, made a treaty with the Wy- 
andot, Delaware, Shawnee, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potta- 
watamie, Miami, Eel-river, Wea, Kickapoo, Pianka- 
shaw, and Kaskaskia nations, whereby large territory 
in Ohio was ceded to the United States, and many 
and considerable reservations to the westward of the 
frontier laid down in this negotiation. This frontier 
may be generally described as a line running between 
the present city of Cleveland, Ohio, and Louisville, 
Kentucky. South of the Ohio River in Kentucky, 
Tennessee, and northern Mississippi, according to 
modern maps, were the Chickasaws; and south of 
these, in Mississippi and western Alabama, were the 
Choctaws, with neither of which tribes, however, did 
the government enter into treaty stipulations until 
after the beginning of the nineteenth century. But 
we learn from the treaties to which reference has 124 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
been made, that whereas at the time of the establish- 
ment of the government under the Constitution, In- 
dians occupied the country west of a line in a general 
direction from Lake Champlain on the north-east to 
East Tennessee on the south-west and southward of 
a line extending thence south-eastward to the Atlan- 
tic, they had been pressed westward in half a dozen 
years, till nearly all of New York, Pennsylvania, Vir- 
ginia, and much of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Georgia, were relieved of their presence. 
In June, 1803, General Harrison negotiated a 
treaty, at Fort Wayne, with various tribes of Indians 
inhabiting Indiana and Illinois, whereby considerable 
cessions of lands were made to the United States, 
and rights of way and to build inns in the Indian 
country were conceded. In the summer of the same 
year the same officer concluded at Vincennes a treaty 
with the Kaskaskias, who were almost the sole rem- 
nants of the once powerful and numerous family of 
Indians known as the Illinois. This treaty begins in 
simple pathos. “Whereas,” it says, “from a variety 
of unfortunate circumstances the several tribes of 
Illinois Indians are reduced to a very small number, 
the remains of which have been long consolidated 
and known by the name of the Kaskaskia tribe, and 
finding themselves unable to occupy the extensive 
tract of country which of right belongs to them, and 
which was possessed by their ancestors for many 
generations, the chiefs and warriors of said tribe 
being also desirous of procuring the means of im- 
provement in the arts of civilized life, and a more 
certain and effectual support for their women and 
children, have, for the considerations hereinafter men- INDIAN TREATIES. 
tioned, relinquished, and by these presents do relin- 
quish and cede to the United States, all the lands in 
the Illinois country which the said tribe has heretofore 
possessed or which they may rightfully claim.” They 
reserved to themselves only about fifteen hundred 
acres of land, of which part was a cultivated farm 
near the village which bore the name of the tribe. 
In the following summer, General Harrison also 
negotiated treaties with the Delawares and Pianka- 
shaws, whereby the Indians ceded to the United 
States all the south-western part of the present State 
of Indiana. In 1805, a number of important treaties, 
whereby large areas of “ Indian country ” were ceded 
to the United States, were negotiated. Thus, by a 
treaty with various tribes of Indians inhabiting north- 
ern Ohio and Indiana and Michigan, the frontier on 
the North-west was moved a considerable distance 
westward; an advantageous treaty with the warlike 
Chickasaws gave the United States large parts of 
Kentucky and Tennessee ; General Harrison negoti- 
ated on the part of the United States several trea- 
ties with different tribes of Indians inhabiting the 
country to considerable distance on either bank of 
the Wabash River, in all of which valuable cessions 
of lands were made by the savages; the Creeks, in 
a treaty negotiated by Secretary of War Dearborn, 
made a large cession of their territory between the 
Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers ; the Cherokees also 
ceded a large area of the northern portion of their 
territory, and in the following year gave up to the 
United States, by a treaty which was also negotiated 
on the part of the government by the Secretary of 
War in person, all their lands lying northward of 126 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the river Tennessee. In the three following- years, 
the government also procured large cessions in Mich- 
igan from the Chippewa and other nations, in Indiana 
and Illinois from the Delawares and associate tribes, 
and in what is now Missouri and Arkansas, from the 
Great and Little Osages. 
It thus appears that about the time of the close of 
the administration of President Jefferson our actual 
frontier had advanced largely on the North-west,West, 
and South-west. As the Indians retreated, chiefly by 
reason of the treaties of which a brief account has 
thus been given, the citizens of the republic advanced, 
building themselves homes, and extending the benig- 
nant sovereignty of free institutions. From the es- 
tablishment of the government dowrn to the time now 
in immediate review, Vermont, in the North, Ohio in 
the then North-west, Kentucky and Tennessee in the 
South-west, had been admitted as States into the 
Union, and were never afterwards disturbed, except 
in a few instances during the war with Great Britain, 
by the horrors of savage warfare or the plunderings 
of savage bands. 
Unhappily, there appeared about this time a re- 
markable Indian, whose influence among many of 
the tribes of the West and North-west was very great, 
and was constantly exerted in all the ways known to 
Indian eloquence, cunning, and superstition, in be- 
half of war against the people of the United States. 
This was the celebrated Tecumseh. Soon after the 
beginning of the present century this singular man 
entered upon a system of savage diplomacy whose 
object was war with the people of this republic. A 
chief of the strong and exceedingly warlike Shawnee BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 
127 
nation, possessed of remarkable cunning and powers 
of persuasion, he visited many of the Western tribes 
in person, stirring them up to feelings of hatred for 
their white neighbors, who, it was plain, were rapidly 
forcing them from the homes and hunting-grounds 
of their ancestors. In these warlike though secret 
errands, Tecumseh was aided in a singular and most 
powerful manner by his brother Elskwatawa, “The 
Prophet.” The Prophet was noted for his ghastly 
human ugliness, which, however, gave him added 
power over the savage mind. He was looked upon 
as a powerful evil spirit, whom it were impious and 
unsafe to disobey. His superstitious appeals were 
fairly irresistible by the rude savages to whom they 
were addressed. These machinations, pursued for 
years among the Western tribes, and even among the 
Creeks of the South, produced the desired result, 
and many tribes — largely those who had defeated 
St. Clair, and whom Wayne had subsequently terribly 
punished — resolved upon war. The result was a 
harassing savage war on the North-western border, 
brought to a consummation most disastrous to the 
Indians by the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 
1811, wherein the confederated Indians, under the 
command of Tecumseh himself, were utterly defeated 
and put to rout by General Harrison. 
The fact that this notable victory occurred just on 
the eve of our war with Great Britain, unquestionably 
prevented our taking advantage of it by negotiations 
which would have been of great benefit to the country, 
in respect of another advance of our frontier on the 
far West. Nevertheless, before the close of the war 
— July, 1814 — General Harrison concluded an ad- 128 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
vantageous treaty of peace and friendship with the 
principal tribes of the Wabash country, and General 
Jackson, who had defeated the Creeks in a series of 
sanguinary battles, in the following month negotiated 
with them a treaty not only of perpetual peace and 
friendship, but one which compelled them to sur- 
render to the government an immense area of terri- 
tory.1 Thus Harrison and Jackson, who did about 
the best fighting of the war, also did the most for the 
“ march of our civilization,” by making a way for our 
citizens to extend their frontier on the west and on 
the south. 
In the war with Great Britain, most of the Indian 
tribes took part against the United States; but such 
was not the case with part of “ the Six Nations ” in 
the East, large parts of the Delawares, Wyandots, 
Western Senecas, Shawnees, and Western Sacs in the 
West, the Cherokees and Chickasaws of the South. 
These remained faithful to the United States, there 
being no considerable defection among the Chero- 
kees or Chickasaws. Soon after the close of the 
war, Governor Ninian Edwards, of the Territory of 
Illinois, Governor William Clark, of the Territory of 
Missouri, and August Chouteau, a citizen of Mis- 
souri, were recommended by the Department of War, 
and appointed by the President, ministers plenipo- 
tentiary to negotiate treaties of peace and friendship 
with various tribes occupying the territory now em- 
braced by the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, 
1 For this quite remarkable treaty,see U. S. Stat. at Large, VII., 
120 et seq. All the treaties to which reference has been or will 
be made in this chapter will be found in same volume, unless other- 
wise noted. INDIAN TREATIES. 
Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Ne- 
braska. Between the 15th of July, 1815, and the 
latter part of August, 1818, these plenipotentiaries 
negotiated no less than twenty-five such treaties with 
more than that number of independent savage tribes. 
These treaties were brief but explicit conventions of 
peace and friendship, with express acknowledgment 
on the part of the Indians of their dependence upon 
the United States for protection. In some instances 
the treaties also embraced cessions of lands to the 
government. Thus, in a treaty with the Ottawas, 
Chippewas, and PottawatamieS “ residing on the Illinois 
and Melwakee Rivers,” the Indians ceded a large area 
in Illinois, and by a treaty with the Great and Little 
Osages, the United States became possessed of their 
lands south of the Arkansas River. Other treaties 
of like nature, with more powerful tribes, were from 
time to time negotiated by other plenipotentiaries, 
notably by Generals Harrison and Cass and Gov- 
ernor Duncan McArthur, in the West and North- 
west, and General Jackson in the South, so that by 
about the year 1820, or a little later, the great bulk 
of the territory east of the Mississippi River, and 
large areas west thereof, were open to settlement by 
the whites without the least danger of molestation by 
the savages. Since 1812, Louisiana, Indiana, Missis- 
sippi, Illinois, and Alabama had been admitted into 
the Union, Missouri had adopted a State Constitu- 
tion, and Arkansas had been organized into a separate 
Territory. In all these States and Territories there 
was still a considerable Indian population, but by force 
of treaty stipulations it was confined on small reser- 
vations, so that it interfered as little as practicable 130 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
with the progress of settlement and the steady devel- 
opment of the country westward. 
It were tedious and unprofitable to relate further 
the details of the many treaties with Indian tribes, 
negotiated through the agency of the War Depart- 
ment down to the year 1849, whereby the United 
States became possessed of nearly all the vast ex- 
panse lying between the Appalachian range and the 
western boundary of the tier of States lying west of 
the Mississippi River. These acquisitions, made at 
various times and on different terms, enabled the 
whites to open up to settlement and civilization not 
only the great States already mentioned, but later, 
and before the control of Indian affairs was trans- 
ferred to another branch of the government, the 
States of Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, 
Wisconsin, and Iowa. In the performance of the 
duty of removing these obstacles in the way of 
national development and of the progress of civili- 
zation, it was impossible always to avoid misunder- 
standings and wars. The wars between the United 
States and Indians, both in the North and in the South, 
were in most instances bloody, and always terribly 
cruel on -the part of the savages. It was natural, 
when they were at last defeated, that they should be 
made to suffer heavily for the horrors they had com- 
mitted. Thus their own conduct, as every one will 
remember in the case of the Black Hawk war in 
1832, was a powerful cause of their rapid movement 
toward the West. It is not a distinguishing quality 
of savage genius to deserve much kindly treatment, 
and those who understand American Indians best, 
would probably agree that where there is one Keo- INDIAN TRADE. 
131 
kuk there are a thousand Tecumsehs and Sitting- 
Bulls.1 
But the removal of savage tribes out of the way 
of our national development, was only a part of the 
duties required of the War Department with respect 
to these unhappy people. There must necessarily 
be less or more intercourse between them and the 
whites of the frontier, and there has always been 
considerable profit in Indian trade. The regulation 
of this intercourse and trade, prescribed by law, was 
in charge of the War Department. Congress from 
time to time passed acts “ to regulate trade and in- 
tercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve 
peace on the frontiers,” which, with the exception 
of the boundaries of the Indian country laid down 
in the acts, were in each instance substantially the 
same, from the year 1796 down to the year 1822. 
These acts prohibited any citizen or resident of the 
United States from passing within the prescribed 
Indian limits to hunt or destroy game, or to drive 
cattle or other live-stock thither to range on the 
Indian lands. They also prohibited persons from 
passing through the lands allotted to the Indians 
without passports from certain designated officials, 
and provided severe penalties in punishment of 
1A very interesting case of the movement of Indians westward 
is found in a tribe renowned in history, in romance, and in song 
— the Delawares. They originally lived on the shores of the At- 
lantic, inhabiting the country now known as the State of Dela- 
ware, and the banks of the river of the same name, and of the 
Schuylkill. Few in numbers, listless, and unenergetic, all there 
are left of this once powerful nation are now incorporated with 
another tribe near the centre of the Indian Territory. As an 
independent people, the Lenni-Lenape are extinct. 132 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
those committing crimes against the Indians or their 
property. Trade could be carried on with the In- 
dians only by Indian traders, each of whom received 
a license for the purpose from the Indian office in the 
War Department, and was required to enter into 
bonds for the faithful performance of his duties ac- 
cording to law and regulations. Trading-houses 
were also authorized to be established at as many 
places in the Indian country as might be designated 
by the President. These trading-houses, authorized 
by a different series of acts of Congress from that 
above referred to, were in the charge of “ agents,” 
under the direct supervision of the superintendent 
of Indian trade. They, too, were placed under heavy 
bonds for the faithful performance of their duties. 
They were totally distinct from the Indian traders. 
The traders carried on business on their own account, 
supplying their own capital and goods; the agents 
conducted the business of the trading-houses for the 
United States, which supplied the capital and goods. 
The furs and peltries thus acquired were sold at 
public auction by the government, at different places 
in the country designated by the President. 
On the system thus described business with the 
Indians was conducted and intercourse carried on 
until 1822, when the trading establishments were 
abolished by act of Congress, and the proceeds di- 
rected to be turned into the public treasury.1 At 
about the same time an act was passed amending the 
law regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian 
tribes, whereby the granting of licenses to trade was 
given to superintendents of Indian affairs and Indian 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 679. INDIAN CIVILIZA TION. 
agents, these being required to make regular returns 
of their doings in the premises to the Secretary of 
War. Stringent provision was made against illicit 
trade with the Indians, and all traders and officials 
having to do with Indian affairs were required to 
report regularly and fully to the War Department.1 
This continued to be substantially the system for the 
regulation of trade and intercourse with the Indians 
so long as the management of their affairs remained 
in the War Department. A general superintendent 
of Indian affairs, to reside at St. Louis, was authorized 
by the act of 1822, which gave to that city, for many 
years, an extensive and profitable Indian trade. 
Nor, while thus engaged in constantly extending 
the area of our territory for national development, 
and in the manifold labors growing out of the regu- 
lations of trade and intercourse with the Indians, did 
the War Department fail to pay large attention to 
those interesting questions of humanity and civiliza- 
tion which pertain to the solution of the Indian prob- 
lem. From the beginning, the Department demanded 
and labored for the civilization of the Indians. This, 
a consummation so devoutly to be wished, is a task 
the accomplishment of which is exceedingly difficult. 
In its beginnings especially the work must be so slow 
as to make progress scarcely perceptible. To the 
American Indian labor is wonderfully repugnant. 
He is a natural tramp. Generous philanthropists 
and ardent humanitarians may not like to hear it, 
but it is nevertheless true, that time and force are 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 682. It should be stated that Gov- 
ernors of Territories were, ex-officio, so to say, Indian superin- 
tendents. 134 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
necessary to overcome the Indian repugnance to 
steady work, the genius of the American savage for 
vagabondage. 
Hence years were required to make even a visible 
beginning in the civilization of the Indians. Among 
the Indians themselves the pioneers in the work 
of civilization have always been the Cherokees, and 
they are now the most civilized of North American 
Indians, unless an exception be made of individuals 
among the remnants of “the Six Nations,” in New 
York. The salubrious climate and beautiful scenery 
of the original Cherokee country no doubt did much 
to smooth down the rugged edges of savage char- 
acter, and to fit the nation for the position of leader- 
ship in the march out of the wilderness of barbarism. 
As early as the autumn of 1808, a deputation of 
the Upper and Lower Cherokee towns visited the 
national capital, with the authority of the entire 
Cherokee nation, with the object of declaring to the 
President their desire to engage in the pursuits of 
agriculture and the arts of civilization, and to ask the 
assistance of the government herein. In this dep- 
utation there were two sets of delegates, one repre- 
senting the Lower Cherokees, the other the Upper 
Cherokees, both agreeing in the petition to the Pres- 
ident for aid in behalf of those who desired civiliza- 
tion, but the Lower bands making known their wish 
to continue as hunters. These, on account of the 
scarcity of game, wanted more lands, while the Upper 
Cherokees would be content with less. The Pres- 
ident advised the removal of those requiring more 
lands to the country on the waters of the Arkansas and 
White rivers, “ and the higher up the better.” This “INDIAN TERRITORY:1 
was the original negotiation in that scheme of Indian 
colonization and civilization which, since the act of 
May 28, 1830,1 has been in progress in what is called 
“ Indian Territory,” a vast expanse set apart and for- 
ever secured and guaranteed for such Indian tribes as 
might exchange their lands for lands in this territory. 
The already existing difficulties with Great Britain, 
however, and the war which not long afterwards 
occurred, prevented the speedy carrying out of the 
scheme suggested to the Cherokees by President 
Jefferson. But the idea seemed good to the Indians, 
and was at length practically adopted. The Chero- 
kees explored the country designated by Jefferson, 
and selected lands in that region not claimed by 
others. In July, 1817, General Jackson, General 
David Meriwether, and Governor Joseph McMinn, 
of Tennessee, plenipotentiaries on the part of the 
United States, negotiated a treaty with the Chero- 
kees, substantially executing Mr. Jefferson’s scheme. 
By this important treaty, the Cherokees ceded large 
extents of their country to the United States, and 
received therefor the same quantity of lands, acre 
for acre, on the Arkansas. They were also to be 
paid for their improvements on their lands, and to be 
furnished with transportation to their new hunting- 
grounds, and an ample supply of provisions. 
Such was the original treaty, which was ratified by 
the Senate, and proclaimed by the President in the 
following December, which resulted at length in the 
settlement of the Indian Territory, with the avowed 
object of Indian civilization. The principal migra- 
tions thither did not occur, however, until the years 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, IV., 411. 136 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
1831 and 1832, when the Chickasaws, Choctaws, 
Creeks, and Cherokees (except a remnant still living 
in North Carolina), left the land of their ancestors 
for new homes and hunting-grounds on lands most 
solemnly guarantied to them and their progeny for- 
ever, but which corporational rapacity is already 
seeking to wrest from them by an act of legislative 
robbery. The Seminoles followed later, and from 
time to time other tribes and bands were added on 
the negotiation of treaties for exchange of lands, 
until the population of the Territory was supposed 
to be about fifty thousand souls, when the War De- 
partment gave up the control of Indian affairs. 
But before this scheme of colonization had been 
even suggested, the War Department had instituted 
measures for the civilization of the Indians which had 
produced good fruits. In a treaty negotiated on the 
part of the United States by Secretary Knox, in 
August, 1790, with the Creeks, it was provided “ that 
the Creek nation may be led to a greater degree of 
civilization, and to become herdsmen and cultivators 
instead of remaining in a state of hunters, the United 
States will from time to time furnish gratuitously the 
said nation with domestic animals and implements of 
husbandry.” Other provisions for the actual teach- 
ing of the Indians in husbandry and learning and the 
mechanic arts were made. Like provisions were made 
in treaties with other nations, so that a number of tribes 
had made some progress in civilization before the war 
with England interrupted these benignant labors of 
the Department. After the restoration of peaceful 
relations with the Indians, these efforts were re- 
sumed, schools were established, and considerable INDIAN CIVILIZATION. 
137 
progress made in the rudiments of learning. Annual 
appropriations, varying in amount, were made for 
this object. In his report of December 3, 1824, to 
the President, Secretary Calhoun said: “ The appro- 
priation of $10,000 annually for the civilization of the 
Indians, is producing very beneficial effects by im- 
proving the condition of the various tribes in our 
neighborhood. Already thirty-two schools are estab- 
lished in the Indian nations, and for the most part 
are well conducted, in which, during the present year, 
nine hundred and sixteen youths of both sexes have 
been instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic, and all 
of the ordinary occupations of life.”1 In the follow- 
ing year, Secretary Barbour, in his regular report, 
said: “The effect of our policy in furnishing the 
means of education to the Indian youths is disclosed 
in the report (on Indian affairs), by which it will be 
seen that in this year eleven hundred and fifty-nine 
have profited by our liberality.”2 It was in the special 
interest of the civilization of the Indians that a com- 
missioner of Indian affairs, with very full powers under 
the Secretary of War, was authorized by law in 1830.3 
Thus the work of civilization constantly made some 
progress, so that at the close of the war with Mexico, 
there were about four thousand pupils in the schools, 
large quantities of land successfully cultivated, very 
many comfortable houses, shops, and factories, great 
numbers of cattle and other live-stock owned by in- 
dividual Indians.4 
St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 699. 2Ibid., III., in. 
3U. S. Stat. at Large, IV., 564. 
4 For many, but not wholly reliable, statistics as to the situation 
of the Indians at various epochs, see Schoolcraft, passim. 138 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Not long after the close of the Mexican war, the 
conduct of Indian affairs by the War Department 
came to an end. The acquisition of Texas, and of a 
vast extent of territory besides, as a result of the 
war, added very largely to the Indian population of 
the republic — a population almost as varied in char- 
acter as in the number of its tribes and bands, from 
the enervated, dirt-eating sloths of the far South-west 
to the restless robbers of the Rio Grande, the Co- 
manches and Apaches, “ the Arabs of the American 
continent.” As this great number of Indians came 
under the control of the republic, the Department 
of the Interior assumed control of Indian affairs. 
During the sixty years’ conduct of those affairs by 
the War Department, nearly half the territory of the 
Union had been opened up to settlement and actual 
development. From the shores of Lake Champlain 
to the farther boundary of the tier of commonwealths 
beyond the Mississippi River, and to the Gulf of Mex- 
ico on the south, the savages had been removed to 
a safe distance, or were confined within narrow res- 
ervations easily guarded by the military. In this vast 
expanse, embracing much of the magnificent valley 
of the Mississippi, from which the Indians were re- 
moved to make way for our march of empire, nearly 
a score of States were formed, which, in 1879, con- 
tain more than half the population of the republic, 
and the preponderance of its political power. This 
great work was accomplished without notable injus- 
tice or corruption, the condition of the Indians them- 
selves being all the while improved with respect to 
comfort, the means of happiness, and the enlighten- 
ment of their minds, darkened by the shadows of 
centuries of ignorance and savagery. CHAPTER VI. 
THE BUREAUX OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
History of the Different Bureaux of the Department—The 
Adjutant-General’s Department — The Inspector-General’s 
Department — The Bureau of Military Justice — The Signal 
Office — The Quartermaster’s Department. 
rPHE necessity of a system of staff departments 
.1 for a military establishment — a system organized 
upon philosophical principles — as well in time of 
peace as during war, has been recurred to several 
times in the course of this work. The present mil- 
itary bureaux of the United States government, it is 
believed, form such a system, being neither too many 
nor too few for the accomplishment, in the most 
natural, the most economical, and the most efficient 
manner, of all the labors and duties required of a 
military establishment. The system represented in 
these bureaux has been of slow growth, being the 
result of more than a century’s experience, and of 
the studies and reflections of the best military minds 
of the country. A sketch of their origin and growth 
could not be omitted in any fair history of the War 
Department. 
I. THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT. 
This department, so important, so absolutely nec- 
essary, according to all modern notions on the sub- 
ject, for the organization and management of armies, 
for many years in the history of the United States, 
139 140 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
may be described as a department on horseback. In 
peace or war this department, by whatsoever name 
it may be called, is the right arm of the military es- 
tablishment, — the medium of its orders and com- 
mands, the custodian of its records and archives, the 
guardian of its documentary and best evidence, from 
the muster of the humblest enlisted man to the com- 
mission of the commander-in-chief, and the orders on 
the field of a pitched battle. Nevertheless, so imper- 
fect and crude were the ideas of our people and 
legislators with respect to military affairs, or, perhaps 
it is more correct to say, so indifferent were they in 
regard to them, that there was no genuine, permanent 
organization of an adjutant-general’s department in 
our military establishment until more than a score of 
years after the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States. 
Of course there was, by military necessity, all this 
time something taking the place, practically, of this 
all-important branch of the military establishment, 
but it was, to use the expressive words of Scripture 
describing the world in the early ages of creation, 
without form and void. It was scattered with the 
different corps of the army, and was without author- 
itative head at the centre of government. Perhaps 
the best was done, by force of military orders, that 
could be done without a regular organization of the 
department. Thus, to go back to revolutionary 
times, the distinguished General Horatio Gates was 
appointed adjutant-general of the army in June, 1775, 
and held the office for about a year. He was suc- 
ceeded by the even more distinguished Joseph Reed. 
Before the close of that war, General St. Clair and EARLY HISTORY OF THE BUREAU. 
141 
Colonel Timothy Pickering, afterwards Secretary of 
War, filled the office. The importance of the office 
was thus early recognized, which makes it all the 
more remarkable that the organization of the bureau 
was not earlier considered and perfected by legisla- 
tion. 
Upon the organization of the government of the 
United States under the Constitution, the army con- 
sisted of a single regiment of infantry, eight compa- 
nies, and a battalion of artillery, four companies. 
There was no general staff. Within about two years 
this force was increased by the addition of four com- 
panies to the regiment of infantry, and of a second 
regiment of infantry. General officers and subordi- 
nate staff were provided. It was not until 1796, 
however, that an adjutant-general was placed on 
duty at the seat of government under the immediate 
orders of the Secretary of War; and so ill was the 
office provided for by law, that several times it was 
filled by detail from the line. The army was largely 
increased in 1798 on account of the difficulties with 
France, and at this time an adjutant-general, with the 
rank and pay of a brigadier-general, was appointed. 
The office was of short duration, continuing only 
until May, 1800. Major Thomas H. Cushing, by 
detail, filled the office of “adjutant and inspector of 
the army ” for some two years, when it was created 
by law, and he regularly appointed and confirmed 
therein. 
On the increase of the army by the act of January, 
1812, an adjutant-general, with general rank, was 
again provided ; but it was not until the act of March 
3, 1813, that an adjutant-general’s department was 142 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
authorized by law. The act provided that the de- 
partment should consist of “an adjutant-and inspec- 
tor-general,” with the rank and pay of a brigadier- 
general, and sixteen assistant adjutant-generals, each 
with the brevet rank and pay of a major of cavalry. 
This department was also disbanded after the war, 
when the army was reduced to a peace footing; 
but by general orders of May 17, 1815, President 
Madison saved it from actual abolishment by direct- 
ing that one adjutant-and inspector-general and two 
adjutant-generals be provisionally retained. In the 
following year Congress recognized and made per- 
manent the offices thus provisionally retained, and 
provided that the department should consist of an 
adjutant- and inspector-general, with the rank and 
pay of a brigadier-general; an assistant adjutant- 
general with the rank of colonel, to each division 
(two) ; and an assistant adjutant-general with the 
rank of major, to each brigade (four). The depart- 
ment thus remained till 1821, when an act of Con- 
gress provided that the aids-de-camp to the major- 
general and brigadier-generals should perform the 
duties of assistant adjutant-general. The office of 
adjutant- and inspector-general was abolished, and 
that of adjutant-general created, who, in effect, formed 
the department as matter of law.1 In 1838, the de- 
partment was again increased to seven officers, the 
head of the department remaining, and being rein- 
forced by two assistants with the brevet rank of ma- 
jor, and four with the brevet rank of captain.2 In 
1846, the war with Mexico brought an increase of 
four officers to the department, and these were 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 615. 2Ibid., V., 257, sec. 1. ROSTER OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE. 
143 
increased during the following year by three more, 
The department thus consisted of fourteen officers, 
and so remained until the war of the rebellion made 
another increase necessary. By acts of Congress of 
1861 and 1862, the strength of the department was 
placed at twenty officers, and the grade of captain 
was abolished, that of major being the lowest in the 
corps. Some other changes, which, however, proved 
to be of a temporary nature, were subsequently made 
by acts of Congress ; but the act of March 3, 1875, 
placed the department upon a permanent basis, pro- 
viding for an adjutant-general, with the rank and pay 
of a brigadier-general; two assistant adjutant-gen- 
erals with the rank of colonel; four, with the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel; and ten, with the rank of major. 
Since this time, such has remained the organization 
of the department, open to promotions and appoint- 
ments on the occurrence of vacancies. During all 
this time, as he had been for some years before, Gen- 
eral Edward D. Townsend has been the adjutant- 
general of the army. 
The roster of the adjutant-general’s department 
by the last official register is as follows: 
Adjutant-General. — Brigadier-General Edward D. Townsend. 
Assistant Adjutant-Generals. — Colonels Richard C. Drum, 
James B. Fry; Lieutenant-Colonels John C. Kelton, Robert 
Williams, William D. Whipple, Chauncey McKeever; Majors 
George D. Ruggles, Thomas M. Vincent, Oliver D. Greene, 
Samuel Breck, Louis H. Pelouze, Henry C. Wood, Joseph H. 
Taylor, James P. Martin, Edward R. Platt, Samuel N. Benjamin. 144 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
II. THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT. 
The duties appropriately pertaining to the adjutant- 
general’s department, and those appropriately per- 
taining to the inspector-general’s department were, 
as my readers must have observed, for many years 
commingled and joined together by law and usage. 
It seems to have been generally supposed that these 
departments went together by a kind of natural mili- 
tary jointure. Yet the duties of the two are entirely 
different and distinct, being no whit more alike than 
are the duties of the adjutant-general’s department 
like those of the quartermaster’s department. As 
the name of the inspector’s department implies, its 
duties are to inspect the army—its arms, large and 
small, accoutrements, the clothing of the soldiers, 
their tents, barracks, and quarters, the state of the 
different corps in drill, discipline, the care of their 
arms, etc., etc. These duties, it will be observed, are 
exceedingly important. Thoroughly performed, they 
save the government against dishonest and fraudu- 
lent contractors, and imperfect stores and materiel of 
all kinds, and the army against the dangers of dirt, 
imperfect discipline, and inefficient command. It 
will be seen that these duties have no natural con- 
nection with those of an adjutant-general’s depart- 
ment. 
Some time in the year 1876, General (then Colonel) 
R. B. Marcy, Inspector-General of the United States 
Army, prepared a brief historical sketch of the de- 
partment of which he was the head. In this little 
pamphlet, he said: “Until the adoption by Congress 
of the Revised Statutes now in force, it was not BARON STEUBEN. 
145 
understood that the inspector-generals, authorized by- 
existing laws from time to time, constituted as a body 
a legal department. They were viewed as individual 
inspectors, assigned to the headquarters of the army 
for the Department of War for inspection service, 
and placed upon a footing similar to that of senior 
aides-de-camp; but the number of officers was so 
limited, and their rank and standing so fixed, that 
the question had no significance. Up to the time of 
the war of the rebellion, there was no inspector- 
general’s office in Washington. It has been insisted 
upon, however, that the inspector-generals have con- 
stituted a department in the view of the law. Scott’s 
Military Digest also takes this view. The doubt is 
now, however, disposed of by legislation.” 
It is remarkable that in the organization of the 
Continental army at the beginning of the Revolution, 
no provision was made for inspection. The lack of 
this needful staff department was soon seen in many 
and great abuses. General Washington urged the 
necessity of the appointment of inspector-generals, 
and his urgent views were complied with by Con- 
gress, which directed the appointment of two general 
officers for inspection duty. The first one appointed 
was Brigadier-General Conway, who, however, soon 
gave up the commission, being appointed a major- 
general in the army. The illustrious Baron Steuben 
was appointed inspector-general of the army in May, 
1778, in which position, all historians agree, he intro- 
duced that thorough system of discipline among the 
American troops which largely contributed to their 
ultimate triumph. After this there were always in 
the army inspector-generals, but, as stated by Gen- 146 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
eral Marcy, they were not regularly and expressly 
organized by law into a staff department until the 
year 1874, when the Revised Statutes became the 
general body of federal law. They were from time 
to time increased, and from time to time diminished 
in number, according to what was supposed to be the 
needs of the service. The Revised Statutes provided 
that the department should consist of five inspector- 
generals, with the rank of colonel of cavalry; one 
assistant inspector-general, with the rank of lieu- 
tenant-colonel of cavalry ; and two assistant inspector- 
generals, with the rank of major of cavalry. By an 
act of Congress of December 19, 1878, Inspector- 
General Marcy was made a full brigadier-general. 
Since then the department has consisted of the in- 
spector-general of the army, with the rank of brig- 
adier-general ; three inspector-generals, with the rank 
of colonel; two assistant inspector-generals, with the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel; and one with the rank of 
major. 
The corps of the inspector-general’s department 
is at this time (January, 1879) composed of the fol- 
lowing officers: 
Inspector-Generals. — Brigadier-General Randolph B. Marcy; 
Colonels Delos B. Sackett, Edmund Schriver, Nelson H. Davis. 
Assistant Inspector-Generals. — Lieutenant-Colonels Roger 
Jones, Absalom Baird ; Major Elisha H. Luddington. 
III. THE BUREAU OF MILITARY JUSTICE. 
This interesting branch of the War Department, 
like the inspector-general’s department, as an organ- 
ized bureau under the direct orders of the Secretary 
of War, is of recent origin. The origin of the de- EARL Y JUDGE-AD VOCA TES. 
147 
partment, however, as remarked by Judge Advocate- 
General Dunn, “is practically contemporaneous with 
the adoption of a military code.”1 Accordingly, we 
find that very early in the War of Independence the 
Continental Congress adopted articles of war, and 
created the office of judge-advocate of the army. 
And to this office, in July, 1775, was elected William 
Tudor, the elder, a distinguished counsellor of Bos- 
ton, afterwards prominent in the politics of Massa- 
chusetts, holding several offices of trust and honor. 
As judge-advocate Mr. Tudor held the rank of lieu- 
tenant-colonel. He filled the office about three years, 
remaining most of the time at army headquarters. 
He was succeeded as judge advocate-general by 
John Lawrance, the most noted jurist and statesman 
of New York, afterwards judge of a United States 
court in that State, and later United States Senator, 
being president p7'o tempore of the Senate in 1798. 
He was judge-advocate in the trial of Major Andre. 
He resigned in May, 1782, and was succeeded by 
Colonel Thomas Edwards, who had been his prin- 
cipal assistant. 
After the organization of the government under 
the Constitution, judge-advocates were for some years 
detailed from the line by orders. On the reorgan- 
ization of the army, however, in 1797, a judge-advo- 
cate was provided for by law, to be taken from the 
line, and to receive liberal extra pay and allowances. 
This act remained in force about five years, after 
which judge-advocates were chosen by detail, as 
1 Hist, of the Judge Advocate-General’s Department. Pam- 
phlet, p. i. To this pamphlet I am mainly indebted for the facts 
on the subject now being treated. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
before. On the increase of the army by the act of Jan- 
uary ii, 1812, a judge-advocate for each division was 
created, with the rank and pay of major. In 1816, it 
was enacted that there should be three judge-advo- 
cates to each division, with the same rank, pay, and 
emoluments as before. This law remained in force 
about two years, when the number was again reduced 
to one for each division. By operation of the act of 
March 2, 1821, the office of judge-advocate was dis- 
continued on June 1 of that year. Under the acts 
here noted several noted men were judge-advocates, 
the most distinguished of all being Henry Wheaton, 
the eminent publicist, author of “ Elements of Inter- 
national Law,” no less celebrated as scholar and dip- 
lomatist than as a lawyer. 
From 1821 down to the year 1849, judge-advocates 
were again selected, from time to time, in the different 
corps, by detail. By the act of March 2 of the latter 
year the President was authorized, the Senate con- 
senting, to appoint a judge-advocate for the army, 
“ to be taken from the captains in the army, who shall 
have the brevet rank, pay, and emoluments of a major 
of cavalry.” Under this act Captain John F. Lee, of 
the ordnance department, was appointed, and con- 
tinued to be judge-advocate until after the beginning 
of the war of the rebellion. 
An act of Congress of July 17, 1862, provided for 
the appointment, by the President, of a judge advo- 
cate-general, with the rank and pay of a colonel of 
cavalry, “ to whose office shall be returned for re- 
vision the records and proceedings of all courts- 
martial and military commissions, and where a record 
shall be kept of all proceedings had thereon.” It BUREAU OF MILITARY JUSTICE ORGANIZED. 
149 
was also provided that there should be appointed for 
each army in the field a judge-advocate, each with 
the rank and pay of a major of cavalry, “ to perform 
the duties of a judge-advocate for the army to which 
they respectively belong, under the direction of the 
judge advocate-general.” Thus was created a judge 
advocate-general’s department, and at the head of it 
was placed the illustrious Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, 
who had been Postmaster-General and Secretary of 
War, was distinguished as a statesman, jurist, advo- 
cate, and was renowned above all the contempora- 
neous public men of his section for the ardor of his 
patriotism and the eloquence of his appeals for the 
Union. Under Judge Holt there were several men 
of note who served as judge advocates. Among 
them was John A. Bingham, of Ohio, who had won 
wide distinction in the House of Representatives, 
notably as chairman of the judiciary committee. 
After the war Mr. Bingham became even more dis- 
tinguished in the House, and for several years has 
represented his country as Minister to the empire of 
Japan. William McKee Dunn was another of these 
judge-advocates. He had long been prominent in 
the politics of Indiana and at the bar of that State. 
As a member of Congress he had won a national 
reputation. He afterwards became assistant judge 
advocate-general, and later, when Judge Holt retired, 
became judge advocate-general, and has filled that 
position with great ability and perfect fidelity to this 
time, having fairly won the reputation of an upright 
judge and able jurist. There were others in the 
corps of considerable provincial prominence. 
By an act of Congress of June 20, 1864, the “ Bu- HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
reau of Military Justice” was authorized. The act 
expressly declared: “ There shall be attached to, and 
made a part of, the War Department, during the 
continuance of the present rebellion, a bureau, to be 
known as the Bureau of Military Justice.” The 
duties set forth for the bureau were identical with 
those of the judge advocate-general’s office, and in 
effect constituted the bureau the law or solicitor’s 
office of the War Department, revising all military 
trials and proceedings under the Military Code, and 
preparing opinions on questions of law which come 
up for decision by the Department. The law pro- 
vided that the judge advocate-general should have 
the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general, 
and the assistant judge advocate-general those of a 
colonel of cavalry. In July, 1866, Congress enacted 
that the Bureau of Military Justice shall hereafter 
consist of one judge advocate-general and one assist- 
ant judge advocate-general, the former ranking as a 
brigadier-general, the latter as a colonel of cavalry. 
The same act, as amended in February of the follow- 
ing year, provided: “ Of the judge-advocates now in 
office, there may be retained a number not exceeding 
ten, to be selected by the Secretary of War, who 
shall perform their duties under the direction of the 
judge advocate-general.” By a law of 1869, the 
number of judge-advocates was fixed at eight. By 
the act of June 23, 1874, the office of assistant judge- 
advocate was abolished, after the term of the then 
incumbent, and it was provided that in the corps of 
judge-advocates, no appointment should be made in 
case of vacancy until the number should be reduced 
to four, “ which shall thereafter be the permanent BUREAU OF MILITARY JUSTICE — ROSTER. 
number of the officers of that corps.” On the ist 
of December, 1875, Judge Holt was retired at his 
own request, and was Succeeded by Judge Dunn. 
The personnel of the bureau now consists of Judge 
Advocate-General William McKee Dunn, in charge 
of the bureau at Washington, and Judge-Advocates 
Major Guido N. Lieber, military division of the At- 
lantic ; Major William Winthrop, assistant to judge 
advocate-general; Major Horace B. Burnham, de- 
partment of the Platte; Major Thomas F. Barr, 
department of Dakota ; Major Herbert P. Curtis, 
department of California ; Major Henry Goodfellow, 
in charge of Claims Division, War Department; 
Major David G. Swain, department of the Missouri; 
Major Asa B. Gardner, professor of law at the United 
States Military Academy. 
The labors of the Bureau of Military Justice are 
of the utmost importance, oftentimes of exciting in- 
terest, and of very great magnitude. “ Important as 
is the duty,” says Judge Advocate-General Dunn, in 
the pamphlet already quoted, “ of properly reviewing 
the proceedings of military courts, before which are 
often raised questions of law of considerable diffi- 
culty, and whose sentences may involve the most 
serious consequences to the parties tried, it is rather 
the other branch of the business of the bureau which 
has given to the office of judge advocate-general its 
principal consequence. He is in effect the law officer 
of the War Department, holding practically the same 
position of general advisory counsel to the Secretary 
of War, as is held by the several solicitors or assist- 
ant attorneys-general towards the chiefs of the exec- 
utive departments to which they are attached. Such 152 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was peculiarly the relation between General Holt 
and Secretary Stanton, and his successors, and this 
relation has not since been materially modified. Thus 
the faithful and efficient performance of his duties 
by the judge advocate-general properly requires, in 
connection with a familiarity with the principles and 
practice of the special and limited code known as the 
law military, that general expert knowledge of law 
as a science which can only be acquired by a profes- 
sional education and experience.” There can be no 
doubt that these purely legal duties give to the bu- 
reau an importance appreciated and understood by 
but few persons. 
The magnitude of the labors of the bureau may be 
shown by the statement of a few facts. Records of 
military courts arrive at the bureau at the rate of 
about forty on every week-day, or twelve thousand 
in the year. These nearly all have to be examined 
to see if any revision be required. About two hun- 
dred and twenty-five thousand such records have 
been received and revised by the bureau since Sep- 
tember, 1862, and about three hundred thousand are 
on file in the office. The number of reports and 
opinions, not a few of them of great elaboration and 
research, is about thirty-five thousand for the same 
period. Several large apartments are required for 
mere store-room for these files. In one of these 
apartments is a large iron safe, in which are preserved 
several relics of rare interest. Here is the Derringer 
pistol with which the assassin killed President Lin- 
coln. The fatal bullet is also preserved, with pieces 
of the martyr’s skull, which clung to it on removal 
from the brain. The assassin’s hat, left in the theatre, THE SIGNAL OFFICE. 
153 
his diary, and other bits of property which belonged 
to him, are carefully preserved. In a cabinet near 
by are the two famous carbines which Mrs. Surratt 
called “ shooting-irons.” Many relics which belonged 
to Payne and Atzerott are also retained. It thus 
happens that a visit to the apartments of the bureau 
will give one something like a just idea of the magni- 
tude and varied character of its labors, for in these 
vast files one sees records of hundreds of thousands 
of military causes, from cases of mere peccadillo and 
jealousy to those which the nation watched with 
breathless interest, greatest, most exciting of all being 
the trial of the conspirators for that fearful crime 
which makes one of “ the bloodiest pictures in the 
book of time,” and which is brought again so vividly 
before the mind by looking upon the relics here pre- 
served. 
IV. THE SIGNAL OFFICE. 
This bureau, so indispensable in war, so invaluable 
to the public in peace and war, so interesting in 
science, is also of recent origin. As an adjunct of 
the army, it is less than a score of years old; as an 
independent bureau of the War Department, it was 
not established until during the secretaryship of Gen- 
eral Belknap. 
The system of communicating intelligence by sig- 
nals, using flags during the day and lights during the 
night, was practically instituted during the early part 
of the war of the rebellion. But at first the idea 
was not heartily approved by military men generally, 
perhaps for the reason that the system was offered 
to the War Department and the army while in a 
crude state, before it had been sufficiently matured 154 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
in the minds of its projectors to be entitled to the 
respectful consideration which it would have received, 
had it been offered after more reflection, experiment, 
and study. But there was an idea in it, and sooner 
or later an idea triumphs. So much did the govern- 
ment have upon its hands, however, that it is not to 
be harshly blamed for being a little slow in seeing 
the advantages of a system of communicating intelli- 
gence by signals. “Oh, the telegraph will do,” said 
a noted officer ; “ we can’t bother with these balloons, 
and whirligig flags, and colored lamps, and fourth-of- 
July fireworks!” He failed to perceive that the 
military telegraph lay at the very foundation of the 
signal system, the signals being brought into.use only 
where telegraphic communication was impracticable. 
This truth being once discovered, there was little 
further delay in the adoption of the system by the 
government. 
That the signal corps performed most valuable 
service during the war all men know. It was used 
to notable advantage in very many instances. A 
graphic account of its use is given by General Sher- 
man in his Memoirs, where he describes the heroic 
defense of Allatoona Pass by General John M. Corse. 
“ From Kenesaw,” he says, “ I ordered the Twenty- 
third Corps (General Cox) to march due west, and 
to burn houses or piles of brush [signals] as it pro- 
gressed, to indicate the head of column, hoping to 
interpose this corps between Hood’s main army at 
Dallas and the detachment then assailing Allatoona. 
The rest of the army was directed straight for Alla- 
toona, north-west, distant eighteen miles. The signal- 
officer on Kenesaw reported that since daylight he THE SIGNAL CORPS AND ALLATOONA. 
155 
had failed to obtain any answer to his call for Alla- 
toona; but, while I was with him, he caught a faint 
glimpse of the tell-tale flag through an embrasure, 
and after much time he made out these letters: 
‘C.,’ ‘R.,’ ‘S.,’ ‘E.,’ ‘H.,’ ‘E.,’ ‘R.,’ and translated 
the message: ‘ Corse is here.’ It was a source of 
great relief, for it gave me the first assurance that 
General Corse had received his orders, and that the 
place was adequately garrisoned. I watched with 
painful suspense the indications of the battle raging 
there, and was dreadfully impatient at the slow 
progress of the relieving column whose advance was 
marked by the smokes which were made according 
to orders; but about 2 p.m. I noticed with satisfac- 
tion that the smoke of battle about Allatoona grew 
less and less, and ceased altogether about 4 p. m. 
For a time I attributed the result to General Cox’s 
march, but later in the afternoon the signal-flag an- 
nounced the welcome tidings that the attack had 
been fairly repulsed, but that General Corse was 
wounded.”1 
Allatoona was only one of many instances in which 
the signal corps rendered vital service to the army 
during the late war, but unhappily the graphic pen 
of Sherman has not related them all. For this 
1 Memoirs of General Sherman, II., 147. The defense of Alla- 
toona by General Corse was one of the most brilliant achieve- 
ments of the war, and the success of the defense was not a little 
due to the aid of the signal corps. On the day after the battle, 
General Sherman issued an order in which he said : “The thanks 
of this army are due and are hereby tendered to General Corse, 
Colonel Tourtelotte, Colonel Rowett, officers and men, for their 
determined and gallant defense of Allatoona,” and made the 
defense an example to be followed by the army generally. 156 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
bureau of the War Department “the signal office’’ 
is so far a misnomer that it indicates but a small part 
of the duties performed by the office, even leaving 
out its scientific functions altogether. Before the 
bureau as an independent branch of the Department 
was established, the signal corps was very much 
more than a signal corps. It was the medium of 
communication between all parts of the military 
establishment, — between the War Department and 
commanders in the field ; between different armies ; 
between different corps in the same army. It is true 
that the corps did not at once, or even speedily after 
it was incorporated into the army, attain this impor- 
tance. Not long after the commencement of the 
war, the government had by necessity established a 
system of military telegraphs ; for it would be most 
preposterous in this age for a nation to undertake 
to carry on war without control of this means of 
communicating intelligence. It presently became 
apparent that there was no necessity for two estab- 
lishments with the same object—namely, the com- 
munication of intelligence. Hence the office of 
military telegraphs passed out of existence, leaving 
its duties to be performed by the signal corps, as 
the appropriate intelligence branch of the army. 
This line of duties even more appropriately pertains 
to the signal service office, since its establishment as 
a bureau not only of technical intelligence for the 
army, but also of meteorological intelligence for the 
country and the whole world. 
Brevet Brigadier-General Albert J. Myer, Chief 
Signal Officer of the United States Army, is the 
founder of the original signal corps, and of the sig- MILITARY TELEGRAPHS. 
157 
nal service as now established by law. General Myer 
originally entered the army as a surgeon, in 1854. 
He gave much study and labor, scientific and prac- 
tical, to a system of signals for the communication of 
intelligence in the field, and a short time before the 
war of the rebellion was commissioned a signal officer 
of the army. He did very much to establish the signal 
service corps, which, long before the war closed, was 
regarded as a necessary portion of every army. He 
began his labors in the army for the defense of Wash- 
ington, being then on the staff of General Irvin Mc- 
Dowell, and during the war personally supervised 
the organization and operations of the corps, both in 
the armies of the East and the armies of the West. 
His personal services and those of the corps were no 
less conspicuous at Hanover Court-House and Mal- 
vern Hill than they were at Allatoona. Under his 
personal teaching, signal studies were also introduced 
at the Military Academy, and have ever since formed 
a part of the curriculum, regarded as of no less im- 
portance than the study of gunnery or of mathe- 
matics. 
As has been already staged, the military telegraphs 
established during the earlier periods of the war, 
naturally passed under the jurisdiction of the signal 
corps, when the special corps, by which they had been 
managed, was disbanded. And it is a noteworthy 
fact, that these telegraphic lines have been greatly 
increased since the war. In the year 1877, a total 
length of three thousand two hundred miles of tele- 
graphic lines was operated and maintained, as it had 
been constructed, by the officers and enlisted men of 
the signal service in Texas and the Territories of HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
New Mexico and Arizona.1 In the year 1878, several 
hundred miles of line were constructed in Dakota, 
Wyoming, and Montana. These telegraphic lines 
are authorized by acts of Congress, from time to 
time, for the avowed purpose “of connecting military 
posts and stations, and for the protection of the pop- 
ulations from Indian and other depredations.” With 
respect to the value of these lines of telegraph as a 
protection against Indians, General Myer says: 
“ A telegraph line well worked, forms one of the most efficient 
of barriers against the raids of Indian war parties. The country 
on our frontier through which such parties pass, has but few points 
at which water can be had. The posts occupied by the army are 
scattered along the line at intervals of several hundreds of miles. 
The object in view, with Indian war parties, is to pass between the 
posts and settlements without disturbing any of them; and they 
very much dread to leave any danger in their rear, or to so alarm 
the country as to cause their retreat to be cut off in their return 
towards the region occupied by their tribe. The existence of the 
telegraph line enhances both these dangers. It is useless to break 
it as the parties pass towards the scene of their incursion, for this 
alarms both the posts or settlements on both sides of the break, 
and brings repair-men and guards at once to the point of the 
break, and upon their trail; nor does it stop communication 
between the posts, for the messages may be sent circuitously by 
other wires perhaps covering hundreds of miles of distance around 
the point at which the line has been disabled. If -the wire is not 
broken when the trail passes the line, the troops can of course be 
very readily called upon whenever the number of the parties may 
be discovered. But even if the line is passed safely and the trail 
is not detected, the danger the electric wires cause is not ended. 
Wherever the party may strike, if the blow falls near any settle- 
ment or station connected with the telegraphic network, the alarm 
becomes in a few hours general. The troops on the line they 
have just passed know there is a war party in the field; other 
JRep. of Ch. Sig. Off., 1877, p. 143. THE SIGNAL AND LIFE-SAVING SEE VICE. 
159 
troops and other settlements can be aroused. The line of the 
Indian retreat, the points they must pass to reach water, are ap- 
proximately known, and while the pursuit goes on in the field, 
other forces can occupy these passes and points in advance of the 
flying tribe. There can be no constructions more important for 
holding a frontier, or protecting the first steps of advancing civil- 
ization, than the telegraphic lines. In a number of cases occurring 
in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, since the date of the last 
annual report, the movements of troops and of material, directed 
by telegraph, upon alarms sent by telegraph from settlements, 
upon the frontier system of lines, have been so timely as to have 
attained results which could not, without the rapid action made 
possible by the lines, been hoped for. How much of life or prop- 
erty has been saved by attacks thus guarded against, and which 
might else have been made on defenseless communities, can be 
conjectured only.” 1 
As connected with this branch of the subject, it 
may be remarked that the signal service cooperates 
with the life-saving service of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, whose labors in saving life and property on 
our sea-board have received the grateful apprecia- 
tion of Christendom, and, at last, of Congress. The 
length of the sea-coast lines of telegraph constructed 
and operated by the signal service office, in connec- 
tion with the life-saving service, is more than six hun- 
dred miles, much of the distance along dreary and 
barren coasts, whose severe storms frequently pros- 
trate the lines, making great labor constantly neces- 
sary during about half of the year, and at frequent 
intervals during the remainder. Nevertheless, all 
the stations of the sea-coast signal service — at light- 
houses and lifesaving stations — being connected 
with the chief signal office at Washington, any ordi- 
nary prostration of wires does not break communica- 
Ch. Sig. Off. for 1877, pp. 143, 144- HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
tion. “In cases during the year just passed,” says 
the latest published report of General Myer, “ mes- 
sages have been transmitted for weeks together over 
extensive breaks of wire-lines reaching past inlets, 
by day and night signals with flags and torches.” 
The amount of property saved every year by the 
quick conveyance of intelligence by the signal ser- 
vice office, and the practical, skilled labors of the 
employes of the life-saving service, probably amounts 
to more than the entire cost of maintaining both 
these establishments for two years. Large numbers 
of lives are also annually saved. 
A most interesting instance of the manner and 
value of the cooperative labors of these two branches 
of the service is thus related by General Myer: 
“On March 21, a storm of unusual severity was signalled from 
the central office, as threatening the middle Atlantic coast of the 
United States. On the morning of the 22d, when the fog had 
lifted, Sergeant Stein, of the signal service, then in charge of the 
station at Cape Henry, discovered a large vessel stranded on a 
dangerous shoal off that station ; he at once notified the wreckers 
of Norfolk, and reported the fact to this office. Nothing was 
known, at that time, of the nationality of the vessel, the port 
from which she had sailed, her cargo, or condition. The life- 
boat from the life-saving station was driven back while attempting 
to reach her. With the earliest light the sergeant displayed at his 
station the attention-flags of the international code—a code which 
ought to be legible by the marine of every nation, and with which 
every sea-coast station of the signal service is supplied. The 
answering signals soon flew from the stranded ship, and it was 
telegraphed by flags of the international code that the vessel was 
the English ship Winchester, which had sailed from Liverpool in 
ballast, bound for Norfolk, McDonald, master, with a crew of 
twenty-seven men. The captain further desired that two steam- 
tugs should be telegraphed for, at the nearest port, to come to his 
assistance. THE SIGNAL AND LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. 
161 
“ This message was at once sent to Norfolk, by electric telegraph, 
by the men of the signal service, who were keeping up at the same 
time communication by code-flags with the endangered vessel. 
The official signature of the sergeant in charge of the station was 
a sufficient authority to the wrecking steamers telegraphed for to 
start to the rescue. By the same electric wires the facts were at 
the same time telegraphed to the central office at Washington, 
whence, being communicated to the life-saving and other depart- 
ments, the whole force of the United States could, if needed, 
have been brought into action. The work went on at Cape 
Henry, the vessel asking, by signal, that a safety-line might be 
fired to them, and the life-saving service making the attempt. 
The range was, however, too great. Later in the day, a line was 
floated ashore from the ship, a life-car put in operation, and a 
number of the crew landed. The crew were reported all safe. 
Before sundown, as the storm diminished, active efforts to save 
the ship had commenced. A part of the crew remaining on board, 
a plan of night-signals was arranged, which, shown from the ves- 
sel, should call for the launching of the life-boat to bring them 
off, in case of need, in the night. 
“The next morning, March 23, the captain of the vessel came 
on shore, the life-car being still kept working to the vessel. The 
men of the crew were sent back to aid the wrecking parties as 
soon as the sea should permit the steamers to approach the vessel. 
The work commenced on March 23, and was continued on March 
24. On March 24, the cautionary signal was again ordered up at 
the station, another storm-area then approaching from the southern 
Atlantic coast, and especial warnings were sent to the ship and 
those employed on her to take such precautions as would enable 
them to land in case of danger. On the evening of March 25 a 
violent storm, with very heavy sea-swell, had reached Cape Henry. 
On the morning of March 26 it still continued, and, with the 
light, the sergeant in charge of the station discovered three barks 
stranded near the Winchester, all within a mile of each other. 
The storm continued violent. The wreckers at Norfolk were at 
once telegraphed the new disaster, and the facts related to the 
chief signal office at Washington. The ‘attention-signal’ was 
again flown for the bark which seemed most in danger. No at- 
tention was paid to it. Soon after the main and mizzen masts 
of the bark were carried away. The life-boat could not reach 162 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
her. Later, her name was read by a telescope as the Pantzer, 
and the crew of the life-saving station succeeded in firing a life- 
line over her. There was something strange in the fact that 
while the danger seemed great the crew neither recognized the 
signal kept flying, nor hauled in on the life-line, their only chance 
for safety. A surf-boat from the wreckers succeeded in boarding 
the other stranded barks, and found them to be the Italian barks 
Franceshino and Monte Tabor. Telegrams were sent by the sig- 
nal service men to Baltimore, asking for additional aid, anchors, 
cables, and tugs. 
“ Late in the day, and some time in the afternoon, the Pantzer 
showed the ‘ answering signal ’ of the international code. The 
vessel was then ascertained to be a Norwegian bark, and it is sup- 
posed her crew had not before realized that on a foreign coast she 
could ask for aid. Almost immediately after her signal was an- 
swered, the Pantzer signalled, ‘Please send a life-boat.’ In 
response to this, the signal station showed the signal, ‘ Haul in 
on the line; ’ it seeming that in all the danger the crew of the 
bark were not aware of the uses of this line, which had been fired 
across her deck early in the morning. The line was at once 
hauled on board the Pantzer, the crews of the life-saving stations 
had made the life-car ready, and by nine o’clock at night her 
crew, men all told, were safely landed. In the rough 
weather which followed, this vessel went to pieces. Of the others 
the ship Winchester was gotten off after some days’ labor, and the 
two barks, Franceshino and Monte Tabor, saved without great 
difficulty. 
“The incidents of these disasters have been cited at length to 
show in how many ways the non-commissioned officers and men 
of the service may be called upon to act, and how, in a single 
instance, the service of one station may be instrumental in saving 
human life and property of very great value. Had no signal ser- 
vice existed, there would have been no telegraphic wire to Cape 
Henry; had there been telegraphic wires to Cape Henry without 
the signal service, there would have been no non-commissioned 
officer or men capable of at once working the electric wires, and 
of communicating with vessels by international signals. Had 
either of these been wanting, it is quite likely that very valuable 
vessels would have been totally lost, because aid could not have 
been quickly enough called for from adjacent ports, nor could the THE SIGNAL AND LIFE-SAVING SEE VICE. 
163 
efforts of the salvors have been wisely or safely directed without 
the constant knowledge of the weather-changes, had, as they were, 
during all the time the vessels were endangered. The crew of the 
Pantzer could not have learned how to draw on board of their 
vessel the life-car, and might have perished. The wreckers would 
not have been present, as they were, to aid in the unusual case of 
four vessels stranded together, and the crews of the life-saving 
stations could not have had, as they did, the immediate super- 
vision of their chief (the chief of the life-saving service) at Wash- 
ington. As a test of skill exercised in communication, it is 
pleasant to consider that vessels of two different nations, the 
English and the Norwegian, sailing from distant ports, and find- 
ing themselves together in distress on the coast of the United 
States, found also such provision there made, that each could 
make known his wants, each in his own language, as if on their 
own coasts at home.” 1 
Nor is the value of these services to be estimated 
by the amount of property and the number of lives 
saved only, great as this estimation as matter of 
business and matter of philanthropy ought to be. 
They are a powerful reenforcement to a system of 
light-houses in inducing foreign commerce to seek 
our ports. On this point, General Myer speaks with 
a comprehensive logic, to which there is no reply. 
He says: 
“It is held to be necessary to maintain these lines, and it is 
needed to determine what location and structure will serve this 
end. To be as useful as it ought to be, a sea-coast line must be 
practically on the sea-beach itself. Whatever may be the diffi- 
culties of maintaining it, these difficulties must be faced. There 
is no time for the slow pace of messengers, or for horses ridden 
through the sand, when wrecked ships are calling for aid. The 
lightning-message is not too speedy. The saving of a single ship 
1 Report of Sec’y of War, 1877, Vol. IV. (Rep. of Ch. Sig. Off.), 
pp. 139, 140. 164 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
or a single life compensates the cost for repairs exceptional gales 
and sea-surges, tearing away the soil of the beach itself, may make 
necessary. The progress of electric communication opens fields 
of usefulness now so wide, that it would be criminal to turn from 
them. The regular sea-coast line once standing, the telephone 
bids fair to make it possible to speak to every point on the beach, 
or to every wrecked vessel, to which a line can be thrown or car- 
ried. The time is not far distant, when the possession of a coast 
not covered by a sea-coast telegraph, not guarded by a sea-coast 
storm-signal and signal-service, and not supplied with the force 
and means of aid at life-saving stations, will be held as much an 
evidence of semi-barbarism as is now among civilized nations the 
holding of any national coast without a system of light-house 
lights. Foreign commerce will flow towards the safest coast. Do- 
mestic commerce will there be more remunerative. The United 
States have first taken the first steps for such protections. So far 
as is known at this office, they do not regret it.” 1 
The practical result is as reasoned by the chief of 
the bureau. Large numbers of mariners of about 
all the maritime nations of the world, are constantly 
visiting our ports in ballast for the purpose of secur- 
ing cargoes for foreign countries, and they generally 
aver that one cause of their coming hither is the 
exceptional safety of our coast, as protected by our 
light-houses and guarded by the officers and men of 
the life-saving and signal service corps. The gen- 
eral depression of trade which has existed in the 
United States since the unhappy financial panic of 
September, 1873, has received sympathy, by like de- 
pression, among most peoples of the commercial 
world. It is agreed by the most thoughtful minds 
of the republic, that our nation has been emerging 
from this situation of depression since the summer 
1 Report of Sec’y of War, 1877, Vol. IV. (Rep. of Ch. Sig. Off.), 
p. 142. THE SIGNAL OFFICE. 
165 
of 1878 ;1 and it is certain that several powerful 
commercial nations have become envious of our 
rapidly-extending foreign trade. The fortunate in- 
crease of this trade is mainly due to the great enter- 
prise of our merchants, manufacturers, and shippers, 
— for our commercial laws hinder rather than aid 
our commerce — but is also in no small degree due 
to that preeminent safety of life and property which 
exists along our sea-coast by reason of the labors of 
the life-saving and signal service corps of the gov- 
ernment, a knowledge of which safety is now in the 
possession of intelligent mariners of all countries. 
It is to be observed that the signal service office, 
with respect to its management of military telegraphs 
and with regard also to others of its important oper- 
ations, was originally a growth or development of 
military science which Congress eventually recog- 
nized but did not create. This interesting bureau is 
the child of the War Department and the army, 
the adopted child of the national legislature. Like 
“Topsy,” in the greatest of American stories, “it 
growed,” and then Congress, by act approved March 
3, 1875, recognized it as it had been organized by 
the labors of General Myer and his assistants, with 
1 See the speeches of President Hayes in the interior, during the 
autumn of that year, notably his address at St. Paul, and that be- 
fore the Board of Trade of Chicago; the speech of Secretary of 
War McCrary at Keokuk, Sept, io; of Secretary of the Navy 
Thompson, at Indianapolis, the same day; the speeches delivered 
later, of Secretary of the Interior Schurz, at Cincinnati and Bos- 
ton ; the speech of Secretary of State Evarts at New York; several 
speeches of the same period by Gen. Garfield, Senators Bayard, 
Blaine, and Conkling; and leading editorial articles in the best 
metropolitan daily journals of the country. 166 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
whom the Secretary of War and the Genera] of the 
Army had all the time most heartily cooperated. 
Joint resolutions of Congress had also recognized as 
proper and lawful the organization and labors of 
what the act of Congress just referred to formally 
established as the signal service office, a bureau of 
the War Department under the direct orders of the 
Secretary. 
For the general purposes of this work, and with- 
out reference to technicalities, the signal service 
office may be described as embracing the following 
branches or divisions : I. The School of Instruction ; 
II. The Signal Corps, proper; III. Military Tele- 
graph division, in which may be well enough com- 
prehended the sea-coast service; IV. The Meteoro- 
logical division, which might itself be divided into a 
number of branches, each having duties and labors 
different from all the others. For the appropriate 
division of labor in the bureau, its technical branches 
are very different from these, but these will serve 
better for description, perhaps, than those. 
I. The school of instruction in signal service is 
established at Fort Whipple, Virginia, occupying a 
portion of the famed “Arlington estate,” and within 
plain view of the city of Washington. This school 
is to the signal service office what the military acad- 
emy is to the army generally, with this difference, that 
it teaches men who are to serve without commissions 
as well as officers. The instructions at Fort Whipple 
are greatly varied, embracing practical drills in arms ; 
in the manoeuvring of field telegraph trains; in 
rapid telegraph construction; in the management of 
all the apparatus pertaining to the signal corps in THE SIGNAL OFFICE. 
167 
the field ; in the study and use of instruments for the 
meteorological duties; in practical telegraphy. All 
the duties of the school are conducted under strict 
military rule. At the time of the last published re- 
port of the chief signal officer, fifty-one enlisted men 
were present at Fort Whipple for duty, drilling and 
studying to become proficient in the labors of the 
signal office. 
II. Of the signal corps proper, as instituted and 
established by General Myer, an account has already 
been given. Officers and enlisted men of this corps, 
or those detailed as such, are always present with the 
army, and in time of peace are frequently called upon 
for their peculiar services. But it is during war that 
this corps comes to the front as an invaluable aid in 
the prosecution of successful campaigns, which is an 
unanswerable reason for its being liberally nurtured 
and sustained during peace. 
III. Of the military telegraph division and the sea- 
coast service, enough has already been related to 
enable the reader to form a correct notion of them. 
It remains to speak of that division of the bureau 
which has given it universal popularity throughout 
the republic, and great renown throughout the civil- 
ized world, namely: 
IV. The meteorological division, and which is of 
itself a notable institution of science, daily conferring 
great benefits upon the public. The head of this 
institution is popularly known the country over as 
“ Old Probabilities,” the first name having been un- 
questionably adopted by the popular instinct as ex- 
pressive of veneration for him who directed the pre- 
diction of the weather with an accuracy never before 168 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
dreamed of. On February 9, 1870, President Grant 
approved a joint resolution of the houses of Congress 
as follows: “That the Secretary of War be, and he 
hereby is, authorized and required to provide for 
taking meteorological observations at the military 
stations in the interior of the continent, and at other 
points in the States and Territories of the United 
States, and for giving notice on the Northern lakes 
and on the sea-coast, by magnetic telegraph and 
marine signals, of the approach and force of storms.” 
Under the authority thus conferred, Secretary of War 
Belknap directed the chief signal officer to proceed 
with the organization of what has been largely de- 
nominated “ the weather bureau.” Much of this 
organization had already been accomplished in the 
simple development of the signal service under the 
creative genius of General Myer. 
The complete organization of the bureau now rap- 
idly proceeded, and was ready for practical operations 
in the autumn of 1870. “On November 1, 1870, at 
7.35 a. m., the first systematized synchronous mete- 
oric reports ever taken in the United States were 
read from the instruments by the observer-sergeants 
of the signal service at twenty-four stations, and 
placed upon the telegraphic wires for transmission. 
With the delivery of these reports at Washington, 
and at the other cities and forts to which it had been 
arranged they should be sent — which delivery was 
made by 9 a. m. — commenced the practical working 
of this division of the signal service in this country.”1 
On January 15, 1871, stations on the east Atlantic 
of Ch. Sig. Off., in Rep. of Sec’y of War for 1871, 
Part I., p. 262. THE WEATHER BUREAU." 
169 
coast were added to the list of those reporting; the 
section from Chicago to San Francisco, early in Feb- 
ruary ; and stations on the coast of the Gulf of Mex- 
ico and in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers, during the summer of the same year. Thus 
within a twelvemonth “the weather bureau ” became 
a thoroughly national institution. In addition to the 
stations for the collection and report of what may be 
called ordinary meteoric phenomena, no less than 
twenty-four “ cautionary signal stations ” were estab- 
lished within the same twelvemonth. These were at 
as many seaports and ports on the Northern lakes, 
and their duties involved a constant vigilance, with- 
out cessation day or night, on Sunday or holiday. 
These cautionary signal stations were ready for op- 
eration on the 23d of October, and the first occasion 
for their employment occurred three days afterwards, 
at the port of Oswego, New York. The cautionary 
signal — always placed on an elevated building or 
tower, so as to be seen throughout the city and har- 
bor— is never displayed except on order from the 
chief office at Washington. The cautionary signal 
signifies the probability, not the certainty, of danger- 
ous weather near the station where it is displayed, 
and that, judging from all the meteoric phenomena 
as reported at the central office, the danger may be 
so great as to cause mariners, and others interested, 
properly to use reasonable precautions against it. 
Thus, in a week less than a twelvemonth from the 
publication of its first reports from twenty-four sta- 
tions, “the weather bureau” was completely organ- 
ized, and operating as steadily as clock-work through- 
out the Union — from Maine to Texas, and from 170 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Florida to Washington Territory. Not only so, but 
the operations of the bureau soon came to possess 
an international character, and at this hour promise 
soon to have their ramifications throughout the 
northern hemisphere. Regular daily telegraphic re- 
ports were received, according to the last published 
report of the bureau, from no less than twelve sta- 
tions in the Dominion of Canada and British America, 
and mail reports from many other parts of the world. 
In his report for 1877, General Myer on this point 
says: 
“ The proposition adopted at the congress of persons charged 
with meteorological duties, assembled at Vienna in 1873, and to 
the effect that it is desirable, with a view to their exchange, that 
at least one uniform observation, of such character as to be suited 
for the preparation of synoptic charts, be taken and recorded 
daily and simultaneously at as many stations as practicable through- 
out the world, has continued to have practical effect. 
“By authority of the War Department, and with the courteous 
cooperation of scientists and chiefs of meteorological services 
representing the different countries, a record of observations, 
taken daily simultaneously with the observations taken throughout 
the United States and the adjacent islands, is exchanged semi- 
monthly. These reports are to cover the territorial extent of 
Algiers, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Central America, Den- 
mark, France, Germany, Greece, East Indies, Italy, Japan, 
Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, 
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, British North America, the United 
States, the Azores, the Bermudas, the Aleutian Islands, Sandwich 
Islands, West Indies, and South America. 
“The daily issue of a printed bulletin, exhibiting these inter- 
national simultaneous reports, commenced at this office in 1875, 
has been since maintained. A copy of this bulletin is furnished 
each cooperating observer. The results to be had from the re- 
ports thus collated are considered to be of especial importance. 
The bulletin combines, for the first time of which there is record, 
the labors of the nations in a work of this kind for their mutual THE SIGNAL OFFICE. 
171 
benefit. There is needed only the assistance to be had from the 
naval forces of the different powers, that of the navy of the United 
States being, as heretofore related, already given, to extend the 
plan of report upon the seas; to bring within the scope of study 
observations sufficiently numerous and extending around the north- 
ern hemisphere. This assistance is understood to be already prom- 
ised by some of the greatest naval powers. ’ ’1 
In 1875, the operations of the bureau were ex- 
tended so as to embrace daily reports by telegraph 
during certain portions of the year, and at all times 
of prevailing freshets, of the situation of the principal 
rivers of the United States. These river reports are 
intended to supply the central office with data from 
which, knowing the “ danger line ” of the streams, 
the bureau may warn the inhabitants of impending 
destructive or dangerous floods. They also have 
considerable importance in science. Charts of the 
changes in the depth of the principal rivers are pub- 
lished annually by the bureau. “ By the study of such 
charts,” says General Myer, “ continued from year 
to year, those seasons in which floods are more likely 
to occur on any water-course can be predetermined, 
and it can be ascertained what amounts of precipita- 
tion, occurring in the different river-basins, and under 
what circumstances, will be followed by floods, and 
approximately what will be the extent of floods shown 
in this way to be anticipated. Whenever the facilities 
of the signal service are so far extended as to permit 
systematic observations to be had of any river-course, 
and telegraphic warnings to be given in instances of 
danger, the serious losses of property or life caused 
by floods can be, and with comparatively little ex- 
1 Page 117. 172 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
pense, guarded against on any river throughout the 
United States.”1 
To relate with fulness the wonderful labors of “the 
weather bureau ” belongs rather to science than to 
a work of this character; but I should hardly be ex- 
cused if I did not undertake to set forth an outline 
thereof. Much of this varied work is done by auto- 
matic instruments, many of which are among the 
most remarkable instances of human invention, of 
curious mechanism, and of the finest possible delicacy. 
These instruments, connected with the upper air by 
contrivances suitable for the different purposes in 
view, themselves record many meteoric phenomena, 
that is, the existing facts as to many things in the air 
— the wind, its velocity, and direction ; the degree of 
moisture; rain or snow, measuring the quantity fallen; 
and many other facts. The weight and temperature 
of the atmosphere are discovered by instruments long 
known, but those of the signal service are of such 
improved kinds that they automatically record the 
history of every hour of the day in these respects. 
The daily routine of duty is thus described by Gen- 
eral Myer: 
“ The duties of the enlisted men at each station are as follows: 
At stations forwarding telegraphic reports, they are required to 
take, put in cipher, and furnish, to be telegraphed tri-daily on each 
day, at different fixed times, the results of observations made at 
those times, and embracing, in each case, the readings of the 
barometer, the thermometer, the wind-velocity and direction, the 
rain-gauge, the relative humidity, the character, quantity, and 
movement of upper and lower clouds, and the condition of the 
weather. These observations are taken at such hours, at the dif- 
ferent stations, as to provide the three simultaneous observations, 
1 Rep. for 1877, p. 131. THE WEATHER REPORTS. 
173 
taken daily at three fixed moments of physical time (7.35 a. m., 
4.35 p. m., and 11 p. M., Washington mean time), throughout the 
whole extent of the territory of the United States. The differ- 
ences between these fixed times and the local times at the different 
stations, cause it to happen that at some stations the observations 
are to be made in the earliest hours of the morning, and at others 
in the latest of the night. The work thus practically extends 
throughout the twenty-four hours. Each of these observations is 
required to be carefully recorded, for future reference, at the time 
it is taken. Three other observations to be taken at the local 
times, 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p. m., are also taken and recorded at 
each station. A seventh and especial observation is taken and re- 
corded at noon on each day. If, at this observation, such instru- 
mental changes are noted as to cause anxiety, the fact is to be 
telegraphed to the central office at Washington. 
“An eighth observation is required to be taken at the exact 
hour of sunset at each station. This observation, embracing the 
appearance of the western sky, the direction of the wind, the 
amount of cloudiness, the readings of the barometer, thermome- 
ter, and hygrometer, and amount of rain-fall since last preceding 
report, is reported with the midnight report. 
“At the stations at which cautionary signals are displayed, an 
observer must be constantly on duty to receive the order and to 
show the signal, which may be ordered at any moment. At sta- 
tions from which river reports are furnished, and observation and 
record of the depth and temperature of the water is made and 
reported at 3 o’clock p. m., local time, on each day. In the cases 
of threatening storms or dangerous freshets, any station may be 
called upon to make hourly reports. ’ ’1 
The manner of making up the daily weather reports 
is as follows: 
“The daily official deductions or forecasts issuing from the 
office of the chief signal officer, and constituting the tri-daily 
‘ Synopses and Indications,’ as they are styled, and the especial 
deductions, in pursuance of which the orders for the display of 
cautionary signals at stations are given when necessary, are based 
1 Rep. for 1877, p. 108. 174 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
upon the regular reports of the service stations of observation, 
transmitted tri-daily to this office by telegraph, after passing over 
a system of telegraphic circuits, so arranged as to at once concen- 
trate the reports of this office, and to distribute, in doing so, certain 
numbers of them at designated cities and stations. Especial reports 
are demanded from any station, or number of stations, whenever 
additional information is required as to impending disturbances. 
The synopses are those of the meteoric conditions existing over 
and near the United States for each period of twenty-four hours, 
terminating at the hour for each general report. The indications 
are announcements of the changes, considered from the study of 
the charts, in connection with such rules and generalizations as 
the experience of this office and the study of meteorologists seem 
to have determined to be indicated as to happen within the twen- 
ty-four hours then next ensuing. The study for each issue requires 
the draughting and examination of eight charts, these charts ex- 
hibiting chartographically the data furnished by the simultaneous 
reports of the stations heretofore referred to, and located in the 
United States, on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Gulf of 
Mexico and of the lakes, and in the Western interior, and in the 
Dominion of Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Bruns- 
wick, and the West India Islands. These charts are as follows: 
(a) A chart of barometric pressures reduced to the temperature 
of freezing and sea-level; of temperatures and of winds, together 
with the wind directions, and the velocities at the different sta- 
tions ; the amount, but not the nature, of the cloud formations 
at the different stations; the character of the precipitation, if any, 
occurring at the time of the report, and the amount of the precip- 
itation, if any, since the time of the last preceding report. This 
chart exhibits barometric pressures and the "temperatures noted at 
stations in their relations to districts of territory and to each 
other, by a system of isobaric and isothermal lines inscribed. 
The isobars are charted for inches and tenths of inches of baro- 
metric pressure; the isothermals for temperatures represented by 
the different multiples of io°. The wind directions are shown 
by arrows at the different stations. (6) A chart of the relative 
humidities appearing to exist over territorial districts, with the 
temperatures at the different stations in relation to districts and to 
each other. This chart of humidities enables studies to be made 
in reference to territorial sections, the difficulties attending the THE WEATHER REPORTS. 
175 
study of observations of this character being obviated to a very 
considerable extent by the inter-correction of stations among 
themselves, and by the great extent of the regions over which the 
readings are made simultaneously. In fields so great, purely local 
conditions in part disappear, or affect very slightly the general 
result. This chart contains also the character and amount of the 
lower clouds, and the character, amount, and direction of motion 
of the upper clouds, when these are visible. On this chart are 
traced lines of equal relative humidity, and isothermals are also 
drawn, and described in chart a. (r) A chart of the cloud-con- 
ditions prevailing over the United States, in which the character 
of the different varieties of clouds and their amount, as viewed 
from each station, are represented graphically by appropriate 
symbols. On this chart also appears the weather as reported at 
each station at the time of each report by symbols, the station at 
which rain has fallen since the preceding report, as well as the 
direction of movement of the upper and lower clouds, and on it 
each morning there are entered the minimum temperatures noted 
during the preceding night at the separate stations, at the local 
times synchronous with the hour of n p. m., Washington mean 
time, and lines of minimum temperatures are traced to exhibit 
these temperatures in relation to districts of territory. On this 
map are entered also the maximum velocities of the wind at par- 
ticular stations when required to be specially reported in the inter- 
vals between the hours of regular report. The cloud areas ap- 
pearing on this map are surrounded by an outline charted to enable 
the extent and probable movement of these areas to be consid- 
ered. There also appears on the copy of this chart, made at the 
hour of the midnight report, the appearance of the sunset at each 
station, as reported by the observer at that station, and as consid- 
ered by him to indicate, when taken in connection with the ap- 
pearance of the western sky at sunset, the character of the weather 
to be anticipated at that station for the twenty-four hours then 
next ensuing. (d) A chart of variations of barometric pressures 
corrected for temperature and reduced to the hypothetical reading 
at sea-level. This chart exhibits the barometric pressures at the 
different stations, corrected for temperature and elevation. There 
are shown upon it the changes that have taken place in the press- 
ures, so corrected, within the periods of eight and of twenty-four 
hours preceding the hours of reports at the different stations, and 176 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
lines of ‘ no variation ’ are traced to indicate the lines along which 
the barometric pressure has remained without change for these 
periods of eight and twenty-four hours, respectively. Lines are 
also charted, exhibiting those along which the barometric press- 
ures have increased, with other lines exhibiting them, along 
which the barometric pressures have diminished during the same 
period of time, a separate line being drawn for each one-tenth 
of an inch of increase of barometric pressure, and a separate line 
being drawn for each one-tenth of an inch of diminution of baro- 
metric pressure. This chart displays, at a glance, the nature and 
extent of the barometric changes taking place over the districts 
covered by the maps of this office, (<?) A chart of actual baro- 
metric variations. This chart exhibits the observed readings of 
the barometer at different stations, corrected for instrumental 
error [variation from the standard at Washington] and for tem- 
perature the mercury reduced to the temperature of freezing, but 
not reduced to the hypothetical readings at sea-level. In this 
office, observed readings so treated are known as the ‘ actual read- 
ings.’ On this chart are traced lines of c no variation,’ showing 
the lines along which no change in actual pressure has occurred 
for the periods of eight and twenty-four hours, respectively, pre- 
ceding the hours of report, and also lines showing the lines of 
rises or falls of the actual readings of the barometer for each one- 
tenth of an inch, and for the same respective periods. This chart 
is valuable as exhibiting the nature and extent of actual baromet- 
ric pressures, and the changes of such pressures, taking place at 
the different stations, and over the different territorial districts. 
(/) A chart of dew-point variations. On this chart there are 
entered the values of the changes of the dew-point at the several 
stations for the periods of eight and twenty-four hours, preceding 
the hours of report; there are traced also lines along which there 
has been ‘ no variation ’ in dew-point during such periods respect- 
ively, and lines showing the rises and falls for each five degrees 
in dew-point for the same periods, (g) A chart of (lew-points, 
vapor-tensions, and actual humidity. On this chart are entered 
the values of the dew-point at the different stations, and lines of 
equal dew-point are traced for each ten degrees’ difference of the 
dew-point readings. At the extremities of these lines are noted 
the values of vapor-tensions and actual humidity, corresponding 
to the given dew-point lines. The examination of the charts f THE WEATHER REPORTS. 
177 
and g enables the hygrometric condition of the air and the changes 
in such conditions which have occurred within the periods of eight 
and twenty-four hours, respectively, to be considered in so far as 
these are indicated by the wet and dry bulb psychrometers at the 
different stations, (h) A chart of normal pressures and variations 
from normal pressures for each eight hours. There have been 
computed during the past year, at this office, the mean of the 
observed pressures recorded at each station, at each of the hours 
at which observations are made at that station, for the regular 
simultaneous telegraphic reports for each monthly period. The 
series of observations used in computing these means has been, for 
as many years as was possible, at each station. These mean press- 
ures are the mean pressures computed from the actual readings 
had at each station, at the habitual hour of observation, for each 
of the tri-daily full telegraphic reports required to be made from 
that station, and obtained, as explained above, by reducing the 
readings then made to a uniform temperature — freezing — and 
correcting for instrumental error (variation from the standard) 
only. Mean pressures so obtained are styled, in this office, ‘ nor- 
mal pressures ’ for the station, for its local hour of the report, and 
for the month. On this chart is entered, at each station, with 
the symbol +, or —, the value by which the actual reading re- 
ported from that station at the hour of any report is above or 
below the ‘ normal pressure ’ for that station for the hour of that 
telegraphic report and for that month. These deviations from 
such normal pressures may be styled £ departures ’ from the normal 
pressure; the comparison of these ‘ departures ’ for each period 
of eight hours shows what changes have taken place in the atmos- 
pheric pressure at the different stations, in each period of eight 
hours, after eliminating the horary variations of pressure. On 
the chart are traced lines of £ no variation ’ in normal pressures, 
being the lines along which the pressures are at the time prac- 
tically normal, and also lines of £ departure ’ from the normal 
pressure for each one-tenth of an inch of mercury, by which the 
actual readings as reported are found to be above or below the 
computed normal. Such lines are traced for each period of eight 
and of twenty-four hours. This method of noting barometric 
pressures enables those taken and reported simultaneously from 
any number of different stations to be considered for purposes of 
study in relation to each other without reference, in each case, to 178 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT\ 
the local questions of altitude, horary variations of pressure, or 
other disturbing causes at the places at which they may be taken.”1 
The results of these labors of enlisted men, instru- 
ments, officers, and scientists are published three 
times daily, by means of charts, in the principal cities 
of the country, and appear regularly in all the daily 
newspapers. Very nearly ninety per cent of the 
forecasts as to the weather in the year 1877, were 
verified by the event, leaving scientists to conclude 
that if there were communication with the entire 
habitable globe, there would hardly be an erroneous 
forecast in the course of a year. 
But the tri-daily bulletins and charts form only a 
small portion of the regular publications of the sig- 
nal service office. During the year 1877, no less 
than 2,024,294 “farmers’ bulletins” were published. 
These, being different for different sections of the 
country, according to the prevailing meteoric phe- 
nomena for the respective sections, have been found 
to be of great service to the intelligent agriculturists 
of the country. Very many local reports are also 
published. The office also issues monthly weather 
reviews, and “ weekly chronicles.” The number of 
international bulletins published in the course of a 
year is nearly one hundred thousand. The total 
number of its publications for the year 1877, was 
excess of two and a half million copies. The an- 
nual report of the office for the year 1877 and accom- 
panying papers, was an octavo volume of nearly six 
hundred pages, with many illustrations, maps, and 
charts, from which one could gather a complete me- 
‘Rep. for 1877, p. 120 et seq. THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT. 
179 
teorological history of the United States for every day 
of the year. The value of these publications in the 
cause of progressive science cannot easily be over- 
estimated. Many eminent scientists of Europe have 
frequently expressed the opinion that the most valu- 
able contributions to science of recent years are the 
publications of the American signal service bureau. 
And yet this bureau, whose daily labors receive the 
hearty appreciation of Christendom, is in its organi- 
zation and government purely military. It is doubtful 
whether the distinguished position in science attained 
by the bureau, could have been reached under any 
other system. 
V. THE QUARTERMASTER’S DEPARTMENT. 
During much of the Revolutionary War, and for 
some time thereafter, the quartermaster’s department 
of the army had better organization than it had 
during many years after the establishment of the 
government under the Constitution. For the period 
referred to, such men as Thomas Mifflin, Nathaniel 
Greene, and Timothy Pickering were among the 
quartermaster-generals.1 At the time of the adop- 
1 Mifflin, though of Quaker parentage, entered the army at the 
outbreak of the Revolution, and for a while served in the military 
family of Washington. He was conspicuous in the battle of Long 
Island, rendering great service in the retreat. After the New 
Jersey campaign, he joined the opposition to Washington, and 
was outspoken in his views. After the war he was prominent in 
public affairs, and for a considerable time Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania, where his fame is still well preserved. Greene was one of 
the most illustrious soldiers of the Revolution. Pickering after- 
wards became Secretary of War. A sketch of his life is in the 
second part of this work. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
tion of the Constitution, and for a considerable period 
thereafter, the army was little better than a travesty 
on a military force, consisting of only about a regi- 
ment of men in small detachments at different forts 
and garrisons, utterly unable, for want of general 
officers and a staff, to repel an attack of a single 
tribe of Indians, had such attack been made. In 
preceding chapters of this work, the want of staff 
departments, and their imperfect organization for 
many years, have been noted ; and it will be recol- 
lected that no necessary part of a well-regulated 
military establishment was more neglected than a 
quartermaster’s department. I need in this portion 
of the work give no more than the historical outlines 
pertaining to the organization of this department, 
and the nature and magnitude of its labors.1 
From 1791 till 1802, the quartermaster’s depart- 
ment, if such it could be called, had a varied history. 
In the year first named, Congress passed “ an act for 
raising and adding another regiment to the military 
establishment, and for making further provision for 
the protection of the frontier.” The War Depart- 
ment, by orders, established a line of military posts 
from the Ohio River, near where Cincinnati now is, 
to the Maumee River, being the frontier of the then 
far West, and it was to garrison and reenforce these 
posts as protection against the savages that this addi- 
tion to the army was provided. A quartermaster, 
with the pay and allowances of a lieutenant-colonel 
1 For the statements as to the organization of the department, 
I mainly follow a sketch of its history (pamphlet) prepared a few 
years since by Brevet-Colonel H. A. Royce, A. Q. M. Vols., and 
pronounced reliable by Quartermaster-General Meigs. THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT. 
181 
(at that time the lieutenant-colonel was the com- 
manding officer of a regiment), was authorized.1 By 
the act of March 3, 1795,2 a quartermaster-general, 
deputy quartermaster, and regimental quartermasters 
were provided for.3 An act of precisely two years 
later, repealing in part and amending the former one, 
provided that there should be one quartermaster- 
general, and there dropped the subject. The situa- 
tion thus remained till the act of March 3, 1799, 
organizing the army on the regimental plan, when a 
quartermaster-general, with the rank and pay of a 
major-general, and regimental quartermasters, with 
the rank of lieutenant, were provided for.4 By the 
act of March 16, 1812,5 fixing the military peace 
establishment of the United States, the quartermas- 
ter’s department as such was abolished, and its duties 
turned over to “ military agents.” 
In relating the general history of the War Depart- 
ment for the period of the war with Great Britain, it 
was appropriate to speak in detail of such organiza- 
tion of staff departments as was then made in prep- 
aration for the conflict. A full account of the organ- 
ization of the quartermaster’s department at that 
time, need not, therefore, be repeated.6 After the 
war, the organization was changed from time to time 
during two or three years, but as we have seen in the 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 223. 2Ibid., Id., 430. 
3 This might appear singular, seeing that by this act the or- 
ganization of the army was on General Knox’s favorite plan of 
the legion. It is explained by the fact that notwithstanding the 
legionary organization, regimental autonomy was practically 
recognized and preserved. 
4U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 750, 752. 5Ibid., II., 132. 
6 See ante., Chap. II., p. 42 et seq. 182 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
general history of the Department under the admin- 
istration of Secretary Calhoun, a comprehensive or- 
ganization of such staff departments, including, of 
course, the quartermaster-general’s office, as were 
then supposed to be necessary was provided by law.1 
By the law then enacted (April, 1818), the quarter- 
master’s department consisted of a quartermaster- 
general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a 
brigadier-general, the two deputy quartermaster-gen- 
erals, and four assistant deputy quartermaster-gen- 
erals, already provided for by law, and as many 
assistant deputy quartermaster-generals, the whole 
number not exceeding twelve, as the President might 
deem proper. Under this well considered organiza- 
tion of the department, Brevet Colonel Thomas S. 
Jesup, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third Infantry, be- 
came Quartermaster-General.2 
General Jesup at once proceeded to prepare an 
amended series of rules and regulations for the prac- 
tical conduct of the business of his department. It 
being now organized by the law, upon a sound mili- 
tary basis, some appropriate duties being added 
ante., Chap. III., p. 85 et seq. 
2 This officer had been distinguished as a soldier. He entered 
the army as lieutenant in 1808, and was gradually promoted. In 
1812, he was “brigade major” and adjutant-general to General 
Hull. In the spring of the following year, he was commissioned 
major of the 19th infantry; was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for 
“ distinguished and gallant services” at the battle of Chippewa; 
and brevetted colonel for like services at the battle of Niagara. 
Later, he was adjutant-general of the army. In 1836, he com- 
manded the army against the Indians of the South, and was 
wounded in a battle with the Seminoles. He remained quarter- 
master-general until his death, June 10, i860. His memory is 
greatly venerated in the department. THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT. 
thereto, some more properly belonging to the sub- 
sistence department, taken therefrom, a thoroughly 
revised system for the management of its business 
was requisite. Under the direction and supervision 
of General Jesup, this system of rules and regulations, 
embracing practical directions and blank forms for 
all the varied operations of the department, was pre- 
pared. Having received the approval of the Secre- 
tary of War, this code of general law and practice 
for the quartermaster’s department, was embodied 
by Major-General Scott, in the elaborate edition of 
“ Army Regulations ” published by him for the infor- 
mation and guidance of the army in 1821. These 
rules and regulations for the quartermaster’s depart- 
ment have not been greatly changed by amendments 
or additions upon the subjects treated, since that time. 
The department remained as organized by Gen- 
eral Jesup a little less than three years, the act of 
March 2, 1821, reducing the army, reducing also this 
and other staff departments. The quartermaster- 
general was retained, and was allowed as assistants 
two quartermasters with the rank and pay of major 
of cavalry, and ten assistant quartermasters to be 
taken from the line. In a letter to the Secretary of 
War, of November 22, 1823, General Jesup thus dem- 
onstrates the insufficient force of his department, and 
the want of wisdom that there is in mistaking parsi- 
mony for economy: 
“ In 1820, when the military frontier was not so extensive as at 
present, there were attached to the department, in addition to the 
quartermaster-general and two deputies, sixteen assistants, besides 
eighteen regimental and battalion quartermasters. The act of 
Congress of March, 1821, reorganizing the army, abolished the 184 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
regimental and battalion quartermasters, and reduced the number 
of assistants from sixteen to -ten ; so that, of thirty-seven officers, 
thirteen only were retained. The same act reduced the purchas- 
ing department to one commissary-general and two storekeepers, 
and the duties relative to the administration and accountability 
of army clothing were necessarily transferred to the quartermas- 
ter’s department, thus nearly doubling its labors and responsibil- 
ity, though its force had been reduced nearly two-thirds. The 
law, it is true, authorized the employment of subsistence commis- 
saries in the quartermaster’s department, but they have the duties 
of their own department to perform, which, at stations where 
their services are most necessary, give them sufficient employment; 
besides, the experience of every department proves that the only 
way to insure strict accountability is to confine officers to the 
duties of their own branches of service, to compel them to per- 
form them, and positively to prohibit their interference with those 
of others. 
“The reduction of the rank and file of the army from ten 
thousand to six thousand men by no means warranted a corre- 
sponding reduction in the disbursing departments, for it is well 
known to every intelligent military man that the labors of most 
branches of the staff, and particularly of the quartermaster’s de- 
partment, depend not on the number of troops in service, but on 
the number and remoteness of the posts occupied, the extent of 
the frontiers, and the dispersed state of the military resources of 
the nation. 
“The officers at present attached to the department are entirely 
inadequate to the proper and efficient discharge of the duties 
required of them; and the compensation of the assistants, on 
whom necessarily devolve most of the laborious details of the 
department, does not bear a just proportion to their duties and 
responsibility. The officers of that grade now in the department 
are equal in capacity and intelligence to those of any other grade 
or corps in the army, but I fear that, unless measures be adopted 
to render their situation more desirable, they will for the most 
part abandon their situations and return to their companies. They 
should be allowed a compensation which would not only afford 
them a competent support, but be an equivalent for the talents 
and labor required in the discharge of their duties. But, it may 
be said, let those who are dissatisfied retire; there are others who THE QUARTERMASTERS DEPARTMENT. 
185 
would gladly fill their places. True, there are; and if the im- 
portance of a station depended upon the number of applicants 
to fill it, and the merit of those applicants upon the clamorous 
assertion of their pretensions, this might be good reasoning. But 
every day’s experience proves that the number of applicants does 
not depend upon the value of the station sought: reduce the 
compensation one-half, and they would not be diminished. The 
difference would then consist in the character, and not in the 
number; for even if an office be set up to the lowest bidder, there 
will always be bidders enough. 
“I would, therefore, propose that in addition to the officers 
now attached to the department, there be authorized three quar- 
termasters and eight assistants, to be taken from the line of the 
army. This change, with an allowance of forage to the assistants 
by presenting sufficient inducements to men of character to enter 
and remain in the department, would better secure a strict ac- 
countability than all the restrictive laws on the statute-book. It 
is called for by every consideration of policy as well as economy ; 
for the best guarantee the nation can have for the proper applica- 
tion of its funds will be found in the honor, intelligence, and 
abilities of its officers. Let it not be said that the system of 
bonding affords this guarantee ; experience proves the contrary. 
It may secure the payment of duties at the custom-house, or afford 
ultimate security against defaulters, but can never insure good 
faith in the public expenditures.”1 
These considerations were not deemed sufficient 
at the time to warrant the enlargement of the depart- 
ment; but by act of Congress, approved May 18, 
1826, the department received additional jurisdiction 
and additional force. This act provided, “That it 
shall be the duty of the quartermaster’s department, 
in addition to its present duties, to receive from the 
purchasing department, and distribute to the army, 
all clothing and camp and garrison equipage required 
for the use of the troops ; and that it shall be the 
Quoted by Col. Royce. Sketch of Q. M. Dep’t, 25, 26. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
duty of the quartermaster-general, under the direc- 
tion of the Secretary of War, to prescribe and enforce, 
under the provisions of this act, a system of account- 
ability for all clothing and equipage issued to the 
army. * That the better to enable the quartermas- 
ter’s department to carry into effect the provisions 
of this act, there be appointed two additional quar- 
termasters and ten assistant quartermasters.” The 
rank and pay of these additional officers were the 
same as provided for like officials by the existing 
law.1 This charge of the clothing, camp, and garrison 
equipage of the army, has ever since belonged, where 
it should have been placed in the beginning, to the 
quartermaster’s department. Later, when the anoma- 
lous “ purchasing department ” was abolished, the 
whole business pertaining to these species of army 
materiel properly was assigned to the same depart- 
ment. This was in 1842. 
The organization of the department remained, as 
established by the act of 1826, about twelve years, 
when the military establishment, in view of threatened 
complications with Great Britain, was considerably 
enlarged, and with it the staff departments generally. 
As to the department whose history is now in review, 
the law provided: 
“ Section 9. That the President of the United States be, and 
he is hereby, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, to add to the quartermaster’s department not exceed- 
ing two assistant quartermaster-generals, with the rank of colonel; 
two deputy quartermaster-generals, with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel ; and eight assistant quartermasters, with the rank of 
captain; that the assistant quartermasters now in service shall 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, IV., 173-74. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON. 
187 
have the same rank as is provided by this act for those hereby 
authorized; and that the pay and emoluments of the officers of 
the quartermaster’s department shall be the same as are allowed 
to officers of similar rank in the regiment of dragoons : Pro- 
vided, That all appointments in the quartermaster’s department 
shall be made from the army, and when officers taken for such 
appointments hold rank in the line, they shall thereupon relinquish 
said rank, and be separated from the line of the army, and that 
promotion in said department shall take place as in regiments and 
corps. 
“ Section io. That the quartermaster-general be, and he is 
hereby, authorized from time to time to employ as many forage- 
masters and wagon-masters as he may deem necessary for the 
service, not exceeding twenty in the whole, who shall be entitled 
to receive each forty dollars per month, and three rations per day, 
and forage for one horse; and neither of whom shall be interested 
or concerned, directly or indirectly, in any wagon or other means 
of transport employed by the United States, nor in the purchase 
or sale of any property procured for or belonging to the United 
States, except as an agent for the United States.” 1 
No change of special note was made in the organ- 
ization of the department from this time until the 
Mexican war. Its force was increased in 1846 and 
again in 1847. At the close of the war, the depart- 
ment consisted of the quartermaster-general; two 
assistant quartermaster-generals, with the rank of 
colonel; two deputy quartermaster-generals, with rank 
of lieutenant-colonel; four quartermasters with rank 
of major; twenty-eight assistant quartermasters with 
rank of captain; and seven military store keepers. 
Such continued to be the organization of the depart- 
ment until the war of the rebellion. On the death of 
General Jesup in i860, Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph E. 
Johnston, First Cavalry, was appointed quartermaster- 
*Act of July 5, 1838, U. S. Stat. at Large, V., 257-58. An 
act of two days later repealed the line in sec. 9 in Italics. 188 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
general. In April of the following year he resigned.1 
He was succeeded by Colonel M. C. Meigs, Eleventh 
Infantry, appointed quartermaster-general in June, 
1861, to date from the previous 15th of May.2 
1 Joseph E. Johnston was born in Virginia in 1807. On his 
mother’s side he is a grand-nephew of Patrick Henry. He was 
graduated from the Military Academy in 1829. Served with credit 
in the Indian wars in Florida, and with distinguished gallantry in 
the Mexican war, and was several times brevetted. On leaving 
the Union army, he was immediately appointed a general in the 
Confederate service, being second on the list. He was distin- 
guished at Bull Run, in the campaign of Richmond, 1862, that of 
Vicksburgh, and throughout the campaign of Atlanta till near its 
close, when he was relieved of the chief command by Hood. He 
surrendered his entire army to General Sherman, April 26, 1865. 
He is now (1879) a member of Congress from Virginia. 
2 Montgomery C. Meigs was born at Augusta, Georgia, May 3, 
1816, but his parents removed to Pennsylvania during his infancy. 
He was graduated at the Military Academy at the age of twenty, 
and assigned to the artillery, between which corps and the en- 
gineers he was transferred and re-transferred two or three times 
in a few years, but at length permanently settled in the latter 
corps, and was commissioned a first lieutenant therein in 1838; 
a captain in 1853. He remained in this corps until the breaking 
out of the Rebellion, when he was commissioned Colonel of the 
Eleventh Infantry, from which he was almost immediately pro- 
moted, as stated in the text, to the head of the quartermaster’s 
department. While in the corps of engineers, Captain Meigs was 
engaged on some of the most notable public works of the country, 
at Fort Delaware, Fort Wayne, Detroit, Washington City. The 
National Capitol, the Washington aqueduct and water-works, the 
Post Office Department, were largely constructed under his super- 
vision. Since he has been quartermaster-general, that department 
has performed some of the most remarkable achievements in the 
transportation and supply of armies of all military history, as we 
shall presently relate. Besides his great accomplishments in mili- 
tary science, General Meigs is a man of general learning, and a 
recognized authority in several of the practical sciences. THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT 
189 
During the war of the rebellion, the regular or- 
ganization of the quartermaster’s department was 
not so much enlarged as might naturally be supposed 
by most persons in reflecting upon the immense 
number of troops which were brought into the field. 
By an act of Congress of the 3d of August, 1861, 
“ for the better organization of the military establish- 
ment,” there were added to this department: one 
assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of 
colonel; two deputy quartermaster-generals, with 
rank one grade below ; four quartermasters, with rank 
of major; and twenty assistant quartermasters, with 
rank of captain. And this was about all the actual 
augmentation made to the regular corps during that 
tremendous conflict of arms. But the numerical force 
employed by the department was, of course, very 
greatly augmented by the addition of large numbers 
of clerks and other employes. During much of the 
war the persons in the service of the quartermaster’s 
department would have made an army larger than 
Washington ever had under his immediate command. 
Moreover, the different acts of Congress authorizing 
the calling out of volunteers, provided for a quarter- 
master and a quartermaster-sergeant in each regi- 
ment, so that the volunteer corps in the service of 
the department, and under its direct orders, was in 
itself immense. It is still further to be considered 
that the varying exigencies of the service constantly 
made necessary very many acting quartermasters, 
hundreds of such being on duty among the volunteers 
at all times during the war. Thus, though the regular 
corps was but slightly increased, the working force 
of the department was immensely augmented. 190 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
It is not easy to describe, within limits to which one 
must necessarily be confined in a work of this gen- 
eral nature, the actual labors of the quartermaster’s 
department during the war of the rebellion. A few 
illustrations may serve to suggest an outline of 
the comprehensive whole. It is the business of the 
department, as we have seen, to supply the army 
with clothing. A principal depot for clothing during 
the war was at Philadelphia, Colonel George H. 
Crosman, Assistant Quartermaster-General, in charge. 
He alone frequently disbursed millions of money in 
a month for purchases of army clothing. His oper- 
ations were many times larger than those of the 
largest business establishment we have ever had in 
the United States. Until his death in 1863, Colonel 
Daniel D. Tompkins was Assistant Quartermaster- 
General at New York, and the principal officer of 
the department in that great financial, commercial, 
and railway centre. Here vast quantities of stores, 
supplied by the quartermaster’s department, were 
purchased and shipped by rail or vessel to the 
front. It was also the entrepot for most of the troops 
enlisted in New England and New York, for whom 
the quartermaster’s department at New York must 
furnish transportation to the armies in the field. 
There were large numbers of ocean steamships and 
sailing vessels chartered by Colonel Tompkins, and 
constantly in use by the government for the trans- 
portation of men and supplies. Colonel Tompkins 
was succeeded by General Stewart Van Vliet, who 
conducted this immense business until after the close 
of the war. These distinguished officers disbursed 
hundreds of millions of money without letting any of THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT. 
191 
it get away. I recollect that Major J. A. Potter was 
the principal officer of the department at Chicago, 
the most important railway centre of the North-west. 
The labors of this office were very great and varied. 
It supplied transportation to the front for many thou- 
sands of troops from Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Northern Indiana, and Northern Iowa; 
for vast quantities of subsistence and medical sup- 
plies and forage; and for great numbers of horses 
and mules. Colonel Robert Allen had similar great 
business to conduct at St. Louis, with this difference, 
that a large part of his transportation of men and 
supplies was done by river steamers, St. Louis being 
the great steamboat centre of the interior, as Chicago 
is that of railways. During a considerable part of 
the war, the department had in charter several hun- 
dred steamboats on the rivers of the Mississippi 
Valley, not a few of which could transport, at the rate 
of fifteen miles an hour, two or three regiments of 
troops. The labors of the department at Cincinnati 
were similar to those at St. Louis. Besides, officers 
were stationed at many cities of less note, for the 
purchase and forwarding of stores and animals. Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana, were im- 
portant quartermaster’s depots in all respects, each 
being a general rendezvous for troops of a large 
section of country. Vast quantities of corn and oats, 
and great numbers of horses and mules, were sent 
to the army from Indianapolis. At Evansville, in the 
same State, hundreds of thousands of tons of hay 
were bought for the army. From Pittsburgh were 
sent to the army hundreds of siege-guns, and other 
stores, manufactured in that busy city. Thus, that HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
all the varied labors of the department might be done 
with the utmost dispatch and economy, it had offices 
at all convenient points in the country. The city 
of Baltimore was a very important quartermaster’s 
depot, where a vast amount of business was con- 
ducted, at first, by Major James Belger, and later, 
upon his being relieved, by Major Morris S. Miller. 
It goes for the saying that prodigious labors were 
required of the department at Washington City, near 
which was stationed, during the whole war, a large 
military force, and not far distant the largest of the 
Union armies. If I remember correctly, Colonel 
Daniel H. Rucker was the principal quartermaster 
at the capital during a considerable part of the war; 
and I distinctly recollect hearing him often spoken of 
by public men and others as an energetic officer and 
courteous gentleman. 
These statements may serve to show the nature 
and magnitude of the operations of the quartermas- 
ter’s department during the war of the rebellion. 
And yet these only show the smaller half of the case. 
All these operations were at a distance from the 
theatre of war. Those on the theatre of war were still 
more important. The average number of troops in 
the field during the war, was, it is believed, something 
over eight hundred and fifty thousand men. Except 
during the siege of Knoxville, and in one or two 
other instances of less note, no considerable corps 
of the army ever failed for a single day to have 
brought to the proper place for distribution its full 
supply of rations. Unless when in light marching 
order, by command of a general officer, no corps 
ever was without good supply of tents. Except in THE GRAND RE VIE W IN 1865. 
193 
rare instances, after long marches far away from 
bases of supply, all the soldiers of the Union army 
were constantly well clothed and well shod. A re- 
markable proof of this was seen in the grand review 
of the principal armies of the East and West, at the 
national capital, in May, 1865. The armies of the 
Potomac and of the James had not been far from 
their depots of supply, and it was expected that the 
soldiers thereof would present a neat and trim ap- 
pearance. It was also expected that the soldiers of 
the armies under General Sherman, — who had just 
made the remarkable march from Atlanta to the sea 
and from Savannah to Washington, marching every 
step on foot, — would appear a good deal “ the worse 
for wear.” Not so. No sooner had these armies 
encamped in the vicinity of Washington, than all 
requisitions for clothing were instantly honored by 
the quartermaster’s department; so that when, with 
steady tread and soldierly bearing, every man as neat 
as a pin, they marched up Pennsylvania Avenue from 
the capitol to the executive mansion, there was one 
long, unceasing shout of applause from the more 
than one hundred thousand spectators who witnessed 
this most sublime display of the times. These, and 
such as these, the routine duties of the department 
for the forces in the field, were so efficiently per- 
formed, that no great armies ever suffered so little 
for supplies as the Union armies during the war of 
the rebellion. 
There were several grand operations, if I may so 
say of the quartermaster’s department, during the 
war, in aid of grand military manoeuvres of general 
officers. One or two of these may be noted. After HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
the battle of Chickamauga, the Union situation in 
East Tennessee was extremely serious — Burnside 
was closely besieged by Longstreet at Knoxville, and 
Thomas, not so closely, by Bragg, at Chattanooga. 
General Grant, in command of the military division 
of the Mississippi, arrived at Chattanooga and as- 
sumed command in person, October 23, 1863. He 
had already caused to be relaxed the rigor of the 
siege, and supplies to be sent to the army by wagon- 
route and river. He needed, in order to take the 
offensive, heavy reinforcements and great quantities 
of supplies and stores. To get these to Chattanooga 
was the duty of the quartermaster’s department. 
That duty was performed with wonderful success, 
under the supervision of Quartermaster-General 
Meigs himself. The blockade of the Tennessee 
River was raised, and ample supplies and stores 
furnished the army. Large reinforcements were 
brought from different directions, two or three entire 
army corps being transported by rail from the array 
of the Potomac. The whole was done so quickly, so 
thoroughly, and so silently, that Grant was able to 
offer battle on November 23, and to drive the Con- 
federates from their fortified strongholds, gaining 
one of the cleanest victories of the war, and then 
and there breaking the backbone of the rebellion. 
General Grant is entitled to unmixed praise for this 
great victory. Quartermaster-General Meigs is also 
entitled to unmixed praise for the rare executive 
genius which enabled him quickly to place in Grant’s 
hands the means of gaining the victory. 
The transportation of the army of the Potomac 
from Harrison’s Landing on the James River to THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT 
195 
Alexandria on the Potomac, earlier in the war, was 
also a notable performance in army transportation. 
We shall see in the Life of Secretary of War Scho- 
field that his Twenty-third Army Corps was quickly 
transported from Nashville to Washington early in 
1865 without any loss whatever. Other like duties 
of less note, some, perhaps of more — as the rapid 
concentration of troops at Pittsburgh Landing in 
the spring of 1862 — were done as of course by the 
department during the war. Colonel Royce remarks 
with truth: “The annals of history, the most bitter 
and persistent struggles in the Old World in ancient 
or modern times, furnish no parallel to the late cam- 
paigns of the Union armies, and to the promptness, 
facility, and dispatch with which immense bodies of 
troops have been transported from one sphere of 
action to another, and fabulous quantities of supplies 
of every kind furnished for their use or relief. 
Doubtless, the certainty and regularity with which 
the required supplies were furnished, and the prompt- 
ness with which the innumerable demands upon the 
department were met, were greatly conducive to the 
success which finally crowned the great conflict.”1 
It will not be thought inappropriate to add state- 
ments as to the personnel, past and present, of this 
branch 'of the service. The following table — for 
which I am indebted to the valuable little work just 
quoted — shows the chiefs of the department from 
about the beginning of the Revolution down to 
1879: 
Sketch of Org. of Q. M. Dep’t, 37. 196 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Name. Rank. Date of Appointment. 
Thomas Mifflin, Colonel, Aug. —, 1775 
Stephen Moylan, do. June 5, 1776 
Thomas Mifflin, Brigadier-general, Oct. 1, 1776 
Nathaniel Greene, Major-general, Mar. 2, 1778 
Timothy Pickering, Colonel, Aug. 5, 1780 
Samuel Hodgden, Lieutenant-Colonel, Mar. 4, 1791 
James O’Hara, do. Apr. 19, 1792 
John Wilkins, Jr., do. June 1, 1796 
John Wilkins, Jr., Major-general, June 1, 1799 
Morgan Lewis, Brigadier-general, Apr. 4, 1812 
Robert Swartwout, do. Mar. 21, 1813 
James R. Mullany, Colonel, Apr. 29, 18j6 
George Gibson, do. Apr. 29, 1816 
William Cumming, Brigadier-general, Apr. 18, 1818 
Thomas S. Jesup, do. May 8, 1818 
Joseph E. Johnston, do. June 28, i860 
Montgomery C. Meigs, do. May 15, 1861 
The following is the organization of the depart- 
ment as shown by the official publication of 1878: 
Quartermaster-General. — Brigadier-General Montgomery C. 
Meigs. 
Assistant Quartermaster-Generals. — Colonels Robert Allen, 
Daniel H. Rucker, Rufus Ingalls, L. C. Easton, Stewart Van 
Vliet. 
Deputy Quartermaster-Generals.— Lieutenant-Colonels Samuel 
B. Holabird, Charles H. Tompkins, James A. Ekin, A. R. 
Eddy, Rufus Saxton, J. D. Bingham, A. J. Perry, Henry C. 
Hodges. 
Quartermasters.— Majors John G. Chandler, William Myers, 
C. G. Sawtelle, J. J. Dana, J. A. Potter, R. N. Batchelder, 
M. I. Ludington, James M. Moore, James Belger, B. C. Card, 
C. A. Reynolds, George B. Dandy, George H. Weeks, William B. 
Hughes. 
Assistant Quartermasters.— Captains A. G. Robinson, E. D. 
Baker, H. W. Janes, J. G. C. Lee, J. Gilliss, T. J. Eckerson, ROSTER. 
197 
A. J. McGonigle, E. B. Grimes, J. W. Scully, W. T. Howell, 
C. W. Foster, G. W. Bradley, S. F. Barstow, J. H. Belcher, 
E. B. Kirk, A. S. Kimball, A. F. Rockwell, G. C. Smith, E. 
J. Strang, N. S. Constable, J. V. Furey, L. C. Forsyth, C. 
H. Hoyt, A. P. Blunt, J. H. Lord, J. M. Marshall, E. B. 
Atwood, John Simpson, L. E. Campbell, C. S. Heintzelman. 
Military Store-keepers.— Captains R. M. Potter, C. A. Alli- 
good, J. F. Rodgers, G. A. Hull, John Livers, A. Barrett, W. 
P. Martin. CHAPTER VII. 
THE BUREAUX OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
(|CONTINUED.) 
The Subsistence Department — The Medical Department — 
The Pay Department — The Corps of Engineers — The 
Ordnance Department — Resume of the Practical Labors 
Performed by the Different Bureaux. 
A TEXT in order among the bureaux of the War 
INI Department, as annually arranged in the official 
army register, is: 
In strictness there was no such thing as a subsist- 
ence department in the military establishment of the 
United States before the year 1818. The country 
had gone through the Revolutionary war, several 
Indian wars, and the war with Great Britain of 1812 
-15, without a distinct military organization exclu- 
sively charged with subsisting the army. A hundred 
years ago the subject of the division of labor, 
whether in military or civil affairs, was little under- 
stood. In the latter its importance had begun to be 
considered by the best minds of the age through the 
publication of Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations,” 
a work contemporaneous with our Declaration of 
Independence, and scarcely less beneficent in its influ- 
ence upon mankind; but in military affairs, especially 
in America, not much consideration was given to the 
subject until later. All through the war of the Revo- 
VI. THE SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT. 
198 THE SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT. 
199 
lution, in the Indian wars near the close of the eigh- 
teenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries, 
throughout the last war with England, our armies ex- 
perienced many disasters and sufferings from the want 
of a proper division of military organizations. No 
more notable want was that of an independent subsist- 
ence department unc|er the strict rules of military 
discipline. 
In all the wars above referred to, there had to be, 
by necessity, some substitute or other for a subsist- 
ence department, because the armies had to be fed. 
During most of the Revolutionary war, there was a 
kind of dual department for supplying the army with 
subsistence, at the head of each, respectively, being a 
commissary-general of purchases and a commissary- 
general of issues, each having a corps of subordi- 
nates. These purchased through contractors, and 
issued to the army not only subsistence supplies, but 
other military stores. The system was so inefficient 
that it was abandoned, and the business of supplying 
the army turned over to the Treasury Department. 
The contract system being continued — that is to say, 
the army being supplied directly by a parcel of con- 
tractors on bargains made through the Treasury 
Department — this project also turned out to be a 
failure. Even when the war with Great Britain was 
upon us, the necessity for a subsistence department 
on a military organization was not recognized. By 
the act of Congress of March 28, 1812, “to establish 
a quartermaster’s department, and for other pur- 
poses ” it was enacted: “ That there shall be a com- 
missary-general of purchases, and as many deputy 
commissaries as, in the opinion of the President of 200 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the United States, the public service may require; 
that it shall be the duty of the commissary-general 
of purchases, under the direction and supervision of 
the Secretary of War, to conduct the procuring and 
providing of all arms, military stores, clothing, and 
generally all articles of supply requisite for the mili- 
tary service of the United States; and it shall be 
the duty of the deputy commissaries, when directed 
thereto, either by the Secretary of War, the commis- 
sary-general of purchases, or in cases of necessity by 
the commanding general, quartermaster-general, or 
deputy quartermasters, to purchase all such of the 
aforesaid articles as may be requisite for the military 
service.” 1 
It will thus be seen that according to the present 
generally received notions of the correct division of 
labor in a military establishment, there was thus pro- 
vided a purchasing bureau to perform part of the func- 
tions appropriately belonging to a quartermaster’s, a 
subsistence, an ordnance, and a medical department. 
The result, as of course, was clashing, confusion, mis- 
fortune in the field. In the following year Congress 
undertook to improve this imperfect system by creat- 
ing an office styled superintendent-general of military 
supplies, the incumbent of which, at the seat of gov- 
ernment and under the direction of the Secretary of 
War, should supervise all accounts of officers of all 
branches of the army purchasing or receiving mili- 
tary stores or supplies of any kind whatever, causing 
such accounts to be regularly and promptly rendered. 
A much more efficacious remedy against the existing 
ills was a provision of the same act which authorized 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 697, secs. 4 and 5. THE SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT 
201 
and directed the Secretary of War to define and pre- 
scribe the species and amount of supplies to be fur- 
nished by the different departments, their respective 
duties and powers, and to adopt general regulations 
for the transportation of the articles of supply from 
the places of purchase to the armies, garrisons, and 
posts. The act also authorized the President to ap- 
point special commissaries to supply the army with 
subsistence and other stores and supplies in case of 
the failure of contractors or other emergency.1 
In all these provisions, there was good intention 
and no little improvement on the former system; 
still, it would appear, both the civil and the military 
authorities failed to discover how to hit upon the 
simple plan which experience has since so amply 
vindicated, namely, the abolition of “ the purchasing 
department ” and the establishment of a distinct de- 
partment of subsistence. The purchasing depart- 
ment was founded upon the bad system of contracts, 
as described a few pages back. Under that system, 
an army is constantly liable to be placed at the mercy 
of unconscionable men, not at all liable to military law. 
Moreover, the purchasing department had placed 
upon it functions which, legitimately, logically per- 
tained to other departments. It was a supernumerary 
department, “a useless and ridiculous excess.” Its 
final abolition was one of the best practical reforms 
ever brought about in the executive departments of 
the government. 
Under the act of April 14, 1818, regulating the 
staff of the army, the subsistence department was 
organized. In the general history of the War De- 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 816 et seq. 202 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
partment, this important reform has already been 
spoken of.1 The provisions relating to subsistence 
of the army were as follows : 
Section 6.— That as soon as the state of existing contracts for 
the subsistence of the army shall, in the opinion of the President 
of the United States, permit it, there shall be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one 
commissary-general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of col- 
onel of ordnance, who shall, before entering on the duties of his 
office, give bond and security, in such sum as the President may 
direct, and as many assistants, to be taken from the subalterns of 
the line, as the service may require, who shall receive twenty dol- 
lars per month, in addition to their pay in the line, and who shall, 
before entering on the duties of their office, give bond and security, 
in such sums as the President may direct. The commissary-gen- 
eral and his assistants shall perform such duties, in purchasing and 
issuing of rations to the army of the United States, as the Pres- 
ident may direct. 
Section 7.—That supplies for the army, unless in particular and 
urgent cases the Secretary of War should otherwise direct, shall 
be purchased by contract, to be made by the commissary-general, 
on public notice, to be delivered on inspection, in the bulk, and 
at such places as shall be stipulated; which contract shall be made 
under such regulations as the Secretary of War may direct. 
Section 8.— That the President may make such alterations in 
the component parts of the ration as a due regard to the health 
and comfort of the army and economy may require. 
Section 9.— That the commissary-general, and his assistants, 
shall not be concerned, directly or indirectly, in the purchase or sale, 
in trade or commerce, of any article entering into the composition 
of the ration, allowed to the troops in the service of the United 
States, except on account of the United States; nor shall such 
officer take and apply to his own use any gain or emolument for 
negotiating or transacting any business connected with the duties 
of his office, other than what is, or may be allowed by law; and 
the commissary-general, and his assistants, shall be subject to mar- 
tial law. 
*See Chap. III., ante; passim. THE SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT 
203 
Section 10.—That all letters to and from the commissary-gen- 
eral, which may relate to his office duties, shall be free from post- 
age : Provided, That the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth 
sections of this act shall continue, and be in force for the term of 
five years from the passing of the same, and thence until the end 
of the next session of Congress, and no longer. 
The careful reader will not overlook the fact that 
the system of purchasing by contract here provided 
is entirely different from that which had before ob- 
tained. Under the new system the subsistence 
department did indeed purchase its supplies “ by 
contract ”— that is, of the lowest bidders after due 
public notice — but they were thus bought in bulk, 
inspected by the military, and the department itself, 
whose officials were all subject to martial law, was 
responsible for the character and delivery of the 
supplies. Under the old system, if a contractor 
defaulted there was an end of it, no matter how much 
the army might suffer, for a law-suit on the bond 
brought no supplies. Under the new system, had 
a commissary of subsistence defaulted, there would 
have been an end of him; and hence there has been 
no default in this department, except in a few instances 
under circumstances beyond the control of human 
agency. 
Thus the department continued until the act of 
Congress of March 2, 1821, “to reduce and fix the 
military peace establishment.” Under this law the 
subsistence department was fully recognized, and, 
for the first time, under its proper name, the act pro- 
viding, “ that there shall be one commissary-general 
of subsistence; and that there shall be as many assist- 
ant commissaries as the service may require, not 204 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
exceeding fifty, who shall be taken from the subal- 
terns of the line, and shall, in addition to their pay 
in the line, receive a sum not less than ten nor more 
than twenty dollars per month; and that the assist- 
ant quartermasters and assistant commissaries of 
subsistence shall be subject to duties in both depart- 
ments under the orders of the Secretary of War.”1 
Without notable change, each change being de- 
signed to add to the efficiency of the department, as 
now organized universally recognized, the bureau re- 
mained for more than fifteen years. By an act of 
July, 1838, an assistant commissary-general of sub- 
sistence, with the rank and pay of a lieutenant-colonel 
of cavalry, one commissary of subsistence, with the 
rank and pay of a major, and three commissaries of 
subsistence, with the rank and pay of captain, were 
added to the department.2 And thus the organiza- 
tion remained until the Mexican war called forth an 
increase in the machinery, not a change in the sys- 
tem. That remained, and still remains, substantially 
the same as established under the Secretaryship of 
Mr. Calhoun in 1818 and 1821. During the Mexican 
war the increase in the force of the department 
mainly consisted of volunteer officers, whose commis- 
sions expired soon after the close of the war; but 
in 1850 the regular corps was increased by four 
assistant commissaries, with the rank and pay of 
captain. Even during the stupendous war of the 
rebellion the regular subsistence corps was not very 
greatly augmented. Nevertheless, the working force 
of the establishment was immensely increased; for 
each brigade of volunteers was entitled to an assist- 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large., III., 615. 2Ibid. V., 258, sec. 11. THE ARMY RATION. • 
205 
ant commissary, each regiment to a commissary- 
sergeant, with the rank of sergeant-major. The ad- 
ditional regiments in the regular army were also 
provided with officers of this department. The de- 
partment itself was also from time to time slightly 
reenforced by additional commissaries and assistant 
commissaries of subsistence, but not at any time in 
a ratio to be compared with the sublime reenforce- 
ments which demonstrated the invincible • military 
power of a free people. This staff department, 
organized on correct principles, adapted itself with 
ease and without much increase to the changed cir- 
cumstances, and as regularly and smoothly supplied 
subsistence for a million men as it had before done 
for six thousand or twenty-five thousand. 
It should also be borne in mind that the army 
ration had become, at the time of the war of the 
rebellion, a quite different thing from what it had 
been in former years. The first army ration under 
the present government of the United States con- 
sisted of: one pound of beef, or three-quarters of a 
pound of pork; one pound of bread or flour; half a 
gill of rum, brandy, or whiskey, or the value thereof; 
and at the rate of one quart of salt, two quarts of 
vinegar, two pounds of soap, and one pound of can- 
dles to every hundred rations. Several changes 
were made in' the ration from time to time — none 
of them making it a daily luxury — until 1802, when 
Congress declared it to be as follows: one pound 
and a quarter of beef, or three-quarters of a pound 
of pork; eighteen ounces of bread or flour; one 
gill of rum, whiskey, or brandy; and at the rates 
of two quarts of salt, four quarts of vinegar, four 206 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
pounds of soap, and one pound and a half of can- 
dles to every hundred rations. This was more liberal 
with respect both to solids and liquids than the origi- 
nal ration, and it remained the regular bill of fare 
for the enlisted men of the army during a number 
of years. In 183four pounds of coffee and eight 
pounds of sugar to the hundred rations were sub- 
stituted for the grog ration, and this allowance was 
increased to six pounds of coffee and twelve of 
sugar in 1838. These changes indicate both moral 
and hygienic reform in the army. In i860, the allow- 
ance of coffee was increased to ten pounds and of 
sugar to fifteen for each one hundred rations. For 
some years the army regulations had provided for 
the issuing of beans, hominy, and rice to the troops 
at certain times. By a law of Congress, approved 
August 3, 1861, the army ration was increased as 
follows: “ twenty-two ounces of bread or flour, or 
one pound of hard bread; fresh beef shall be issued 
as often as the commanding officer of any detach- 
ment or regiment shall require it, when practicable, 
in place of salt meat; beans and rice, or hominy, 
twice a week; one pound of potatoes shall be issued 
at least three times a week, if practicable, when 
these articles, cannot be issued, an equivalent in 
value in some other proper food shall be issued; 
and a ration of tea may be substituted for a ration 
of coffee.” Pepper was afterwards added to the 
ration, and the law also providing for a regular de- 
tail of cooks from the ranks, it is probable that the 
Union troops were more abundantly and healthfully 
subsisted during the war of the rebellion than any 
large armies ever were for so long a period. Indeed, THE ARMY RATION. 
207 
so careful were our statesmen of the time to see 
that the troops were herein plentifully supplied that 
the ration became excessive and wasteful. A con- 
siderable and quite animated discussion upon the 
propriety of its reduction arose in Congress and in 
the country. In March, 1864, Senator Henry Wilson, 
of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Military 
Committee, addressed a letter upon the subject to 
Secretary of War Stanton, who referred it to the 
subsistence department. Brigadier-General Joseph 
P. Taylor, at the time commissary-general of sub- 
sistence, endorsed the paper as follows: 
It is the opinion of this office — ist. That the present army- 
ration is larger than is necessary for the subsistence of the soldier. 
2d. That the ration allowed prior to the passage of the act of 
August 3, 1861, is sufficient for the soldier. 
3d. That it is advisable to reduce the ration to the amount 
allowed prior to the passage of the aforesaid act, and to add the 
value of this reduction to the soldier’s pay, rather than to continue 
the present system of purchasing the savings made from the use 
of the present ration. 
In order to meet the exigencies of the service, and to facilitate 
the settlement of accounts at the treasury, it is deemed important 
that the clause of the act of August 3, 1861, which allows the 
issue of an equivalent in value of some other proper food, when 
the articles composing the ration cannot be issued in the propor- 
tions specified, should be embodied in any future legislation mod- 
ifying the present army ration.1 
These recommendations were adopted, and the ra- 
tion modified accordingly. In case all the component 
parts of the ration could not be issued, or in other 
1 Quoted by Major John W. Barriger, in his “Legislative His- 
tory of the Subsistence Department,” pp. 105, 106 — a thick pam- 
phlet, published in 1876, to the interesting pages of which I am 
indebted for many facts. 208 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
emergency, the President was authorized to change 
the ration to meet the want, or with a view to the 
health of the soldiers. Since then the ration of the 
United States army has been composed of such 
proper parts of fresh and salt meats, vegetables, tea, 
coffee, sugar, salt, pepper, etc., that if the soldier is 
not, under all ordinary circumstances, well fed and 
religiously clean in his person, it is his own fault or 
that of his immediate commander. 
Of course the duty of subsisting such large num- 
bers of men as composed the Union armies during 
the war of the rebellion involved great labor and 
large disbursements of money. “During the war 
this branch of the service never failed,” said Secre- 
tary Stanton in his annual report of 1865. Its dis- 
bursements for the four years of the war were as 
follows: 
From July i, 1861, to June 30, 1862, . $48,799,521.14 
From July 1, 1862, to June 30, 1863, . 69,537,582.78 
From July 1, 1863, to June 30, 1864, . 98,666,918.50 
From July 1, 1864, to June 30, 1865, . 144,782,969.41 
Total, . . . $361,786,991.83 
On the 30th of April, 1865, almost on the very 
day of the final surrender of the Confederacy, there 
were in the department, the twenty-nine officers of 
the regular corps and five hundred and thirty-five 
commissaries of volunteers. 
At the beginning of the war Brevet Major-General 
George Gibson was commissary-general of subsist- 
ence. He had been at the head of the department 
for more than forty years, and its efficient, vigorous 
management during all that period makes the highest GENERAL MACEEELY. 
eulogium that could be pronounced on his character 
as a military executive officer. General Gibson died 
in September, 1861, and was succeeded by Brevet 
Colonel Joseph P. Taylor, who had for some time 
been assistant commissary-general of subsistence. 
About two years later he received the full rank of 
brigadier-general as provided by law, then enacted, 
for the head of the bureau. He died in the latter 
part of June, 1864, after continuous service in the 
office of about thirty-five years, which had been 
preceded by a service of fifteen years in the army. 
General Taylor conducted the affairs of the office 
during a trying period with great success, and was 
distinguished among public men for the fine suavity 
of his personal and official demeanor. He was suc- 
ceeded by Colonel Amos B. Eaton, regularly pro- 
moted, who conducted the affairs of the bureau for 
about ten years, when, by an order of the Secretary 
of War, he was placed on the retired list, the order 
to take effect May 1, 1874. In the following month, 
Colonel Alexander E. Shiras, who had been acting 
commissary-general of subsistence since the retire- 
ment of General Eaton, succeeded to the position, 
with the rank of brigadier-general. General Shiras 
died in April, 1875, Brevet Colonel Robert Mac- 
feely was promoted to the vacancy. He still remains 
at the head of the bureau. 
By legislation of recent years, the subsistence de- 
partment was slightly reduced in force, the regular 
corps now (1878) numbering twenty-six officers. The 
roster, as furnished by the Army Register of 1878, is 
as follows : 210 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Commissary- General of Subsistence.—Brigadier-General Robert 
Macfeely. 
Assistant Commissary- Generals of Subsistence. — Colonels 
Charles L. Kilburn, M. D. L. Simpson; Lieutenant-Colonels 
Henry F. Clarke, William W. Burns, Amos Beckwith. 
Commissaries of Subsistence.— Majors B. Du Barry, Thomas J. 
Haines, George Bell, M. R. Morgan, John P. Hawkins, M. P. 
Small, Thomas C. Sullivan, John W. Barriger; Captains Thomas 
Wilson, William H. Bell, J. H. Gilman, Samuel T. Cushing, 
William A. Elderkin, Charles B. Penrose, William H. Nash, 
Charles McClure, Andrew K. Long, Charles P. Eagan, F. F. 
Whitehead, John F. Weston. 
VII. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
Of all the bureaux of the military establishment 
of the United States, the medical department had 
the most difficult struggle, perhaps, in securing 
rational organization and appreciative recognition. 
There was, in truth, in the proper signification of the 
term, no such department of a permanent nature 
until during the administration of the war office by 
Secretary Calhoun; and it was not until long after- 
wards that its military character and rights were fully 
acknowledged, either by Congress or by the army. 
One of the few Secretaries of War who have with 
justice been but little honored by their countrymen 
or by history, spoke almost with contempt of the 
department less than fifty years ago.1 It required 
more than one contest for the officers of the corps to 
be allowed to wear full uniforms, epaulettes, sash, and 
all. Through an antagonism in the army not easily 
to be explained, and an indifference on the part of 
Congress scarcely consonant with statesmanship, cer- 
tainly not with earnest humanity, that branch of the 
1 Mr. Eaton, President Jackson’s first Secretary of War. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
211 
military establishment whose labors are now univer- 
sally conceded to be the most beneficent of all, strug- 
gled through weary years for just recognition and 
independent organization. 
But every one will see that so soon as the country 
raised an army, there must have been attached to 
it a medical corps of some kind, that the sick and 
wounded might receive the professional attentions 
which all civilized peoples acknowledge to be neces- 
sary. We accordingly find, recurring to our revolu- 
tionary history, that in May, 1775, the Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay provided for a commission to 
examine persons wishing to become surgeons in the 
army then forming in that colony for the siege of 
Boston. This commission performed valuable ser- 
vice in the care with which it selected surgeons for 
the army. After the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 
1775, an army hospital — said to have been the first 
in our country—was established at Cambridge, and 
was placed in charge* of Doctor John Warren, a 
brother of the Joseph Warren, who 
was slain in that battle, the first distinguished martyr 
in the cause of American Independence. The first 
armies of the Revolution, as is well known, came 
together rather voluntarily than by reason of the 
action of government. Most of the corps, large or 
small, brought with them to the general rendezvous 
their own surgeons. It is, however, a very singular 
fact, that in the resolutions of the Continental Con- 
gress first organizing a continental army there was no 
provision for a medical staff. Later this omission was 
remedied, and provisions were made for a medical 
corps and for the establishment of hospitals. The 212 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
provisions were complex, however, the officials of the 
corps too numerous. The result, clashings and dis- 
putes. The sublime fortitude and endurance of our 
revolutionary armies would be demonstrated by this, 
if by nothing else, that they achieved independence 
through a seven years’ war, notwithstanding the fact 
of a medical department organized on plans wellnigh 
as faulty as it was possible for them to be. 
At the time of the establishment of the govern- 
ment under the Constitution, and for some time there- 
after, the medical corps consisted of a surgeon for 
each regiment, and three surgeon’s mates. The 
President was also authorized by law to appoint as 
many surgeon’s mates as he might judge necessary. 
Regimental surgeons and surgeon’s mates were also 
appointed for the “ levies ” (volunteers) which were 
raised to aid in General St. Clair’s campaign against 
the Indians in 1791. In the battle in which that offi- 
cer was so signally defeated by the savages, Doctor 
Victor Grasson, a surgeon’s mate in a corps of 
“ levies ” was slain, being the first medical officer of 
the army killed in battle.1 Thus, with a surgeon for 
each regiment and a variable number of surgeon’s 
mates, the medical and surgical labors of the army 
were performed for nearly ten years after the in- 
auguration of President Washington. 
But in 1798, on the increase of the army in view 
of the threatened war with France, there was for a 
short time an organized medical department, Doctor 
James Craik, of Virginia, being appointed physician- 
general at the request of Washington himself. In 
1 Asst. Surg. Harvey E. Brown’s Medical Department of the U. 
S. Army, p. 73. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
213 
the following- year Congress passed an act “ to regu- 
late the medical establishment.” This law provided 
for a physician-general an apothecary-general; a 
medical purveyor; a competent number of hospital 
surgeons; a suitable number of hospital mates; hos- 
pital stewards, nurses, and attendants. The duties 
of these officers and employes were in general terms 
prescribed, and were such as would be indicated by 
their designations respectively. The compensations 
of the several officers were as follows : The physi- 
cian-general, one hundred dollars per month, and 
fifty dollars per month additional, in lieu of all other 
emoluments and commutations; the apothecary- 
general, eighty dollars per month, and thirty dollars 
additional, in lieu of rations, etc.; the purveyor, one 
hundred dollars per month; each deputy apothecary- 
general, fifty dollars pay per month and sixteen dol- 
lars additional; each hospital surgeon, eighty dollars 
pay per month, “ and forty dollars per month in full 
compensation for forage, rations, and all expenses ; ” 
each mate, thirty dollars pay per month, and twenty 
dollars additional; each steward, twenty-five dollars 
per month, and eight dollars in lieu of all other 
allowances.1 This act was well calculated to supply 
an efficient system for the establishment and manage- 
ment of hospitals, but the necessity for its practical 
operation during the war did not arise, war being 
averted. In 1800, all fears of war passed away, and 
the army was again placed upon a peace footing. 
The act by which this was accomplished disbanded 
all the medical officers except six surgeons and 
twelve surgeon’s mates, and by December, 1801, this 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 721-22. 214 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
number of mates had been still further reduced to 
seven, existing vacancies not having been filled in 
view of a still greater reduction in the army.1 
From this time until the second year of the war 
with Great Britain there was no medical department, 
the duties pertaining to such department being per- 
formed by surgeons and surgeon’s mates, without 
bureaucratic head or cooperative organization. These 
were from time to time increased, as the number of 
garrisons and posts was increased. So in 1808, when 
there was a considerable increase of the army, the 
corps was correspondingly increased, the general 
organization of the army requiring a surgeon and 
two or more mates, as the President might determine 
for each regiment. The corps was likewise increased 
with the considerable increase of the army in 1812. 
The act authorizing the increase of the army, also 
provided for such number of hospital surgeons, mates, 
and stewards as the service, in the judgment of the 
President, might require. But not until 1813 was 
the corps placed under the command of a responsible 
head. By an act of March 3d of that year, it was 
provided, “that for the better superintendence and 
management of the hospital and medical establish- 
ment of the army of the United States, there shall be 
a physician- and surgeon-general, with an annual 
salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, and an 
apothecary-general, with an annual salary of eighteen 
hundred dollars; whose respective duties and powers 
shall be prescribed by the President.”2 
Under this law, Doctor James Tilton, of Delaware, 
brown’s Med. Dept, of the Army, 78. 
2 U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 819. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
215 
was appointed physician- and surgeon-general, and 
Doctor Francis Le Barron, of Massachusetts, apothe- 
cary-general. By the rules and regulations for the 
army, promulgated by order of the President during 
the following May, the physician- and surgeon-general 
was required to prescribe rules for the government 
of hospitals, and see them enforced; to appoint 
stewards and nurses; to call for and receive returns 
of medicines, surgical instruments, and all hospital 
stores; to authorize and regulate the supply of regi- 
mental medical chests, making half-yearly returns 
thereof, and of the sick in hospital, to the War De- 
partment, and yearly estimates of what would be 
required for the army. The apothecary-general was 
required to assist in these duties, and to obey the 
orders of the physician-general. The eminent physi- 
cians appointed to these new positions entered at 
once upon the discharge of their duties, and hence- 
forth during the war the sick and wounded were 
promptly, humanely, and skilfully cared for. For all 
the armies of the North, hospitals were provided in 
as convenient and healthful localities as could be ob- 
tained ; and though there was a great deal of sickness 
among these troops, the rate of mortality never be- 
came exceptionally great. For the treatment of the 
wounded during and after engagements, the corps in 
all instances received the commendations of general 
and field officers. No medical reports of the army 
of the South have been preserved, but General 
Jackson himself, in his general orders of congratu- 
lation after the victory of New Orleans, declared 
that the medical staff merited well of the coun- 
try. From which it may correctly be inferred that HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
it was no less efficient in the South than in the 
North. 
By the act of Congress of March 3, 1815, reducing 
the army to a peace basis on the conclusion of the 
war, the medical department was again virtually 
disbanded. Nevertheless, the apothecary-general, 
two assistant apothecaries, and a number of hospital 
surgeons and mates were provisionally retained in 
service by order of the President. In the following 
year, Congress by law authorized these officers to be 
continued in service. Thus the corps remained until 
the organization of the medical department upon a 
permanent basis by the act of Congress regulating 
the staff of the army, approved by the President 
April 14, 1818. This act provided, “That there 
shall be one surgeon-general, with a salary of two 
thousand five hundred dollars per annum ; one as- 
sistant surgeon-general, with the emoluments of a 
hospital surgeon ; and that the number of post sur- 
geons be increased, not to exceed eight to each di- 
vision.” 1 After the passage of this act the medical 
department consisted of one surgeon-general, two 
assistant surgeon-generals (one being assigned by 
general orders that there might be equality in each 
division of the army), one apothecary-general, two 
assistant apothecaries, forty post surgeons, one regi- 
mental surgeon and two mates to each regiment.2 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 426. By an unfortunate misprint 
in one or two places in Asst. Surgeon Brown’s “ Medical Depart- 
ment of the Army,” the act cited in the text is said to have been 
passed in May instead of April. Elsewhere in the work the date 
is correctly printed. 
2 Brown’s Med. Dept, of the Army, 107. 5URGEON-GENERAL LO VELL. 
217 
Hospital surgeons of the old organization were trans- 
ferred to the list of post surgeons. 
Hospital Surgeon Joseph Lovell was appointed 
surgeon-general. A graduate of Harvard, a learned 
physician, and skilful operator, he had distinguished 
himself as regimental surgeon ; in charge of a gen- 
eral hospital at Burlington, Vermont; while serving 
in the field with Generals Scott and Brown, and by 
not a few exceptionally able official reports. On the 
21 st of April, general orders from the war office 
directed that all reports, returns, and communications 
connected with the medical department should there- 
after be made to the surgeon-general’s office at 
Washington; and that all orders and instructions 
relative to the duties of the several officers of the 
medical staff would be issued through the surgeon- 
general, “ who will be obeyed and respected accord- 
ingly.” Thus was practically instituted the medical 
department of the United States military establish- 
ment. 
Surgeon-General Lovell entered upon the dis- 
charge of his duties with the enthusiastic ardor so 
often associated with a vigorous mind just entering 
upon its prime; for he was at this time, though 
preeminent in medicine and in surgery, only about 
thirty years of age. Among the first of his labors 
was a revision of the medical regulations. These 
he prepared with great care and skill, clearly point- 
ing out the various duties of the officers of the corps, 
giving no less attention to the rules pertaining to 
the business management of the affairs of the bureau 
than to those pertaining to the professional duties 
of the corps. The regulations were issued in gen- 218 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
eral orders by the War Department in September. 
Their good effects very soon became apparent both 
in the better care of the sick and in the business 
management of the affairs of the bureau. This latter 
was especially manifested in the greater economy 
which at once obtained. Upon this point Assistant 
Surgeon Harvey E. Brown, in his pamphlet on “ the 
Medical Department of the Army” remarks: “Un- 
der the establishment of 1802 the average appropri- 
ation for the medical department was $13,500 per 
annum, or about $4.00 per man for every soldier in 
service. With the increase of the army in 1808 the 
expenses rose to $50,000 per annum, or about $5.00 
per man. Of the cost of the department during the 
war no reliable figures have been found, but in the 
years 1816-18, under the military peace establish- 
ment of 1815, the appropriations averaged $95,382 
per annum, or $7.00 per man, while after the reor- 
ganization of the staff in 1818 they were reduced to 
$39,104 per annum, or only about $3.00 for each 
soldier in service.”1 A similar result took place, 
it may be observed in passing, in other staff depart- 
ments of the military establishment on their organ- 
ization upon philosophical principles during Secretary 
Calhoun’s administration. The practical manner of 
securing this economy is substantially the same in 
all the bureaux. As to the medical department, it 
was thus -explained in a letter of Surgeon-General 
Lovell to the Secretary of War, under date of No- 
vember 22, 1822 : 
“In explanation of this great difference in expense, it may be 
proper to add, that a perfect system of responsibility for all public 
1 Page 125. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
219 
property from the period of its purchase to that of its expenditure, 
has been established in this office; that the returns of the surgeons, 
of every article, are regularly rendered and examined, and full 
receipts required in the case of every transfer before their accounts 
are settled. This, with the plan of purchasing adopted, and of 
paying all bills without advancing money, absolutely precludes the 
possibility of fraud, extravagance, or undue expenditure. It may 
also be remarked that during the last four years our military hos- 
pitals have been regularly and abundantly furnished with every 
article of furniture, medicine, stores, etc., necessary for the com- 
fort, convenience, and recovery of the sick, to which, as well as 
to the skill and attention of the surgeons, the quarterly reports 
bear ample testimony. ’ ’ 
The act of Congress of March 2, 1821, reducing 
the military establishment, provided that the medical 
department should consist of one surgeon-general, 
eight surgeons, with the compensation of regimental 
surgeons, and forty-five assistant surgeons, with the 
compensation of post surgeons.1 This effected the 
discharge of Assistant Surgeon-Generals Watkins 
and Bronaugh, of Apothecary-General Le Barron, 
and of two assistant apothecaries. Four post sur- 
geons were also discharged. From this time until 
the Mexican war there was little change in the organ- 
ization of the department. In 1832, 1836, and 1837, 
additional surgeons and assistant surgeons were au- 
thorized by acts of Congress, and in 1842 the offices 
of two surgeons and ten assistant surgeons were 
abolished by the same authority.2 These changes 
about equalized each other, and did not in either 
case disturb, and were not intended to disturb, the 
general organization of the department. In 1834, 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 616, sec. io. 
'Ibid., V., 513. 220 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the pay of the officers of the corps was increased, 
surgeons being allowed the pay and emoluments 
of a major; assistant surgeons who had served five 
years those of a captain; other assistant surgeons 
those of a first lieutenant. After continuous service 
of ten years, additional rations were allowed; and, 
in fine, the corps about this time began to receive 
hearty consideration and recognition never before 
accorded to it. 
“ The history of the medical corps,” says Assistant 
Surgeon Brown, in the work so often cited, “during 
the period from its reorganization in 1821 to the 
declaration of war against Mexico, is not an eventful 
one; yet probably at no time were the duties devolv- 
ing upon it so arduous and irksome, or performed 
under such discouraging circumstances. The long 
series of years in which the government was en- 
gaged in the contests with the Seminole and Creek 
Indians gave constant occupation to many medical 
officers at unhealthy stations in the swamps and 
everglades of Florida, but their reports pertain rather 
to the medical statistics of the army (which have 
already been published) than embrace any points 
of interest in connection with its history.”1 As a 
general statement this may be correct enough; yet 
were there several occasions during the period in 
question in which the medical department, as I con- 
ceive with deference, bore a part of no little historic 
interest. Thus, during several years of this period 
yellow fever prevailed to an alarming extent among 
the troops of the South, and at one time so far north 
as Fort Monroe. Malarial fevers were of a more 
'Med. Dept, of the Array, 126. QUIET HEROISM. 
221 
than usual malignant type, and much more than 
usually prevalent. Very many deaths occurred. 
But amid the pestilence, or rather the many pesti- 
lences, every officer of the medical corps remained 
at his post, and day and night, with modest but noble 
heroism, waged the conflict with the dread enemy. 
Some, after weeks of ceaseless vigilance and toil, 
themselves succumbed to the pestilence. Facts of 
this kind are not often related with personal details 
in history ; if they were, the genuine heroes of the 
medical profession would be discovered to far out- 
number those who won their laurels with the sword. 
As connected with this general subject, it may be 
proper to speak of the sufferings of the troops who 
went from the Atlantic seaboard to the West in 1832 
to join in the campaign against the Sac and Fox 
Indians under Black Hawk. Seven companies of 
troops from Fort Monroe and New York harbor 
embarked at Buffalo, for Chicago, on the steamer 
“ Henry Clay,” on the 3d of July. The next day, a 
soldier was taken sick, and the disease pronounced 
to be Asiatic cholera. After arrival at Detroit, an- 
other case occurred, and the man first attacked died. 
General Scott, who was aboard the steamer on his 
way to take command of the forces against Black 
Hawk, ordered the steamer to proceed up the river 
and lake, and to disembark the command on an isl- 
and near Mackinaw, if necessary. Surgeon Everett, 
medical director of the north-western army, accom- 
panied the command. The disease spread so rapidly 
that the troops were disembarked below Fort Gratiot. 
Up to July 16th, the number of deaths in hospital was 
thirty-four, but many soldiers in a panic deserted, and 222 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
numbers of them were found dead on the roadside for 
miles around. Surgeon Everett died on the 14th. 
Two days after this command left Detroit, the disease 
broke out among a detachment of troops awaiting 
transportation to Chicago. The disease spread so 
rapidly, that the city authorities requested the imme- 
diate departure of the troops, and they proceeded 
on the steamer “ Superior.” Of a total strength of 
seventy-eight men, sixty-three had the disease, and 
nineteen died. The epidemic was carried to Chicago, 
and in six days two hundred soldiers were attacked 
and fifty-one died. The command subsequently 
marched to the Mississippi River, where the disease 
again broke out with as fatal effects as in Chicago. 
The expedition against Black Hawk, so far as Gen- 
eral Scott’s command was concerned, was completely 
frustrated by the ravages of this terrible disease. 
But General Atkinson’s command and the volunteers 
of Illinois and Wisconsin had taken the field before 
the appearance of the disease, and prosecuted the 
campaign to a successful issue, leaving to General 
Scott a fine opportunity for diplomacy, of which he 
took every proper advantage. 
It is believed that the soldier who was attacked 
with cholera on the steamer “ Henry Clay, ” July 4, 
and who died on the next day, was the first person 
assailed by that disease in the United States. It had 
for some time prevailed in Quebec and other portions 
of Lower Canada, but had not before appeared in 
this country. Much surprise was expressed that the 
disease suddenly appeared on steamers on a great 
lake, many miles from shore, and many discussions 
arose as to how the cholera might be carried from THE CHOLERA IN 1832. 
223 
place to place. It afterwards transpired that both 
the “Henry Clay” and the “Superior” had been 
engaged in carrying emigrants between Quebec and 
Montreal. 
The disease prevailed to as great extent among the 
troops of the South as among those of the North. 
In the Southern army there were nearly four hundred 
cases, of which nearly one hundred were fatal. Dur- 
ing the entire period of this terrible visitation, the 
officers of the medical department were everywhere 
most vigilant, active, and brave. The proportion of 
deaths in the army, compared with the number of 
sick, was considerably less than in many cities rav- 
aged by the disease. Nevertheless, some of the best 
members of the corps succumbed to the destroyer, and 
others were attacked. The world will never know a 
tithe of the heroism shown by the medical depart- 
ment of the army, and by the medical profession of 
the United States, in their battles with the Asiatic 
cholera in the fatal year 1832. 
In 1835 the long-pending troubles with the Semi- 
nole Indians of Florida again broke out in open war. 
On account of the warlike character of these savages, 
and the difficult nature of the country which they in- 
habited, a considerable army was required in Florida 
during several years. The unhealthfulness of the 
country occupied by the Indians demanded an ex- 
ceptionally large force from the medical department. 
This was supplied, though at the expense of posts 
and garrisons in other parts of the country. Great 
labor and responsibility were thus thrown upon the 
surgeon-general’s office, but at length the force of 
the department was considerably augmented, as we 224 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
have seen. His severe labors, however, undermined 
the health of Surgeon-General Lovell, and he died 
in Washington, October 17, 1836, at the early age of 
forty-eight years. He was a great physician, a man 
of very uncommon executive faculties, in all respects 
a great and good man.1 
1 The National Intelligencer newspaper of the 19th contained 
the following notice of the death of Doctor Lovell: 
“ It rarely falls to our lot to record the death of one whose loss to the com- 
munity and the profession, both military and civil, of which he was a distin- 
guished member, is so deeply and widely spread as the untimely exit of Doctor 
Joseph Lovell, late surgeon-general of the army. Cut down in the prime 
of life, in the full career of great usefulness, he has left a void in society and 
in the military service of his country which but few who may follow can 
adequately fill. Doctor Lovell entered the army in 1812, on the declaration 
of war with Great Britain, as surgeon of the Ninth Regiment of U. S. Infantry, 
lie served in the memorable campaigns on the Niagara frontier in 1813 and 
1814. His patriotic devotion to the public service, and the faithful discharge 
of his official duties, soon distinguished him in the camp and in the field 
among his brother officers and in his profession. Promoted to the rank of hos- 
pital surgeon, he was eventually selected by President Monroe, in 1818, to fill 
the important station of surgeon-general of the army, a post which his talents, 
medical skill, and, above all, his great experience as a tried officer of the 
medical staff, eminently qualified him to fill with honor and great advantage 
to the public service. 
“ In his social duties, the domestic circle, and as father and husband — all 
the ties which bind the Christian and the man to the obligations of the world 
— Doctor Lovell stood conspicuous. His bereaved family, eleven motherless 
and now fatherless children, who will attempt to depict their woe! Let other 
hands, at a more appropriate season, fill up the outline of the character and 
services of the lamented Lovell, now hastily and so briefly sketched. 
“ Eveiy mark of respect was paid to his mortal remains last evening at four 
o’clock, by his numerous friends, both officers and citizens. We also noticed 
the President’s family, the heads of the departments and bureaux, and the 
principal officers of the government now at Washington. The pall-bearers 
were Major-General Macomb, Brigadier-General Jones, General Towson, 
Colonel Wainwright, Commodore Rogers, Commodore Morris, Colonel Twiggs, 
Major Cross. The clergy, medical faculty, and officers of the army, navy, 
and marine corps present at the seat of government followed the relations of 
the deceased as mourners.” 
In 1842 the officers of the medical department erected a hand- 
some monument over Doctor Lovell’s grave in the Congressional 
Cemetery, Washington. SUEGEON- GENERAL LA WSON 
225 
On the 30th of November following, Surgeon 
Thomas Lawson, senior surgeon in the army, was 
appointed surgeon-general in the place of the late 
Doctor Lovell. At the time serving in the field in 
Florida, he did not arrive in Washington till the 
spring of the following year. Detailed by the War 
Department to accompany Ex-President Jackson to 
his home in Tennessee, and afterwards to aid in the 
organization of troops in the North, he did not per- 
manently enter upon his duties as surgeon-general 
till 1838. Meantime, the affairs of the office had 
been acceptably conducted by Assistant Surgeon 
Benjamin King. 
About the time Doctor Lawson became actively 
surgeon-general, the pay and emoluments of officers 
in the medical corps were graded with officers of 
cavalry of the same rank, by the same act which gave 
an addition of seven surgeons to the corps.1 And 
thus, except as reduced in 1842, the corps remained 
until the commencement of hostilities with Mexico 
in 1846. 
A few minor events occurred meanwhile, of which 
brief mention may be made. Some of them were 
finely illustrative of Ex-President Grant’s famous 
paradox, that “ the army never has any peace except 
during war.” During a lull in the general storm of 
the Seminole war, the medical department was dis- 
turbed by “the war of the epaulettes.” This animated 
but bloodless contest occurred during portions of the 
years 1839 and 1840. A board of officers, in pre- 
scribing the uniform for the medical corps, had given 
to its officers an aiguilette, but no epaulettes. Against 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, V., 259-60, secs. 24 and 33. 226 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
this the corps protested, demanding epaulettes. At 
length Surgeon-General Lawson wrote a letter to the 
adjutant-general of the army on the subject, which 
resulted in a complete victory for the epaulettes. Be- 
sides good points, the letter contains personal history 
of interest. I therefore quote the larger part of it: 
“ Sir : 
“ Doctor King informs me that you have expressed a wish that 
I should call with him on the Secretary of War, and speak to him 
on the subject of epaulettes for the medical staff. 
“As it is unusual for a subaltern officer to dictate to his chief, I 
have upon reflection come to the conclusion that it is better for 
me not to suggest anything to the Secretary in relation to a change 
of uniform. 
“ I have been twenty-six and more years in the military service 
of my country, and very generally with troops on the frontiers and 
in the field. 
“I have been on the theatre of immediate action in every war 
in which the country has been engaged within my period of ser- 
vice, whether with a civilized or savage enemy, except that with 
Black Hawk, and then I volunteered my services for the field, but 
could not obtain permission to leave my station. 
“I have acted as quartermaster and as adjutant, and have been 
for months at a time in command of a company of men in the 
regular army. I have also commanded a battalion and a regiment 
of men in the volunteer service, and have led them to the theatre 
of war; in the first instance under a commission from the execu- 
tive of the State of Louisiana, and on the last occasion by the 
almost unanimous consent of the officers and men who served 
under my orders; and although my services have not been at- 
tended with such brilliant results as those of some other persons, 
my military career has certainly not been discreditable to myself, 
or altogether unprofitable to the government. 
“ If, under these circumstances, the commanding general of the 
army could feel himself justified in putting me off with an aigu- 
lette, a piece of tinsel on one shoulder, while he decorates every 
brevet second lieutenant with an epaulette on each shoulder, and 
the staff lieutenant with an aigulette besides, I must be satisfied to 
remain without a military dress. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
22 7 
“ Epaulettes would embellish the person, and thereby gratify 
the pride of these officers (whether foolish pride or not, is imma- 
terial to the question), without doing a jot of injury to the disci- 
pline of the army, or interfering at all with the rights or with the 
dignity of a single officer with military rank. And if these indis- 
pensable officers, and I am free to say, intelligent, zealous, and 
efficient members of the medical corps (the surgeons and assistant 
surgeons) can be brought to set a higher value on their com- 
missions, or to feel better satisfied with their condition in the army, 
at so small a cost as the privilege of wearing epaulettes, the in- 
dulgence surely should not be withheld.” 
Another animated dispute occurred upon the ques- 
tion of the relative status of medical officers when 
serving with officers of the line. The discussion 
originated on an application by an assistant surgeon 
for information as to his position when detailed to 
serve on a council of administration with junior line 
officers. The line claimed that medical officers, hav- 
ing no actual rank, could not preside over such coun- 
cils, and to this construction of the law medical 
officers objected. In the Revised Army Regulations 
of 1840, the question definitely decided against 
the claim of the medical officers by a paragraph 
denying the right of any staff officer to preside over 
a board of survey or council of administration, 
though all staff officers continued to be liable to de- 
tail as members of such bodies. This caused no 
little indignation and a renewal of the discussion, 
but it was a number of years afterwards that the 
position of the staff in this regard was authoritatively 
decided to be correct. On August 3d, 1843, the 
general-in-chief decided that surgeons, not having 
the military rank of field officers, were not entitled 
to the salute prescribed for majors. And this is 228 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
about all that at the time came of this long and ani 
mated discussion in army circles. 
With the commencement of the Mexican war came 
peace and quiet to the officers of the army, staff or 
others, from disturbing questions among themselves 
and from the harassing assaults of demagogues. 
The history of the medical department during this 
conflict must be rapidly sketched. 
In view of the threatened war with Mexico, Gen- 
eral Zachary Taylor occupied Corpus Christi, in 
Texas, in the month of August, 1845, with a regi- 
ment of dragoons, six regiments of infantry, and 
detachments of three regiments of artillery. This 
was called the army of occupation. It had been 
furnished with large quantities of medical supplies, 
forwarded during the early summer by the medical 
purveyor at New York. Large supplies were also 
forwarded to New Orleans to meet future demands 
in case they might be made. A full medical staff 
was present with the army of occupation from the 
beginning, Surgeon Presley H. Craig being medical 
director. Regimental and general hospitals were 
established, and the sick systematically cared for and 
promptly treated. In March, 1846, the army moved 
to Brazos Santiago, and not long afterwards estab- 
lished encampment near Brownsville, on the Rio 
Grande, directly opposite the Mexican town of Mat- 
amoras. Some inconsiderable defensive works were 
here constructed, afterwards enlarged and known as 
Fort Brown. This outpost of the army of occupa- 
tion was bombarded by the Mexicans from batteries 
in Matamoras on the 6th of May,— the first act of 
war above the character of an accidental skirmish PALO ALTO AND RESACA DE LA PALMA. 
229 
that had occurred. On the evening of the 7th, Gen- 
eral Taylor marched from Point Isabel to the relief 
of Brownsville. At noon the next day he was con- 
fronted on the plain of Palo Alto with a superior 
army under the Mexican General Arista, which was 
defeated and put to rout after five hours’ hard fight- 
ing. Early the next morning, Taylor pressed for- 
ward towards Brownsville, and late in the evening 
fought Arista again, who had been reenforced, and 
quickly won the battle of Resaca de la Palma. In 
both these engagements the casualties were consid- 
erable on our side and very large on that of the Mex- 
icans. As neither engagement was concluded before 
twilight, the medical corps labored the whole of the 
two successive nights on the field of battle. It is a 
singular fact, that the wounded Mexicans preferred 
the American surgeons to their own,— a preference 
which was manifested throughout the entire war, and 
which vastly added to the labors of the medical staff 
and to the drafts upon the medical chest, for in no 
instance did an American surgeon refuse his services 
to a Mexican when to give them would not have 
been neglect of his own countrymen. The praises 
of the staff were universal among the general and 
field officers. The following report of Lieutenant- 
Colonel W. G. Belknap is but a specimen of many: 
“ First Brigade, Camp Matamoras, June io, 1846. 
“ Capt. W. W. S. Bliss, Assistant Adjutant-General. 
“ Sir: In reporting the operations of the first brigade on the 
eighth and ninth of May, Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, a 
proper reference to the services of the medical staff was inadvert- 
ently omitted. I beg leave, therefore, to offer this supplement- 
ary statement. It is due to Surgeon Wright and Assistant Sur- 
geons Porter, DeLeon, and Madison to say that their professional 230 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
aid was required early in the action of the eighth instant, and that 
the number of wounded soon called for their unceasing attention. 
I am happy to bear testimony that the devotion of these officers 
to the wounded under their care was conspicuous during the day 
and through the entire night. In the action of the ninth, Doctors 
Wright and Porter were again present, and passed a second 
sleepless night in the performance of their arduous duties. Their 
efforts to alleviate pain and suffering were as benevolent as they 
were untiring, serving with equal kindness and zeal our army 
and the large number of the enemy’s wounded that fell into our 
hands. 
“I have the honor to be, etc., 
W. G. Belknap, 
“Lieutenant- Colonel, Commanding First Brigade.” 
Hospitals were established at Point Isabel and 
Brownsville, and General Taylor soon occupying 
Matamoras and other towns on the right bank of 
the Rio Grande, hospitals were also there established. 
Early in the autumn he made Camargo his base of 
supplies for his contemplated movement on Monte- 
rey, and accordingly at Camargo general hospitals 
were established. Many were needed and the labors 
of the medical staff were incessant, for sickness 
prevailed to an alarming extent among the troops, 
and the enervating climate prevented the wounded 
from rapidly recovering. 
Early in September General Taylor commenced 
the march on Monterey, the advance column under 
General Worth having preceded him a few days. 
After about three days’ irregular siege and one day’s 
terrible fighting, Monterey surrendered on the 24th. 
The number of killed and wounded in the American 
army was nearly six hundred, and in the Mexican 
about one thousand. All of the wounded were vir- 
tually in charge of the American medical staff. In BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 
231 
his official report of the battle, General Taylor says : 
“Surgeon Craig, medical director, was actively em- 
ployed in the important duties of his department, 
and the medical staff generally were unremitting in 
their attentions to the numerous wounded.” General 
Worth has equally good words to say of the staff in 
his division. 
The next and last great battle in which the army 
of occupation, since entering Mexican territory 
called the army of invasion, engaged was the battle 
of Buena Vista, February 22 and 23, 1847. The 
fighting on the first day of this remarkable engage- 
ment was no more than heavy skirmishing, but on 
the 23d, the Mexican General Santa Anna hurled 
his forces, outnumbering the Americans more than 
four to one, against his adversary in large masses 
of infantry, charging other portions of the lines with 
cavalry and mounted lancers, thinking that by his 
overpowering numbers and the terror of his onset 
he would speedily pulverize the little band arrayed 
against him. He openly boasted in the morning 
that such would be the result of the day. But the 
Americans, though mostly raw volunteers, heroically 
resisted and repelled every assault save one. At 
a single point of General Taylor’s lines his troops 
gave way, but others by almost superhuman gallantry 
recovered the position, and at last the Mexicans, who 
had all day suffered fearful losses, were driven pell- 
mell from the field. In this battle the loss of the 
Americans was two hundred and sixty-seven killed, 
four hundred and fifty-six wounded, and a few miss- 
ing. The Mexicans left live hundred dead on the field, 
many more than that wounded. Most of the wounded 232 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
were carried to the general hospitals at Saltillo, but 
not a few, unable to be transported, were cared for 
in hospitals on the field of battle, as were those 
who had been only slightly wounded. “ The Medical 
Staff,” says General Taylor in his official report, 
“ under the able direction of Assistant Surgeon Hitch- 
cock, were assiduous in their attentions to the wounded 
upon the field and in their careful removal to the 
rear. Both in these respects and in the subsequent 
organization and service of the hospitals, the admin- 
istration of this, department was everything that 
could be wished.” General Wool said that the sur- 
geons of his division were entitled to his highest 
praise “ for their devotion to the wounded of the 
Mexican army as well as those of our own.” 
At this time there were general and post hospitals 
at Point Isabel, Fort Brown, Matamoras, Camargo, 
Monterey, Saltillo, and Tampico, at which last named 
place was the division of General Twiggs, which had 
proceeded thither for the purpose of joining the army 
under General Scott, as that of General Worth had 
marched to the mouth of the Rio Grande for the same 
purpose. There was no more general fighting by the 
army under General Taylor during the war, but the 
labors of the medical officers were great and inces- 
sant, the climate of the country making sad havoc 
among the American troops. Malarial fevers and 
diarrhoea of a peculiarly unmanageable type, in nearly 
all instances becoming chronic and often fatal, pre- 
vailed in every regiment and corps. The hospitals 
were crowded. What could be done, was done for 
the sufferers ; but notwithstanding the kindest atten- 
tion and the best skill, many died and were buried CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ. 
233 
under the turf of a foreign soil. During this whole 
year, there was a constant stream of sick and dis- 
abled American soldiers returning from Mexico to 
the United States, and yet the hospitals in Mexico 
continued to be full of patients. 
On March 9th, the army under General Winfield 
Scott, about thirteen thousand strong, made a land- 
ing a few miles from Vera Cruz, and at once invested 
that city. The bombardment from fleet and army 
was constant until the 27th, when the city, with the 
strong castle of San Juan d’Ulloa, more than five 
thousand prisoners, and vast quantities of military 
stores, was surrendered to the Americans. In the 
siege of Vera Cruz the Americans lost less than one 
hundred men killed and wounded, but the Mexican 
loss was very heavy. Two days before the capitula- 
tion, the Second Dragoons, Colonel Harney, had a 
severe skirmish with the enemy at the stone bridge 
of Medellin, a few miles south of Vera Cruz. In his 
report of this affair, in which he suffered considerable 
loss in wounded, Colonel Harney makes special men- 
tion of Assistant Surgeon J. K. Barnes, medical officer 
of the regiment, for activity and zeal in the perform- 
ance of his duties. This officer is now (1879) sur- 
geon-general of the United States army. At the 
time of this affair, he was serving, as it were, under 
the eye of the head of the medical department; for 
Surgeon-General Lawson, always partial to service 
in the field, was present with the army, serving as 
medical director, which he continued to do till the 
close of the war. Leaving a considerable garrison 
at Vera Cruz, General Scott, early in April, marched 
for the city of Mexico, taking the route by Jalapa. 234 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
The invading army now numbered about eight thou- 
sand men. On the 18th, it met Santa Anna, with an 
army twelve thousand strong, posted for battle in the 
formidable positions of Cerro Gordo. A sanguinary 
conflict ensued, resulting in the defeat and utter rout 
of the Mexicans, Santa Anna barely saving himself 
by hasty flight on a mule taken from his carriage. 
The Americans lost four hundred and thirty-one in 
killed and wounded, the Mexicans more than a thou- 
sand, and about three thousand prisoners. The vic- 
tors at once pressed forward, and in a few days 
Jalapa, the strong castle of Perote, and the large city 
of Puebla fell into their hands, with many prisoners 
and vast store, and all without the firing of a gun. 
At Puebla, the army rested for recuperation and 
reenforcements. Here sickness among the troops 
became frightful. At one time there were more 
than eighteen hundred sick in hospital. During the 
summer seven hundred enlisted men died in the 
hospitals at Perote. Surgeon-General Lawson called 
on the chief surgeons of divisions for special reports 
on the causes of the sickness and mortality. Sur- 
geon Satterlee, in a report of historical as well as of 
professional interest, said: 
“Puebla, Mexico, July 5, 1847. 
“ Sir : In obedience to your instructions that I should report 
for the information of the general-in-chief the probable causes of 
the great amount of sickness and mortality prevailing among the 
troops, I proceed to state that sufficient causes of disease exist, 
and have existed since and during the siege of Vera Cruz, to 
account for all the sickness that prevails; and not a few of these 
causes have been spoken of, both in the reports of the medical 
officers of the first division and in their conversations, and often 
by them deplored. 
“To prove the above position, it is only necessary to give a THE MEXICAN WAR. 
235 
brief history of the operations and changes of the division from 
the time it left Vera Cruz until the present time. 
“i. The division left Vera Cruz with the most limited means 
of transportation, not being allowed to bring even their tents; in 
consequence of which they have been obliged to bivouac in all 
situations from the ‘ Tierra Caliente ’ to the cold and elevated 
positions of Jalapa, Las Vegas and on the march to this place. 
This would under any circumstances produce diseases of the 
thoracic and abdominal viscera from the great change of tempera- 
ture, and when it is recollected that many of the men were without 
blankets or great coats, having improvidently thrown them away 
while exposed to the scorching heat of the sun in the low country, 
or while hurrying to the support of the advance on the day of 
Cerro Gordo, I think the position will not be denied. 
“ 2. The almost total change in the character of the rations 
issued to the troops, while on board the transports and during the 
siege operations before Vera Cruz. They were almost exclusively 
confined to salt meat and hard bread, without vegetables so far 
as I know, except beans and rice, not even the antiscorbutics 
allowed by regulations except in rare instances. This, when the 
march into the country was commenced, was exchanged for fresh 
mutton, pork and beef (the latter always of inferior quality), and 
instead of the hard bread, always considered healthy when good, 
in several instances flour has been issued, and since our arrival at 
Puebla, Mexican bread, which experience has taught us is not 
healthy, at least for us, and the unrestrained indulgence in crude 
and unripe fruits, and the vile liquors, both distilled and fer- 
mented. All this is without doubt a fruitful source of disease. 
“3. The quarters that the troops occupy are undoubtedly far 
from being healthy. Many of the rooms are low and damp, and 
almost without ventilation, and in many instances surrounded by 
high walls which exclude in some degree the fresh air; in other 
cases the men are quartered in long entries, through which there 
is a rush of cold air, rendered more unhealthy by having passed 
through damp places. In some instances the men are greatly 
crowded, nearly three times the number of men allowed by regu- 
lations for hot climates living in one room. Almost, if not all, 
the quarters have thick stone walls with floors of the same material, 
or brick, upon which the men sleep with only a mat under them 
(and that but recently), and with scant covering. This the men 236 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
now suffer, and did at Perote, and the first brigade and 'light 
troops of the division, while at Tepeahualco had added very bad 
water from brackish wells. These things, I think, cannot be 
denied to be prolific sources of disease. 
“4. The unacclimated state of many of our men and their 
ignorance of a soldier’s life. Nearly if not quite two-thirds of 
some corps are recruits. In one regiment that has lost fifteen 
men since our arrival in Puebla, thirteen were recruits, and the 
character of the recruits that have recently joined is of such a 
nature that disease and death must be expected among them. 
Many of them are boys entirely too young to undergo the hard- 
ships of a soldier’s life, while others are old and worn-out men 
who should never have been enlisted. 
“5. The great want of personal cleanliness. Many patients 
are received into our hospitals who probably have not washed 
their persons for months, and who for weeks have not changed 
their underclothes, and who are not only filthy but covered with 
vermin. This remark does not apply, of course, to our old brave 
and faithful soldiers who are an ornament to any service, but 
particularly to the recruits, a great part of whom are indolent 
and of course filthy. Now, it is impossible for men to be healthy 
under such circumstances. 
“ 6. The rainy season, exposure to the warm sun in the morning 
and cold damp atmosphere at night, is exceedingly deleterious. 
“ 7. The great elevation of our position. The rarefied air 
permitting no evaporation from the surface, the skin becomes 
dry and feverish as well as inactive, the natural excretions of the 
body are of necessity thrown upon the thoracic and abdominal 
viscera, the large glands from this over-exertion and excitement 
become torpid and refuse to perform their functions, hence the 
great amount of bilious derangements, etc. 
“The above statements I have drawn up in obedience to your 
orders. I consider them to be very plain facts, open to the cogni- 
zance of the most common observer who will take the trouble 
to investigate them. They are the concerted opinions of all the 
medical officers of the division, and have often been the subject of 
conversation, as well as of official reports. They are submitted 
with the respectful consideration of 
“Your most obedient servant, 
R. S. Satterlee, 
“Senior Surgeon, 1st Division, U S. Army.” THE MEXICAN WAR. 
237 
The report of Surgeon Tripler of the Second Di- 
vision was of a similar character. 
The situation of the garrisons on the gulf coast 
was no better. Says Assistant Surgeon Brown in 
his history of the medical department: “The vomito 
broke out at Vera Cruz very soon after the depart- 
ure of the army, and the permanent garrison and 
the troops arriving en route to the seat of war had 
suffered severely. One medical officer, Assistant 
Surgeon Robert C. Wickham, died on the 13th of 
May, and Surgeon Finley, Medical Director of the 
Department of Vera Cruz, Assistant Surgeons Laub, 
John Campbell, J. S. Battee and others had been in- 
capacitated for duty for a large portion of the summer 
by attacks of yellow fever. Even those who escaped 
this disease suffered much from the enervating in- 
fluences of the climate and became a prey to exhaust- 
ing diarrhoeas, which reduced them mentally and 
physically. The want of medical officers was very 
great, and the citizen physicians obtainable for the 
most part adventurers who had come to Vera Cruz 
to see what they could pick up, and were utterly 
worthless. Great credit was due under these trying 
circumstances to the energy and fidelity to duty of 
Surgeon J. B. Porter, who, though himself broken 
down by climatic influences, managed the general 
hospital with great efficiency, and in addition acted as 
medical director for a large portion of the season.” 1 
About the 10th of August, General Scott, having 
been reenforced so that his army numbered more 
than ten thousand effective men, resumed his march 
on the city of Mexico. On the 20th the bloody bat- 
*Page 189. 238 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
ties of Contreras and Churubusco were won, and on 
September 8th the battle of Molinos del Rey added 
another to the uninterrupted series of victories of 
the Americans. Three days afterwards the heights 
and castle of Chapultepec were bombarded, and on 
the 13th carried by a heroic, desperate assault, in- 
volving heavy losses. The capture of Chapultepec 
laid the city of Mexico at the mercy of the conquer- 
ors. Santa Anna incontinently fled with such army 
as he could induce to follow him. Early the next 
morning public authorities visited General Scott’s 
headquarters to surrender the city. But he would 
listen to no terms, and his army forthwith entered 
the city, took possession, and assumed the govern- 
ment. 
With this memorable event, the war with Mexico 
practically closed, though, as we shall see, there was 
one considerable engagement in the North later. 
Santa Anna undertook to carry on further hostilities, 
but they amounted to no more than guerrilla raids, 
and even these did not long continue. Early in 
February, 1848, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 
was signed, with which came actual and permanent 
peace. In less than two years Mexico had been 
completely conquered, the Americans gaining every 
battle during the entire war, defeating largely supe- 
rior numbers in every instance, who in every in- 
stance save at Buena Vista also had greatly the 
advantage of position. 
In all the engagements which resulted in the fall 
of Mexico, the losses were very heavy, in one or two 
of them exceptionally so. General hospitals were 
established at several places, and the wounded cared EVACUATION OF MEXICO. 
239 
for as well as was possible. The officers of the 
medical staff were highly complimented in most of 
the official reports. After the army entered Mexico, 
the sick and disabled were removed to hospitals 
within the city. The buildings used for this purpose 
were the best the city furnished, but were poor at 
best, being damp, without sufficient light or ventila- 
tion, and not easily warmed. Hence there was great 
mortality among the sick and wounded. Besides, low 
forms of fever and bowel affections largely prevailed 
among the troops generally, and the officers of the 
medical corps were again afflicted with a large amount 
of over-work. 
Early in 1848, General Stirling Price invaded the 
province of Chihuahua, Mexico, and in March fought 
a severe engagement with the enemy at Santa Cruz, 
winning a complete victory. He speaks in the high- 
est terms of the efficiency of his medical staff. This 
isolated engagement was the last considerable combat 
of the war. During the following month the Amer- 
icans commenced the evacuation of the country they 
had so successfully invaded. This, with the army of 
sick and disabled on their hands, was a task hardly 
less difficult than had been that of invasion. The 
most important labors of this part of the war, it must 
be confessed, were performed by the medical depart- 
ment, in the removal and continued care of the sick 
and wounded to the coast, and thence by transports 
to the United States. This immense labor was suc- 
cessfully performed without notable mishap. The 
general rendezvous of the volunteers for discharge 
was New Orleans, and here and near by were great 
hospitals which had been prepared for the army. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
The casualties of battle and the ravages of the Mex- 
ican climate had made the number of disabled and 
sick so great that the accommodations of these hos- 
pitals were found to be greatly inadequate, and an 
additional hospital of large extent was constructed. 
In honor of the chief medical officer of the army, it 
was named “Tawson Hospital.” At New Orleans, 
and from these hospitals the volunteers of the Mex- 
ican war were mustered out of the service, and hence 
sought their homes in all parts of the country. The 
different corps of the regular army had embarked for 
various garrisons and posts — the number of which 
had been largely increased by the acquisition of Cal- 
ifornia and New Mexico — from Vera Cruz. 
Meanwhile Congress had made a number of addi- 
tions to the medical establishment. By the act of 
February n, 1847, the army had been increased by 
ten regiments, to each of which one surgeon and two 
assistant surgeons were assigned. The same act in- 
creased the regular medical staff by the addition of 
two surgeons and twelve assistant surgeons. This 
act gave definite rank to the officers of the medical 
corps, providing, “ that the officers whose appoint- 
ment is authorized by this section, shall receive the 
pay and allowances of officers of the same grade re- 
spectively, and that the rank of the officers of the 
medical department of the army shall be arranged 
upon the same basis which at present determines the 
amount of their pay and emoluments.”1 The medical 
officers, by virtue of such rank, were not, however, 
entitled to command in the line or other staff depart- 
ments of the army. A clause in this law provided 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, IX., 125. THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT IN 1861. 
241 
that the officers authorized by it, should be immedi- 
ately discharged at the close of the Mexican war. 
But, by a law of 1848, this clause, so far as it related 
to the regular additional surgeons and assistant sur- 
geons, was repealed.1 In March of the following 
year, the corps was still further increased by the ad- 
dition of ten assistant surgeons.2 Thus the corps 
remained until it was yet more reenforced by the act 
of Congress of August 16, 1856, authorizing four 
additional surgeons and eight assistant surgeons. 
An important provision of this act, was that which 
authorized the Secretary of War to appoint from the 
enlisted men of the army, or to cause to be enlisted, 
as many competent hospital stewards as the service 
might require, not exceeding one for each military 
post. The law also provided that soldiers acting as 
cooks and nurses in hospitals, were to receive the 
extra pay allowed to soldiers serving on fatigue duty. 
This made quite a just and complete organization of 
the medical department in all its branches. And thus 
it remained until the war of the rebellion. 
At the beginning of the year 1861, the medical 
corps consisted of one surgeon-general, thirty sur- 
geons, and eighty-three assistant surgeons. Of these, 
three surgeons and twenty-one assistant surgeons 
resigned, to join the Confederate service, and three 
of the latter rank were dismissed for disloyalty. Five 
surgeons and eight assistant surgeons, from States 
which joined the rebellion, remained steadfast to the 
Union cause. “Considering the universal disaffection 
which prevailed throughout the service,” says As- 
sistant Surgeon Brown, “and the strong pressure 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, IX., 247. 
2 Ibid., 351. 242 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
brought to bear on every man of Southern birth in 
the army, these figures are exceedingly creditable to 
the corps.” 1 
One of the first noteworthy events in the history 
of the medical department after the commencement 
of the war of the rebellion, was the death of Surgeon- 
General Lawson. In the latter part of April, he went 
to Norfolk in search of rest and health, but died there 
of apoplexy on the 15th of the following month, after 
a few hours’ illness, and an uninterrupted service in 
the army of fifty years. On the 20th, the War De- 
partment issued a general order, of which the follow- 
ing is the text: 
“It is with pain that the Secretary of War announces to the 
service the loss of a distinguished veteran officer, the late Surgeon- 
General Thomas Lawson, of the army, who died at Norfolk, 
Virginia, on the 15th instant. 
“Having in 1811 resigned from the navy, where he had served 
two years, Doctor Lawson passed immediately into the army — a 
service with which, from that time, he had been uninterruptedly 
connected. Full of a military fire, which not even the frosts of 
age could quench, and of a zeal for the honor of his profession 
which made his administration of the medical department a 
model of inflexibility, efficiency, and economy, he never spared 
himself, and was always prompt to volunteer his services wher- 
ever they might be required. 
“Thus after having gone with credit through the war of 1812- 
15, he was one of the first to hasten with General Gaines to the 
relief of our forces in Florida; and having been placed at the 
head of a regiment of volunteers by the suffrages of the gallant 
Louisianians who composed it, he acquitted himself with much 
1 Hist, of Med. Dept., 215. The latter part of the quotation is 
correct; the first part not, as I think. Facts warrant the statement 
that the disaffection in the service was considerable, but not even 
general, not to say universal. SURGEON-GENERAL LAWSON 
243 
credit in this new sphere of duty, and proved himself an able 
and effective colonel. 
“In fact, so marked were the military traits in his character, 
and among these, especially, his personal intrepidity, that at the 
close of the Mexican war, he was rewarded for his services in it 
by a brevet of brigadier-general in the army. 
“As an appropriate tribute of respect to his memory there will 
be fired at every military post, on the day after the receipt of 
this order, eleven minute guns, commencing at meridian — and the 
national flag will be displayed at half-mast from the same hour 
until sunset of the same day; and for thirty days the prescribed 
badge of mourning will be worn by the officers of the army.” 
Doctor Lawson was succeeded as surgeon-general 
by Surgeon Clement A. Finley, the senior surgeon 
in the corps. Surgeon-General Finley, it may be 
here stated, performed the duties of the office with 
fidelity, but he had continuously served since 1818, 
and in April, 1862, was retired at his own request. 
He was succeeded in the same month by Assistant 
Surgeon William A. Hammond, many officers of 
far longer service and of superior rank being over- 
looked, that this appointment, which in a short time 
resulted so sadly, might be made. 
The demands of the service by the rebellion made 
necessary a great increase in the medical corps. 
The volunteer regiments first called out by the au- 
thorities were furnished, as a rule, with one surgeon 
and assistant surgeon. Soon afterwards, however, it 
was provided that each regiment should be entitled 
to one surgeon and two assistant surgeons, and this 
rule continued to obtain throughout the war. The 
great proportion of the increase in the number of 
the corps was, therefore, made up of volunteer offi- 
cers, who were subject to the orders of the depart- 
ment, except as to where they might be stationed, 244 
HISTORY OF THE■ WAR DEPARTMENT. 
precisely the same as the regular officers. By an 
act of Congress of July 2, 1862, forty surgeons and 
one hundred and twenty assistant surgeons of vol- 
unteers were directed to be appointed. These, with 
others afterwards authorized, were directly under 
the orders of the medical department. The regular 
corps was also from time to time increased.1 
organization of the corps at the beginning of 1861 has 
been noted. From this time until 1866, the organization, each 
year, as shown by the official Army Registers, was as follows: 
1862. — One surgeon-general (rank of brigadier-general) ; forty 
surgeons, with the rank of major; twenty-eight assistant surgeons, 
with the rank of captain ; seventy-six assistant surgeons, with the 
rank of first lieutenant; one hundred and fifty-eight surgeons of 
volunteers, with the rank of major. 
1863. — One surgeon-general; one assistant surgeon-general, 
with the rank of colonel; one medical inspector-general, with 
rank of colonel; sixteen medical inspectors, with rank of lieuten- 
ant-colonel ; fifty surgeons, majors; five assistant surgeons, cap- 
tains ; one hundred and four assistant surgeons, first lieutenants; 
six medical storekeepers ; one hundred and ninety-seven surgeons 
of volunteers; sixty-one assistant surgeons of volunteers. 
1864. —Same as in 1863, down to assistant surgeons, of whom 
there were three with the rank of captain; one hundred and six, 
first lieutenants. There were five medical storekeepers; two 
hundred and thirty-seven surgeons of volunteers; sixty-one assist- 
ant surgeons of volunteers. 
1865. — Same as in 1863 and 1864, down to assistant surgeons. 
There were one hundred and five assistant surgeons, with rank of 
first lieutenant; five medical storekeepers; two hundred and forty- 
six surgeons of volunteers; one hundred and thirteen assistant 
surgeons of volunteers. 
1866. — One surgeon-general; one assistant surgeon-general; one 
chief medical purveyor, rank of lieutenant-colonel; four assistant 
medical purveyors, with same rank; sixty surgeons, rank of major; 
sixty-nine assistant surgeons, with rank of captain; thirty-four, 
with rank of first lieutenant; one medical storekeeper; fifteen 
surgeons of volunteers and seven assistant surgeons of volunteers. THE ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM. 
245 
Early in the administration of the medical depart- 
ment by Surgeon-General Hammond, that officer 
saw the great advantage that would accrue to the 
cause of scientific medicine and surgery by making 
the experience of medical officers during the conflict 
of arms available for future use. But seldom in 
history had such an opportunity been offered for the 
collection of statistics upon all points of military 
medicine, surgery, and hygiene, and of obtaining 
specimens illustrative of pathological anatomy. The 
surgeon-general accordingly issued a circular, under 
date of May 21, 1862, in which full details were re- 
quired to be stated in the monthly reports of sick and 
wounded by every officer of the corps required to 
make such reports. The circular pointed out the 
statements required so clearly that no intelligent 
surgeon could make serious mistake or omission in 
his reports. The paper further said: “As it is pro- 
posed to establish in Washington an Army Medical 
Museum, medical officers are directed diligently to 
collect, and to forward to the office of the surgeon- 
general, all specimens of morbid anatomy, surgical 
or medical, which may be regarded as valuable; to- 
gether with projectiles and foreign bodies removed, 
and such other matters as may prove of interest in 
the study of military medicine or surgery.” 
This was the origin of the Army Medical Museum 
at Washington, confessedly one of the largest and 
most valuable collections of the kind in the world. 
It is preserved in the large building on Tenth Street, 
formerly known as “ Ford’s Theatre,” for many years 
owned by the United States, and which is the scene 
where occurred the terrible assassination of President 246 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Lincoln. Here also are many archives of the medi- 
cal department, notably those very reports of medical 
and surgical statistics ordered by Surgeon-General 
Hammond’s circular. These, with the immense col- 
lection of specimens in the museum, enabled the 
compilers of “ The Medical and Surgical History of 
the War of the Rebellion ” to prepare that work, in 
so far as it has yet been completed, for publication, 
— a work whose scientific value and beneficent in- 
fluence are rated at the highest point by the savants 
of our own country and of Europe. Not only so, 
but several volumes of finely-executed photographs 
of specimens in the museum, illustrative of every 
kind of surgical injury, modes of repair and results 
obtained, have been distributed among the leading 
learned societies of Europe, and exhibited at inter- 
national expositions, where they have received the 
highest commendations of the world’s leaders in 
medicine and surgery. So large an oak has grown 
from the little acorn planted by Surgeon-General 
Hammond in 1862. When Medical Inspector-Gen- 
eral Barnes became acting surgeon-general, and also 
afterwards, when he was appointed to the head of 
the department, he took an enthusiastic interest in 
the museum, and through circulars to the corps and 
in every practicable way aided in enlarging and per- 
fecting the collection. 
On the 20th of August, 1864, general orders from 
the War Department announced that Surgeon-Gen- 
eral Hammond had been dismissed the service by 
sentence of court-martial.1 Two days afterwards, 
1 The charges against Dr. Hammond mainly related to the pur- 
chase of hospital supplies, in which, according to the sentence of SURGEON-GENERAL BARNES. 
247 
Medical Director Joseph K. Barnes was promoted 
to the position thus made vacant, and which, as act- 
ing surgeon-general, he had filled for a considerable 
period during an official journey of Dr. Hammond 
to the South. The new head of the department 
had been in the corps nearly twenty-five years, 
had been distinguished during the Mexican war, and 
always noted for assiduous labor and a lofty pride in 
his profession. 
Surgeon-General Barnes took charge of the de- 
partment at a momentous crisis of the war. General 
Grant’s campaign of the Wilderness had just closed, 
leaving more than thirty-seven thousand wounded 
men to be cared for; the campaign of Peterburgh 
was going on; General Sherman had just made his 
remarkable march in Georgia, and was besieging 
Atlanta after many battles involving heavy losses ; 
the army under Canby and the navy under Farragut 
had a few days before captured the strong forts mak- 
ing the seaward defenses of Mobile bay, and Canby 
was preparing for the final campaign of the South; 
Sheridan was making ready for that brilliant cam- 
paign which soon afterwards resulted in three vic- 
tories in as many pitched battles, and in sending his 
enemy “whirling” out of the Shenandoah Valley. 
When Dr. Barnes became surgeon-general, or very 
the court, he was in several instances guilty of culpable partiality. 
In no instance was he found guilty of acting corruptly. The 
Forty-fifth Congress passed an act authorizing a review of the case; 
but the matter is not determined as this work passes through the 
press. Those high in authority think the judgment in his case 
was unjust, and that it will be reversed. Dr. Hammond has pub- 
lished several medical works of recognized authority, and his 
renown in his profession is coextensive with Christendom. 248 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
shortly thereafter, there must have been more than 
fifty thousand recently wounded men in the care 
of his department. The number of the sick and of 
the disabled, of campaigns not so recent, was very 
much greater. 
These statements of themselves indicate the vast 
magnitude of the labors of the medical department 
during the war, and of the great number of men of 
learning and skill required to perform them. Dur- 
ing this period, there entered the service twelve 
thousand one hundred and fifty-five medical officers, 
the corps of medical cadets authorized early in the 
war — and who performed most valuable services in 
many hospitals — not being included in this calcula- 
tion. In January, 1865, there were more than two 
hundred general hospitals. There were four large 
sea-going hospital transports equipped with stores 
and supplies for five thousand patients, besides a 
considerable number of river steamers, hospital rail- 
way trains, and great numbers of ambulances. There 
were, of course, hospitals for every army, military 
camp, corps, and post in the service. From May, 
1861, until June 30, 1866, there were five million 
eight hundred and twenty-five thousand cases treated 
in field and hospitals, of which one hundred and sixty- 
six thousand six hundred and twenty-three were fatal. 
Of these, two hundred and seventy-three thousand 
one hundred and seventy-five were wounded men, of 
whom thirty-three thousand seven hundred and sev- 
enty-seven died. The remainder were treated in 
various proportions for nearly all the diseases that 
flesh is heir to 
A remarkable series of events in the country at “SANITAR Y FAIRS:' 
249 
large, but connected with the medical history of the 
army during the latter part of the year 1864 and 
the early part of the following year, ought, perhaps, 
to be here spoken of. The many great battles of 
the energetic campaigns of 1864, as has been noted, 
filled the hospitals with great numbers of wounded 
men. For these, and for the sick of the army gen- 
erally, the sympathies of the people went out in 
ardent feelings. The city of Chicago, always noted 
for possessing a large class of citizens distinguished 
for humanity and philanthropy, invented a happy 
means of practically utilizing this popular sympathy. 
This was the “ Sanitary Fair,” that is to say, a fair 
of the ordinary character of a church fair, but with 
the profits to be applied in the purchase of delicacies 
and healthful luxuries for the sick and wounded sol- 
diery,— articles not supplied, as a rule, by the medical 
department. Chicago struck the right idea while it 
was hot, and there came forth a tremendous blaze of 
excitement. The Fair continued during several days 
and nights, and was constantly the scene of vast 
crowds of people purchasing goods on sale, at very 
profitable prices for the Fair. New and singular de- 
vices for making money were invented, and when 
the Fair at length closed, the profits were found to be 
immense. New York followed the example set by 
Chicago with a fair, also of prodigious profits. Then 
it became a contagion, and all the principal and 
nearly all the minor cities of the North held “Sani- 
tary Fairs,” every one of which was highly successful. 
The sanitary fairs of 1864-65 were a remarkably 
grateful demonstration of the earnest humanity of 
the Northern people. The practical result of them 250 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was a great relief to the army medical-chest, and 
such a supply of delicacies and luxuries, that hence- 
forth the Union sick and wounded were in the main 
about as well cared for as if they had been at com- 
fortable homes among opulent friends. 
Soon after the surrender of the principal Confed- 
erate armies, in the spring of 1865, orders were issued 
by the War Department, directing the chiefs of the 
different bureaux of the department to “ proceed im- 
mediately to reduce the expenses of their respective 
departments to what is absolutely necessary, in view 
of an immediate reduction of the forces in the field 
and garrison, and the speedy termination of hostil- 
ities.” In accordance with this order, the labors of 
the medical department were for some time largely 
engaged in reducing the establishment to a peace 
basis. Boards for the examination of candidates for 
admission to the volunteer corps were at once dis- 
solved ; large numbers of soldiers were discharged 
from general hospitals, the number of which was 
swiftly reduced; medical purveyors were directed to 
suspend the purchase of hospital and medical sup- 
plies ; contract physicians, civilian nurses, cooks, and 
other employes whose services could be dispensed 
with, were discharged ; the assistant surgeon-general, 
medical inspector-general, and the medical inspectors 
were mustered out of service in October; and by the 
close of the year, the department was fairly placed 
upon the basis of a peace establishment. 
“ That the large body of men composing the med- 
ical corps during the war, numbering almost an army 
in itself,” says Assistant Surgeon Brown, “was faithful 
to the important trusts confided to its charge, is evinced THE END OF THE REBELLION 
251 
not only in the numerous reports of the general offi- 
cers in command of troops, but also by the special 
testimony of the surgeon-general, who says in his 
annual report for 1865 : 
“‘In conclusion, I desire to bear testimony to the ability, 
courage, and zeal manifested throughout the war by the officers 
of the medical department, under all circumstances apd upon all 
occasions. With hardly an exception, they have been actuated 
by the highest motives of national and professional pride, and the 
number who have been killed and wounded bears most honorable 
testimony to their devotion to duty on the field of battle.’ 
“That they did not shirk the post of danger, is 
most conclusively shown by the following record of 
the casualties of the regular and volunteer staff dur- 
ing the war. Thirty-two were killed in battle, or by 
guerrillas or partisans, and nine by accident. Eighty- 
three were wounded in action, of whom ten died. 
Four died in rebel prisons, seven of yellow fever, 
three of cholera, and two hundred and seventy-one 
of other diseases, most of which were incidental to 
camp-life or the results of exposure in the field, 
making a roll of honor embracing four hundred and 
nine names of those who it is a common error to 
consider not exposed to the dangers and chances of 
war.” • 
Since the war, the organization of the department 
has been at times changed. An act of Congress of 
July 26, 1876, provided “that the number of assistant 
surgeons now allowed by law (150) shall be reduced 
to one hundred and twenty-five; that the office of 
medical storekeeper is hereby abolished; that, in ad- 
1 Hist. Med. Dept., 245-46. 252 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
dition to the grades now allowed by law, there shall 
be four surgeons with the rank, pay, and emoluments 
of colonel; eight surgeons, with the rank, pay, and 
emoluments of lieutenant-colonel; to be promoted 
by seniority from the medical officers of the army.” 
The act provided that no one already in office should 
be deprived thereof by reason of the law. This made 
the department, the organization being filled, to con- 
sist of: one surgeon-general, with rank of brigadier- 
general; one assistant surgeon-general (an office held 
by Charles H. Crane since July, 1866), one chief med- 
ical purveyor, and four surgeons with rank of colonel; 
eight surgeons and two assistant medical purveyors, 
with rank of lieutenant-colonel; fifty surgeons with 
rank of major; one hundred and twenty-five assistant 
surgeons with rank of first lieutenant until five years’ 
service, then that of captain. This organization, ex- 
cept as to assistant surgeons — of whom the latest 
Register shows a deficiency of fourteen — is com- 
plete ; so that should the country be again confronted 
with war, every appliance, intellectual and mechanical, 
for the care of sick and wounded, would at once be 
put into active operation. 
Many of the labors of the medical corps, since the 
war for the Union, have been of a scientific and 
literary character. A notice has already been made 
of the “Medical and Surgical History of the War.” 
Many other publications have been prepared under 
the supervision of the Bureau. Surgeon J. J. Wood- 
ward, in charge of the representation of the medical 
department at the International Exposition of 1876, 
in an address on September 6, thus classified the 
publications of the Bureau from 1863 to 1876: THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
253 
Circular No. 9. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
July 1, 1863. Consolidated Statement of Gunshot Wounds. By 
Surgeon J. H. Brinton, U. S. Volunteers, pp. 11, 8vo. 
Circular No. 15. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, September 8, 1863. Sickness and Mortality of the 
Army during the first year of the War. By J. J. Woodward, As- 
sistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 8, 8vo, with 6 diagrams. 
Circular No. 6. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, March 10, 1864. Reflex Paralysis. By Acting As- 
sistant Surgeons S. Weir Mitchell, Geo. R. Morehouse, and W. W. 
Keen, Jr., pp. 17, i6mo. 
Circular No. i. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, June io, 1868. Report on Epidemic Cholera and 
Yellow Fever in the Army of the United States during the Year 
1867. By Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Woodward, Assistant 
Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 156, 4to. 
Circular No. 2. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, January 2, 1869. A Report on Excisions of the 
Head of the Femur for Gunshot Injury. By Brevet Lieutenant- 
Colonel G. A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 141, 
4to. 
Circular No. 3. War Department, Surgeon-Geperal’s Office, 
Washington, August 17, 1871. A Report on Surgical Cases treated 
in the Army of the United States from 1865 to 1871. By Brevet 
Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, 
pp. 296, 4to. 
Circular No. 4. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, December 5, 1870. Report on Barracks and Hos- 
pitals, with Descriptions of Military Posts. By Brevet Lieutenant- 
Colonel J. S. Billings, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 494, 
4to. 
Circular No. 5. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, May 4, 1868. Report on Epidemic Cholera in the 
Army of the United States during the Year 1866. By Brevet 
Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Woodward, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. 
Army, pp. xviii., 65, 4to. 
Circular No. 6. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, November 1, 1865. Reports on the Extent and Na- 
ture of the Materials available for the Preparation of a Medical 254 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
and Surgical History of the Rebellion. Medical Report by Brevet 
Major J. J. Woodward, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army; Surgical 
Report by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. Otis, Surgeon, U. S. 
Volunteers, pp. 166, 4to. 
Circular No. 7. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, July 1, 1867. A Report on Amputations at the Hip- 
joint in Military Surgery. By Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. 
Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 87, 4to. 
Circular No. 8. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, May 1, 1875. A Report on the Hygiene of the United 
States Army, with descriptions of Military Posts. By Brevet Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel J. S. Billings, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 
lix., 567, 4to. 
Circular No. 9. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, March 1, 1877. A Report to the Surgeon-General, 
on the Transport of Sick and Wounded by Pack Animals. By 
George A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, 32 pp., 4to. 
Washington, 1877. 
Circular No. 10. War Department, Surgeon-General’s Office, 
Washington, October 20, 1877. Approved Plans and Specifica- 
tions for Post Hospitals, 18 pp., 12 pi., 4to, [with 12 plates fol.] 
Washington, 1877 
Catalogue of the Surgical Section of the United States Army 
Medical Museum. Prepared, under the direction of the Surgeon- 
General, by Brevet Major A. A. Woodhull, Assistant Surgeon, 
U. S. Army. Washington, 1866, pp. 664, 4to. 
Catalogue of the Medical Section of the United States Army 
Medical Museum. Prepared, under the direction of the Surgeon 
General, by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Woodward, Assistant 
Surgeon, U. S. Army. Washington, 1867, pp. 136, 4to. 
Catalogue of the Microscopical Section of the United States 
Army Medical Museum. Prepared, under the direction of the 
Surgeon-General, by Brevet Major E. Curtis, Assistant Surgeon, 
U. S. Army. Washington, 1867, pp. 161, 4to. 
Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon- General's Office. By 
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Billings, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. 
Army. Washington, 1872, pp. 454, 4to. 
Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office. By 
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Billings, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS. 
255 
Army. Vol. 1, A — L, pp. 1x93, 4to. Vol. 2, M — Z, pp. 956, 
4to. Supplement, pp. 319, 4to. Washington, 1873-4. 
Specimen Fasciculus of a Catalogue of the National Medical 
Library under the direction of the Surgeon-General of the U. S. 
Army, at Washington, D. C. By Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. 
S. Billings, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army. Washington, 1877, 
pp. 72, 4to. 
A Medical Report upon the Uniform and Clothing of the Soldiers 
of the United States Army. By Brevet Major A. A. Woodhull, 
Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army. Washington : Surgeon-General’s 
Office, 1868, pp. 26, 8vo. 
Report on the Pathological Anatomy and Histology of the Res- 
piratory Organs in the Pleuro-pneumonia of Cattle, with 6 litho- 
graphs from photo-micrographs. Washington, June 15, 1870, by 
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Woodward, Assistant Surgeon, 
U. S. Army, pp. 9, 4to. In the Report of the Commissioner of 
Agriculture on the Diseases of Cattle in the United States. 1871. 
Report of Results of Examinations of Fluids of Diseased Cat- 
tle, with reference to the presence of Cryptoga7nic Growths. By 
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Billings, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. 
Army, and Brevet Major E. Curtis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, 
pp. 12, 4to. In the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture 
on the Diseases of Cattle in the United States. 1871. 
Photographs of Surgical Cases and Specimens, taken at the Army 
Medical Museum, with histories of 296 cases. By Brevet Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel G. A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army. Wash- 
ington, 1866-71. 6 vols., 4to. 
Reports accompanied by Photographs of Microscopic Objects, 
by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Woodward, Assistant Surgeon, 
U. S. Army, viz. : 
Report on the Magnesium and Electric Lights as applied to 
Photo-Micrography, 6 pp., 4to, n photographs. Surgeon-Gen- 
eral’s Office, 1870. 
Report on the Oxy-calcium Light as applied to Photo-Microg- 
raphy. 3 pp., 4to, 2 photographs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 
1870. 
Report on an unproved method of photographing Histological 
Preparations by Sunlight. 10 pp., 4to, n photographs. Surgeon- 
General’s Office, 1871. 256 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Report on the Histology of Minute Blood-vessels. 8 pp., 4to, 
ii photographs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 1870. 
Report on the Minute Anatomy of two cases of Cancer. 10 pp., 
4to, 2 photo-lithographs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 1872. 
Memorandum on Pleurosigma Angulatum and Pleurosigma For- 
mosum. 4 pp., 4to, 8 photographs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 
1871. 
Memorandum on Surirella Gemma. 1 p., 4to, 2 photographs. 
Surgeon-General’s Office, 1871. 
Memorandum on the Test Podura. 3 pp., 4to, 5 photographs. 
Surgeon-General’s Office, 1871. 
Memorandum on Amphipleura Pellucida. 1 p., 4to, 2 photo- 
graphs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 1871. 
Memorandum on the Ni)ieteen-band Test Plate of Nohert. 4 
pp., 4to, 9 photographs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 1872. 
Four Letters to the Surgeon- General, accompanying photographs 
of the Mosquito, certain Parasites, the Proboscides of certain 
Flies, and miscellaneous photographs of Insects and parts of In- 
sects. 8 pp., 4to, 35 photographs. Surgeon-General’s Office, 
1872. 
The Medical Depart7nent of the United States Army from 1775 
to 1873. By Brevet Major H. E. Brown, Assistant Surgeon, U. 
S. Army. Washington: Surgeon-General’s Office, 1873. 
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Re- 
bellion, 1861-65. Prepared under the direction of the Surgeon- 
General. Part I., Vol.I., Medical History, by Brevet Lieutenant- 
Colonel J. J. Woodward, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 
xliii., 726; Vol. II., Surgical History, by Brevet Lieutenant-Col- 
onel G. A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. civ., 650. 
Appendix, containing Reports of Medical Directors, etc., pp. 365. 
Washington, 1870. [Actually issued in December, 1872.] Part 
II., Vol. II., Surgical History, by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. 
Otis, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, pp. 1024. Washington, 1876. 
Many pamphlets and special reports, besides, were 
also published. 
In the foregoing list of works is a “ Catalogue of 
the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office,” itself THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT LIBRARY. 
257 
a considerable work, in three large volumes, quarto. 
This library consists of some eighty thousand vol- 
umes and pamphlets. Some hundreds of the works 
belong to general literature, but the most of them 
pertain to medicine and surgery. They have been 
collected with exceptional care during many years, 
and the library already compares very favorably with 
the best medical libraries of Europe. In medical 
periodical literature it is especially complete.1 Thus, 
with a great library, the unequalled museum, a chem- 
ical laboratory also in the museum building, the offi- 
cers of the medical corps of the United States army 
have greater and more varied advantages of profes- 
sional studies than are possessed by the medical staff 
of any other army on the globe. 
The members of the corps, without exception, take 
a pride in their department. The system of exami- 
nation for admission to the corps is, and always has 
been, so thorough and so justly administered that, in 
all its history, very few unworthy, undeserving men 
have been allowed to pass the ordeal. Hence, Doc- 
tor Brown is no more than just in concluding his his- 
tory of the department with the following eulogium: 
‘‘Ninety-eight years have now elapsed since the first humble be- 
ginning of the army medical department at the siege of Boston. 
11 must here return my grateful acknowledgments to gentlemen 
in the Army Medical Museum building for courtesies and assistance 
in my labors upon this part of this work, namely: Mr. J. P. Kep- 
ler, chief clerk ; Doctor Wise, librarian, and Mr. H. C. Fisk, a clerk 
in this branch of the Surgeon-General’s office. I am under even 
greater obligations to Surgeon John S. Billings, of the medical 
corps. This accomplished officer is now engaged in supervising 
the preparation of a catalogue of the library, a work which, when 
completed, will form six or seven large volumes. 258 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
The successors of those pioneers in American military surgery can 
say with pride, that during that long period they have taken no 
step backward. Under the leadership of such wise and accom- 
plished chiefs as Morgan, Shippen, Cochran, Tilton, Lovell, 
and Lawson, the corps steadily advanced from the inchoate con- 
dition of its birth to the comparative perfection in organization, 
discipline, and learning to which it had attained on the outbreak 
of the rebellion. Under their equally distinguished successors, 
who were forced to meet the emergencies of a gigantic campaign 
with an experience gained on the most limited scale, the corps 
proved true to its past record, and has astonished the world, not 
less by the vastness of its operations than by the success of their 
accomplishment. During the Revolution we but copied the sys- 
tems in vogue in European armies, and unavailingly endeavored 
to adapt them to the partisan warfare which characterized the 
campaigns of that period. To-day the great surgeons of Europe 
recognize their indebtedness to us for much that constitutes prog- 
ress in military medicine, hygiene, and surgery, and European 
governments send special commissions to avail themselves of the 
vast treasures of experience accumulated by the medical depart- 
ment in our last great war. In the past history of the medical 
corps, in the gradual increase of its reputation and usefulness, in 
the high esteem in which it has always been held by the rest of 
the army, in the distinguished names which have adorned its 
ranks, as well as in the encomiums which have recently been so 
freely accorded to it, there is every encouragement to maintain a 
high standard of individual and professional integrity, and the 
esprit du corps which is so important an element of its very exist- 
ence.” 
If one should ask almost any soldier of the army 
who is the most important officer thereof, the soldier 
would be likely to reply, especially in time of peace, 
“the paymaster on pay-day.” Yet this important, 
this indispensable department of a military establish- 
ment performs its duties so quietly, whether in peace 
or war, is so little mentioned in the bulletins and 
official reports, that its value in the service, like that 
VIII. THE PAY DEPARTMENT. THE PAY DEPARTMENT. 
259 
of modest merit generally, is apt to be underesti- 
mated. There is perhaps no influence so potent in 
the maintenance and preservation of discipline and 
order in armies as their just and regular payment. 
Without this, they would inevitably degenerate into 
mutinous or plundering bands. Particularly must 
we regard this as certain to occur in America, where 
the military power is entirely subordinate to the civil 
not only, but under no possible circumstances can 
wield that crushing force, if necessary, that it may in 
many other countries of the world, even of Chris- 
tendom. Our revolutionary forefathers, upon whose 
self-sacrificing patriotism we constantly dilate with 
grateful enthusiasm, did indeed endure many terrible 
trials and hardships with heroic fortitude, and are 
fairly entitled to all the gratitude we bestow upon 
their memories. The one thing the continental armies 
did not endure with patience was the want of pay. 
Not to mention several less noted instances, it will 
be remembered that early in 1781, about thirteen 
hundred of the Pennsylvania line left the American 
camp at Morristown, with the avowed object of 
marching to Philadelphia and demanding their ar- 
rearages of pay of Congress. On the way they 
were met by British emissaries, who undertook to 
seduce them from their allegiance and made them 
liberal offers to join the British service. They spurned 
the offer, seized the emissaries, and delivered them 
up to the American authorities. Soon afterwards a 
delegation from Congress met the “mutineers,” sat- 
isfied their present wants, and made satisfactory 
guarantees for the future, whereupon they instantly 
returned to duty. On being offered a reward for 260 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
delivering up the emissaries they declined it, saying: 
“ Our necessities compelled us to demand .justice 
from our government; we ask no reward for doing 
our duty to our country against its enemies.” Later, 
when the war was practically closed and the army 
about to be disbanded, many of the best and bravest 
officers of the service went to the very verge of 
mutiny on account of the failure of the government 
to liquidate their pay accounts. This formidable or- 
ganization came near ruining the American cause 
after it had been gained. Such are the disastrous 
results of the ill payment of armies; and it is prob- 
ably true that, except in the case of the utter inability 
of the government, for the time being, to meet its 
obligations, no American army could be held together 
six months without pay. 
The present pay department of the military estab- 
lishment of the United States originated in 1821, 
when an act of Congress declared that the pay 
department should consist of a paymaster-general 
and fourteen paymasters.1 Up to this time the pay- 
ment of the army had, as a rule, been in charge of 
a chief paymaster, sometimes designated one way, 
sometimes another, and of officers of the line, usually 
lieutenants, detailed for the purpose. These officers 
were sometimes required also to perform duties per- 
taining to the subsistence and the quartermaster’s 
department, before the organization of those bu- 
reaux. This pay corps was at different times larger 
or smaller, according to the exigencies of the service 
as viewed by Congress, as its officers also for the 
same reason had better pay and rank at some times 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 615. THE PAY DEPARTMENT. 
261 
than at others. But the principle of the organization 
of the corps remained the same, namely, the pay- 
ment of the army by line officers detailed for the 
purpose. The act of 1821 practically abolished this 
mere pay corps and established in its place a pay 
department, with headquarters at the seat of govern- 
ment, a chief under the direct orders of the Secre- 
tary of War, and subordinates forming an indepen- 
dent staff. On two different occasions before the 
Mexican war the staff was increased, and by an act 
of Congress of 1847, two deputy paymaster-generals 
and ten paymasters were added to the regular corps.1 
Two years later, Congress provided that the pay 
department should consist of a paymaster-general, 
with rank of colonel; two deputy paymaster-gen- 
erals, and twenty-five paymasters.2 Thus the or- 
ganization of the bureau continued till the act of 
Congress of July 28, 1866, which provided that the 
department should consist of a paymaster-general, 
with rank and pay of brigadier-general; two assist- 
ant paymaster-generals, with rank and pay of colonel 
of cavalry; two deputy paymaster-generals, with 
rank and pay of lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, and 
sixty paymasters, with rank and pay of major of cav- 
alry. 
But the pay corps was very largely increased dur- 
ing the war of the rebellion by the appointment of 
“ additional paymasters,” under a law of 1838, which 
authorized the President to appoint as many such 
paymasters as he might deem necessary, not exceed- 
ing one for every two regiments, when volunteers or 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, IX., 185, Sec. 12. 2Ibid. Id., 350. 262 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
militia had been called into the service.1 It thus 
transpired that the number of additional paymasters 
in service, in 1861, was one hundred and ten; in 1862, 
one hundred and seventy-one; in 1863, two hundred 
and ten; in 1864, three hundred and nineteen; and 
in 1865, three hundred and ninety.2 On the publica- 
tion of the official register for 1866, the number had 
been reduced to sixty-eight, and not long afterwards 
all had been mustered out of the service, except a 
few who were transferred to the regular corps. 
The amount of money disbursed to the army by 
the pay department during the war of the rebellion 
was one thousand and one hundred million dollars. 
The total losses during this period, by defalcation and 
the actual loss of money, were less than one million 
dollars. The entire expense of paying the army, 
defalcations and losses inclusive) was, in round num- 
bers, six million dollars, or less than three-fourths of 
one per centum of the amount disbursed. During 
the last war with England, the per centum of ex- 
penses and defalcations was as follows: 
For expenses . . . 1.38 per centum. 
For defalcations . . . 2.97 per centum. 
Tptal . . . . 4.36 per centum. 
In view of these facts, Paymaster-General Alvord, 
in a recent publication, very pertinently remarked: 
“If it cost 4.36 per centum of the amount disbursed 
to pay the army during the war of 1812, at the same 
rate it would have cost $47,960,000 to disburse the 
$1,100,000,000 to the army during the late civil war. 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, V., 259, Sec. 25. 
2 See the Army Register for the respective years. THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
263 
From this deduct $6,000,000, the amount it actually- 
cost, under the present system, to disburse the above, 
and we have a saving of $41,960,000, or enough to 
pay the expenses of the pay department in time of 
peace, under the present system, for over one hun- 
dred years.” 1 
There have been some changes in the organization 
of the department since the act of 1869, not long 
since referred to ; but it now remains about as then, 
except that the paymasters (majors) are fifty in num- 
ber instead of sixty. At one time the rank of the 
paymaster-general was reduced to that of colonel, 
but this injustice did not long continue. The rank 
was restored in 1876, when Paymaster-General Ben- 
jamin Alvord was appointed a brigadier-general. 
According to the latest army register, Paymaster- 
General Alvord had for his full staff: two assistant 
paymaster-generals, Colonels Nathan W. Brown and 
Daniel McClure; two deputy paymaster-generals, 
Lieutenant-Colonels Franklin E. Hunt and Henry 
Prince; and fifty paymasters, each with the rank of 
major. 
IX. THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
The corps of engineers may be described as the 
oldest and steadiest branch of the military estab- 
lishment of the United States. Originating at the 
beginning of the Revolutionary war, it performed 
valuable services throughout that contest. Early 
organized under the government of the Constitution, 
it has been almost constantly cared for with kindly 
‘Remarks of Brig.-Gen. Benjamin Alvord, Paymaster-General, 
U. S. A., upon the Reorganization of the Army. Pamphlet, 1876, 
P- 5- 264 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
regard by the government, and has been less assailed, 
I think, by demagogues than any other portion of 
the army or of the military establishment. It is about 
the only part of the establishment which has been 
permitted to enjoy peace, as well during peace as 
during war. The reasons for this may be discovered 
in the outlines of the history of the corps which fol- 
low. 
In the first year of the present form of govern- 
ment, Secretary of War Knox, in a plan submitted 
by him for the general arrangement of the military 
forces, recommended as a part of the military estab- 
lishment “a small corps of well-disciplined and well- 
informed artillerists and engineers.” Nothing came 
of this immediately; but, in 1794, Congress authorized 
the President to fortify certain harbors along the 
Atlantic coast, and appropriated money for the pur- 
pose. There were no engineers in the army to con- 
duct these works, and the President directed the 
appointment of a number of gentlemen of foreign 
birth, skilled in engineering science, several of whom 
had served in the American army during the War 
of Independence. A corps of artillerists and engi- 
neers, to be incorporated with the corps of artillery 
in the service, the entire number to consist of nine 
hundred and ninety-two, rank and file, was authorized 
by act of Congress of May 9, 1794.1 The Secretary 
of War was directed to provide for the corps the 
necessary books, instruments, and apparatus, and 
the President authorized to employ such portions of 
it as he should see fit in the field, on the frontiers, 
or in the fortifications of the sea-coast. Early in the 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, I., 366. THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
265 
following year the organization of the corps was 
completed. By the act creating it, the corps was to 
remain in service for only three years; but, by a sub- 
sequent act, it was indefinitely continued. In 1798 a 
second regiment of artillerists and engineers was 
authorized, and placed upon the same footing as the 
first in respect to service, instruments, books, and 
apparatus. It was, however, one battalion, of four 
companies, smaller.1 But in the following year an 
additional battalion was authorized, thus making the 
second regiment of artillerists and engineers equal 
to the first regiment.2 
In 1802, Congress, in an act fixing the military 
peace establishment, discontinued the corps of artil- 
lerists and engineers, creating therefrom two corps 
— a regiment of artillery and the corps of engineers. 
As to the latter, these were the provisions of the law: 
“Section 26. That the President of the United States is hereby 
authorized and empowered, when he shall deem it expedient, to 
organize and establish a corps of engineers, to consist of one 
engineer, with the pay, rank, and emoluments of a major; two 
assistant engineers, with the pay, rank, and emoluments of cap- 
tains ; two other assistant engineers, with the pay, rank, and 
emoluments of first lieutenants; two other assistant engineers, 
with the pay, rank, and emoluments of second lieutenant; and 
ten cadets, with the pay of sixteen dollars per month and two 
rations per day; and the President of the United States is in like 
manner authorized, when he shall deem it proper, to make such 
promotions in the said corps, with a view to particular merit and 
without regard to rank, so as aiot to exceed one colonel, one lieu- 
tenant-colonel, two majors, four captains, four first lieutenants, 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large,'I., 552, 553. 
2 Ibid., Id., 725. The authority conferred by this act was con- 
ditional, however, upon foreign war, etc. 2 66 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPAR TMENT. 
four second lieutenants, and so that the number of the whole 
corps shall at no time exceed twenty officers and cadets. 
“Section 27. That the said corps, when so organized, shall 
be stationed at West Point, in the State of New York, and shall 
constitute a military academy; and the engineers, assistant engi- 
neers, and cadets of said corps shall be subject at all times to do 
duty in such places and on such service as the President of the 
United States shall direct. 
“ Section 28. That the principal engineer, and, in his absence, 
the next in rank, shall have the superintendence of the said mili- 
tary academy, under the direction of the President of the, United 
States; and the Secretary of War is hereby authorized, at the 
public expense, under such regulations as shall be directed by the 
President of the United States, to procure the necessary books, 
implements, and apparatus for the use and benefit of the said 
institution.” 1 
This was the beginning of the present corps of 
engineers and of the Military Academy at West Point. 
Only part of the officers of the corps were imme- 
diately appointed, of whom the major (Jonathan 
Williams), who was chief engineer, and two captains 
took charge of the academy. Others were engaged 
upon the fortifications of the coast. Nor was it long 
until but a single officer of the corps was left at 
West Point, all the others being actively engaged on 
the works just mentioned ; “ spread along our coast,” 
in the words of Major Williams, “ from one extrem- 
ity of the United States to the other.” 
It is proper here to observe that, from this time 
until the year after the close of the war of the re- 
bellion, the Military Academy remained under the 
charge of the corps of engineers. During this pe- 
riod the academy grew from a school of humble 
pretensions to an institution of the most complete 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 137. THE MILITARY ACADEMY. 
267 
character, furnishing to its cadets as thorough a 
military education, practically and scientifically, as 
could be gained at almost any other similar insti- 
tution in the world. The present efficiency of the 
academy, everywhere acknowledged, was given to 
it during the sixty years’ control by the corps of 
engineers. In July, 1866, Congress, by law, gave the 
superintendency of the academy to the army gen- 
erally, under the direction of the Secretary of War. 
In February, 1808, the corps was filled up by 
regular promotions, Jonathan Williams being Chief 
Engineer and Colonel, Jared Mansfield Lieutenant- 
Colonel, and Alexander Macomb and Joseph G. Swift, 
Majors. By an act of Congress of April 29, 1812, 
additions to the corps were made, so that it consisted 
of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, two majors, 
six captains, six first lieutenants, six second lieuten- 
ants, and a company of bombardiers, sappers and 
miners, of one hundred and thirteen enlisted men. 
During the war with Great Britain, as many engineer 
officers as could be spared from the coast were as- 
signed to the staffs of the various generals command- 
ing the military districts, with whom they served with 
credit during the war. The company of bombardiers, 
sappers and miners, from June, 1814, served along 
the Niagara frontier, and especially at Fort Erie and 
in the sortie from Fort Erie.1 
In the act reducing the army after the war, Con- 
gress provided that “ the corps of engineers, as at 
present established, be retained.” Accordingly, the 
officers of the corps resumed the performance of 
duties upon the works of fortification along the coast. 
1 Hist. Sketch of Corps of Eng., 16. 268 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
In April, 1816, Congress passed a joint resolution 
authorizing the President to employ, in addition to 
the corps of engineers as organized, a skilful assist- 
ant, with compensation such as the President might 
think proper, but not exceeding the allowance to the 
chief officer of the corps.1 This was intended to give 
to the corps the aid of as good engineering skill as 
the times afforded. Nor is it hardly possible that 
greater advantage of the opportunity thus offered 
could have been taken by the government. In 
November, General Simon Bernard, of the French 
army, was appointed to this position, with the pay and 
emoluments of a brigadier-general, this being the 
compensation to which the Chief Engineer, Brevet 
Brigadier-General Swift, was then entitled. General 
Bernard remained in our service about fifteen years, 
when he resigned and returned to France, having 
greatly benefitted the corps by his practical instruc- 
tions and by many admirable works constructed by 
him, among them being Fortress Monroe, in Vir- 
ginia.2 
Until after General Bernard’s appointment as a 
prominent officer in the corps of engineers there 
had not been put in practical operation any general 
system with respect to the location and construction 
of those fortifications on which the corps had been, 
and was likely to continue to be, largely engaged. 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 342. 
2 General Bernard, when he came to America, was considered 
one of the most accomplished engineers of Europe. He held the 
rank of lieutenant-general of engineers under Napoleon. After 
his return to France, he became aide to Louis Philippe, and lieu- 
tenant-general of engineers. He was twice minister of war under 
that king. He died in 1839. THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
269 
Soon after he assumed the office to which he had 
been appointed, the following regulation of the War 
Department was promulgated: 
“A board shall be formed, consisting of three officers of the 
corps of engineers, to be designated by the Secretary of War; 
and the officer of the corps of engineers, assigned to the superin- 
tendence of the fortifications in any particular district, shall be 
attached to the board as a member, when it is acting in that dis- 
trict. 
“It shall be the duty of the officers of this board to examine, 
in conjunction, all those positions where important permanent 
works are or may be proposed to be erected. They shall select 
the proper sites for, and form the plans of, all new works. Where 
fortifications have been commenced or are finished, they shall 
report how far the sites for such fortifications have been judi- 
ciously selected, or whether or not the works are adequate to the 
defence of the respective positions; and they shall propose such 
alterations or additions to them as may be deemed necessary. 
At those places where naval can come in aid of land defenses, 
the board shall call upon the naval officer who shall have been 
assigned by the Secretary of the Navy to cooperate with the board 
at that station, and who, during that cooperation, shall be a 
member of the board. 
“The report and plans adopted by the board shall be sub- 
mitted, with accurate estimates by the officers of the corps of 
engineers, to the chief of that corps. 
“The navy officer will report directly to the Secretary of the 
Navy. 
“Any officer of the board who may disapprove of the reports 
and plans agreed upon by the board, may, if it be deemed neces- 
sary, submit to his chief separate and distinct reports, accompanied 
by the necessary plans and estimates. 
“The original reports and plans agreed upon by the board, as 
well as those reported by any member of it, shall be submitted by 
the chief of the corps of engineers, with such remarks as he may 
deem proper, to the Secretary of War for final adoption, and 
they shall be deposited in the secret bureau of the Department of 
War. 270 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
“ The chief of the corps of engineers may assign the officers of 
that corps attached to the board to superintend the construction 
of particular fortifications, when such assignment will not interfere 
with their duties as members of the board. 
“The board shall be immediately organized, and shall consist 
of the following-named officers : Brigadier-General Simon Bernard, 
Colonel William McRee, and Lieutenant-Colonel J. G. Totten; 
and , of the navy. 
“The chief engineer will at all times furnish the board with 
such plans, reports, etc., as may be in his possession in relation 
to existing or contemplated works, and he shall designate the 
point at which the board shall commence its operations. 
“The Secretary of the Navy will be advised through the War 
Department of the time when, and the place where, the board 
shall meet for the performance of any of the duties assigned to it 
by these regulations. 
“Geo. Graham, 
“Acting Secretary of War." 
This board, designated a “ board of engineers for 
fortifications,” has been continued by succession from 
the time of its original formation, November 16, 
1816, to the present. The methods prescribed by 
this regulation have ever since been pursued with 
respect to the location, planning, and executing works 
of fortification for our seaboards. A long series of 
reports of this board, from 1818 down to the present 
time, has been the groundwork and basis of the sys- 
tem of permanent fortifications which have been 
projected and are still in process of construction 
along our maritime frontiers.1 
In April, 1818, the headquarters of the engineer 
department were removed to the seat of government, 
where the chief office has ever since remained. In 
1 Hist. Sketch of Corps of Eng., by Gen. A. A. Humphreys, 
Ch. of Eng. Pamphlet, 17, 18. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
the fall of this year General Swift resigned his com- 
mission in the army, and was succeeded as chief 
engineer by Lieutenant-Colonel W. K. Armistead, 
appointed colonel. 
At this time “the Engineer Department”—so ex- 
pressly styled by Secretary Calhoun in ordering the 
transfer of headquarters — included the corps of en- 
gineers, the topographical engineers, and the military 
academy. By orders of the Department of July 2, 
1818, the topographical engineers were “arranged 
to the engineer department, and made sflbject to the 
orders of the chief engineer and commanding en- 
gineers.” 
The act of Congress of 1821, reducing the military 
establishment, provided “ that the corps of engineers 
(bombardiers excepted), and the topographical en- 
gineers and their assistants, shall be retained in ser- 
vice as at present organized.” Colonel Armistead 
now resigned his office of chief engineer to become 
colonel of the third regiment of artillery. He was 
succeeded by Brigadier and Brevet Major-General 
Alexander Macomb, who returned to service with 
the corps of engineers as its colonel and chief en- 
gineer. 
The question of internal improvements by the 
federal government was for many years a topic of 
general political discussion in the United States. 
Parties divided upon it, and presidential campaigns 
were in large measure conducted upon this issue and 
kindred questions. One of the first practical meas- 
ures in the series of internal improvements under- 
taken by the government was the “ Cumberland 
road.” The act authorizing the survey and estab- 272 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
lishment of the line of this road, being from Cumber- 
land, Maryland, “ to the State of Ohio,” was passed 
in the year 1806, and was approved by President 
Jefferson. Additional appropriations were made for 
it every few years; its continuation, first, to Zanes- 
ville, Ohio, afterward through the States of Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois, was authorized; and, in short, 
it was the subject of legislation and the recipient of 
appropriations for more than thirty years. But in 
1834 the road was surrendered to the States respec- 
tively through which it passed; after which the ap- 
propriations were granted, so much for each State, 
on condition of reimbursement by the States. This 
public work, long popularly known as “ the National 
Road,” was the most extensive work of the kind un- 
dertaken by the federal government. Many por- 
tions of it have fallen into disuse and decay; but 
the traveller by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 
between Wheeling, West Virginia, and Columbus, 
Ohio, passes in plain view of the road at very many 
different points, and is apt to be surprised at the 
beautiful and solid masonry of its viaducts and the 
substantial nature of the work generally. Other 
similar works, on smaller scale, were undertaken by 
the government, as was also the construction of 
canals, the improvement of navigable rivers for pur- 
poses of commerce, and of harbors, whether of the 
seaboard or of our great inland lakes, for the same 
purposes. 
Of all these works the engineer department has 
had charge from the beginning. In April, 1824, 
Congress enacted: CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
273 
“That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to 
cause the necessary surveys, plans,‘and estimates to be made of 
the routes of such roads and canals as he may deem of national 
importance in a commercial or military point of view, or neces- 
sary for the transportation of the public mail, designating, in the 
case of each canal, what parts may be made capable of sloop nav- 
igation ; the surveys, plans, and estimates for each, when com- 
pleted, to be laid before Congress. That, to carry into effect the 
objects of this act, the President be, and he is hereby, authorized 
to employ two or more skilful civil engineers, and such officers of 
the corps of engineers, or who may be detailed to do duty with 
that corps, as he may think proper, and the sum of thirty thousand 
dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be paid out 
of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.”1 
Under this act, a “board of engineers for internal 
improvements ” was organized, consisting of General 
Simon Bernard; Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph G. Tot- 
ten, of the corps of engineers ; Mr. John L. Sullivan, 
civil engineer; and had attached to it for duty in'the 
field, Major Abert, of the topographical engineers; 
and five assistant lieutenants; and Mr. Shriver, civil 
engineer, and five civil-engineer surveyors. Captain 
Poussin, of the topographical engineers, and Lieu- 
tenants Courtney and Dutton, of the corps of en- 
gineers, were on immediate duty with the board.2 
This board, changes in its membership occurring 
from time to time, remained in existence about eight 
years. During this period, very many reconnais- 
sances, surveys, plans, with respect to contemplated 
internal improvements, were made by direction of 
the board. But meantime a new and wonderful in- 
vention in means of transportation had been made, 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, IV., 22. 
2Hist. Sketch of Corps of Eng., 19. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
which many persons supposed would speedily throw 
the ordinary roads and canals into comparative disuse. 
This invention was the railroad, the first of which un- 
dertaken in the United States was the “ Baltimore 
and Ohio,” of which twenty-three miles were opened 
for use in 1830.1 Hence it was that the reports of 
the board with respect to roads and canals turned 
out to be of no great practical value. Herein inter- 
nal improvements were abandoned. But in the re- 
ports of the board, according to General Humphreys, 
Chief of Engineers, “the basis was laid for the system 
of river and harbor improvements which have since 
added so much to the wealth of the nation.” 2 
But before the discontinuance of the board of en- 
gineers for internal improvements an event occurred 
of great interest to the corps and to the army. This 
was the appointment of Colonel Macomb, Chief En- 
gineer, to be major-general in the army, and his 
assignment as commander-in-chief thereof. In relin- 
quishing the command of the corps of engineers, 
General Macomb, under date of Washington, May 
28, 1828, issued the following orders: 
“Major-General Macomb, in leaving the office of chief engi- 
neer, which he has filled for the last seven years, to take command 
of the army, feels it but an act of justice to the officers attached 
to the engineer department to express the great satisfaction he has 
1 Poor’s Man. of R.R’s in U. S., 1772-73, p. xxvi. This rail- 
road was in a few years constructed to Cumberland, the eastern 
terminus of the once famous “Cumberland Road,” and as soon 
thereafter as practicable to Wheeling; thus practically destroying 
the usefulness of the original “national road.” 
2 Hist. Sketch of Corps of Eng., 19. This system of river and 
harbor improvements has been most grossly abused by several 
acts of Congress of late years. MAJOR-GENERAL MACOMB. 
275 
experienced from their zealous and efficient cooperation in every 
branch of the service connected with his duties. 
“To the officers of the corps of engineers he makes his fullest 
acknowledgments for the judicious and faithful manner in which 
they have directed the construction of the fortifications, and other 
works confided to their superintendence, and for the unceasing 
efforts to sustain, in whatever situation they have been placed, the 
honor and reputation of the corps. 
“To the officers of the topographical engineers, and those 
detailed from the line of the army to assist in the surveys and 
reconnaissances relating to internal improvements, and to the gen- 
tlemen who have acted as civil engineers, Major-General Macomb 
in like manner tenders his acknowledgments. 
“To the commissioners and superintendents for laying out and 
constructing roads, the chief engineer has every reason for making 
a public acknowledgment of their faithful and valuable services. 
“ To the superintendent and officers composing the staff of the 
military academy, he takes great pleasure in expressing his sense 
of their enlightened and successful exertions, to elevate and main- 
tain the character of that valuable institution. 
“And to the members of the board of engineers for fortifica- 
tions, and internal improvements, too much praise canrtot be 
given for the industry and intelligence with which they have dis- 
charged the important and arduous duties committed to them. 
“In closing this order, the chief engineer cannot refrain from 
stating with proud satisfaction the fact, that during the period for 
which he has presided over the department, no loss has been occa- 
sioned to the public by any defalcation or neglect on the part of its 
officers, especially when it is considered that the amount of six 
millions of dollars has been disbursed in small sums and for items 
of a nature that require the greatest care and attention to satisfy 
the strictness of the accounting officers, and to comply with the 
established regulations of the department. 
“ The major-general will never cease to take great interest in 
the success and prosperity of the engineer department, and will, 
so far as it may be in his power, lend his aid to promote its use- 
fulness, and, if possible, to increase its consideration in the public 
estimation. 
“Alexander Macomb, 
“Major-General, Chief Engineer of the U S.” 276 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
General Macomb was succeeded as colonel and 
chief engineer by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Gratiot, 
of the corps of engineers. 
Not long after Colonel Gratiot became chief en- 
gineer, the topographical engineers and their assist- 
ants were formed into an independent bureau by 
order of the War Department of June 21, 1831, as 
follows: 
“ i. The topographical bureau will heareafter constitute a dis- 
tinct bureau of the War Department, and the officer in charge 
thereof will communicate directly with the Secretary of War, from 
whom he will receive all his orders and to whom he will make all 
his reports. 
“ 2. All reports, returns, and communications from officers of 
the topographical engineers, or others on topographical duty, will 
hereafter be made to the officer in charge of the topographical 
bureau, through whom, in addition to his previous duties, all 
orders to officers of the topographical engineers, or others on top- 
ographical duty, will hereafter pass. 
“4. The officer in charge of the topographical bureau will 
comply with any application from the chief engineer for any orig- 
inal document in said bureau, or for copies of the same, and for 
surveys for purposes of fortifications. 
“ P. G. Randolph, 
“ Acting Secretary of War” 
After the war of the Revolution and down to the 
second year of the last war with Great Britain, there 
were no topographical engineers in the military es- 
tablishment of the United States, though of course 
there were officers who on occasion exercised the 
functions of such engineers. By an act of Congress 
of March 3, 1813, it was provided “That the adju- 
tant-general’s, inspector-general’s, and quartermaster- 
general’s departments shall consist of the following 
officers, that is to say: * eight topographical engi- THE TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS. 
277 
neers, eight assistant topographical engineers.*” 
These topographical engineers and assistants are 
arranged in the act between the officers provided for 
the adjutant-general’s and the inspector-general’s 
“ departments,” as they are called in the act. From 
which we may with safety infer that the topographi- 
cal engineers were intended by the law to be attached 
to the adjutant-general-inspector-general’s depart- 
ment as the bureau actually existed, as we have 
already seen, for many years.1 Under the act four 
topographical engineers and four assistants were 
appointed during the summer and spring of 1813, 
of whom six were assigned for duty to the Northern, 
and four to the Southern army. They were instructed 
“ to make such surveys, and exhibit such delineations 
of these, as the commanding general shall direct; to 
make plans of all military positions (which the army 
may occupy) and of their respective vicinities, indicat- 
ing the various roads, rivers, creeks, ravines, hills, 
woods, and villages to be found therein; to accom- 
pany all reconnoitring parties sent out to obtain 
intelligence of the movements of the enemy or of 
his position, etc.; to make sketches of their route, 
accompanied by written notes of everything worthy 
of observation thereon; to keep a journal of every 
day’s movements when the army is on march, notic- 
ing the varieties of ground, of buildings, of culture, 
and the distances and state of the road between 
given points throughout the march of the day, and, 
lastly, to exhibit the positions of contending armies 
on fields of battle, and the disposition made, whether 
for attack or defense.” 
‘See the act, U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 819. 278 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
The act of Congress reducing the army after the 
conclusion of peace with Great Britain made no pro- 
vision for retaining the topographical engineers or 
any part of them, and they were accordingly mus- 
tered out of service in June, 1815. Happily, the 
President was authorized by the law provisionally 
to retain in service certain officers whose services 
might be of importance, and who were not expressly 
excluded from retention by the act. Accordingly, 
Majors John Anderson and Isaac Roberdeau, topo- 
graphical engineers, were retained, as thus fully ex- 
plained by General Humphreys: 
“As the reports of the topographical engineers stationed on 
the frontiers were made to commanding generals of divisions or 
detachments, under circumstances unfavorable to a perfect and 
minute delineation of the objects of their attention, the peace 
found them in an unfinished state, although the notes and sketches 
of many parts of the country had been obtained with much labor 
and preserved with care. This circumstance being reported to 
the President, as well as the importance on every other considera- 
tion of retaining this branch of the army on the peace establish- 
ment, when the duties that would necessarily be assigned to it 
could be with better success pursued, he, on the 19th June, 1815, 
retained two majors, Anderson and Roberdeau, who were directed, 
under special orders from the War Department, to complete the 
surveys on the northern frontier and Lake Champlain, with some 
other matters which the unexpected close of the war had sus- 
pended, and to report to the Chief Engineer, General Swift, for 
the execution of this duty. 
“These duties were performed, but, by extending those surveys 
and geological researches, the importance of the continuance of 
the corps was proportionally increased, and the succeeding Con- 
gress found them still more deeply engaged in these useful inves- 
tigations than during the late war they were permitted advanta- 
geously to pursue.” 1 
1 Hist. Sketch of Corps of Eng., 28-9. THE TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS. 
279 
Majors Anderson and Roberdeau addressed an 
elaborate memoir to Congress upon the subject of 
their unfinished labors, and upon the propriety of 
the reestablishment of a corps of topographical en- 
gineers. This petition had the desired effect, and by 
act passed in April, 1816, three topographical en- 
gineers were provided for each division, and one 
assistant for each brigade,1 which reinstated the corps 
to its former numbers and rank, still connecting it 
with the general staff of the army. In July, 1818, as 
we have seen, the topographical engineers were ar- 
ranged to the engineer department. From this time 
forth, until their organization into a distinct bureau 
of the War Department in 1831, they formed the 
“ topographical bureau of the engineer department.” 
And after the independent organization of the corps 
of topographical engineers, the officers thereof rather 
divided the labors of the engineer corps upon works 
of internal improvement, on light-houses on the sea- 
board and the lakes, in the improvement of rivers 
and harbors, in military, geographical and geological 
reconnaissances beyond the settled western fron- 
tier, than pursued different lines of duty. There was 
even more work of the kinds here noted than both 
branches of the engineer department with the offi- 
cers authorized by law could perform, and between 
the years 1824 and 1838 about twenty-five officers 
of the line and thirty civilians were employed, under 
directions of topographical engineers, upon the vari- 
ous surveys then in progress. Mention of the many 
works performed by this corps will be made later. 
Many of its officers served with distinction in the 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 297. 280 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Mexican war and in the war of the rebellion, during 
which the corps was merged with the corps of en- 
gineers.1 
I now recur to the account of the corps of en- 
gineers. 
About the time when the topographical engineers 
became an independent bureau, works of internal 
improvement were at their height. Roads were 
being constructed in many parts of the West and 
South. Large sums of money were annually ex- 
pended for the improvement of rivers, for work upon 
harbors and upon the sea-coast fortifications. The 
officers of the corps were laboriously engaged upon 
these works for a series of years.' 
In 1838, Congress passed an act adding to the 
corps one lieutenant-colonel, two majors, six cap- 
tains, six first, and as many second lieutenants. By 
the same act, it was provided that “ the pay and emol- 
uments of the said corps shall be the same as those 
allowed to the officers of the regiment of dragoons.”2 
In December of the same year Colonel and Brevet 
Brigadier-General Charles Gratiot, Chief Engineer, 
was dismissed the service by order of the President. 
This dismissal arose from the refusal of General 
Gratiot to settle his accounts in accordance with the 
decisions of a comptroller of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, and which the General believed were contrary 
to law. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Joseph G. Totten, of the corps of engineers.3 At 
*By act of Congress of March 3, 1863. 
2 U. S. Stat. at Large, V., 256. 
3 This distinguished man and officer remained at the head of 
the engineer corps until his death, April 22, 1864, being then a GENERAL JOSEPH G. TOTTEN 
281 
this time works on the seaboard fortifications and on 
the improvements of rivers and harbors were still 
very numerous, many of them extensive; so that 
about seventy different works, chiefly harbors along 
the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and on the lakes, were 
transferred to the corps of topographical engineers. 
And still the officers of the corps of engineers had 
as many works in course of construction and im- 
provement as they could with convenience superin- 
tend. I find, for examples, that in 1838 there was 
an appropriation of eighty thousand dollars for the 
complete removal of “the great raft in Red River” 
in Louisiana and Arkansas; of four hundred and 
fifty-nine thousand dollars for additional work on the 
Cumberland road ; of thirty-seven thousand dollars 
for roads in Florida; of sixty-five thousand dollars 
for roads in Wisconsin ; and very large appropria- 
tions for many and extensive improvements of rivers 
and harbors, and for seaboard fortifications. At this 
brigadier-general and major-general by brevet. He was graduated 
from the Military Academy in 1805. In 1812 and 1813 he was 
chief engineer of the grmy in the campaigns on the Niagara, and 
was brevetted major for gallant conduct in the capture of Fort 
George. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for gallant conduct 
at the battle of Plattsburgh in 1814. He was chief engineer in 
the army under General Scott in the Mexican war, and was bre- 
vetted brigadier-general for gallantry at the siege of Vera Cruz. 
In 1863 he was commissioned a brigadier-general, and was bre- 
vetted a major-general shortly before his death. This celebrated 
man was distinguished as a soldier, a practical engineer, and a 
scholar. His many brevets attest his bravery and efficiency in the 
field; the fortifications of Newport, Rhode Island, and other 
works show his practical engineering skill, and several published 
volumes manifest his eminence as a scholar and scientist. No 
man was ever more beloved in private life than General Totten. 282 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
time the work of construction or improvement was 
going on at Fort Warren, Fort Adams, Fort Mc- 
Henry, Fort Monroe, on the works in Charleston 
harbor, at Fort Pulaski, and at other noted military 
works on the sea-coast and on the northern frontier. 
In May, 1846, there was added to the corps of en- 
gineers a company of sappers, miners, and pontoniers 
to be called “engineer-soldiers.” The act organizing 
the company provided that it should be composed of 
ten sergeants, or master-workmen; ten corporals, or 
overseers ; two musicians ; thirty-nine privates of the 
first class, or artificers; and thirty-nine privates of 
the second class, or laborers. This company was 
speedily recruited, drilled, organized, technically in- 
structed, and being ordered to the theatre of war 
arrived at Brazos Santiago on the nth of October. 
The company participated in the siege of Vera Cruz 
and in all the operations of the army under General 
Scott from that time until the fall of the city of Mex- 
ico, remaining in the country until its evacuation 
by the Americans. Besides General Totten, some 
twenty officers of the corps of engineers served with 
distinction in the war with Mexico. 
As early as 1831, officers of the engineer corps 
were connected with the construction of light-houses. 
In that year, certain moneys appropriated by Con- 
gress for the construction of light-houses on the 
lakes, were placed by the Treasury Department in 
the hands of engineer officers for disbursement, and 
from that time, until the organization of the light- 
house board, there were at all times a number of 
officers of the corps engaged on this duty. In 1851, 
Congress by law directed the President “ to cause to THE ENGINEER CORPS. 
283 
be detailed from the engineer corps of the army from 
time to time, such officers as may be necessary to 
superintend the construction and renovating light- 
houses.” In the following year, the light-house 
board was established, the law providing that three 
of its members should be officers of engineers. In 
the just renown gained by that board for its many 
admirable and most useful works, the corps of en- 
gineers is entitled to a share. 
The Congress called by President Lincoln, to con- 
vene at the capital July 4, 1861, to provide measures 
against the rebellion, which most wickedly and cause- 
lessly had been inaugurated soon after his installa- 
tion as chief magistrate, promptly made known its 
approval of every vigorous act done by the Execu- 
tive to maintain the Union and to defeat the unholy 
schemes of traitors. Men and money in support of 
the war for the Union were voted with unbounded 
liberality. The corps of engineers was not forgot-, 
ten. By an act of August 3d, three first and three 
second lieutenants were added to the corps, and “the 
battalion of engineers ” was authorized. The law 
provided, “ That there shall be added to the corps 
of engineers, three companies of ‘ engineer-soldiers,’ 
to be commanded by appropriate officers of said 
corps, to have the same pay and rations, clothing and 
other allowances, and to be entitled to the same ben- 
efits in every respect, as the company created by the 
act for the organization of a company of sappers and 
miners, approved May 15, 1846. And each of the 
companies of ‘ engineer-soldiers ’ shall hereafter be 
composed of ten sergeants, ten corporals, two mu- 
sicians, sixty-four privates of the first class, or artifi- 284 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
cers, and sixty-four privates of the second class — in 
all, one hundred and fifty men.” A few days later, 
Congress authorized an addition to the corps of two 
lieutenant-colonels and four majors. Thus the corps 
of engineers, with between forty and fifty officers, 
and a full battalion of “ engineer-soldiers,” entered 
upon the labors of the late war. The corps of topo- 
graphical engineers was not very much smaller in the 
number of officers, and among them were not a few 
now distinguished names. I recall those of Generals 
A. A. Humphreys (now chief engineer), George G. 
Meade, John Pope, William F. Smith, G. K. Warren, 
and John G. Parke. 
But in the very midst of the war, as we have seen, 
the topographical engineers were disbanded. The 
provisions of the law abolishing that corps and reor- 
ganizing the corps of engineers, being an act of Con- 
gress approved March 3, 1863, were as follows: 
“ That the corps of topographical engineers, as a distinct branch 
of the army, is hereby abolished, and from and after the passage 
of this act is merged into the corps of engineers, which shall 
have the following organization, viz. : One chief engineer, with 
the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general; four 
colonels, ten lieutenant-colonels, twenty majors, thirty captains, 
thirty first lieutenants, and ten second lieutenants. 
“ Section 2. That the general officer provided by the first sec- 
tion of this act shall be selected from the corps of engineers, as 
therein established, and that officers of all lower grades shall take 
rank according to their respective dates of commission in the 
existing corps of engineers or corps of topographical engineers. 
“ Section 3. That no officer of the corps of engineers below 
the rank of field-officer shall, hereafter, be promoted to a higher 
grade before having passed a satisfactory examination before a 
board of three engineers senior to him in rank; and should the 
officer fail at such examination, he shall be suspended from pro- GENERAL RICHARD DELAFIELD. 
285 
motion for one year, when he shall be reexamined, and, upon a 
second failure, shall be dropped by the President from the army.” 
The corps was actively engaged during the war 
not only in the performance of the engineering 
duties demanded in the field and in the different 
sieges of the long conflict, but in addition supplied 
to the army some of its most distinguished and two 
or three of the most illustrious of the Union general 
officers. Of these mention maybe here made — in ad- 
dition to those already named of the topographical 
engineers — of Generals James B. McPherson, John 
G. Barnard, H. G. Wright, John Newton, Q. A. Gill- 
more, Godfrey Weitzel, John G. Foster, Henry W. 
Benham, George W. Cullum, O. M. Poe, Z. B. 
Tower, and Daniel P. Woodbury. General Hum- 
phreys states that there were thirty-three officers 
who either held or had held commissions in the corps 
of engineers appointed general officers in command 
of troops, of whom a majority became major-gen- 
erals of volunteers or in the regular army; eight 
commanded armies, and ten others army corps.1 
Upon the death of General Totten in 1864, Colonel 
Richard Delafield was promoted to be chief engi- 
neer, and commissioned brigadier-general accordingly. 
He remained in charge of the bureau only a little 
more than two years, being retired in August, 1866, 
by direction of the President, he having then been 
in service in the corps for more than forty-five years.2 
1 Hist. Sketch of Corps of Eng., 23. 
2 General Delafield was a man of a retiring nature, of very con- 
siderable abilities, and of great capacity to study. For many 
years he was Superintendent of the Military Academy. He was 
ordered to Europe to observe the Crimean war, and his report, 286 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
General Delafield was succeeded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel and Brevet Major-General Andrew A. Hum- 
phreys.1 
Only a few days before General Humphreys became 
chief engineer, Congress (act of July 28, 1866,) pro- 
vided : 
“ That the corps of engineers shall consist of one chief of 
engineers, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier- 
general ; six colonels, twelve lieutenant-colonels, twenty-four 
majors, thirty captains, and twenty-six first and ten second lieuten- 
ants, who shall have the pay and emoluments now provided by 
law for officers of the engineer corps. 
“ That the five companies of engineer-soldiers and the sergeant- 
major and quartermaster-sergeant, heretofore prescribed by law, 
shall constitute a battalion of engineers, to be officered by officers 
of suitable rank detailed from the corps of engineers; and the 
officers of engineers, acting respectively as adjutant and quarter- 
master of this battalion, shall be entitled to the pay and emolu- 
ments of adjutant and quartermaster of cavalry.” 
The organization of the corps remains as thus pro- 
vided to this time (1879) except that the engineer 
published in i860 (quarto), gave him much celebrity. He died 
at Washington in November, 1873. 
1 General Humphreys was graduated from the Military Academy 
in 1831, and was assigned to the Second Artillery. He served 
some time in Florida, and was distinguished for gallantry in the 
Indian war. He resigned in 1836, but in 1838 was commissioned 
first lieutenant in the topographical engineers. He served in that 
corps until its abolition, when he was transferred to the corps 
of engineers. Early in the late civil conflict he entered upon 
duty in the field, and served as a general officer till the close of 
the war. He was distinguished at Fredericksburgh, Chancellors- 
ville, Gettysburg!), Petersburgh, and in the final pursuit of Lee’s 
army. He long commanded the second army corps. He is the 
author of a number of scientific works and reports, and a mem- 
ber of several learned societies and bodies. LIEUTENANT R. L. HOXIE. 
287 
battalion was very largely reduced by operation of 
the act of June 16, 1874, reducing the number of 
enlisted men in the army to twenty-five thousand 
men. 
Of late years, the engineer department has had 
charge of the public buildings and grounds of the 
national capital. An act of Congress of March 2, 
1867, abolished the office of commissioner of public 
buildings, providing that the chief engineer of the 
army should perform all the duties of that office, and 
also have the superintendence of the Washington 
Aqueduct, and all the public works and improvements 
of the government of the United States in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, unless otherwise provided by law. 
By an act of 1874 for the government of the District 
of Columbia, Congress provided: 
“That the President of the United States shall detail an officer 
of the engineer corps of the army of the United States, who shall, 
subject to the general supervision and direction of the said board 
of commissioners, have the control and charge of the work of 
repair and improvement of all streets, avenues, alleys, sewers, 
roads, and bridges of the District of Columbia; and he is hereby 
vested with all the power and authority of, and shall perform the 
duties heretofore devolved upon, the chief engineer of the board 
of public works.” 
Under this provision, Lieutenant Richard L. Hoxie 
was designated by the Secretary of War to take 
charge of this important position. He remained in 
charge thereof, giving very general satisfaction to the 
public by the manner in which he discharged his 
duties, until the government of the District was again 
remodelled in 1878. The law establishing the present 
government of the city provided that one of the three 288 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
commissioners should be an officer of the corps of 
engineers, and that he should be appointed to the 
commission by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. The act requiring the 
engineer commissioner to be of higher rank than that 
held by Lieutenant Hoxie, he was prevented from 
longer being the chief engineer of the District. 
Major William J. Twining, corps of engineers, was 
appointed commissioner by President Hayes and 
promptly confirmed by the Senate. He has thus 
far filled the office with the greatest acceptability to 
the critical public of the capital, which, under the 
spirit of private enterprise and public improvement 
that has prevailed during recent years, is rapidly 
becoming the most beautiful city in the world.1 
The labors of the corps of engineers have been 
very great and various, from the organization of the 
corps to the present time. The first works upon 
which its officers were employed were the sea-coast 
fortifications. These, up to about the year 1818, 
were of a temporary character, but since that time 
all the works constructed have been of the best kind 
known to military engineering. They are scattered 
all along the Atlantic coast and that of the gulf of 
Mexico from Maine to Texas, and a few now guard 
our harbors on the Pacific coast. Among the more 
celebrated of these works, perhaps, are Forts Warren, 
1 In a conversation with Mr. W. W. Corcoran in the latter part 
of 1878, I said it was probable that Washington in ten years 
would be the handsomest city in the world. To which he replied : 
“Washington is the most beautiful city in the world now.” He 
had seen most of the cities of Christendom, and on this point must 
be regarded as an authoritative judge. RAILROADS. 
289 
Independence, Adams, Hamilton, McHenry, Monroe, 
Sumter, Pulaski, and Pickens, though there are others 
hardly less extensive and formidable. 
Preeminently, the corps of engineers has been a 
pioneer, opening up the American continent to ma- 
terial development, and making it ready as a field of 
progressive civilization. Up to about the year 1831, 
American progress was slow, in comparison of what 
it afterwards became. Contemporaneously with the 
use of railways, the rate of that progress was greatly 
accelerated. There were many causes leading to 
this, no doubt, but among them all, none was of more 
potent influence, perhaps, than railroads. The power 
of these means of transportation in the augmentation 
of trade and commerce is mysteriously prodigious. 
They might seem to infuse into communities some 
of the tremendous vigor and speed of the “iron 
horse.” Their practical success appears to have 
given the American people a progressive spirit not 
before possessed in the same high degree. Neverthe- 
less, it is not wise to despise the day of small things. 
Before the era of railroads, there were wagon-roads 
and canals. In the survey and construction of the 
primitive roads of the country, after the establish- 
ment of our present form of government, the corps 
of engineers was almost constantly engaged to lesser 
or greater extent. Up to the time of the introduction 
of railroads, “ its officers, ” as is truly said by General 
Humphreys, “were to a great degree the repositors, 
in this country, of that knowledge which was requisite 
for the purpose of making accurate surveys. The 
location and construction of the roads, canals, and 
bridges built for the development of the resources HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of the country, and the accurate methods of survey- 
ing, geodetic, topographic, and hydrographic, now in 
use, are in a great measure due to the talents and 
labors of its officers.” 1 
The corps of engineers was thus the pioneer of 
the pioneers, preparing for the latter, by the construc- 
tion of military and other roads, ways to the frontiers, 
and then many other roads for the use and conven- 
ience of the settlements, towns, and cities. There 
are many men now living in Detroit, who remember 
when officers of the corps of engineers were engaged 
in constructing a road from that city to the then much 
smaller city of Chicago; just as there are men living 
in Milwaukee who remember a similar thing as to a 
road between “ the town of Milwaukee ” and a point 
on the Mississippi River opposite Dubuque. These 
are but examples of hundreds of such facts that might 
be given. And later, when railroads became the great 
means of transportation, the corps of engineers was 
still preeminent in preparing the way for the con- 
struction of these thoroughfares. In the early part 
of the history of railroads in America, officers of the 
corps were frequently engaged in the survey of 
routes, and in the superintendence of the construc- 
tion of bridges and of difficult places in the lines of 
survey. Later, the great demand for engineering 
skill produced many civil engineers, capable of sur- 
veying and constructing these works — some of whom 
achieved wonderful triumphs in engineering skill — so 
that the labors of the officers of the engineer depart- 
ment came to be mainly confined to works of a na- 
tional character. The most notable instance of the 
1 Hist. Sketch of ,Cortps of Eng,, 35. PACIFIC RAILROADS. 
291 
labors of the department herein was in the case of 
the surveys of the routes for railroads from the Mis- 
sissippi River to the Pacific Ocean. This immense 
work, or rather these great works — for no less than 
four routes were surveyed, all but one with much 
thoroughness—were undertaken and completed dur- 
ing the years 1853-56, and full reports with regard 
thereto submitted to Congress by Secretary of War 
Jefferson Davis, in 1855 and 1856. Supplemental 
reports were published some two years later. Pin- 
gaged in these surveys, and in the preparation of 
reports relating thereto, were Captain George B. 
McClellan, corps of engineers ; Major W. H. Emory, 
Captains H. Stansbury, J. W. Gunnison, John Pope, 
A. A. Humphreys, and Lieutenants A. W. Whipple, 
John G. Parke, R. S. Williamson, G. K. Warren, and 
H. L. Abbot, of the topographical engineers. Others 
were doubtless employed in the great amount of of- 
fice work necessary in editing the reports; and in 
much of the scientific portions thereof, the illustrious 
Professor Joseph Henry, and his assistants in the 
Smithsonian Institution, contributed valuable and will- 
ing assistance. Notes of the surveys of Captain 
John C. Fre'mont, topographical engineers, made by 
him in 1849, were also made use of. 
The routes surveyed were at the time known as 
that of the thirty-second degree of north latitude ; 
that of the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth; that of the 
forty-first and forty-second; and that of the forty- 
seventh and forty-ninth degrees. These correspond, 
approximately, to the lines now popularly known as 
the Southern or Texas Pacific; the Kansas Pacific ; 
the Union-Central Pacific; and the Northern Pacific; 292 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
but one of which has been completed across the con- 
tinent, though much work has been done on all the 
others, and they are operated for large distances. In 
performing the labors of these great surveys, the dif- 
ferent surveying corps were frequently encompassed 
by difficulties, and even by dangers. But the force, 
with the military escort, was in each case consider- 
able, so that all the difficulties were surmounted, and 
the dangers warded off. The gratifying fact was 
made known that there were several practicable rail- 
road routes from the Mississippi River to the Pacific 
Ocean. Of the invaluable labors of the War Depart- 
ment, in thus showing how a vast expanse might be 
opened up to development and settlement, commerce 
has already taken large advantage, to the incalculable 
benefit of our country; but all the just commercial 
profits and national benefits clearly shown to be 
practicable by the Pacific Railroad surveys, cannot be 
fully enjoyed until several lines shall have been com- 
pleted. 
The reports of the Pacific Railroad surveys, pre- 
pared under the direct supervision of the engineer 
department, are contained in thirteen large volumes, 
quarto. The reports of the surveys proper, though 
in themselves extensive, and including very many 
profiles, maps, and other illustrations, yet form, after 
all, but a comparatively small portion of the whole 
work. The vast area of country embraced in the 
surveys, is described as to its soil, climate, geology, 
botany, zoology. There is an entire volume upon 
the birds of the country included in these surveys, 
with very many illustrations in colors; another on the 
mammals ; still another on the fishes. These volumes “WHEELER'S REPORTS 
293 
were edited and revised by Professors Henry and 
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution. Others are 
upon the various Indian tribes and nations who were 
found in the country, with dissertations upon their 
languages, traditions, modes of life, religions, and 
superstitions. All the volumes are profusely and, for 
the time, richly and beautifully illustrated with engrav- 
ings on stone. It is safe to say, I judge, that at the 
time of its publication, this work was the most valu- 
able contribution to commerce and to science that 
had ever been prepared from actual surveys and re- 
connaissances in the field. The entire work cannot 
be bought except at fabulous price. 
Akin to this work are the works on “ United States 
Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth 
Meridian,” and “ United States Geological Explora- 
tions of the Fortieth Parallel.” The surveys and 
reconnaissances, from the reports of which the former 
work was prepared (so far as it has been published), 
were in charge of Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, 
corps of engineers. Hence the work is quite gen- 
erally known as “Wheeler’s Reports.” It is in six 
thick quarto volumes, the first being upon the “ Ge- 
ography ” of the region explored ; the second is 
entitled “ Astronomy and Barometric Hypsometry,” 
and is very largely composed of tables of astronom- 
ical observations, and of barometrical registrations, 
particularly with regard to the moisture of the atmos- 
phere ; the third is on the “ Geology ” of the region ; 
the fourth, “ Paleontology;” the fifth, “Zoology ;” the 
sixth, “ Botany.” Besides the labors of Lieutenant 
Wheeler himself in the preparation of these volumes 
for publication, they received assistance from very 294 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
many well known scientists. The work is largely 
and most artistically, but not too profusely illustrated, 
and there accompany it many separate atlas sheets 
portraying the geology of different portions of the 
region. It is an enduring monument to the energy, 
fortitude, and skill of Lieutenant Wheeler and his 
assistants in the field, and to the abilities and industry 
of his scientific coadjutors in the study. It is emi- 
nently creditable to the scientific literature of our 
country and of our times. 
What has just been said of the work under the 
charge of Lieutenant Wheeler may with equal truth 
be said of the work on the “ Geological Explorations 
of the Fortieth Parallel.” This work, in the field and 
in the study, was under charge of Mr. Clarence King, 
United States Geologist, serving under the direct or- 
ders of the chief of engineers. The published work 
upon these explorations, made during the practicable 
seasons of about ten years, includes six heavy quarto 
volumes and a geological and topographical atlas. 
The first volume is entitled “Systematic Geology;” 
the second, “Descriptive Geology;” the third, “Mining 
Industry;” the fourth, “Ornithology and Paleontol- 
ogy;” the fifth, “Botany;” the sixth, “Microscopic 
Petrography.” In the field labors and in the prepa- 
ration of this great scientific work—in large propor- 
tion no less valuable to practical than to scientific 
men — a considerable number of energetic and en- 
thusiastic scientists rendered assistance to Mr. King. 
The territory surveyed is a belt about one hundred 
and seven miles broad and eight hundred miles long, 
extending from the eastern foot of the Rocky Moun- 
tains to the Sierra Nevada of California, or almost “CLARENCE KING’S REPORT, 
295 
across the Cordilleras of North America, where they 
are broadest.1 This great expanse, when this survey 
was commenced, had not been penetrated by the 
Pacific Railroad, and but little accurate information 
in regard to it was in existence. The singularly in- 
teresting and in many parts fascinating work pre- 
pared by Clarence King and his assistants has made 
it as well known to the scientific and literary circles 
of Christendom as almost any other portion of the 
world. The illustrations throughout the entire work 
are wonderfully fine; preeminently beautiful, I think, 
in the volumes most recently published.2 
These three works—the reports on the Pacific Rail- 
road surveys, and those generally called “Wheeler’s 
Reports ” and “Clarence King’s Reports” — supply 
an extent and variety of information, of interest and 
value to merchants and traders, agriculturists, stock- 
raisers, miners, and scientists the worth of which it 
1 Vol. I. of work in review, p. 763. 
2 The last volume of the series to be published was volume one. 
In his letter to General Humphreys, chief of engineers, trans- 
mitting the volume, Mr. King says : 
“ For the freedom of action you have always granted me, for your generous 
bestowal of every needed facility, and above all for your wise and just guidance 
of the general plans of the work, I beg to offer my warmest thanks. 
“ That which a student of geology most earnestly longs for, I have freely 
received at your hands, and whatever value this report may possess, either 
as a permanent contribution to knowledge or as a stepping-stone worthy to be 
built into the great stairway of science, I feel that the honor belongs first to you. 
“ For those who are to continue the arduous labor of American field study, 
I can wish no happier fortune than to serve within the department which you 
command.’’ 
It may be proper to say that the large edition of the work sup- 
plied to the War Department was almost immediately exhausted. 
It would be just for Congress to authorize another and a larger 
edition. 296 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
would be difficult to over-estimate. To these add 
the reports on the Rocky Mountain region, by Major 
J. W. Powell and Professor F. V. Hayden, geologists 
of die Department of the Interior, and we have about 
all that could be desired save further volumes in 
completion of the work, thus far so admirably done, 
for every part of that immense portion of our coun- 
try. 
The improvement of rivers and harbors in the 
interest of commerce has been almost exclusively 
under the control of the corps of engineers during 
thfc entire history of the government. Nowand then 
Congress has authorized work of this class to .be 
done by private parties, a noteworthy instance of 
which is the undertaking at this time (1879) in prog- 
ress— the attempted improvement of the navigability 
of a mouth of the Mississippi River by a system of 
jetties. The work is in charge of a civil engineer 
to whom large sums of money have already been 
paid, and many public journals have spoken in con- 
fident terms of the ultimate success of the plan. 
Nevertheless, not a few of our most scientific engi- 
neers have little doubt of its ultimate failure. A few 
other works of less note in the improvement of rivers 
have been done by private parties. But all the great 
works in the improvement of our harbors, whether 
on sea-coast or lake shore, from the removal of the 
obstructions at “Hell Gate” in New York bay to the 
dredging of sand from in front of Michigan City, 
have been done under the supervision of the corps 
of engineers, as have nearly all the works on the 
rivers of the interior, from the “ improvement ” of the 
Father of Waters to that of lesser streams “which RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS. 
only contain water when it rains.”1 On our harbors 
and rivers great sums of money have been disbursed 
through the corps of engineers, and very many works 
of high engineering skill constructed. 
In a degree related to these labors upon rivers 
and harbors have been the services of the corps in 
the construction of light-houses and in the surveys 
of the Northern and North-western lakes. The plan- 
ning and construction of light-houses, beacons, and 
all fixed aids to navigation have been for years 
among the duties of the corps. The surveys of our 
magnificent lakes of the interior of the continent have 
all been made by the corps of engineers ; and the 
work is not yet completed. The reports of these 
surveys, with their charts and maps, have been of 
incalculable value to the hardy mariners of the lakes 
and to both our domestic and our foreign commerce ; 
for during many years there has been a large direct 
trade between the principal cities of the lakes and 
some of the ports of Europe. 
Says General Humphreys: “The surveys, exami- 
nations, and constructions which have been made by 
officers of the corps, have not been confined to such 
matters as are solely in charge of the War Depart- 
ment. From time to time, the State Department, 
the Navy Department, the Treasury Department, and 
the Interior Department have employed its officers 
in the running of boundary lines, and the surveys for 
the maps necessary to be used in delicate diplomatic 
1 This was the witty objection made by General John A. Logan, 
United States Senator from Illinois, to appropriations for certain 
rural rivers in a River and Harbor bill a few years ago. Never- 
theless, the bill passed. 298 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
negotiations ; in the surveys for, and the construction 
of, dock-yards ; the surveys for canal-routes across 
the Isthmus of Panama; upon astronomical observa- 
tions in the interests of science ; in the survey of the 
coasts, the planning and construction of light-houses ; 
the planning and construction of public buildings, of 
custom-houses, post-offices, marine hospitals, etc.” 1 
The great extent and variety of the public services 
of the corps of engineers are shown in a notable 
manner by its publications, professional, literary, and 
scientific. At the Centennial Exposition, held at 
Philadelphia in 1876, among the things exhibited by 
the War Department, were the publications of the 
engineer department. The list of the titles of these 
publications, including a few volumes of reports of 
explorations conducted under other branches of the 
Department of War, made a pamphlet of twenty- 
seven octavo pages. Of the professional and mis- 
cellaneous works prepared under the auspices of the 
engineer department there were more than one hun- 
dred volumes and thick pamphlets. There were 
about five hundred photographic and stereoscopic 
views of as many localities taken in the course of 
the different surveys and reconnaissances in the 
West. There were military maps of nearly all the 
great battles and sieges of the late war of the rebel- 
lion. There were a great many topographical maps, 
some fifty lake survey charts, and a considerable 
number of diagrams relating to fortifications. Since 
that time, several works of value to the profession 
have been published. The annual reports of the de- 
partment of engineers have for many years been rich 
1 Hist. Sketch Corps of Eng., 35. THE ENGINEER CORPS. 
299 
treasures of information. The last report yet pub- 
lished— that of the year 1877, printed during the 
following year — formed two volumes, octavo, mak- 
ing more than fourteen hundred and fifty pages. It 
embraces, besides the comprehensive summary by 
the chief of engineers, full reports of the many oper- 
ations of the corps, in labors upon sea-coast defenses, 
light-houses, river and harbor improvements, surveys 
of the lakes and the upper Mississippi River, work 
on the public buildings and grounds of the District 
of Columbia, with a full resume of the surveys and 
reconnaissances in the West. It is illustrated with 
many maps, charts, and etchings, and is a valuable 
contribution to practical engineering science in about 
all of its branches. 
Such is a brief and imperfect outline of the history 
of the organization and public services of this hon- 
ored branch of the American military establishment. 
It has disbursed vast sums of money — for many 
years many millions annually — without defalcation 
and without scandal. It has constructed the roads 
for the pioneers of our national development from 
the Appalachian range to the Pacific coast. Its la- 
bors upon military works, upon internal improvements 
other than roads, have been prodigious. Its contri- 
butions to scientific literature, through elaborate re- 
ports upon its engineering works and its surveys, 
have given credit to our country among the best 
minds of Europe. It has given to the army some of 
the most illustrious generals of the republic; and 
thus in a double manner has added to the nation’s 
fair renown through the triumphs of the sword and 
the triumphs of the pen. 300 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
X. THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. 
The ordnance department was organized in 1812, 
a short time before the declaration of war with Great 
Britain. The organizing act provided that the de- 
partment should consist of a commissary-general of 
ordnance, an assistant commissary-general, four dep- 
uty commissaries, and as many assistant deputy com- 
missaries as the President might deem necessary, not 
exceeding eight. The commissary-general was au- 
thorized to employ skilled workmen and laborers as 
in his judgment they might be needed in the interest 
of the public service. Under this act the chief officer 
of the department was entitled to the rank, pay, and 
emoluments of a colonel of infantry, with allowances 
for clerk hire; the assistant to the rank, etc., of a 
major of infantry, with three additional rations per 
day ; the deputies to the rank, etc., of a captain, 
with two additional daily rations and forage for one 
horse; the assistant deputies to the rank, etc., of a 
second lieutenant, with one additional ration per day. 
Liberal wages were provided for the workmen, with 
rations added. The duties of the department were 
specifically set forth in a section of the act as fol- 
lows : 
“That it shall be the duty of the commissary-general of ordnance 
to direct the inspection and proving of all pieces of ordnance, 
cannon-balls, shells, and shot procured for the use of the army 
of the United States; and to direct the construction of all car- 
riages and every apparatus for ordnance, for garrison and field 
service, and all ammunition-wagons, pontoons, and travelling- 
forges ; also the direction of the laboratories, the inspection and 
proving the public powder, and the preparing of all kinds of am- 
munition for garrison and field service; and shall, half-yearly, 
examine all ordnance, carriages, ammunition, and apparatus in THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. 
301 
the respective fortresses, magazines, and arsenals, and cause the 
same to be preserved and kept in good order.” 
Further sections provided: 
“That the commissary-general of ordnance shall execute all 
orders issued by the Secretary for the Department of War, in con- 
veying all ordnance, ammunition, and apparatus to the respective 
armies, garrisons, magazines, and arsenals; and, in time of war, 
he shall execute all orders of any general officer commanding in 
any army or garrison for the supply of ordnance, ammunition, 
carriages, pontoons, forges, furnaces, or apparatus for garrison, 
field, or siege service, and forward the same without delay and in 
good condition ; and that the assistant commissary-general of ord- 
nance, the deputy commissaries, and assistant deputies, shall faith- 
fully, and without delay, execute all orders that shall be issued by 
the Secretary for the Department of War, the commanding gen- 
eral in time of war of any corps, camp, or garrison, or of the 
commissary-general of ordnance in their respective departments, 
by virtue of this act.” 
Provisions for the keeping of accounts and ren- 
dering returns with respect to all property pertain- 
ing to the department were made.1 In August of 
the following year, five additional deputy commis- 
saries were authorized to be appointed, at the dis- 
cretion of the President.2 By a provision in an act 
of Congress of March 30, 1814, a military status not 
before had by them was given to the workmen of 
the bureau. This provision was: “ That the com- 
missary-general of ordnance may employ in his de- 
partment, besides blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 
other mechanics, such as the public service may 
require, who shall, together with the said black- 
smiths and wheelwrights, be mustered under the 
*Act of May 14, 1812, U. S. Stat. at Large, II., 732-34. 
2Ibid., III., 75. 302 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
general name of artificers ; and such artificers, being 
hereafter, or having been heretofore enlisted to serve 
for the term of five years or during the war, shall be 
entitled to the same annual allowance of clothing as 
is or may be provided for the soldiers of the army; 
that the laborers who may hereafter be enlisted to 
serve in the ordnance department for the term of 
five years or during the war, shall be entitled to a 
bounty of twenty-five dollars in money, and the 
same allowance of clothing as that provided for sol- 
diers.” 1 
Such was the organization that supplied the army 
with all kinds of ordnance and of ammunition during 
the last war with Great Britain. Though organized 
on the very eve of the war, the department was 
enabled to perform its duties herein with prompt- 
ness and efficiency. For before the close of the 
eighteenth century, the government had established 
two armories, one at Springfield, Massachusetts; the 
other at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia; and these, in the 
charge of civilian superintendents, had formed a val- 
uable substitute for an ordnance department, in the 
manufacture and distribution of arms other than 
ordnance. Sundry foundries in Rhode Island, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the District of 
Columbia had been employed on government account 
in the manufacture of cannon, so that when the war 
with England was declared, there was ample supply 
of brass and iron ordnance, and of ordnance ammu- 
nition. In his annual message in December, 1811, 
President Madison truly said, “the manufacture of 
cannon and small arms, and the stock and resources 
XU. S. Stat. at Large, III., 115, secs. 16, 17. THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. 
303 
of all the necessary munitions are adequate to emer- 
gencies.” 
The department was managed so handsomely dur- 
ing the war, that the conflict had practically but barely 
ceased, when the bureau was reorganized, the nomen- 
clature of its officers changed, and its duties and 
powers and responsibilities enlarged. The substan- 
tial provisions of the act of reorganization were as 
follows: That the department should consist of one 
colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, two majors, ten cap- 
tains, and of first, second, and third lieutenants, ten 
each ; that the senior officer might enlist for the ser- 
vice of the department, as many master armorers, 
master carriage-makers, master blacksmiths, artifi- 
cers, armorers, carriage-makers, blacksmiths, and 
laborers as the public service, in his judgment, under 
the direction of the Secretary of War, might require. 
The duties of the department were considerably en- 
larged over what they had been under the former 
law, as will be seen by the following section of the 
act of 1815: 
“That it shall be the duty of the colonel of the ordnance 
department to direct the inspection and proving of all pieces of 
ordnance, cannon-balls, shot, shells, small-arms, and side-arms, 
and equipments procured for the use of the armies of the United 
States; and to direct the construction of all cannon and car- 
riages, and every implement and apparatus for ordnance, and all 
ammunition-wagons, travelling-forges, and artificers’ wagons, the 
inspection and proving of powder, and the preparation of all 
kinds of ammunition and ordnance stores. And it shall also be 
the duty of the colonel, or senior officer of the ordnance depart- 
ment to furnish estimates, and, under the direction of the Secre- 
tary for the Department of War, to make contracts and purchases 
for procuring the necessary supplies of arms, equipments, ord- 
nance, and ordnance stores.” 304 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
It was also provided: That the chief of the de- 
partment, or the senior officer thereof in any district, 
should execute all orders of the Secretary of War, 
and, in time of war, the orders of any general or field 
officer commanding any army, garrison, or detach- 
ment, for the supply of arms, ammunition, ordnance, 
carriages, forges, and apparatus, for garrison, field, 
or siege service; that the keepers of all magazines 
and arsenals should report to the ordnance depart- 
ment at least quarterly, giving full returns of all 
ordnance property in their charge ; that the public 
armories should be placed under charge of the de- 
partment ; that the head of the department, under 
the direction of the Secretary of War, should be 
authorized to establish depots of arms, ammunition, 
and ordnance in such parts of the United States as 
he might deem necessary; and that the pay, emolu- 
ments, and allowances of the officers of the depart- 
ment should be the same as those of similar grades 
in the artillery.1 
This organization of the department remained 
without change for six years, during which period all 
ordnance affairs were conducted in the best interests 
of the government and the people. Arsenals were 
established in different parts of the country; arms 
were largely manufactured, and distributed promptly 
to the militia, or stored in the arsenals and military 
depots; the character of the arms, large and small, 
was from time to time improved. As rapidly and 
efficiently as possible, within the country’s limits of 
just expenditures, we were being prepared against 
the exigencies of war. 
o 
'Act of Feb. 8, 18x5, U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 203 et seq. ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT ABOLISHED. 
305 
Nevertheless, by the act of Congress of 1821, re- 
ducing the military peace establishment, the ordnance 
department, as an independent bureau, was abol- 
ished. It was merged in the artillery. The provision 
of the act was in these words: “ That the ordnance 
department shall be merged in the artillery ; and that 
the President of the United States be authorized to 
select from the regiments of artillery, such officers as 
may be necessary to perform ordnance duties, who, 
while so detached, shall receive the pay and emolu- 
ments now received by ordnance officers, and shall 
be subject only to the orders of the War Depart- 
ment.” One supernumerary captain was provided 
for each regiment of artillery to perform ordnance 
duty.” 1 The provision making the artillery officers 
subject only to the orders of the War Department 
while on ordnance duty, was almost tantamount to 
preserving the independence of the bureau, and must 
be regarded as a manifestation by Congress of a want 
of confidence in the success of the general provision 
of merger. 
The act thus singularly merging the ordnance de- 
partment in the artillery, was passed in the interests, 
as was supposed, of economy, simplicity of organiza- 
tion, and thoroughness of instruction. Experience 
proved that neither interest was at all subserved. 
The only material mistake, as I think, made by Sec- 
retary Calhoun during his long administration of the 
War Department, was his recommendation of this 
measure. He said : “ By uniting the three corps of 
the ordnance, light artillery, and artillery in one, ap- 
pointing one general staff at the head of it, and 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, III., 615. 
U 306 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
making its officers pass in rotation through the three 
services, the organization of the army will be ren- 
dered more simple and the instruction of the officers 
much more complete.” In this reasoning there 
somewhere lurked a fatal flaw; for the practical 
result was precisely the opposite of that predicated 
by the eminent Secretary. 
It would appear that no little of the erroneous 
opinion pertaining to the propriety of merging the 
ordnance department in the artillery, grew out of 
the name — ordnance department. In the origin of 
the department, this name was well enough, per- 
haps ; for then it had only to do with ordnance, im- 
plements pertaining to ordnance, and ammunition. 
But the law of 1815 enlarged its duties and labors, 
so that the jurisdiction of the department was over 
all arms used by all branches of the army and all 
kinds of ammunition, and accoutrements. I find, for 
example, that under the act of Congress for arming 
the whole body of the militia of the United States, 
the following arms and equipments were transmitted 
to the executives of the different States and Territo- 
ries by the ordnance department between 1815 and 
1821, namely: muskets, rifles, pistols, cavalry sabres, 
non-commissioned officers’ swords, cartridge boxes 
and belts, bayonet scabbards and belts, bugles, drums, 
fifes, six-pounder cannon, six-pounder carriages, cais- 
sons, twenty-four pounder howitzers, twenty-four 
pounder howitzer carriages, ammunition wagons.1 
In this distribution there were forty-five cannon and 
nearly thirty-three thousand muskets and rifles. 
Facts like these show that if the name of the de- 
St. Papers, Mil. Af., II., 485. HOW SOLDIERS ARE MADE. 
307 
partment were descriptive, it might well be called 
the department of all arms. In reason there would 
be no less appropriateness in merging the ordnance 
department in the infantry, or in the cavalry, than 
in the artillery; because for those the department 
manufactures the arms and warlike implements as 
well as for that. A cavalryman is none the better 
soldier for knowing how to make a sabre, nor an 
infantryman because he may be skilful in making 
the best of modern rifles. Soldiers are made by 
the practice not by the manufacture of arms. 
This substantive truth was most clearly demon- 
strated by the unfortunate experiment of merging 
the ordnance department with the artillery. The 
artillery was not a jot or tittle benefitted by the 
merger with respect to skill and efficiency in prac- 
tice, while the ordnance department to some extent 
suffered thereby. Though the reasons for this fact 
are perfectly plain to most persons who have candidly 
and thoroughly examined the subject, yet are they 
not apparent to others. A simple illustration may 
serve to make the matter clear. Suppose the bureau 
of military justice were merged in the cavalry arm 
of the service; officers thereof with a knowledge 
of military law, being detailed from year to year, to 
perform the duties now so admirably and ably per- 
formed by Judge Advocate-General Dunn and his 
accomplished corps of assistants. Every one with 
a knowledge of the subject will perceive that we 
should soon have a lamentable travesty on military 
justice. Indeed, it will be thought by some that this 
is an extreme illustration. In reality it is not. The 
bureau of military justice should be, as it happily is, 308 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
in the charge of men of long years of study and of 
professional training in the science of jurisprudence 
in all of its manifold branches. Men of hap-hazard 
study and practice would be entirely incompetent to 
administer its affairs with success. The duties of 
what we call the ordnance department are profes- 
sional or scientific, as well as administrative. A 
knowledge of mathematics, mechanics, chemistry is 
requisite, and a thorough scientific as well as prac- 
tical knowledge of metallurgy. A skilled ordnance 
officer must also be an adept in the laws of elec- 
tricity. His knowledge of machines must be great 
and comprehensive. He must know about all there 
is known on the mysterious properties of explosives. 
He should be well acquainted with all modern useful 
arts, and especially should he be familiar with the 
improvements constantly being made by our own 
and many other nations in all the destructive means 
of war. All this as in the case of those competent 
to form an honorable bureau of military justice re- 
quires years of study and of patient application. 
There never would have been the Rodman gun, 
had the ordnance department continued to be mainly 
composed of officers temporarily detailed from the 
artillery. There would have been no marked prog- 
ress in our manufacture of arms, large or small, ex- 
cept by the servile adoption of the inventions of 
private parties and of foreign armories. 
Hence the experiment of the merger of the ord- 
nance department in the artillery after eleven years’ 
trial, proved to be, and was acknowledged to be, by 
the ablest generals of the army and the most dis- 
tinguished public men of the country, including Mr. ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT REORGANIZED. 
309 
Calhoun himself, a failure. Accordingly the depart- 
ment was reorganized and placed on an independent 
footing by an act of Congress of April 5, 1832, which 
provided that the bureau should consist of one 
colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, two majors, ten cap- 
tains, and as many enlisted men not exceeding two 
hundred and fifty as the public service might require.1 
It was by the act thus reestablishing the ordnance 
department that the Secretary of War was authorized 
to appoint for each military post an ordnance sergeant 
from among the most experienced non-commissioned 
officers, to take charge of the ordnance stores at the 
military posts respectively, under which grew up a 
considerable corps of such sergeants for many years 
noted in the army for intelligence and fidelity. 
By an act of Congress of 1838, the President was au- 
thorized, “ whenever he might deem it expedient to in- 
crease the same,” to add to the ordnance department 
two majors, and to transfer thereto from the artillery 
ten first and as many second lieutenants. It was also 
provided that the pay and emoluments of the officers 
of the department should be the same as those al- 
lowed to officers of the same grade of the regiment 
of dragoons.2 In 1842, the offices of superintendents 
of armories at Springfield and Harper’s Ferry were 
abolished, and ordnance officers directed to perform 
the duties thereof. Some changes were also made 
with regard to other and minor employes of the de- 
partment, the general object of the law being a re- 
duction of their number.3 In 1847, the President 
1 U. S. Stat. at Large, IV., 504. 11bid.,V., 258, sec. 13. 
* Ibid., Id., 512. 310 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was authorized to add to the department two cap- 
tains and six first lieutenants.1 
After noting the rehabilitation of the department 
by the act of April 5, 1832, General S. V. Benet, chief 
of ordnance, gives the following comprehensive his- 
tory of the department: 
“The ordnance having thus resumed its special and distinct 
organization, disconnected entirely from the duties and instincts 
of the line, soon rose to a high degree of efficiency and impor- 
tance. The improvements in all classes of military armament in- 
troduced by the department, or made the subject of scientific 
investigation and experiment at its hands, resulted, in a short 
space of time, in giving a renewed vigor and tone to the effi- 
ciency of the army at large, including all the arms of service. 
A system of field artillery not before in existence in our service 
was provided by the department, which, at the battles of Palo 
Alto and Buena Vista and the siege of Fort Brown, so elevated 
the reputation of the light batteries engaged that the force was 
doubled by Congress in 1847. The siege trains, mountain how- 
itzers, and mortars were served in this war by ordnance officers, 
because of their superior skill in the handling and manoeuvring 
of these pieces. Improvements in the qualities of all kinds of 
small-arms then making, and in the machinery for their manu- 
facture, were appropriated by the department at the earliest period 
after their value had been demonstrated; elaborate and searching 
investigations were instituted in the fabrication and improvement 
of heavy guns and in the application of bronze for gun construc- 
tions; aboard of ordnance officers was dispatched to Europe to 
study the state of the arts connected with their special functions 
in foreign countries, the result of whose labors was diffused within 
the department and published by Congress to the nation at large; 
in fine, the department entered upon and fully occupied the ex- 
tensive field of usefulness, as respected the combined branches 
of the military service, which lay open before it, and the high 
standard of excellence which our great armies of two wars has 
sustained in the matter of armament may be traced back in no 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, IX., 186, sec. 16. GENERAL J. W. RIPLEY. 
311 
small degree to the activity of its corps of officers in the investi- 
gation and scientific treatment of all things coming within the 
sphere of its employment. The war of the rebellion affords a 
full vindication of the wisdom of maintaining the department as 
a separate organization. Keeping pace with the progress of sci- 
ence and the mechanical arts, and being specially trained to me- 
thodical and practical applications of the principles of these arts, as 
they relate to the invention and improvement of military armament 
and experiments connected therewith, a degree of economy has 
been preserved and a relative degree of efficiency attained which 
could not have been reached through the medium of any other 
instrumentality. How, it may be asked, could any other admin- 
istrative corps, unaugmented in numbers, discharge the duties of 
the character here indicated ? How, it may be added, could these 
duties be adequately performed by any branch of the line of the 
army ? ” 1 
Early in the war of the rebellion the department 
was increased to consist of a chief of ordnance, with 
rank of brigadier-general, two colonels and lieuten- 
ant-colonels each, four majors, and of captains, first, 
and second lieutenants, twelve each. James W. Rip- 
ley was appointed brigadier-general and chief of the 
department in August, 1861.2 In 1863 the organiza- 
tion was changed by an increase in the number of 
majors and captains, and the abolition of the grade 
1 Hist. Statement of the Rise and Progress of the Ordnance 
Dept., 79-8x. 
2 This General Ripley was a native of Connecticut, and was 
born in 1794. He was graduated from West Point in 1814, and 
long served in the artillery, conspicuously in the Seminole war in 
1817-18, under General Jackson. In 1832, on the reorganization 
of the department, he was made a captain of ordnance ; five years 
later, a major. He served in the Mexican war, and was brevetted 
lieutenant-colonel for gallant conduct. He was for several years 
superintendent of the Springfield armory. He was retired in Sep- 
tember, 1863, and in March, 1865, was brevetted major-general 
for long and meritorious services. He died at Hartford, in 1870. 312 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of second lieutenant. On the retirement of General 
Ripley, Colonel George D. Ramsay was appointed 
brigadier-general, and chief of the department.1 
About this time, the department was again enlarged 
by the addition of a number of captains and of sec- 
ond lieutenants. Maj’or Alexander B. Dyer suc- 
ceeded General Ramsay as chief of ordnance in 
September, 1864, being, of course, then commis- 
sioned a brigadier-general.2 While General Dyer 
was chief of ordnance, some alleged transactions of 
the office were brought into general political discus- 
sion. Not long before the American presidential 
General Ramsay, a native of Virginia, was graduated from the 
Military Academy in 1820, after which he served in the artillery. 
In 1835 he became a captain of ordnance ; major in 1861 ; lieu- 
tenant-colonel in 1863; colonel, brigadier-general and chief of 
ordnance in the same year. This officer served with great credit 
in the Mexican war, and was brevetted for gallant conduct at the 
battle of Monterey. He only remained at the head of the ord- 
nance department a year, when he was retired. In 1865, he was 
brevetted a major-general. 
2 General Dyer was a native of Virginia, and was graduated at 
the Military Academy in 1837. He served in the third artillery, 
in garrison at Fort Monroe, and in the Florida war in 1837-38. 
In July of this latter year, he was appointed second lieutenant of 
ordnance. During several succeeding years, he was on duty at 
different arsenals, depots, and military foundries in the West and 
South. In the Mexican war he was chief of ordnance in the army 
invading New Mexico, and was twice brevetted for gallant con- 
duct. After that war, he served at arsenals in Missouri, North 
Carolina, Little Rock, Arkansas, and at Fort Monroe. During 
the rebellion, until he became chief of ordnance, he was in com- 
mand of Springfield armory, and greatly extended its machinery 
for the manufacture of small arms. In March, 1863, he was com- 
missioned major. Two years later, he was brevetted major-general. 
He remained in charge of the department until his death in 1874. ALLEGED SALE OF ARMS TO FRANCE. 
313 
campaign of 1872, the Franco-German war, resulting 
in the defeat of the French under the Emperor Na- 
poleon III. and the destruction of his empire, had 
occurred. It was charged after the war that our 
government had violated its duties of neutrality in 
the contest and of friendship for the German Empire, 
by the sale of arms to the French and agents of the 
French. At this time — in the early summer of 1872, 
that is — the Honorable Carl Schurz, a German by 
birth, was one of the Senators of the United States 
from Missouri. He brought this matter of the al- 
leged sales of arms to the French before the Senate 
and the country, by moving a committee of investi- 
gation. The motion prevailing, an investigation fol- 
lowed, which was accompanied by a debate in the 
Senate, continuing through many days, and which was 
remarkable for the ability and eloquence displayed on 
all sides, and particularly by the eminent German- 
American statesman who had introduced the subject. 
The vast galleries of the Senate chamber were daily 
crowded with thousands of persons to hear this ani- 
mated debate, “ the first grand campaign attack ” on 
the administration of President Grant. The com- 
mittee of investigation exonerated the department 
from blameworthy motives or actions in the premises, 
and in the former part of this judgment, if not in the 
latter, the public almost universally agreed. The 
rectitude of the chief of ordnance was not in the 
slightest degree impeached. 
After the war, there was a re-grading of the offi- 
cers of the department, and a year later further pro- 
motions and appointments were prohibited until a 
reduction of the corps by casualties should occur. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
In 1874, the present organization of the department 
was established, namely, one brigadier-general (chief 
of ordnance), three colonels, four lieutenant-colonels, 
ten majors, twenty captains, sixteen first lieutenants, 
and the ordnance store-keepers (captains) in office, 
but whose places, in case of vacancy, are not to be 
filled. Of these, according to the latest Army Reg- 
ister, there are ten. In the same year, Major Stephen 
V. Benet was appointed chief of ordnance and brig- 
adier-general, in place of General Dyer, deceased.1 
In 1876, General Benet had prepared under his 
supervision a pamphlet, which I have frequently 
cited and quoted under the name “ Historical State- 
ment of the Rise and Progress of the Ordnance 
Department.” It is in reality an elaborate, carefully- 
reflected essay upon the ordnance department as a 
portion of the United States military establishment, 
together with the historical statement as named, and 
a consideration of the legal relations of the depart- 
ment to the Secretary of War and army proper. 
The ordnance department is thus considered as but 
a part of the military establishment, it, with the other 
bureaux, forming the whole of the administrative 
General Benet, a native of Florida, was graduated at West 
Point in 1849. He was for some years on duty at various arsenals 
— Watervliet, Frankford, Pikesville, Washington City, St. Louis, 
and elsewhere. He served several years as professor at West Point, 
ail'd, later, as instructor of ordnance and science of gunnery. He 
has served on several important experimenting and examining 
boards. He was commissioned captain in 1861, major in 1866, 
meantime having been brevetted lieutenant-colonel. He is the 
translator of Jomini’s “Campaign of Waterloo” (1853), and the 
author of a “Treatise on Military Laws and Courts-Martial ” 
(1862). LEGAL STATES OF THE DIFFERENT BUREAUX. 
315 
department of that establishment, each and all being 
subject to the direction and control of the Secretary 
of War, and not at all, except in certain contingencies 
expressly provided for by law, to the army. This 
view is so forcibly — so absolutely unanswerably, as 
it seems to me — put by General Benet near the 
close of the essay, that I here take the liberty of 
quoting the argument in full: 
“ What, it may be asked, is the status of these administrative 
branches [the bureaux of the War Department] under the laws, as 
embodied in the Revised Statutes, and under the existing regula- 
tions ? It may be answered as follows : 
“By section 1133 of these statutes, the duties of the officers of 
the quartermaster’s department are to be discharged under the 
direction of the Secretary of War; and, by section 1139, a sys- 
tem of accountability for quartermaster’s stores is to be prescribed 
and enforced under his direction. 
“By section 1141, the duties of the officers of the subsistence 
department are to be discharged under his direction. 
“ By section 1152, the supplies for the engineer department are 
to be regulated and determined under his approval; and, by sec- 
tion 1158, the officers of the engineer department are restricted to 
the discharge of duties within the line of their immediate profes- 
sion, except only when otherwise ordered by the President. The 
professional duties of the engineer department are not prescribed 
by statute, but they have always been discharged under directions 
of the Secretary of War, who controls the appropriations of this 
as well as of all other branches of the War Department. 
“ By sections 1159 to 1167, the ordnance department is placed, 
in all its details, under the direction of the Secretary of War. 
These sections have been mainly taken from the act of Febru*y 
8, 1815, hereinbefore cited at length. 
“By sections 1168 to 1181, the supervision of the Secretary of 
War over the details of the medical department is in several places 
declared. The duties of the medical department are not pre- 
scribed in general terms by statute, but they have uniformly been 
discharged under direction of the Secretary of War 316 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
“By sections 1184 to 1189, the pay department is placed under 
the direction of the President. The duties have, however, been 
always discharged under the direction of the Secretary of War, 
as the executive officer of the President; and in sections 1190 and 
1191, the Secretary of War is specially named in connection with 
this department. 
“By sections 1x95 and 1196, the signal office is placed under 
the direction of the Secretary of War. 
“The subordination of the bureau of military justice is not 
indicated by the statutes, but it must of necessity fall under the 
direction of the Secretary of War. 
“By section 1331, the supervision and charge of the Military 
Academy is vested in the War Department under such officers as 
the Secretary of War may assign to that duty. 
“ The duties of the adjutant-general and inspectors-general are 
not declared by statute. They each have offices, however, in 
connection with the office of the Secretary of War. 
“Whatever differences of opinion may be entertained upon the 
policy or expediency of this disposition of the administrative or 
staff corps, the fact of such disposition remains unchanged. The 
foundations of the plan were laid in the earlier days of the re- 
public, and the plan has descended to us unimpaired, notwith- 
standing the various mutations which the command of the army 
has undergone within the past twenty years. The plan was origi- 
nally fixed when the regular army required no greater provisions 
for its commander than those appropriate to a major-general, and 
has answered all requirements throughout two great wars through 
which the country has passed. Within the past twenty years the 
temporary rank of lieutenant-general by brevet, and then lieuten- 
ant-general, and, finally, general, have been revived or created, 
but no change has been made in the disposition or status of the 
administrative corps on account of these new military offices. 
The administrative corps have a greater element of permanency 
than either of the existing temporary offices which are by law 
to expire upon being vacated by the present incumbents. Any 
change made in the status of the administrative corps to adapt 
them to these temporary offices would necessitate immediate ab- 
rogation upon the occurrence of a vacancy, and the expediency 
of unsettling an old and tried system, founded as it is upon un- 
derlying principles of public policy, for temporary adjustment to LEGAL STATUS OF THE DIFFERENT BUREAUX. 
317 
temporary offices, is a matter for the determination of the law- 
making power in the first instance. 
“The fundamental organization of the military establishment 
being a matter of exclusive legislative cognizance, and an estab- 
lished system of military administration having been provided by 
laws designating both persons and powers, it is believed that no 
authority short of the legislative can modify the established sys- 
tem by curtailing any of the powers of those who have received 
them by statutory designation. In an opinion of the attorney- 
general on the ‘ relations of the President to the executive depart- 
ments,’ delivered in 1855 (7 Opin., 468), it was held, that 
* If, in a given case, no head of department be named in the law, the dis- 
cretion remains to the President to designate or not, as, and to whom he will 
[confide the execution of the law], but if he approves a law which designates 
a particular head of department as the immediate agent of administration, then 
his executive discretion in regard to the choice of an agent has been exerted 
and fixed by him in the acceptance of the law, and his order in the matter 
will be given, and the expenditures involved will be passed upon, by the le- 
gally designated head of department.’ 
“And in an opinion delivered in 1828 (1 Opin., p. 625), it is 
held that 
* If the laws, then, require a particular officer by name to perform a duty, 
not only is that officer boitnd to perform it, but no other officer can perform it 
without a violation of the law; and were the President to perform it, he 
would not only be not taking care that the laws were faithfully executed, 
but he would be violating them himself. The Constitution assigns to Congress 
the power of designating the duties of particular officers: the President is only 
required to take care that they execute them faithfully.’ 
“Applying the principles here announced to the administration 
of affairs in the War Department, it is clearly to be conceded that 
the statutory designation of the Secretary of War to the para- 
mount control of the various administrative branches of that de- 
partment, and the subordinate officers and materials and affairs 
connected therewith, is exclusive and that no commanding gen- 
eral or other officer of the army — whatever may be his grade — 
can successfully claim any administrative participation therein, 
not expressly granted to him by statute.” 
These different bureaux of the War Department, 318 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the origin and brief history of each of which I have 
thus imperfectly related, have conferred incalculable 
benefits upon our country, no less conspicuously, upon 
the whole, with regard to civil than to military affairs. 
Even the adjutant-general’s department, whose duties 
at first view might be supposed to be wholly and ex- 
clusively military and technical, is the source whence 
writers upon all our wars, foreign, Indian, and civil, 
draw their best and most authoritative history. Its 
records constitute the best evidence for all persons 
entitled to the benefits of the pension and bounty 
laws. The labors of the signal office are recognized 
as of daily benefit to the country and of growing 
value to mankind. The departments of the in- 
spector-general, quartermaster-general, commissary- 
general of subsistence, and paymaster-general, are 
wholly military and administrative, but as we have 
seen their labors, whether in peace or war, are great 
and valuable, and in some instances have preeminently 
assisted the army to win great victories and to repel 
threatened dangers from the republic. The medical, 
engineer, and ordnance departments have many and 
varied professional and scientific as well as adminis- 
trative services to perform. We have seen how well 
in all instances, how grandly in not a few, their duty 
has been done. That our country is so generally de- 
veloped to-day, from the shores of Lake Ontario to 
far beyond the Mississippi, in the Rocky Mountain 
region, and on the Pacific coast, is more largely due 
to the labors of the bureaux of the War Department 
than to any other one cause. I have proceeded thus 
far in my work most imperfectly, unless it is there- 
from very clearly seen that the history of the prog- ROSTERS OF BUREAUX. 
ress of civilization in America is closely connected 
with the history of the Department of War. Again 
do we see the truth of the paradox: There is no 
peace for the army except during war. 
Note. — It will have been observed that in my accounts of the 
different bureaux I have in some instances included rosters, in 
others, not. Where the names are quite numerous I have not 
thought it appropriate to take up so much space as they would 
require in the general body of the history. They will be found, 
as contained in the current Army Register, in the Appendix, near 
the close of the volume. CHAPTER VIII. 
DEPARTMENTAL HISTORY FROM THE MEXICAN WAR 
TO 1879. 
The Success of the System of Volunteers — Secretary Marcy 
and the War with Mexico — The Interim Between that War 
and the Late Civil War — The War Department During the 
War of the Rebellion — Secretary Stanton and the Assist- 
ant Secretaries—The Provost-Marshal-General’s Depart- 
ment— Colored Troops — Military Railroads and Tele- 
graphs— Exchange of Prisoners — The Disbandment of the 
Volunteers—Reorganization of the Army—The Freedmen’s 
Bureau — Secretary Stanton and President Johnson—Gen- 
eral Grant—Soldiers’ Homes — National Cemeteries — Re- 
cent History—Secretary McCrary and the Signal Office. 
WHATEVER may be the truth as to the divided 
judgment of the American people upon the 
rightfulness or wrongfulness of our war with Mexico, 
there can be no question that, having once com- 
menced, it was conducted with ability, vigor, and 
most remarkable success. This remark applies not 
only to the operations of the army in the field, which 
made forever illustrious the names of Taylor, Scott, 
and others, but to the administrative services of the 
Department at the national capital, and of many of 
its bureau officers engaged on the theatre of war. 
At this time the Department was in charge of the dis- 
tinguished statesman, William L. Marcy of New York. 
Secretary Marcy had served with honor in the last 
war with Great Britain, and had observed the lament- 
able defects of the militia system. He had also 
closely studied our entire military history and had VOL UNTEERS. 
321 
noted the success of the plan of speedily raising 
troops, called volunteers, which had on more than 
one occasion been adopted in the West, particularly 
in Kentucky and Ohio. This plan, thoroughly sys- 
tematized, he adopted for the supply of troops in 
addition to the regular army, with which the war 
with Mexico should be prosecuted. 
His views were heartily sustained by President 
Polk and cordially adopted by Congress. By an act 
approved May 13, 1846, the President was author- 
ized “ to call for and accept the services of any num- 
ber of volunteers not exceeding fifty thousand, who 
may offer their services either as cavalry, artillery, 
infantry or riflemen.”1 Under this law, volunteers 
were quickly enlisted in all parts of the Union, in- 
telligence of the fine victories of the army of the 
United States under General Taylor at the battles 
of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — fought a few 
days before the passage of the act — creating a gen- 
eral enthusiasm for the war which had not before 
then manifested itself. Liberal provisions were 
made for the transportation of the volunteers to 
rendezvous; for their organization into regiments 
and brigades; and by midsummer a large army 
of volunteers was on the Mexican frontier and en 
route thereto. In all the engagements and opera- 
tions of the war after Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
Palma they bore conspicuous part, proving, with 
what had gone before in our military history, the 
correctness of Secretary Marcy’s opinion that the 
warlike strength of the United States lay in the 
regular army and the volunteers. More recent 
1U. S. Stat. at Large, IX., 9. 
V 322 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
events have demonstrated that an army of Ameri- 
can volunteers such as could be speedily raised to 
great numbers, cooperating with our regular army 
of trained veterans under the command of trained 
officers with a trained staff, would probably be in- 
vincible by any force which the most powerful nation 
of the world could bring against it. In a little over 
two years from the commencement of actual hos- 
tilities Mexico was conquered, terms of peace dic- 
tated, and the country evacuated by the American 
armies. 
In considering the services, whether military or 
administrative, of the military establishment of the 
United States in connection with the Mexican war, it 
should not be forgotten that the war occurred, so to 
say, in a former generation. Less than two years 
before the battle of Palo Alto, the first electric tele- 
graph in the world had been built after incredible 
trials and difficulties,— a short line between Wash- 
ington City and Baltimore. By the time the war with 
Mexico closed the grand success of Professor Morse’s 
invention was acknowledged by all intelligent persons, 
but it was not until later that the net-work of wires 
for the conveyance of instantaneous intelligence was 
spread over most inhabited portions of the country. 
Nor had railroad construction up to this time been 
very considerable. Thus the old means of intelli- 
gence and transportation were perforce greatly used, 
which makes it all the more noteworthy that so com- 
plete a victory, with such great and valuable results 
with respect to the material interests of the nation, 
should have been so quickly gained. Such a result 
could not have occurred had our armies not been THE ARMY IN 1848. 
323 
most admirably organized upon the whole, and most 
ably commanded.1 
For more than twenty years up to 1842, the country 
had been divided into two divisions, each in the com- 
mand of a brigadier-general, the major-general, being 
the commander-in-chief of the army, having his head- 
quarters most of the time at the seat of government. 
In the year named, nine military departments were 
created by general orders of the War Department 
and placed in the command of as many general and 
field officers. During the Mexican war this arrange- 
ment naturally fell into disuse, troops and officers 
being required for service against the enemy. After 
the conclusion of the war the arrangement first named 
was reestablished, Major-General Scott being in com- 
mand of the eastern division, headquarters at New 
York, Major-General Taylor, of the western division, 
headquarters at or near New‘Orleans. The nine 
military departments were continued. At this time 
General Taylor was the candidate of the Whig party 
for President of the United States, and in deference 
to him, as he might soon become General Scott’s 
superior officer, his command was made entirely 
independent. As a matter of fact, he was inaugu- 
rated chief executive of the Union on March 5, 1849. 
Meantime, the closing scenes in the war with 
Mexico had occupied large attention from the War 
Department. At the termination of the war, the 
aggregate strength of the army was forty-seven 
thousand one hundred and fifty officers and men. 
Of these, one thousand three hundred and thirty- 
1 For a rapid sketch of the principal events of the Mexican war 
see ante pp. 228-40. 324 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
eight were officers and twenty-two thousand six hun- 
dred and ninety-five were enlisted men of the regular 
army of the United States ; there being of volunteers 
one thousand five hundred and twenty-seven officers, 
and twenty-one thousand five hundred and ninety 
men. It is hardly possible that the regular and 
volunteer forces of the United States will ever again 
be so nearly equally divided as they were at this 
time.1 Very many regulars as well as the volunteers 
JFor the facts stated in the text I am indebted to the report of 
Adjutant-General R. Jones to the Secretary of War, of November 
30, 1848. The report of the same officer, of one year before, 
places the number of volunteers in the field at twenty-two thou- 
sand and twenty-seven ; of regulars, twenty-one thousand five 
hundred and nine — about the same difference the other way. 
The volunteers suffered greater losses by sickness. In the same 
report, Adjutant-General Jones stated that the volunteer force 
employed in the war consisted of troops equivalent to thirty regi- 
ments and six companies of infantry, called from the States and 
Territories as follows : 
Massachusetts, one regiment of infantry ; New York, two regiments ; New 
Jersey, one battalion (4 companies); Pennsylvania, two regiments and three 
companies; Maryland and District of Columbia, seven companies infantry and 
one artillery, with the organization of a regiment; Virginia, one regiment (13 
companies); North Carolina, one regiment; South Carolina, one regiment (11 
companies); Georgia, one mounted battalion (6 companies); one separate 
mounted company and one battalion of infantry (5 companies); Florida, one 
independent company infantry; Alabama, one independent mounted company; 
Mississippi, one regiment infantry; Louisiana, one regiment and one battalion 
(5 companies); Arkansas, one independent mounted company; Texas, five 
independent mounted companies; Tennessee, three regiments infantry; Ken- 
tucky, two regiments; Missouri, one regiment and one battalion mounted (5 
companies), one battalion infantry (5 companies), and one mixed battalion 
of two companies mounted, one company artillery, and two companies in- 
fantry ; Illinois, four independent mounted companies and two regiments 
infantry; Indiana, two regiments; Ohio, one independent mounted company 
and two regiments, and two independent companies infantry; Michigan, one 
regiment (not yet raised) and one independent company infantry; Wisconsin, 
one independent company; Iowa, one independent mounted company. Second 
enrolment and remustered companies (7). THE ARMY AFTER THE MEXICAN WAR. 
325 
having been mustered to serve “ during the war ” the 
army was speedily reduced after the evacuation of 
Mexico to the regular peace establishment, which at 
the time was authorized by law to consist of eight 
hundred and sixty-five officers and eight thousand 
nine hundred and forty enlisted men. This force 
only lacked about three hundred of being full accord- 
ing to the adjutant-general’s annual report of 1848. 
Between this time and the war of the rebellion there 
were some slight changes in the organization of the 
army, resulting in its increase to an aggregate of 
about twelve thousand, which was its strength ac- 
cording to law, at the commencement of hostilities.1 
During the entire period of the administrations of 
Presidents Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan the country 
was agitated by the discussion of political questions 
of such character as to keep up an almost constant 
excitement. Indeed, this remarkable agitation began 
during the latter part of the administration of Presi- 
dent Polk in connection with the question of the gov- 
ernment to be established in the vast territory ac- 
quired as a result of the war with Mexico, and it did 
not end till 1861. Nevertheless, it is a noteworthy 
fact that though the army did some things during 
this period which it ought not to have done — among 
others, the interference with the free State men of 
Kansas, and the Utah fiasco — the services of the 
military establishment were at this very time of ex- 
ceptional benefit to the country and to mankind. It has 
been customary with a certain class of writers to speak 
1 For convenience of reference, a statement showing the organ- 
ization of the army at different times has been prepared, and will 
be found in the Appendix, near the close of the volume. 326 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of Mr. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War during the 
administration of President Pierce, as even then plot- 
ting treason against his country and in his apartments 
in the Department building secretly concocting plans 
for the destruction of the government. No opinion 
could be more erroneous. Whatever faults Mr. 
Davis has to answer for, this is not one of them. 
He was not only a most energetic and diligent 
Secretary, but there were in progress during his 
administration of the Department, and under his 
supervision, some of the greatest works it has ever 
performed. Among them were the Pacific Railroad 
surveys, of which a full account has been set forth in 
the preceding chapter. In these surveys, as his own 
reports connected therewith show, he took an enthu- 
siastic and intelligent interest; and it was then as it 
is now the universal judgment that railroads across 
the continent must needs be a perpetual practical 
argument for the permanence of the Union. During 
his administration of the war office the Army Regu- 
lations were revised, and very much improved ; rifles 
were substituted for muskets in several regiments ; 
the army was increased. It is clear that during this 
period of his life Mr. Davis had no time to plot 
against his country. While at the head of the War 
Department he was guiltless of all offence of this 
kind. And for some time afterwards the entire 
military establishment was faithful to the republic. 
Unhappily, as much cannot be said for Mr. Floyd, 
Secretary of War during most of the administration 
of President Buchanan. From the time it' became 
known that Abraham Lincoln would probably be 
elected President, Secretary Floyd used the Depart- PRESIDENT LINCOLNS LNAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
327 
ment in the interest of those who had determined 
to do all in their power to break up the government. 
Besides, a considerable portion of the army was in 
Texas under command of General Twiggs, whose 
wretched and shameless treason in the early part of 
the secession movement was among- the most dis- 
reputable events of the whole war. There is noth- 
ing so lamentable in the history of the military es- 
tablishment of the United States as these treasonable 
deeds in the War Department and in the army. They 
left the government in almost a defenseless position, 
besides manifesting a degree of moral and political 
turpitude which, to the credit of human nature, is not 
often reached. The appointment of the Honorable 
Jpseph Holt of Kentucky as Secretary of War a short 
time before the close of Mr. Buchanan’s administra- 
tion was a most fortunate event for the country. He 
immediately placed all the power of the Department 
on the side of the Union and did all that could be 
done to counteract the unworthy deeds of his prede- 
cessor. During this noted crisis the exalted patriot- 
ism of Joseph Holt was of incalculable value to the 
republic. Largely by reason of his labors and vigil- 
ance Mr. Lincoln was peacefully inaugurated Presi- 
dent and the new administration quietly placed in 
possession of the government. 
The statesmanlike, tender, and profoundly patriotic 
inaugural address of President Lincoln had been 
enough to cause the secessionists to pause in their 
ill-considered course, but that it had been long deter- 
mined upon by certain fiery, ambitious, unscrupulous 
leaders whose influence in affairs was very great be- 
cause of the ignorance which so largely prevailed in 328 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
many Southern communities. In a little more than 
a month from President Lincoln’s inauguration war 
was commenced by the attack on Fort Sumter. This 
most unhappy event aroused the entire North and 
many communities in several of the slave States to 
the highest pitch of indignation. The cry of “To 
Arms ! ” was heard everywhere from men of all po- 
litical parties, and though there were some in the 
North who sympathized with the “ Confederates,” 
they had small following, and not a few of them soon 
were seen floating with the popular tide. The feeling 
was well-nigh universal that the nation should avenge 
the insult by promptly and vigorously waging war on 
the armed enemies of the Union. 
The government appeared to be more phlegmatic 
under the circumstances than was easily to be ex- 
plained, and certainly gave no evidence of sympa- 
thizing with the magnificent enthusiasm of the people. 
The sublime good-nature of the President and the 
remarkable serenity of Secretary of State Seward 
appeared to be very little if any affected. The latter 
had the most erroneous conception of the character 
of the insurrection. Secretary of War Cameron and 
Secretary of the Treasury Chase were the only two 
members of the cabinet who had anything like cor- 
rect notions of the impending conflict. The former, 
therein sustained by Mr. Chase, advised the immedi- 
ate calling out of a large force for a considerable 
term of service. Instead, the President issued his 
proclamation, April 15, 1861, calling out seventy-five 
thousand men for three months. At the same time 
he called Congress to convene in extra session on 
the 4th of July following. On the 4th of May a SECRETARY CHASE. 
329 
call for forty-two thousand volunteers for three 
years was issued. 
Congress met on the national anniversary, and 
promptly voted generous supplies of the sinews of 
war; authorized the increase of the regular army, 
and the calling out of five hundred thousand three 
years’ volunteers at the discretion of the President. 
At this time there was no trouble in procuring all 
the men needed. Let the President call for them; 
they came, and more offered than were called. The 
War Department was embarrassed by the offer of 
too many troops. Secretary Cameron reminded the 
world of the superior military ardor and resources 
of the republic, saying; “ instead of laboring under 
the difficulty of monarchical governments in the want 
of men to fill its armies (which in other countries has 
compelled a resort to forced conscription), one of its 
main difficulties is to keep down the proportions of 
the army and to prevent it from swelling beyond the 
actual force required.”1 In his original estimates of 
expenditures for the War Department, prepared in the 
autumn of 1861, Secretary Cameron made his calcu- 
lations as for seven hundred thousand men in the field. 
More than that many had no doubt been offered and, 
perhaps, provisionally accepted. But as Congress 
had only authorized five hundred thousand, Secre- 
tary Chase protested against these estimates and 
they were accordingly reduced.2 
Notwithstanding these remarkable embarrassments 
of too many troops, the war for the Union did not 
1 Quoted by Schuckers, Life of Chase, 220. 
2 See the letter of Secretary Chase in the work just cited, pp. 
279-80. 330 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
progress, upon the whole, very favorably during the 
year 1861. There were some brilliant affairs in Vir- 
ginia— now West Virginia — under Generals McClel- 
lan and Rosecrans, and Colonel, afterwards Major- 
General Lew. Wallace. The successful expedition 
under Commodore Du Pont of the navy and Gen- 
eral Thomas W. Sherman of the army against Port 
Royal and Beaufort was of much importance and 
real value. The brilliant victory of General Na- 
thaniel Lyon at the battle of Wilson’s Creek demon- 
strated the valor and fortitude of our volunteers, but 
little more than compensated for the death, in the su- 
preme moment of triumph, of that great soldier and 
noble man. General Grant’s first engagement, Bel- 
mont, was at best a drawn battle. During- the entire 
year, there had been no grand, stirring victory for 
the Union cause, and it had suffered lamentable, ter- 
rible defeat and rout on the field of Bull Run, within 
cannon sound of the Capital. The spirits of the 
people were depressed ; and nearly all persons began 
to see that the contest must inevitably be one of 
great magnitude and of uncertain duration. 
A fortnight of the year 1862 had not passed when 
an event occurred which largely revived the spirits 
of the people and reanimated their dormant enthu- 
siasm. This was the appointment of Edwin M. 
Stanton as Secretary of War. Mr. Stanton had not 
been much in public, that is to say political life ; but 
he had been for many years one of the most eminent 
lawyers practising in our highest courts ; he had 
served as Attorney-General during the latter months 
of President Buchanan’s administration, and, heartily 
cooperating with Holt, had done the state great FORT HENRY—FORT DONELSON. 
service. He was known to be a man “ terribly in 
earnest;” of indomitable will; of immense intellect- 
ual force ; of resistless energy and ceaseless indus- 
try; of the purest integrity and the loftiest patriotism. 
It was intuitively judged by the people, and the judg- 
ment justified by the event, that he would infuse into 
the army some portion of his unconquerable spirit 
and organize victory for the Union cause. 
The events in the field speedily following the ap- 
pointment of Secretary Stanton were greatly cheer- 
ing to the Union people. In the East, General Burn- 
side, cooperating with whom was Flag Officer Golds- 
borough of the navy, captured Roanoke Island, early 
in February, many prisoners and large store falling 
into his hands. Newbern and other important places 
soon afterwards became his trophies. But on the 
day before Roanoke Island fell into our possession, 
there commenced in the West a series of remarkable 
victories not interrupted by a single great disaster 
during the entire year. The initial operation in 
these movements was the capture of Fort Henry, a 
powerful rebel work on the Tennessee River. This 
brilliant victory was mainly achieved by the navy 
under Commodore Foote. In just ten days it was 
followed, February 16, by the unconditional surrender 
of Fort Donelson to General Grant. This surrender 
included an army of nearly twenty thousand men and 
immense military materiel of all kinds. Within a 
month, Major-General Samuel R. Curtis won the 
decisive victory of Pea Ridge, after three days of 
hard fighting and exceptionally fine manceuvering. 
On the 6th and 7th of April General Grant fairly 
won the greatest pitched battle of the war in the 332 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
West — the battle of Shiloh. In the same month, 
through the gallantry of the navy under Farragut 
and of the army under Major-General B. F. Butler, 
the city of New Orleans and the powerful forts 
between that city and the gulf of Mexico were re- 
possessed by the Union. Shortly before this, by the 
capture of Island Number Ten, New Madrid, Fort 
Pillow, and Memphis, the Mississippi River had come 
under the control of the Unionists from Cairo to 
Vicksburodi. In October General Rosecrans won a 
o 
complete victory in the battle of Corinth, and near 
the close of the year Major-General Frank Flerron 
gained a handsome triumph on the field of Prairie 
Grove, in north-western Arkansas. 
Thus in the West there was a series of uninter- 
rupted military successes from the beginning till just 
at the close of the year, when General William T. 
Sherman met with defeat in the battle of Chickasaw 
Bayou. The Unionists had regained vast extent of 
territory in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, and Mississippi, and their entire control 
of the Mississippi valley seemed to be an event of 
the near future. In the East matters were less for- 
tunate. Major-General McClellan’s peninsular cam- 
paign against Richmond resulted in failure after 
many battles most gallantly fought by his army. 
This was followed by the disastrous Virginia cam- 
paign of Major-General John Pope, which was suc- 
ceeded by the Confederate invasion of Maryland, 
closed by the great Union victory of Antietam, of 
which General McClellan failed to take advantage. 
The campaigns of the gallant Army of the Potomac 
for the year closed with the battle of Fredericksburgh, CAMPAIGN OF VICKSBURGH. 
333 
Virginia, in which Major-General Burnside suffered 
disastrous defeat. The final result of the year was 
that in the East the Unionists simply held their own, 
but in the West and South-west gained many and 
great advantages. 
At the beginning of July of this year and just at 
the close of the seven days’ fighting before Rich- 
mond, President Lincoln issued a call for three hun- 
dred thousand additional volunteers. Dissatisfaction 
with General McClellan was at this time so great 
among the friends of the Union in the country that 
volunteering did not proceed with the wonted ra- 
pidity. Accordingly early in the following month 
Secretary Stanton ordered a draft for the same num- 
ber of men. This was an unpopular proceeding but 
it was an effective one, filling up the ranks of the 
corps in the field and considerably increasing the 
aggregate strength of the army. 
In aggregate results the campaigns of 1863 were 
a counterpart of those of 1862, being important vic- 
tories and the acquisition of great extent of territory 
from the Confederates in the West, and great, bravely 
fought battles without special advantage to either 
side in the East. On the second day of the year the 
great battle of Stone River closed in a fine triumph 
for General Rosecrans. Within a few days, executing 
a plan of General Sherman, Major-General John A. 
McClernand besieged and captured Arkansas Post 
with many prisoners and large store. After the 
march through Louisiana, the grand campaign of 
Vicksburgh under General Grant commenced, the 
fighting part with the battle of Port Gibson, May 1. 
The march hence to Vicksburgh by Jackson was an 334 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT.. 
almost continuous engagement by heavy skirmish at 
the front or general battle along the lines. There 
were general engagements, all victories, at Raymond, 
Jackson, Edward’s Station, Champion Hill, Big Black 
River Bridge. On the 19th Vicksburgh was invested. 
Four days afterwards General Grant assaulted the 
enemy’s works all along the lines with great vigor 
but without success. His loss here was very heavy. 
The unconditional surrender of the Confederate 
General Pemberton with the entire garrison and 
all the military materiel of Vicksburgh on the 4th 
of July was the crowning event in one of the grand- 
est campaigns of history. On the same day, Major- 
General Ben. M. Prentiss won a complete and brill- 
iant victory over a large force which attacked him 
at Helena, Arkansas. Four days later, Port Hudson 
surrendered to General Banks. Thus again the 
Father of Waters through all his course flowed un- 
vexed to the sea in the complete control and pos- 
session of the Union. The other principal military 
events of the year in the West were the battle of 
Chickamauga, in September, in which General Rose- 
crans suffered disastrous defeat at the hands of the 
Confederate General Bragg; and the battle of Chat- 
tanooga (Fookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge), 
November 23d, 24th, and 25th, in which General 
Grant gained a wonderful victory. The relief of 
Knoxville at once followed, and Tennessee was 
evacuated by the Confederates. Thus the western 
campaigns of the year closed with the great bulk of 
the country west of the Appalachian range re-pos- 
sessed by the Union, with trade and commerce and BATTLE OF GETTYSBURGH. 
335 
general intercourse rapidly resuming their wonted 
activity. 
At the beginning of the year General Burnside 
was still in command of the Army of the Potomac, 
but was soon relieved by Major-General Joseph 
Hooker. The first great operation of that army 
after General Hooker assumed command was the 
series of general engagements, extending through 
the 2d, 3d, and 4th of May, known as the battle of 
Chancellorsville. General Hooker suffered defeat 
and was sadly punished in heavy losses of killed 
and wounded. Nevertheless, he retreated across 
the Rappahannock on the 6th without molestation 
or pursuit by General Lee. The Confederates also 
lost very heavily in the engagement, their greatest 
loss being that of the distinguished General Stone- 
wall Jackson who was here mortally wounded. Not 
long after this the Confederate Army of Virginia 
under its great captain, General Lee, proceeded to 
invade Maryland and Pennsylvania. The end of this 
ambitious expedition was the battle of Gettysburgh, 
July 1 st, 2d, and 3d, in which the Confederates were 
severely beaten by the Unionists under the command 
of Major-General George G. Meade who a few days 
before had relieved General Hooker. Notwithstand- 
ing this great victory, Lee was permitted leisurely to 
retreat, and by the end of the month both armies 
were again on the Rappahannock. They continued 
to watch each other vigorously, with heavy skirmish- 
ing occasionally, and now and then giving strong in- 
dications of impending battle but without coming to 
blows, till a severe winter set in. Thus, maugre the 
casualties of the battles and lesser affairs, the year 336 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
closed in the East with the situation almost precisely 
as it was when the year began. 
During this year the different armies were largely 
reenforced by the operation of the draft which oc- 
curred in different States and districts from time to 
time. It was in the summer of this year that the 
dreadful draft riots occurred in the city of New 
York. During this reign of terror many innocent 
lives and great amounts of property were destroyed. 
The riot was finally quelled by the presence of United 
States troops. There were other instances of oppo- 
sition to the draft, and some officers of the provost- 
marshal’s department were killed. But as a rule, the 
draft proceeded quietly and accomplished its purpose. 
In September President Lincoln issued a call for three 
hundred thousand volunteers. Bounties for enlist- 
ment were now liberal, and the ranks of the army 
were well filled up. During the winter of 1863-64 
reenlistments in the army were also very numerous. 
Great numbers of men, sometimes a whole regiment 
in a body, “ veteranized,” that is, having served out 
their time, reenlisted for “ three years or during the 
war.” Another draft also was ordered in the spring. 
Hence the campaign of 1864 was begun by the 
Unionists with full and experienced armies. 
Their success in all the considerable operations of 
the West and South was interrupted by but two or 
three disasters and reverses, only one of these being 
of much importance. This was the Red River expe- 
dition in Louisiana under Major-General Nathaniel 
P. Banks,— a quite disastrous failure largely due to 
the presence of a crew of speculators who were 
allowed to accompany the expedition. After the CAMPAIGN OF ATLANTA. 
337 
defeat of Franklin near Mansfield the military pres- 
tige of the army was redeemed and its retreat down 
the river secured by the fine victory of Major- 
General A. J. Smith at the battle of Pleasant Hill. 
Major-General E. R. S. Canby succeeded General 
Banks in the command of the department of the 
Gulf. His operations during the remainder of the 
year, and particularly the capture, with the coopera- 
tion of Admiral Farragut, of the powerful forts at 
the entrance to Mobile Bay, were of vast importance 
in the progress of the general campaign. One of 
the most remarkable campaigns of military history 
was the campaign of Atlanta of this year under 
General Sherman. By gallant fighting and the most 
skilful logistics, General Sherman drove before him a 
large army, forcing him to abandon powerful works, 
to retreat over difficult mountains, across many large 
streams, and finally to abandon his stronghold near 
the centre of the empire State of the South. In 
nearly all of the battles of this campaign, some of 
which were wonderfully hard-fought fields, General 
Sherman was successful. After the end of the At- 
lanta campaign proper, General Hood, who had 
relieved General Joseph E. Johnston of the command 
of the army opposed to Sherman, made several des- 
perate raids against the Union lines of communication 
but was in nearly every instance repulsed with great 
loss. Later, Hood, having concentrated his forces, 
conceived the ambitious project of capturing Nash- 
ville and invading Kentucky and Ohio. Marching on 
Nashville, he was met a considerable distance south 
of there by Major-General Schofield, who harassed 
his march as much as was practicable, and gave him HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
a severe handling and a considerable check at the 
battle of Franklin. Meantime Major-General George 
H. Thomas, at the capital of Tennessee, was energet- 
ically making every preparation to receive the invader 
at the point of the bayonet and the cannon’s mouth. 
The result was that in the grand battle of Nashville 
Hood’s army was utterly routed; “ pulverized,” as 
was said at the time; and for days was a mere series 
of crowds of unorganized stragglers. In this battle 
General A. J. Smith bore a conspicuous part. He 
had before been engaged in helping drive the last 
rebel invaders out of Missouri, and this having been 
successfully done, he was able to reenforce General 
Thomas just in time to take part in the battle. Hav- 
ing made his remarkable “ march to the sea,” General 
Sherman made a Christmas present of the city of 
Savannah, and large military store, to the govern- 
ment, thus closing the operations of the armies of 
the West, in such way as to leave the principal forces 
of the Confederacy within that region of country 
lying between the Allegheny Mountains and the 
Atlantic Ocean, and the Savannah Rivers. 
There were, of course, many Confederate troops 
outside of these limits but nowhere enough to be 
formidable in the open field. 
An act of Congress of the ist of March 1864 re- 
vived the grade of lieutenant-general in the army. 
Major-General Grant was at once appointed and 
confirmed by the Senate. Soon repairing to the 
national capital he remained there for some time 
in daily consultation with President Lincoln and 
Secretary Stanton, and being designated commander- 
in-chief of the army, repaired to his headquarters in CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND. 
339 
the field, assuming direct command of the Army of 
the Potomac. Early in May he crossed the Rapidan, 
and commenced that series of tremendous contests 
which, beginning with the battle of the Wilderness 
and including the great engagements of Spottsylva- 
nia, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburgh, Weldon 
Road, Deep Bottom, Ream’s Station, Chapin’s Farm, 
and others, did not come to an end for the year 1864 
till late in October in the battle of Hatcher’s Run, 
far south of Petersburgh.1 In the autumn of this 
year one of General Grant’s most energetic lieu- 
tenants, Major-General Philip H. Sheridan, being 
ordered to take command of the troops in the 
Shenandoah valley, soon left all that section of 
country well denuded of enemies able to commit 
mischief, by winning in quick succession three pitched 
battles. As if to keep up the singular coincidences 
of the war a considerable Confederate force invaded 
Maryland about midsummer of this year. They 
easily defeated General Lew. Wallace at the battle 
1 Some writers have in an unfriendly manner criticised the cam- 
paign of General Grant against Richmond, particularly charging 
him with unnecessarily great losses. The most of these critics 
have unfavorably compared the campaign in this regard with that 
of General McClellan. Nothing could be more unjust to both 
of these distinguished men, for the reason that the situation at 
the time of the two campaigns was utterly different, the one from 
the other. As a matter of fact, however, there were more losses 
in the Army of the Potomac in the attempts to capture Richmond, 
under McClellan and his successors till Grant, than under Grant. 
Grant captured the city and closed the war; the others were less 
fortunate. The total number of killed, wounded, and missing 
under McClellan and successors was 144,118; under Grant (till 
surrender of Lee) 104,001. See Life of General Grant by Charles 
A. Dana and J. H. Wilson, appendix. 340 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of Monocacy. He retreated on Baltimore, they 
marched on Washington, plundering as they went. 
Threatening the capital, but not seriously, for a day 
or two, they retreated in good order carrying all 
their booty with them. These forays had no per- 
ceptible effect upon the plans of grand campaign 
as they were now well understood by the President, 
the Secretary of War, and General Grant. 
The general result of the campaign, it will have 
been observed, was more favorable to the Union 
cause than that of any preceding year. In the West 
and South we had gained prodigiously, almost re- 
possessing the entire area of those sections, while in 
the East, after many great battles, victory falling now 
on one side now on the other, the balance was heavily 
in favor of the Union. We were near the Confeder- 
ate capital, and, as was clear to most reflecting per- 
sons, that capital was near its fall. In a word, the 
situation all along the lines, to use a phrase at the 
time greatly in vogue, was, at the close of the year 
in review, most cheering to the adherents of the 
Union cause. 
The remaining military operations of the war were 
grand and exciting in the extreme. Grant’s army 
was in motion early in February, and had in that 
month some considerable engagements. Sheridan, 
with his large army of cavalry, seemed to be ubiqui- 
tous, now capturing a large Confederate army near 
Staunton, now destroying the James River canal fifty 
miles west of Richmond, speedily appearing north 
and east of that city, destroying railroads and cap- 
turing great quantities of property. W hen Grant 
was about ready for the supreme movement against SURRENDER OF LEE. 
Petersburgh and Richmond, he placed this gallant offi- 
cer, no less cool and sagacious than dashing, in command 
of all the cavalry of the army and of the Fifth Army 
Corps. On March 25th, the Second and Sixth corps 
assaulted, carried, and held the first line of the ene- 
my’s works. Three days afterwards there was heavy 
fighting, in which the Confederates rather had the 
best of it. But on the 1st of April the great battle 
of Five Forks was fought, resulting in a magnificent 
victory for the Unionists and in very great losses to 
the Confederates. This was followed on the 2d by 
a general assault on the works of Petersburgh, their 
capture, and the capture of great numbers of prison- 
ers. On the night of this day both Petersburgh and 
Richmond were evacuated by the enemy, and early 
on the next morning the Confederate government 
departed from the city on a railroad train. 
Grant immediately put his army in pursuit of Lee, 
who, with what was left of the Army of Virginia, had 
marched westward. He was overtaken and com- 
pelled to fight on the 6th and again on the 7th, in 
both instances being defeated, of course; for his 
once splendid and always gallant army was now 
reduced by the casualties of battle to a mere shadow 
of its former greatness. Concentrating his entire 
army at Appomattox Court House on the 8th, with 
the view of a final struggle, he learned that General 
Sheridan with a large force was in his rear, and hence 
that further contest were useless. Accordingly on 
the next day he gave up his sword to Grant and 
surrendered to him his whole army, the terms de- 
manded by the Union General being confessedly 
liberal and magnanimous. 342 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
Very early in the year General Sherman began his 
march through the Carolinas. In South Carolina he 
met with no considerable opposition, but moved in 
broad column through the State which had origi- 
nated the war and the citizens of which he compelled, 
through regular foraging parties, to aid in the sub- 
sistence of his men and animals. During his march 
through South Carolina his entire losses were hardly 
greater than would occur in a heavy skirmish. 
Hampton’s cavalry undertook to annoy and harass, 
but Hampton was quite monotonously driven out of 
harm’s way by the Union cavalry under Major-Gen- 
eral Judson Kilpatrick. On February 18th, Charles- 
ton fell into the possession of the Unionists, General 
Sherman having occupied Columbia the day before. 
The objective point of the march was Goldsboro, 
North Carolina. In this State, Sherman met with 
considerable opposition, the Confederates having col- 
lected a respectable army to meet him. At Averys- 
boro a heavy battle was fought, and at Bentonville, 
Sherman was confronted by the entire Confederate 
army, well intrenched, and under the command of 
General Joseph E. Johnston. A severe battle en- 
sued, in which the Unionists had the advantage, and 
during the following night, March 18, General John- 
ston quietly put his army in retreat. Sherman then 
marched to Goldsboro, where he was joined by 
Major-General Schofield, who had rapidly marched 
by rail from Nashville, Tennessee, to Alexandria, 
Virginia, thence by transports to North Carolina, 
where he had been for some time vigorously and 
successfully engaged in operations intended to aid in 
the general movement of Sherman. On March 23d, SURRENDER OF JOHNSTON. 
343 
the junction of the two armies was made at Golds- 
boro, being the very time fixed upon months before. 
Meantime, Major-General George Stoneman had 
marched from East Tennessee with a division of 
cavalry as far eastward as Greensboro, North Caro- 
lina, and had there, and between that place and 
Salisbury, utterly destroyed all railway bridges and 
culverts, and torn up the tracks for miles together,— 
a severe blow to the armies of both Lee and John- 
ston. On April ioth, Sherman began his march, his 
object being to make a junction with General Grant. 
But hearing of Lee’s surrender he pushed on directly 
in pursuit of Johnston. The weather was terrible, 
pitiless storms of rain prevailing daily ; the roads 
were almost impassable; but through the mire and 
storm the grand army moved on as steadily and 
cheerfully as if in review, enthusiastic to overtake 
the enemy and to close the war. But on the 14th, 
General Sherman received a communication from 
General Johnston, requesting an armistice and a 
statement of the best terms under which he could 
surrender the army under his command. The result 
was the famous “ agreement ” which was disapproved 
by the President, the Secretary of War, and General 
Grant. The latter hastened to North Carolina to 
explain the matter personally to General Sherman, 
whereupon he received the surrender of Johnston 
upon the same terms which had been accorded Lee 
at Appomattox, namely, that all the Confederate arms, 
artillery, and property be turned over to an officer of 
the Union, the army disbanded, officers and men to 
give their parole not to take up arms against the 
United States until exchanged. 
o 344 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
In the meantime, great operations had also been 
taking place in the South. At the very time General 
Grant was pressing Lee so relentlessly at Petersburgh 
and Richmond and to the final surrender, General 
Canby was moving on the strong works of Mobile. 
He carried Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley on the 
very day of General Lee’s surrender, and on the 
next, Mobile was evacuated by the Confederates. 
The garrison was soon captured by General Canby’s 
forces. During the same period of activity Major- 
General James H. Wilson made his famous “ cavalry 
raid ” through Alabama and Georgia. With a large 
force of cavalry and light artillery, he marched 
through northern and central Alabama, making a 
great military expedition rather than a raid. For he 
captured many towns and cities where were vast 
quantities of Confederate military materiel which he 
destroyed, together with several extensive establish- 
ments for the manufacture of arms and ammunition. 
He fought several battles, always with dash and with 
success. When his expedition had about come to 
an end as originally planned, the grand Union suc- 
cesses all over the theatre of war from the James 
River to the gulf of Mexico had brought the war to 
a close. What there was of it after this was only 
like the little pattering of rain that sometimes follows 
a thunder-storm. 
The vast operations of the war thus rapidly sketched 
threw upon the War Department an additional amount 
of labors almost incredible. To supervise the admin- 
istrative affairs pertaining to the Department during 
this long period of the republic’s peril would have 
been beyond the capacity allotted to man. Early in ASSISTANT SECRETARIES. 
345 
the war Secretary Cameron, seeing the absolute ne- 
cessity of direct aid in the discharge of his duties, by 
order made Colonel Thomas A. Scott “ assistant sec- 
retary of war,” and he remained in the position dur- 
ing Mr. Cameron’s further charge of the war office. 
Later, the office was created by law and eventually 
three assistant secretaries of war were authorized. 
These were P. H. Watson, John Tucker, and C. P. 
Wolcott. Upon the decease of Mr. Wolcott, Mr. 
Charles A. Dana was appointed. Mr. Watson, who 
had long been the law partner of Mr. Stanton was 
his principal lieutenant, and was consulted by him on 
all occasions of doubt and difficulty. Mr. Tucker had 
general charge of the matter of large contracts, and 
a special supervision of the chartering of steamers 
and steamboats. Mr. Wolcott had the supervision 
of the correspondence of great extent and variety 
growing out of the extraordinary circumstances of 
the war; as, for example, with the governors of 
States and other persons of importance or having 
business of unusual importance with the Department. 
Thus Secretary Stanton had about him and in his 
immediate direction a personal staff whose services 
during the war were invaluable.1 
R. Briggs, Jr., at the time an honored official of the 
House of Representatives (now deceased) related to me this 
anecdote: Upon Mr. Stanton’s appointment as Secretary, he 
went at once to see his partner, Mr. Watson about it, and ex- 
pressed himself as decidedly averse to acceptance. “I cannot 
afford,” he said, “ to give up a practice worth three or four times 
as much.” But Mr. Watson combatted this decision with great 
force and earnestness. “It is a time,” he said, “when every one 
must make sacrifices and great sacrifices. You are the man of all 
men for this place and must make the temporary sacrifice. ” With HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Here it maybe well to note the distinction between 
the merely augmented labors of the War Depart- 
ment brought about by the war and what may be 
called the extraordinary labors. The former were 
in the main performed by the regular staff depart- 
ments, some of which were augmented in official and 
clerical force for the purpose, others only in the latter 
respect. As we have seen, the quartermaster’s de- 
partment performed its immensely increased labors 
with an efficiency and promptness that were wonder- 
ful. The other bureaux were no less vigorous and 
successful. But the very magnitude of the contest 
made it necessary that extraordinary powers should 
be conferred upon the President, or at any rate that 
they should be exercised. Congress even went so 
far, in view of the imagined financial exigencies of 
the time, as to authorize the government to issue 
bits of engraved paper as actual money and a legal 
tender for all private and most public debts. In the 
actual conduct of the gigantic war, exigencies fre- 
quently arose for the exercise of extraordinary pow- 
more to the - same general effect he persuaded Mr. Stanton to ac- 
cept, and he was at once sworn into office. It was not long 
till the Secretary was granted a personal staff as related in the 
text. At the time, Mr. Watson was en route to Pittsburgh on 
business. But Secretary Stanton telegraphed him to return im- 
mediately. On calling at the Department Mr. Watson was handed 
his appointment as assistant secretary. In his astonishment he 
exclaimed, “Why, my dear sir, I cannot afford to accept this 
place.” But the Secretary instantly turned the tables on him, 
and he accepted. He proved to be an able officer. 
Mr. Dana, the last appointee as assistant secretary was the dis- 
tinguished litterateur and journalist, now (1879) editor of the New 
York Sun newspaper. 
Col. Scott is the now famous “railroad king.” WAR LABORS. 
347 
ers; but because extraordinary neither unconstitu- 
tional nor unlawful. The safety of the state is the 
supreme law. During war the municipal code lies 
dormant. As the exercise of these extraordinary 
powers related mainly to the conduct of* the war, it 
became the duty of the war office to put them into 
practical exercise. It was this which brought down 
upon Mr. Stanton’s devoted head so much undeserved 
obloquy as a tyrant, despot, and autocrat. Moreover, 
the business with the executives and agents of States 
. was of an extraordinary as well as an extensive char- 
acter. It was in labors pertaining to these extraor- 
dinary duties of the war that the assistant secretaries 
were for the most part employed. 
The war brought on countless numbers of inven- 
tions of military materiel of every description, many 
of which turned out to be of great use and value, the 
most being utterly worthless. I suppose the number 
of “invention cases” brought before Secretary Stan- 
ton, and decided by him and his assistant secretaries 
ran into the thousands, counting as well those which 
came up on regular appeal from the heads of bureaux 
as those which were brought directly before him by 
“ political influence.” As a rule these were decided 
off-hand and in the negative. It is and always has 
been almost certain failure for one to get through 
the War Department, one having entered at the 
wrong door. The war had not long progressed 
when great numbers of courts-martial were held. 
The number of officers who appealed to the Secre- 
tary and to the President from sentences of the courts 
was very great and not at all confined to cases of 
severe sentence. The decided manner in which Sec- 348 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
retary Stanton disposed of all these cases made him 
many enemies, who to this day think he was the despot 
and tyrant as painted by the enemies of his country. 
Many other classes in similar manner harassed the 
Department,— contractors and men who wanted to 
be contractors; those who, having obtained con- 
tracts, had undertaken to pass upon the government 
material which would not bear inspection or had 
been in other respects in default; the innumerable 
throng of speculators who sought to make speedy 
fortunes on the necessities of the country; the tribe, 
of rapacious land-sharks who abound and prosper in 
times of general distress or calamity, — all these and 
more would have given the Secretary and his assist- 
ants as much as they could have attended to but for 
the extraordinary capacity of Mr. Stanton to rid him- 
self and the Department of men who had no claims 
upon it. 
Among the most noteworthy of the extraordinary 
labors of the War Department during the rebellion 
— or rather the last half of it—were those connected 
with the office of the Provost-Marshal-General. This 
office was created by act of Congress of March 3d, 
1863, and a few days thereafter, Colonel James B. Fry 
of the regular army was appointed to the office with 
the rank of colonel. About a year later he was pro- 
moted to the full rank of brigadier-general. Within 
a very short time after the appointment of Colonel 
Fry the subdivisions of his office were established in 
all parts of the country faithful to the Union,— the 
office of an assistant provost-marshal-general in every 
State and of a provost-marshal in every congressional 
district. To this new bureau, with its ramifications THE PROVOST-MARSHAL'S BUREAU. 
349 
extending everywhere among the people was given 
the duty of recruitment both as to the volunteers and 
the regular army. In his elaborate report of March 
17, 1866, General Fry says: “The provost-marshals 
of the several congressional districts, aided by a 
commissioner and surgeon in each, were made re- 
cruiting officers. Springing directly from the people 
and at the same time exercising the authority and 
representing the necessities and wishes of the gov- 
ernment, they reached the masses, and were able, 
without abating the requirements of the conscription, 
to promote volunteering and to examine, enlist, mus- 
ter, clothe, and forward recruits as fast as they could 
be obtained. * * This system met the wants of the 
service; recruits were rapidly obtained by voluntary 
enlistment or draft, and such strict regard was paid 
to their physical fitness before accepting them as to 
greatly reduce the enormous loss on account of dis- 
charges for physical disability which had prevailed 
during the first two years of the war.” In the same 
report — which shows the operations of the bureau 
from its organization to the close of the war — Gen- 
eral Fry gives the following condensed summary of 
the results of its labors during that period : 
“ i. By means of a full and exact enrolment of all persons 
liable to conscription under the law of March 3, 1863 [as a rule 
all able-bodied male citizens and persons of foreign birth who 
had declared their intention to become such between the ages of 
twenty and forty-five years] and its amendments, a complete ex- 
hibit of the military resources of the loyal States in men was 
made, showing an aggregate number of two million two hundred 
and fifty-four thousand and sixty-three (2,254,063) men, not in- 
cluding one million five hundred and sixteen (1,000,516) soldiers 
actually under arms when hostilities ceased. 350 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
“ 2. One million one hundred and twenty thousand six hundred 
and twenty-one (1,120,621) were raised at an average cost, on 
account of recruitment exclusive of bounties, of $9.84 per man; 
while the cost of recruiting the one million three hundred and 
fifty-six thousand five hundred and ninety-three (1,356,593) raised 
prior to the organization of the bureau was $34.01 per man. A 
saving of over seventy cents on the dollar in the cost of raising 
troops was thus effected under this bureau, notwithstanding the 
increase in the price of subsistence, transportation, rents, etc., 
during the last two years of the war. 
“3. Seventy-six thousand five hundred and twenty-six deserters 
were arrested and returned to the army. The vigilance and energy 
of the officers of the bureau in this branch of business put an ef- 
fectual check to the wide-spread evil of desertion which at one 
time so seriously impaired the numerical strength and efficiency 
of the army. 
“4. The quotas of men furnished by various parts of the 
country were equalized and a proportionate share of military ser- 
vice secured from each, thus removing the very serious inequality 
of recruitment which had arisen during the first two years of the 
war, and which, when the bureau was organized, had become an 
almost insuperable obstacle to further progress in raising troops. 
“5. Records were completed showing minutely the physical 
condition of one million and fourteen thousand seven hundred 
and seventy-six (1,014,776) of the men examined, and tables of 
great scientific and professional value have been compiled from 
these data. 
“ 6. The casualties in the entire military force of the nation dur- 
ing the war of the rebellion, as shown by the official muster rolls and 
monthly returns, have been compiled, showing among other items 
five thousand two hundred and twenty-one (5,221) commissioned 
officers, and ninety thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight (90,868) 
enlisted men killed in action or died of wounds while in service; 
two thousand three hundred and twenty-one (2,321) commissioned 
officers and one hundred and eighty-two thousand three hundred 
and twenty-nine (182,329) enlisted men who died from disease 
or accident; making an aggregate of two hundred and eighty 
thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine (280,739) officers and 
men of the army who lost their lives in service. 
“7. The system of recruitment established by the bureau under PR0 VO ST-MAR SUAES DEPARTMENT. 
351 
the laws of Congress, if permanently adopted, with such improve- 
ments as experience may suggest, will be capable of maintaining 
the numerical strength and improving the character of the army 
in time of peace, or of promptly and economically rendering 
available the national forces to any required extent in time of 
“8. Through the instrumentality of the bureau there was dis- 
seminated throughout the loyal States a knowledge of the routine 
of the business in the various bureaux of the War Department 
which was essential to intelligent and effective codperation in the 
recruitment, through popular effort, of the armies of the republic. 
The extension of the bureau over the country brought together 
the government and the people by closer ties, nurtured that mu- 
tual confidence and reliance through which the civil war was con- 
ducted to a successful termination, and developed a consciousness 
of national strength which will promote future peace and pros- 
perity. 
“ g. The results, under the act for enrolment and draft, were 
attained without cost to the government; the bureau never asked 
or required an appropriation of money for these purposes. 
Twenty-six million three hundred and sixty-six thousand 
three hundred and sixteen dollars and seventy-eight cents 
($26,366,316.78) were raised by its own operations in conformity 
to law. Out of this sum all the expenses of enrolment and draft 
and additional ones called for by special laws were met. A bal- 
ance of no less than nine million three hundred and ninety 
thousand one hundred and five dollars and sixty-four cents 
($9,390,105.64) remains (January 1, 1866) to the credit of the 
bureau in the treasury of the United States.” 
The foundations for this great success of the bu- 
reau, General Fry goes on to state were, under the 
orders and supervision of the Secretary of War, as 
follows: 
“ i. The hearty cooperation of the civil officers of the different 
States, sustained by the devoted loyalty and earnestness of the 
masses of the people. ' 
“ 2. The judicious legislation of Congress. 352 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
“ 3. The just, faithful, intelligent, industrious, and unflinching 
performance of duty on the part of the subordinate officers of the 
bureau.” 
By an act of Congress of July 17, 1862, the Pres- 
ident was authorized to receive into the service of 
the United States persons of African descent “for 
the purpose of constructing intrenchments, of per- 
forming camp duty, or any other labor, or any mili- 
tary or naval service ” for which they might be found 
competent. In September of this year President 
Lincoln issued his proclamation announcing that at 
the beginning of the following year he would declare 
all slaves free in all parts of the country in insurrec- 
tion. On January 1, 1863, he accordingly issued his 
immortal Proclamation of Emancipation for which he 
devoutly asked, and which it received, “the consid- 
erate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor 
of Almighty God.” But not until the act of Congress 
of February 24, 1864, was the general employment 
of colored troops authorized. This law, being in 
amendment of the general enrolment act which es- 
tablished the provost-marshal-general’s office was of 
course in its practical execution in the case of drafts 
in charge of that bureau, but the recruitment as 
volunteers was mainly in charge of the “ Bureau for 
Colored Troops.” The general rule was the same as 
to blacks as to whites, all able-bodied male colored 
citizens between the ages of twenty and forty-five 
years being made liable to military duty, except in 
certain specified cases. “ The Bureau for Colored 
Troops ” at once put manifold appliances of recruit- 
ment to vigorous work, and it was not long till there 
was a large force of colored soldiers ready for the COLORED TROOPS. 
353 
field.1 They were recruited most extensively in the 
States of Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, Missis- 
sippi, Maryland, Missouri, Arkansas, Virginia, and 
North Carolina. But nearly two thousand were 
credited to Rhode Island, nearly four thousand to 
Massachusetts, more than four thousand to New 
York, and more than eight thousand to Pennsylvania. 
In very many of these cases the colored men were 
not citizens of these States but served as substitutes 
for citizens thereof. Still, volunteering of colored 
men in the North was quite liberal, considering the 
paucity of their numbers. The largest number of 
colored troops in service at any one time during the 
war was one hundred and twenty-three thousand one 
hundred and fifty-six. The entire number of troops 
commissioned and enlisted in this branch of the 
service from the time they were authorized to be 
enlisted until the close of the war was one hundred 
and eighty-six thousand and seventeen.2 
Another “war bureau ” whose labors were of great 
importance and magnitude during the rebellion was 
what for convenience sake may be called the bureau 
1 It is to be observed that the act (already cited) of July 17, 
1862, authorizing the enlistment of colored men for work upon 
intrenchments, etc., had received a liberal construction. A con- 
siderable force of colored troops had been enlisted under it, serv- 
ing under the command of white officers detailed for the purpose. 
Colored troops had fought with heroism in South Carolina and at 
Milliken’s Bend. Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas, adjutant- 
general of the army, spent several months of 1863 in supervising 
the organization of these troops in the South-west. In this labor 
he was enthusiastically aided by General Hugh T. Reid, of the 
volunteers, a man of genius and of noble impulses, since deceased. 
2 Report of Provost-Marshal-General Fry, 1866, p. 69. 354 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of military railroads. This branch of the service was 
peculiarly the creation in the beginning and peculiarly 
under the direction of the War Department through- 
out the war. It may almost be said that Secretary 
Stanton conducted it in person. Certainly he would 
not allow under any circumstances the least inter- 
ference with the management of the roads by officers, 
high or low, not connected therewith. This branch 
of the service was established by the following order: 
“War Department, 
“ Washington City, D.C., February II, 1862. 
“Ordered That D. C. McCallum be, and he is hereby, appointed 
military director and superintendent of railroads in the United 
States, with authority to enter upon, take possession of, hold and 
use all railroads, engines, cars, locomotives, equipments, append- 
ages, and appurtenances, that may be required for the transport 
of troops, arms, ammunition, and military supplies of the United 
States, and to do and perform all acts and things that may be 
necessary and proper to be done for the safe and speedy transport 
aforesaid. 
“ By order of the President, commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States. 
“ Edwin M. Stanton, 
11 Secretary of War." 
The following is the conclusion of special orders 
number 337, issued from the War Department No- 
vember 10, of the same year: 
“ Commanding officers of troops along the United States mili- 
tary railroads will give all facilities to the officers of the roads, 
and the quartermasters, for unloading cars so as to prevent any 
delay. On arrival at depots, whether in the day or night, the cars 
will be instantly unloaded, and working parties will always be in 
readiness for that duty, and sufficient to unload the whole train at 
once. 
“ Commanding officers will be charged with guarding the track, MILITARY RAILROADS. 
355 
sidings, wood, water-tanks, etc., within their several commands, 
and will be held responsible for the result. 
“Any military officer who shall neglect his duty in this respect 
will be reported by the quartermasters and officers of the railroad, 
and his name will be stricken from the rolls of the army. 
“Depots will be established at suitable points, under the direc- 
tion of the commanding general, and properly guarded. 
“No officer, whatever may be his rank, will interfere with the 
running of the cars as directed by the superintendent of the road. 
“Any one who so interferes will be dismissed from the service 
for disobedience of orders. 
“ By order of the Secretary of War. 
“ E. D. Townsend, 
11 Assistant Adjutant- General. ’ ’ 
These orders, which might to some appear to be 
unnecessarily rigid, were simply just The nature 
of the service upon the military railroads was pecu- 
liarly hazardous, and their successful management 
demanded great technical skill as well as administra- 
tive capacity. Several attempts made by army and de- 
partment commanders to operate railroads had been 
made and in all instances had resulted in signal fail- 
ure. Upon the success of the railroads in forward- 
ing supplies and transporting troops largely depended 
the success of our armies in the field. “I hazard 
nothing,” says Colonel McCallum, in his general re- 
port of May 26, 1866, on the military railroads oper- 
ated during the war, “in saying, that should failure 
have taken place either in keeping the lines in repair, 
or in operating them, General Sherman’s campaign, 
instead of proving, as it did, a great success, would 
have resulted in disaster and defeat; and the greater 
the army to supply, the more precarious its position. 
Since the end of the rebellion, I have been informed 
by railroad officers who were in the service of the HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
enemy during the war, ‘that they were less surprised 
at the success of General Sherman, in a military point 
of view, than they were at the rapidity with which 
railroad breaks were repaired, and the regularity 
with which trains were moved to the front; ’ and it 
was only when the method of operating was fully 
explained that it could be comprehended.” 1 
It was just and wise, therefore, to prevent all in- 
terference with the men of skill and experience who 
had these roads in charge. 
The first railroad operated by the government was 
that between Washington and Alexandria, Virginia, 
a distance of only seven miles. From the time of 
his appointment as military director and manager 
of railroads until the beginning of 1864, Colonel 
McCallum was engaged in the construction and 
operation of roads for the Army of the Potomac 
in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, in the last 
two States but for brief periods on occasion of their 
invasion by the Confederates. At one time or another 
during the course of the war, nearly all of the prin- 
cipal railroads of Virginia were operated, at least 
over part of their course by Colonel McCallum and 
the officers and men serving under him. Many 
miles of road were constructed and reconstructed, 
many bridges built and again rebuilt; for two or 
three times the principal roads built and operated 
in aid of the Army of the Potomac were destroyed 
by the enemy for great distances. In aid of General 
McClellan in the Peninsular campaign; of General 
Pope in the second Bull Run campaign; of General 
McClellan in the campaign of Antietam ; of Generals 
1 Page 35. MILITARY RAILROADS. 
357 
Burnside and Hooker in the operations of the autumn, 
winter, and spring- of 1862-63 ; of General Meade in 
the campaign of Gettysburgh; the assistance of the 
government railroads was of the greatest value. 
The military railroad corps in the East being now 
thoroughly organized, drilled, and equipped, Colonel 
McCallum was ordered to the West near the close 
of the year 1863, and accordingly made headquarters 
for the time being at Nashville. Colonel McCallum 
found matters pertaining to the railroads in a lament- 
able situation. He was soon empowered with full 
authority over all railways in possession of the gov- 
ernment or that might from time to time be taken 
possession of by the military authorities in the de- 
partments of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Ten- 
nessee, and of Arkansas, and immediately proceeded 
to organize a corps of experienced men and to in- 
augurate practical reforms and practical hard work 
in the important interest of which he had charge. 
The following communication from Secretary Stanton 
to “the manufacturers of locomotives in the United 
States” will indicate the vigorous measures that were 
in progress in the military railroad department in that 
part of the country where General Sherman was 
making ready for his grand campaign of the year: 
“ War Department, 
“ Washington City, March 23, 1864. 
“Gentlemen: Colonel Daniel McCallum, general manager of 
government railways in the Department of the Cumberland, of the 
Ohio, and of the Tennessee, has been authorized by this Depart- 
ment to procure locomotives without delay for the railways under 
his charge. 
“ In order to meet the wants of the military departments of the 
government you will deliver to his order such engines as he may 358 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
direct, whether building under orders for other parties, or other- 
wise, the government being accountable to you for the same. The 
urgent necessity of the government for the immediate supply of 
our armies operating in Tennessee renders the engines indispensa- 
ble for the equipment of the lines of communication, and it is 
hoped that this necessity will be recognized by you as a military 
necessity, paramount to all other considerations. 
“By order of the President. 
“Edwin M. Stanton, 
11 Secretary of War." 
Colonel McCallum states that the requisitions of 
this order were met by all in a spirit of zealous patri- 
otism, and that many locomotives and large numbers 
of cars were delivered at Nashville in an unprece- 
dentedly short time. Hence he was able not only to 
keep General Sherman’s army of about one hundred 
thousand men, with sixty thousand animals, constantly 
furnished with supplies, but also to rebuild the road 
leading to Atlanta about as rapidly as the army 
moved, and to repair several other roads in northern 
Alabama and Tennessee, of the greatest importance 
to military operations in that part of the country and 
to the citizens thereof. 
The total number of miles of military road operated 
was two thousand one hundred and five not including 
those roads which were used temporarily by the army 
in case of emergency, as in Maryland in 1862 and in 
Pennsylvania in 1863. The number of engines was 
four hundred and nineteen, and of cars six thousand 
three hundred and thirty. The greatest number of 
men employed at the same time during the war was 
twenty-four thousand nine hundred and sixty-four. 
“The difference between civil and military railroad 
service,” says Colonel McCallum, “is marked and MILITARY RAILROADS. 
359 
decided. Not only were the men continually ex- 
posed to great danger from the regular forces of the 
enemy, guerillas, scouting-parties, etc., but, owing to 
the circumstances under which military railroads 
must be constructed and operated, what are con- 
sidered the ordinary risks upon civil railroads are 
vastly increased on military lines. The hardships, 
exposure, and perils to which train-men especially 
were subjected during the movements incident to an 
active campaign, were much greater than that en- 
dured by any other class of civil employes of the 
government — equalled only by that of the soldier, 
while engaged in a raid into the enemy’s country. 
It was by no means unusual for men to be out with 
their trains from five to ten days, without sleep, 
except what could be snatched upon their engines 
and cars while the same were standing to be loaded 
or unloaded, with but scanty food or perhaps no food 
at all for days together while continually occupied in 
a manner to keep every faculty strained to its utmost. 
Many incidents during the war, but more especially 
during the Atlanta campaign, exhibited a fortitude, 
endurance, and self-devotion on the part of these 
men not exceeded in any branch of the service.” 1 
1 Col. McCallum’s Report on the Mil. R. R’s. of the U. S., 35, 
printed in Appendix pt. 2, to vol. IV., Ex. Doc. H. R. XXXIX 
Cong. 1st sess., 1865-66. I am indebted to this interesting re- 
port for the main facts in the above narrative, and to Col. L. P. 
Wright, of Chicago, sojourning at the Capital — who was for a 
considerable period superintendent of long routes in Tennessee — 
for other interesting statements. The rapidity with which rail- 
roads were repaired when destroyed by the enemy was remark- 
able. Thus, in the autumn of 1864 Hood utterly destroyed 25 
miles of road from Resaca northward. He had destroyed 10 360 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
During the months of August and September 
1865 all the military railroads in the United States 
were delivered up to their owners respectively or to 
the States in which they were located. There had 
been expended in their construction, operation, roll- 
ing-stock, etc., the sum of $42,462,142.55. The sale 
of the property on hand, and the moneys which had 
been received from private parties for transportation 
amounted to $12,623,965.83, making their net cost to 
the government $29,838,176.72. 
An act of Congress of the 31st of January 1862 
authorized the President when in his judgment the 
public safety might require it “ to take possession of 
any or all the telegraph lines in the United States, 
their offices and appurtenances.” As this law would 
only be put in execution for war purposes, it placed 
the entire telegraphic system of the country at the 
command of the Secretary of War. But from the 
beginning of the war telegraph lines had been con- 
structed by the army as it advanced against the 
enemy or into portions of the country where there 
were no telegraphs. For the construction of these 
military telegraphic lines, their repair and operation, 
large sums of money were annually voted by Con- 
gress. The War Department thus came to be di- 
rectly connected by one or more wires with every 
considerable army in the field. The largest apart- 
ment in the Department building — the apartment 
used for the Library after the war and till the 
destruction of the old building — was used as the 
telegraph office. It was well crowded with instru- 
miles farther south. On the eighth day trains were running as 
usual. Col. Wright relates many interesting incidents of the kind. MILITARY TELEGRAPHS. 
361 
ments, and there was no time, day, night, or Sunday, 
in which some of the operators were not required to 
be present, the night corps, however, not being so 
large as that for the labors of the day. 
In this apartment President Lincoln and Secretary 
Stanton spent no little time almost daily and nightly 
during the years of their intimate personal and offi- 
cial relations, dictating dispatches to different com- 
manders at the theatre of war or receiving news 
directly from them. Thus, by the aid of the benefi- 
cent invention of Morse, the President and Secretary 
were constantly about as well informed with respect 
to the situation of all the Union forces in the field 
as if they had been individually present among them. 
Thus it was that reenforcements and supplies could 
always be furnished wherever needed with a prompt- 
itude never before known in military operations. 
After Lieutenant-General Grant assumed direct com- 
mand of the Army of the Potomac and general com- 
mand of all the armies of the United States, he daily 
received all the intelligence received at the War 
Department, and thus he, too, all the time had a 
perfect knowledge of the whole situation. Constant 
and full communications were also sent to General 
Sherman except when he was beyond the reach of 
the telegraph. And to these two illustrious states- 
men and these two illustrious captains the country is 
very largely indebted that the Union was not de- 
stroyed.1 
The matter of the exchange of prisoners was at 
lrThe number of miles of military telegraph constructed during 
the war was 15,389, with a total expenditure for constructing and 
operating of $3,219,400. 362 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
different times the source of great trouble and annoy- 
ance to the Secretary of War, not only, but to Pres- 
ident Lincoln, whose wonderfully kind-hearted nature 
was constantly pained by a knowledge of the suffer- 
ings of our captive soldiers in the prisons of Rich- 
mond, Andersonville, Salisbury, and elsewhere. By 
general orders of the War Department, of Septem- 
ber 25, 1862, the general cartel for the exchange of 
prisoners which had been agreed upon was published, 
as follows: 
“War Department, Adjutant-General’s Office, 
“ Washington, September 25, 1862. 
“ The following is the cartel under which prisoners are ex- 
changed in the existing war with the Southern States: 
“Haxall’s Landing on James River, Va., July 22, 1862. 
“The undersigned, having been commissioned by the authorities 
they respectively represent to make arrangements for a general 
exchange of prisoners of war, have agreed to the following ar- 
ticles : 
“Article i. It is hereby agreed and stipulated that all prisoners 
of war held by either party, including those taken on private 
armed vessels known as privateers, shall be discharged upon the 
conditions and terms following : 
“ Prisoners to be exchanged man for man and officer for officer; 
privateers to be placed upon the footing of officers and men of the 
navy. 
“ Men and officers of lower grades may be exchanged for officers 
of a higher grade, and men and officers of different services may 
be exchanged according to the following scale of equivalents: 
“A general commanding in chief or an admiral shall be ex- 
changed for officers of equal rank or for sixty privates or common 
seamen. 
“A flag officer or major-general shall be exchanged for officers 
of equal rank or for forty privates or common seamen. 
“A commodore carrying a broad pennant or a brigadier-general 
shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank or twenty privates or 
common seamen. EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS OF WAR. 
363 
“A captain in the navy or a colonel shall be exchanged for offi- 
cers of equal rank or for fifteen privates or common seamen. 
“ A lieutenant-colonel or a commander in the navy shall be ex- 
changed for officers of equal rank or for ten privates or common 
seamen. 
“ A lieutenant-commander or a major shall be exchanged for of- 
ficers of equal rank or for eight privates or common seamen. 
“ A lieutenant or a master in the navy or a captain in the army or 
marines shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank or six privates 
or common seamen. 
“ Master’s mates in the navy or lieutenants and ensigns in the 
army shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank or four privates 
or common seamen. 
“ Midshipmen, warrant officers in the navy, masters of merchant 
vessels, commanders of privateers, shall be exchanged for officers 
of equal rank or three privates or common seamen. 
“ Second captains, lieutenants, or mates, of merchant vessels or 
privateers, and all petty officers in the navy and all non-commis- 
sioned officers in the army or marines, shall be severally exchanged 
for persons of equal rank or for two privates or common seamen; 
and private soldiers or common seamen shall be exchanged for 
each other man for man. 
“ Article 2. Local, State, civil, and militia rank held by persons 
not in actual military service will not be recognized, the basis of 
exchange being the grade actually held in the naval and military 
service of the respective parties. 
“ Article 3. If citizens held by either party on charges of dis- 
loyalty or any alleged civil offence are exchanged, it shall only be 
for citizens. Captured sutlers, teamsters, and all civilians in the 
actual service of either party, to be exchanged for persons in simi- 
lar position. 
“ Article 4. All prisoners of war to be discharged on parole in 
ten days after their capture and the prisoners now held and those 
hereafter taken to be transported to the points mutually agreed 
upon, at the expense of the capturing party. The surplus prison- 
ers not exchanged shall not be permitted to take up arms again, 
nor to serve as military police or constabulary force in any fort, 
garrison or field-work held by either of the respective parties, 
nor as guards of prisons, depots, or stores, nor to discharge any 
duty usually performed by soldiers, until exchanged under the pro- 364 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
visions of this cartel. The exchange is not to be considered com- 
plete until the officer or soldier exchanged for has been actually 
restored to the lines to which he belongs. 
“Article 5. Each party, upon the discharge of prisoners of 
the other party, is authorized to discharge an equal number of 
their own officers and men from parole, furnishing at the same 
time to the other party a list of their prisoners discharged and 
of their own officers and men relieved from parole; thus enabling 
each party to relieve from parole such of their own officers and 
men as the party may choose. The lists thus mutually furnished 
will keep both parties advised of the true condition of the ex- 
change of prisoners. / 
“Article 6. The stipulations and provisions above mentioned 
to be of binding obligation during the continuance of the war, 
it matters not which party may have the surplus of prisoners, the 
great principles involved being, 1st. An equitable exchange of 
prisoners, man for man, officer for officer, or officers of higher 
grade exchanged for officers of lower grade, or for privates ac- 
cording to the scale of equivalents; 2d. That privateers and officers 
and men of different services may be exchanged according to the 
same scale of equivalents; 3d. That all prisoners, of whatever 
arm of service, are to be exchanged or paroled in ten days from 
the time of their capture, if it be practicable to transfer them to 
their own lines in that time; if not, as soon thereafter as prac- 
ticable ; 4th. That no officer, soldier, or employe in the service 
of either party is to be considered as exchanged and absolved 
from his parole until his equivalent has actually reached the lines 
of his friends; 5th. That the parole forbids the performance of 
field, garrison, police, or guard, or constabulary duty. 
“John A. Dix, Major-General. 
“D. H. Hill, Major-General, C. S. A. 
SUPPLEMENTARY ARTICLES. 
“Article 7. All prisoners of war now held on either side, and 
all prisoners hereafter taken, shall be sent with all reasonable de- 
spatch to A. M. Aikens’s, below Dutch Gap, on the James River, 
Virginia, or to Vicksburgh, on the Mississippi River, in the State 
of Mississippi, and there exchanged or paroled until such ex- 
change can be effected, notice being previously given by each 
party of the number of prisoners it will send, and the time when EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS OF WAR. 
365 
they will be delivered at those points respectively; and in case 
the vicissitudes of war shall change the military relations of the 
places designated in this article to the contending parties so as to 
render the same inconvenient for the delivery and exchange of 
prisoners, other places, bearing as nearly as may be the present 
local relations of said places to the lines of said parties, shall be 
by mutual agreement substituted. But nothing in this article 
contained shall prevent the commanders of two opposing armies 
from exchanging prisoners or releasing them on parole at other 
points mutually agreed on by said commanders. 
‘‘Article 8. For the purpose of carrying into effect the fore- 
going articles of agreement, each party will appoint two agents, 
to be called agents for the exchange of prisoners of war, whose 
duty it shall be to communicate with each other, by correspond- 
ence or otherwise, to prepare the lists of prisoners, to attend to 
the delivery of the prisoners at the places agreed on, and to carry 
out promptly, effectually, and in good faith all the details and 
provisions of the said articles of agreement. 
“Article 9. And in case any misunderstanding shall arise in 
regard to any clause or stipulation in the foregoing articles, it is 
mutually agreed that such misunderstanding shall not interrupt 
the release of prisoners on parole, as herein provided, but shall 
be made the subject of friendly explanations, in order that the 
object of this agreement may neither be defeated nor postponed. 
“John A. Dix, Major-General. 
“ D. H. Hill, Major-General, C. S. A. 
“By order of the Secretary of War: 
“L. Thomas, Adjutant-General." 
Upon the just and equitable principle of this cartel 
of the exchange of man for man and officer for 
officer, exchanges proceeded as rapidly as was prac- 
ticable notwithstanding the advantage was with the 
Confederates. This grew out of the fact that the 
prisoners of war in the hands of the Unionists, 
having been well fed and comfortably clothed and 
quartered were able to enter service immediately 
after their exchange; whereas very many of the 3 66 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
prisoners held by the Confederates, having been ill 
fed, ill quartered, and ill clothed, were in a situation 
entirely unfit for service. There are few more heart- 
rending scenes in all history than were those of the 
return of different bodies, in very considerable num- 
bers, of our Union soldiers who had been confined 
in Confederate prisons. This practical inequality, 
notwithstanding the theoretical justice of the cartel, 
at one time caused General Grant to order all ex- 
changes peremptorily stopped, as being neither less 
nor more than a reenforcement of the enemy. 
In 1863, a very serious difficulty arose as to non- 
combatants held by us as prisoners on account of 
the war, the Confederates demanding that they all 
be unconditionally delivered up, and that the Union- 
ists enter into an agreement to make no more such 
arrests!1 Major-General E. A. Hitchcock, Union 
commissioner of exchange, remarked that the effect 
of this would be to relieve all citizens engaged in 
treason and rebellion from all proceedings, as if no 
treason had been or could be committed, and refused 
the demand. The trouble was finally settled by the 
Confederates quietly yielding their demand. 
There came near being a more serious difficulty 
on the subject of the exchange of colored troops, the 
Confederates undertaking to discriminate against 
them. General Grant settled this matter in a very 
soldier-like way, saying: “No distinction whatever 
will be made in the exchange between white and col- 
ored prisoners; the only question being were they, 
1 See note of R. Ould, Confederate agent of*exchange of pris- 
oners, of May 22, 1863, to Col. Ludlow, Union agent. Rep. 
Sec’y of War, 1865, p. 1089. THE ARMY DURING THE REBELLION. 
367 
at the time of their capture, in the military service 
of the United States. If they were, the same terms 
as to treatment while prisoners/and conditions of 
release and exchange must be exacted and had in 
the case of colored soldiers as in the case of white 
soldiers.”1 After this there was no serious debate 
on the subject of exchange. 
These particular notices of the labors of the De- 
partment through the office of the provost-marshal- 
general, with respect to colored troops, military 
railroads, military telegraphs, and the exchange of 
prisoners of war, have been made because these 
services were in a peculiar manner under the direct 
supervision of the Secretary of War. As for the 
military railroads, Secretary Stanton brooked no 
interference with them whatever except his own. 
If one will considerately reflect upon the great 
amount of labor and the great results included in 
these branches of the service, so especially under the 
supervision of the War Department proper, and con- 
nect them with the vast labors of the regular bureaux 
of the Department, and with the stupendous military 
operations of the war of which the merest outline 
has been given in this chapter, over all of which the 
Secretary of War had responsible administrative 
supervision one may have a correct notion of the 
immense and varied services which the Department 
of War rendered to the country during the war of 
the rebellion. 
The aggregate strength of the army, regulars and 
volunteers, at different times during the war was as 
follows: 
1 See the Doc. last cited, p. 1093. 368 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
July i, 1861 ..... 186,751 
January 1, 1862 .... 575>9J7 
March 31, 1862 .... 637,126 
January 1, 1863 .... 918,191 
January 1, 1864 .... 860,737 
January 1, 1865 .... 959,460 
March 31, 1865 .... 980,086 
May 1, 18651 ..... 1,000,516 
This last number, increased considerably by re- 
cruits received after May 1, less the officers and men 
of the regular army, was the number to be disbanded 
after the close of the war. The labor of mustering 
out this great number of troops began in the latter 
part of May, 1865, and was mainly completed before 
the close of the year, very largely by midsummer. 
The disturbed or threatening situation of a number 
of localities in the South required the presence of a 
considerable military force for several months after 
the end of actual hostilities. By about the first of 
October troops to the number of eight hundred 
thousand nine hundred and sixty-three had been 
mustered out, paid off, and disbanded. The work 
proceeded with vigor, and on January 20, 1866, nine 
hundred and eighteen thousand seven hundred and 
twenty-two volunteers had been mustered out; March 
10, nine hundred and sixty-seven thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-seven; June 30, one million ten 
thousand six hundred and seventy; November 1, 
one million twenty-three thousand and twenty-one; 
leaving in the service at that date eleven thousand 
1The table is given in the final report of the provost-marshal- 
general (p. 102), as compiled by the adjutant-general of the army 
after a thorough revision of his records. END OF THE REBELLION. 
369 
and forty-three volunteers, white and colored.1 It 
thus would appear that at the close of recruitments 
and the stopping of the draft in May 1865 there 
must have been on the muster-rolls of the army one 
million thirty-four thousand and sixty-four (1,034,064) 
volunteers. 
About contemporaneously with the beginning of 
the disbandment of the volunteers began also the 
reduction of the different branches of the military 
establishment generally and a comprehensive curtail- 
ment of military expenditures. On April 28, Secre- 
tary Stanton issued a general order “ for reducing 
expenses of the military establishment,” in which the 
chiefs of the different bureaux were required to im- 
mediately reduce their expenses substantially to a 
peace basis; stopping the purchase of supplies and 
animals; discharging all ocean and river transports, 
except such as were necessary for the transportation 
of troops on their way to mustering-out rendezvous; 
stopping all work on field fortifications and the pur- 
chase of any arms whatever; discharging prisoners 
of war. This nervous order was vigorously carried 
out, and in a very short time all the staff departments 
had placed themselves on the basis of a peace estab- 
lishment. 
And thus closed, as to the conflict of arms, the first 
war of rebellion in the United States. The triumph 
of the Union arms was complete and glorious. Most 
unhappily the spirit of rebellion was not conquered. 
It is again abroad in the land, an impending peril to 
the republic which every intelligent patriot and states- 
man must view with profoundest concern. 
JRep. Sec’y of War, 1866, p. 1. 370 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
At the close of the war, the regular army as 
authorized by law, consisted of six regiments of 
cavalry, each of twelve companies; five regiments 
of artillery, twelve companies each; ten regiments 
of infantry, each of one battalion of ten companies, 
and nine regiments of infantry, each of three battal- 
ions of eight companies ; thus making of all branches 
four hundred and forty-eight companies. The calls 
for great numbers of volunteers so frequently during 
the war prevented the regular army from being fully 
recruited, and when hostilities ceased there were one 
hundred and fifty-three companies not organized. 
On the disbanding of the volunteers these were 
rapidly filled, and the army brought up to the maxi- 
mum. By act of Congress of July 28, 1866, the 
organization of the army was fixed as follows: 
Ten regiments of cavalry, each composed of twelve 
companies ; five regiments of artillery, each of twelve 
companies; forty-five regiments of infantry, each of 
ten companies ; making six hundred and thirty com- 
panies in all. The strength of the companies as 
authorized by the law was a minimum of fifty pri- 
vates, which in the discretion of the President might 
be increased to a maximum of one hundred privates 
in the . infantry and cavalry and of one hundred and 
twenty-two in the artillery. On the minimum scale 
the army would have contained thirty-six thousand 
five hundred privates, on the maximum basis, sixty- 
four thousand three hundred and twenty. By orders, 
the War Department made sixty-four privates the 
standard for all companies, except the ten batteries 
of light artillery which had the maximum number; 
and this made the strength of the army, the com- REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 
371 
panies being filled to the standard, fifty-four thousand 
three hundred and two, rank and file. As a matter 
of fact the strength of the army, rank and file, Sep- 
tember 30, 1866, was thirty-eight thousand five hun- 
dred and forty men, with enlistments proceeding quite 
rapidly.1 It should be observed that of the army as 
organized under the act of July 28, 1866, four regi- 
ments of infantry were to be composed of officers 
and men who had been wounded in the service — 
“ the Veteran Reserve corps.” Two regiments of 
cavalry and four of infantry were composed of col- 
ored men. 
To the army appropriation bill passed March 3, 
1869, was attached this clause : “There shall be no 
new commissions, no promotions, and no enlistments 
in any infantry regiment until the total number of 
infantry regiments is reduced to twenty-five, and the 
Secretary of War is hereby directed to consolidate 
the infantry regiments as rapidly as the requirements 
of the public service and the reduction of the number 
of officers will permit.” Commenting upon the man- 
ner of executing this provision of the law, General 
Sherman, in his annual report of the year says: 
“ By the same act the period for enlistments was changed from 
three to five years, but at that date all the enlisted men of infantry 
were in for three years, beginning mostly in 1866 and 1867. The 
Secretary of War, General Schofield, with whom by law the dis- 
cretion rested, saw at once that, were he to wait for the number 
of officers to diminish to the standard of twenty-five regiments by 
the slow process of death and resignation, all the enlisted men 
would be discharged by the expiration of their terms of service, 
and we would be compelled to abandon many of the forts in the 
Indian country. He therefore very wisely resolved to make the 
1 Rep. of the Adj.-Gen. of the army for 1866, p. 2. 372 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
consolidation at once, so that new enlistments could be made to 
replace the men discharged by expiration of their terms of enlist- 
ment. His orders prescribing the mode and manner of consoli- 
dation were made on the 10th of March, and have been carried 
into effect as fast as possible considering the scattered condition 
of the troops. The colonels and field officers were chosen here, 
and announced in general orders from these headquarters. The 
captains and lieutenants were selected by the commanding general 
of the departments in which the new regiments were to serve. As 
a general rule, all other things being equal, the senior of each 
grade was retained, provided he was deemed qualified and was 
actually present for duty. The recruiting service was resumed on 
the 28th of April, and has supplied about a thousand recruits a 
month, barely enough to replace discharges in the more exposed 
garrisons of the Indian country. The consolidation has thus been 
effected at as little cost as possible, and on principles as fair and 
just as the case admitted.” 
Such, as affected by this consolidation, continues to 
be the organization of the army up to the present 
year 1879, namely: twenty-five regiments of infantry, 
ten of cavalry, and five of artillery. The general 
officers of the army consist of the general of the 
army, William T. Sherman; a lieutenant-general, 
Philip H. Sheridan ; three major-generals, Winfield 
S. Hancock, John M. Schofield, Irvin McDowell; six 
brigadier-generals, John Pope, O. O. Howard, Alfred 
H. Terry, E. O. C. Ord, C. C. Augur, George Crook. 
Several investigations have been set on foot by Con- 
gress since the present organization of the army with 
the object of learning whether its reduction, as well 
as that of the staff departments, were advisable. 
The result thus far is that the organization of the 
entire military establishment remains substantially 
the same, and that the weight of opinion among 
our most intelligent statesmen and legislators is THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU. 
373 
against any reduction of the army or of the staff 
departments. 
In addition to the labors devolved upon the War 
Department after the war by the disbandment of 
the volunteers and the reorganization of the regu- 
lar army were those pertaining to a new bureau 
created by Congress by act approved March 3, 1865, 
and called the “bureau of freedmen, refugees, and 
abandoned lands,” but popularly known as “the 
freedmen’s bureau.” The object contemplated in 
the establishment of this bureau was to supply the 
immediate necessities of those whose condition had 
been changed by the war, or were driven from their 
homes by the pressure of armed conflict, or the des- 
potism of the rebellion.1 Its aid was designed for 
the needy of both races, white and black, and its duty 
to administer aid as well from the government as 
from charitable individuals and associations. The 
bureau was organized by the assignment of General 
O. O. Howard to duty as commissioner, and of a 
number of officers of the army as his assistants and 
as agents of the bureau in the South. The jurisdic- 
tion of assistant commissioners coincided generally 
with department and district commands, throughout 
the South, there being also many agents and teach- 
ers of the bureau engaged in carrying out its benefi- 
cent objects. In the year 1866 more than one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand freedmen and their children 
regularly attended the schools established by the 
bureau. Schools for refugee white children were 
also organized and were in not a few instances highly 
successful. Great numbers of destitute persons were 
1 Rep. of Sec’y of War Stanton, 1865, p. 46. 374 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
helped to procure situations where they could earn a 
livelihood, or with the same object were put to work 
on the abandoned lands in the control of the bureau. 
Large contributions to the bureau were made by the 
charitable, and a number of normal schools, colleges, 
and universities were established. In the perform- 
ance of such beneficent services as these, the bureau 
continued until about the beginning of the year 1870. 
Nearly all of the Southern States having been sup- 
plied with reconstructed governments by this time, 
and the executive and legislative.departments of the 
federal government being in the control of the friends 
of the freedmen, it was thought their interests might 
be left to the local authorities. This was accordingly 
done; but the bureau, greatly reduced in force, con- 
tinued for some time to exercise supervision over 
the educational interests of the freedmen, and to 
gratuitously collect such just claims as they had 
against the government. 
The beneficiaries of the Freedmen’s Bureau dur- 
ing its entire history were numbered by the million— 
men, women, and children, white as well as black. 
From the beginning it was assailed with peculiar 
virulence by the classes who look with hostile eyes 
upon all attempts to elevate an unfortunate and 
degraded people. Later, it was assailed by many 
reputable persons on account of certain alleged 
irregularities and peculations. Still later, it received 
quite general condemnation on account of the failure 
of the “ Freedmen’s Bank,” with which great num- 
bers of freedmen throughout a wide extent of country 
had deposited their savings. That there were gross 
irregularities and culpable carelessness and misman- SECRETARY STANTON AND PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 
375 
agement on the part of some connected with the 
bureau may be admitted; but a long and searching 
investigation into the affairs of the bureau placed 
the honesty and efficiency of its general manage- 
ment beyond dispute, and thoroughly vindicated the 
personal and official integrity of General Howard. 
As for the failure of the Freedmen’s Bank, it was 
one of the lamentable financial misfortunes of the 
time, the management being no more blameworthy, 
perhaps, than were some of the greatest houses in 
the land which nevertheless went down in utter ruin 
before the financial storm of 1873. The evil which 
the Freedmen’s Bureau did, or rather which some of 
its unworthy servants did was inconsiderable when 
compared with the great benefits it conferred upon 
its millions of beneficiaries, the good influence of 
which will not cease to exert itself upon the present 
and coming generations of colored people in America. 
It was Secretary Stanton’s hearty approval of the 
policy embodied in the act establishing the freed- 
men’s bureau which brought about the first serious 
estrangement between himself and President John- 
son. When the President in 1867 energetically op- 
posed and vetoed the reconstruction measures of 
Congress, that estrangement became complete, be- 
coming on the President’s part an implacable, almost 
ferocious hatred. It was in August of that year that 
the President removed the Secretary and appointed 
General Grant Secretary of War ad interim. Gen- 
eral Grant solemnly protested against the removal 
and accepted the office with avowed reluctance and 
as a duty to the country in this crisis of its affairs 
which he could not in good conscience avoid. The HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
events which followed belong to the general history 
of the country. Let it suffice here to state that the 
President found in General Grant a no more pliant 
instrument of his dominating will than the iron Sec- 
retary. Especially did he manifest his opposition to 
the removal of three of the district commanders of 
the South, serving under the provisions of the recon- 
struction acts of Congress, namely, Generals Sher- 
idan, Pope, and Sickles. Orally and in writing Gen- 
eral Grant opposed this act with warm-hearted zeal 
and with unanswerable argument. Never consenting 
to it, he acquiesced in it with a profound and greater 
than personal sorrow. Meantime political events 
proceeded in the turbulent manner of the excited 
period, and General Grant administered the affairs 
of the War Department with quiet efficiency, going 
on with the economical measures which had been 
instituted by Mr. Stanton, and instituting others him- 
self. The astute politicians, some of them utterly 
unscrupulous, who had the ear of the President very 
soon learned that the insurmountable obstacle to the 
success of their machinations was the silent man in 
the War Office. 
On the meeting of Congress in December the action 
of the President in the removal of Secretary Stanton 
was discussed and was declared to be unwarranted, 
and he was accordingly reinstated in January 1868. 
In February, Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas, 
adjutant-general of the army, was designated by the 
President as Secretary of War ad interim. The 
Senate being in session Secretary Stanton declined 
to give up the office. There was a world of military 
precision in General Thomas, and he undoubtedly OFFICIAL REGISTER OF VOLUNTEERS. 
3 77 
held Secretary Stanton in great respect and awe. 
Hence he would march up to the Secretary’s apart- 
ments every morning, and being bowed in by the 
messengers, would salute the Secretary, whereupon 
the Secretary with a few pleasant remarks about the 
weather would bow him out as politely as he had been 
ushered in. This entertaining ceremony was kept up 
for several days. On one morning, the messenger at 
the outer door declined to admit the General, saying* 
“ The orders is to receive no one; the Secretary is 
engaged very particular.” And this was the last of 
General Thomas as “Secretary of War ad interi7ndx 
The impeachment of President Johnson failing in the 
Senate, Secretary Stanton resigned in the following 
May. 
An interesting professional labor of the Depart- 
ment which followed the war was the preparation and 
publication by the adjutant-general of an “ Official 
Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United 
States Army for the years 1861, ’62, ’63, ’64, and ’65.” 
This register contains full rosters of the officers of 
all the regiments, battalions, batteries, independent 
companies and corps of all kinds which were mus- 
tered into the service of the Union from all the States 
and Territories during the conflict of arms. One 
may hence get a pretty correct idea of the magnitude 
of that conflict; for this “ mere muster-roll of names ” 
makes eight octavo volumes printed in small types. 
The lists of battles in which the different organiza- 
tions bore honorable part are also generally given. 
The work is invaluable to the future historian of the 
'I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass.—Falstaff, in 
‘‘Merry Wives of Windsor.” 378 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
war, and as showing die propordonate military force 
contributed to the army by the different States and 
Territories. 
After the Mexican war, General Scott conceived 
the idea of devoting a large sum of money which 
he had levied upon the Mexicans during the war, to 
the establishment of an institution where aged and 
disabled soldiers of the United States army might 
find the comforts of a home during the remainder 
of their lives. Congress approved this benevolent 
design and the result was the establishment of the 
“Soldiers’ National Home” near the city of Wash- 
ington. It consists of a number of tasteful build- 
ings appropriate to the purpose, a small church, a 
residence for the superintendent, and one for the 
summer residence of the President. There is an 
extensive garden, and considerable land is devoted 
to farming purposes. The premises include several 
hundred acres and form one of the most attractive 
public parks in the country, its fine drives, beau- 
tiful scenery of forest and lawn, and flower-gardens, 
and the magnificent views had therefrom making it 
one of the most popular places of resort which the 
national capital affords, and giving the soldiers a 
home whereat they may well be contented and 
happy. 
After the war of the rebellion a like benevolent 
policy was adopted with respect to disabled volun- 
teers who had served in that war. By acts of Con- 
gress passed in 1865 and 1866 “ asylums ” for dis- 
abled volunteers were established at Point Lookout, 
Virginia, and near Dayton, Ohio. They are each 
beautiful and healthful places, having ample accom- SOLDIERS' HOMES. 
379 
modations as to buildings, and liberal share of 
grounds which are constantly being made more 
and more beautiful by the labors of the soldiers. 
These institutions are liberally supported by gov- 
ernment from funds set apart for that purpose. By 
an act of Congress of February 28, 1871, soldiers 
of the war of 1812 and of the war with Mexico were 
entitled to receive the privileges of these institutions. 
In January 1873, Congress changed the name in each 
of the institutions from “ asylum ” to the more appro- 
priate and cheerful name of “ home.” For such in 
reality they are — homes provided by a benignant 
government for large families of men who deserve 
well of their country. At each of these homes large 
numbers of men are clothed, subsisted, and given 
all those comforts which are evermore associated 
with our ideas of a home. 
Not satisfied with caring for the disabled of the 
war the government also provided for the care of 
the honored dead. By an act of Congress approved 
July 17, 1862, the President was authorized to pur- 
chase cemetery grounds and cause them to be se- 
curely enclosed, to be used as a national cemetery 
for the soldiers who shall die in the service of the 
country. A joint resolution of Congress of April 13, 
1866, was adopted as follows : 
“ That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized 
and required to take immediate measures to preserve from dese- 
cration the graves of the soldiers of the United States who fell 
in battle or died of disease in the field and in hospital during the 
war of the rebellion ; to secure suitable burial-places in which 
they may be properly interred, and to have the grounds inclosed, 
so that the resting-places of the honored dead may be kept sacred 
forever.” 380 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
An act of February 22, 1867, provided: 
“That in the arrangement of the national cemeteries estab- 
lished for the burial of deceased soldiers and sailors, the Secretary 
of War is hereby directed to have the same inclosed with a good 
and substantial stone or iron fence; and to cause each grave to 
be marked with a small head-stone, or block, with the number of 
the grave inscribed thereon, corresponding with the number op- 
posite to the name of the party, in a register of burials to be 
kept at each cemetery and at the office of the quartermaster-gen- 
eral, which shall set forth the name, rank, company, regiment, 
and date of death of the officer or soldier; or if unknown, it 
shall be so recorded. 
“ That the Secretary of War is hereby directed to cause to be 
erected at the principal entrance of each of the national ceme- 
teries aforesaid a suitable building to be occupied as a porter’s 
lodge; and it shall be his duty to appoint a meritorious and 
trustworthy superintendent, who shall be selected from enlisted 
men of the army disabled in service, * * * to reside therein, 
for the purpose of guarding and protecting the cemetery, and 
giving information to parties visiting the same.” 
Under these authorities of the national legislature, 
many tracts of land for national cemeteries were 
bought, enclosed, and prepared for the sacred pur- 
pose contemplated by Congress. Later acts author- 
ized the placing of larger blocks and slabs of granite 
or marble as head-stones for the grave each to con- 
tain an inscription giving the name of the dead, his 
rank, regiment, or corps with the date and manner 
of his death. Where these facts are unknown, 
the simple word “ unknown ” is engraved upon the 
stone. 
There are now in different parts of the United 
States about eighty national cemeteries, containing 
about three hundred and fifty thousand graves. 
Some of these cemeteries are very extensive. Thus, NATIONAL CEMETERIES. 
381 
those at Arlington, Vicksburgh, and Nashville, con- 
tain each more than sixteen thousand graves; that at 
Fredericksburgh more than fifteen thousand ; Mem- 
phis, about fourteen thousand; Andersonville, thirteen 
thousand seven hundred and seventeen; Salisbury, 
North Carolina, and Chalmette, Louisiana, more than 
twelve thousand each; Chattanooga, about thirteen 
thousand; while the cemeteries on famous battle- 
fields, as Antietam, Gettsyburgh, Seven Pines, Stone 
River, and others, contain the remains of from two 
thousand to six thousand soldiers. Nearly all of 
these cemeteries, whether large or small, are places 
of surpassing beauty; some of them such originally, 
others made so by labor and art. Section 4876 of 
the Revised Statutes provided that: 
“The Secretary of War shall detail some officer of the army, 
not under the rank of major, to visit annually all of the national 
cemeteries, and to inspect and report to him the condition of the 
same, and the amount of money necessary to protect them, to sod 
the graves, gravel and grade the walks and avenues, and to keep 
the grounds in complete order; and the Secretary shall transmit 
such report to Congress at the commencement of each session, 
together with an estimate of the appropriation necessary for that 
purpose. ’ ’ 
Under this law Secretary Belknap detailed Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Oscar A. Mack of the Twenty-first 
Infantry, as inspector of national cemeteries. In 1874 
Colonel Mack made a personal inspection of all the 
cemeteries, from Maine to Texas, and made known 
their condition in an elaborate report. His judgment 
and taste did much to increase the beauty of these 
honored national bivouacs of the dead. In July 1876, 
the law creating the office of inspector of national 382 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
cemeteries was repealed and they were placed under 
the charge of the quartermaster-general.1 General 
Meigs, having a thorough knowledge of arboriculture, 
has directed many improvements as to the adornment 
of the cemeteries with trees and shrubbery. Their 
drives and walks are required to be kept constantly 
in good condition. It is not too much to say that the 
national cemeteries are to the American people a just 
source of national pride. 
For a considerable period, Lieutenant-Colonel A. 
F. Rockwell, quartermaster, has had the immediate 
supervision of the cemeteries, and has directed great 
labors therein particularly with reference to placing 
the new blocks and slabs. In concluding his regular 
report for 1876, Colonel Rockwell made a most sen- 
sible suggestion, namely: 
“ In connection with this subject, I desire to call attention to 
the fact that, thus far, no provision has been made for erecting 
headstones at the graves of soldiers interred in other than national 
military cemeteries. In many cities and towns in the Northern 
and Western States are what are called soldiers’ lots — a portion 
of a private or incorporated cemetery set apart for the burial of 
soldiers who died during or since the war. The graves were 
marked soon after the close of the war by the government with 
head-boards similar to those provided for the national cemeteries. 
These head-boards have, of course, decayed, and there being no 
authority under the law, as it now exists, for replacing them with 
permanent head-stones, there is some danger that the identity of 
the graves will be lost unless either the head-boards are renewed — 
which would only be a temporary expedient, and an expensive one 
— or head-stones are furnished similar to those erected in the 
1 Lieutenant-Colonel Mack, while on a tour of inspection in the 
early summer of 1875, was taken suddenly ill and died at some 
town in Missouri. He was a gallant soldier, and a gentleman of 
amiable dispositions and lofty character. NATIONAL CEMETERIES. 
383 
national cemeteries. It is estimated that there are about seventeen 
thousand graves to be provided with these head-stones, and the 
numerous applications which the Department has received, asking 
that they be furnished, indicate that there is a very general desire 
on the part of those interested in the matter that the graves of 
the soldiers interred in these incorporated and village cemeteries 
should receive the same attention from the government as is be- 
stowed on those in the national cemeteries.” 
This suggestion was adopted by Congress, and in 
accordance with a law thereof of February 3, 1879, 
the graves of all soldiers in other than national 
cemeteries, will have appropriate head-stones before 
the beginning of 1880. 
While this work is passing through the press, the 
old War Department building is being torn down. 
It is gratifying to know it will be in part permanently 
preserved. The portico has been dedicated to Arl- 
ington National Cemetery. Four of the pillars will 
be used, precisely as they stood for some sixty years 
in the old building, at the principal entrance to the 
cemetery. In like manner the other two will stand 
at the secondary entrance. Thus the old building 
will in an appropriate manner have its memory pre- 
served, and, let us hope, forever. 
The recent history of the Department may be 
briefly related. The event of greatest general in- 
terest connected therewith was the impeachment of 
ex-Secretary Belknap. But as at the time, he had 
retired from the Department, I shall reserve what I 
have to say on that subject till I come to relate the 
events of his life, in the second part of this work. 
The removal of the troops from New Orleans, Loui- 
siana, and Columbia, South Carolina, in the early 
summer of 1877 done in accordance with the 384 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
general policy of President Hayes’s administration 
rather than as an act of the War Department. Later 
in that same year, events of the most exciting and 
alarming nature occurred. Beginning at Baltimore, 
Maryland, and Martinsburgh, West Virginia, large 
numbers of railroad employes struck against a pro- 
posed reduction of wages, and their course was 
speedily followed by others in Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois. The strikers forcibly prevented 
others from taking their places, and in consequence 
great and bloody riots occurred. The governor of 
Maryland called upon the President for United States 
troops, and a similar call was very soon made by the 
governor of West Virginia, and this was followed by 
a call from the governor of Pennsylvania. Mean- 
while the destruction of life had been considerable 
and of property immense. The President promptly 
responded to the calls, and in an incredibly short 
time the War Department had placed at each of the 
principal points of danger a considerable military 
force. Wherever the United States troops appeared, 
the rioters instantly began to grow quiet and to 
disperse; and it was not long until uprisings which 
had threatened the country with universal plunder 
were perfectly allayed, and quiet restored. All this 
was done by the simple presence of the United 
States troops. Not a gun was fired nor a sword 
drawn. 
In the following year a calamity occurred of a very 
different nature — the prevalence of the yellow fever 
to an unprecedented extent in the valley of the 
Southern Mississippi. The War Department was 
speedily called upon for aid. There was no express PROGRESS IN SIGNAL SERVICE. 
385 
law authorizing the Department to render assistance 
in such case. Neither was there a law against it. 
Secretary McCrary therefore decided the case on 
the law of humanity, and forthwith authorized the 
issuing of tents, blankets, and rations in aid of the 
sufferers. Requisitions of the kind kept pouring in 
from the authorities of the afflicted cities and towns, 
and their justice being established, they were promptly 
filled by Mr. McCrary’s orders. The amount of good 
thus accomplished by the Department was beyond 
calculation great. 
Ever since he has had charge of the War Office, 
Secretary McCrary has manifested a warm interest 
in the Signal Bureau, using his endeavors to have its 
great usefulness extended in our own country and 
others. They have been so far successful during the 
current year 1879, that the connections of the bureau 
with similar institutions abroad have been so greatly 
increased that the Signal Office can daily present an 
accurate weather chart of the whole civilized world. 
That this constant scientific intercourse between the 
nations will be of beneficent influence in the interest 
of universal peace and civilization there can be no 
doubt. PART II. 
LIVES OF THE SECRETARIES. HISTORY 
of THE 
War Department. 
Part II. 
LIVES OF THE SECRETARIES. 
GENERAL HENRY KNOX, 
FIRST SECRETARY OF WAR. 
rPHE first Secretary of War under the Constitution 
1 of the United States was Major-General Henry 
Knox of Massachusetts. He had also occupied that 
office for several years under the government of the 
Confederation. He was of Scotch-Irish blood, on 
his father’s side, and was born in Boston, July 25, 
1750, in a house which is still standing — or was a 
very few years ago — on Sea street opposite the 
head of Drake’s wharf. About the time he had 
completed his grammar-school course his father died, 
and the support of his widowed mother and younger 
brother devolved upon him. Happily, he procured 
an advantageous situation with Messrs. Wharton & 
Bowes, leading booksellers of Boston; advantageous 
because his salary more than sufficed for the support 
of the family and because the position gave him op- 390 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
portunities of reading and study of incalculable value 
to his active and vigorous mind. He was a great and 
rapid reader and a careful thinker on what he read, 
so that for intellectual discipline the humble position 
of a bookseller’s clerk was almost tantamount to a 
regular collegiate course. He was afterwards gener- 
ally accounted one of the best informed men in the 
country, and the first two Presidents of the republic 
very often sought knowledge of him particularly with 
regard to military affairs. While a clerk in a book- 
store young Knox acquired a pretty thorough knowl- 
edge of the French language and literature and of 
the Greek and Latin classics through translations. 
It is also to be noted that he paid especial attention 
to military studies and early in life became fully and 
accurately informed in the theory of the art of war. 
That way lay his genius. 
Knox was of a robust frame, always in vigorous 
health, and bore a prominent part in the athletic 
sports and out-door exercises of the time. Several 
instances of his uncommon physical strength are 
related. 
On reaching his legal majority, Knox entered into 
the business which he now so well understood on his 
own account. In the “Gazette” of July 29, 1771, is 
this advertisement: “ This day is opened a new Lon- 
don Bookstore by Henry Knox, opposite Williams’ 
Court in Cornhill, Boston, who has just imported in 
the last ships from London a large and very elegant 
assortment of the most modern books in all branches 
of Literature, Arts, and Sciences (catalogues of which 
will be published soon), and to be sold as cheap as 
can be bought at any place in town. Also a com- SECRE TAR Y KNOX. 
plete assortment of stationery.” Evidently, Knox 
had learned the art of advertising, one of the first 
requisites to success in business. He succeeded 
admirably until the Boston Port Bill put a quietus 
upon pretty much all business at Boston. 
Meantime, Knox had become proficient in practical 
military affairs. He had added to his knowledge ac- 
quired from books a vast fund of practical informa- 
tion through conversations with many British officers 
who habitually visited his bookstore and from obser- 
vations of the manoeuvres of troops in Boston. More- 
over, at the age of eighteen years he had joined a 
military company and rarely failed to attend its drills 
and parades. Later, he joined Captain Pierce’s 
“ Boston Grenadier Corps,” the crack military or- 
ganization of Boston, being second in command, and 
chief in drilling and disciplining the corps. 
In July 1773, Knox lost the two smaller fingers of 
his left hand by the bursting of his fowling-piece while 
on a gunning excursion. He always concealed this 
physical defect by the graceful use of a handkerchief 
or, when in uniform, his military scarf. On the next 
parade of the Grenadier Corps, his hand gracefully 
bandaged with a scarf, Knox excited special attention, 
and particularly aroused the sympathies of the ladies. 
Among these was Miss Lucy Flucker, daughter of 
the Hon. Thomas Flucker, Secretary of the Province, 
and who was distinguished as a young lady of high 
intellectual endowments, very fond of books. She 
had often visited Knox’s bookstore and an attach- 
ment had grown up between them which now ri- 
pened into love. The lady’s father and family were 
rank royalists; Knox was an ardent patriot; they HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
strenuously opposed the marriage; but the young 
people, as usual, won the game, and they were mar- 
ried June 16, 1774. 
I may as well here as anywhere give a brief 
account of their domestic life. They were a happy 
and comfortable couple. In the earlier years of her 
married life Mrs. Knox was, perhaps, something of 
a gossip, but she got bravely over this female foible, 
and was universally esteemed as an intellectual and 
earnest woman. She often visited her husband in 
camp and was greatly popular with the army. She 
was good-natured, but not so good-natured as he. 
Once in awhile her temper would get the better of 
her, whereas in family differences he was evermore 
humorous and jolly. Said Harrison Gray Otis in a 
letter written in 1845 : “As Knox’s matrimonial con- 
nection was a love-match, and both parties possessed 
great good sense and were proud of each other, it 
was understood by their friends that their mutual 
attachment had never waned. It was, however, well 
known that they frequently differed in opinion upon 
the current trifles of the day, and that the irce aman- 
tiuni, though always followed by the inte'gratio 
amoris, were not unfrequent; and that in those 
petty skirmishes our friend showed his generalship 
by a skilful retreat. On one occasion at a very large 
dinner-party at their own house, the cloth having 
been removed, the General ordered the servants to 
take away also the woollen cover, which madam with 
an audible voice prohibited. He then instantly, 
addressing the whole circle, observed, ‘This subject 
of the under-cloth is the only one on which Mrs. 
Knox and I have differed since our marriage.’ The SE CRE TAR Y KNOX. 
393 
archness and good humor of this appeal to the com- 
pany were irresistible, and produced, as was intended, 
a general merriment.” They were not only a happy 
and comfortable couple, but an immense couple. 
He weighed nearly three hundred pounds and she 
was proportionately stout. She is thus described by 
Dr. Manasseh Cutler who dined with the General in 
July, 1787, at New York: “Dined with General Knox, 
introduced to his lady and a French nobleman, Mar- 
quis Lotbiniere. Mrs. Knox is very gross (fleshy), 
but her manners are easy and agreeable. She is 
sociable and would be agreeable were it not for her 
affected singularity in dressing her hair. Her hair 
in front is craped at least a foot high, much in the 
form of a churn bottom upward, and topped off with 
a wire skeleton in the same form, covered with black 
gauze, which hangs in streamers down to her back. 
Her hair behind is a large braid and confined with a 
monstrous crooked comb.” “ The worthy doctor,” 
says Drake, the biographer of Knox, “was evidently 
unaccustomed to the coiffure of the fashionable lady 
of that day.” The description reminds one of the 
“ superb piece of architecture ” which adorned the 
head-gear of Miss Griselda Oldbuck in Scott’s “An- 
tiquary.” Mrs. William S. Smith writing from New 
York in 1788 to her mother, Mrs. John Adams, says: 
“ General and Mrs. Knox have been very polite and 
attentive to us. * Mrs. Knox is neat in her dress, 
attentive to her family, and very fond of her children. 
But her size is enormous. I am frightened when I 
o 
look at her; I verily believe that her waist is as large 
as three of yours at least. The General is not half 
so fat as he was.” She was described, even after 394 
HISTORY OF THE JYAR DEPARTMENT. 
she was sixty years of age, as “ a remarkably fine- 
looking woman, with brilliant black eyes, and a 
blooming complexion.” The home over which she 
presided was always the scene of a liberal and genial 
hospitality. To this happy couple twelve children 
were born, nine of whom died in infancy or early 
age. Two sons lived to mature age and were mar- 
ried, but died without issue. Descendants of a 
daughter, Lucy, who married Ebenezer Thatcher, 
are still living. Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher was 
a grandson of the first Secretary of War. Mrs. 
Knox survived her husband nearly eighteen years. 
In less than a year after his marriage Knox was 
called to the field where he remained without inter- 
mission save a few brief leaves of absence for eight 
years. On the first anniversary of his marriage, he 
quitted Boston in disguise, his departure having been 
forbidden by Gage, and, accompanied by his wife, also 
in disguise and who had quilted in her petticoat his 
sword, betook himself to the patriot army at Cam- 
bridge. Repairing to the headquarters of General 
Ward, he entered at once upon military duties, with- 
out commission, acting as voluntary aid to the general 
commanding. His services in preparing for the bat- 
tle of Bunker Hill, which occurred next day, imme- 
diately brought him into the favorable notice of the 
prominent officers of the army. After the battle he 
was by general consent given the supervision of the 
artillery and held works, and his energy and skill 
herein were so conspicuous that General Washington 
had not been long- at Cambridge before Knox became 
a favorite adviser and confidential friend,— a rela- 
tion that continued to subsist until severed by death. SECRETARY KNOX. 
395 
Washington recommended Knox to Congress for 
the position of chief of artillery with the rank of 
Colonel, and Congress made the appointment in 
November 1775. But meantime Knox had devised 
a plan to supply the army besieging Boston with ar- 
tillery, its greatest need. In accordance therewith he 
proceeded by New York and Albany to Fort Ticon- 
deroga, and thence with incredible labor and difficulty 
had transported by lake and river and land fifty-five 
pieces of ordnance and other valuable store of am- 
munition. In transporting these stores from Albany 
to Springfield on sleds made for the purpose eighty 
yoke of oxen were used ; at Springfield these were ex- 
changed for eighty fresh yoke. The “noble train of 
artillery” reached the patriot army early in 1776, with 
the help of which Washington was soon able to drive 
the British out of Boston. On March 4th, under cover 
of a furious cannonade from the entire artillery under 
Knox, General Thomas took possession of Dorches- 
ter Heights, and at once so strongly fortified them 
that the British saw that any attempt to dislodge him 
under the fire of Knox’s gains would be futile. Within 
a fortnight Howe, who now had the chief command of 
the British army, evacuated Boston, and was accom- 
panied in his fleet by most of the royalists of the 
town. 
Soon afterwards Washington removed his head- 
quarters to New York. Knox did not at once ac- 
company him thither, but spent some time in Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island, planning and supervising 
the construction of certain military works in those 
provinces. He reached New York on the 30th of 
April, and at once assumed command of the artillery 396 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of the main patriot army under Washington. From 
this time forth until the close of the war, he was so 
constantly and intimately associated with his illus- 
trious commander-in-chief that a full account of his 
life could hardly be written without relating about all 
the stirring and momentous events which form the 
history of the patriot army of the Revolution under 
Washington. For in all its victories and defeats, its 
audacious advances and masterly retreats, its many 
joys and many sorrows, he fully and conspicuously 
participated. Even the British on several occasions 
were forced to praise the skill and vigor with which 
the American artillery was handled, and for the final 
surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown the struggling 
country was very largely indebted to the genius of 
him who became our first Secretary of War. “The 
resources of his genius,” said Washington in a report 
to the President of Congress, “ supplied the deficit of 
means.” 
I will here briefly indicate rather than fully relate 
the part borne by General Knox from the time he 
arrived in New York as above stated until the close 
of the Revolutionary war. The artillery at New 
York consisted of 121 guns, many of them old and 
of little account. They were in forts, redoubts, and 
batteries extending over a large area, so that Knox 
during Washington’s occupancy of New York was 
undoubtedly the busiest man in the whole army. He 
wrote to his brother: “ My constant fatigue and 
application to the business of my extensive depart- 
ment have been such that I have not had my clothes 
off once o’ nights for more than forty days.” He 
always rose before sun-up and from then till 9 or 10 SECRETARY KNOX. 
397 
o’clock at night was constantly engaged. He was 
not personally present at the battle of Long Island 
(August 27), being obliged, as he said, “to wait on 
my Lord Howe and the navy gentry who threatened 
to pay us a visit.” On Washington’s evacuation of 
New York Knox had charge of the rear guard, and 
was among the very last to leave the city. He came 
near being captured,'but siezing a boat he escaped, 
proceeding to Harlem by water, where he was wel- 
comed with cheers by the army and the embraces of 
Washington. In the engagements of Harlem Plains 
and White Plains in the autumn of this year, the 
artillery was not conspicuous. Knox, in company 
with his commander-in-chief, witnessed the loss of 
Fort Washington with unspeakable chagrin but with- 
out the means to avert the calamity. Soon after- 
wards Fort Lee was evacuated and the patriot army 
entered upon its memorable retreat through the Jer- 
seys. The famous crossing of the Delaware on 
Christmas night of this year was entirely under the 
supervision of Knox, whose stentorian voice, equal 
to that of Jupiter Tonans, was heard in every com- 
mand ringing loud and clear above the roar of the 
tempest, the deep murmurings of the current, and 
the crunchings of the floating masses of ice. In the 
battle of Trenton of the following morning he bore a 
preeminently conspicuous part and was thanked in 
strong terms in general orders by Washington. On 
the very next day, though without a knowledge of 
the battle of Trenton, Congress created Knox a 
brigadier-general with entire command of the artil- 
lery of the main continental army. On January 3d, 
1777, the battle of Princeton was fought. Here 398 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Knox participated but not in the conspicuous man- 
ner which he had done at Trenton. Nevertheless, it 
was the artillery that in the end turned the British to 
the right about and almost put them in disordered 
rout. This audacious campaign placed the British 
sixty miles from Philadelphia, whereas at its begin- 
ning they had been within less than twenty miles of 
that city. On the recommendation of Knox, Wash- 
ington selected Morristown for his winter .canton- 
ment. Knox himself proceeded to the Eastern 
States to replenish his supply of ordnance. In the 
spring of this year (1777) he spent some time with 
General Greene planning the defenses of the Hud- 
son. In 1777 there arrived in this country a Mr. 
Ducoudray from France bearing an appointment 
from Mr. Deane, American minister at Paris, as 
“ commander-in-chief of the continental artillery.” 
This caused trouble, and Generals Knox, Sullivan, 
and Greene, wrote to Congress upon the subject. 
Washington also ardently protested against the ap- 
pointment, for the reason that it would cause the 
retirement of General Knox, “ one of the most valu- 
able officers in the service.” Congress at length 
passed a resolve that Mr. Deane had exceeded his 
authority and the difficulty came to an end. The 
principal events in the theatre of war occupied by 
Washington of the year 1777 were the battles of the 
Brandywine, September nth, and of Germantown, 
October 4th. Both were well-fought engagements, 
the former an American defeat, the latter at first a 
victory but turned into a retreat by reason of a sud- 
den dense fog which prevented intelligent move- 
ments. In both of these engagements Knox was SECRETARY KNOX. 
399 
conspicuous, but after the British at Germantown 
had taken possession of some strong stone houses — 
a sort of forts ready-made for them — he advised 
against further advance until they had been taken. 
Some writers have asserted that but for this, the 
Americans might have continued to advance and 
actually taken Philadelphia. Knox himself attributed 
the final loss of the day to the fog and the possession 
of the stone houses by the enemy. Between the 
battle of the Brandywine and that of Germantown, 
Knox gave considerable attention to the forts on the 
Delaware below Philadelphia, but they were in suc- 
cession taken by the British or abandoned by the 
Americans. In the early part of the following win- 
ter— the winter of Washington’s sadly memorable 
encampment at Valley Forge — Knox went to New 
England and there spent several weeks, engaged in 
public business and visiting his family. He returned 
early in the spring, and was followed by his wife in 
May who during that month joined the General at 
Valley Forge and from this time forth until the close 
of the war remained in camp or near the army. The 
only specially notable event with the main army 
during the year 1778 was the battle of Monmouth, 
June 28th. In the earlier part of this engagement 
the Americans were badly worsted, as is now gener- 
ally believed through the treachery of General Lee, 
whose conduct caused Washington himself to explode 
in a terrific escape of profanity. Lee’s retreat of two 
miles was checked by the artillery under Knox, and 
the reverse of the morning was turned into a victory, 
the British compelled to retreat after being terribly 
punished, leaving the field in possession of the 400 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Americans. On this fine fight Washington in gen- 
eral orders says he “ can with pleasure inform Gen- 
eral Knox and the officers of the artillery that the 
enemy had done them the justice to acknowledge 
that no artillery could have been better served than 
ours.” The year 1779 was a period of much monot- 
ony with the main army and with Knox. The fol- 
lowing year was noted for serious difficulties with 
the troops of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania line, 
which were at length adjusted without a general 
mutiny. In the settlement of these troubles the 
good nature and patience and fine sense of justice 
of Knox were of vast value to the patriot cause. 
Another event of the year of special moment to 
Knox was the treason of General Arnold. In the 
company of Washington and La Fayette, General 
Knox visited the Count de Rochambeau at Hartford 
about the 20th of September, where there was held 
an interesting conference upon the subject of the 
future conduct of the war by the now allied powers 
of the United States and France. Immediately upon 
the return of Washington and Knox to West Point 
the treason of Arnold was discovered in the manner 
well known to all. General Knox sat in the court- 
martial which tried Major Andre. The General had 
met him several years before and they had spent a 
night together, a night of great intellectual and social 
pleasure. To condemn Andre was unquestionably 
the hardest and saddest duty of General Knox’s life, 
but the proofs being conclusive he performed his 
duty with firmness and with tears. Early in 1781 
Knox, at the special request of Washington, visited 
the Eastern States to make known the sad situation SECRETARY KNOX. 
401 
of the army on account of the mutiny of the Pennsyl- 
vania line and to aid in forwarding recruits. The 
errand was successful. He returned in a few weeks, 
and remaining near headquarters in the vicinity of 
New York accompanied the army southward in 
August, when Washington marched against Corn- 
wallis in Virginia. The siege of Yorktown speedily 
followed, in which Knox, being in command of the 
artillery, naturally took the leading part. On the 
19th of October Cornwallis surrendered uncondi- 
tionally, and the war of the Revolution was virtually 
closed in the triumph of the American arms. 
In March 1782, General Knox and Gouverneur 
Morris were appointed a commission to procure a 
general exchange of prisoners, to provide for their 
subsistence, etc. The commission, after many inter- 
changes of views with the British, failed to accomplish 
the object. In the same month Knox was promoted a 
major-general, his commission dating from November 
15, 1781. On August 29th, 1782, Knox was appointed 
to the command of the post at West Point, whose 
defenses he found altogether inadequate to stand a 
siege. During the autumn of this year and the 
winter of 1782-83 there was great discontent in the 
army on account of arrearages of pay still due. This 
discontent actually became so serious in the spring 
of 1783 as to seriously threaten the peace of the 
country. It is well known that the labors and im- 
pressive eloquence of Washington were the most 
potent influences in calming this storm. He was 
ably seconded by Knox who at the general meeting 
of officers held March 15, moved the resolutions 
which were adopted thanking Washington for his 402 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
patriotic course, and declaring their reliance on the 
good faith of Congress and the country and a deter- 
mination to bear with patience their grievances till in 
due time they should be redressed. It was about this 
time that the Society of the Cincinnati was instituted 
of which General Knox was the founder. The object 
of the Society was the perpetuation of friendship 
among officers of the army, now about to be dis- 
banded, and the creation of a fund for the widows 
and orphans of officers who had died or should die 
in indigent circumstances. Membership was limited 
to the officers of the revolutionary army and their 
male descendants on the rule of primogeniture on 
which account the Society came to be much criticised 
as containing the elements of an hereditary aristoc- 
racy. This objection was unfounded and the Society 
accomplished much good then and since. It is still 
in existence having several branches in different parts 
of the country.1 Of the Society, as perfected in the 
spring of 1783, Washington was chosen first Pres- 
ident and Knox Secretary. 
In August of this year Knox was left in command 
of the army and a few weeks thereafter he began the 
difficult and delicate task of disbanding it. On No- 
vember 25th the British evacuated New York and on 
the same day Knox entered the city at the head of 
’The Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati in 1873 pub- 
lished a work — for limited circulation only—entitled “Life and 
Correspondence of Henry Knox, Major-General in the American 
Revolutionary Army,’’ to which I am mainly indebted for the 
materials of this sketch. The work was prepared for the Society 
by Mr. Francis S. Drake, which fact of itself would be sufficient 
guaranty to all intelligent Americans of its faithful and happy 
execution. SECRETARY KNOX. 
403 
the American troops. On the 4th of the following 
month the general officers still remaining in the 
service met their beloved Washington to give and 
receive farewells, when occurred one of the most 
memorable and touching incidents of the whole rev- 
olutionary era. Knox kept up a correspondence 
with his illustrious chief until Washington’s death. 
Indeed, one long letter to him was written some days 
after his death occurred. Early in 1784, the work of 
disbanding the army having been about completed, 
Knox returned to Boston and took up his residence 
in Dorchester near by. In the reception of La Fay- 
ette in the autumn of this year, Knox bore the most 
prominent part. On March 8, 1785, he was appointed 
Secretary of War by Congress at a salary of $2,450. 
On this appointment Washington wrote to him 
“ Without a compliment, I think a better choice 
could not have been made.” 
An event of great importance that occurred while 
Knox was Secretary of War under the government 
of the Confederation was “Shays’s rebellion” in Mas- 
sachusetts. The Secretary personally repaired to 
Massachusetts, to advise with General Lincoln upon 
the situation with particular reference to the defense 
of the arsenal at Springfield. It is well known that 
the insurrection was promptly repressed. It was one 
of the many things, however, that contributed to the 
ardent federalism of General Knox. From the close 
of the war to the adoption of the federal Constitution 
of 1787, he maintained active correspondence with 
Washington and other eminent patriots upon the 
political situation all the time demanding a strong 
government, and denouncing the Confederation as 404 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
no better than a rope of sand. His views were 
greatly intelligent and expressed with unusual logical 
force. In a letter to Washington of January 14, 1787, 
he laid down a plan of government which he thought 
the proposed Convention ought to adopt. Its main 
suggestions now form several of the principal pro- 
visions of the federal Constitution. The Constitution 
being adopted, though he did not approve it in all 
respects, he earnestly advocated its ratification. 
On the formation of the new government in 1789, 
Knox was continued in the office of Secretary of 
War, his commission bearing date September 12th, 
on which day the War Department of the present 
government of the United States may be said to 
have been practically instituted. He had already 
given much labor to the organization of an uniform 
system of militia throughout the United States, but 
his vigorous plans herein were not adopted. The 
army of the United States was by him organized on 
the legionary formation and for some time that system 
was continued. At this time the War Department 
had charge of Indian affairs, and Knox’s policy herein 
was noted for vigor and humanity. In the early part 
of his administration some defeats at the hands of 
the Indians were suffered in the north-west, but Gen- 
eral Wayne being sent thither soon conquered a 
lasting and advantageous peace. Several just and 
humane treaties were also made with Indian tribes 
of the South. It is to be borne in mind that Knox 
was Secretary of the Navy as well as Secretary of 
War. As such he was, in fact, the founder of the 
navy of the United States, which has since conferred 
such illustrious and imperishable renown upon the SECRETARY KNOX. 
405 
republic. Though he and Jefferson of the cabinet 
differed widely in political theories they agreed heartily 
in the necessity of a navy and were the only ones of 
the administration who did. Knox so strenuously 
advocated the establishment of a regular navy and 
was so earnestly seconded by the Secretary of State, 
that he was at length successful, and the construction 
of six frigates was authorized by act of Congress 
of March 27, 1794. One of these was the famous 
“ Constitution.” But before the navy was afloat, 
Knox carried out a determination long before 
reached, and resigned his position in the cabinet. 
His resignation took effect on the last day of the 
year 1794. His principal reason for this step was 
the inadequacy of the salary and, as he said in his 
letter, “ the indispensable claims of a wife and a 
growing and numerous family of children, whose 
sole hopes of comfortable competence rest upon my 
life and exertions.” Washington accepted the resig- 
nation with regret, and said: “ I cannot suffer you, 
however, to close your public service without uniting, 
with the satisfaction which must arise in your own 
mind of a conscious rectitude, my most perfect per- 
suasion that you have deserved well of your country.” 
General Knox remained in Philadelphia till June, 
when he started for his home in what is now Thom- 
aston, Maine, and where he owned a vast tract of 
land, embracing a considerable portion of three 
counties. He met with a distinguished reception at 
Boston and remained there several days. At Thom- 
aston he had a large and elegant mansion where he 
spent the remainder of his life, happily passing the 
time in various business enterprises and in dispensing 406 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
liberal hospitality. There was, perhaps, as much 
enjoyment in his mansion as in any home in Amer- 
ica. He was visited by distinguished men from 
other lands and by very many of our own eminent 
in affairs, in literature, the arts and sciences. He 
engaged largely in the manufacture of bricks and 
in the lumber business. He was constantly im- 
proving his vast landed estate, and introduced new 
and better breeds of sheep and cattle. He quite 
extensively engaged also in ship-building and sev- 
eral vessels were launched from yards on the waters 
of his estate whose capacity for navigation he also 
greatly improved. He was, perhaps, the most en- 
terprising business man of what is now the State 
of Maine. He also carried on an active correspond- 
ence with many eminent men of the country. In 
1796, he was a commissioner on the north-eastern 
boundary question, a member of the General Court 
in 1801 and of the Governor’s Council in 1804. 
The manner of his death was singular. He acci- 
dentally swallowed a piece of chicken-bone while 
dining- which so lodged in his stomach as to cause 
mortification and, of course, death. He died on Oc- 
tober 25, 1806, at the age of only fifty-six years. 
I have thus related at considerable length the 
principal events in the life of General Knox, not 
only because he was the first Secretary of War 
under our present government and the founder of 
the American navy, but also because he was an 
extraordinarily good and able man and, for the 
reason that he wrote little and spoke less for the 
public, has not been justly appreciated by the Amer- 
ican people. Moreover, he has been the object of a SECRETARY KNOX. 
407 
grossly ignorant attack in a popular magazine by 
Mr. James Parton, who surely has a more versatile 
talent for mistakes than any other author living or 
dead. 
Henry Knox was a great soldier and admirable 
executive officer not only, but a thoroughly intelli- 
gent and sagacious statesman. I have already stated 
that in a letter to Washington he sketched a plan of 
government which was substantially adopted by the 
Federal Convention of 1787. The now resurrected 
vagaries of irredeemable paper money and commu- 
nism met with his emphatic condemnation an hun- 
dred years ago, and his general views on finance 
would be now sustained by all thoughtful and intelli- 
gent minds. “ Paper money and Tender Law,” said 
he in a letter to La Fayette, “ engross her [Rhode 
Island’s] attention entirely; this is, in other words, 
plundering the orphan and widow by virtue of laws.” 
In all the modern discussions of this question, I doubt 
if the truth has been more tersely stated. I believe 
he was the first to suggest the establishment of a 
national military academy, and he surely originated 
the now great manufacture of military material at 
Springfield. These were acts of good statesmanship 
as well as evidences of military foresight. He was in 
general politics a ferocious federalist, but no more 
so than Hamilton whose considerable statesmanship 
has never been questioned by any mind entitled to 
respect. On most questions of practical statesman- 
ship he was thoroughly informed and thoroughly 
sound. General Knox was not only a great soldier 
and wise statesman ; he was an ardent and incor- 
ruptible patriot. No purer man ever served the 408 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
republic; not even Washington himself quitted pub- 
lic life with cleaner hands. 
In private life he was wonderfully genial and 
agreeable. Though he could not make a public 
speech with effect he was a remarkably fine con- 
versationalist—full of unostentatious knowledge, wit, 
and humor. His originality of idea and of expres- 
sion was always very marked. No one could talk 
with him five minutes without perceiving that he 
was a man of genius. His person was immense, 
his presence commanding, but he ever so overflowed 
with the milk of human kindness that all who ap- 
proached him were at once made to feel at their 
ease, comfortable, and happy. HON. TIMOTHY PICKERING, 
SECOND SECRETARY OF WAR. 
GENERAL KNOX was succeeded in the War De- 
partment by Timothy Pickering, at this time a 
resident of Pennsylvania, but before and afterwards 
an eminent citizen of Massachusetts. He had been 
Postmaster-General, at that time not a cabinet office, 
for about three years. 
He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 17, 
1745, his ancestry belonging to the Pilgrim Fathers’ 
stock of pufest blood serene. He had all the ad- 
vantages of early intellectual discipline and was 
graduated from Harvard University in 1763. He 
then pursued a course of legal studies and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1768. He speedily gained a 
prominent position as a lawyer. Eight years after 
his admission to the bar he was appointed a judge 
of the court of Common Pleas of Essex county and 
sole Judge of the Maritime Court of the Middle 
District, embracing the ports of Boston, Salem, and 
others in Essex. 
He had just reached the years of mature manhood 
when the political troubles between America and the 
mother-country began generally to agitate the minds 
of the people. While he was a student at law James 
Otis, the Adamses, and others in Massachusetts, and 
Patrick Henry and his compatriots in Virginia were 
rousing the people to opposition to the acts of the 410 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
British government unfriendly to American trade 
and freedom, and the first American “ Congress ” 
assembled at- New York (1765). Young Pickering 
participated in the excitement of the time and being 
an ardent “Whig” took an influential and prominent 
part in the patriot cause. He was colonel of the 
Essex Militia regiment, a body of men of hardy 
yeomanry between 600 and 700 strong. With 
this command he opposed armed resistance to the 
British troops as early as February 26, 1775, when 
he prevented their crossing a bridge at Salem while 
on a march to seize certain military stores. This 
was nearly two months before the bloody affairs of 
Lexington and Concord aroused the Colonies to 
arms. Before this tim6 he had been a recognized 
leader among the Whigs often arousing them by 
writings and addresses. In 1784 he wrote and de- 
livered the address of the people of Salem to Gov- 
ernor Gage in protest against the Boston Port Bill. 
In patriotic labors of this kind and in the perform- 
ance of his duties on the bench he was engaged 
until the autumn of 1776, when he joined the main 
patriot army under Washington with his famous Es- 
sex regiment, now numbering upwards of 700 men 
rank and file. He did not, however, long remain 
with the army at this time, his various civic offices 
compelling his return to Massachusetts. But he 
remained long enough to impress Washington with 
a sense of his unusual general knowledge and his 
capacity for military affairs. Hence on March 30th, 
1777, Washington wrote to Colonel Pickering a highly 
complimentary letter offering him the position of Ad- 
jutant-General of the army,— an offer all the more SECRETARY PICKERING. 
411 
complimentary to Pickering because Congress had 
indicated a preference in behalf of Colonel William 
Lee for the office. Pickering at first declined, assign- 
ing several reasons therefor—the real one being his 
want of confidence in his capacity for military affairs 
— but was induced to reconsider this determination 
and to accept the place. He arrived at headquarters, 
Middlebrook, New Jersey, on June 17, and on the 
next day general orders announced his appointment 
as Adjutant-General. Soon afterwards in a letter to 
his wife, he says, “ I am very happy in the General’s 
family.” He was present at the battle of the Brandy- 
wine and of Germantown in the autumn of this year, 
and thought the British loss at the former engagement 
larger than the American. 
In October Congress by resolution changed the 
formation of the “ Board of War” which had thereto- 
fore consisted of members of Congress, and required 
that it should be composed of persons not members 
of the Congress. The powers of the Board cor- 
responded with the present powers of the Secretary 
of War. General Mifflin, Colonel Robert H. Harri- 
son, and Colonel Pickering were first elected the 
members of the Board, but Colonel Harrison de- 
clining the appointment, the number of the Board 
was increased to five, and it was fully organized in 
November, General Gates, Colonel Joseph Trumbull, 
and Richard Peters, Esq. being added. General Gates 
was made president of the Board. Colonel Picker- 
ing, however, continued to perform the duties of 
Adjutant-General until about the middle of January, 
1778. On the 30th of that month he left the en- 
campment at Valley Forge and proceeded to York, 412 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Pennsylvania, where Congress was at the time in 
session. He remained here in attending the ses- 
sions of the Board and performing his duties therein 
till Congress returned to Philadelphia, when the Board 
also went thither. He and Mr. Peters were the work- 
ing members of the Board from the beginning to the 
end of its existence. It received no little criticism 
both from Congress and the army, but it may now 
be clearly seen that in most of the acrimonious dis- 
putes of the time the Board was decidedly in the 
right. At this time Colonel Pickering’s salary was 
four thousand dollars, Continental currency, his per- 
sonal and family expenses about fourteen thousand. 
In a letter on the sad financial situation he quaintly 
complains of being about out of shirts and that he 
had already worn his clothes threadbare on both 
sides. In a letter of December 13, 1779, to his 
brother, he stated that the price of a pair of shoes 
in Philadelphia was one hundred dollars. At this 
time a dollar in money was worth about twenty-six 
“dollars” in Continental currency. 
Early in 1780 Generals Schuyler and Mifflin and 
Colonel Pickering were appointed a commission on 
the general reform of the staff departments of the 
army. The labors of the commission were generally 
approved by a resolve of Congress, and the reforms 
suggested for the Quartermaster-General’s office were 
directed to be speedily carried out. General Greene, 
serving as Quartermaster-General, was opposed to 
many of the changes recommended and with no little 
dudgeon declined to serve longer in that capacity. 
On the 5th of August Colonel Pickering was 
unanimously elected Quartermaster-General by Con- SECRETARY PICKERING. 
413 
gress, with the rank of Colonel and the pay and 
rations of a brigadier-general. He was also con- 
tinued as a member of the Board of War, his pay for 
that office being suspended, however, while he should 
remain Quartermaster-General. He filled this most 
difficult and laborious position during the remainder 
of the war; and with very marked success. The 
finances were, by reason of fiat money, in an abso- 
lutely horrible situation. His first requisition was for 
a million dollars, worth only about fourteen thousand 
dollars! He originated the plan of specie certificates 
in temporary satisfaction of vouchers and for pay- 
ment of salaries. The scheme worked admirably in 
practice, greatly improving the credit of the Depart- 
ment, but Congress interfered with it by the emission 
of new legal-tenders, and came near bringing every- 
thing into ruin again. But Pickering personally 
visited Philadelphia in the spring of 1781 and by his 
personal influence persuaded Congress to permit him 
substantially to conduct his department on a specie- 
paying basis. This was the salvation of the army 
and of the cause of the Revolution. In every respect 
Colonel Pickering conducted this important branch 
of the service with notable wisdom and success, in- 
stituting not a few valuable reforms in cutting off 
supernumeraries, etc., and all the time managing the 
affairs of the Department with economy and perfect 
integrity. He had a number of contests with cer- 
tain State agents and with Congress growing out 
of his official operations, and in every instance held 
his own against his opponents. He wielded a pow- 
erful and caustic pen. Growing out of a long contest 
with respect to certain forage he had taken in West 414 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Chester county, was a dispute with Colonel Udny 
Hay, which resulted in Hay’s challenging Pickering 
to fight a duel. He declined the challenge on the 
ground that “ duelling was an absurd and barbarous 
practice, not deciding whether a man was or was not 
in error, and sometimes scarcely whether he was 
brave or a coward.” On the ist of January, 1783, 
the Quartermaster’s department was reorganized, 
and the pay of the chief officer considerably reduced. 
Nevertheless, Colonel Pickering continued in the 
service. During this very month, he was arrested 
for debt, the evidence of the debt being certain cer- 
tificates he had issued for army supplies! He de- 
fended and won the suit, of course. The duties of 
the office of Quartermaster-General after the dis- 
bandment of the revolutionary army were compara- 
tively unimportant. He himself recommended the 
abolition of the office and this being done July 25, 
1785, he went into private life, after nine years of 
about as hard work in the army as fell to the lot of 
any one person. He had, however, for some time 
been engaged in private business as a commission 
merchant at Philadelphia, and continued to reside 
there. 
A very romantic and remarkable episode in the 
life of Colonel Pickering was his residence for sev- 
eral years in Luzerne county. The history of “ the 
Wyoming Valley,” with the terrible massacre, the 
long years of agitation and commotion over the dis- 
puted claim of Connecticut and Pennsylvania to the 
territory, and the disputes between corporations and 
individuals as to the title to lands — all this is matter 
of general history. In 1786, the Wyoming territory SECRETARY PICKERING. 
was organized into a large county called Luzerne, 
and for the purpose of practically organizing the 
county, Colonel Pickering was appointed clerk of 
the various courts, a Judge of the court of Common 
Pleas, register of wills, and recorder of deeds. He 
was given full powers to call elections for elec- 
tive officers and, in a word, to set the political 
machine in motion. It was believed that his well 
known character for justice and the fact that he was 
a New England man would enable him to put an end 
to the disturbed situation of affairs more quickly than 
could be done by any one else. In the autumn,, he 
made a journey on horseback to the country, going 
as far up the Susquehanna as Tioga, had consider- 
able tracts of land surveyed, and bought a farm for 
himself. In January, 1787, he went thither and organ- 
ized the county. He was instrumental in the pas- 
sage of an act quieting titles, and for a time matters 
went on well enough. But old animosities began 
again to assert themselves, and this act of the legis- 
lature being repealed, the valley again fell into a sit- 
uation of chronic commotion. Colonel Pickering, 
having been prominent in the arrest and imprison- 
ment of a leading man among the troublesome spirits, 
a large number of his adherents undertook to kidnap 
him in revenge. They attacked his house by night, 
October 2d, but he escaped to the woods and after 
great hardships and suffering reached Philadelphia. 
He was soon afterwards elected a delegate from 
Luzerne county to the convention which ratified the 
federal Constitution. In that body he labored earn- 
estly for ratification. He returned to Wyoming in 
January, 1788, but only to have more and greater 416 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
troubles with the rough inhabitants of that disturbed 
country. He was warned to leave the country, but, 
remarking that he could not afford to give up his 
farm and buildings, he declined to comply with the 
request. Near midnight on the 26th of June, he was 
forcibly siezed in his bed by a gang of twenty masked 
men and abducted. He was then bound and carried 
off into the woods. In this imprisonment, part of the 
time handcuffed and with an immense chain fastened 
to one of his ankles, he remained for about three 
weeks, being moved about from place to place in the 
fastnesses of the country, and nearly all the time 
sleeping in the open air. The State authorities made 
a vigorous search for him, bodies of militia scouring 
the country with this object, but without success, 
though often within gun-shot of the game they were 
pursuing. At length he prevailed upon the men to 
release him. On reaching home, so great had been 
the hardships he had endured in his imprisonment, 
so changed and haggard was his appearance that his 
children, not knowing him, fled from him in alarm. 
His abductors were tried, fined, and imprisoned, but 
believing most of them to be ignorant men misguided 
by others who deserted them in their pinch, Colonel 
Pickering interceded for their pardon which was in 
several instances granted. This was the last great 
crime of “the dark and bloody ground” of Wyo- 
ming, the end of a period of thirty years’ commotion. 
After this, largely by reason of Pickering’s influence, 
the famed valley had peace and quiet, and in a few 
years became permanently prosperous. 
In the autumn of 1789, Colonel Pickering was 
elected a delegate from Luzerne to a convention SECRETARY PICKERING. 
to revise the constitution of Pennsylvania. The 
convention sat during the winter and far into the 
spring of 1790, when it took a long recess. It did 
not adjourn till September. Colonel Pickering was 
a constant attendant upon its sittings, giving close 
attention to all debates, but especial attention to the 
subject of popular education. Chiefly through his 
labors and influence wise and liberal provisions on 
this subject were made part of the constitution. 
After the adjournment of the convention, he re- 
turned to his home and continued to conduct his 
farm in person and attend to the light duties of his 
offices. He lived in a large, two-story house, made 
of logs, hewn and so put together as to make not 
only a comfortable but a quite tasteful home. He 
was no amateur but a downright, hard-working, 
horny-handed farmer. 
Immediately after the adjournment of the constitu- 
tional convention, President Washington appointed 
Colonel Pickering a commissioner to the Seneca 
Indians to treat with them with regard to certain 
murders of members of their nation by whites. He 
was successful in his mission, manifesting great 
sagacity in his management of the difficult and deli- 
cate business entrusted to his charge. He was af- 
terwards made a commissioner with more extensive 
powers to the Six Nations and was in this instance 
equally successful. Later, and even while he was 
Postmaster-General he was employed in like service, 
and, except in one instance where the commission 
was thwarted by the secret machinations of British 
officers, he was greatly successful. His management 
of Indian affairs while he was at the head of the War 418 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Department was noted for wisdom and a real knowl- 
edge of the subject. He was offered the appoint- 
ment of Superintendent of the Northern Indians in 
1790, but declined it. Not long afterwards he also 
declined the appointment of Quartermaster of the 
Western Army. 
In August, 1791, he was appointed Postmaster- 
General by Washington. He conducted this office 
with notable energy, greatly extending its operations 
and shortening the time of carrying the mails until 
January 2d, 1795, when he succeeded General Knox 
as Secretary of War. His thorough knowledge of 
the army and of Indian affairs enabled him at once 
to direct the multiform concerns of the Department 
with intelligence, and he was a man who never for 
a moment lacked in vigorous energy. He also hast- 
ened forward measures for the completion of the 
men-of-war whose construction had been instituted 
under the direction of General Knox. He strongly 
advocated establishing a military academy at West 
Point. He increased the importance of Springfield 
as a manufacture of arms and aided in the estab- 
lishment of an arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, which was, 
however, from the beginning, a pet measure of Wash- 
ington’s. He constantly advocated the maintenance 
of a considerable but not very large regular army as 
necessary frontier and as an intelligent and 
efficient nucleus about which to rally an army of vol- 
unteers in case of foreign war. 
In August, 1795, the famous intrigue between Mr. 
Randolph, Secretary of State, and the French Minis- 
ter Fauchet became known to the President. Upon 
the resignation of Randolph soon afterwards, Colonel SECRETARY PICKERING. 
Pickering was appointed acting Secretary of State, 
and as such discharged the duties of that office as 
well as those of Secretary of War for more than 
three months. Washington later offered the State 
department to Pickering, but he declined. He was 
at length persuaded to accept, however, and was ap- 
pointed and confirmed in December. He also con- 
tinued for some time to direct the affairs of the War 
Department, Mr. McHenry not taking charge thereof 
until the latter part of January, 1796. Indeed, he 
continued to be consulted by the military committees 
of Congress with regard to army matters generally 
and Indian and naval affairs particularly throughout 
the then current session of Congress. 
Colonel Pickering accepted the office of Secretary 
of State with great diffidence, saying that he was a 
man of business, not a student, and that he had given 
no special attention for many years to the study of 
law. He soon learned, however, that the general 
duties of his new office were less onerous than those 
of the War Department. The period during which 
he was Secretary of State — the latter part of Wash- 
ington’s administration and nearly the whole of that 
of John Adams—was one of even unusual partisan 
rancour in the country. Even the character of 
Washington did not escape the grossest aspersions. 
Moreover, the principal partisan disputes of the time 
grew out of questions connected with our foreign 
relations, notably Jay’s treaty and the delicate and 
difficult situation in which our government stood 
with regard to France. The doctrine of American 
neutrality in European affairs was at this time defini- 
tively proclaimed, though not without powerful oppo- 420 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
sition, and has ever since been the established policy 
of the republic. We were for a considerable period 
on the verge of war with France. From the many 
and great difficulties of the situation the new govern- 
ment successfully emerged. Throughout all, Colo- 
nel Pickering was a prominent character, and it is 
now generally agreed that his management of our 
foreign affairs was in the main wise and all the time 
energetic and patriotic. His outspoken nature was 
throughout this difficult crisis a benefit to his country. 
On May ioth, 1800, President Adams requested Colo- 
nel Pickering’s resignation as Secretary of State, 
and desired a reply on the following Monday. On 
that day (May 12) Pickering sent a formal commu- 
nication to the President with regard to a consular 
appointment, and later a note concluding: “After 
deliberately reflecting on the overture you have been 
pleased to make to me, I do not feel it to be my duty 
to resign.” Within an hour he received a brief note 
from the President concluding: “You are hereby 
discharged from any further service as Secretary of 
State.” There was no reason assigned for the dis- 
missal at the time, and the action of President Adams 
in the matter has ever since remained a matter of 
dispute. The truth would appear to be that Presi- 
dent Adams learned of his sympathizing with Gen- 
eral Hamilton’s intrigues against the Executive, and 
very properly dismissed him. 
Colonel Pickering left office poor; so poor that he 
had to remove one of his sons from an academy. 
He had a large tract of land in the north-eastern part 
of Pennsylvania. Taking his family to Easton, he 
proceeded to these lands, and building log huts for SECRETARY PICKERING. 
421 
himself and laborers, went personally to work cutting 
down timber and making a farm. During the fall 
and early spring he had cleared and ready for crops 
about thirty acres, which were at once placed under 
cultivation. In the spring of 1801, he visited Mas- 
sachusetts, and while at Salem old friends clubbed 
together and bought enough of his Pennsylvania 
lands to amount to $25,000 cash. With this he was 
enabled to pay his debts and have about $15,000 
remaining. Returning to Pennsylvania, he arranged 
for his sons -to go on with the farm, and in the follow- 
ing November removed with his family to Salem. 
He bought a farm in Essex county, and during the 
remainder of his life was a citizen of Massachusetts. 
In the following year he was made chief justice of 
the Essex county Court of Common Pleas. In 1803 
he was elected a member of the United States Senate 
and remained a prominent and influential member of 
that body until 1811. During the war with England 
he was a member of the Massachusetts Board of War, 
and in 1814 was elected a Representative in Congress, 
serving as such during 1815-17. He died at Salem 
January 29, 1829, at the venerable age of 83 years. 
Timothy Pickering was in politics an ardent Fed- 
eralist and for years a recognized leader of the party 
in the United States. He was not a great orator, but 
was a powerful writer and a sagacious politician. No 
more disinterested patriot ever lived. In manners he 
was somewhat stern, and always perfectly outspoken, 
but in conversation with those whom he well knew he 
has had few equals among American public men. In 
person, he was tall and fine looking, with a Roman 
cast of countenance suggesting his inflexible will. HON. JAMES McHENRY, 
THIRD SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
JAMES McHENRY was born in Ballymena, county 
Antrim, Ireland, November 16, 1753. His father 
was a prosperous man of business and gave the son 
a good education. He was attending Dublin Uni- 
versity when about the year 1771 he took a voyage 
to America for his health, landing at Baltimore. He 
was so well pleased with America in general and 
Baltimore in particular that he wrote to his father 
urgently advising him to come to this country. The 
advice was followed and Daniel McHenry soon be- 
came a prosperous trader in Lovely Lane, Baltimore. 
In 1772, James was at Newark Academy, Delaware, 
then a noted school, but whether engaged as student 
or tutor is not known. Not long after this we find 
him engaged studying medicine with the celebrated 
Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. McHenry was 
a medical student with Dr. Rush, an ardent patriot, 
during the opening stages of the revolution. He 
warmly sympathized with the patriot cause. He also, 
through Dr. Rush, became personally acquainted with 
Washington and formed a lofty admiration for him 
which but increased with years. In the early part of 
August, 1775, he set out for Cambridge “ to serve,” as 
he said in an informal will drawn up at the time, “ as 
a volunteer or surgeon in the American army raised 
by order of the Continental Congress to defend the 
422 SECRETARY McHENRY. 
423 
liberties of Americans and mankind against the ene- 
mies of both.” Dr. McHenry was evidently a man 
of great common sense, for in this same will he di- 
rected that all his poetry “and other rude sketches” 
should be burnt. He served as an assistant surgeon 
in the army at Cambridge. In August, 1776, he was 
commissioned by Congress surgeon of the Fifth 
Pennsylvania battalion. He was present at the bat- 
tle of Long Island and rendered valuable service in 
the retreat. He was engaged in the performance of 
his duties as surgeon at Fort Washington when that 
work was captured by the British in November, and 
became, of course, a prisoner. He was paroled in 
January, 1777, but was not exchanged until March 
of the following year. On May 15, he was appointed 
Secretary to General Washington, and from this time 
until the death of the General was among his confi- 
dential friends. Dr. McHenry remained in Wash- 
ington’s military family as secretary and aide-de- 
camp until August, 1780, when he was transferred to 
the staff of General La Fayette where he served 
until the close of the war. It was one of the open 
secrets of the time that Washington brought about 
this arrangement because he knew McHenry to be 
admirably calculated to regulate and wisely direct the 
youthful ardor of the impetuous Frenchman. It 
would appear that McHenry herein finely vindicated 
the judgment of the commander-in-chief. In this 
employment McHenry had the rank of Major. La 
Fayette on many occasions acknowledged the great 
services rendered him by McHenry not only in the 
field but in other matters. Years afterwards, when 
the Marquis was confined a close prisoner at Olmutz, 424 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
McHenry warmly interceded in his behalf with our 
government, and actually for once in his life asked 
office, namely, a special mission to Vienna in the 
interest of America’s great friend in the war of the 
revolution. But nothing came of it. When La 
Fayette visited Baltimore in his American tour of 
1824, he first landed at Fort McHenry, named in 
honor of his early friend, and in his reply to the 
address of welcome touchingly alluded to the confi- 
dential friend of his military family “of whom this 
fort, most nobly defended in the last war, brought 
back the affecting recollection.” 
In September, 1781, while he was still on the staff 
of La Fayette, McHenry was elected to the Mary- 
land Senate. He held that office until 1786 when 
he resigned. In 1783 he was appointed a delegate 
to Congress in place of Edward Giles, deceased, and 
was elected to the same office by the legislature a 
few months afterwards. He held this employment 
as well as that of State Senator till 1786, a double 
duty then quite common among men of influence. 
In the following year Dr. McHenry was chosen a 
delegate to the federal Constitutional convention. 
He advocated the adoption of the Constitution. In 
April, 1788, he was also a member of the State con- 
vention, called to pass upon the Constitution where 
his influence was potent for ratification notwithstand- 
ing the opposition of Luther Martin and other able 
men of the State. When Washington passed through 
Baltimore in May, 1789, on his way to New York to 
institute the new government, McHenry was one of 
the committee of reception, as he had been some 
years before at Annapolis a member of the committee SECRETARY MCHENRY. 
425 
of Congress to make appropriate arrangements for 
the order of Washington’s audience on the occasion 
of his resigning his commission. In 1789 McHenry 
was elected a delegate to the general assembly, and 
two years afterwards he was again elected to the 
Senate for the term of five years. This office he 
resigned to accept that of Secretary of War to 
which he was appointed by Washington in January, 
1796. He remained in charge of the Department 
during the remainder of Washington’s administra- 
tion and until May, 1800, when at the request of 
President Adams he resigned. 
During the first two years of McHenry’s charge 
of the War Department he also had charge of the 
Navy, and therein did valuable service. Under the 
first three Secretaries of War—Knox, Pickering, 
and McHenry — the American navy was successfully 
founded. During the latter part of McHenry’s ad- 
ministration of the Department we were on the 
ragged edge of war with France. The enrolment 
and organization of a large army were authorized 
by law. Washington was appointed Commander- 
in-chief, and he demanded that Alexander Hamilton 
should be second in command. This was contrary 
to the judgment of President Adams, who thought 
the man should be General Knox. On this point it 
would appear that Adams was for once in the right. 
Knox was a soldier of marked abilities, intelligence, 
and spirit; Hamilton was the most unscrupulous po- 
litical intriguer our country has ever had, not even 
excepting the man who did so much to almost deify 
his reputation by killing him in a duel, Aaron Burr. 
Washington insisted, and Adams yielded the point. 426 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
This exhibition of magnanimity should have utterly 
destroyed Hamilton’s malevolence toward Adams; 
it only increased it. Hamilton being the principal 
person in this little drama, there was, of course, a 
great deal of intrigue in the business with which 
the President became thoroughly disgusted. There 
hence sprang up disagreements in the cabinet, which, 
aided by other topics on which there was difference 
of opinion, grew into open rupture. But meantime 
the war with France had been furiously waging — 
on paper. Washington must have consumed a ream 
of paper in writing letters to the Secretary of War, 
General Hamilton, and others on subjects connected 
with the impending conflict. McHenry often visited 
Washington at Mount Vernon, and was kept con- 
stantly active with warlike preparations. In the 
midst of all he was quite unceremoniously asked to 
resign, and did so. Out of all this, an historical 
quarrel has arisen between the adherents of Mr. 
Adams and those of General Hamilton. I judge 
that Mr. McHenry’s conduct was honorable and fair 
throughout, but that by reason of his being too much 
under the fascinating, malign influence of Hamilton, 
President Adams very properly demanded his with- 
drawal from the cabinet. In his letter of resignation 
o 
McHenry says: “ Having discharged the duties of 
Secretary of War for upwards of four years with 
fidelity, unremitting assiduity, and to the best of 
my abilities, I leave behind me all the records of the 
Department, exhibiting the principles and manner of 
my official conduct, together with not a few difficulties 
I have had to encounter. To these written docu- 
ments 1 cheerfully refer my reputation as an officer SECRE TAR Y McHENR Y. 
427 
and a man.” Later, a committee of the House of 
Representatives, now strongly anti-Federal, was ap- 
pointed to investigate the affairs of the Department 
under McHenry’s administration. Two years after 
he had been out of office, this committee reported, 
charging his administration with certain irregulari- 
ties and extravagant expenditures. To this report 
Mr. McHenry replied in a long letter to the Speaker 
of the House, replying to the charges seriatim and 
with an array of facts and figures which completely 
vindicated his conduct and established the frivolous 
and malevolent nature of the charges. A more 
spirited paper has seldom been read in Congress. 
It demolished the Report so completely that nothing 
more was ever heard of it. 
After this Mr. McHenry lived in retirement, 
always dispensing a generous hospitality, on his fine 
estate in the then suburbs of Baltimore. He op- 
posed the policy of the war of 1812 but took no 
public part in the discussions of the times. He died 
May 3d, 1816. 
Dr. McHenry was a man of wide information and 
of respectable talents but not of great abilities. In 
the discharge of his public duties he was always faith- 
ful and industrious. In private life he was pure and 
loved and respected to a remarkable degree. Mary- 
land has given many, very many, illustrious men to 
our country, but not one entitled to a warmer regard 
in the hearts of his countrymen on account of upright 
private life and faithful public service than James 
McHenry. HON. SAMUEL DEXTER, 
FOURTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
ON the removal of Mr. McHenry from the head 
of the War Department, the appointment was 
offered to John Marshall, of Virginia, afterwards the 
illustrious chief justice of the United States. He 
declined the office and the Hon. Samuel Dexter of 
Massachusetts was appointed, thus becoming the 
fourth Secretary of War under our constitutional 
government. 
Samuel Dexter was born in Boston, May 14, 1761. 
His father was of the same name, was a distinguished 
patriot and learned scholar. He was a warm friend 
of education and the founder of a professorship at 
Harvard University which still bears his name. The 
son had every advantage of early mental training by 
the best teachers, and was graduated at Harvard at 
the age of twenty years with the first honors of the 
class. He studied law at Worcester with the cele- 
brated Levi Lincoln, afterwards Attorney-General 
of the United States. He had a genius for the law 
and studied with so much assiduity as to seriously 
injure his eye-sight for a time. He first opened an 
office in the town of Lunenbu-rg, Worcester county, 
but not long afterwards removed to Middlesex, 
where he soon acquired an extensive and lucrative 
practice. He soon also became prominent in poli- 
tics and was elected to the legislature. In 1792 he 
428 SECRETARY DEXTER. 
429 
was elected a member of Congress where he served 
with distinction during 1793-95. Returning to Mas- 
sachusetts he resumed the practice of his profession 
at Boston, being now a recognized leader of the bar 
of his State, noted for the power of his eloquence 
before juries and the strength and clearness of his 
argumentation before courts. In the spring of 1799 
he was returned to the United States Senate, and 
he remained an eminent member of that body, and 
confessedly its most eloquent orator, until he became 
Secretary of War in May of the following year. On 
the death of Washington, in December, 1799, the 
Senate ordered a letter to be addressed to the Presi- 
dent in respect to his memory and character. This 
historical and well known paper was written by Mr. 
Dexter. Herein occurs the phrase: “ On this occa- 
sion it is manly to weep.” And these: “Ancient 
and modern times are diminished before him. Great- 
ness and guilt have too often been allied; but his 
fame is whiter than it is brilliant.” 
Like Calhoun, Stanton, McCrary, and some other 
statesmen who have been Secretaries of War, Mr. 
Dexter took charge of the Department without hav- 
ing specially studied its affairs. As in those instances, 
his genius and industry enabled him speedily to be- 
come perfect master of the situation, and to success- 
fully conduct the affairs of the Department during a 
grave crisis in our country’s history. For we were 
still on the verge of war with France. 
Early in 1801 he became Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, and remained such during the rest of the admin- 
istration of Adams and for a little over a year under 
Mr. Jefferson, when he was succeeded by Albert 430 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Gallatin. During a considerable absence of the Sec- 
retary of State, Mr. Dexter also conducted the affairs 
of that Department. After his retirement from the 
Treasury Department he held no other public office. 
In 1815, President Madison offered him a highly im- 
portant extraordinary mission to the court of Spain, 
but he declined it. 
From the time of his retirement from office, Mr. 
Dexter mainly devoted himself to his practice, which 
was very extensive, particularly in the Supreme Court 
of the United States, where for a considerable period 
he was without a superior, the only person for whom 
a just rivalry with him in power before the court 
could be claimed being the distinguished William 
Pinkney of Maryland. 
Up to the last war with England Mr. Dexter had 
always been a member of the Federal party, though 
he never was at any time a bitter partisan. Upon 
the declaration of war, he left that party and joined 
the Republicans, but without giving up, as he insisted, 
his Federal opinions. The Republican party being in 
power and the country at war, he did not think it 
patriotic to be in opposition, — a rational opinion, 
which his experience as head of the War Depart- 
ment had doubtless contributed to form. For his 
course herein he was censured by the party press of 
the Federalists, but the criticisms did not at all disturb 
his serenity. In 1815 he was the candidate of the 
Republicans for Governor of Massachusetts, and was 
defeated. In the following year he was again nomi- 
nated. During the canvass, he made a visit to a son 
who was just then establishing himself in life at the 
village of Athens, New York, and was there attacked SECRE TAR Y DEXTER. 
431 
by the same disease of which Washington had died. 
Mr. Dexter succumbed in a very short time, expiring 
on the 3d day of May. 
Few of America’s public men are entitled to have 
their memories cherished with more genuine respect 
than Samuel Dexter. He was a man of great genius 
and of exalted character. His powers of oratory 
were wonderfully grand and wonderfully versatile. 
The country has never had a greater advocate. His 
practical executive abilities were shown to be supe- 
rior by his successful discharge of the duties of the 
three greatest departments of the government. In 
a great crisis of the republic he demonstrated the 
purity and the power of his patriotism by preferring 
country to party. His private life was exemplary. 
He is entitled to high credit and lasting renown for 
being the first president of the first society ever or- 
ganized in the United States in behalf of the cause 
of Temperance, a society which he himself instituted, 
and for which he ever earnestly labored. He was 
noted as an instructive and vivacious conversation- 
alist. He was the author of several publications 
which had a very considerable temporary celebrity. GENERAL HENRY DEARBORN, 
FIFTH SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
HENRY DEARBORN was born at North Hamp- 
ton, New Hampshire, February 23, 1751. Hav- 
ing received a liberal education and taken a thorough 
course of study in medicine and surgery under the 
then celebrated Dr. Hall Jackson of Portsmouth, he 
entered upon the practice of his profession in 1772 
at Nottingham Square. Convinced that the liberties 
of his country must ere long be defended at the point 
of the sword, he organized a military company and 
gave much attention to military studies and exer- 
cises. On April 20, 1775, hearing of the battle of Lex- 
ington and Concord, he marched his company to Cam- 
bridge, a distance of about sixty miles within twenty- 
four hours. After remaining a few days Dearborn 
returned with his command. He was appointed Cap- 
tain in the First New Hampshire regiment, Colonel 
John Stark, and speedily enlisted a company with 
which he joined the regiment at Medford, near 
Boston, May 15. He was distinguished at the bat- 
tle of Bunker Hill where Colonel Stark’s regiment 
held the line of rail fence and successfully protected 
the retreat of the Americans. Captain Dearborn 
held the right of the regiment and personally fought 
with a fusee during the battle. In the following 
autumn he accompanied Arnold on the expedition 
against Quebec. Thirty-two days during the cold 
432 SECRETARY DEARBORN. 
433 
months of November and December were employed 
on the march through the wilderness between the 
settlements on the Kennebec and Chaudiere Rivers. 
There was terrible suffering. Many men were frozen 
or starved to death. Dearborn divided his favorite 
dog with comrades to be used as food. On reaching 
the Chaudiere he was taken sick and could go no 
further. Cheering on his men he was received into 
a poor hut where there were hardly the ordinary 
necessaries of life and no medicines. For ten days 
he suffered great agony; but his strong constitution 
at length obtained a victory, and he was able to join 
the army in time for the memorable assault on Que- 
bec. He was attached to the corps under Arnold 
which fought gallantly and was captured. The offi- 
cers were placed in rigid confinement and in other 
respects were treated with indignity. In May, 1776, 
Dearborn was paroled and proceeded to Portland 
by way of Halifax. In March, 1777, he was ex- 
changed. He was now appointed major of the 
Third New Hampshire regiment, Alexander Scam- 
mel colonel. The regiment joined the northern 
army at Ticonderoga early in May, and participated 
in all the operations of the campaign which closed 
with the surrender of Burgoyne. At the battles 
of Stillwater and Saratoga Major Dearborn was 
especially distinguished. In 1778, now having the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel, Dearborn served with 
the main army in the Jerseys. On the hot field of 
Monmouth he behaved with conspicuous gallantry 
and effect. Having repulsed an attack of the enemy 
and driven him in rout from that part of the field, 
Dearborn approached Washington commanding in 434 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT\ 
person, for further orders. “ What troops are those ? ” 
inquired the General. “ Full-blooded Yankees from 
New Hampshire, sir,” replied Dearborn with a salute. 
Washington expressed approbation of their conduct 
and highly complimented, them in general orders of 
the next day. In 1779 Dearborn accompanied Gen- 
eral Sullivan in the expedition against the Six Na- 
tions and participated in the battle of Newtown, 
August 29, in which the Indians under Brant and 
the Tories under Sir John Johnson were summarily 
punished. In the following year he was with the 
main army in New Jersey. In 1781 he was ap- 
pointed deputy quartermaster-general and served as 
such on the staff of Washington till after the sur- 
render of Cornwallis. Colonel Scammel being killed 
in the siege of Yorktown, Dearborn was appointed 
colonel of the regiment and served in that capacity 
until the close of the war. 
In 1784 Colonel Dearborn removed to the district 
of Maine. A few years later he was appointed a 
brigadier- and a major-general of militia in quick 
succession. He took an active part in affairs and 
was twice elected to represent the Kennebec district 
in Congress. He was also for some time marshal 
of the district of Maine, receiving his appointment in 
1790 from Washington. 
After the close of the administration of President 
Washington, the people of the country began to form 
themselves into two distinct parties with opposing 
political dogmas. These organizations gradually 
came to be known as the Federal and the Republi- 
can party respectively, Mr. Jefferson being the un- 
doubted leader of the latter, leadership in the former SECRE TAR Y DEARBORN. 
435 
being disputed by the adherents of John Adams, 
Alexander Hamilton, and others. General Dear- 
born cast his fortunes with the party of Jefferson, and 
was regarded as a leading representative man of the 
old Republicans in New England for many years. 
On the accession of Jefferson to the presidency, 
March, 1801, General Dearborn was appointed Sec- 
retary of War and remained at the head of the De- 
partment for eight years. He was a thoroughly 
intelligent, honest, and energetic Secretary. 
On his retirement from the War Department Gen- 
eral Dearborn accepted the office of collector of the 
port, Boston, a position of large political influence 
and profit. This office he held until his appointment 
as senior major-general in the United States Army, 
January, 1812. He was placed in command of the 
Northern Department. The surrender of Hull and 
the unfortunate affairs on the Niagara in the summer 
and fall of this year had a depressing effect upon the 
people; but the capture of York, now Toronto, Can- 
ada, in April and of Fort George on the Niagara in 
May, by Dearborn, restored the national spirits. He 
was about to carry out a plan for the capture of 
Kingston when he was relieved of command. The 
order relieving him simply stated that he was re- 
lieved “ on account of ill health.” He demanded 
a court of inquiry, and persisted in the demand, but 
in vain, and the matter has ever since been a subject 
of much debate. The truth would appear to be that 
the order relieving the General was the result of a 
political intrigue. President Madison was a pro- 
foundly thoughtful statesman and most amiable man. 
His writings are admirable studies for statesmen, HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
evincing uncommon powers of original reflection and 
strength of reasoning. He will forever retain the 
admiring regard of all his intelligent countrymen, 
and it is hardly possible that the time will ever come 
when the influence of his mind will not be consider- 
able in American affairs. Nevertheless, this great 
statesman and pure man was a poor war President. 
And singularly enough, as it may seem to some, this 
fact was due to good rather than to faulty qualities 
in his character. He had so much of the milk of 
human kindness in his nature that it was impossible 
for him to be a good hater. It is impossible for a 
man to be a first-rate war President without this 
faculty. It was right here that President Lincoln at 
first failed and continued to fail until terrible experi- 
ence taught even him — “ the kindest heart that ever 
beat ” — to become a good hater. This lesson Mr. 
Madison never learned, and was under the influence 
of intriguers more than he knew. General Dear- 
born was surely among the most influential of North- 
ern Republicans. For eight years he had shared the 
confidence of Mr. Jefferson. His revolutionary his- 
tory was fairly heroic. In the beginning of the cam- 
paign of 1813 he conducted the war in his theatre 
with great energy and success. A campaign or two 
like that would be likely to wrest the leadership of 
the party from those to whom it had, so to say, been 
assigned by the powers, and transfer it to others. 
This the summary decapitation of General Dearborn 
prevented. He was permitted to remain in a sort 
of situation of disgrace, without inquiry and without 
explanation. Afterwards, President Madison nomi- 
nated him Secretary of War. He was rejected by SECRETARY DEARBORN. 
437 
the Senate. After the rejection, President Madison 
explained the matter fully to a number of Senators 
when they all averred that had the facts been known 
General Dearborn would have been unanimously 
confirmed. The power behind the throne which pre- 
vented Madison from giving this information before 
action by the Senate was the same as that which 
relieved General Dearborn in the first instance. I 
am convinced that the masterly strategy of Mr. 
Monroe in this business has never been surpassed 
if it has been equalled. 
However all this may be, General Dearborn, still 
demanding a court of inquiry, was assigned to the 
command of the district of New York, with head- 
quarters in the city, threatened, as was supposed by 
the enemy. He remained in this command until the 
close of the war. After the war he settled upon his 
estates at Roxbury, near Boston. He was once or 
twice the candidate of the Republicans for Governor 
of Massachusetts but was defeated. From May, 1822 
until 1824, when he resigned, he was Minister to 
Portugal. Returning to his home in Massachusetts 
he remained in retirement until his death, June 6, 
1829. 
General Dearborn was a clear and forcible writer. 
About the year 1818 he published an article in a 
magazine of the time on the battle of Bunker Hill, 
in which he undertook to demonstrate that General 
Putnam was not at all engaged at the front at that 
battle. The article created a notable sensation, quite 
a new “battle of the books,” and has left the point in 
some dispute ever since. Other writings of his — 
accounts of, some of his military campaigns — are 438 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
published in his Life by his son Henry A. C. Dear- 
born, who was also a man of note. 
General Dearborn was a man of impressive pres- 
ence, tall and fine looking. He invariably won the 
cordial respect of all who became acquainted with, 
him. No word in challenge of his perfect integrity 
was ever uttered. HON. WILLIAM EUSTIS, 
U'PON the accession of President Madison, Gen- 
eral Dearborn was appointed collector of the 
port of Boston and Hon. William Eustis, of Massa- 
chusetts, was made Secretary of War. 
He was born in Cambridge, July io, 1753. He 
received a thorough education, graduating at Har- 
vard University in 1772. Adopting medicine as his 
profession he studied with the famous Dr. Joseph 
Warren, who was slain at the battle of Bunker Hill. 
He served during the revolutionary war as a surgeon 
in the army. For some years he was stationed at 
the house of Beverly Robinson, opposite West Point, 
where Arnold had his headquarters. After the war 
he engaged in the practice of his profession. He 
was for several years a member of the Massachu- 
setts legislature, and for two years a member of 
Governor Sullivan’s Council. In 1800 he was elected 
a Representative in Congress and was reelected two 
years afterwards. Becoming Secretary of War in 
March, 1809, at a time when our difficulties with 
Great Britain were strongly tending toward open 
war, he remained in charge of the Department until 
intelligence of Hull’s surrender of Detroit was re- 
ceived, when he resigned in feelings of chagrin 
because of that calamitous event. In 1814 he was 
appointed Minister to the Netherlands and occupied 
SIXTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
439 440 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
that office until the summer of 1818, when at his own 
request he was recalled. Two years afterwards he 
again entered public life and was elected a member 
of Congress, serving until 1823. In that year he was 
elected Governor of Massachusetts and was reelected 
in the following year. He died while in that office, 
February 6, 1825, having attained the age of 72 
years. 
Mr. Eustis was distinguished for frankness of 
disposition and decision of character. It is doubtful 
whether any surgeon in the army of the revolutionary 
war had more influence in military circles than he. 
He was fond of army life, and being appointed sur- 
geon-general of General Lincoln’s forces to suppress 
Shays’s insurrection, became generally known as “the 
fighting doctor.” In the many public positions he 
filled he conducted himself with credit but not with 
brilliancy. In private life he was without stain and 
without reproach. GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, 
SEVENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, of New York, 
Vjr who became Secretary of War in January, 1813, 
was a native of Pennsylvania. He was born at Car- 
lisle in that State, November 25, 1758. His early 
mental training was good, and he was a student at 
Princeton college when, in 1775, he volunteered in 
a Pennsylvania regiment and from that time forth 
until the close of the war was actively engaged in 
military duty. He served as aide-de-camp to Gen- 
eral Mercer, until his death from wounds received 
at the battle of Princeton, and afterwards in the 
same capacity with General Gates, having the rank 
of Major. He was with Gates during the campaign 
of Saratoga and was actively and gallantly engaged 
in the operations which resulted in the capitulation 
of the whole British army under Burgoyne. 
After the virtual close of the war by the surrender 
of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the principal body of 
American troops, it is well known, remained in the 
vicinity of West Point for a considerable period. 
There was great and general complaint in the 
army — and it was also uncommonly just — on ac- 
count of arrearages of pay, and the fear that the 
war would be finally closed without a settlement of 
accounts. This great trouble, with its imminent 
threatened danger to the country is historical. The 
441 442 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
threatening attitude of the army, in the apparent 
neglect of Congress, is equally well known. In 
this situation the celebrated “Newburgh Letters,” 
setting forth the services and destitution of the 
army and urging aggressive measures of relief, 
appeared. They were written with great power 
and eloquence, and in truth almost persuaded the 
army to march against Congress. The difficulty 
was happily surmounted, as we have seen in the 
life of General Knox, by the patriotism and elo- 
quence of Washington. Major Armstrong was the 
author of the “ Newburgh Letters.” Speaking of 
them in a letter, January 23, 1797, nearly fifteen 
years after their appearance, Washington said: “I 
have since had sufficient reason for believing that 
the object of the author was just, honorable, and 
friendly to the country, though the means suggested 
by him were certainly liable to much misunderstand- 
ing and abuse.” This is the verdict of history. 
After the war Major Armstrong became Secretary 
of State and also Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania. 
In 1784 he conducted a vigorous campaign against 
the disturbers of the peace in the Wyoming valley, 
which was followed by the civil organization of that 
territory and its eventual quiet, after much disturb- 
ance, as related in the life of Colonel Pickering. 
In 1789 Armstrong removed to the State of New 
York and for several years engaged in agriculture. 
In 1800 he was elected to the United States Senate 
and served in that body for four years gaining no 
little distinction. He then resigned to accept the 
office of Minister to France offered him by Presi- 
dent Jefferson, and to which he was formally ap- SECRETARY ARMSTRONG. 
443 
pointed in June, 1804. In March, 1806, he and 
Janies Bowdoin of Massachusetts were appointed 
Commissioners Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary 
to treat with Spain concerning territories and mat- 
ters of dispute between that kingdom and the 
United States. The Commissioners conducted ne- 
gotiations at Paris, but they amounted to nothing. 
Armstrong returned to America in 1810. In July, 
1812, he was commissioned a brigadier-general in 
the United States Army, but without having had 
opportunity for much service in the field he was 
appointed Secretary of War in January, 1813, Mr. 
Eustis having resigned. This office General Arm- 
strong conducted with exceptional energy and good 
sense, effecting not a few salutary changes in the or- 
ganization of the army. The sack of Washington, 
however, and ill fortune in the Canada campaign 
produced a popular clamor against him, and, like 
Eustis, he escaped to the wilderness of private life, 
carrying the sins of others on his shoulders. From 
this time he lived in retirement on his estates in 
New York, with the exception of a considerable 
period that he spent in Maryland. Though in re- 
tirement he lived not in idleness or ease. His 
vigorous pen was kept well at work, and he wrote 
a fine, pugnacious Review of General Wilkinson’s 
Memoirs, a brief but first-rate “ History of the War 
of 1812,” and lives of Generals Montgomery and 
Wayne. These latter are included in Sparks’s 
‘American Biography.” He had also written a 
“ History of the American Revolution ” which was 
nearly ready for publication when a fire which de- 
stroyed his home consumed also the manuscripts 444 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of this work. He died April i, 1843, at the vener- 
able age of 85 years. 
There have been few more able Secretaries of 
War than General Armstrong. He was thoroughly 
acquainted with the art of war and with the organi- 
zation of our own army. He took charge of the 
Department at a time when by a series of accidents, 
or a run of general ill luck, military matters were at 
loose ends. He at once greatly improved the situa- 
tion and placed matters in such train as eventually 
led to the organization of victory for the American 
cause; but this did not come until some time after he 
was compelled by public clamor to retire from the 
Department, the second Secretary of War made the 
scapegoat of military inefficiency and worse during 
the last war with England. General Armstrong was 
a powerful and an exceedingly caustic writer. As a 
soldier he was brave and efficient, as a Senator saga- 
cious and laborious, as an executive officer notably 
intelligent and energetic. In private life he was 
greatly esteemed and loved by those who knew him 
well, though a certain pugnacity of manner and ex- 
pression caused him to be much misunderstood by 
strangers. The “ Newburgh Addresses ” were for a 
time much misinterpreted and Armstrong as their 
author was charged with being unpatriotic. In truth, 
these eloquent essays were unanswerable appeals in 
behalf of common honesty to the army on the part 
of the government, apparently criminally careless of 
its duty in that regard. They saved the army, through 
arousing Washington, Knox, and others, to super- 
human exertions, from most unjust treatment and 
the government from descending into a situation of SECRETARY ARMSTRONG. 
inexpressible disgrace. Hence I think that though 
General Armstrong rendered his country much valu- 
able service, he is entitled to the highest credit of all 
on account of the “Newburgh Addresses,” they in 
reality accomplishing the most good of all. JAMES MONROE, 
EIGHTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
ON the resignation of General Armstrong after the 
sack of Washington, James Monroe, Secretary 
of State, was, under a general law authorizing the 
President to select one member of the cabinet to 
take charge for the time being of another Depart- 
ment, designated as Secretary of War. As Mr. 
Monroe virtually abdicated the Department of State 
to take charge of that of War at an imminent crisis 
in our history and for a considerable period gave his 
main attention and labors to the latter Department to 
the great benefit of the country and to the salvation 
of the administration, as I think, from deserved general 
opprobrium, I have thought it but simple justice to 
place him among the regular Secretaries of War. It 
is certain that no head of the Department ever in the 
same period performed greater or more difficult labors 
or accomplished more good results than Mr. Monroe. 
H is life is historical, and I need only give here a 
brief outline of it. He was born in Westmoreland 
county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. His early intel- 
lectual training was excellent, and he was graduated 
from William and Mary College at the age of eigh- 
teen years. He immediately joined the patriot army. 
He took part in the battles of Harlem and White 
Plains. At the battle of Trenton he was distin- 
guished for gallant conduct and was severely 
446 SECRETARY MONROE. 
447 
wounded. He was promoted to a captaincy on ac- 
count of bravery at Trenton. During the years 
1777-78 he acted as aide to Lord Stirling and was 
conspicuous for gallantry at the battles of the Bran- 
dywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. He was per- 
sonally thanked for bravery by Washington on the 
field of Monmouth. Not long after this he retired 
from the army and studied law with Jefferson who 
was at the time Governor of Virginia. When the 
State was invaded, Monroe again performed valu- 
able military services. He became Military Com- 
missioner of Virginia and in this capacity visited the 
Southern army under De Kalb spending some 
months of the year 1 780 in the South. Two years 
after this he was a member of the legislature and 
immediately thereafter one of the executive council 
of the State. From 1783 to 1786 he was a delegate 
in Congress, in the latter year becoming again a 
member of the legislature. In 1788 he was a mem- 
ber of the convention which had been called to take 
action upon the federal constitution of 1787. It is 
well known that there was a strong party in Vir- 
ginia, led by very able men, opposed to ratifying 
the constitution mainly on the ground that it con- 
ferred too much power upon the central govern- 
ment. One of the leaders in this party was Mr. 
Monroe himself who in the convention took an 
active part in opposition to the ratification of the 
constitution of which in later years he became one 
of the most illustrious friends and expounders. In 
1790 he was elected to the United States Senate 
and remained a member of that body until he was 
appointed Minister to France in May, 1794. In the 448 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Senate, Mr. Monroe was hostile to the administra- 
tion of Washington differing with some of its policy 
in point of principle. When he arrived at Paris as 
our Minister Plenipotentiary the situation was one 
of great reaction. Robespierre was no more; the 
reign of terror was at an end. Mr. Monroe was 
publicly received by the National Convention, and 
the speech he made on the occasion expressed sen- 
timents so completely in harmony with the feelings 
of the time that he was publicly embraced by the 
President of the Convention, and it was at once de- 
creed that the American and French flags should be 
entwined and hung up in the chamber of the Con- 
vention in sign of the union and friendship of the 
two republics. Monroe presented the American 
flag to the Convention in the name of his country. 
It was received with enthusiasm and a decree in- 
stantly passed causing the national flag of France to 
be transmitted to the government of the United 
States. During his stay in Paris Mr. Monroe con- 
tinued to be greatly popular with government and 
people. But his course was not approved by the 
government of the United States. Upon his ap- 
pointment he had been fully instructed to explain the 
views and conduct of the United States in forming 
the treaty with England of which France complained. 
That he might do so successfully he had been amply 
supplied with documents on the subject. These he 
neglected or declined to use, and the jealous ill feel- 
ing of France toward our government increased. 
Mr. Monroe, on the 22d of August, 1796, was re- 
called. On taking his leave in the following Decem- 
ber Mr. Monroe was addressed by Mr. Barras, Presi- SECRETARY MONROE. 
449 
dent of the Directory, in terms highly complimentary 
to the Minister about to depart but insulting to his 
country. It would have been only manly and patri- 
otic in Mr. Monroe to have resented this insult in- 
stead of quietly acquiescing in it. On his return to 
the United States he published a vindication of his 
course as Minister to France, which, with the accom- 
panying correspondence, made a large volume and 
which amply sustained the wisdom and uprightness 
of his general conduct. 
Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802 he ex- 
hibited in that office those great executive abilities 
which were afterwards so conspicuously shown at the 
head of the War Department and at the head of the 
Nation. He also manifested those views in behalf 
of the rights of the States of which he later became 
so distinguished an expounder. 
Very early in 1803, Mr. Monroe was appointed 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 
to treat jointly and separately with Robert R. Liv- 
ingston, Minister Plenipotentiary, with the govern- 
ment of France concerning the rights and interests 
of the United States in the Mississippi River and in 
the territories westward thereof. The practical re- 
sult of this mission was the purchase of Louisiana, 
being that vast expanse of territory belonging to the 
United States west of the Mississippi except the por- 
tions acquired by the annexation of Texas and the 
war with Mexico. Mr. Monroe remained abroad 
being appointed Minister to England. In 1805 he 
was associated with Charles C. Pinckney in the nego- 
tiation of a treaty with Spain by which we acquired 
considerable Spanish territory. Two years later, as- 450 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
sociated with him being William Pinkney, he nego- 
tiated an elaborate commercial treaty with Great 
Britain, but President Jefferson refused to submit it 
to the Senate because it did not provide against 
impressments. In the autumn of 1807 Mr. Monroe 
returned to the United States. In 1810 he was again 
elected to the Virginia Assembly, and was also again 
Governor of the State till November, 1811, when he 
became Secretary of State in the cabinet of President 
Madison. His natural abilities and his large diplo- 
matic experience enabled him to discharge the duties 
of this office with exceptional success. He was pro- 
moted therefrom to the Presidency. But meanwhile, 
from the fall of Washington to the spring of 1815, 
when peace had been restored to the country, he had 
charge of the War Department. He put into the 
conduct of its affairs wonderful energy and organized 
victory for his country. 
As President of the United States Mr. Monroe 
justly earned and actually received the love and 
respect of his countrymen universally. At his first 
election in 1816, he received 183 electoral votes to 34 
for Rufus King; at his second election in 1820 he 
received all the electoral votes cast except one. 
Every administration before his had been less or 
more stormy. Though Washington was unanimously 
reelected, the fact was due more to respect for his 
lofty character and gratitude for his sublime services 
during the revolution than to approval of his policy. 
John Adams was fiercely assailed during his whole 
term and badly beaten at the end of it. Mr. Jeffer- 
son’s embargo measures aroused great opposition in 
many parts of the country. Mr. Madison’s amia- SECRETARY MONROE. 
bility and genius for intrigue caused him to be, as we 
have seen, a very poor war President indeed. He 
constantly received severest criticism from intelligent 
and patriotic men. Mr. Monroe entered into the 
chief executive office at an auspicious time. Peace 
had been restored; the party opposed to that which 
he represented had become almost insignificant in 
the number of its adherents ; several grave questions 
of constitutional construction had been definitely set- 
tled ; general prosperity was resuming its healthful 
sway over the country. The President had the 
statesmanlike genius to take the best advantage of 
this favorable situation of affairs and to inaugurate a 
general sentiment of harmony among the people 
which resulted in the historical “ Era of Good Feel- 
ing.” This he accomplished hardly more by his 
general policy with regard to foreign and domestic 
affairs than by his personal efforts in that behalf. In 
the summer and autumn after his inauguration, he 
made an extensive tour, going as far east as Portland 
and as far west as Detroit, and being received every- 
where with kindness addressed the people in such 
way as to give him a wonderful personal popularity. 
They came to look upon him and to love him as a 
friend. During his administration the army and navy 
were strengthened ; Florida was ceded to the United 
States; the independence of the South American 
states was recognized; the famous “ Monroe doc- 
trine” was proclaimed, announcing that European 
interference in American states would not be tol- 
erated ; pensions to revolutionary soldiers were 
granted; vigorous efforts against the slave trade were 
put forth; the national debt was steadily diminished. 452 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
On his retirement from the Presidency with the 
universal good will of the people, Mr. Monroe took 
up his residence in Loudon county, Virginia, where 
he lived in dignified retirement until the death of 
Mrs. Monroe in September, 1830. Soon after this 
he removed to New York city and there resided with 
a son-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur. He there died 
July 4, 1831, being the third ex-President whose life 
was closed on the anniversary of our Declaration of 
Independence. 
Among all our Presidents, Mr. Monroe was, per- 
haps, the most personally popular among the general 
masses of his countrymen. A man of solid though 
not brilliant understanding, he received the cordial 
respect of most public men of his time and did not 
excite their jealousy. While a person of very posi- 
tive character and very positive convictions, he was 
one of the mildest-mannered men who ever lived. 
He is one of the very finest examples in all history 
of the wisdom of catching flies with honey, not vine- 
gar. As an adroit political manipulator, he has prob- 
ably never had an equal among the public men of 
the United States. He had this capacity not only 
with respect to directing the political action of the 
general body politic (wherein lay Jefferson’s great 
power) ; but in the details of party and personal 
affairs. The instances of his “wire-pulling” in the 
interest of his own ambition are many, and some of 
them would now be characterized as belonging to 
immoral politics. But very few of these were known 
as his performances at the time, and have not since 
been discovered as his by any of our historians or 
biographers. Of large abilities generally, Mr. Mon- SECRETARY MONROE. 
453 
roe was greatest as a political intriguer. With less 
ability than many other of our public men, than sev- 
eral of our Presidents, he yet so conducted the 
affairs of the government as to confer great and 
lasting benefits upon his country and to heighten its 
renown and power among the nations of the earth, 
and to leave a name which for downright practical 
statesmanship is superior to that of almost any other 
of our chief magistrates. In private life this great 
practical statesman was amiable, interesting, and 
humorous. His native State erected a handsome 
and elegant monument with a fine statue to his 
memory in the beautiful cemetery near the city of 
Richmond. An unanswerable proof of the strong 
hold Mr. Monroe gained over the hearts and in the 
memory of his countrymen is in the fact that visitors 
from all parts of the land to that consecrated ground 
always uncover before his tomb and speak with re- 
spectful affection of the statesman who brought on 
“the Era of Good Feeling” in America. HON. WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, 
NINTH SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
THE greatest man the Southern part of our re- 
public has produced, excepting only Washing- 
ton, Marshall, and Calhoun, is William H. Crawford. 
After the close of the war with England, Mr. Monroe 
retired from control of the War Department and re- 
sumed the conduct of the Department of State, where- 
upon William H. Crawford, of Georgia, was appointed 
Secretary of War. This was in March, 1815, and he 
remained at the head of the Department till the close 
of President Madison’s administration. 
This seems to be a fitting place to remark that 
several candidates for President have filled the office 
of Secretary of War. Mr. Monroe was not only a 
candidate for our highest office, but twice elected 
thereto. In the notable presidential contest of 1824, 
there were at first, as we shall presently particularly 
note, no less than five candidates, of whom Calhoun 
and Crawford had been Secretaries of War. General 
Cass, who was the Democratic candidate for President 
in 1848, had been Secretary of War under Jackson; 
and John Bell, of Tennessee, Secretary of War under 
Harrison and for a short time under Tyler, was a 
candidate for President in i860. Jefferson Davis, 
Secretary of War under Pierce, was President of 
the Southern Confederacy so long as that pretended 
government maintained its de-facto existence. Among 
454 SECRETARY WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD. 
455 
all these great men William H. Crawford was by large 
odds the greatest, excepting only Mr. Calhoun. 
He was born in Virginia February 24, 1772. 
When he was 13 years of age his father removed 
to Georgia with his family. The son, who early 
gave evidence of extraordinary talents, received a 
thorough academical education, and on the death 
of his father in 1778 supported the family for some 
years by teaching. He then studied law, and en- 
tered upon the practice in Oglethorpe county in 
1799. In the following year he was appointed with 
Horatio Marbury to revise the laws of Georgia. 
The revision was published in 1802. One of his 
biographers relates that about this time a conspiracy 
was formed to drive him from the bar, resulting in a 
duel between Mr. Crawford and a Mr. Van Allen, in 
which the latter was killed. Mr. Crawford rapidly 
rose to distinction in his profession. He was a mem- 
ber of the legislature from 1803 to 1807 in which 
latter year he was elected a member of the United 
States Senate and remained such till 1813 part of 
the time being President pro tempore. In this body 
of eminent men he soon became preeminent, acquir- 
ing leading position as well by the greatness and 
loftiness of his mind as by the perfect uprightness of 
his character, and personal and political integrity. 
He opposed the policy of war with England but, war 
being declared, heartily sustained the government. 
On the retirement of Mr. Eustis he was offered the ap- 
pointment of Secretary of War, but declined it. He 
was then appointed (April, 1813) Minister to France 
and occupied that office about two years. While in 
Paris he became well acquainted with La Fayette, 456 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
and afterwards maintained a correspondence with 
him for many years. On his return to the United 
States he became Secretary of War, and remained 
such until the close of Mr. Madison’s administration. 
During the administration of President Monroe, Mr. 
Crawford was Secretary of the Treasury. As finance 
minister he manifested large capacity in every respect 
and steadily reduced the public debt and improved 
the national credit during his entire administration 
of the Treasury Department. 
The situation of political affairs during the last 
term of President Monroe was very remarkable. 
The Federal party had literally fallen to pieces, and 
the country was unanimously Republican. Monroe 
was elected President in 1820 unanimously, except 
that one man in New England voted for Mr. Adams, 
expressly saying it was simply because he “ did not 
want to see the country too unanimous.” -This was 
the famous “ era of good feeling ” in our politics. 
Up to this time presidential nominations had been 
made by congressional caucuses, national conven- 
tions not being yet invented. The caucus had begun 
to be somewhat unsatisfactory to the people. By 
the regular caucus of the Republican party in 1824 
Mr. Crawford was nominated for the presidency. 
But the caucus was not very largely attended, and 
its action was by many not considered binding. 
Moreover there was a general determination to 
break up the system of caucus nominations, which 
was done by overturning, about the very best action 
a caucus ever performed. In the early part of the 
canvass there were five candidates for President in 
the field — all Republicans — namely: John Quincy SECRETARY WILLIAM II. CRAWFORD. 
457 
Adams, Massachusetts; John C. Calhoun, South Caro- 
lina; Henry Clay, Kentucky; William H. Crawford, 
Georgia; and Andrew Jackson, Tennessee. Of these, 
no less than three were members of Mr. Monroe’s 
cabinet, — Adams, Calhoun, and Crawford. During 
the summer, Mr. Calhoun withdrew his name and 
was very generally supported for Vice-President. 
The result, as is well known, was a failure of election 
in the electoral college and the choice of Mr. Adams 
by the House of Representatives voting by States in 
February, 1825. Mr. Crawford received the entire 
electoral vote of Virginia and Georgia, five from 
the State of New York, two from Delaware, and 
one from Maryland, in all forty-one votes. In the 
House of Representatives he received the vote of 
four States, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and 
Georgia. 
Upon his inauguration, President Adams proposed 
to Mr. Crawford that he should remain at the head 
of the Treasury Department, but he declined to do 
so. He soon returned to Georgia and in 1827 was 
appointed judge of the Northern Superior Court of 
that State. In the nullification agitation which soon 
afterwards occurred he took strong ground against 
the doctrines of Calhoun and sustained the Union 
with great ardor and influence. He died suddenly, 
September 15, 1834, a few miles from Elberton while 
on his way thither to preside over the court of which 
he was Judge. 
William H. Crawford, the greatest and best of 
Georgia’s public men, highly honored every public 
station to which he was called, and would have 
greatly honored the highest one in the republic 458 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
had he been called to fill it. Of his career in the 
Senate, the National Intelligencer of September 26, 
1834, thus speaks: “Coming there young and com- 
paratively unknown, and taking a seat in a body even 
then illustrious for talent and high character, he soon 
made himself known and respected by the force of 
natural ability, energy, and loftiness of mind. His 
speeches were remarkable for their strength, and 
his votes for their honesty and independence; and 
what procured for him probably more respect and 
general regard than any other quality, was his un- 
concealed disdain of everything like pretense, sub- 
terfuge, or the ordinary arts and tricks of mere 
party-men. Bold and fearless in his course, he 
was always to be found in the front of battle. He 
shunned no responsibility; he compromised no prin- 
ciple. If, indeed, he had a fault as a politician it was 
rather in contemning too haughtily the customs and 
seemings which form a part of the usages of those 
who mingle much in public affairs ; preferring down- 
right truth in all its simplicity, and all its nakedness 
too, to the circumlocution and periphrase of older and 
more practiced statesmen. His influence in the Sen- 
ate soon became proportionate to the respect with 
which he impressed that body for his abilities, but 
more than all, for his perfect integrity and unflinch- 
ing firmness. He became the acting President of 
that body at an earlier period after entering it than 
any other individual ever did within our knowledge; 
and in that station, which he filled with great dignity 
and propriety, discovered an aptitude for public busi- 
ness which strengthened the hold he already had 
upon the general regard and confidence.” As he SECRETARY WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD. 
459 
thus ably and nobly began his national career he 
continued it to the end of his high and varied public 
employments. “ In his domestic relations,” says the 
same journal from which I have just quoted, “ and in 
all the private relations of life, he enjoyed no less 
the love of his family and the affection of his friends, 
than in his public life he possessed their unbounded 
respect and confidence.” In person, Mr. Crawford 
had an erect and manly figure; in manners he was 
chivalric and elegant; at all times and on all occa- 
sions he was entitled to “ the grand old name of Gen- 
tleman.” JOHN C. CALHOUN, 
TENTH SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
WHEN Mr. Monroe became President, he ap- 
pointed Governor Isaac Shelby Secretary of 
War. There could have been no appointment more 
eminently fit to be made. General Shelby had been 
greatly distinguished during the revolutionary war, 
serving with the Southern army ; had been Governor 
of Kentucky; in the late war had been noted for ef- 
ficiency in the raising of troops and gallantry in the 
field. But he declined the appointment, assigning as 
a reason his advanced age. He was at that time 67 
years old, but lived nearly ten years longer. On in- 
telligence of the declination of Governor Shelby, the 
President determined to appoint Mr. Calhoun to the 
position, but as he desired a few months of recreation 
the appointment was not made till the following win- 
ter. He was appointed in December, 1817. Mean- 
time, the duties of the office were performed by Mr. 
George Graham, Chief Clerk of the Department, who 
was designated as acting Secretary by the President 
under a law of Congress authorizing him to do so. 
Soon after Mr. Calhoun took charge of the Depart- 
ment Mr. Graham resigned. 
John Caldwell Calhoun was born in Abbeville dis- 
trict, South Carolina, March 18, 1782. His father, 
an Irishman by birth, was a revolutionary soldier and 
for many years was prominent in the affairs of South 
460 SECRETARY CALHOUN. 
461 
Carolina. He gave his son every advantage of edu- 
cation. While a lad he was taught by the best 
tutors, and when prepared therefor entered Yale 
College and was graduated, with the first honors of 
the class, in 1804. He studied law at Litchfield, 
Connecticut, and in 1807 entered upon the practice 
at his native place. He rapidly rose to eminence at 
the bar, and in a very short time had an extended 
and lucrative practice. A born politician, he also 
soon became prominent in affairs. He was elected 
to the legislature within two years of his admission 
to the bar and occupied that office during two legis- 
latures. In 1810 he was elected a Representative 
in Congress, taking his seat in December of the fol- 
lowing year. Here his remarkable powers of debate 
and of forensic oratory generally soon gave him 
prominence and national fame. He was recognized 
as a leader of the Republican party and universally 
understood to be a “ coming man.” He ardently 
supported the policy of war with England and was 
largely influential in procuring the passage of the 
declaration of war. Mr. Calhoun remained a mem- 
ber of the House, all the time taking a leading part 
in the debates, until he took his seat in Mr. Monroe’s 
cabinet as Secretary of War. He now justly had the 
reputation of a great statesman. 
As Secretary of War, Mr. Calhoun entered, so to 
say, upon an entirely unknown field of operations. 
Heretofore distinguished as a great orator, a power- 
ful writer, a profound and subtle thinker, he was now 
to enter upon the discharge of duties which required 
large executive ability and great practicality. It is 
not too much to say that in this new sphere Mr. Cal- 462 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
houn had wonderful success. Among the many- 
eminent men who have conducted the affairs of the 
War Department not one is entitled to greater praise 
for intelligence and efficiency than John C. Calhoun. 
He reorganized the Department, creating therein 
separate bureaux for the management of army ad- 
ministration and the conduct of the affairs of the 
Department. This organization remains substan- 
tially the same to this day. It greatly improved the 
efficiency of the Department and resulted in large 
economy to the government. He established the 
necessity of a considerable regular army and of a 
national military school or schools with unanswerable 
arguments. His management of Indian affairs was 
characterized by a thorough knowledge of the sub- 
ject and by vigor. He believed in gradually enforc- 
ing Indians into the arts of civilization; opposed the 
doctrine of recognizing any or all of them as inde- 
pendent nations; demanded the abolition of the 
tribal relation and the substitution therefor of indi- 
vidual right and property. During Mr. Calhoun’s 
administration of the Department many favorable 
treaties were made with Indians, both North and 
South, and garrisons and forts were established in 
the far North-west for protection against the savages 
of that locality whose ferocious nature — still about 
the same — was thoroughly well known to the South 
Carolina statesman. If the American Indians are to 
become civilized and assimilated with our nationality 
instead of being exterminated that great achievement 
of statesmanship and philanthropy must doubtless 
be wrought on substantially the plan suggested by 
Secretary of War Calhoun more than fifty years ago. SECRETARY CALHOUN. 
That is to say, briefly, the Indians must all be gath- 
ered into a few comparatively small reservations, 
disarmed, subsisted by the government, and forced 
by the military power to adopt the arts of civilization 
and its institutions. On this subject the statesmen 
of this generation may read the reports of Mr. Cal- 
houn with interest and profit. 
As we have seen in the life of Mr. Crawford, Mr. 
Calhoun was one of five candidates for President in 
the early part of the political campaign of 1824, and 
that he withdrew being generally supported for the 
Vice-Presidency. In the electoral college Mr. Cal- 
houn received 182 votes, while Nathan Sandford re- 
ceived 30, Nathaniel Macon 24, Andrew Jackson 13, 
Martin Van Buren 9, Henry Clay 2. In 1828, Mr. 
Calhoun was re-elected, receiving 171 votes, Richard 
Rush having 83, and William Smith 7. As presiding 
officer of the Senate Mr. Calhoun was generally dig- 
nified, impartial, and accurate ; but at times when his 
feelings were greatly interested he overstepped the 
bounds of official propriety. One of these occasions 
was his interruption of Daniel Webster during the 
delivery of his celebrated speech in reply to Mr. 
Hayne. Mr. Webster good-naturedly retorted. Af- 
terwards, for interrupting Senator Forsyth of Georgia 
Mr. Calhoun was severely rebuked for a violation 
of official etiquette. A few instances of this nature 
prevented Mr. Calhoun from being entitled to the 
reputation of a perfectly admirable, model presiding 
officer, which was a little later in the history of the 
Senate so fairly earned by Mr. Van Buren. 
In 1831, the nullification excitement being at white 
heat Mr. Hayne resigned his seat in the Senate to 464 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
become Governor of South Carolina, and Mr. Cal- 
houn, the recognized father of nullification, was elected 
to the seat. To take it, he resigned the office of 
Vice-President. He now had two wars on his hands, 
so to speak, a war with the country quite generally 
on the subject of nullification, and a war with An- 
drew Jackson, President of the United States, who 
never fought with gloves on. In this double contest 
Mr. Calhoun secured a powerful ally in a newspaper 
“ organ,” the Telegraph, of which the editor was the 
celebrated Duff Green, the inspirer being the “ arch 
nullifier ” himself. The excitement continued great 
and general for three or four years, Mr. Calhoun 
being all the time the prominent figure on the side 
of extreme State rights. His constant and powerful 
defense of the attitude of South Carolina in this 
threatening era is matter of history. The difficulty, 
as is well known, was finally settled without an ap- 
peal to arms, and Mr. Calhoun soon afterwards went 
into private life. He spent most of his time in Wash- 
ington, however, engaged in political and philosophi- 
cal studies. 
In March, 1844, he was appointed Secretary of State 
in the place of Mr. Upshur who had recently been 
killed by the bursting of a gun on board a steamer in 
the Potomac River. In accepting this office from 
President Tyler, Mr. Calhoun was influenced almost 
exclusively by considerations connected with the Texan 
and Oregon controversies. Indeed, he expressly stated 
that he would retire upon the conclusion of those two 
negotiations. The Texan treaty having been concluded, 
he at once entered upon the Oregon negotiation, and 
had made considerable progress therein when he was SECRETARY CALHOUN. 
465 
superseded by President Polk through the powerful 
influence of the “Jackson wing” of his party. The 
mission to England was urgently pressed upon Mr. 
Calhoun but he firmly declined. He was again 
elected to the Senate, taking his seat in the winter 
of 1845, and remaining one of its most distinguished 
members until his death on the 31st of March, 1850. 
The doctrines entertained by this remarkable man 
on the subject of States’ rights and African slavery 
were so ably set forth by him in speech and in his 
writings that they came to exert a powerful, control- 
ling influence not only in South Carolina but later 
in other Southern States. Their adoption by large 
numbers of the Southern people was, in truth, one 
of the most potent causes of the war of the rebel- 
lion in 1861-65, which, from first to last, called under 
arms, on both sides, more than five million men. 
Such was the prodigious influence of the peculiar 
political ideas of Mr. Calhoun as he so powerfully 
and clearly made them known. It may well be 
doubted whether any American citizen has more 
distinctly impressed his mind upon great numbers 
of his countrymen than John C. Calhoun. It may 
be said that this vast influence was against the per- 
petuity of the republic and of free institutions. Very 
well. But how powerful must have been the mind 
which could thus propagate erroneous doctrines 
throughout a great section. 
Daniel Webster, in his address In the Senate on 
the occasion of Mr. Calhoun's death, said that his 
eloquence was “ part of his intellectual character. It 
was plain, strong, terse, condensed, concise; some- 
times impassioned, still always severe. Rejecting 466 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
ornament, not often seeking far for illustration, his 
power consisted in the plainness of his propositions, 
in the closeness of his logic, and in the earnestness 
and energy of his manner.” His writings may be 
described as his eloquence condensed. He was 
always perfectly clear and his arguments were so 
powerfully put that few men were able to answer 
them. We thus see that the secret of his vast influ- 
ence was simply his greatness. To this must be 
added the power of his unspotted integrity, his un- 
impeached honor and lofty character. In all the 
fierce political conflicts in which he engaged, he pre- 
served the personal respect and love of his oppo- 
nents, with the exception of the few who had treated 
him so badly that they necessarily had to hate him. 
Mr. Calhoun was, perhaps, the finest conversation- 
alist we have ever had in America. He took special 
delight in talking with young men, and Mr. Webster 
tells us in the address from which I have already 
quoted that social conversation was his only recrea- 
tion. Stern and unyielding in the performance of 
his public duties — an iron man — in the privacy of 
social life he was amiable and tender. His industry 
was marvellous, and we surely have had among our 
public men no one more assiduous and conscientious 
in the discharge of his public duties. These great 
and good things in the life and character of Mr. Cal- 
houn caused him to be universally respected by his 
countrymen notwithstanding so many of them dis- 
sented from his peculiar political opinions. His well 
known views on tariffs and other subjects of discus- 
sion of his time accord with the opinions of the 
world’s best thinkers. “ Few of our public men SECRETARY CALHOUN. 
467 
since those of the revolutionary era,” said the Na- 
tional Intelligencer, in announcing Mr. Calhoun’s 
death, “ have filled a larger space in the public eye; 
few have acted a more important part on the stage 
of American politics ; few have left a larger void in 
the public councils; and not one has descended to 
the tomb with a deeper devotion on the part of per- 
sonal friends, or with a larger share of public admira- 
tion than this illustrious Carolinian.” 
The Works of Mr. Calhoun, edited by Richard K. 
Cralle, were published a few years after his death by 
the Appletons. They consist of his public letters, 
speeches, official reports and papers, and miscella- 
neous political writings, forming six volumes. His 
Memoirs appeared later. HON. JAMES BARBOUR, 
ELEVENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
ON the inauguration of President John Quincy 
Adams Mr. Calhoun, who had been elected Vice- 
President, was installed in that office. He was suc- 
ceeded as Secretary of War by the Hon. James 
Barbour, of Virginia. This gentleman, who became 
so distinguished in affairs, was the son of Colonel 
Thomas Barbour, a noted soldier of the revolu- 
tionary war, and was born in Orange county, Virginia, 
June io, 1775. His early education was imperfect, 
but becoming a deputy sheriff he found means of 
studying law at an early age, of which he took such 
great advantage that he began the practice of that 
profession some time before he had reached the age 
of legal majority. Hard study and unusual powers 
of oratory caused him to rapidly rise in his profession 
and also in politics. He became a member of the 
House of Delegates and there greatly distinguished 
himself as a debater and as a practical legislator. 
One of his most beneficent legislative measures was 
an act against duelling,— a stringent law against that 
barbarism which he proposed and was instrumental 
in carrying through the legislature. He eloquently 
sustained the famous resolutions of Mr. Madison on 
the powers of the general government and the rights 
of the States commonly called “ the resolutions of 
1798-99.” Mr. Barbour was for a considerable 
468 SECRE TAR Y BARBOUR. 
469 
period speaker of the House of the Virginia legisla- 
ture, as his brother, Philip P., was also speaker of the 
national House of Representatives. James Barbour 
was Governor of Virginia from 1812 to 1814, and in 
that capacity very vigorously sustained the war with 
England. On intelligence of the sack of Washington 
by the British in August, 1814, Governor Barbour 
issued an eloquent proclamation in denunciation of 
the atrocities committed by the enemy, and earnestly 
called upon all men in the commonwealth “ capable 
of bearing arms, and particularly such as are young 
and without families, to repair to the standard of their 
country, to defend their homes, their property, and 
their liberty, their wives, their children, and their 
aged parents.” Thousands of volunteers answered 
this energetic call, so that it was said the very bones 
and nerves of the State had entered into the contest. 
Other States followed the example of the Old Do- 
minion, and the British soon got out of the way. 
On retiring from the gubernatorial chair of Vir- 
ginia Mr. Barbour took his seat in the United States 
Senate (March, 1815), and for ten years was one of 
the recognized leaders of that body; a leader in de- 
bate, in forensic eloquence, in influence. For some 
three years he was President pro tempore, and left 
that position only to become Secretary of War. He 
conducted the affairs of the Department with ability 
for three years. In May, 1828, he was appointed 
Minister to England, and served in that capacity 
until the autumn of the following year, when he was 
relieved by Hon. Louis McLane, of Delaware, ap- 
pointed soon after the inauguration of President 
Jackson. After his return to America Mr. Barbour 470 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
remained in private life, but he presided over the 
Whig Convention* held at Harrisburgh in 1839, which 
put in nomination “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” for 
the tremendous presidential campaign of the follow- 
ing year. Governor Barbour died on June 8, 1842. 
The National Intelligencer of the 10th thus sums up 
his life and character: “ Last evening’s mail brought 
us the sad tidings of the death of the Hon. James 
Barbour, one of the noblest of the sons of Virginia; 
who had filled with honor the highest trusts which 
his State could repose in him, successively during 
many years Speaker of her House of Delegates, 
Governor of the State, and her Senator in Con- 
gress ; and in the general government had sus- 
tained with ability the offices of Secretary of War 
and Minister to Great Britain; but the virtues of 
whose private life and character outshone all the 
splendor with which popular favor or political dis- 
tinction could adorn his name.” GENERAL PETER B. PORTER, 
TWELFTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
GENERAL PETER B. PORTER, of New York, 
who in 1828 succeeded Governor Barbour as 
Secretary of War, was a native of Connecticut. He 
was born at Salisbury, August 14, 1773. He had 
every advantage of intellectual discipline. He was 
graduated at Yale College in 1791, and then studied 
law at the famous Litchfield school. Being admitted 
to the bar, he determined upon making western New 
York his home, and entered upon the practice in 
Canandaigua. He speedily became prominent at the 
bar and popular as a politician. In 1808 he was elected 
to Congress and served as a Representative till 1813. 
He was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Re- 
lations, at that time the most important committee 
of the House. He reported the resolutions for 
the declaration of war with England. In 1813 he 
was created a Major-General of Volunteers, and as 
such had command of the New York and Pennsyl- 
vania line. In July he successfully defended Black 
Rock against the British. In the battles of Chip- 
pewa, Niagara, and Fort Erie he was distinguished 
for gallantry and efficiency, and received the com- 
mendations of his commanding- officers and a reso- 
lution of thanks and a gold medal from Congress. 
In 1815, President Madison offered him the appoint- 472 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
ment of commander-in-chief of the United States 
Army, but he declined it. 
An episode in General Porter’s life in the autumn 
of 1812 ought to be related. He accompanied Gen- 
eral Smythe on his “ Canada expedition.” That of- 
ficer proposed to wipe out the disgrace of Hull’s 
surrender and of the defeat of Queenstown by an 
energetic invasion of Canada. He accordingly is- 
sued a tremendous manifesto. But at the very time 
for action, when the troops were anxious for the fray, 
he countermanded the whole expedition and the re- 
sult was an unbounded abortion. General Porter, 
who had 2,000 men ready and anxious for any ser- 
vice, posted General Smythe as a coward. Smythe 
retorted, saying that Porter’s courage and patriotism 
were solely actuated by gain or loss as he was an 
army contractor. A duel on Grand Island followed, 
in which shots were exchanged in an intrepid manner 
by both parties, when the seconds brought about a 
reconciliation. 
In 1814 he was again elected to Congress, but re- 
signed before the expiration of his term to accept the 
office of Commissioner under the treaty of Ghent to 
settle the north-eastern boundary. About the same 
time he was appointed Secretary of State of New 
York but declined. In 1817 he was a candidate for 
nomination to the governorship of New York against 
De Witt Clinton who defeated him. He then re- 
mained in private life until 1828, when Mr. Adams 
appointed him Secretary of War. He remained in 
charge of the Department till the close of that ad- 
ministration when his public career came to an end. SECRETARY PETER B. PORTER. 
473 
He died March 20, 1844, at Niagara Falls, having 
attained the age of 71 years. 
General Porter was a great benefactor of western 
New York. He was one of the earliest friends and 
advocates of the Erie Canal and in 1810 was ap- 
pointed, with Governeu-r Morris, Stephen Van Rensse- 
laer, De Witt Clinton, William North, Simeon De 
Witt, and Robert Fulton the first commissioners in 
regard to inland navigation. He constantly con- 
tinued a friend of the great practical enterprise till 
its success. In other enterprises whereby western 
New York was greatly benefitted his name will be 
permanently connected, no one, in fact, being more 
prominently identified with the history of that part 
of the State, political, military, or industrial, than 
Peter B. Porter. 
As a soldier, General Porter was distinguished for 
high qualities to command and by great coolness and 
courage. In affairs, he was sagacious, shrewd, and 
able, though in the later years of his life he became 
somewhat heavy in intellect. He was the father of 
Hon. Augustus S. Porter who for some years was a 
Senator in Congress from the State of Michigan, 
and, by a second wife, of Colonel Peter A. Porter, of 
the 129th regiment New York volunteers, who was 
killed at the battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, in 1864, 
while gallantly leading his command. He had the 
faculty of money-making, and at his death was worth 
half a million dollars, at that time a colossal fortune. MAJOR JOHN H. EATON, 
THIRTEENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
OF the early life of Major John H. Eaton — as he 
came to be universally called after becoming 
prominent in public life — little is known. He was 
a native of Tennessee, where he was born about the 
year 1786, and where he received a liberal education. 
Very early in life he manifested an unusual genius 
for politics, and it is certain that he became one of 
America’s most adroit political managers. He was 
United States Senator from 1818 to 1829, when he 
was appointed Secretary of War by President Jack- 
son. He remained at the head of the War Depart- 
ment till the breakup of the cabinet in 1831, when he 
retired, more to relieve the President, to whom he 
was devoted, from embarrassment than because the 
President wanted to get rid of him. Such was not 
the fact; for General Jackson was no less devoted to 
Mr. Eaton, and to Mrs. Eaton, than Eaton was to 
him. Three years afterwards Mr. Eaton was ap- 
pointed Governor of Florida and remained in that 
office two years. He was then appointed Minister 
to Spain. This office he filled from March, 1836, 
until May, 1840, when he returned to America, and 
afterwards remained in private life at the national 
capital. He died there, November 17, 1856, “aged 
about 70 years,” according to the obituary notices of 
the public journals. Major Eaton was unquestionably 
474 SECRE TAR Y EA TON. 
475 
a ripe scholar and a respectable jurist. He was also 
an uncommonly brilliant conversationalist, abounding 
in humor, anecdote, and powers of quick repartee. 
But he was lacking in moral elements; and these, 
after all, form the only sure and safe foundation for 
general respect and lasting renown. He was the 
author of an elaborate but partisan life of Jackson 
which was published in 1824. GENERAL LEWIS CASS, 
GENERAL LEWIS CASS, fourteenth Secretary 
of War, was for so long a period prominent in 
the military, political, and diplomatic affairs of the 
United States, that to write a full account of his life 
would be to write much general history as well as 
personal biography. This would not comport with 
the character of these sketches; and I shall only 
undertake such brief outline delineation of his life 
and character as may serve to place them clearly 
before the mind of the reader. 
Lewis Cass was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, 
October 9, 1782. He was the son of an officer of 
the revolutionary army. Having received an aca- 
demical education, he determined to seek his fortune 
in the West. When only about 17 years old he went 
to Ohio, most of the way on foot. He there studied 
law, and entered on the practice in 1802, the year in 
which Ohio became a State. He took an active part 
in politics and was a member of the legislature and 
a prominent man in the affairs of the State before 
he was 25 years of age. In 1807, he was appointed 
United States Marshal for the State and held that 
lucrative office until the breaking out of the war 
with England. He was then appointed Colonel of 
the Third Ohio regiment with which he marched to 
Detroit and reported to General Hull. He strongly 
FOURTEENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
476 SECRETARY CASS. 
477 
urged the invasion of Canada, and was actively en- 
gaged with his regiment until Hull’s surrender, in 
which he was included though he was at the time 
absent from Detroit on an important expedition. He 
had expressed emphatic disapprobation of the retreat 
from Canada, but words failed him in his detestation 
of the disgraceful surrender. He was paroled and 
spent the following winter in Washington. He was 
exchanged in the spring of 1813 and having been 
commissioned a colonel and then a brigadier-general 
in the army of the United States, served in the North- 
west under General Harrison. He bore a gallant 
part in the battle of the Thames, and on all occa- 
sions showed himself to be a brave and gallant 
soldier. 
In October, 1813, General Cass was appointed 
Governor of Michigan Territory and held that office 
for eighteen years. He was also Superintendent of 
Indian affairs for the Territory, and as such nego- 
tiated many treaties with various tribes by which 
peaceful relations were established and the develop- 
ment of the Territory by civilization secured. Under 
his governorship the Territory was steadily settled by 
a people—largely from New York and New England 
— noted for intelligence and the spirit of progress. 
He was a good Governor. 
In the summer of 1831, General Cass was ap- 
pointed Secretary of War by President Jackson and 
assumed the duties of that office on the 1st of August. 
He remained in charge of the War Department until 
October, 1836, when he was appointed Minister Pleni- 
potentiary to France. At this time our relations with 
France were not altogether friendly on account of 478 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
disputes growing out of the famous spoliation claims, 
and the appointment of General Cass as minister to 
that country may be regarded as evidence not only 
of great friendship on the part of the remarkable 
man who was then President but also of the emi- 
nence which General Cass had attained as a public 
man. He conducted the affairs of the legation with 
success and contributed to the amicable adjustment 
of all disputes which was at length brought about. 
In the autumn of 1842 he requested his recall and 
in the latter part of that year returned to the United 
States. 
General Cass now entered upon a political career 
of great prominence. He performed much valuable 
service for his party on the hustings in Michigan, 
Ohio, and Indiana. In 1845 he was elected United 
States Senator by the legislature of Michigan. He 
soon became recognized as a leader of the Demo- 
cratic party and much talked of as its candidate for 
President. In 1848 he was nominated by the Demo- 
cratic national convention as candidate for that office. 
The Whig nominee was General Zachary Taylor, 
while the Free-Soilers had for their candidate ex- 
President Martin Van Buren. The result was the 
defeat of General Cass by General Taylor. Upon 
his acceptance of the nomination General Cass re- 
signed his seat in the Senate, but the legislature 
reelected him for the residue of the unexpired term. 
At the end of the term he was again reelected, but 
at the time that term expired, Michigan had joined 
the new Republican party by a powerful majority 
(every county in the State voted for Fre'mont in 1856) 
and in March, 1857, General Cass retired from the SECRETARY CASS. 
479 
Senate making way for the famous, intrepid, and 
honest Mr. Chandler. But though General Cass 
went out of the Senate he did not go out of public 
employment. On President Buchanan’s inaugura- 
tion, the General was appointed Secretary of State, 
and remained in that office until December, i860, 
when he resigned because of the President’s refusal 
to reenforce the garrison of Fort Sumter. Hence- 
forth he lived in dignified retirement at his beautiful 
home in Detroit. He there died June 17, 1866, at 
the good old age of 83 years. 
As a soldier, General Cass was universally re- 
spected on account of his gallantry and energy. 
During the many years in which he was Governor 
of Michigan — at that time extending beyond the 
upper Mississippi River—he showed great executive 
capacity, performing valuable service in instituting 
surveys of lands and rivers and lakes, in promoting 
immigration, and in the management of Indian affairs. 
As the head of the War Department he was distin- 
guished for energy, but was not a little criticised at 
the time for his policy of removing the Indians west 
of the Mississippi River, which brought on the Sem- 
inole war in Florida with its many years of blood and 
expense. As a Senator he had large influence in that 
body and in the country. His style of oratory was 
dignified, his voice sonorous but pleasing to the ear. 
In later years of his life when he had grown corpu- 
lent, he spoke as though his tongue were too large 
for his mouth. He sustained in the Senate the meas- 
ures of the Democratic party and was habitually def- 
erential to the slave power. He sustained the com- 
promise measures of 1850 and the Nebraska bill of 480 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
1854. He opposed the Wilmot Proviso, and on one 
occasion even attacked the Quintuple treaty on ac- 
count of its suppression of the slave trade. In the 
war for the Union he all the time heartily sympa- 
thized with the national cause. In his personal 
character General Cass Was perfectly upright. He 
was never charged with peculation of any kind. He 
became greatly wealthy but by the simple advance in 
price of lands which he had bought at low figures. 
Some of these now form part of the beautiful and 
growing city of Detroit and, of course, became very 
valuable during the General’s lifetime. In the use 
of money he was not at all generous and probably 
gave to benevolent objects as little as any man of 
equal means who ever lived. In conversation he was 
agreeable but not brilliant. He was fond of good 
wine of which he was an excellent judge, and de- 
tested a poor article with great vehemence. Perhaps 
the only respect in which he was absolutely generous 
in the use of money was in his expenditures for wines, 
herein making a marked and not favorable contrast 
to one of his most distinguished predecessors in the 
War Office, Samuel Dexter. 
When General Cass retired from the War Depart- 
ment to take the mission to France, it of course left 
the office of Secretary vacant. There being but a 
few months until the administration of Jackson would 
dose he did not like to fill the Secretaryship lest he 
might thereby embarrass Mr. Van Buren. Hence 
under the law one of the other members of the 
cabinet was designated by the President to per- SECRETARY AD INTERIM BUTLER. 
481 
form the duties of the office for the time being. 
The cabinet officer so designated was 
HON. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 
OF NEW YORK. 
He was born at Kinderhook, December 15, 1795. 
On his mother’s side he was a lineal descendant of 
Oliver Cromwell. He received a liberal education. 
He studied law with Martin Van Buren, and on his 
admission to the bar in 1817 became a partner of his 
distinguished preceptor. He was, in truth, a born 
lawyer, and very soon after his admission became 
eminent at the bar. His legal abilities soon secured 
for him the position of District Attorney at Albany. 
Elected to the legislature, he was appointed on a com- 
mission with John Duer and J. C. Spencer to revise the 
statutes of the State. By this time he had become 
one of the most eminent lawyers of the country, and 
in 1834 he was appointed Attorney-General of the 
United States by President Jackson, succeeding 
Roger B. Taney in that office. In 1838 he was 
appointed United States Attorney for the Southern 
District of New York, and performed the duties of 
that office with great energy and success until the 
close of Mr. Van Buren’s administration. He was 
instrumental in the establishment of the University 
of New York in which he became a law professor. 
In 1854 he left the Democratic party in the general 
stampede on account of the Nebraska bill, and be- 
came an ardent Republican. In 1858, he went to 
Europe for the benefit of his health, but died on 
November 8 of that year at Paris. He was a man 482 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of perfectly pure personal character, and one of the 
best lawyers which the American bar has produced. 
There has been no better Attorney-General than he, 
but as temporary head of the War Department he 
was only called upon to perform its routine duties. 
He is one of our few public men who have less gen- 
eral renown than they justly deserve. JOEL R. POINSETT, 
FIFTEENTH SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
TOEL R. POINSETT was born in Charleston, 
South Carolina, March 2, 1779, of refined and 
wealthy parents. They went to England when he 
was a mere child and remained there several years. 
He received a very thorough education but on ac- 
count of delicate health did not pursue a collegiate 
course. He was supplied with the best of tutors, and 
spent two or three years under the celebrated Presi- 
dent Dwight, at Greenfield, Connecticut. In 1796 he 
went abroad and was engaged in travel and study. 
He journeyed over much of Europe and considerable 
portions of Asia all the while giving much attention 
to scientific and general studies. He became partic- 
ularly familiar with the science of medicine and with 
the military art, and an accomplished classical scholar. 
Returning to America in 1809, he was soon afterwards 
sent by the United States government on a general 
mission to South American states which had recently 
revolted against Spanish domination. Having estab- 
lished friendly and commercial relations between his 
government and Buenos Ayres, he crossed the con- 
tinent to Chili. The Spanish authorities of Peru 
having invaded Chili and siezed and condemned a 
number of American vessels at Talcahuano, Mr. 
Poinsett put himself at the head of a small number 
of Chilians, marched on Talcahuano, retook that 
483 484 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
place, and released the vessels. Hearing of the war 
between his country and England, he returned home 
with the purpose of entering the army, but peace was 
declared before his arrival. News, as well as every- 
thing else, travelled slowly in those days. He was 
elected a member of the legislature of his State 
where he originated and secured the passage of 
several valuable measures of internal improvements. 
He was a Representative in Congress from 1821 to 
1825. While occupying this office he was appointed 
on a special mission to Mexico, at the time under the 
brief reign of Iturbide. He discharged the delicate 
duties of the mission with tact and success. In 1825, 
he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the 
republic of Mexico, and though others had been 
appointed to that post before him no one had ac- 
tually occupied it. He was the first American Minis- 
ter to that republic. He was also appointed Minister 
Plenipotentiary to the famous Panama Congress. 
Early in his mission to Mexico he negotiated a 
treaty of commerce between our government and 
that country. Later, his position became one of 
constant annoyance and difficulty and at times of im- 
minent danger to the Minister. The country was in 
a greatly disturbed condition by reason of no end of 
local factions ; Spain was still contending to regain 
power, sending armies of invasion; a singular jeal- 
ousy of the United States had possessed many 
minds, or rather the notion that the republic of the 
United States was extremely jealous of the republic 
of Mexico! Mr. Poinsett, it appears, had estab- 
lished one or two lodges of Free-Masons, and though 
none but prominent patriots and republicans became SECRETARY POINSETT. 
485 
members of these societies they were charged with 
being a secret means for the reestablishment of 
Spanish authority. Several of the Mexican States 
demanded his recall and a proposition of this kind 
in the Congress was defeated by only three votes. 
Threats of assassination were freely made against 
him, and at one time the office of the legation was 
attacked. In all these difficulties and dangers Mr. 
Poinsett remained perfectly cool and dignified. “ In 
the discharge of my duty,” he said, “ I know no fear.” 
His intrepid conduct awed his assailants, and while 
preserving the honor of his country and the sacred- 
ness of its flag on the occasion just referred to, se- 
cured him the special regard of his countrymen 
everywhere. He returned to the United States in 
the early part of 1830. 
An exceedingly interesting portion of Mr. Poin- 
sett’s life was that with regard to the nullification 
agitation, which, originating in South Carolina, at this 
time and for a considerable period afterwards caused 
great excitement throughout the whole country. In 
this famous contest Mr. Poinsett was the leader of 
the Union cause in South Carolina, a position for 
which his great abilities, unflinching pluck, lofty char- 
acter, persuasive eloquence, and conservative nature 
peculiarly qualified him. Thus a strong and respect- 
able Union element was maintained in South Caro- 
lina during all the dark hours of the “ folly and mad- 
ness ” of nullification. 
Upon Mr. Van Buren’s inauguration as President,, 
in March, 1837, MV Poinsett was made Secretary of 
War. This position he retained during the adminis- 
tration, and so conducted its, affairs as to. receive the- 486 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
general approbation of the country, when not much 
connected with Mr. Van Buren was generally ap- 
proved. Mr. Van Buren is about the least under- 
stood and the most unappreciated of all our histori- 
cal characters. He is the great American “ wictim o’ 
gammon.” While Secretary of War, Mr. Poinsett 
took a leading part in founding the National Institute, 
to which he contributed a valuable museum. Later 
he founded an Academy of Fine Arts at the city of 
Charleston. He was the author of a work on Mexico, 
published in 1824, and after his retirement at the 
close of Mr. Van Buren’s administration, delivered 
a number of addresses on scientific and practical 
topics, which, with miscellaneous essays were pub- 
lished and had a considerable popularity. He died 
at Stateburgh, South Carolina, December 12, 1851, 
universally loved and respected by all of his intelli- 
gent countrymen and by the world of letters. He 
was the last of his family. HON. JOHN BELL, 
THE Hon. John Bell, of Tennessee, who was Sec- 
retary of War during the brief presidency of 
General Harrison and for a short time under Mr. 
Tyler, occupied a conspicuous position in American 
affairs for a long period of years. And yet, though 
he has now (1879) been dead only a decade his mem- 
ory has almost entirely faded out of the minds of 
his countrymen. And he is only one of many such 
instances in the history of our public men, whose 
ephemeral renown in the great majority of cases sadly 
reminds us of the solemn words of Burke: “ What 
shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue.” 
John Bell was born in Davidson county, Tennessee, 
February 15, 1797. He had a good education and 
was graduated from Nashville University in his eigh- 
teenth year. He was admitted to the bar before he 
was twenty years of age, and entered upon the prac- 
tice of law at Franklin. He was remarkably pre- 
cocious, appearing older than he was. Before he 
had reached his legal majority he was elected to the 
State Senate and took a leading position in that body, 
so that his constituents desired to return him but he 
declined a reelection. He now for ten years devoted 
himself most energetically to the study and practice 
of his profession in which he became greatly success- 
ful and distinguished. Having thus acquired a com- 
SIXTEENTH SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
487 488 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
petency he again manifested ambition for public life. 
In 1827 he was elected a Representative in Con- 
gress and was six times consecutively reelected 
making an uninterrupted service in the House of 
fourteen years. Of the XXXIVth Congress—1835— 
37 — he was Speaker. On leaving Congress he be- 
came Secretary of War. His appointment to that 
important position in the Cabinet gave lively satis- 
faction to the Whig party throughout the country. 
The course of President Tyler in opposition to Whig 
policy and his treacherous treatment of his Secretary 
of the Treasury, the distinguished Thomas Ewing, of 
Ohio, resulted in a complete break-up of Tyler’s cabi- 
net in September, 1841, except that Mr. Webster, 
with a politico-moral imperturbability that has' never 
been clearly explained to his credit, did not resign as 
Secretary of State. The conduct of Mr. Bell in this 
crisis was perfectly manly and above-board. He re- 
signed, as he publicly stated, because Mr. Tyler had 
made a Whig administration impossible. 
Mr. Bell now returned to Tennessee and again 
devoted himself for a few years to his profession. 
In 1847 he was elected a member of the legislature, 
but that body elected him to the United States 
Senate. On the expiration of his term he was re- 
elected. It thus happened that in the lower and 
upper houses of Congress Mr. Bell served for a 
period of about twenty-five years. Whether in the 
one or the other house he was a leading member, 
and, as we have seen, he became Speaker of the 
House. He was one of the ablest advocates of the 
distinctive doctrines of the Whig party — protective 
tariffs, internal improvements by the general govern- SECRETARY BELL. 
489 
ment, national banks — that the party ever had. He 
was also a man of liberal views and of a broad spirit 
of nationality. He opposed nullification; he sus- 
tained the right of petition for the abolition of slavery 
in the District of Columbia; he opposed the annex- 
ation of Texas; he sustained the compromise meas- 
ures of 1850; he opposed the Nebraska bill with 
great power; he opposed the admission of Kansas 
under the fraudulent slave constitution of Lecomp- 
ton ; he opposed secession, and remained a friend of 
the Union throughout the war. In i860, Mr. Bell was 
nominated for the Presidency by the National Union 
party, Edward Everett being associated with him 
on the ticket as candidate for Vice-President. This 
ticket carried several States receiving 39 electoral 
votes. From this time until his decease Mr. Bell 
lived in retirement in his native State. He died at 
Nashville, September 10, 1869. He was a man of 
amiable disposition, a most agreeable companion. 
His convictions were profound, and he was never 
known to swerve from what he believed to be the 
strict course of duty. He had great popularity, being 
always stronger than his party in Tennessee. He 
attributed this to the fact that he never sought popu- 
larity. “ Let a man do what is right,” he used to say, 
“ and he will be popular without trying to be.” I do 
not think of but few Southern men, prominent in the 
last forty years, who appear to have been guided by 
any feeling of nationality. Eminent among these 
was John Bell, and he was the last of the great and 
select few of that section of our country south of the 
latitude of Baltimore. JOHN C. SPENCER, 
SEVENTEENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
T OHN C. SPENCER, seventeenth Secretary of War, 
I was the son of the distinguished Ambrose Spencer 
of New York, for some years Chief Justice of the 
State, and illustrious in our annals as jurist, states- 
man, and philanthropist. The subject of this sketch 
was born at Hudson, January 8, 1788. At eighteen 
years of age he was graduated from Union College. 
In the following year he was appointed private sec- 
retary to Governor D. D. Tompkins and from this 
time until the close of his life he was less or more 
prominent in the politics of New York and the na- 
tion. He pursued legal studies during leisure hours, 
and having the invaluable aid of his father’s advice 
and instruction, made great progress in acquiring a 
knowledge of the law. He entered upon the prac- 
tice at Canandaigua in 1809, which continued to be 
his residence till 1845, when he removed to Albany. 
He filled various offices of a professional character 
in western New York and in 1814 was postmaster 
of Canandaigua. He was a Representative in Con- 
gress from 1817 to 1819. One of his principal essays 
while in that office was an elaborate report against 
the United States Bank of which in later years he 
became a friend and advocate. After leaving Con- 
gress he was for some years in the legislature, first 
490 SECRETARY SPENCER. 
491 
in the Assembly, of which he was Speaker in 1820, 
and then in the Senate. In 1827 Governor Clinton 
appointed Mr. Spencer one of the commission to re- 
vise the laws of the State. Mr. Spencer’s work in this 
laborious and difficult task was of great value to the 
commonwealth. During the anti-masonic excitement 
which continued for several years after the abduction 
of Morgan, Mr. Spencer was appointed a special at- 
torney-general under a law passed for the purpose to 
prosecute those connected with the alleged abduction 
and murder. Becoming involved in a controversy 
with Governor Throop, Mr. Spencer resigned this 
position. In 1832 he was again a member of the 
Assembly. From 1839 to 1841 he was Secretary of 
State and also Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
In October of the latter year he succeeded Mr. Bell 
as Secretary of War. In March 8, 1842, he was 
made Secretary of the Treasury. The National In- 
telligencer of the next day said: “ Mr. Spencer, the 
newly appointed Secretary of the Treasury, entered 
on the duties of his office yesterday. We think it 
due to truth to say that, whatever objections may 
justly lie against Mr. Spencer politically, his intel- 
lectual capacity, promptness of decision, and untir- 
ing application fit him in a more than ordinary 
degree for the arduous duties of the department to 
which he has been appointed.” In January, 1844, 
Mr. Spencer was appointed a Justice of the Supreme 
Court in place of Judge Thompson deceased, but the 
nomination was rejected by the Senate by a vote of 
21 yeas to 26 nays. In the following June Mr. Spencer 
resigned the office of Secretary of the Treasury, and 492 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
proceeding to Albany henceforth devoted himself to 
professional and literary pursuits. He also gave 
much attention to the establishment and improvement 
of charitable institutions of the State and the enlarge- 
ment of the system of popular education. He ed- 
ited the first American edition of De Tocqueville’s 
“Democracy in America” which had a very wide pub- 
licity. He died May 18, 1855. JAMES M. PORTER, 
EIGHTEENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
TAMES MADISON PORTER, who was Secretary 
I of War from March 8,1843, until January 30, 1844, 
was a native of Pennsylvania. He was born at Selma, 
in that State, January 6, 1793. Receiving a good gen- 
eral course of mental training, and taking a thorough 
course of legal studies, he entered the profession of 
law at an early age and became an eminent lawyer 
and jurist. Before entering upon practice, however, 
he had served a considerable time as a volunteer in 
the war of 1812. For many years Mr. Porter de- 
voted himself exclusively to the duties of his profes- 
sion but in 1838 he was elected a delegate to the 
Convention called to revise the Constitution of Penn- 
sylvania. In this body he bore a prominent part, his 
judicial impartiality and dignified oratory eminently 
fitting him for a leading position in a deliberative body 
of this kind. 
In March, 1842, Mr. Porter was appointed Sec- 
retary of War by President Tyler, succeeding Mr. 
Spencer who was transferred to the Treasury De- 
partment. He performed the duties of the office 
until January 30, 1843, when his nomination was 
rejected by the Senate. The long delay in any 
action in the case was at the instance of Mr. Porter’s 
friends, who thought they might overcome the oppo- 
sition sufficiently to secure his confirmation. In this 494 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
they were wofully mistaken; for Mr. Porter only re- 
ceived three votes, thirty-eight being cast against 
him. Hereupon he went into retirement, passing the 
residue of his life at Easton. He was several years 
President Judge of the district court embracing his 
residence, and was for a quarter of a century Presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of La Fayette College, 
Easton, of which he had been one of the founders. 
He died at Easton November n, 1862. He was a 
man universally respected for his personal virtues 
and generous benevolence. His rejection by the 
Senate in 1843 was wholly due to political intrigues 
and bargains. WILLIAM WILKINS, 
NINETEENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
WILLIAM WILKINS was born at Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania, December 20, 1779. He was the son 
of John Wilkins an officer in the revolutionary army 
and a pioneer of western Pennsylvania. His son 
received his education in Pittsburgh. He became a 
business man, largely engaged in manufacturing and 
also in banking. In 1819, he began his political 
career by being elected to the legislature. He was 
United States Senator from 1831 to 1834, but did not 
distinguish himself in that body. In June of the 
latter year he was appointed Minister to Russia. 
His mission was somewhat celebrated by his elegant 
absenteeism. He yas recalled in 1836. In 1842 he 
was elected a Representative from Pittsburgh to the 
XXVIIIth Congress. While occupying that position 
he was appointed Secretary of War — February 15, 
1844, and was at once unanimously confirmed by the 
Senate. In April Mr. Wilkins published a long 
“address of the Secretary of War to the people of 
the XXIst congressional district of Pennsylvania,” on 
the subject of the annexation of Texas and in favor 
thereof. His argument had a powerful commercial 
flavor, his main point being that Pittsburgh would 
find a new and permanent market for her steamboats 
and other manufactured articles in Texas, if Texas, 
495 496 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
with her many navigable rivers — he mentioned seven 
or eight by name — were once an integral part of 
the Union. He also dilated on the “sugar crop ” of 
Texas, and on the building thereon of a “ protec- 
tion ” party in the extreme South. The address con- 
clusively demonstrated that Mr. Wilkins was a very 
great wag or a very small statesman. He died June 
23, 1865. WILLIAM L. MARCY, 
TWENTIETH SECRETAR Y OF WAR. 
WILLIAM LEARNED MARCY was born in 
Worcester county, Massachusetts, December 
12, 1786. He was graduated at Brown University 
in 1808. He then engaged in teaching for a time at 
Newport, Rhode Island, studying law also at such 
hours as he could. About 1810 he removed to Troy, 
New York, and there entered upon the practice of 
his profession. He served as a volunteer during the 
war with England, distinguishing himself, October 22, 
1812, by the capture of a corps of Canadian militia 
at St. Regis, being the first prisoners taken on land 
and their flag the first captured during the war. At 
the close of the war Mr. Marcy resumed his practice 
at Troy. In the following year he was appointed Re- 
corder of Troy. For a time he was the editor of the 
Troy Budget, a Republican journal of influence. In 
1821 he was appointed adjutant-general of the State. 
He now rapidly rose to the first honors of the State, 
to national and world-wide renown. In 1823 he be- 
came State’s Comptroller. In 1829 he was appointed 
associate justice of the Supreme Court and gave up 
this honorable office only to become United States 
Senator in 1831. Holding this office for two years 
he was successively elected Governor of New York 
until 1839, when, after an animated canvass, he was 
defeated by William H. Seward. His friend Mr. 
Van Buren being President, Mr. Marcy was consoled 
for his defeat by appointment as one of a board of 
497 498 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Commissioners to examine and decide upon certain 
Mexican claims then pending against the govern- 
ment. He was engaged in the performance of the 
judicial duties of this position about three years, 
when he returned to Albany, which he had made 
his home upon assuming the office of Comptroller. 
He remained in retirement less than three years, 
for upon Mr. Polk’s accession to the Presidency in 
March, 1845, Mr- Marcy became Secretary of War 
and remained such during the administration. This 
term of office embraced the entire period of the war 
with Mexico. President Polk was neither a bad nor 
a great man, but he had all the bad and despicable 
faults of an intriguer. The strong men in his cabi- 
net were the Secretary of War and the Secretary of 
the Treasury, Robert J. Walker. But for the inflexi- 
ble integrity and square dealing of these eminent 
statesmen the administration would have been dis- 
graced by the management of our armies on the 
unconscionable rules of an old-fashioned party can- 
vass. Against a proposed programme of this nature 
Marcy and Walker stood like a stone wall and it was 
not allowed to succeed. During the war and the ad- 
ministration he conducted the affairs of the Depart- 
ment with uncommon vigor and with perfect fidelity 
to the country and to the army. 
At the close of the administration Mr. Marcy re- 
turned to private life, but continued to be active and 
potent in the politics of New York. At the national 
convention of the Democratic party in 1852, Mr. 
Marcy was supported for the Presidency by many 
friends during the whole of the long contest for 
nomination. In several ballotings he received be- SECRETARY MARCY. 
499 
tween 90 and 100 votes. General Pierce becoming 
President in March, 1853, called Mr. Marcy to the 
head of his cabinet and he continued to be Secretary 
of State till the close of the administration. While 
the administration of President Pierce has been justly 
condemned for many things in its domestic policy and 
for the “ Ostend manifesto ” proclaimed by three of 
its prominent representatives abroad, it is neverthe- 
less true that the management of difficult and exciting 
questions with Great Britain, Austria, and the tumult- 
uous Central American States conferred high honor 
and world-wide renown on Secretary Marcy. He 
cared nothing for the glare of popularity, but his 
state papers have a solid merit, a manifestation of 
ponderous intellectual power which place him among 
the first of American diplomatists. 
On returning to Albany, Mr. Marcy intended to 
make the tour of Europe with his family. Prepara- 
tions for the journey had been nearly completed, when, 
his family desiring to visit friends to the westward of 
Albany, he made a visit to Ballston Spa. He there 
died suddenly of heart disease near noon of Inde- 
pendence Day. The telegraph announced the fact 
as follows: “ Mr. Marcy was found dead in his room 
at noon to-day. He appeared to be in his usual 
health, this morning.” He had in truth been suffer- 
ing slightly from palpitation of the heart for some 
time. A little before 11 o’clock he personally called 
upon his physician and directed that he call at his 
hotel. Returning to the hotel Mr. Marcy directed 
that the doctor be sent to his room and at once re- 
tired thither. Presently the doctor came, called at 
the room, knocked, but receiving no response, re- 500 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
turned to the office. Waiting a few moments, it now 
being about twenty minutes since Mr. Marcy had 
given the direction to the clerk, he went again to 
the room and opening the door found Mr. Marcy 
lying on his couch perfectly dead. The body, fully 
clothed, lay as if in the repose of slumber, without 
a muscle distorted, and with a book in one hand lying 
on the breast. It was evident that the vital organ 
had instantly ceased to perform its functions and that 
the great statesman had painlessly passed from the 
repose of sleep to the repose of death. 
I do not know that I can so appropriately close this 
imperfect sketch of this great and universally beloved 
man as in the words of the National Intelligencer — 
a journal politically opposed to Mr. Marcy—of 
Monday, July 6, in commenting on the brief tele- 
graphic announcement already quoted: “ In each 
minute of time such numbers of victims are ever 
obeying the final summons that the solemnity of the 
event is diminished by its familiarity; but this un- 
looked for stroke of the destroyer will ‘give pause ’ 
to every heart in this vast country ; for no man was 
more widely known to the intelligent portions of his 
countrymen for his important civil services, or was 
more universally respected for his abilities as a 
statesman, his well-balanced principles, his firmness 
in the path of duty, and his inflexible integrity. At 
his period of life and after the close of his brilliant 
career under the late administration it is probable 
that Mr. Marcy would never again have emerged 
from the shades of private life; still his death must 
be regarded as a public loss, and it will be every- 
where mourned as such.” GEORGE W. CRAWFORD, 
TWENTY-FIRST SECRETARY OF WAR. 
WHEN General Taylor entered into the chief 
magistracy political circles at the national capital 
and throughout the country were in a state of fervent 
speculation upon the subject of his cabinet. He had 
been as yet untried in political affairs; he was notable 
for reticence. The announcement of his cabinet did 
much to dispel the fears of even many things that his 
administration might, by reason of his want of expe- 
rience in political life, turn out to be unsuccessful. 
For there has seldom been a stronger cabinet than 
that of President Taylor. John M. Clayton, William 
B. Preston, Thomas Ewing, Jacob Collamer, Reverdy 
Johnson were men of great abilities and national 
renown. The others of the cabinet were men of 
large talents and wide celebrity. Of these was the 
Hon. George W. Crawford, Secretary of War. 
He was born in Columbia county, Georgia, De- 
cember 22, 1798. His advantages of early study 
were good. He was graduated from the college 
of New Jersey, Princeton, in 1820. Having studied 
law he entered upon the practice at Augusta. He 
had fine success at the bar and steadily rose to emi- 
nence in his profession. He was State’s attorney- 
general from 1827 to 1831. After this he took an 
active part in politics and several times represented 
his county in the legislature. In 1842 he was elected 502 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
a Representative in Congress to fill a vacancy and 
served one session in the House. From 1843 to 
1847 he was Governor of Georgia. When a candi- 
date for Governor, Mr. Crawford made an energetic 
canvass of the State which largely contributed to the 
political revolution that occurred. He was elected 
by about 4,000 majority and the Whigs carried both 
branches of the legislature by almost two to one. 
This triumph gave Mr. Crawford much prominence 
in the Whig party. His administration of the af- 
fairs of the State was vigorous and thoroughly 
honest. Several measures of economy recommended 
by him, notably the reduction of the number of mem- 
bers of the Senate, became laws of the State. Mr. 
Crawford’s appointment of Secretary of War was 
entirely unexpected by him. It was the result of 
the voluntary recommendations of many prominent 
Whigs of the South. He entered upon the duties 
of the office on the 14th of March. With the other 
members of General Taylor’s cabinet he retired upon 
the accession of Vice-President Fillmore to the Presi- 
dency in July, 1850. A few years later Mr. Crawford 
made the tour of Europe, and afterwards lived in 
retirement on his estates near the city of Augusta, 
where he died. 
There was considerable delay after the retirement 
of Mr. Crawford from the War Department in the 
selection of a successor. During this interregnum 
the affairs of the Department were conducted by 
General Scott. SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SCOTT. 
503 
GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, 
SECRETARY OF WAR AD INTERIM. 
Winfield Scott was born near Petersburgh, Vir- 
ginia, June 13, 1786. He was supplied with every 
means of education, general and professional, having 
a number of excellent private tutors, and attending 
William and Mary College. He studied law at Pe- 
tersburgh and was admitted to the bar there in 1806. 
He only remained a short time in this profession for 
in 1808 he was appointed a captain of artillery in the 
United States Army and from that time forth his life 
was devoted to arms. A notable event of his short 
career at the bar was his presence at the famous trial 
of Aaron Burr for treason. He there made the ac- 
quaintance of a number of men eminent in law and 
in literature. He has a long description of the trial 
in his “Autobiography,” concluding with this brief 
note: “It is a striking fact that three of our ex-Vice- 
Presidents — Aaron Burr, J. C. Calhoun, and J. C. 
Breckinridge — became, each in his day, a leader in 
treason.” As to Mr. Calhoun, this will be news to 
many persons who recollect the definition of treason. 
Scott found the natural sphere for the development 
of his genius in the army. He was born a soldier, 
as Byron was a poet and John Marshall a jurist. He 
became thoroughly familiar with the details of the 
military art which he studied with more assiduity 
than had characterized his college life. In July, 1812, 
war with England being declared about the same 
time, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the Second Artillery and ordered to the Canada 
frontier. He reported to General Alexander Smythe, 504 
H1STORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
October 4th. On the 13th, occurred the battle of 
Queenstown in which Scott fought gallantly but in 
the final and disastrous part of the fight was made 
prisoner of war. Going by Kingston, Prescott, and 
Montreal to Quebec, Scott was there paroled, and 
in the latter part of November sailed for Boston. 
Reaching Washington on January 13, 1813, he there 
learned that he had been exchanged. He was soon 
again in active service reporting to General Dear- 
born, commanding the Northern army, in May, with 
his full battalion of artillery. In March he had been 
appointed adjutant-general with the rank of Colonel 
and about the same time was promoted Colonel of 
his regiment. For some time he served under both 
commissions and as adjutant-general performed valu- 
able service in the organization of General Dear- 
born’s army on the Niagara frontier. In the capture 
of Fort George, May 27, Scott commanded the 
advance and behaved with consummate skill and 
bravery. He was the first within the captured 
work and personally lowered the British colors. He 
was severely wounded by the explosion of a maga- 
zine. At the battle of Chippewa, July 5, he was 
equally conspicuous. The enemy here were com- 
pletely beaten and driven from the field by an actual 
bayonet charge of the right wing of the army under 
Scott. He was engaged with even greater promi- 
nence .at the double, day-and-night battle of Lundy’s 
Lane and Niagara Heights and late in the fight was 
severely wounded, an ounce ball penetrating his left 
shoulder joint. During the day two horses had been 
shot under him and he had been much contused by 
the falls. For his gallant conduct in these engage- SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SCOTT. 
505 
ments he was brevetted a major-general and voted 
special thanks and a gold medal by resolution of 
Congress. 
By slow and painful stages, interrupted by frequent 
stoppages, General Scott proceeded to Philadelphia 
where the care of skilful surgeons soon placed him 
comparatively out of pain. In the autumn he re- 
turned to active duty with an important command, 
headquarters at Baltimore. But his participation in 
pitched battles during the war with England closed 
when he fell insensible on the Heights of Niagara. 
In the spring of 1815, General Scott was President 
of a board of several officers to whom had been con- 
signed the duty — to them one of great pain — of 
reducing the army to a peace basis. This being 
done, he set out for Europe in July, in a kind of 
diplomatic-military capacity, and remained abroad, 
in England and on the Continent, for more than a 
year. He remained several months in Paris during 
its occupation by the allied armies after the battle of 
Waterloo, and while there witnessed reviews of five 
hundred thousand troops. Returning in 1816, he had 
a respite from participation in scenes of actual blood- 
shed, though conducting several Indian campaigns, 
for a period of more than thirty years. 
It was not, however, a period of repose to General 
Scott. On the contrary, during this long era of the 
general cessation of our arms, he performed very 
much greatly valuable service to his country besides 
that in the strict line of his military duties, and car- 
ried on several quarrels with public men in his usual 
animated manner. One of these was with General 
Jackson in which both parties lashed each other furi- 506 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
ously with ink. Some six years later, Jackson being 
then a Senator, an apparently friendly understanding 
was reached, but still later, Jackson being President 
caused General Scott to be harassed and tried by 
court-martial for alleged inefficiency in his brief cam- 
paigns against the Seminoles and Creeks. General 
Scott was thoroughly vindicated by the court. Dur- 
ing the nullification troubles, General Scott thrice 
visited Charleston, and performed invaluable ser- 
vice in preventing the outbreak of actual hostilities 
between the State and Federal forces. During the 
northern border troubles in 1837-39, when the “ Can- 
adian Patriots” as they called themselves were at brief 
intervals threatening or attempting raids from our 
frontier upon Canada, General Scott was uncom- 
monly active in the suppression of such movements, 
making several journeys from northern Vermont to 
Detroit and return. During a lull in this storm he 
proceeded to the South to supervise the removal of 
the Cherokee Indians from their hereditary homes in 
North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama to the lands 
set apart for them west of the Mississippi. This 
hard and delicate duty he performed with wonder- 
ful firmness, discretion, and humanity. In 1839, the 
inhabitants of Maine and New Brunswick being about 
to come to blows over the disputed boundary between 
the province and the State, General Scott was sent 
thither to arrange the difficulty. He succeeded. In 
December of this year the Whigs held their national 
convention at Harrisburgh for the nomination of 
President. General Scott was a candidate, but not a 
formidable one. On the announcement of the ballot 
— by separate State delegations — by which a choice SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SCOTT. 
507 
had been agreed upon, it appeared that General 
Harrison had 148 votes, Mr. Clay 90, and General 
Scott 16. 
In June, 1841, General Scott proceeded to Wash- 
ington and there established his headquarters as 
commander-in-chief of the United States Army. He 
remained there much of the time until his departure 
to take chief command in Mexico in the spring of 
1847. On the 9th of March he landed near Vera 
Cruz with an army of about 12,000 men, and speed- 
ily invested the city which surrendered uncondition- 
ally on the 26th. With the city fell the powerful 
castle of San Juan D’Ulloa. Waiting only for re- 
enforcements and supplies, Scott pushed on into the 
interior in his memorable march on the city of Mexico, 
fighting his entire way against an enemy superior 
in numbers and having every advantage of position. 
He won the battle of Cerro Gordo on April 18, but 
moved on almost immediately to Jalapa where no re- 
sistance was offered. Still marching on, Puebla was 
reached, and the city surrendered without firing a 
gun. Here there was some necessary delay but in 
August the order to move forward was again given, 
and in about a month the Capital of Mexico was 
in General Scott’s possession. The series of battles 
of this campaign were admirable exhibitions of skill 
in command and bravery on the field. Contreras, 
San Antonio, and Churubusco were won on two 
days, August 19 and 20, Molinos del Rey September 
8, Chapultepec the 13th, and Mexico the 14th. Gen- 
eral Scott immediately set up a military government 
and levied contributions on the Mexicans for the sup- 
ply of his military chest. His conduct in Mexico 508 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
was afterwards the subject of investigation, and was 
found to have been fully justifiable by the laws of war 
and the dictates of good sense. 
On his return home in 1848 General Scott was 
received with every demonstration of honor by the 
public and by municipal authorities. His friends 
again presented his name as a candidate for Presi- 
dent in the Whig national convention held at Phila- 
delphia in June. The two stronger candidates than 
he on the first ballot were General Taylor and Mr. 
Clay, but on the fourth ballot the vote stood : Taylor 
171, Scott 63, Clay 32, Webster 14, the soldier can- 
didates being fivefold stronger than the statesmen. 
It is worthy of note that after this Messrs. Clay and 
Webster were unable to find much merit in soldiers. 
I may also remark that on one occasion after General 
Taylor had become President, the Kentucky states- 
man treated him with studied hauteur which was so 
manfully and handsomely resented by “ Old Rough 
and Ready ” that Mr. Clay retreated from the Exec- 
utive Mansion a sadder and a wiser man. General 
Scott in his “Autobiography” speaks of General 
Taylor almost in terms of supercilious contempt. 
His success at Philadelphia was unpardonable by the 
defeated, and their treatment of him a lamentable 
proof of the weakness of human nature. In 1852, 
General Scott was again a candidate for the presi- 
dential nomination and after a long contest in con- 
vention was nominated, his principal competitors 
being Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Webster. In* the elec- 
tion he only carried the States of Massachusetts, 
Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, — a defeat so SECRETARY (AD INTERIM) SCOTT. 
509 
tremendous that the Whig party never recovered 
from its effects. 
At the breaking out of our civil war General Scott 
rendered vigilant service in securing the peaceful in- 
auguration of President Lincoln and in organizing 
the army for the defense of Washington. He retired 
from active service November i, 1861, and having 
made a journey to Europe, spent most of the residue 
of his life in preparing his “ Autobiography,” which 
appeared in two volumes in 1864 and has had great 
publicity. He had years before published several 
works of a military character which likewise had an 
extensive sale and were also extensively pirated. 
The latest years of his life General Scott spent at 
the Military Academy, West Point, and died there 
May 29, 1866, having nearly reached the age of 82 
years. 
This illustrious man was always charged by his 
enemies, of whom he had many, with overweening 
vanity and ferocious egotism. The charge is sus- 
tained by his own “ Autobiography ” where these 
qualities are so often manifested that one may well 
doubt whether he possessed the quality of modesty 
at all. A notable instance of this is seen in his years 
of importunity for the Presidency, and in the injustice 
and downright slander which he dealt out to the emi- 
nent men who defeated him. It is even more con- 
spicuous, perhaps, in the air of resignation which he 
assumes on his final defeat and which would amount 
to actua? satisfaction but for the great harm done the 
country! No one of well-balanced mind can read 
these deliberate manifestations of weakness in Gen- 
eral Scott without pitying if not despising them. He 510 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
seems also to have been almost if not quite without 
the quality of magnanimity. Acquainted with more 
public men than almost any one of his contempo- 
raries he probably had more to say in their condem- 
nation and less in their praise than is easily conceiv- 
able by a generous mind. About the only two 
Americans to whom he gives liberal praise are Mr. 
E. D. Mansfield, who wrote a fulsome biography of 
Scott, and a Mr. Leigh, of Virginia, who handled the 
Scott forces at the Harrisburgh convention, and, fail- 
ing in that, nominated John Tyler for the second 
place. He is entitled to little credit as a statesman. 
Whenever he undertook to express himself upon a 
subject in this domain he was crude, not well in- 
formed, sometimes even fantastical. His delineation 
of the character of Mr. Jefferson as a public man 
would do no credit to a school-boy. 
It is painful to recur to these things on the “off- 
side ” of General Scott’s character. His real great- 
ness was his military genius. He had the genius 
to command men. His career in the war of 1812 
showed that he was a great soldier. His campaign 
of Mexico is one of the finest exhibitions of soldierly 
genius of which history gives any account. As a 
soldier he was great not only in the weighty duties 
of war but in those of peace. No great captain ever 
gave more attention to the comfort and happiness of 
his troops at all times than General Scott. With the 
object of personally knowing that matters of the kind 
here referred to were properly attended to he very 
frequently visited the different forts and garrisons of 
the country and personally inspected them. Every 
soldier in the rank and file of the American army SECRETARY (AD INTERIM) SCOTT. 
knew that General-Scott was his friend. On account 
of his success in settling the nullification troubles, the 
Black Hawk war, the removal of the Cherokees, the 
Canadian difficulty, the north-eastern boundary im- 
broglio he was called “ the great pacificator.” En- 
titled to the highest honor for his invaluable services 
in these particulars, they were due to his military 
genius not to any special diplomatic ability. Let 
every one of these cases be carefully analyzed and 
it will be seen that in all of them he gained success 
more through the fear of dreaded conflict than by 
peaceful argument. We have since had greater 
captains than Scott, but it is as a soldier, for more 
than fifty years defending his country with unsur- 
passing gallantry in the field, and with splendid plan- 
ning and execution of campaigns that he deserves 
the lasting and unmixed gratitude of the republic. HON. CHARLES M. CONRAD, 
TWENTY-SECOND SECRETARY OF WAR. 
AFTER the accession of Mr. Fillmore to the Presi- 
dency, he had considerable difficulty in the forma- 
tion of his cabinet. The appointment of Secretary 
of War was offered to the Hon. Edward Bates, of 
Missouri, and declined by him. My recollection, which 
however may be at fault, is that it was offered to 
others also who declined. It will be remembered 
that Fillmore entered into the chief magistracy at a 
time of intense and general political excitement over 
the “ compromise measures,” as they were very inap- 
propriately called, on the slavery question then pend- 
ing. It was difficult if not impossible to find great 
men, who were also honest, to take positions in an 
administration known to be ardently friendly to those 
“compromise measures.” In the end Mr. Fillmore 
succeeded in forming a cabinet better than any one 
had a right to expect. He offered the War Depart- 
ment to the Hon. Charles M. Conrad, of Louisiana, 
at that time a Representative in Congress, and it was 
accepted. He was appointed August 9, 1850, con- 
firmed the 15th, and entered upon his duties the next 
day, relieving General Scott, Secretary ad interim. 
Charles Magill Conrad was born in Winchester, 
Virginia, December 24, 1804. When he was very 
young his father moved to the then Territory of Mis- 
sissippi, and a few years afterwards settled in Louisi- SECRETARY CONRAD. 
ana. He gave the son a liberal education and a 
thorough course of legal studies. He was admitted 
to the bar of New Orleans in 1828 and practiced 
there with success. He was a member of the Loui- 
siana legislature for several years. In 1841, he was 
elected United States Senator for the unexpired term 
of Hon. A. E. resigned, and occupied that 
office till March 3, 1843. the following year he 
was a member of a Convention to revise the Con- 
stitution of Louisiana. He took an active part, dur- 
ing the same year, in the presidential campaign ad- 
vocating the election of Mr. Clay. In 1848 he was 
elected to Congress by the Whigs of New Orleans 
and took his seat in the House in December of the 
following year. He resigned this office to take that 
of Secretary of War in August, 1850, as stated above. 
He remained at the head of the Department during 
the residue of Mr. Fillmore’s administration. After 
his retirement from this office Mr. Conrad resumed 
the practice of law in New Orleans, and was a 
prominent member of the bar until the secession 
of the State broke up the bar and pretty much 
everything else of value in the commonwealth. In 
1861 he was elected a delegate to the provisional 
Congress of Montgomery, and thereafter in the con- 
flict between the “ Confederacy ” and the Union took 
prominent part against the Union. He was a mem- 
ber of the “Confederate Congress” from 1862 till 
1864. After the war he again resumed the practice 
of his profession, but age had impaired his powers 
and he did not notably succeed. He died February 
11,1878. His son Charles A. Conrad, is a prominent 
lawyer of New Orleans. JEFFERSON DAVIS, 
TWENTY-THIRD SECRETARY OF WAR. 
TEFFERSON DAVIS was born in Christian county, 
J Kentucky, June 3, 1808. His father removed dur- 
ing his very early life to Mississippi, but Jefferson was 
sent to Transylvania College in his native State for 
education. Appointed to West Point he was gradu- 
ated there in the class of 1828. He served as second 
lieutenant of infantry till 1833, and then till 1835 as 
first lieutenant of dragoons. During this period he 
was engaged in the Black Hawk war and in several 
expeditions against the Pawnees and other hostile 
Indians in all of which fine soldierly qualities were 
exhibited. In 1835, he resigned his commission in 
the army and entered upon the life of a planter on 
extensive estates in Mississippi. He had recently 
married Miss Sarah Knox Taylor, a daughter of 
General Taylor. This Mrs. Davis died during the 
same year. In 1845 Mr- Davis appeared as a Rep- 
resentative in Congress and at once took prominent 
part in the debates of that body and became known 
to the country as a States’ rights Democrat “ of the 
most straightest sect.” On the breaking out of the 
Mexican war he was commissioned Colonel of the 
First Mississippi regiment and resigned his seat in 
Congress that he might proceed as soon as prac- 
ticable to the front. The career of Colonel Davis in 
the Mexican war is historical and is highly creditable SECRETARY DAVIS. 
to his renown as a soldier. In the operations before 
Monterey, which resulted in its capitulation Sep- 
tember 24, 1846, Colonel Davis and his command 
were specially conspicuous, storming the redoubts on 
the eastern side of the city where the fighting was 
more severe than in other parts of the field. After 
heroic fighting and great carnage the redoubts and 
with them the city were won. But though Colonel 
Davis and his gallant Mississippians won the prin- 
cipal honors in the storming of Monterey, fairly 
shared, however, by the no less gallant Tennesseeans 
who participated in the series of bloody conflicts, he 
and his command won still greater honors on the 
field of Buena Vista. At the crisis of that eventful 
struggle he sustained and repulsed the united attack 
of the Mexican cavalry and infantry and saved the 
day to the American arms. His command was 
posted on a plateau in rear of a Kentucky and In- 
diana regiment. The latter, commanded by Colonel 
Bowles, gave way before the impetuous attack of 
superior numbers, leaving a terrible break in the 
American lines. Colonel Davis, to retrieve the dis- 
aster, instantly formed his command in the shape of 
a V with the opening toward the enemy, and gave 
the order to receive “ the Greasers ” with cold lead 
but not to fire a shot till the whites of their eyes were 
plainly visible. The slaughter was awful. Horses 
and riders fell in promiscuous heaps, and hundreds 
of riderless steeds, escaping from the sheet of fire, 
added terror to the supporting lines of Mexicans. 
Still these again and again renewed the charge but 
were each time repulsed with terrible loss. At length 
they retreated from the field and Buena Vista was 516 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
won. The Americans had signally defeated an army 
four or five times their superior in numbers. In the 
latter part of the battle Colonel Davis was severely 
wounded. For his conduct at Monterey and Buena 
Vista he received the warmest praise in General 
Taylor’s official reports. His wounds incapacitating 
him from service in the field for an indefinite period 
he returned to Mississippi not long after the battle 
which he had done so much to win. He was soon 
afterwards elected United States Senator, and filled 
that office until 1851. In that year he was a can- 
didate for Governor of Mississippi, his competitor 
being the notorious Henry S. Foote. In the cam- 
paign the question of Union and disunion was dis- 
cussed, Mr. Foote taking the Union side, but without 
forcing Mr. Davis into the expression of unequivocal 
disunion sentiments. The canvass was one of even 
more than the usual amount of bluster, drinkings, 
and duellings, and Mr. Davis was defeated. 
Two years afterwards Mr. Davis became Secretary 
of War, occupying that position during the adminis- 
tration of President Pierce. He conducted the War 
Department with notable success, and with great 
acceptability to the army. During his administration 
the army regulations were revised and greatly im- 
proved and simplified; rifled guns were substituted 
for muskets ; the army was increased; explorations 
in the West by army officers were vastly extended. 
There have been very few more accomplished and 
energetic Secretaries of War than Jefferson Davis. 
Soon after his retirement from the War Depart- 
ment Mr. Davis again entered the Senate and re- 
mained a prominent member of that body until early SECRE TAR Y DA VIS. 
in 1861, when he withdrew to join his State in the 
secession movement. In the Senate he advocated 
slavery and its extension, the extreme doctrines of 
State rights, a Southern Pacific railroad, and the gen- 
erally recognized doctrines of the Democratic party. 
He made himself especially conspicuous by his ardent 
opposition to the French Spoliation Bill. His oratory 
was elegant, fluent, strong, terse, not a little resem- 
bling that of Mr. Calhoun. 
Mr. Davis’s career as President of the “Southern 
Confederacy” during the entire period of its unlaw- 
ful existence is historical. Fleeing southward after 
the fall of Richmond in the spring of 1865 he was 
captured by Union soldiery near Irwinville, Georgia, 
and was thenceforth transferred as a prisoner of State 
to Fortress Monroe, where he remained, under indict- 
ment for treason, for two years. He was then released 
on bail, but still remains under bond to answer to the 
indictment, should the court ever see fit to call upon 
him to do so. After his release, Mr. Davis spent 
some time abroad. Since his return he has been en- 
gaged much of the time in business at Memphis, Ten- 
nessee. During this time he has on several occasions 
expressed his views upon political topics, reiterating 
the sentiments whose bad influence brought such un- 
told woes upon the republic, and causing even the 
most magnanimous Union men of the country to re- 
gret that he gave no evidence of a change of heart. JOHN B. FLOYD, 
TOHN BUCHANAN FLOYD was born in what is 
I now Pulaski county, Virginia, in 1805. He was for 
a time a student at Georgetown College, District of 
Columbia, but went to the College of South Carolina 
later and was graduated there in 1826. He removed 
to Helena, Arkansas, and there engaged in the prac- 
tice of law for a few years. About 1839 he returned 
to Virginia and practiced his profession in Washing- 
ton county. He took an active part in politics and 
was three times elected to the legislature. From 
1850 to 1853 he was Governor of Virginia. In 1856 
at the Cincinnati convention he actively supported 
the nomination of Mr. Buchanan, and, upon his ac- 
cession to the Presidency he appointed Floyd Sec- 
retary of War. During the latter part of the ad- 
ministration he secretly aided the plans of the 
secession leaders in various ways, and would have 
doubtless done so to greater extent than he actually 
did but for the vigilance of General Scott. In De- 
cember, i860, Mr. Floyd was superseded as Secretary 
of War by Hon. Joseph Holt of Kentucky. Hence- 
forth he openly espoused the Confederate cause. He 
was commissioned a brigadier-general by the Con- 
federate pretended government. He did not succeed 
in the army. Driven from West Virginia by General 
Rosecrans in the autumn of 1861, and routed at 
TWENTY-FOURTH SECRETARY OF WAR. SECRETARY FLOYD. 
Carnifex Ferry September io, he is next heard of at 
Fort Donelson, whence, while his superior officers 
were considering of capitulation, he “ stole himself 
away ” with his command in a quite unceremonious 
and unmilitary fashion. General Floyd was publicly 
censured by his employers who declined to assign 
him to further duties. He died at Abington, Vir- 
ginia, August 26, 1863, having become about as 
thoroughly disliked by the “Confederate” a-s he 
was by the Union people of the country. JOSEPH HOLT, 
TWENTY-FIFTH SECRETARY OF. WAR. 
JOSEPH HOLT was born in Breckenridge county, 
Kentucky, January 6, 1807. He received a thor- 
ough classical and mathematical education, St. Jo- 
seph’s College at Bardstown and Centre College, 
Danville, dividing the honors of having directed his 
intellectual discipline. Having studied law he en- 
tered on practice in Elizabethtown, where he so well 
succeeded that in a short time he removed to Louis- 
ville. This was in 1832. In the following year he 
became State’s attorney for the circuit. In 1835, 
following an impulse about that time quite prevalent 
among young lawyers, Mr. Holt removed to the far 
South. He located at Port Gibson, Mississippi, and 
there followed his profession with very marked suc- 
cess for about seven years, when he determined to 
return to Kentucky and make that his permanent 
home. Returning accordingly to Louisville he there 
practiced his profession with constantly increasing 
reputation for some fifteen years. In 1857, he was 
appointed Commissioner of Patents by President 
Buchanan. After the death of Postmaster-General 
Aaron V. Brown Mr. Holt was appointed to that 
office — March, 1859. In December, i860, when 
Floyd withdrew from the War Department, Mr. Holt 
was designated Secretary of War ad interim. For 
some time he had charge of both departments but 
520 SECRETARY HOLT. 
521 
being confirmed Secretary of War, Horatio King 
became Postmaster-General. The cordial coopera- 
tion of Mr. Holt with General Scott. assured the 
peaceful inauguration of President Lincoln. In the 
early stages of the civil war Mr. Holt took a very 
earnest part in Kentucky politics, advocating out-and- 
out Unionism and denouncing the policy of neutrality 
with great powers of reasoning and eloquence. In 
this trying epoch the Union cause did not have an 
abler advocate than Joseph Holt. And he thus con- 
tinued throughout the war, sustaining emancipation, 
enfranchisement—all the great measures of human 
rights through which the Union cause became en- 
titled to the considerate judgment of mankind and 
the gracious favor of Almighty God. Having mean- 
while filled some minor positions of a military-judicial 
character, but temporary in their nature, Mr. Holt, in 
September, 1862, was appointed Judge-Advocate- 
General of the Army. This position, at this time, of 
course, one of great labor and responsibility, he filled 
with success, trying many cases which are recognized 
as historical. In 1864, upon the creation of the Bu- 
reau of Military Justice, he was placed in charge of it. 
In November of this year President Lincoln offered 
Judge Holt the appointment of Attorney-General 
which he declined. His duties at the head of the 
Bureau of Military Justice were exceedingly onerous, 
and not a few of them distasteful; but he so conducted 
them as to deserve and to receive the respect of can- 
did and intelligent men of all shades of opinion. It 
was impossible for any man to direct the affairs of 
this bureau at this time without subjecting himself to 
severe criticism. No man could have received less 522 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
of this, that was just, than he. In December, 1875, 
Judge Holt, who held the rank of Brevet Major-Gen- 
eral in the Army, was retired at his own request, and 
Judge William McKee Dunn was promoted to his 
place in charge of the Bureau of Justice, and has dis- 
charged the duties of the position with perfect fidelity 
and exceptional ability. Judge Holt resides in Wash- 
ington, where he has troops of friends who recognize 
in him a genuine statesman and a pure and undefiled 
patriot whose name belongs to the few, the immortal 
few that were not born to die. SIMON CAMERON, 
QIMON CAMERON was born in the little village of 
O Maytown, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 
8, 1799. Becoming an orphan when nine years of 
age, without patrimony, he was compelled henceforth 
by his own labors to make his way in the world. And 
it must be confessed he made his way about as suc- 
cessfully as any man in the world. Having had such 
“ schooling ” as the public schools of those days af- 
forded, and the advantage of the reading of many 
books, he was apprenticed to a printer in Northum- 
berland who agreed to teach “ the said apprentice in 
the art, trade, and mystery of a printer.” At this 
time Cameron was 17 years old but small in stature 
and anything but vigorous in health. He went to 
work at the trade — for his labor he was to receive 
board, lodging, washing, and $20 a year for clothing 
— but in a few months his employer failed, and the 
youth was thrown upon his own resources again. 
Proceeding down the Susquehanna River on a flat- 
boat to Harrisburgh, he there was taken into a good 
newspaper office as an apprentice. He learned the 
art preservative so rapidly and so much improved 
his mind by reading that at the end of his two years’ 
apprenticeship he was made assistant editor of what 
was then, outside of Philadelphia, the leading news- 
TWENTY-SIXTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
523 524 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
paper of Pennsylvania. During his printer-life Mr. 
Cameron spent some time in Washington, working 
at the case and studying politics with his eyes and 
ears. Having saved some little money in the print- 
ing business, Mr. Cameron at length drifted out of 
it, and undertook the construction of some public 
works as a contractor. Successful in this, he estab- 
lished a bank at Middletown, a few miles down the 
Susquehanna from Harrisburgh. The business at 
that time was very profitable and he soon amassed 
an independent fortune. The bank, established in 
1832, is still in existence, and so late as the summer 
of 1878 Mr. Cameron was still connected with it. 
Some years after he established his bank Mr. Cam- 
eron was nominated for Congress by his party but 
after a few weeks declined the nomination. He took 
great interest in the construction of railroads, then 
being introduced as means of transportation and was 
chosen president of two railway companies. He 
was also for some time Adjutant-General of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1845 he was elected United States 
Senator. Judge Woodward had received the nomi- 
nation of the regular Democratic caucus, but being 
“bitten with free trade,” the nomination was unsatis- 
factory to the protectionists. They combined against 
Judge Woodward and uniting upon Mr. Cameron 
elected him by a majority of one vote. He served 
in the Senate four years. He then returned to his 
bank in Middletown but henceforth was a potent man 
in the politics of Pennsylvania. 
On the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, 
Mr. Cameron left the Democratic party, and on the 
organization of the new Republican party shortly SECRETARY SIMON CAMERON. 
525 
afterwards became a Republican. In 1857 he was 
again elected to the United States Senate for a full 
term. In i860 Mr. Cameron was generally spoken 
of in Pennsylvania as a candidate for the presidency, 
and very many public journals of other States men- 
tioned his name with favorable comments. At the 
national convention of that year he received 
votes for the nomination being the third highest 
among the candidates balloted for. He received one 
vote and a half more than Mr. Chase. Being ap- 
pointed Secretary of War by President Lincoln, 
March, 1861, Mr. Cameron resigned his seat in the 
Senate. “ How difficult it was to fill the position of 
Secretary of War then,” said Mr. Cameron in 1878, 
“ none but myself can ever know. A few weeks after 
I had been appointed the war broke out, and from 
my intimate acquaintance and frequent conversation 
with Mr. Davis and other Southern Senators, I was 
convinced that the struggle was to be a long and de- 
termined one. Neither President Lincoln nor Mr. 
Seward shared that opinion, however. If I am not 
greatly mistaken they both thought that ‘ the disturb- 
ance,’ as the rebellion was at first called, would soon 
blow over. Nearly all the people were of the same 
opinion. Indeed, it was almost impossible to find a 
man who had any intelligent idea of the magnitude 
of the struggle which was then begun. Oh, it was 
a terrible time,” General Cameron continued, with 
increasing warmth and earnestness, “ a terrible time. 
We were entirely unprepared for such a conflict, and 
for the moment, at least, absolutely without even the 
simplest instruments with which to engage in war. 
We had no guns, and even if we had, they would 526 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
have been of little use, for we had no ammunition to 
put in them — no powder, no saltpetre, no bullets, no 
anything that was needed. I did the best I could 
under the circumstances, working day and night, to 
be ready for the great fights which I knew must come. 
But still there were very few persons who believed 
that the war would last for more than a few weeks, 
or months at the most. I clung to my original opin- 
ion, however, and advised that 500,000 men be raised 
to put down the rebellion. People laughed at me, 
thought I was mad. Even Mr. Seward, keen-witted 
and far-sighted as he was, still believed that the 
trouble was to be short-lived, and mentioned 75,000 
men as an army sufficient for all the needs of the 
nation. After a time, however, both he and the 
leading members of Congress began to see their 
error, and the government was given authority to 
raise 500,000 men, the number which I at first sug- 
gested. 
“As the struggle progressed, the War Department 
became more and more distasteful to me. Indeed, 
my position was a most disagreeable one. At first 
having no means at my command; then laughed at 
for predicting that the war would be a long and bloody 
one; and all the time harassed by contractors and 
others who were bent on making all they could out 
of the crisis, I was certainly not in a place to be en- 
vied. Still, I held on, doing what I could, until, sin- 
cerely believing that it would be for the best, I rec- 
ommended that the negroes of the South be armed 
and employed in the service of the Union. That idea 
was a trifle too advanced for the time, and the end of 
it was that I went out of the cabinet.” SECRETARY SIMON CAMERON. 
527 
Mr. Cameron was appointed Minister to Russia in 
January, 1862, and Mr. Stanton took charge of the 
War Department. Mr. Cameron was not satisfied in 
St. Petersburgh. He only remained there until Sep- 
tember when of his own motion he threw up the mis- 
sion and returned home. He reached America in the 
latter part of the year 1862. Not long thereafter he 
received an invitation from a considerable number of 
Republican members of both branches of Congress 
to visit Washington and attend a consultation in 
regard to national affairs. He found that it was in 
contemplation to irffpeach President Lincoln and re- 
move him from office! The friends of this scheme 
supposed that Mr. Cameron’s “ sore ” feelings on 
account of his virtual removal from the War De- 
partment would make him favor the plan. They 
were greatly mistaken. He energetically denounced 
the whole business as disastrous and insane, and it 
was abandoned. He in fact heartily sustained Mr. 
Lincoln’s renomination ; procured a letter from all the 
Republican members of the Pennsylvania legisla- 
ture demanding it; and earnestly supported it in 
the national convention of 1864, of which he was a 
member and chairman of the Pennsylvania delega- 
tion. 
In 1867, Mr. Cameron was again elected United 
States Senator, and on the expiration of his term 
was reelected. In 1877, resigned and was suc- 
ceeded by his son, J. D. Cameron, who had for some 
months been Secretary of War. In the Senate Mr. 
Cameron always had great influence, though seldom 
taking part in debates. He was for years second, 
Mr. Sumner being chairman, on the Committee on 528 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
Foreign Affairs. When the proposition to remove 
Mr. Sumner from the chairmanship was made Mr. 
Cameron protested against it. He urged his objec- 
tions in strong terms to Senators and to President 
Grant. At the time Mr. Sumner’s removal was 
determined upon, Mr. Cameron was at his home, 
and learning by telegraph that he was to be made 
chairman he hastened to Washington in the determi- 
nation to decline and to do all in his power to secure 
Mr. Sumner’s retention. On reaching the Senate 
he found Mr. Schurz delivering a phillipic against 
him (Cameron), as the proposed chairman of the 
Committee. This caused Mr. Cameron to let the 
matter take its course. Net result: Carl Schurz 
ousted Mr. Sumner and made Mr. Cameron Chair- 
man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. 
Schurz budded better than he supposed; for Mr. 
Cameron, without any fuss or nonsense or classical 
quotation or any other pretentious stupidity, made a 
first-rate chairman of the committee, so universally 
recognized by the Senate. His great common sense 
was sufficient for every occasion. 
On his resignation, men asked Mr. Cameron what 
he was going to do. “ I am going home,” he said, 
“ to raise turnips and radishes.” And in such or 
other employment calculated to produce quiet happi- 
ness he has been engaged since his voluntary retire- 
ment to private life. Nearly eighty years of age he 
is still vigorous in mind and body. There has been 
much criticism of an unfavorable nature upon his 
public career. It is yet too soon to judge of it im- 
partially and fully, but not to say that all candid men SECRETARY SIMON CAMERON. 
529 
will agree that under all circumstances he has been 
potently faithful to his friends, to his State, and to 
his country. 
In the present year (1879) General Cameron was 
the object in a court of justice of a most disgraceful 
blackmailing assault, which was promptly repelled, 
to the great gratification of every pure and well- 
regulated mind. 
o EDWIN M. STANTON, 
EDWIN McMASTERS STANTON was born in 
Steubenville, Ohio, December 19, 1814. He was 
a graduate of Kenyon College in the class of 1833. 
After leaving college he was engaged for some time 
as salesman in a bookstore at Columbus. During 
leisure hours he read law and at length pursued a 
regular course of legal studies. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1836, and at once entered into practice 
at Cadiz. In the following year he became prose- 
cuting attorney. He soon afterwards removed to 
his native place where he speedily acquired a large 
and lucrative practice and became distinguished as 
a lawyer. Between 1839 and 1842 he reported the 
decisions of the Supreme Court of Ohio, making 
three volumes. In 1848 he removed to Pittsburgh 
where and in the Supreme Court of the United 
States he had one of the largest and most profitable 
practices in the United States. Before the war of 
the rebellion his practice was worth more than 
$50,000 a year. He was engaged in many notable 
causes the most celebrated of all, perhaps, being the 
Wheeling Suspension Bridge case. In 1858 he was 
sent by the United States government to California 
to take charge of the government interests in im- 
portant cases there pending. In December, i860, 
Mr. Stanton was appointed Attorney-General by 
TWENTY-SEVENTH SECRETARY OF WAR. SECRETARY STANTON. 
President Buchanan. During the brief period re- 
maining of that administration he did all that one 
man could do to prevent the President from allow- 
ing the Union to fall to pieces. At the close of 
the administration he resumed the practice, now 
remaining nearly all of his time in Washington in 
charge of his business before the Supreme Court. 
In January, 1862, Mr. Stanton became Secretary 
of War under President Lincoln. His career in 
discharging that responsible trust during the residue 
of the war is matter of general history. His life in 
the Department during this period, during the entire 
period, in fact, in which he was Secretary of War, is 
so often mentioned with considerable detail in the 
first part of this work, that little need here be said. 
Let it suffice to say that Mr. Stanton threw unsur- 
passed, almost superhuman energy into the conduct 
of the affairs of the Department and so far as hu- 
man means were concerned organized victory for the 
Union cause. General Cameron thus spoke of Mr. 
Stanton in a conversation in June, 1878: “He was a 
great, big, brave, loyal man; perhaps too harsh and 
quick-tempered in his treatment of those around 
him, but nevertheless a thoroughly good and well- 
meaning man. He had terrible responsibilities which 
at times caused him to be exacting almost to the verge 
of injustice, but I am sure that he always intended to 
do right; and there is no doubt he was in every way 
the man best fitted for the place in the government 
which he was called upon to fill. He was a man of 
wonderful strength not only of mind but of body, 
yet even he gave way under the constant, the never- 
ending strain which was put upon all his faculties. 532 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
His death was hastened by, if it was not the direct 
result of, overwork in the War Department.”1 
The relations between Secretary Stanton and Presi- 
dent Johnson did not long remain agreeable, but Mr. 
Stanton upon consideration and advice determined 
not to resign. The crisis of this phase of the diffi- 
culty came in August, 1867, when the Secretary was 
suspended and General Grant appointed Secretary 
of War ad interim. The Senate sustained Mr. 
Stanton and he was reinstated in January, 1868. In 
the following May, the impeachment of President 
Johnson having failed in the Senate, Mr. Stanton 
resigned. Meanwhile, however, he had been re- 
moved, in words, by the President, in the month of 
February, and Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas 
appointed, in form, Secretary ad interim. Mr. Stan- 
ton remained in possession of the office, however, 
did not recognize General Thomas and, the Senate 
sustaining the Secretary, this case of ad interim 
amounted to nothing. On the 20th of December, 
1869, he was appointed Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court by President Grant and the appoint- 
ment was promptly confirmed by the Senate it being 
recognized by that body and by the country as one 
preeminently fit to be made. But before the com- 
mission was made Mr. Stanton was dead. He died 
of heart disease suddenly — though he had not been 
well for some months — December 24th.2 
1 From a conversation between General Cameron and another 
person, reported in the New York Times of June 3, 1878. From 
the same valuable article the long quotation with respect to the 
War Department in the sketch of General Cameron is taken. 
2 The exact manner of Secretary Stanton’s death is thus related SECRETARY STANTON. 
533 
The momentous events in which Mr. Stanton bore 
so conspicuous, so commanding a part, are so recent 
that it would be difficult if not impossible for any 
writer to assign him a place in history which would 
not cause large dispute. The present generation 
must pass away before such justice shall be done 
him as shall be generally, not to say universally, rec- 
ognized. He was in every respect a tremendous 
man, in body, mind, morals, and sentiment. On duty, 
he always had on several hundred pounds of steam 
to the square inch and could carry more for a greater 
length of time than almost any other man of history. 
During the war he several times worked twenty hours 
a day for months at a time. Not only so, but an hour 
of Stanton was equivalent to two hours with most 
men, even those noted for energy. This is a main 
by Surgeon-General Barnes, in a letter of April 16, 1879, t0 the 
Hon. Edward McPherson, editor of the Philadelphia Press news- 
paper : 
Dear Sir : In reply to your inquiry, I have to state that the late Mr. Edwin 
M. Stanton was for many years subject to asthma in a very severe form, and 
when he retired from the War Department was completely broken down in 
health. In November of 1869 the “ Dropsy or Cardiac Disease ” manifested 
itself (after a very exhausting argument in Chambers in a legal case) and from 
that time he did not leave his house, rarely his bed. For many days before 
his death I was with him almost constantly, and at no time was he without 
most careful attendance by members of his family or nurses. On the night of 
Dec. 23 the dropsical effusion into pericardium had increased to such an extent, 
and the symptoms were so alarming, that the Rev. Dr. Starkey, Rector of the 
Church of the Epiphany, was summoned and read the service appointed for 
such occasions; he, with Mrs. Stanton, Mr. E. L. Stanton, the three younger 
children, Miss Bowie, their governess, myself, and several of the servants were 
by his bedside until he died at 4 A. M., Dec. 24,1869. After the pulse became 
imperceptible at the wrist I placed a finger on the carotid artery, afterward my 
hand over his heart, and when its action ceased, I announced it to those, 
present. * * * * 
Very respectfully yours, 
Jdsebh K. Barnes, M. D*. 534 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
secret of the sublime results, in the view of friends 
of the Union, which accompanied his administration 
of the War Department. No man was ever more 
“ terribly in earnest,” and as his executive capacity 
was unbounded there was no blunder in the conduct 
of the war after he became Secretary, that was 
chargeable to him. The exactions of his office de- 
manded of him directness and promptness. There 
were times when with him what we call diplomacy, 
and even the round-about phrases of ordinary polite- 
ness, would have been crimes. The country never 
once suffered through such blundering, not even 
when General Sherman, in his diplomatic bout with 
Breckinridge, was the party making a wrong move. 
But not to undertake to make a full delineation of 
the character of this remarkable man, I think it safe 
to say that history will in the end pronounce the 
judgment that the four eminent men who did most 
of all eminent men to save the republic were Abra- 
ham Lincoln, Edwin M. Stanton, U. S. Grant, and 
William T. Sherman. Of these, it would have been 
more difficult to find a substitute, in the midst of the 
war, for Mr. Stanton than for either of the others. 
It is almost impossible to conceive how the war of 
the revolution could have gone on to success without 
Washington, or how the war for the Union could 
have gone on to final triumph without Edwin M. 
Stanton. SECRETARY (.AD INTERIM) GRANT. 
535 
GENERAL U. S. GRANT, 
SECRETARY OF WAR AD INTERIM. 
As we have seen in the sketch of Secretary Stanton 
General Grant was appointed Secretary of War ad 
interim during the suspension of the former from 
office. A brief account of the life of General Grant 
is, therefore, here in order. 
Ulysses Simpson Grant was born in Clermont 
county, Ohio, April 27, 1822. He was graduated 
at West Point in the class of 1843 ar*d was assigned 
to duty in the army as lieutenant in the Fourth In- 
fantry. In 1846 he joined General Taylor on the Rio 
Grande, and participated in the battles of Palo Alto, 
Resaca de la Palma, and Monterey. The regiment 
joined the column under General Scott, and Lieuten- 
ant Grant participated in every battle of the remark- 
able campaign under Scott from the siege and cap- 
ture of Vera Cruz to the final complete success at 
the city of Mexico. For gallant and meritorious 
conduct during the campaign with special mention 
of his behavior at Molinos del Rey and Chapulte- 
pec, Grant was brevetted first lieutenant and captain. 
After the war he served in Oregon. In 1853 he was 
promoted to a captaincy. In the following year he 
resigned, having served eleven years in the army. 
The period in this now illustrious man’s life be- 
tween his resignation as Captain and his appoint- 
ment as Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volun- 
teers at the beginning of the civil war, was of 
humdrum nature. He returned from Oregon to 
“ the States,” and settled down in civil life on a 
small farm not far from the city of St. Louis. He 536 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was an industrious farmer, hard-working as any of 
his neighbors, and certainly in all respects as unpre- 
tending as any of them, but did not notably succeed 
in the calling. In 1859 he removed to Galena, Illi- 
nois, and in partnership with his father and a brother 
engaged in the leather business. 
On the breaking out of the war, the distinguished 
Elihu B. Washburne, then representing the Galena 
district in Congress, earnestly recommended Captain 
Grant to Governor Yates as a thoroughly intelligent 
soldier and man of great energy, the result of which 
was that Grant was at once employed at the Gov- 
ernor’s headquarters. He raised a regiment of vol- 
unteers, designated the Twenty-first Illinois, and was 
commissioned Colonel. His fine military knowledge 
and capacity in the organization of the Illinois troops 
soon brought him from President Lincoln a commis- 
sion as brigadier-general of volunteers. In the 
autumn of 1861, General Grant assumed command 
of the district of Cairo, embracing southern Illinois 
and parts of Kentucky and Missouri. On Novem- 
ber 8th, he attacked a considerable force of rebels 
at Belmont, a village in Missouri opposite Columbus, 
Kentucky. After a sharp battle the place was car- 
ried, both sides suffering considerably, but the enemy 
being heavily reenforced from Columbus, Grant was 
compelled to retreat. This movement he accom- 
plished with success, leaving only a few badly wounded 
on the field. Both sides claimed a victory. 
Early in the year 1862, Grant began that famous 
campaign which, embracing the capture of Forts 
Plenry and Donelson with large numbers of men 
and immense store and the pitched battle of Shiloh, SECRETARY (AD INTERIM) GRANT. 
537 
made his name illustrious forever. For his conduct 
in the siege and capture of Fort Donelson he was 
commissioned major-general, to date from February 
16, the day of the unconditional surrender. This 
great victory wonderfully invigorated the spirits of 
the Union people of the country. The battle of 
Shiloh, however, received no little unfavorable criti- 
cism on account of which for a time General Grant 
was under a shadow. The Union army was here 
surprised and on the first day of the battle was 
driven back and worsted until late in the afternoon. 
Then the tide turned, chiefly by reason of the mag- 
nificent fighting of General J. D. Webster, Grant’s 
chief of artillery. He massed his guns on an emi- 
nence in rear of Pittsburgh Landing and by the 
“ most terrific cannonading ever witnessed on this 
continent,” first checked the enemy’s impetuous ad- 
vance and presently caused him to retire from much 
of the ground that he had won. In this crisis of the 
battle the gun-boat Tyler came to the aid of Webster, 
rendering the artillery on the land invaluable assist- 
ance. It will thus be seen that while the Unionists 
were worsted on the first day’s fight, they were so far 
from being defeated that the tide of battle had visibly 
turned in their favor before night. General Buell 
largely reenforced Grant in the evening and the 
battle of Monday was a sweeping Union victory 
throughout. In this battle fell General Albert Sidney 
Johnston, a most gallant and capable soldier and noble 
man whose only fault was that in a mistaken sense 
of duty he drew his sword against his country. 
The unfavorable opinion of General Grant which 
largely obtained for a time after Shiloh was gradually 538 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
dissipated as the real facts became known. After 
the battle Major-General Halleck for once went to 
the front, and Grant served under him in the slow 
operations against Corinth. In the autumn General 
Grant again had the principal command of what may 
conveniently be called the army of the South, and for 
a time had his headquarters at Jackson, West Ten- 
nessee. During this fall and winter several move- 
ments were undertaken against Vicksburgh, but they 
all failed. The entirely needless battle of Iuka was 
fought by Rosecrans in September, and the gallant 
defense of Corinth made by him in the following 
month. Near the close of the year, General Sher- 
man was defeated at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou. 
In the spring of 1863 General Grant commenced the 
wonderful campaign of Vicksburgh. Marching around 
Vicksburgh through Louisiana, he crossed the Missis- 
sippi near Port Gibson, and defeating the enemy in 
general engagements at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jack- 
son, Champion Hills, and Black River Bridge — a 
series of magnificent operations and combats in which 
Johnston and Pemberton were beaten in detail — 
before the close of May he had Pemberton closely 
besieged in Vicksburgh. On the 4th of July, Pember- 
ton surrendered with his whole army and immense 
war material, and for the Union the Mississippi River 
flowed unvexed from its sources to the gulf. This 
is regarded by many writers of approved judgment 
as General Grant’s most brilliant campaign. It 
cheered the Unionists wonderfully in all parts of the 
country ; and their good spirits were greatly increased 
by intelligence of the cotemporaneous great victory 
of the Union army on the field of Gettysburgh. For SECRETARY [AD INTERIM) GRANT. 
539 
Vicksburgh Grant was commissioned a major-general 
in the United States army and voted the thanks of 
Congress and a gold medal. 
But brilliant as was the campaign of Vicksburgh it 
was scarcely greater in the manifestation of military 
genius than the campaign of Chattanooga, the next 
great series of operations directed by General Grant. 
General Rosecrans had been defeated at the battle 
of Chickamauga. His army was saved from com- 
plete disaster by the firmness of General Thomas “ who 
stood like a mountain of granite between the victo- 
rious enemy and Chattanooga.” Secretary Stanton, 
energetically asseverating that Rosecrans had been 
needlessly “stampeded” at Chickamauga, demanded 
his displacement by Thomas. Accordingly Thomas 
assumed command of the Army of the Cumberland. 
Grant was appointed to the command of the Military 
Division of the Mississippi, which embraced the de- 
partments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the 
Tennessee. He proceeded to Chattanooga, arriving 
October 23d. He reenforced the Army of the Cum- 
berland with troops from the Army of the Potomac 
in the east and the Army of the Tennessee in the 
south-west; with these he raised the blockade of the 
line of communications with Chattanooga and brought 
an end to the era of gaunt famine by abundant sup- 
plies. On November 23d and 24th, he delivered bat- 
tle. The series of engagements known as Lookout 
Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, and Knox- 
ville were the armed conflicts of this campaign. The 
enemy were everywhere defeated with great loss of 
life and store and were driven out of Tennessee with 
their military power there hopelessly shattered. This 540 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was the campaign which broke the back-bone of the 
rebellion and made the triumph of the Union cause a 
mere question of time. Added to his former achieve- 
ments it placed General Grant at the head of the 
military profession. Congress not long afterwards 
created the rank of lieutenant-general, to which 
Grant was commissioned very early in March, 1864. 
He then proceeded to Washington, being every- 
where along the line of his journey received with 
universal eclat, and assumed command-in-chief of the 
armies of the United States and very soon the com- 
mand in the field of the forces operating against the 
principal “ Confederate” army under General Robert 
E. Lee. Of the great campaign of Richmond it is 
needless to speak,because its great movements, sieges, 
and battles are fresh in the memory of the people 
and form so conspicuous a part of our history that 
they must forever be quite familiarly known. Baffled 
here, baffled there by the astute General who opposed 
him and his army of brave, devoted followers, the 
persistent hard fighting of Grant at last completely 
pulverized the military power of the Confederacy 
and at Appomattox achieved a complete and glorious 
victory for the Union arms. The war was over; the 
Union was saved, and very largely, by universal agree- 
ment, through the incomparable military genius and 
undying pluck of General Grant. 
After the war General Grant remained commander- 
in-chief of the army, headquarters at Washington. In 
JUy, 1866, the rank of full general was created and 
Grant appointed thereto. When appointed Secre- 
tary of War ad interim by President Johnson, he ac- 
cepted the office with evident reluctance, but while SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) GRANT. 
filling it he performed its duties well and in a fine 
spirit of independence as to the political imbroglio in 
which the administration had become involved. 
In 1868, General Grant was nominated for Presi- 
dent by the Republican national convention, and in 
November was elected by a large majority, defeating 
Horatio Seymour of New York. In 1872, he was 
renominated and again elected by a still larger ma- 
jority, this time defeating the distinguished Horace 
Greeley who had been nominated by the “ Liberal 
Republicans ” and by the Democracy. It is yet too 
soon to judge with impartial fairness of the adminis- 
tration of President Grant. He has himself ac- 
knowledged that he made many mistakes, but it is 
perhaps true that these were as few as had been 
made by any of his predecessors. As a rule, they 
pertained to mere detail and will nearly all be for- 
gotten in a short time. The next generation will 
care nothing at all about who held the offices in this. 
In his foreign policy, his Indian policy, his financial 
policy, he manifested high statesmanship. The ad- 
ministration which negotiated the treaty of Wash- 
ington must be forever honored in our annals, whilst 
the messages of President Grant on financial subjects 
are models of wisdom and logic which it would be 
well for all people who think something can be made 
out of nothing to study. While there were many 
of our people who bitterly opposed President Grant, 
and especially criticised him for the choice of many 
friends who did him no honor, yet I think it is true 
that he left the presidency with the cordial respect of 
all his fair-minded countrymen as a man of perfect 
personal integrity, whose incomparable services in 542 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the field and thoroughly patriotic services in council 
justly entitled him to the eternal gratitude of the 
republic. 
Since his retirement General Grant has travelled 
abroad, in Europe, Egypt, and Asia. Pursuing his 
way unostentatiously he has nevertheless been every- 
where received with distinguished consideration by 
the great and mighty and with right good will by 
the masses of the people, who, even those far up the 
Nile, know at least the outlines of his history and 
that he was largely instrumental in saving his country 
from disruption and ruin. GENERAL J. M. SCHOFIELD, 
TWENTY-EIGHTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
JOHN MCALLISTER SCHOFIELD was born in 
Chautauqua county, New York, September 29, 
1831. He was the son of a clergyman who with his 
family removed to Bristol, Illinois, when the son who 
became so distinguished was still under twelve years 
of age. In 1849, at this time living in Freeport, 
Illinois, Schofield entered the Military Academy, and 
was graduated four years later being seventh in the 
class in general merit. Among his class-mates were 
Generals McPherson, Sheridan, now Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral of the Army, Terrill, R. O. Tyler, and the dash- 
ing Confederate General J. B. Hood. After serving 
in the artillery for two years in South Carolina and 
Florida, Lieutenant Schofield was ordered to West 
Point as an instructor, and occupied the chair of an 
assistant professor until June, i860, when he received 
leave of absence for one year that he might accept a 
professorship in Washington University, St. Louis. 
He was in this employment when the war broke out. 
In May, 1861, he was promoted to be captain of 
artillery in the Army, and about the same time was 
appointed a major in a Missouri regiment of volun- 
teers. He assisted in the famous capture of Camp 
Jackson, St. Louis, on May 10th. Soon afterwards 
he became chief-of-staff to General Lyon, and con- 
tinued in that employment till the death of the 
543 544 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
General at the battle of Wilson’s Creek. In this 
engagement Major Schofield behaved with uncom- 
mon gallantry and military efficiency. In October, 
he was commissioned a brigadier-general of volun- 
teers, and assigned to a peculiar and difficult com- 
mand, namely, that of about 10,000 Missouri State 
troops organized and to be organized for the defense 
of the State against domestic marauders and guer- 
illas. In the duties of this singular command General 
Schofield was more successful than any one had a 
right to suppose he or any man would be. With 
his State troops he kept guerilla warfare within the 
narrowest limits, and was able to reenforce a more 
important theatre of the war with about 10,000 reg- 
ular volunteers. Early in 1862, he was placed in 
command of the district of Missouri. General Sam- 
uel R. Curtis, commanding the “ Army of the South- 
west,” having defeated the rebels at the battle of Pea 
Ridge, marched his army diagonally across Arkansas 
to Helena. In the summer and autumn of this year 
General Schofield organized the Army of the Fron- 
tier, with which he suppressed the guerilla warfare 
of south-western Missouri, and defeating Hindman 
in the sharp battle of Maysville, October 23, drove 
the last organized forces of Confederates in this part 
of the country beyond the Boston mountains and sent 
them whirling down the valley of the Arkansas. 
On November 29th, Schofield was appointed a 
major-general of volunteers by President Lincoln. 
His straightforward administration of military af- 
fairs in the district of Missouri had made him many 
enemies among politicians and, though they were 
unable to have his nomination rejected by the Sen- SECRETARY SCHOFIELD. 
545 
ate, they succeeded in having action on it postponed 
from time to time until the end of the session, March 
3, 1863, when the commission expired. At his own 
request he was immediately relieved of the command 
in Missouri, and was ordered to report to General 
Rosecrans commanding the army of the Cumber- 
land. By him Schofield was placed in command 
of the division of the Fourteenth Army Corps which 
had formerly been commanded by Thomas. But in 
a very few weeks President Lincoln reappointed 
Schofield a major-general of volunteers, and or- 
dered him back to St. Louis to relieve General 
Curtis in command of the department of Missouri. 
Assuming the command early in May, General Scho- 
field gave first attention to the reenforcement of 
Grant now inaugurating the grand campaign of 
Vicksburgh. General Frank J. Herron with a fine 
division of the Army of the Frontier — victors of 
the field of Prairie Grove — was promptly dispatched 
down the great river, only to be immediately followed 
by all other troops in the department of Missouri 
which were not absolutely essential to the simple 
defense of the command. I think Grant will agree 
that he never had a more generous and liberal re- 
enforcer than Schofield. After the fall of Vicksburgh, 
General Schofield energetically occupied himself in 
repossessing Arkansas and in other general opera- 
tions calculated to give the Unionists complete pos- 
session of all the States west of the Mississippi River. 
In the midst of these important duties, in January, 
1864, he was relieved of command of the depart- 
ment by General Rosecrans. President Lincoln 
heartily sustained Schofield in his administration of HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
affairs, but yielded to the clamor of the politicians 
that the result might demonstrate its injustice. In 
a very short time the clamor against Rosecrans was 
vastly louder than it had ever been against Scho- 
field, and he was in turn relieved by General G. M. 
Dodge. 
Leaving this harassing command, General Schofield 
from this time onward until the close of the war had 
a sphere of duty in which strictly military operations 
were alone required of him and though many of these 
were difficult, some of momentous import, we shall 
see that he went through all with fine success and 
constantly increasing renown. On the 9th of Feb- 
ruary, 1864, General Schofield assumed command of 
the Army of the Ohio, headquarters at Knoxville, 
Tennessee. Throughout the whole campaign of 
Atlanta, one of the most brilliant and memorable 
in all the annals of warfare, General Schofield was 
conspicuous,— gallant and dashing, but cool as an 
icicle in battle, quick and wary and vigilant in ma- 
noeuvres, at all times perfectly steady, as firm and 
valuable a support as General Sherman could have 
found had he searched the armies of the world. To 
relate the events of General Schofield’s life at this 
period would be to relate good part of the opera- 
tions and combats of General Sherman’s army from 
the time it left Tennessee until the fall of Atlanta. 
After Atlanta fell into General Sherman’s hands 
the army pretty generally took a little rest. General 
Schofield proceeded to Knoxville to attend to certain 
matters of organization there. In the latter part of 
October he was ordered to join General Thomas, with 
the Army of the Ohio and an additional corps,' and SECRETARY SCHOFIELD. 
547 
assist in the defense of Tennessee against the ex- 
pected invasion by Hood. Early in November, 
Schofield joined Thomas and instituted vigorous 
operations in middle Tennessee by taking strong 
positions far to the southward of Nashville, while 
Thomas was engaged strengthening his defenses and 
posting his reenforcements. Schofield delayed the 
advance of Hood’s largely superior army as much 
as practicable, at the battle of Franklin, November 
30, striking his enemy so terrible a blow that he re- 
coiled before it, leaving Schofield ample time to put 
his army behind the works of Nashville without 
further molestation. The battle of Franklin was 
one of the cleanest and most effective drubbings 
of a superior by an inferior force that any one ever 
heard or read of. The bright visions of easy victory 
in which the enemy had indulged their fancy, of plun- 
dering Kentucky and thundering through the gates 
of Cincinnati vanished forever on the field of Frank- 
lin. In the great battle of Nashville, December 15 
and 16, waited for with such sublime patience and so 
sublimely won by General Thomas, Schofield com- 
manded the right wing and most prominently of all 
his lieutenants aided Thomas in winning his com- 
plete and momentous victory. 
This was the last of General Schofield’s military 
operations in the West during the war. Early in 
1865 he was ordered to move to the East with the 
Twenty-third Army Corps. This movement, from 
Nashville to the Potomac was made in just a fort- 
night without the loss of a man or an animal. The 
General proceeded with his command to Wilmington, 
North Carolina, and thence marched inland to join 548 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
General Sherman at Goldsboro according to orders. 
Thither Schofield marched, heavily fighting at Kins- 
ton and elsewhere, always driving the enemy, and 
arrived at Goldsboro a short time before General 
Sherman. The war was soon afterwards brought to 
a close by the surrender of Lee to Grant and of John- 
ston to Sherman. Since the war, General Schofield 
has made a military tour of inspection through the 
South; was for a while in command of the first mili- 
tary district, embracing Virginia; and was later in 
command of the Department of Missouri. He was 
Secretary of War from the resignation of Mr. Stanton 
in May, 1868, until the appointment of General Raw- 
lins by President Grant in March of the following 
year. He has also, I believe, since the war made 
the tour of Europe. He is now and has been for 
some time superintendent and commandant of the 
Military Academy at West Point, where, as in every 
public employment to which he has ever been called 
he performs his duties with an eye single to the pub- 
lic good. We may be sure, therefore, that he will 
continue to merit the favorable opinion of his coun- 
trymen and the good words of impartial history. GENERAL J. A. RAWLINS, 
TWENTY-NINTH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
JOHN A. RAWLINS was born at Guilford, Illi- 
I nois, February 13th, 1831. His father was in 
poor circumstances, unable to procure for him any- 
thing more than a very limited education, but he had 
a great love of reading which enabled him to acquire 
a large fund of information. It also prevented him 
from being radically damaged by ignorant and rough 
associates. He labored on a farm and at the hard 
work of coal-burning until he was about 23 years old 
when he determined that charcoal-making was not 
an employment calculated to develop his genius. The 
manner in which Rawlins emerged from the associa- 
tions of his early life was exceedingly honorable to 
him. He went to Galena, there studied law with 
notable assiduity and was admitted to the bar in 1855. 
He soon had considerable prominence at the bar and 
a practice which gave sure promise of future emi- 
nence. Though in politics an ardent Democrat he 
heartily sustained the war for the Union. In Septem- 
ber, 1861, he was appointed assistant-adjutant-general 
with the rank of captain and assigned to duty on the 
staff of General Grant. From this time forth until 
his death the history of the life of Rawlins is inti- 
mately associated with that of General Grant. For 
he was at the head of the General’s staff during the 
whole of his illustrious military career until his chief 
549 550 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
became President of the United States when Rawlins 
was assigned to the head of the War Department, 
remaining its Secretary until death closed his career, 
September 6th, 1869. 
As a staff officer Rawlins was of the greatest ser- 
vice to the General and to the army. Headquar- 
ters were always in order and there was never any 
discourtesy. He always thoroughly understood all 
the details of the organization of the army and could 
answer any question with regard thereto with ac- 
curacy and in the fewest possible words. In a word, 
he was General Grant’s right arm, constantly relied 
upon by him for relief from the study and direction 
of mere details. In such constant and invaluable 
duties as are here spoken of General Grant never 
relied upon his adjutant-general in vain. His services 
were ever duly appreciated and generously acknowl- 
edged. In August, 1863, Rawlins was commissioned 
a brigadier-general of volunteers and a brevet major- 
general early in 1865. In the spring of this year 
he was made chief-of-staff to the Lieutenant-General 
with the full rank of brigadier-general in the United 
States Army. And this commission was speedily fol- 
lowed by one appointing him a major-general. 
As Secretary of War General Rawlins manifested 
fine capacity. The place was just suited to his genius. 
Unhappily, his health soon broke down, and he only 
had charge of the Department about six months. 
His early death was deeply deplored throughout the 
country and brought a feeling of personal sorrow to 
almost the entire army. It is sometimes greatly hon- 
orable to die poor, an honor fairly won by Secretary 
Rawlins. SECRETARY (.AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, 
SECRETARY OF WAR AD INTERIM. 
For some time before the death of Secretary 
Rawlins whose illness prevented him from attend- 
ing the War Office, General Sherman performed the 
duties of Secretary and at length was formally des- 
ignated as Secretary ad interim. 
William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster 
county, Ohio, February 8, 1820, of excellent stock. 
His father was Charles R. Sherman, a noted lawyer, 
his mother, Mary Hoyt, and he was the sixth of a 
family of the orthodox number of eleven children. 
While William T. was but a lad his father died of 
cholera, and he was adopted as a son by the distin- 
guished statesman Thomas Ewing, a neighbor of the 
family and a devoted friend to Charles R. Sherman. 
After receiving a good course of mental training in 
the schools of Mansfield, young Sherman was ap- 
pointed a cadet to the Military Academy by Mr. 
Ewing at the time in Congress. He was graduated 
June 30, 1840. Among his classmates were George 
H. Thomas, Stewart Van Vliet, and Bushrod R. 
Johnson. After graduation he was appointed second 
lieutenant in the Third Artillery and served at va- 
rious posts in Florida till March, 1842, when he was 
transferred to Fort Morgan, Mobile bay. Meantime 
he had been promoted to a first lieutenancy. Re- 
maining only a few months at Morgan, he was ordered 
to Fort Moultrie, near Charleston. At this post he 
remained most of the time until the breaking out of 552 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
the Mexican war. Nevertheless, he was on several 
occasions ordered away on special service of impor- 
tant nature. On the breaking out of the war he was 
ordered to Pittsburgh on recruiting service. This 
business not being agreeable, he asked to be sent to 
the front. His repeated applications were at length 
complied with, and in July, 1846, he sailed for Cali- 
fornia by way of Cape Horn. The Lieutenant’s 
anticipations of active service in the field were not re- 
alized, but being appointed acting assistant-adjutant- 
general in the military department under General Ste- 
phen W. Kearney, he so energetically and intelligently 
performed the duties thereof as to receive the hearty 
good will of the officers of the army on the Pacific 
coast. In 1850, the Lieutenant returned to “the 
States.” He was soon afterwards appointed a com- 
missary of subsistence with the rank of captain, at 
that time a high prize for a subaltern. He was 
immediately assigned to duty on the staff of the 
commanding officer of the military department of the 
West and stationed at St. Louis. In March, 1851, he 
was appointed and confirmed captain by brevet, to 
date from May 30, 1848, “for meritorious services in 
California during the war with Mexico.” In Sep- 
tember of the following year Captain Sherman re- 
signed his commission in the army. 
Soon after leaving the army Captain Sherman re- 
moved to San Francisco and for several years en- 
gaged in banking there. In 1857 he went to New 
York and engaged in the same business for a short 
period. In 1858 — having meantime visited San Fran- 
cisco and settled up the affairs of the old banking SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
553 
house — he removed to Kansas, and engaged in the 
real estate and law business.1 
In the following summer Captain Sherman returned 
to Ohio, but being soon afterwards appointed presi- 
dent and superintendent of a State military college 
just established in Louisiana proceeded thither to 
take charge of that institution. He conducted its 
affairs with great success until early in the year 1861, 
when, seeing the coming conflict of arms, he sol- 
emnly warned his Southern friends of the folly and 
madness of secession, resigned, and returned to his 
old home in Ohio. 
About the time of the inauguration of President 
Lincoln he proceeded to Washington. He there gave 
out-spoken expression to his views on the magnitude 
of the coming conflict. They were perfectly pro- 
phetic but were regarded by the administration as 
visionary. In June he was appointed Colonel of the 
Thirteenth Infantry, and soon afterwards ordered to 
report to General McDowell, and assigned the com- 
mand of a brigade in the division of General Daniel 
Tyler in the army slowly getting ready to move “on 
to Richmond.” In the battle of Bull Run this brigade 
bore a conspicuous part, suffering heavy losses. On 
the 3d of August he was appointed a brigadier-gen- 
eral to date from May 17. Early in the following 
month he was ordered to report at Louisville to Gen- 
eral Robert Anderson in command of the department 
of Kentucky. On account of ill health Anderson 
General Sherman’s account of his life in California — his ex- 
perience with the “ Vigilance Committee,” etc. —as given in his 
“Memoirs” is exceedingly interesting, as indeed is that whole 
work, 554 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
soon asked to be relieved, and General Sherman suc- 
ceeded to the command October 7. He was pres- 
ently visited by Secretary of War Cameron and Ad- 
jutant-General Lorenzo Thomas. The Secretary 
asked Sherman how many troops he would require 
in his department. He replied: “Sixty thousand to 
drive the enemy out of Kentucky; two hundred 
thousand to finish the war in this section.” This was 
regarded as so extravagant that the newspapers be- 
gan to say General Sherman had gone crazy! And, 
hence, on November 12 Sherman was relieved by 
Buell and ordered to report to General Halleck at 
St. Louis. By Halleck he was placed in command 
of Benton Barracks, a rendezvous for volunteers. In 
February he was ordered to Paducah to superintend 
the forwarding of supplies to the army under Grant. 
It appears that this officer did not think Sherman’s 
case hopeless, and so, in March, on the organization 
of the Army of the Tennessee into six divisions, Sher- 
man was placed in command of the fifth. 
In the battle of Shiloh his division held the right 
of the Union line, and, singularly enough, the extreme 
left also, Stuart’s brigade being detached and there 
posted. The division fought with great bravery and 
was handled with consummate skill. Only one bri- 
gade was badly handled. Sherman himself was self- 
poised and greatly energetic throughout. Severely 
wounded in the hand, having three horses shot under 
him the first day, again wounded in the second day’s 
conflict, he yet seemed everywhere present, and was 
never for a motnent discouraged. General Halleck 
a few days after the battle wrote from the battle-field: 
“ It is the unanimous opinion here that Brigadier- SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
555 
General W. T. Sherman saved the fortunes of the 
day on the 6th, and contributed largely to the glori- 
ous victory of the 7th.” And then he respectfully 
recommended that he be promoted, to date from the 
6th. General Grant in 1863 said that to the indi- 
vidual efforts of General Sherman he was indebted 
for success at the battle of Shiloh. 
From this time forth until after the fall of Vicks- 
burgh there was little rest for General Sherman or 
his command. In Halleck’s slow and cautious march 
on Corinth the division had as active a part as any 
troops of the army. Whatever else may be thought 
of this slow march of Halleck’s on Corinth, it taught 
the army the invaluable lesson of intrenching in the 
presence of an enemy. After evacuation by the 
rebels Sherman was busily engaged in collecting the 
debris and in restoring order. On the 1st of May 
he was commissioned a major-general of volunteers. 
“His services as division commander,” said General 
Grant, “ in the advance on Corinth, I will venture to 
say, were appreciated by the now general-in-chief 
[Halleck] beyond those of any other division com- 
mander.” 
The fall of Corinth was the realization of the re- 
possession of West Tennessee to the Union. In the 
work of repairing railways and placing the country 
in a position of strength General Sherman did a great 
deal of hard work and hard marching. In the latter 
part of July he assumed command of the district of 
Memphis, establishing a vigorous but just govern- 
ment for the city and surrounding country. During 
the autumn he sent out several expeditions eastward 
and southward which accomplished valuable results. 556 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Late in the fall he joined Grant in his movement on 
Granada, the well known issue of which was that 
without a battle Pemberton with a powerful army 
abandoned the line of the Tallahatchie and placed 
himself behind the works of Vicksburgh. 
The most momentous event of the year, however, 
to General Sherman occurred just at its close and at 
the beginning of 1863. This was the attack on Vicks- 
burgh by way of Chickasaw bluffs, and which is 
commonly called the “battle of Chickasaw Bayou.” 
While Sherman moved down the Mississippi by 
transports, Grant marched by land with the object 
of assailing the stronghold in rear simultaneously 
with the assault by Chickasaw bayou. Of course 
success depended upon success in cooperation. The 
treacherous abandonment of Holly Springs with its 
immense store of supplies compelled the retreat of 
Grant, and, in military logic, the repulse of Sherman. 
But though the assault failed, and many valuable lives 
were lost, it was a brave, and heroic fight. After the 
assault, the army remained a short time near the 
scene of its disaster. Returning, the steamer “Ti- 
gress” was met at the mouth of the Yazoo, with 
General John A. McClernand on board, to whom 
General Sherman was ordered to report. The ex- 
pedition against Arkansas Post, entirely planned by 
General Sherman, followed, and the capture of that 
strong work with many prisoners and large store, 
made something of a set-off against Chickasaw 
Bayou. In the capture,of the fort and garrison 
General Sherman’s command bore the brunt of the 
battle, and it was one of his generals — General S. G. 
Burbridge — who first entered the works. SECRETARY [AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
557 
The remainder of the year was big with events for 
General Sherman,— the great campaigns of Vicks- 
burgh and of Chattanooga in which he bore so conspic- 
uous a part. I can only relate so much of the outlines 
of these vast operations as will serve to exhibit the 
share therein of the subject of this sketch. 
Early in the year 1863 the Army of the Ten- 
nessee had been divided into four separate army 
corps, the Thirteenth, General McClernand, the 
Fifteenth, General Sherman, the Sixteenth, General 
Hurlbut, and Seventeenth, General McPherson, all 
under the command of General Grant. In the pre- 
liminary and unsuccessful attempts to get at Vicks- 
burgh by changing the course of the Mississippi 
River and by the left bank of the Yazoo, Sherman 
had his full share of hard work and unsuccess. His 
attempt, with the aid of the navy, to reach the Yazoo 
far northward of Vicksburgh by a series of bayous 
and creeks was one of the most curious and re- 
markable expeditions of the whole war. In the 
march on Vicksburgh, Sherman’s corps had the rear 
and did not participate in all the battles of that stir- 
ring time. It fought, however, at Jackson, May 14, 
Blair’s division at Champion Hills May 16, at Black 
River, and in the assaults of the 19th and 22d. Dur- 
ing the siege the Corps held the right of our lines, 
but when General Joseph E. Johnston threatened to 
attack Grant in rear, Sherman, with portions of his 
own and other corps, was sent to take care of him. 
He did so so effectually that Johnston but once un- 
dertook to cross the Big Black, and then was driven 
back on the double-quick. On the fall of Vicksburgh, 
Sherman, reenforced by the Thirteenth Corps, Gen- 558 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
eral Ord now commanding, marched in pursuit of 
Johnston and caught him at Jackson, but well de- 
fended behind the strong works of that city. After 
heavy fighting, the place was regularly invested, but 
on the night of the 16th Johnston evacuated the city. 
He was vigorously pursued but without notable re- 
sult. 
In all these marches, battles, and sieges, the Fif- 
teenth Corps had suffered heavily in casualties. It 
was entitled to a rest; and it took it in nearly the 
same position near the Big Black whence Sherman 
had “watched Joe Johnston.” In the autumn Gen- 
eral Sherman was ordered to reenforce Grant at Chat- 
tanooga. The march of the Fifteenth Corps thither, 
part of it fighting a good deal of the way, was a mag- 
nificent military achievement. In the battle of Chat- 
tanooga Sherman held the Union left where there 
was the most desperate fighting, his line now advan- 
cing, anon falling back, again driving the enemy, 
still again driven back, and yet again advancing, the 
vital point being always held with sublime tenacity, 
until Thomas pierced the less stoutly defended centre 
and the whole rebel line gave way in confusion and 
rout. Still there was no rest for Sherman and his 
corps. He instantly marched to the relief of Knox- 
ville, and the simple report of his coming, with what 
had occurred at Chattanooga, sent the beleaguering 
army to the right-about and freed Tennessee of the 
presence of the last armed enemy of the Union. 
After the Vicksburgh campaign Sherman had been 
commissioned a brigadier-general in the regular 
army. Early in 1864 he was appointed to the com- 
mand of the military division of the Mississippi, which SECRETARY (.AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
559 
substantially included about all the troops in the 
West. General Grant was about to take command 
in the East, and actually did so in March. In the 
spring Sherman entered upon his grand campaign of 
Atlanta ; but so restless was his energy that between 
the close of the campaign of Chattanooga and the 
beginning of that of Atlanta, he performed a military 
operation which well deserves particular mention. 
I refer to the Meridian expedition, often improp- 
erly called “the Meridian raid.” This expedition had 
a great object in view, namely the permanent free- 
dom of the commerce of the Mississippi. A lesser 
but still important object of it was the isolation of 
the State of Mississippi from the remainder of the 
“ Confederacy.” Both were accomplished. The ex- 
pedition, consisting of two divisions of the Sixteenth 
Corps, General Hurlbut, two divisions of the Seven- 
teenth, General McPherson, and a brigade of cavalry 
under Colonel E. F. Winslow, left Vicksburgh early 
in February, 1864. This considerable army drove, 
but without at any time generally engaging, a large 
force under Bishop-General Polk from Jackson to 
beyond Meridian near the eastern boundary of the 
State. In the various affairs that occurred the rebels 
were invariably compelled to retreat. Sherman re- 
turned without molestation to Vicksburgh, having 
freed the State of its only considerable force of the 
enemy, destroyed several hundred miles of railway 
with large numbers of bridges, many manufactures 
of arms and ammunition, and vast quantities of mili- 
tary stores. Throughout the entire expedition the 
army subsisted upon the country, thus learning a les- 
son which was later of great consequence. 560 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Early in May General Sherman entered upon the 
campaign of Atlanta. His principal lieutenants in 
this masterly movement were General Thomas, com- 
manding the Army of the Cumberland; General 
McPherson, the Army of the Tennessee; General 
Schofield, the Army of the Ohio; the whole number- 
ing almost exactly 100,000 men of all arms. The 
different corps commanders were Generals J. D. Cox, 
O. O. Howard, John M. Palmer, Joseph Hooker, John 
A. Logan, G. M. Dodge, F. P. Blair, Jr., and among 
the division commanders were Generals Jefferson C. 
Davis, John W. Geary, Thomas J. Wood, A. S. Wil- 
liams, Daniel Butterfield, John M. Corse, P. J. Oster- 
haus, T. E. G. Ransom, Morgan L. Smith, and other 
distinguished soldiers. The principal cavalry officers 
were Daniel McCook, Edward McCook, Kilpatrick, 
and Garrard. With this grand Army thus ably offi- 
cered General Sherman marched against General 
Joseph E. Johnston, strongly intrenched at Dalton, in 
northern Georgia. By a series of skilful manoeuvres 
on the part of Sherman, Johnston was forced to retire 
from Dalton on May 12. He halted at another strong 
hold, Resaca, but was compelled to retire therefrom on 
the 15th, after a general engagement in which he was 
defeated. In like manner he was driven from the 
strong position of Allatoona Pass after two engage- 
ments at Dallas, the former a drawn battle, the latter 
a decisive Union victory. On the 8th of June oc- 
curred the affair of Big Shanty, a victory for McPher- 
son. By manoeuvres and fightings, but without severe 
battles, Sherman had now driven Johnston from 
Dalton to Kenesaw mountain, a distance of nearly 
an hundred miles as the crow flies. The difficulties SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
561 
of mountain ranges and of large rivers and many 
smaller streams had been overcome, the astute Con- 
federate commander being everywhere forced from 
positions strong by nature and made stronger by art. 
All this had been done more by Sherman’s remark- 
able manoeuvres than by fighting. He now deter- 
mined to fight and on the 27th assaulted the enemy’s 
works on Kenesaw mountain. The assault was de- 
livered with great spirit by Thomas and McPherson 
but was repulsed with heavy loss. After resting a 
few days, Sherman resorted again to his manoeuvres, 
in consequence of which Johnston was soon forced 
to put himself beyond the Chattahoochie and on July 
10 behind the works of Atlanta. To these strong 
works Sherman soon laid siege, but while his army 
was taking position it was vigorously assailed by 
Hood, who had succeeded Johnston, on the 21st and 
22d of July, when occurred the Battle of Atlanta, a 
tremendous combat, with varying success at different 
times, but resulting in a complete victory for Sher- 
man, and a loss to the enemy of not less than 20,000 
men and great numbers of arms.1 The siege pro- 
ceeded vigorously with occasional engagements, in 
all which the rebels were repulsed. Presently, Sher- 
man concluded to “ flank ” Hood out of Atlanta as he 
had flanked his predecessor out of the strongholds 
of northern and central Georgia. This remarkable 
1 For the great victory of Atlanta, too much credit cannot be 
given to Major-General John A. Logan of the Volunteers. On 
the death of General McPherson he assumed command of the 
army of the Tennessee, and riding among his men shouting 
“McPherson and Revenge,” personally led them in a charge 
which left the field literally covered with rebel dead and wounded. 562 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
movement is thus described by a provincial histo- 
rian : 
“ When General Sherman raised the siege of Atlanta, he played 
one of the sublimest games of logistics ever witnessed. It is per- 
haps true that in this branch of warfare General Sherman is the 
equal of any captain who ever lived. On this occasion his genius 
was splendidly illustrated. Taking his army in hand he moved 
one corps here, another there, another still in a different direction, 
so that the country round about Atlanta seemed to be alive with 
glistening bayonets. The dazzling array blinded our own troops, 
who, unacquainted with the secrets of headquarters, seemed lost 
in the bewildered maze of grand manoeuvres which they were them- 
selves performing. The various corps seemed to be all in motion 
without apparent object — crowding the roads, some moving rap- 
idly, some more slowly, passing, repassing, and meeting each 
other, till the soldiers’ minds were lost in amazement, and began 
to suspect that ‘ Old Tecumseh ’ had gone crazy after all! If his 
own troops were ignorant of his designs, it may readily be sup- 
posed the enemy was at fault. The rebels were indeed completely 
deceived. They believed the siege had been raised, and that 
Sherman had put himself in retreat northward. They rejoiced 
accordingly and had a grand ball. 
4 There was a sound of revelry by night, 
And Georgia's capital had gathered then 
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright 
The lamps shone o’er fair women and brave men; 
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when 
Music arose with its voluptuous swell, 
Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, 
And all went merry as a marriage bell.’ 
“ But the gaiety of the military capital was interrupted speedily. 
It gave place to battle’s magnificently-stern array. Sherman had 
indeed raised the siege, but only for the purpose of executing his de- 
signs in another mode. The result of the magnificent manoeuvres 
of the 25th and the 26th was that the Twentieth Corps alone re- 
turned to our fortified lines on the Chattahoochie to cover the 
communications northward, while the main army, moving while 
the rebels danced, marched against the enemy’s communications, 
and soon delivered battle at Jonesboro and Lovejoy. Atlanta SECRETARY {AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
563 
fell in consequence and the Twentieth Corps entered the city 
on the 2d of September.” 1 . 
Thus was the first grand object in the campaign 
attained. The army now took a short rest. Ere 
long Hood undertook to destroy our line of com- 
munications, but after inflicting much damage was 
driven off. Sherman then made ready for the famous 
“ March to the Sea.” 2 
This march was begun early in November, when 
Sherman’s army became “ the lost army.” Swinging 
away from its communications, it went out into the 
wilderness, no one for some time knowing where. 
Subsisting “ liberally,” to use General Sherman’s own 
term in a general order, on the country, the army 
marched southward for awhile and then moved as 
directly as might be on Savannah. Fort McCallister 
being taken in a gallant assault by General Hazen, 
Sherman was able to present Savannah, with immense 
military stores and no end of cotton, as a Christmas 
present to President Lincoln. Remaining only about 
a fortnight in Savannah, General Sherman commenced 
his march through the Carolinas. He was not seri- 
ously checked anywhere but went “ slashing ” through 
the country pretty much at his own will. The battle 
of Bentonsville was about the only general engage- 
ment of the entire march. Here the rebels made a 
determined stand, and at first repulsed our troops 
engaged, but reenforcements coming up the enemy 
was driven from the field. This engagement, March 
1 Iowa and the Rebellion, pp. 265-66. 
2 The song so called, written by Captain J. M. Byers of an Iowa 
regiment, was very popular in the army and was sung in a Wash- 
ington theatre on the night of President Lincoln’s assassination. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
21, was the last of Sherman’s battles in the war for 
the Union. On April 13, in occupying Raleigh, he 
had but a slight skirmish with the rear guard of 
Johnston’s retreating army. On the 18th — Lee 
having surrendered to Grant ten days before — 
Sherman made a truce with Johnston which was 
disapproved by the government. It was not al- 
lowed to stand, and in a few days Johnston sur- 
rendered to Sherman on the same terms under 
which Lee had surrendered to Grant. 
About the time of the capture of Atlanta Sherman 
was commissioned a major-general in the regular 
army. In July, 1866, he was made lieutenant-general, 
Grant being created General. On the inauguration 
of Grant as President Sherman became General, 
being succeeded as lieutenant-general by the illus- 
trious Sheridan. But while he was Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral, Sherman made an extensive tour abroad, visit- 
ing Europe, Asia, and Africa, and being everywhere 
received with general eclat. Since his command-in- 
chief of the Army his headquarters have been at 
Washington — in the north-east room of the first 
story of the Department — except for a considera- 
ble period under Secretary Belknap’s administration, 
when they were at St. Louis. 
I suppose intelligent persons will agree that of all 
the great soldiers America has produced, General 
Sherman has shown the most brilliant military genius. 
In all the battles in which he was ever engaged he 
showed great capacity, coolness, fortitude. In his 
judgments of military situations at large he never 
made a mistake. In a wonderfully busy military 
career of nearly five years he lost two battles. In SECRETARY (.AD INTERIM) SHERMAN. 
565 
military manceuvering— what military writers call 
logistics — no man but Hannibal ever surpassed him. 
In downright fighting his defense of the left wing at 
Chattanooga and his battle of Atlanta are safely com- 
parable with the best battles of the most distinguished 
generals. His marches are unapproached in modern 
history. He cannot, perhaps, handle as many men 
on the field as General Grant — I doubt whether 
Grant ever had an equal in this respect — but as 
many as he can handle he can manoeuvre with a con- 
summate skill never surpassed. 
In private life General Sherman is one of the most 
unostentatious of men. His perfect integrity is uni- 
versally acknowledged. In conversation he is admi- 
rable, — full of varied information, anecdote, wit, and 
humor. He is an eloquent orator and one of the 
best and most powerful writers who have contributed 
to American literature. His “ Memoirs,” published 
in 1875, albeit too pugnacious in parts, make two as 
interesting and instructive volumes as our press has 
produced. In versatility of genius he stands unri- 
valled among American soldiers. GENERAL WILLIAM W. BELKNAP, 
THIRTIETH SECRETARY OF WAR. 
WILLIAM WORTH BELKNAP was born in 
Newburgh, New York, September 22, 1829. 
He was the son of General William G. Belknap of 
the United States Army, distinguished in the Indian 
war in Florida and in the war with Mexico. He was 
conspicuous at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Mon- 
terey, and Buena Vista, being brevetted a brigadier- 
general for gallant and meritorious conduct in this 
last named battle. He gave his son William W. all 
the advantages of early tuition and collegiate educa- 
tion. He was graduated at Princeton College in 
1848. He studied law at Georgetown, D. C., and 
removed to Keokuk, Iowa, where he entered upon 
the practice, forming a partnership with the Hon. R. 
P. Lowe, afterwards Governor, later Chief Justice of 
the State. Not long before the civil war Mr. Bel- 
knap was elected a member of the Iowa legislature 
and was recognized as one of the leading Democrats 
of that body, and a rising man in the State. 
In the autumn of 1861 he began his military career, 
being appointed Major of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry 
at that time being recruited. Major Belknap, a natu- 
ral soldier, was assigned the duty of teaching the 
companies as they from time to time reached the 
rendezvous. Not till March, 1862, was the regiment 
mustered into the service. It soon proceeded by 
566 SECRETARY BELKNAP. 
5 67 
steamer to St. Louis where it went into camp of 
instruction but was speedily ordered to the front. 
It arrived at Pittsburgh Landing on the morning of 
April 6th, the battle of Shiloh then raging furiously 
a few miles farther on. The command was immedi- 
ately ordered to report to General B. M. Prentiss at 
the extreme front and then badly worsted. By the 
time the regiment reached the front Prentiss’s divi- 
sion was pretty well pulverized, but these raw troops 
were placed in line and for awhile fought like vet- 
erans. At length ordered to retreat they fell back 
in confusion. In this engagement, Major Belknap 
fought with gallantry, was slightly wounded, and had 
his horse killed under him. He was also conspicu- 
ous at the battle of Corinth, where, being Lieutenant- 
Colonel, he commanded the regiment in the absence 
of its Colonel. Guard duties followed for a time. 
Early in 1863, Belknap was promoted to the col- 
onelcy of the regiment. The principal operation 
in which the command took part this year was the 
siege of Vicksburgh. On the 8th of June, 1864, 
Colonel Belknap with his now veteran regiment 
joined the Seventeenth Corps at Ackworth, Georgia. 
In the entire Atlanta campaign the command bore a 
gallant, at times heroic part. In the terrible battle 
of Atlanta, July 22d, no one man won more honors 
than Colonel Belknap. His conduct was spoken of 
in the highest terms by his superior officers, and 
through newspaper correspondence became a topic 
of conversation everywhere in the country. Speak- 
ing of the promotions to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral made in his army for the Atlanta campaign up 
to this time — among them being that of Colonel 568 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Belknap — General Sherman in his “Memoirs” says: 
“ These were promptly appointed brigadier-generals, 
were already in command of brigades or divisions; 
and I doubt if eight promotions were ever made 
fairer, or were more honestly earned, during the 
whole war.” Colonel Belknap, in command of two 
regiments, also fought handsomely at the battle of 
Ezra Church, July 28. On receiving his commission 
as brigadier-general he assumed command of “ the 
Iowa Brigade ” — four regiments from that State 
including the Fifteenth — and remained in command 
thereof or of the division of which it formed a part, 
until after the grand review in Washington before the 
final disbandment of the army. The grand opera- 
tions of this part of General Belknap’s military his- 
tory were the famous “ march to the sea,” and the 
“ slashing through the Carolinas.” The last engage- 
ment in which his command took part was the affair 
of Pocataligo, South Carolina, in January, 1865, where 
Captain Kellogg of his staff was slain. The Gen- 
eral’s command was universally noticed for its sol- 
dierly appearance and fine marching in the grand 
review at Washington. The command soon after- 
wards proceeded to Louisville where the Seventeenth 
Army Corps closed its illustrious career, its last com- 
manding officer being Major-General William W. 
Belknap. 
After the close of his services in the army General 
Belknap spent a few months in Washington. He was 
then appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the 
first district of Iowa and remained in that office until 
his appointment as Secretary of War by President 
Grant in the autumn of 1869. He conducted the SECRETARY BELKNAP. 
affairs of the Department with great vigor and intel- 
ligence and was generally thought by the army and 
by the public having business with the Department 
to be thoroughly efficient and honest. Hundreds of 
millions of disbursements were made by the Depart- 
ment during his control of it without there being 
charge of the leakage of a single dollar. Indeed the 
only serious charge preferred against him until the 
unhappy close of the scene was the alleged sale of 
arms to France, which, whatever might be thought 
of the transaction in other respects, might have been 
a matter of considerable economy to our government. 
Early in March, 1876, the country was astounded by 
the intelligence that General Belknap had resigned, 
and was about to be impeached for high crimes and 
misdemeanors. Only a few months before he had 
been quite largely supported in the Iowa legislature 
for United States Senator, and until this time was 
generally supposed to be a thoroughly upright man. 
His impeachment by the House of Representatives 
for high crimes and misdemeanors in office, his trial 
by the Senate, and his acquittal — two-thirds not 
voting him guilty — are matters of too recent history 
in a time of high excitement to be yet considered 
with fairness and perfect impartiality. The friends 
of General Belknap assert that he was the victim of 
political intrigue; that he had to receive the fire, 
through a political necessity, of both the political 
parties, the Democrats assailing him as the neces- 
sary victim of alleged corruptions, and the Republi- 
cans assailing him as a scapegoat carrying off all the 
sins of the party to the wilderness! There might 
seem to be some truth in this. It is at any rate cer- 570 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
tain that the haste with which his impeachment was 
voted by the House of Representatives was indecent; 
and it will be difficult to find any argument by any 
Senator voting “guilty” in the impeachment trial 
which is not more of an argument in support of that 
Senator’s purity than of Secretary Belknap’s guilt. 
It is difficult to say which is entitled to the greater 
condemnation, the undisguised partisan rancor of 
Democrats or the ill-concealed partisan trepidation 
of the Republicans. But whatever may be the truth 
as to this alleged party necessity business as con- 
nected with the lamentable affair, it is certain that, 
except by ex-Senator Carpenter, the defense of Gen- 
eral Belknap in the high court of impeachment was 
notably weak and fairly impotent. Portions of it 
were calculated, perhaps intended, to do the accused 
harm instead of good with his triers. Beyond these 
things it is asserted by the ex-Secretary’s friends, 
that admitting the worst that was proved against 
him, he was more sinned against than sinning. Here, 
it is possible, may lie the truth. Devoted in his affec- 
tions, warm in his friendships, he was influenced to 
do things that were wrong so far as friends were 
concerned, but innocent so far as he knew. When 
the crisis of his fate came he broke down before the 
knowledge of how ill he had been treated by many 
whom he had constantly served, and resigned when 
he ought to have held on and fought. But whatever 
the truth in regard to this most lamentable affair may 
be decided to be by impartial history, it is certain that 
General Belknap came out of the terrible ordeal with 
“troops of friends” still standing by him, notably old 
comrades in the army and those who were especially SECRETARY BELKNAP. 
familiar with his conduct of the general affairs of the 
War Department. These, with many public men of 
the highest standing, insist that he is a much abused 
man. 
Since his retirement he has been engaged in the 
practice of his profession, mostly at Washington, 
though having his residence at Keokuk. ALPHONSO TALT, 
THIRTY-FIRST SECRETARY OF WAR. 
UPON the resignation of Secretary Belknap, March 
2, 1876, the Honorable George M. Robeson, Sec- 
retary of the Navy, was designated by President Grant, 
under the law in such case made and provided, to 
perform for the time being the duties of Secretary 
of War. The portfolio was offered to the United 
States Senator Lot M. Morrill, of Maine, but upon 
consideration he declined to accept it. It was then 
offered to Honorable Alphonso Taft, of Ohio, who 
accepted the appointment. 
Alphonso Taft was born in Townshend, Windham 
county, Vermont, November 5, 1810. His father was 
a man of high standing and large influence in the 
community, and was more than once elected to the 
State legislature, but he was not possessed of great 
worldly fortune. The son with whom we have to do 
had no little difficulty in procuring a liberal educa- 
tion, but by hard study during part of the year, and 
teaching during the remainder (he taught a school 
before he was seventeen years of age), he prepared 
himself mentally and financially for a college course. 
He was graduated with honor at Yale College in 1833. 
After he was graduated he taught a high school or 
academy at Ellington, Connecticut, for about two 
years, and then became a tutor in his alma mater, 
being engaged in that employment two years. Dur- 
572 SECRETARY TAFT. 
573 
ing this time he pursued studies in law, the profession 
which he had determined to adopt, having also the 
advantage of the lectures of the Law College at Yale. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1838. In the follow- 
ing year he removed to the city of Cincinnati and 
there entered upon the practice. 
At that time Cincinnati was a place of less than 
forty thousand inhabitants, but it had a distinguished 
bench and bar as well as a large society of cultivated 
persons which gave the city an intellectual standing 
which has hardly been surpassed in its long period 
of commercial greatness. At this time Burnet, Chase, 
Belamy Storer, Charles Hammond, John Brough, 
Nicholas Longworth (afterwards so celebrated as a 
wine merchant) and others no less noted were mem- 
bers of the Cincinnati bar. Messrs. Hammond and 
Brough were also the editors respectively of the 
Gazette and Enquirer newspapers, though I believe 
Mr. Brough did not engage in this employment until 
about the year 1845, Mr. Hammond having then 
been dead some four years. At this time Dr. Ly- 
man Beecher was president of Lane Seminary, and 
his son-in-law, Calvin E. Stowe, was a professor 
therein. Mrs. Stowe, since so distinguished, was 
an occasional contributor to the journals and peri- 
odicals of the city. O. M. Mitchell was a professor 
in Cincinnati College. In a city of such notable 
minds as these Mr. Taft entered upon his profes- 
sional career. He had fair success from the begin- 
ning; for he was well read in the law, industrious, 
conscientious, painstaking. He gradually rose to 
an eminent position at the bar. He was twice 
elected to the bench, once without any opposition 574 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
whatever. He was also once appointed to the bench 
by the Governor to fill a vacancy. While on the 
bench he was called upon to render a decision on 
a question of general interest to the people of the 
whole country, that of the reading of the Bible in 
the public schools. His decision in this case was 
characterized by a spirit of broad liberality and by a 
comprehensive statement of what he believed to be 
the true doctrine in the case which won him the cor- 
dial respect even of those who disagreed with him 
and the hearty admiration of all who believed there 
should be no religious teachings whatever in the pub- 
lic schools. 
Judge Taft remained at the head of the War Office 
only about two months and a half, at the end of which 
time he was appointed Attorney-General, a position 
more suited to his genius and tastes. He remained 
in this office till the close of President Grant’s ad- 
ministration, conducting its affairs with an ability and 
success universally recognized by the profession and 
by the country. Since his retirement from office, 
Judge Taft has been engaged in the practice in 
Cincinnati. He is not a man of brilliant intellectual 
powers, but of solid abilities and of perfect integrity. HON. J. D. CAMERON, 
THIRTY-SECOND SECRETARY OF WAR. 
TAMES DONALD CAMERON, son of the Hon. 
Simon Cameron, was born at Middletown, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1833. He received a classical education, 
spending some years at Princeton College. He then 
received a regular training in the business of bank- 
ing, entering his father’s bank at Middletown as a 
clerk and passing up by promotion to the position of 
cashier,— a position which had been filled for many 
years by his distinguished father. For several years 
the younger Cameron was president of the Northern 
Central Railroad company, and succeeded in making 
the railway whose affairs he directed a very valuable 
property. A man of fine business faculty he also 
engaged in other business ■ transactions and specu- 
lations, and had amassed an independent fortune 
before he was forty years of age. 
All this time Mr. Cameron took an active part in 
political affairs but did not seek, or want, any position 
for himself. His first prominent appearance in public 
was at the Republican National convention of i860 
when, as we have seen, his father was a candidate for 
the presidential nomination. On this occasion young 
Cameron won many friends among the representa- 
tive men of his party as a sagacious politician and a 
man of uncommon energy. 
In May, 1876, Mr. Cameron was appointed Secre- 
575 576 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
tary of War by President Grant, in place of Mr. Taft, 
transferred to the office of Attorney-General. Be- 
fore this, by the Republican convention of Pennsyl- 
vania he had been designated as chairman of the 
delegation to the national convention of the year. 
As is well known the convention was held at Cincin- 
nati in June. Mr. Cameron took leave of absence 
for a few days and attended the convention. The 
convention was one of the largest and ablest political 
assemblages ever convened in America, and to its 
proceedings there attached an unusual and universal 
interest. No less than four of the eminent repre- 
sentative statesmen of the party in the nation were 
candidates for the chief magistracy, namely, James 
G. Blaine, Benjamin F. Bristow, Roscoe Conkling, 
and Oliver P. Morton. (To avoid any charge of par- 
tiality I place them in alphabetical order.) Governor 
R. B. Hayes, of Ohio, who in that office and from the 
hustings in this State had gained a very high and wide 
reputation, was also a candidate. Pennsylvania had 
instructed her delegation to support Governor John 
F. Hartranft, a man of recognized ability and integ- 
rity. On this occasion Pennsylvania certainly was 
“ the keystone of the arch.” Its delegation in a 
certain important sense was the undoubted master 
of the situation, and its chairman held in his hand the 
power to nominate the man who would likely be the 
next chief magistrate of the nation. The steadiness 
and coolness with which under these circumstances 
and at a time so exciting Mr. Cameron handled the 
delegation, and held it inflexibly to the fortunes of 
Governor Hartranft until the decisive moment, won 
for him the hearty admiration of the convention and SECRETARY J. D. CAMERON. 
577 
the plaudits of the public press quite generally. After 
Cincinnati he was universally recognized as an able 
man. 
On entering upon his duties as Secretary of War 
— to which office, by the way, he had been appointed 
without the solicitation or even knowledge of his 
father—Mr. Cameron from the beginning manifested 
a knowledge of the affairs of the Department and a 
capacity to conduct them which were remarkable. In 
the large intercourse with public men which the posi- 
tion made necessary he made great numbers of in- 
fluential friends and no enemies. Ex-President Grant 
always speaks in the highest terms of his great ad- 
ministrative capacity and of his inflexible integrity. 
He remained in office a few days after the accession 
of President Hayes when he voluntarily made way 
for Mr. McCrary. He was elected United States 
Senator to fill the unexpired term of his father who 
resigned about this time. In the Senate Mr. Cameron 
ranks well up among the men of influence, and oc- 
cupies positions on several of the most important 
standing and select committees. 
Mr. Cameron has been twice married, his present 
wife being a daughter of the Hon. Charles Sherman, 
of Ohio, and a niece to the General of the Army. In 
society and in his intercourse with friends he is per- 
fectly unostentatious, genial, and good-humored. In 
politics he is radically Republican, and also an ad- 
vocate of protective tariffs. He is noted for the 
firmness with which he stands by his principles and 
his friends. HON. GEORGE W. McCRARY, 
THIRTY-THIRD SECRETARY OF WAR. 
GEORGE W. McCRARY, of Iowa, thirty-third 
Secretary of War, was born near Evansville, in 
the State of Indiana, August 29, 1835. His father 
was James McCrary, a hard-working farmer, his 
mother Matilda McCrary, nee Forrest, a hard-work- 
ing farmer’s wife, of strong religious sentiment and 
devoted family attachments. The father is still living, 
a very aged, greatly respected man, in Van Buren 
county, Iowa, where the subject of this sketch passed 
his early days. The mother died in the summer of 
1878. Her distinguished son, at the time in Boston 
engaged in the performance of official duties, hastened 
half way across the continent to attend her funeral. 
Very soon after the birth of his son George W., 
James McCrary removed to McDonough county, Illi- 
nois. He remained there, however, only about one 
year, at the end of which time he removed some 
one hundred miles westward, and settled in what is 
now Van Buren county, Iowa, but which was then a 
part of the Territory of Wisconsin. At this time the 
principal settlements of what is now Iowa were at 
and near Dubuque, but immigration to considerable 
extent had begun to flow into the south-eastern por- 
tion of the Territory, notably at Burlington and Fort 
Madison, and in their vicinity. But of Van Buren 
county James McCrary was a pioneer among pio- 
578 SECRETARY MCCRARY. 
579 
neers, being one of the very first settlers of that part 
of the country. Happily settlers came in rapidly, 
and by the time the boy McCrary had attained suf- 
ficient years to attend school, there was opportunity. 
Among the first things almost invariably done by a 
western settlement is to build a church and a school- 
house. 
There were two sides to the life of the boy and 
youth George W. McCrary, as there always are to 
the young lives of persons of unusual intellectual 
power. The life of a boy-pioneer is a hard life. The 
manual labor, during the greater part of the year, is 
constant and little better than drudgery. It is a coarse 
life. All the rough edges of existence abound on the 
frontier, and one will there usually look in vain for 
associations of refinement. In hard work McCrary 
passed his boyhood and early youth. This was his 
outer life. There was but one thing valuable about 
it. The labors, as directed by the judicious father, 
were such as to give to young McCrary’s naturally 
strong physical constitution a fine development, re- 
sulting in robust health ever since and an uncommon 
capacity for intellectual work. The inner life of this 
youthful pioneer was, of course, of his own making 
mainly. He very early and easily acquired such ru- 
diments of education as the common schools of the 
locality afforded. He then aided his intellectual 
growth by the reading of such books as he could ob- 
tain and of newspapers. But perhaps the greatest 
aid he received in his intellectual-moral discipline was 
that which came from his father and mother. James 
McCrary was a born gentleman ; Matilda McCrary 
was a born lady. Indeed, without a substantial 580 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
natural basis, it is entirely beyond the power of any 
or all art to create either a gentleman or a lady in 
the true signification of the terms. The father taught 
his son lessons of manhood, of justice, of right, of 
generosity, and of courtesy. From the mother he 
received no less valuable instructions in these manly 
qualities, — for she was a woman of extraordinary in- 
tellectual power and wisdom, — with constant lessons, 
as agreeably as persuasively placed before his mind, 
with respect to personal rectitude, purity, the princi- 
ples of morality, the doctrines of what she devotedly 
believed to be the divine system of the Christian re- 
ligion. Thus by his own reflections, and with the 
aid of the invaluable lessons of his father and mother, 
George W. McCrary almost in the primeval wilder- 
ness of the far West grew up to be a youth, strong 
in intellect, wise beyond his years, firmly fixed in the 
principles and practices of morality. Without in the 
ordinary sense having received an education, he was 
educated. To this day he has no immoralities, no 
bad habits ; and no intoxicating beverage of any kind 
nor tobacco in any form has ever touched his lips. 
Such was the intellectual and moral discipline young 
McCrary gave to himself and received from his pa- 
rents. There may be a home education better than 
any other. 
For some two or three years during his youth, 
however, McCrary had at considerable intervals 
the advantages of pursuing studies at an academy 
not very far from his home. Here he acquired a 
thorough English education and also pursued to 
considerable extent the higher branches of learn- 
ing. His reading was extensive, careful, and mainly SECRETARY MCCRARY. 
581 
of “ solid ” works of history, philosophy, and science. 
Then and ever since he has had very little taste for 
light literature. By the time he was nineteen years 
of age he had intellectual discipline and general 
knowledge much superior to those of most gradu- 
ates of colleges, and a personal, moral character 
so firmly formed that he has never for an instant 
swerved from the right line of a perfect rectitude. 
While at work on the farm in Van Buren county, 
young McCrary had often reflected upon what should 
be his future life. He finally determined that he 
would become a lawyer. This determination he 
carried out by going to Keokuk when he was be- 
tween nineteen and twenty years of age, and enter- 
ing the office of Rankin and Miller as a student. 
The junior member of this firm is the now famous 
Samuel F. Miller, an associate justice of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. McCrary ap- 
plied himself closely to his studies and in 1856 was 
admitted to the bar, passing examination without 
making a mistake. He at once entered upon the 
practice at Keokuk and steadily rose to prominence. 
About the time that McCrary reached his majority, 
the Republican party had become well organized in 
all the Northern States. Heartily sympathizing with 
the anti-slavery doctrines of this organization he 
joined the party and cast his first vote, in 1856, for 
Fremont and Dayton for President and Vice-President. 
From this time forth, young though he was, he took not 
only an active but a leading part in the politics of south- 
eastern Iowa. In 1857 he was elected to the lower 
branch of the legislature, and though the youngest 
member of that body commanded large influence and 582 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
was generally consulted by the party leaders on all 
questions of party policy. The soundness of his judg- 
ment was universally recognized. Four years later he 
was elected to the upper branch of the legislature 
for four years, the sessions, however, being biennial 
only. In that body he undoubtedly exercised as 
much influence as any of its members. 
These legislative services, highly useful and hon- 
orable though they were, still were Mr. McCrary’s 
avocations; his vocation was the law. When not 
in the legislature he devoted himself with conscien- 
tiousness and zeal to the study and practice of law, 
his business all the time increasing. After the close 
of his senatorial term he gave almost his entire time 
to his profession and having gained a leading posi- 
tion at the bar, his professional successes were many 
and profitable. 
In 1868, being then thirty-three years of age, Mr. 
McCrary was nominated for Congress by the Republi- 
cans of the first Iowa district. The incumbent at the 
time was the distinguished and able statesman, James 
F. Wilson, who had expressed his firm determination 
to retire to private life. The canvass was one of 
even unusual animation. Mr. McCrary made sev- 
eral speeches in every county of the district. At 
that time I was the correspondent in Iowa of a New 
York and of a Chicago daily journal, and it happened 
that I heard Mr. McCrary twice on the hustings. On 
either occasion he held a vast audience in closest 
attention for some two hours, but without a cheer 
or sign of applause till the close. He essayed no 
rhetorical flourishes, nor flight of eloquence, not even 
an anecdote; but the profound earnestness with which SECRE TAR Y McCRAR V 
583 
he advocated his convictions, the wonderful strength 
of his argumentation, carried his audience with him 
in a most remarkable manner. His oratory did not 
at all make his audiences enthusiastic, but it persuaded 
and convinced them. It had singular power in aug- 
menting Republican votes. 
Mr. McCrary remained in Congress for eight years. 
Though one of the youngest of the members in years, 
his mature and unusual political sagacity was at once 
recognized, securing for him positions of influence. 
He was assigned to position on the committees on 
naval affairs, revision of the laws, and elections. He 
gradually rose to a leading position in the House. 
Becoming chairman of the committee on elections in 
the Forty-second Congress, he there manifested a 
sense of perfect justice, a spirit entirely unpartisan, 
and a knowledge of election laws and precedents so 
thorough and complete, that his reports came to be 
adopted almost as matters of course. For the first 
time in the history of Congress he induced the House 
of Representatives to vote upon election cases with- 
out regard to party lines ; and a majority of the cases 
considered and reported by him were decided in 
favor of his political opponents. “Justice to the line, 
righteousness to the plummet” had been one of the 
lessons of his home education. In the Forty-third 
Congress, Mr. McCrary was made chairman of the 
committee on railways and canals, to which all ques- 
tions relating to inter-state commerce, then receiving 
great attention, were referred. He prepared a re- 
port on the constitutional power of Congress to regu- 
late railroad commerce among the States, taking the 
affirmative, and advocating his views with much 584 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
power. Accompanying the report was a bill, em- 
bodying in statutory form the principles of the report. 
It brought forth a long and able debate, Mr. McCrary 
advocating it with effect, and securing its passage by 
the House. It did not reach a vote in the Senate. 
During the first session of this Congress he gained a 
very remarkable, almost unique, victory in the House. 
His committee, he alone dissenting, reported a bill in 
favor of the Eads jetty system. After a long, able 
debate, Mr. McCrary defeated the bill by a majority 
of nearly twenty in the House. In an improved form 
it was passed at a subsequent session of Congress, 
Mr. McCrary not opposing. In the Forty-fourth 
Congress, in which the Democrats controlled the 
House, he was placed upon the judiciary committee. 
He prepared a bill to reorganize the judiciary of the 
United States, which the committee authorized him to 
report, and which he advocated on the floor. It passed 
the House by a large majority. The part borne by 
Mr. McCrary in the exciting presidential contest in 
Congress of 1876-77 is thus related by a biographer: 
“After the presidential election of 1876, when it was seen that 
the country was about evenly divided in opinion as to the result 
of the contest, and that the two branches of Congress were sure 
to differ, not only as to that result but also as to the proper au- 
thority to decide it, George W. McCrary was the first to step for- 
ward with a proposition for the adoption of a lawful and peace- 
ful solution of the difficulty. He proposed the Joint Commit- 
tee, and was himself a leading member of it, taking an active 
part in the preparation of the electoral bill, and in its advo- 
cacy in the House. He believes, and most people will agree with 
him, that under all the circumstances this was a wise measure of 
statesmanship, which has given the country peace instead of tur- 
moil, excitement, and perhaps civil war.”1 
1 U. S. Biog. Die., Iowa, 1878. SECRETARY MCCRARY 
585 
He was one of the Republican counsel of the House 
before the Commission and sustained the election of 
President Hayes in a legal argument of very extraor- 
dinary compactness and logical power. 
President Hayes being duly inaugurated, Mr. 
McCrary was invited by him to take charge of the 
War Department. He has filled the office with in- 
telligence and success. On occasions of difficulty he 
has been found equal to the emergency in every in- 
stance, while the vast amount of routine business is 
daily dispatched, the Secretary not allowing it under 
any circumstances to accumulate on his hands. I 
have spoken of his great interest in the affairs of the 
signal office.1 He also takes a special interest in the 
labors of Colonel R. N. Scott and his assistants in 
arranging and printing the rebel archives and records 
in the control of the Department, and that important 
work is proceeding as expeditiously as the means 
devoted to the purpose by Congress will allow. The 
inestimable value of this vast mass of historical mate- 
rial is fully appreciated by the Secretary. 
The domestic life of Mr. McCrary has been fortu- 
nate and happy. He was married in 1857 to Helen 
A. Gelatt, a lady possessing about all of the fine 
womanly instincts, and being specially remarkable 
for a spirit of independence which enables her to 
eschew the extremes of fashion and the extrava- 
gances of society with the greatest success and good 
humor. She has a strong mind, thoroughly disci- 
plined by study and reading; is lively and witty in 
conversation, and is possessed of remarkable powers 
of satire. She is devoted to her family of five children 
'Ante, p. 385. 586 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
with an enthusiastic devotion. She is an active Chris- 
tian worker; but her deeds of charity, which are very 
many, as are those of her husband, are quietly done, 
rarely finding their way into the newspapers. In fine, 
she is an admirable type of the “ home woman,” her 
finest qualities shining ever most effulgent about the 
family hearth. She is a special favorite with Mrs. 
President Hayes, whose great and good womanly 
qualities all acknowledge. One. of the happiest of 
American homes is the home of Secretary McCrary. 
The genius of George W. McCrary is not at all 
brilliant. Pie has worked and won his way to high 
position and honorable renown aided by a rare com- 
bination of mental power and moral rectitude. His 
is a solid mind whose judgments are almost absolutely 
unerring, while his political sagacity and foresight are 
strongly developed. He is probably consulted more 
by members of the Republican party at the Capital 
than any other of our public men. While he always 
expresses his views with freedom and candor, he yet 
has the fine quality of reticence and never says what 
ought not to be said. The professional “ interview- 
ers ” have never been able to make anything out of 
him whatever. During his long career in Congress 
he made many reports and many speeches on a great 
variety of subjects, all noted for more or less ability. 
He also took part in not a few running debates, and 
attained a position of commanding influence in the 
House. And all without making a single personal 
enemy. Some of his friends complain of him that 
he is not pugnacious enough, and sometimes loses 
a point that he might gain by a little downright fight- 
ing,— a not unjust criticism, perhaps, though it should SECRE TAR Y McCRAR Y 
587 
be considered that he has not a drop of venom in his 
nature. In the long run his way is the way of most 
influence ; and it is certain that no one of his co-mem- 
bers of Congress possessed more legislative influence 
than Mr. McCrary. 
As a member of the cabinet of President Hayes, 
Secretary McCrary has been regarded by many as 
the representative man of what has been called 
“ stalwart republicanism ” by those who made the 
mistake of supposing that the republicanism of the 
President was not itself stalwart in the highest de- 
gree. But in this respect he is entitled to no more 
credit than several members of the cabinet, whose 
influence has all the while been exerted in behalf of 
the same general policy. It is, perhaps, true however 
that Secretary McCrary has had a wider corre- 
spondence with leading men of his party throughout 
the country, from which grew the opinion stated at 
the beginning of this paragraph. 
Mr. McCrary, still (1879) on the sunny side of 
forty-five, has been in public, though not all the time 
official, life, provincial or national, for twenty-two 
years. At the bar of his State and in the Supreme 
Court of the United States, his great learning as a 
lawyer and his remarkable powers of logic have 
given him undisputed eminence as a jurist.1 As an 
orator upon the hustings he is surpassed in rhetoric 
1 While Mr. McCrary was in Congress he prepared a work on 
the law of elections in the United States, of which a large edi- 
tion has been exhausted. It is recognized as an authority in 
Congress and by the federal and State courts of the Union. In 
the “ North American Review” for May, 1879, was an article from 
his pen entitled “Our Election Laws ” which was very largely 
read. 588 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
and eloquence by many of his contemporaries, but by 
none in the power of persuading men by reasoning 
to adopt his principles and to accept his ideas. His 
oratory is weighty, ponderous, like his mind; and in 
the forums in which he has spoken no one has been 
able to answer his arguments. His latest essays in 
public oratory were a series of speeches in Iowa in 
1878 which by general testimony made large num- 
bers of Republican votes. They were much quoted 
by the metropolitan press — in many instances fully 
reported — and favorably criticised. It was observed 
that the manner of his delivery was dignified, impres- 
sive, and his voice clear, loud, and musical. In State 
and national legislation he has left the impress of his 
influence in many beneficent laws of which he is the 
author, just and wise reports, not a few measures of 
general policy. His influence with his party has 
always been exerted in behalf of the highest political 
morality and of absolute purity in the conduct of 
affairs. It is not strange, therefore, that among many 
of our most thoughtful citizens, Mr. McCrary is re- 
garded as our steadiest, safest statesman. 
As I have already intimated, the private life of this 
eminent man is pure and undefiled. He is respected 
and loved by all who know him. He never visits the 
handsome city of Keokuk without being met by an 
outpouring of the citizens, members of all parties, to 
give him welcome home. For a citizen of only forty- 
five years of age to have attained the national emi- 
nence as a jurist and statesman here indicated, and 
the devoted love and esteem of all his acquaintances 
of all ways of thinking, is a demonstration of intel- 
lectual force and moral integrity which all good men 
will be glad to recognize. APPENDIX A. 
Rosters of Several of the Staff Departments. 
THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 
Surgeon-General.— Brigadier-General Joseph K. Barnes. 
Assistant Surgeon-General.— Colonel Charles H. Crane. 
Chief Medical Purveyor.— Colonel J. H. Baxter. 
Surgeons.— Colonels Robert Murray ; Charles Sutherland; 
John M. Cuyler; William J. Sloan. 
Surgeons.— Lieutenant-Colonels William S. King; James Si- 
mons; Charles C. Keeney; John F. Head; John F. Hammond; 
Elisha I. Baily. 
Assistant Medical Purveyors.— Lieutenant-Colonels George E. 
Cooper; Ebenezer Swift. 
Surgeons.— Lieutenant-Colonels Glover Perin ; John Campbell. 
Surgeons.— Majors John E. Summers; Thomas A. McParlin ; 
Joseph B. Brown; David L. Magruder; Charles Page; Basil 
Norris; Edward P. Vollum ; John Moore; Andrew K. Smith; 
R. H. Alexander; Joseph R. Smith; John F. Randolph; Ber- 
nard J. D. Irwin; Anthony Heger; Charles T. Alexander; Ben- 
nett A. Clements; Joseph C. Baily; James C. McKee; Joseph 
H. Bill; Charles H. Alden ; Warren Webster; Charles C. Byrne ; 
Joseph P. Wright; Charles C. Gray; William C. Spencer; Fran- 
cis L. Town ; Dallas Bache ; Blencowe E. Fryer; John H. Frantz ; 
Charles E. Goddard; Charles B. White; George M. Sternberg; 
Joseph J. Woodward; William H. Forword; Ely McClellan; 
Samuel A. Storrow; William D. Wolverton; Albert Hartsuff; 
Charles R. Greenleaf; J. V. D. Middleton; John H. Janeway; 
Henry R. Tilton; Samuel M. Horton; J. C. G. Happersett; 
Alfred A. Woodhull; John S. Billings; William M. Notson; 
Joseph R. Gibson; D. L. Huntington; John W. Williams. 590 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Assistant Surgeons.— Captains George P. Jaquett; William E, 
Waters ; Justus M. Brown ; V. Buren Hubbard ; John W. Brewer; 
John Brooke; William H. Gardner; Harvey E. Brown; William 
E. Whitehead; Charles Smart; Elliott Cones; William F. Bu- 
chanan; Henry J. Phillips; John H. Kinsman; P. Middleton; 
George A. Otis; Henry McElderry ; William S. Tremaine ; Dan- 
iel G. Caldwell; Samuel S. Jessop; Edwin Bentley; Henry Lip- 
pincott; Morse K. Taylor; John H. Bartholf; Henry M. Cronk- 
hite; Egon A. Koerper; Richard S. Vickery; Robert M. O’Reilly; 
Frank Meacham; Thomas F. Azpell; Charles L. Heizmann; Rob- 
ert H. White; Calvin De Witt; J. Victor De Hanne; Carlos 
Carvallo ; Alfred C. Girard; Joseph B. Girard ; John V. Lauder- 
dale ; Benjamin F. Pope; James P. Kimball; Aug. A. Yeomans; 
Leonard Y. Loring; Arch. B. Campbell; William J. Wilson; 
J. A. Fitzgerald; Peter Moffatt; Charles Styer; Joseph H. T. 
King; Joseph K. Corson; Daniel Weisel; Peter J. A. Cleary; 
Julius H. Patzki; Frederick W. Elbrey; Washington Matthews; 
William R. Steinmetz; John D. Hall; Curtis E. Munn; Ezra 
Woodruff; Philip F. Harvey; William H. King; Stevens G. 
Cowdrey; John M. Dickson; Charles B. Byrne; Frank Rey- 
nolds; Clarence Ewen. 
Assistant Surgeons.— First Lieutenants Charles K. Winne; 
Fred. C. Ainsworth ; Valery Havard; John Van R. Hoff; Holmes 
O. Paulding; George W. Adair; Paul R. Brown; Edward B. 
Moseley; Bernard G. Semig; John O. Skinner ; James A. Finley ; 
Aug. A. De Loffre; Timothy E. Wilcox; Louis M. Maus; Blair 
D. Taylor; Curtis E. Price; James C. Worthington; Henry 
S. Turrill; Edward T. Comegys; Walter Reed; H. S. Kil- 
bourne; James C. Merrill; William R. Hall; Richard Barnett; 
George H. Torney; Louis W. Crampton; Joseph Y. Porter; 
Marshall W. Wood; Marcus E. Taylor; William L. Newlands; 
J. De B. W. Gardiner; Robert E. Smith; William C. Shannon; 
Louis S. Tesson ; William G. Spencer; Roland L. Rosson; Edwin 
F. Gardner; William H. Corbusier; James W. Buell; Robert 
W. Shufeldt; Daniel M. Appel; T. A. Cunningham; Harry O. 
Perley; Henry G. Burton; Samuel Q. Robinson; William B. 
Davis. 
Medical Storekeepers.— Captains Henry Johnson ; George T. 
Beall; Andrew V. Cherbonnier; F. O. Donnoghue. THE PAY DEPARTMENT—CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
591 
THE PAY DEPARTMENT. 
Paymaster-General.—Brigadier-General Benjamin Alvord. 
Assistant Paymaster-Generals. —Colonels Nathan W. Brown 3 
Daniel McClure. 
Deputy Paymaster-Generals.—Lieutenant-Colonels Franklin 
E. Hunt; Henry Prince. 
Paymasters.—Majors Samuel Woods; George L. Febiger; 
Henry C. Pratt 3 Simon Smith 3 Charles T. Larned 3 Rodney 
Smith 3 Joseph H. Eaton 3 James B. M. Potter 3 Wm. A. Rucker 3 
Wm. H. Johnston 3 Wm. R. Gibson 3 Charles J. Sprague 3 Wm. 
B. Rochester 3 Henry B. Reese 3 Nicholas Vedder 3 Edwin D. 
Judd; William Smith 3 Charles M. Terrell; Thad. H. Stanton; 
George E. Glenn 3 Robert D. Clarke 3 James H. Nelson 3 Chas. 
W. Wingard; James P. Canby; Peter P. G. Hall 3 George W. 
Candee 3 Edmund H. Brooke 3 Israel O. Dewey 3 Asa B. Carey 3 
Wm. P. Gould 3 David Taylor 3 Frank Bridgman 3 Frank M. 
Coxe; Alfred E. Bates; John P. Willard; Charles I. Wilson 3 
Wm. H. Eckels; John E. Blaine; James R. Roche; Albert S. 
Towar; Reginald. H. Towler; T. T. Thornburgh; Wm. M. 
Maynadier; Josiah A. Brodhead; William Arthur; James R. 
Wasson; Alexander Sharp 3 John B. Keefer; Culver C. Sniffen; 
Joseph W. Wham; Thos. C. H. Smith. 
CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 
Chief of Engineers.— Brigadier-General A. A. Humphreys. 
Colonels John G. Barnard ; Henry W. Benham3 John N. 
Macomb; James H. Simpson 3 Israel C. Woodruff 3 Zealous B. 
Tower. 
Lieutenant-Colonels Horatio G. Wright 3 John Newton 3 George 
Thom 3 Barton S. Alexander; William F. Raynolds 3 Charles S. 
Stewart; Charles E. Blunt; James C. Duane 3 Robert S. Wil- 
liamson; Quincy A. Gillmore; Thomas L. Casey; Nathaniel 
Michler. 
Majors John G. Parke; Gouv’r. K. Warren 3 George H. Men- 
dell 3 Henry L. Abbot 3 William P. Craighill 3 Cyrus B. Corn- 
stock; Godfrey Weitzel; Orlando M. Poe; David C. Houston 3 592 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
George H. Elliott; Henry M. Robert; William E. Merrill; 
Walter McFarland; Orville E. Babcock; John M. Wilson; 
Franklin Harwood; John W. Barlow; Peter C. Hains; Francis 
U. Farquhar; George L. Gillespie; Charles R. Suter; Jared A. 
Smith; Samuel M. Mansfield; William J. Twining. 
Captains William R. King; Wm. H. H. Benyaurd; Charles 
W. Howell; Garrett J. Lydecker; Amos Stickney; James W. 
Cuyler; Alex’r. MacKenzie ; Oswald H. Ernst; David P. Heap; 
William Ludlow; Charles B. Phillips; William A. Jones; An- 
drew N. Damrell; Charles J. Allen; Charles W. Raymond; 
Lewis C. Overman; Alexander M. Miller; Michah R. Brown; 
Milton B. Adams; William R. Livermore; William H. Heuer; 
William S. Stanton; A. Nisbet Lee; Thomas H. Handbury; 
James C. Post; James F. Gregory; Henry M. Adams; James 
Mercur; Charles E. L. B. Davis; Benjamin D. Greene. 
First Lieutenants George M. Wheeler; James B. Quinn; 
Dan. W. Lockwood; Ernest H. Ruffner; John C. Mallery; 
Clinton B. Sears; Thomas Turtle; Edward Maguire; Frederick 
A. Mahan; Charles F. Powell; Fred’k. A. Hinman ; Albert H. 
Payson; John G. D. Knight; Richard L. Hoxie; Edgar W. 
Bass; William L. Marshall; Joseph H. Willard; Eric Bergland; 
Samuel E. Tillman; Philip M. Price; Francis V. Greene; Carl 
F. Palfrey; William H. Bixby; Henry S. Taber; William T. 
Rossell; Thomas N. Bailey. 
Second Lieutenants Thomas W. Symons; Smith S. Leach; 
Dan. C. Kingman; Eugene Griffin; Willard Young; William M. 
Black; Walter L. Fisk; Solomon W. Roessler. 
ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. 
Chief of Ordnance.— Brigadier-General Stephen V. Ben6t. 
Colonels Peter V. Hagner; Frank D. Callender; Theo. T. S. 
Laidley. 
Lieutenant-Colonels James G. Benton; John McNutt; Julian 
McAllister; Silas Crispin. 
Majors' John W. Todd; Thos. J. Treadwell; Thomas G. 
Baylor; James M. Whittemore; A. R. Buffington; Daniel W. 
Flagler; Alfred Mordecai; Stephen C. Lyford; Francis H. 
Parker; Joseph P. Farley. ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. 
593 
Captains Lawrence S. Babbitt; Wm. A. Marye; Isaac Ar- 
nold; James H. Rollins; Clifton Comly; John R. McGinness; 
Geo. W. McKee; Frank H. Phipps; James W. Reilly; 
George D. Ramsay, Jr. ; John A. Kress; Otho E. Michaelis; 
Wm. Prince; Clarence E. Dutton; John G. Butler; Cullen 
Bryant; Martin L. Poland; Almon L. Varney ; Joseph C. Clif- 
ford ; Edward M. Wright. 
First Lieutenants John E. Greer; John Pitman; Charles 
Shaler; Henry Metcalfe; Wm. S. Starring; Charles S. Smith; 
Stanhope E. Blunt; Frank Heath ; Daniel M. Taylor; David A. 
Lyle; James Rockwell Jr. ; William B. Weir; James C. Ayers; 
Marcus W. Lyon; Charles W. Whipple ; Andrew H. Russell. 
Ordnance Storekeepers.—Captains Edward Ingersoll; Wm. R. 
Shoemaker; Benj. H. Gilbreth; Eph’m. D. Ellsworth; William 
Adams; A. S. M. Morgan; Wm. H. Rexford; Frederick Whyte; 
Daniel J. Young; Michael J. Grealish. APPENDIX B. 
Aggregate Strength of the United States 
Army at Different Times. 
Year. No. of Officers. Grand Aggregate. 
179° .... 57 1,273 
1800 .... 296 4,166 
1810 .... 744 9,921 
1820 .... 722 12,431 
1830 . . . .542 6,184 
1840 .... 735 12,539 
1848 .... 2,865 47>I5° 
1850 .... 884 10,315 
i860 .... 1,083 I2,93i 
1861, July 1 . . 186,751 
1862, January 1 . . 515, 
1862, March 31 . . 637,126 
1863, January 1 . . 918,181 
1864, January 1 . . 860,737 
1865, January 1 . . 959,460 
1865, March 31 . . 980,086 
1865, May 1 . . . 1,000,516 
1869 .... 2,988 52>935 
1871 .... 2,694 35>353 
1877, October . 2,151 27,470 GENERAL INDEX. 
Abbot, Lieutenant H. F., 291. 
Academy, the Military, 32; 33; 34; 
100; 101; 266-67. 
Adams, John, President, 419; 420; 
425-26; 435; 450. 
Adams, John Q., elected President by 
House of Representatives, 457. 
Adams, Samuel and John, 409. 
Adjutant-General’s Department — its 
history, 139-43. 
Algiers, war with, 27. 
Allen, Colonel Robert, 191. 
Alvord, Paymaster-General, Benjamin, 
262-63. 
Ambrister, Robert C., his execution, 84- 
5* 
Andersonville, prison-pen, 362; ceme- 
tery, 381. 
Antietem, battle of, 332. 
Appomattox, Lee’s surrender, 341. 
Arbuthnot, Alexander, his execution, 
83-4- 
Archives, confederate, 585. 
Arista, the Mexican General, 229. 
Arkansas Post, capture of, 333; 556. 
Arlington, Cemetery, 381. 
Armistead, Colonel W. K., 271. 
Armories, Government, 302. 
Arms, supplies to States, 306. 
Armstrong, General John, seventh 
Secretary of War, 58-9; 64; 67 ; let- 
ter on battle of Bladensburgh, 67-70; 
112; his life, 441-45; a native of 
Pennsylvania; a student at Prince- 
ton ; aide to General Mercer; also to 
General Gates; engaged in the cam- 
paign of Saratoga, 441, writes 
the “Newburgh Letters;” their 
nature; holds several civil offices 
in Pennsylvania; removes to New 
York; United States Senator; minis- 
ter to France, 442, commissioner 
to Spain; a brigadier-general; ap- 
pointed Secretary of War; leaves 
the War office; writes a history of 
the war of 1812, and lives of Gen- 
erals Montgomery and Wayne, 443, 
his death; his management of 
the War office; a caustic writer; a 
very able man, 444-45. 
Army, its organization from 1805 to 
1812, 47-48; “register and regula- 
tions,” 61; organization in 1813,61- 
62; its general officers at that time, 
62; organization in 1815, 74-75; 
“register” of 1816, 76; strength in 
1817, 78-79; in 1819, 100; regula- 
tions of 1820, 103; reduction in 
1821, 103-04; regulations of 1825, 
106; strength of regulars and vol- 
unteers at close of Mexican war, 
323-24 and note; regular at close 
of rebellion, 370-71; 372; number 
of troops during rebellion; aggre- 
gate strength at different times, 594. 
Arnold, Benedict, 400; 433; 439. 
Astor, William B., 112. 
Atlanta, campaign of, 337; battle of, 
561; fall of, 563. 
Atzerott, the assassin, 153. 
Auger, General C. C., 372. 
Averysboro, battle of, 342. 
Baltimore, defense of, 72. 
Baltimore and Ohio R.R., 272. 
595 596 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Banks, General N. P., 334; 336. 
Barbour, James, eleventh Secretary 
of War, 112; 137; his life, 468-70, 
birth and early education; mem- 
ber of the legislature, 468, 
speaker of Virginia House; Gov- 
ernor of the State; vigorous pirocla- 
mation against British outrages in 
1814; United States Senator for ten 
years; president pro tempore; Sec- 
retary of War; his conduct of the 
office; minister to England, 469; 
president of Whig convention of 
1839; his death; character, 470. 
Barbour, Philip H., 469. 
Barnard, General John G., 285. ■ 
Barnes J. K., Surgeon-General, 233; 
246-47; relates particulars of Sec- 
retary Stanton’s death, 533, note. 
Barry, John, 28. 
Bates, Edward, 512. 
Bayard, Senator Thomas F., 165, note. 
Beecher, Rev. Dr. Lyman, 573. 
Belger, Major James, 192. 
Belknap, W. G., 229-30; distinguished 
in the Mexican War, 566. 
Belknap, General W. W., thirtieth 
Secretary of War, III; 112; 114; 
153; 168; 381; 383; 564; his life, 
566-71; graduated at Princeton col- 
lege ; studied law at Georgetown, 
D. C.; removes to Keokuk, Iowa, to 
practice; member of the legislature; 
Major of an Iowa regiment, 566, 
• regiment entered the service in 
March, 1862; soon sent to the front; 
at battle of Shiloh; Major Belknap 
wounded; conspicuous at battle of 
Corinth; a Colonel; at the siege of 
Vicksburgh; in the entire Atlanta 
campaign; gallant conduct at battle 
of Atlanta, 567, at battle of Ezra 
church; appointed Brigadier-Gen- 
eral ; joins in the march to the sea 
and through the Carolinas; at the 
grand review at Washington; last 
commander of the 17th Army Corps; 
collector of Internal Revenue in 
Iowa; Secretary of War, 568, 
resigns the office of Secretary of 
War; impeached by the House of 
Representatives; trial by the Senate, 
569, his defense in the Senate 
weak; the judgment of his friends, 
570, engaged in practicing law 
mostly at Washington, 570-71. 
Bell, John, sixteenth Secretary of 
War, 113; 454, his life, 487- 
89, native of Tennessee; educa- 
tion; admitted to the bar when 
twenty years old; State Senator; 
highly successful at the bar, 487, 
member of Congress; speaker 
of the House; Secretary of War; 
returns to Tennessee; member of the 
legislature; United States Senator; 
twenty-five years in Congress; able 
advocate of Whig doctrine, 488, 
opposed nullification; and annex- 
ation of taxes; sustained abolition 
of slavery in District of Columbia; 
opposed the Nebraska bill; and the 
Lecompton constitution of Kansas; 
also secession; candidate for Presi- 
dent in i860; received thirty-nine 
electoral votes; his death; his char- 
acter, 489. 
Belmont, battle of, 330. 
Benet, General S. V., 310; 314, and 
note. 
Benham, General Henry W., 285. 
Bentonsville, battle of, 563. 
Bernard, General Simon, 268. 
Bible, in the public schools, 574. 
Big Black River Bridge, battle of, 334. 
Big Shanty, affair of, 560. 
Billings, Surgeon John S., 257, note. 
Bingham, John A., 149. 
Black Hawk, the War, 130; 221-22. 
Bladensburgh, battle of, 64. 
Blaine, Hon. James G., 576. 
Blair, General F. P., 114; 560. 
Bounty lands, 75. 
Bragg, General Braxton, 334. 
Brandywine, battle of the, 398. 
Breckinridge, John C., 534. 
Briggs, J. R., Jr., 345, note. 
Bristow, Hon. B. F., 576. GENERAL INDEX. 
597 
Brough, John,573. 
Brown, General Jacob, 63; 76. 
Buchanan, President, 325 ; 326; 531. 
Buell, General D. C., at Shiloh, 537; 
554- 
Buena Vista, battle of, 231; 515. 
Buildings, the public, at Washington, 
108-09. 
Bull Run, first battle of, 330; 553; 
second battle of, 332. 
Burbridge, General S. G., first to enter 
works of Arkansas Post, 556. 
Bureaux, of the War Department, their 
history, 139-319; their status in the 
military establishment, 315-17; their 
general labors, 317-19. 
Burgoyne, surrender of, 433. 
Burnet, Jacob, 573. 
Burnside, General A., 194; 331; 333; 
335- 
Burr, Aaron, 503. 
Butler, General B. F., 332. 
Butler, Hon. B. F., of New York, 
Secretary of War ad interim, 112; 
his life, 481-82, birth; a de- 
scendant of Oliver Cromwell; lib- 
erally educated ; studies law; be- 
comes partner of Martin Van Buren ; 
distinguished at the bar; district at- 
torney ; commissioner to revise the 
statutes; attorney - general of the 
United States; United States attor- 
ney for southern district of New 
York; aids University of New York; 
a professor of law therein; leaves 
the Democratic party; visits Europe; 
death at Paris, 481, his charac- 
ter ; greatness as a lawyer, 482. 
Butterfield, General Daniel, 560. 
member of Congress, 461, reor- 
ganizes War Department; conduct of 
Indian affairs, 462, elected Vice- 
President in 1824; again in 1828; 
not a model presiding officer, 463, 
elected United States Senator; 
contest for nullification; Secretary of 
State; negotiates Texan treaty, 464, 
declines mission to England; 
death; genius and character, 465- 
67; unfavorable criticism by Gen- 
eral Scott, 503. 
Cameron, J. D., thirty-second Secre- 
tary of War, III; 114; 527; his 
life,575-77, education; banker; 
president of a railroad; active worker 
in politics; at Republican national 
convention of i860, 575, ap- 
pointed Secretary of War; chairman 
of Pennsylvania delegation to Cin- 
cinnati national convention of 1876; 
his masterly management of the dele- 
gation, 576, his conduct of the 
War office; United States Senator; 
his character, 577. 
Cameron, Simon, twenty-sixth Secre- 
tary of War, 113; 328; 329; 345, 
his life, 523-29, birth; early an 
orphan ; his “ schooling; ” becomes 
a printer ; assistant editor, 523, 
spends some time in Washington; a 
contractor on public works; a banker; 
nominated for Congress ; declined ; 
a friend of railroads ; adjutant-gen- 
eral of Pennsylvania; United States 
Senator; leaves the Democratic 
party, 524, again United States 
Senator; candidate for presidential 
nomination in i860; appointed Sec- 
retary of War; his ideas of the im- 
pending rebellion, 525, recom- 
mends calling out 500,000 men; 
harassed in the department; recom- 
mends arming the slaves, 526, 
retires from War office; minister 
to Russia; in a short time asks to 
be recalled; invited to Washington 
by Republicans of Congress; they 
ask him to help in a scheme to 
Calhoun, Hon. John C., tenth Secre- 
tary of War, 79; 81-82; 106; 112; 
137; 182; 204; 210; 271; 305; 
454! 457 5 his life, 460-67; native 
of South Carolina, 460, gradu- 
ated at Yale College; studies law at 
Litchfield; becomes eminent in the 
practice; member of the legislature; 598 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
impeach President Lincoln; he de- 
nounces it as insane; heartily sus- 
tained Mr. Lincoln; again United 
States Senator; resigned in 1877; 
his standing in the Senate, 527, 
how he came to be chairman of the 
Committee on Foreign Relations; 
living in retirement, 528, his fi- 
delity to friends, his State, and coun- 
try ; a blackmailing assault on him 
promptly repelled, 529 ; his opinion 
of Secretary Stanton, 531-32 ; 554. 
Canal, Erie, greatly aided by General 
P. B. Porter, 474. 
Canby, General E. R. S., 247; 337; 
344- 
Carpenter, Hon. Matthew IL, 570. 
Cass, General Lewis, fourteenth 
Secretary of War, 112; 129; 454; 
his life, 476-80, native of New 
Hampshire; education; goes west 
on foot; studies law; enters upon 
practice; member of the Ohio leg- 
islature; United States marshal; 
colonel of third Ohio regiment; 
marches to Detroit, 476, in- 
cluded in Hull’s surrender; a win- 
ter in Washington; brigadier-gen- 
eral; serves under General Har- 
rison; conspicuous at battle of the 
Thames; governor of Michigan Ter- 
ritory and superintendent of Indian 
affairs; negotiates many Indian trea- 
ties ; Secretary of War in 1831; min- 
ister to France, 477, returns to 
United States in 1842; on the hust- 
ings ; United States Senator; leader 
of Democratic party; candidate for 
President; defeated ; reelected Sen- 
ator; retires from Senate in 1857, 
478, Secretary of State in Bu- 
chanan’s cabinet; resigns ; private 
life at Detroit; his death; character 
as soldier, statesman, and citizen, 
479-80. 
Caucus, congressional, nominates can- 
didates for President; the system 
broken up in 1824, 456. 
Cemeteries, National, 379-383. 
Cerro Gordo, battle of, 234. 
Chancellorsville, battle of, 335. 
Chandler, Hon. Z., 479. 
Chapin’s Farm, battle of, 339. 
Chapultepec, storming of, 238. 
Chase, Hon. Salmon P., 328-29; 573. 
Chattanooga, battle of, 334; 558. 
Chicago, 249; 290. 
Chickamauga, battle of, 334. 
Chickasaw Bayou, battle of, 332 ; 556. 
Cholera, the, in 1832, 221-23. 
Churubusco, battle of, 238. 
Cincinnati, Society of, 402; the city of, 
in 1840, 573; national Republican 
convention of 1876, held there, 576. 
Clay, Henry, 457 ; 508. 
Clayton, John M., 501. 
Clinton, De Witt, 472; 473; 491. 
Cold Harbor, battle of, 339. 
Collamer, Hon. Jacob, 501. 
Colored troops, their number in war of 
rebellion, 353 ; their exchange, 366- 
67. 
Commerce, inter-State, discussed in 
Forty-third Congress, 583-84. 
Commission, the Electoral, 584. 
Conkling, Hon. Roscoe, 576. 
Connecticut, declines to call out militia 
in 1812, 52-53. 
Conrad, Charles M., twenty-second 
Secretary of War, 113 ; his life, 512— 
13, a native of Virginia; early 
moves to Louisiana, 512, liber- 
ally educated; studies law; success 
at the practice; United States Sen- 
ator ; member of constitutional con- 
vention ; member of Congress; Sec- 
retary of War; member of Confed- 
erate congress; his death, 513. 
Contract, the system, 201. 
Contreras, battle of, 238. 
Convention, national republican of 
i860, 575; of 1876, 576. 
Corcoran, Mr. W. W., 109-10; 288. 
Corinth, battle of, 332; siege of; de- 
fense of, 538; Halleck’s maixh on, 
555- 
Corse, General J. M., his defense of 
Allatoona, 154-55 ; 560. GENERAL INDEX. 
599 
Chippewa, battle of, 63. 
Cockburn, Admiral, his vandalism, 66. 
Cornwallis, surrender of, 401. 
Cox, General J. D., 560. 
Craik, Dr. James, physician-general, 
212. 
Crane, Assistant Surgeon-General, 
Charles H., 252. 
Crawford, George W., twenty-first 
Secretary of War, 113; his life, 501- 
2, native of Georgia; educated 
at Princeton, New Jersey; practices 
law at Augusta; State’s Attorney- 
General ; member of the legislature, 
501, member of Congress; Gov- 
ernor of Georgia; his administration; 
Secretary of War; visits Europe; 
death, 502. 
Crawford, Hon. William H., ninth 
Secretary of War, 75; 76; 77; 112; 
his life, 454-59; among the greatest 
of Southern statesmen; succeeds 
Monroe as Secretary of War; a 
native of Virginia; teacher; studies 
law ; enters the practice in Georgia; 
revises laws of the State ; a duel with 
Mr. Van Allen; United States Sen- 
ator ; President pro tempore; minis- 
ter to France, 455, becomes Sec- 
retary of War; Secretary of the 
Treasury for eight years; nominated 
for President, 456, received 41 
electoral votes; appointed judge of 
the superior court of Georgia; his 
death, 457, his great abilities and 
lofty character, 457—59. 
Crook, General George, 372. 
Crosby, H. T., preface; ill. 
Crosman, Colonel George H., 190. 
Cullum, General George W., 285. 
Cumberland, the Road, 271-72. 
Currency, Continental, its depreciation, 
412. 
Curtis, General Samuel R., 331; 544; 
545- 
Dale, Richard, 28. 
Dallas, battles of, 560. 
Dana, Charles A., Assistant Secretary 
of War, 345-46. 
Davis, Jefferson, twenty-third Sec- 
retary of War, no; 113 ; 291; 
326; 454; his life, 514-17- edu- 
cated at the Military Academy; a 
lieutenant of infantry and then of 
dragoons; engaged in Indian wars ; 
resigns in 1835 ; member of Con- 
gress ; colonel of a Mississippi regi- 
ment during Mexican war, 514, 
distinguished at capture of Monterey; 
at battle of Buena Vista, 515, 
severely wounded; returns home; 
United States Senator; candidate 
for Governor; defeated ; Secretary 
of War; his conduct of the office, 
516, United States Senator; 
withdraws in 1861; President of the 
Southern confederacy; flight from 
Richmond; capture; confinement at 
Fortress Monroe ; release; since en- 
gaged in business, 517. 
Davis, General Jefferson C., 560. 
Dearborn, General Henry, fifth Sec- 
retary of War, 36; 40; 51; 52; 58; 
59; his life, 432-38; a native of New 
Hampshire; his thorough education; 
studies medicine; also the military 
art; rapid march to Lexington; cap- 
tain in John Stark’s regiment; at 
battle of Bunker Hill; on the Que- 
bec expedition, 432, dangerous 
illness; at the assault on Quebec; 
captured; exchanged; major of 3d 
New Hampshire regiment; at battle 
of Monmouth, 433, at battle of 
Newtown; deputy quartermaster- 
general ; colonel of his regiment; 
removes to Maine; twice elected to 
Congress; United States marshal, 
434, becomes a Republican ; ap- 
pointed Secretary of War; his con- 
duct of the office; collector of Bos- 
ton; appointed senior major-general 
of United States Army; capture of 
York; relieved of command through 
political intrigue, 435, nominated 
Secretary of War by Madison and 600 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
rejected by the Senate, 436, as- 
signed to command, but refused 
court of inquiry; settles at Roxbury 
near Boston; candidate for governor 
of Massachusetts; minister to Portu- 
gal ; his death; his article on battle 
of Bunker Hill, 437, his person 
and character, 438. 
Deep Bottom, battle of, 339. 
Defenses, sea-coast, 106. 
Delafield, General Richard, 285-6, and 
note. 
Delaware, crossing of the, 397. 
Delawares, Indian tribe of, 131, note. 
Detroit, surrender of, by General Hull, 
57; mention, 290. 
De Witt, Simeon, 474. 
Dexter, Samuel, fourth Secretary of 
War, 112 ; his life, 428-31, birth, 
general, and professional education; 
successful at the bar, 428, 
elected to Congress; resumes prac- 
tice at Boston ; elected United States 
Senator; prepares official letter of 
the Senate on the death of Washing- 
ton ; appointed Secretary of War ; 
a successful officer; becomes Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, 429, acting 
Secretary of State; declines a mis- 
sion abroad; has great practice at 
the bar; joins the Republican party ; 
candidate for governor of Massachu- 
setts, 430; his death; his genius 
and character; his Temperance prin- 
ciples, 431; 480. 
District of Columbia, Public Works of, 
287-88. 
Dodge, General G. M., 546; 560. 
Donelson, Fort, capture of, 331; 
537- 
Draft, for 300,000 men in 1862, 
333- 
Dubuque, city of, 290. 
Duer, John, 481. 
Dunn, General W. M., 147; 149; 307 ; 
522. 
Du Pont, Commodore, 330. 
Dwight, Dr. Timothy, 483. 
Dyer, General A. B., 312, and note. 
Eaton, General Amos B., 209. 
Eaton, Major John H., thirteenth 
Secretary of War, 112; 210; his life, 
474-75; a native of Tennessee; 
liberally educated; an adroit politi- 
cal manager; United States Senator; 
Secretary of War; retires from cabi- 
net; Mrs. Eaton; governor of Flor- 
ida ; minister to Spain; returns to 
Washington; death, 474, his 
character, 475. 
Education, home, may be better than 
any other, 580. 
Education, Indian, 136-37. 
Edwards, Governor Ninian and others 
negotiate many Indian treaties, 128- 
3°- 
Edward Station, battle of, 334. 
Emancipation, Proclamation of, 352. 
Emory, Major W. H., 291. 
Engineers, corps of, 31-32 ; 74 ; history, 
263-99; practical labors, 288-91; 
its publications, 298-99 ; roster, 591- 
92; topographical, history, 276-80. 
Erie, Fort, battle of, 63. 
Erie, lake, Perry’s victory on. 60. 
Eustis, Hon.William, sixth Secretary 
of War, 45; 51; 58; 112; his life, 
439-40, born in Cambridge; edu- 
cated at Harvard; studies medicine 
with Dr. Joseph Warren; a surgeon 
in the revolutionary army; stationed 
for some time at Arnold’s headquar- 
ters ; a member of the legislature and 
of the Council; a Representative in 
Congress; appointed Secretary of 
War; his resignation some time 
after Hull’s surrender; minister to 
the Netherlands, 439, again in 
Congress; governor of Massachu- 
setts ; his death; his character, 440. 
Everett, Edward, 489. 
Ewing, Hon. Thomas, 119; 488; 501; 
551- 
Expeditions across the continent, 106-7. 
Fairs, Sanitary, 248-50. 
Farragut, Admiral, 332; 377. GENERAL INDEX. 
Federal, the party, falls to pieces, 456. 
Fillmore, President, 325; 512. 
Finley, Surgeon-General Clement A., 
243- 
Fisk, H. C., 257, note. 
Five Forks, battle of, 341. 
Florida, ceded to United States, 451. 
Floyd, John B., twenty-fourth Secre- 
tary of War, 113; 114; 326-27; 
his life, 518-19, a native of Vir- 
ginia ; graduated at the college of 
South Carolina; practices law in 
Arkansas; returns to Virginia; mem- 
ber of the legislature; governor of 
Virginia; Secretary of War under 
Buchanan; secretly aided secession ; 
superseded by Judge Holt; a Con- 
federate brigadier-general; a poor 
soldier, 518, at Fort Donelson; 
censured by Confederate govern- 
ment; his death, 519. 
Foote, Commodore, 331. 
Foote, Henry S., 516. 
Forsyth, John, 463. 
Fortifications, harbor, 29-32. 
Foster, General John G., 285. 
France, on verge of war with the 
United States, 1798, 38. 
Franco-German, the War, 313. 
Franklin, battle of, 337-38 ; 547. 
Franklin, General W. B., 337. 
Fredericksburgh, battle of, 332-33. 
Freedmen’s bureau, originally bureau 
of Colored Troops, 352-53; history, 
373-75 i the “ Bank,” 374-75. 
Free-Masons, 484-85. 
Fremont, John C., 291. 
Fry, General James B., 348-53. 
Fulton, Robert, 474. 
Gaines, General E. P., 63 ; 75. 
Gallatin, Albert, 429. 
Garfield, Hon. James A., 165, note. 
Garrard, General Kenner, 560. 
Gates, General Horatio, 114; 140; 
411; 441. 
Geary, General John W., 560. 
Germantown, battle of, 398. 
Gettysburgh, battle of, 335; 538. 
Ghent, treaty of, 72. 
Gibson, General George, 208-09. 
Giles, William B., on the powers of 
the general government, 54. 
Gillmore, General Q. A., 285. 
Goldsborough, Admiral, 331. 
Goodfellow, Colonel Henry, 1x0. 
Graham, George, 78; 80-81; 270; 
460. 
Grant, General U. S., Secretary of 
War ad interim, ill; 113 ; 194; 
225; 247; 313; 330; 331; 333; 
334; commander-in-chief, 338-41 ; 
361; 366; 375-76; 532; 534. 
his life, 535-42, native of Ohio; 
graduates at West Point in 1843: par- 
ticipates in battles of Palo Alto, 
Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Mo- 
linos del Rey and Chapultepec; 
serves in Oregon; Captain in 1853; 
resigns in 1854; settles near St. 
Louis, 585, removes to Galena, 
111., in 1859; Colonel of an Illinois 
regiment; Brigadier-General of Vol- 
unteers ; battle of Belmont, 536, 
-—-capture of Fort Donelson; bat- 
tle of Shiloh, 537, serves under 
Halleck in operations against Cor- 
inth; vain movements against Vicks- 
burgh; his successful campaign of 
Vicksburgh, 538, appointed Ma- 
jor-General in regular Army; voted 
a gold medal by Congress; his cam- 
paign of Chattanooga, 539, made 
Lieutenant-General; assumes com- 
mand of the Armies of the United 
» States; his operations against Rich- 
mond, and utter defeat of Lee; ap- 
pointed to the full rank of general; 
Secretary of War ad interim, 540, 
nominated for President in 
1868; elected; renominated in 1872; 
his administration, 541, travels 
abroad; received with consideration, 
542, further mention ; 545 ; 549 ; 
554! 5551 556; 559! 564; 566; 
568; 572; 576; 577. 
Gratiot, General Charles, 280. 602 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Greeley, Horace, candidate for Presi- 
dent, 541. 
Green, Duff, 464. 
Greene, General Nathaniel, 179; 39^- 
Guadaloupe Hidalgo, treaty of, 238. 
Gunnison, Captain J. W., 291. 
Halleck, Major-General H. W., 
his operations against Corinth, 538; 
554-55- 
Hamilton, Alexander, first Secretary 
of the Treasury, claims financial jur- 
isdiction in certain military affairs, 
24-25; 420; 425-26; 435. 
Hammond, Charles, 573. 
Hammond, Surgeon-General William 
A., 243; 245-47. 
Hampton, General Wade, refuses to 
cooperate with General Wilkinson, 
(war with England), 60. 
Hampton, General (rebel) Wade, 342. 
Hancock, General W. S., 372. 
Harmar, General, 37. 
Harrison, General W. H., (President,) 
46; 59; 124-25; 129; 487. 
Harper’s Ferry, 302. 
Hartranft, Hon. John F., 576. 
Hatcher’s Run, battle of, 339. 
Hayden, Professor E. V., 296. 
Hayes, President, R. B., 165; 384; 
576; 585. 
Hayne, Robert Y., 463. 
Hazen, General W. B., captures Fort 
McCallister, 563. 
Helena, battle of, 334. 
“ Hell Gate,” 296. 
Henry, Fort, capture of, 331. 
Henry, Patrick, 409. 
Herron, General Frank J., 332; 545. 
Hitchcock, General E. A., 366. 
Holly Springs, abandonment of, 556. 
Holt, Hon. Joseph, twenty-fifth Sec- 
retary of War, 113; 149; 152; 327; 
518, his life, 520-22, born in 
Kentucky; education; studies law; 
success in practice; State’s attorney; 
removes to Mississippi; has fine suc- 
cess at the bar; returns to Louis- 
ville; commissioner of patents; 
postmaster - general; Secretary of 
War, 520, zealous friend of the 
Union; judge-advocate-general of 
the army; at head of bureau of 
military justice; declines the attor- 
ney-generalship, 521, retired at 
his own request; living in retirement 
at Washington, 522. 
Hood, General (rebel) J. B., 337; 543; 
5475 563- 
Hooker, General Joseph, 335; 580. 
Howard, General O. O., 372; 373; 375; 
560. 
Hoxie, Lieutenant Richard L., 287-88. 
Hull, General, surrender of Detroit, 
57; 435- 
Humphreys, General A. A., 278; 284; 
285; 286, and note; 289; 297. 
Hurlbut, General Stephen, 557 ; 559. 
Impeachment, of Secretary Belknap, 
569-70. 
“Improvements,” internal, 106; River 
and Harbor, 274, and note. 
Indian affairs, 106; general policy re- 
lating to, 119-123; Indians mostly 
hostile to United States in War of 
1812, 128; their civilization, 133- 
37; result of their management by 
War Department, 138; policy, the 
true Indian, 462. 
Ingersoll, Charles, J., 58; on President 
Madison as a warrior, 70, note. 
Inspector-General’s Department, his- 
tory of, 144-46. 
“ Insurrection,” the whiskey, in west- 
ern Pennsylvania, 37; 38. 
Interior Department, its establishment, 
119. 
Inventions, military, 347. 
Investigations, of Congress, as to Army 
organization, 372-73. 
Iuka, useless battle of, 538. 
Jackson (Mississippi), battle of, 334; 
siege of, 558. GENERAL INDEX. 
603 
Jackson, rebel camp in St. Louis, its 
capture, 543. 
Jackson, General Andrew, defeats the 
Indians in the South, 59; at the bat- 
tle of New Orleans, 63-64; 76; 79; 
his vigorous campaign against Sem- 
inoles; invasion of Florida, 82; the 
Arbuthnot and Ambrister matter, 83- 
85; utterly routs the Creeks, 128; 
215; 464; 474. 
Jay, John — “Jay’s treaty,” 419. 
Jefferson, President Thomas, 34; 429; 
4345 4355 45°- 
Jesup, General Thomas S., 182-85; 187. 
Johnson, Andrew, President of the 
United States, 375-76; 532; 540. 
And see Biographies of Secretaries 
Stanton and General Grant. 
Johnson, General Bushod R., 551. 
Johnson, Sir John, 434. 
Johnson, Reverdy, 501. 
Johnson, General R. M., report on the 
capture of Washington, 66. 
Johnston, General Albert Sidney, his 
death, 537. 
Johnston, General Joseph E., 187-88, 
note; 337; surrender to Sherman, 
342-435 557; 56o. 
Jones, William, Secretary of the Navy, 
66. 
Jonesboro, battle of, 562. 
Justice, Military Department of. See 
Bureau of Military Justice. 
Kearney, General Stephen W., 552. 
Kenesaw Mountain, battle of, 561. 
Kepler, G. P., 257, note. 
Kilpatrick, General Judson, 342; 560. 
King, Clarence, his Reports, 294-95. 
King, Horatio, postmaster-general, 521. 
King, Rufus, 450. 
Keokuk, city of, 581; 588. 
Knox, General Henry, first Secretary 
of War, 19; 24; in ; 181; 264, 
his life, 389-408, clerk in book- 
store, 390; bookseller and student 
of military affairs; marriage, 391, 
at battle of Bunker Plill; be- 
comes confidential friend of Wash- 
ington, 394; supplies army with ar- 
tillery, 395; with Washington at 
New York; his escape from the 
enemy, 396; at the crossing of the 
Delaware; the battle of Trenton; 
appointed brigadier-general, 397 ; at 
battle of Princeton ; of the Brandy- 
wine, 398; of Germantown; of 
Monmouth, 399 ; on Major Andre’s 
court-martial, 400; at siege of York - 
town; commissioner for exchange 
of prisoners of war; in command at 
West Point, 401, disbands the 
army, 402; appointed Secretary of 
War; his views of the federal con- 
stitution, 403, on the Navy; re- 
signs the Secretaryship; his home 
and active business pursuits in Maine, 
405; his death, 406; his views on 
“ paper-money and tender law,” 407; 
his character, 407-08; mention of, 
418; 425; 442. 
Knox, Mrs. Secretary, 392-94. 
Knoxville, siege raised, 539. 
La Fayette, 400; 423; 424; 455. 
Lane, Seminary, 573. 
Lawrance, John, 147. 
Lawson, Surgeon-General Joseph, 223; 
225-27; 233; his death, 242-43. 
Lawton, E. M., 116. 
Le Barron, Dr. Francis, 215. 
Lee, General R. E., 335; his surren- 
der, 341; 540; 564. 
Lewis and Clarke, their expedition 
across the continent, 35 ; 36; 37. 
Lexington, battle of, 432. 
Library, of War Department, 116-17; 
of Medical Department, 257. 
Life-Saving Bureau of Treasury De- 
partment, 159-164. 
Lincoln, President Abraham, 152-53; 
245; 283; 326; his inaugural ad- 
dress, 327; 328; 333; 336; 338; 
352; 361; a scheme to impeach 
him, 527; 534; 545. 
Lincoln, General Benjamin, first Sec- 604 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT 
retary of War after independence, 
19; 114; 403. 
Logan, General John A., 114; 297; 
560; 561, note. 
Longworth, Nicholas, 573. 
Lookout Mountain, battle of, 334~539- 
Louisiana, purchase of, 30; 449. 
Lovejoy, battle of, 562. 
Lovell, Surgeon-General Joseph, 217- 
24. 
Lowe, Governor R. P., of Iowa, 566. 
Lundy’s Lane, battle of, 63. 
Lyon, General Nathaniel, 330; 543. 
McArthur, Governor Duncan, 129. 
McCallum, Colonel D. C , superinten- 
dent of military railroads, 354-60. 
McCallister, Fort, capture of, 563. 
McClellan, General George B., 291 ; 
330; 332. 
McClernand, General John A., 333; 
556; 557- 
McCook, General Daniel, 560. 
McCook, Colonel Edward, 560. 
McCrary, Hon. George W., thirty- 
third Secretary of War, 17; ill; 
165; 385; 429; 576,- his life, 
578-88, native of Indiana; pa- 
rents remove to Illinois; to Iowa, 
578,—;— a pioneer-boy ; his early 
education at school, 579, his 
home education; academical stud- 
ies, 580, becomes a lawyer at 
Keokuk, Iowa ; steadily rises at the 
bar; a member of the legislature, 
581, again elected to legislature; 
his standing there; hard work at his 
profession; elected to Congress in 
1868; his oratory, 582, in Con- 
gress eight years; chairman of Com- 
mittee on Elections ; his non-partisan 
reports; invariably adopted; chair- 
man of committee on railways and 
canals; report on inter-state com- 
merce, 583, his bill prevails in 
the House; gains a notable victory 
in the House; in Forty-fourth Con- 
gress (democratic) a member of the 
Judiciary Committee; reports a bill 
reorganizing judiciary of United 
States, which prevails in the House ; 
his course in the presidential contest 
of 1876-77, 584, counsel before 
the Electoral Commission; appointed 
Secretary of War; his conduct of 
the office; interest in the signal ser- 
vice and in printing the rebel ar- 
chives; his domestic life, 585, 
his intellectual force; his political 
influence, 586, a “stalwart” re- 
publican ; his standing as a jurist; 
his published work on the laws of 
elections, 587; his powers of per- 
suasion ; his manner of speaking; 
his influence always for pure poli- 
tics; his character, 588. 
McCrary, Mrs. Helen A., 585-86. 
McCrary, James, father of Secretary 
McCrary, 578; 579; 580. 
McCrary, Matilda, 578 ; 579; 580. 
McDowell, General Irvin, 372 ; 553. 
Macfeely, General Robert, 209-10. 
McHenry, Daniel, 422. 
McHenry, James, third Secretary of 
War, 29; 35; 112; 419, his life, 
422-27, a native of Ireland; at- 
tends Dublin university; migrates 
to Baltimore; studies medicine; joins 
the patriot army, 422, surgeon 
of a Pennsylvania battalion; at bat- 
tle of Long Island; captured at Fort 
Washington; secretary to General 
Washington; aide to La Fayette, 
423, elected to Maryland Sen- 
ate ; delegate to Congress; to the 
federal convention of 1787; to the 
Maryland convention, 424, mem- 
ber of the legislature; appointed 
Secretary of War; his position in the 
cabinet, 425, often visits Wash- 
ington; leaves the War office; rea- 
son therefor, 425, investigated 
by a Congress committee ; his vindi- 
cation ; letter to the Speaker; re- 
tires to private life; death, 427. 
Mack, Colonel O. A., 381-82, and note. 
Mackinack, fort, surrender of, 57. GENERAL INDEX. 
605 
Macomb, General Alexander, 75 ; 266- 
67; 271; 274-76. 
McPherson, Hon. Edward, 533, note. 
McPherson, General James B., 114; 
285; 443; 557; 559; 560; 561. 
Madison, President James, 34; ineffi- 
cient in war affairs, 56; 60; at bat- 
tle of Bladensburgh, 64; 142 ; 302; 
his character as a statesman, 435- 
36; 437; 450-51. 
Mansfield, battle of, 337. 
Marcy, Inspector-General R. B., 114: 
144-45- 
Marcy, Hon. William Learned, 
twentieth Secretary of War, no; 
113: 320-21, his life, 497-500, 
native of Massachusetts; grad- 
uate of Brown University; a teacher; 
studies law ; begins practice at Troy, 
N. Y.; a volunteer in the war with 
England; distinguished; recorder 
of Troy; editor of a newspaper; 
Adjutant-General of New York: 
State’s comptroller; associate justice 
of the Supreme court of New York; 
United States Senator; governor of 
New York; defeated in 1839 by 
William Ii. Seward; appointed on 
the Mexican commission, 497, 
removes to Albany; appointed Sec- 
retary of War; conducts the office 
with vigor and ability; return to 
New York, 498, voted for Presi- 
dency at National convention in 
1852; Secretary of State, under 
President Pierce ; his conduct of the 
office; return to Albany; his sudden 
death, 499, character as a states- 
man, 500. 
Marshall, John, 428; 454; 503. 
Martin, Luther, 424. 
Maryland, her many eminent men, 427. 
Massachusetts declines to call out mili- 
tia in 1812, 50-52. 
Maysville, battle of, 544. 
Meade, General George G., 114; 284; 
335- 
Medical department, the history of, 
210-58; at the beginning of 1861, 
241; organization during the war 
of the rebellion, 243, note; publi- 
cations of, 252-56; roster of, 589-90. 
Meigs, General M. C., 188, and note; 
194; 382.* 
Meridian expedition, 559. 
Mexicans, wounded soldiers cared for 
by American Surgeons, 229. 
Mexico, war with, 230; City of, surren- 
ders to General Scott, 238 ; evacuated 
by the American Army, 239-40; situ- 
ation, after Emperor Iturbide, 484. 
Michigan City, 296. 
Mifflin, General Thomas, 179, 
Militia, an uniform system organized, 
22; 23; 24; its inefficiency, 55; 
number in service during war of 
1812-15, 103. 
Miller, Major Morris L., 192. 
Miller, Hon. Samuel F., 581. 
Milwaukee, city of, 290. 
Missionary Ridge, battle of, 334; 539. 
Mississippi River, open to Gulf, 538. 
Mitchell, O. M., 573. 
Molinos del Rey, battle of, 238. 
Monocacy, battle of, 339-40. 
Money, fiat, its disastrous effects, 412. 
Monmouth, battle of, 399-400. 
Monroe, Hon. James, eighth Secretary 
of War, 54; 71; 72; 437, his life, 
446—53, native of Virginia; 
graduate of William and Mary Col- 
lege ; at the battles of White Plains 
and Harlem; distinguished and 
wounded at Trenton, 446,—;— aide 
to Lord Sterling; conspicuous at bat- 
tles of the Brandywine, Germantown, 
and Monmouth; retires from the 
army; studies law with Jefferson ; 
military commissioner of Virginia; 
visits the southern army under De 
Kalb; member of the legislature and 
Executive Council; delegate in Con- 
gress ; member of the State conven- 
tion ; opposes ratification of Federal 
Constitution ; United States Senator; 
minister to France, 447, hostile 
to administration of Washington; 
reception in Paris; popular with 606 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
government and people of France; 
his course not approved by his own 
government; recalled, 448, his 
conduct on leaving Paris; governor 
of Virginia; again * minister to 
France; minister to England, 449, 
negotiates commercial treaty 
with Great Britain; in theVirginia As- 
sembly ; again governor of the State; 
Secretary of State in Madison’s cabi- 
net ; Secretary of War; President of 
the United States; his administra- 
tion, 450, “era of good feeling” 
under Monroe; tour to the east and 
north-west; measures of the admin- 
istration, 451, resides in New 
York; death, July 4, 1831 ; remarka- 
ble popularity ; political sagacity ; 
public and private character, 452. 
Monterey, storming of, 230; 515. 
Morrill, Hon. Lot M., offered the War 
office portfolio, but declines, 572. 
Morris, Gouverneur, 401 ; 474. 
Morton, Oliver P., 576. 
Mullett, A. B., the architect, 118. 
Museum, the Army Medical, 245-46. 
Myer, General Albert J., 156-58; 163. 
Napoleon III., 313. 
Nashville, battle of, 338; 547. 
Navy, the American, organized by Sec- 
retary of War Knox, 27; 28; 29; 
successes in 1812, 58; 425. 
Neutrality, American, proclaimed, 419. 
New England, in the war of 1812, 56. 
New Orleans, battle of, 64; capture 
of, 332. 
Newton, General John, 285. 
New York, city of, 249. 
Nicholson, Samuel, 28. 
North Anna, battle of, 339. 
Officers, army, their proportion to the 
men considered by Mr. Calhoun, 
102. 
Ord, General E. O. C., 372. 
Ordnance Department, the, history of, 
300-19; merged in the artillery, 
104; reorganized, 309; roster, 592- 
93- 
“ Ostend Manifesto,” the, 499. 
Osterhaus, General P. J., 560. 
Otis, Harrison Gray, 392. 
Otis, James, 409. 
Pacific Railroads, surveys, 291-93. 
Paintings and engravings in War De- 
partment, 115-16. 
Palmer, General John M., 560. 
Palo Alto, battle of, 229; 321. 
Panama Congress, 484. 
Parke, General John G., 284; 291. 
Parker, Colonel Daniel, 76. 
Parton, James, 407. 
Parties, political, after revolution, 434- 
35- 
Pay Department, history of, 258-63; 
organization during war of rebel- 
lion, 262; roster, 592. 
Payne, the assassin, 153. 
Pea Ridge, battle of, 544. 
Pemberton, General John C., 334; 
538; 556. 
Peters, Richard, 411. 
Petersburgh, battle of, 339; assault of, 
34i. 
Pickering, Colonel Timothy, sec- 
ond Secretary of War, 29; 111-12; 
179, his life, 409-20, birth; 
education ; a lawyer; judge, 409; 
colonel of militia; joins Washington 
at New York; tendered position of 
adjutant-general of the army, 410, 
at battle of the Brandywine; 
of Germantown; member of the 
“Board of War,” 411, quarter- 
master-general, 412, resumes 
specie payment in the army, 413; 
declines a chalTenge; arrested for a 
government debt; resigns office of 
quartermaster-general, 414; settles 
in the Wyoming Valley; attacked 
by rioters, 415; kidnapped and a 
prisoner for three weeks; elected to 
a State constitutioual convention, GENERAL INDEX. 
607 
416; his home in Pennsylvania; 
commissioner to Seneca Indians, and 
to the “ Six Nations,” 417 ; declines 
Indian superintendency and other 
offices; appointed postmaster-gen- 
eral; next, Secretary of War; his 
vigorous measures of administration ; 
advocates military academy and a 
considerable regular army, 418; ap- 
pointed Secretary of State, 419; re- 
quested to resign; refuses; dismissed 
by President Adams; cause of this 
action ; retires, a poor man, to Penn- 
sylvania, 420; clears a farm in that 
State; removes to Salem; made 
chief-justice of the Essex Court of 
Common Pleas; elected to United 
States Senate; a member of Massa- 
chusetts “board of war;” elected to 
Congress in 1814; his death; his 
character, 421 ; 425. 
Pierce, President, 325; 499. 
Pinckney, Charles C., 449. 
Pinkney, William, 430. 
Pioneer life, 579. 
Plattsburgh, battle of, 64. 
Pleasant Hill, battle of, 337. 
Pocataligo, battle of, 568. 
Poe, General O. M., 285. 
Poinsett, Joel R., fifteenth Secretary 
of War, 112, his life, 483-86, 
native of Charleston; educated 
partly in England, partly in Connec- 
ticut; travels in Europe and Asia; 
sent on mission to South American 
States; his vigorous conduct at Tal- 
cahuano, Chili, 483, member of 
legislature; of Congress ; on special 
mission to Mexico; minister to that 
country; to the Panama Congress, 
484, legation at Mexico attacked; 
Mr. Poinsett’s dignified and ener- 
getic conduct; returns to United 
States in 1830; opposes nullifica- 
tion ; appointed Secretary of War 
in 1837, 485, founds National 
Institute; an academy of Fine Arts 
in Charleston ; his death, 486. 
Political, the situation in 1824, 456. 
Polk, President, 321; 325; 498. 
Polk, Bishop-General Leonidas, 559. 
Pope, General John, 284; 291; 332; 
372; 376. 
Porter, Hon. A. S., 474. 
Porter, James M., eighteenth Secre- 
tary of War, 112, his life, 493- 
94, born in Selma, Pennsylvania; 
education; becomes an eminent law- 
yer; in the war of 1812; member 
of the State constitutional conven- 
tion ; appointed Secretary of War in 
March, 1842; rejected by the Sen- 
ate ; presiding judge of a district 
court; president of La Fayette Col- 
lege ; his death; character, 494. 
Porter, Peter A., 474. 
Porter, General Peter B., twelfth 
Secretary of War, 112, his life, 
471-73, a native of Connecticut; 
graduated at Yale College; studies 
law at Litchfield; removes to west- 
ern New York; a prominent lawyer; 
member of Congress; a major-gen- 
eral ; defense of Black Rock; dis- 
tinguished at battles of Chippewa, 
Niagara, and Fort Erie; offered and 
declined chief command of the army, 
471, duel with General Alexan- 
der Smythe; again in Congress; 
north-eastern boundary commis- 
sioner; declines to be Secretary of 
State of New York; candidate for 
gubernatorial nomination; defeated 
by De Witt Clinton; Secretary of 
War, 472, his death; character 
as citizen, soldier, and statesman, 
473- 
Port Hudson, surrender of, 334. 
Portraits of Secretaries of War, 111 -115. 
Potter, Major J. A., 191. 
Powell, Major J. W., Reports on the 
Rocky Mountain Region, 296. 
Powers, Preston, the sculptor, 113. 
Prairie Grove, battle of, 332 ; 545. 
Prentiss, General B. M., 334; 567. 
Presidential electoral contest of 1876— 
77, 584- 
Preston, William B., 501. 608 
HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Price, General Sterling, 239. 
Princeton, battle of, 397-98. 
Prisoners, of war, exchange of, 361-67. 
“ Prophet, The,” Tecumseh’s brother, 
127. 
Provost-marshal-general’s department 
— its labors during war of rebellion, 
348-53- 
Puebla, Mexico, great sickness of the 
American Army there, 234-37. 
“ Purchasing” department, 201. 
Putnam, General Israel, 437. 
Quartermaster’s department, history 
of, 179-97. 
Queenstown, battle of, 58. 
Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio, first 
in the United States, 274. 
Railroad, Pacific, 107. 
Railroad, survey of routes to the Pa- 
cific, 291-93. 
Railroads, Military bureau of — its 
operations during rebellion, 354-60. 
Randolph, Edmund, Secretary of State, 
his intrigue with the minister of 
France, 418-19. 
Ramsay, General George D., 312, and 
note. 
Ransom, General T. E. G., 560. 
Ration, the army, 205-08. 
Rawlins, General John A., twenty- 
ninth Secretary of War, m; 113, 
his life, 549-50, birth ; lim- 
ited education; hard work; rough 
associates; becomes a lawyer; a 
war Democrat in 1861; enters the 
army ; on General Grant’s staff, 449, 
remained at head of Grant’s 
staff during the war, and until his 
chief becomes President; fine execu- 
tive officer; Grant’s right arm ; pro- 
motions ; appointed Secretary of 
War; ill health ; death, 550. 
Raymond, battle of, 334. 
Ream’s Station, battle of, 339. 
Rebellion, war of, closed, 344. 
Reed, Joseph, 140. 
Reid, General Hugh T., 353, note. 
Renown of public men, its brevity, 487. 
Resaca, battle of, 560. 
Resaca de la Palma, battle of, 229; 
321- 
Review of the grand armies at Wash- 
ington, in May, 1865, 193; 568. 
Richmond, campaign of, in 1862, 332 ; 
in 1864,339; Union losses in differ- 
ent campaigns of, 339, note; final 
campaign against and capture, 340- 
41; prison-pen, 362. 
Ringgold, battle of, 539. 
Riots, in New York, in 1863, 336; the 
labor, of 1877,384. 
Ripley, General E. W., 76. 
Ripley, General James W., 311 and 
note. 
Rivers, reports to Signal Office of their 
situations, 171. 
Roads, constructed by Corps of Engi- 
neers, 280-81. 
Roanoke Island, capture of, 331. 
Robeson, Hon. George M., tempora- 
rily Secretary of War, 572. 
Robespierre, 448. 
Rockwell, Lieutenant-Colonel A. F., 
382. 
Rodman, the Gun, 308. 
Rosecrans, General W. S., 330; 332; 
3335 3345 538; 5395 5455 546. 
Rosters of several staff departments, 
589-93- 
Royce, Brevet-Colonel H. A., 180, 
note. 
Rucker, Colonel Daniel H., 192. 
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 422. 
Salisbury prison-pen, 362. 
Santa Anna, the Mexican General, 
231 ; 238. 
Santa Cruz, Mexico, battle of, 239. 
Saratoga, campaign of, 441. 
Satterlee, Surgeon R. S., Medical re- 
port on the Army in Mexico, 234-36. 
Savannah, capture of, 338. 
Schofield, General John M. Twenty- GENERAL INDEX. 
609 
eighth Secretary of War, 111: 113; 
342; 372, his life, 543-48, 
native of New York; graduates at 
Military Academy in 1853; serves 
in the artillery; an instructor at 
West Point; a professor in Washing- 
ton University, St. Louis; appointed 
captain of artillery; also a major of 
a volunteer regiment; at capture of 
Camp Jackson; chief-of-staff to Gen- 
eral Lyon, 543, at the battle of 
Wilson’s Creek; brigadier-general; 
in command of the district of Mis- 
souri ; suppresses guerrila warfare in 
the State; appointed major-general 
of Volunteers, 544, in charge of 
the Army of the Cumberland; reap- 
pointedto command of the department 
of Missouri; vigorously reenforces 
Grant; retires from command in 
Missouri, 545, assumes command 
of the Army of the Ohio; promi- 
nently engaged through the whole 
campaign of Atlanta; proceeds to 
Knoxville, 546, joins Thomas 
in middle Tennessee; delays Hood’s 
advance; his battle of Efanklin; at 
battle of Nashville; marches to 
North Carolina, 547, heavy fight- 
ing at Kinston; cooperates with Sher- 
man ; closing scenes of the War; 
Secretary of War from May, 1868, 
until March, 1869; visits Europe; 
commandant at the Military Acad- 
emy, 548; 560. 
Schurz, Secretary Carl, 165, note; on 
the alleged sale of arms to France, 
313; 528. 
Scott, Colonel R. N., 585. 
Scott, Colonel Thomas A., 345. 
Scott, General Winfield, Secretary 
of War ad interim, 63; 75 ; 103 ; 
106; 113; 183; 233; 237-38; 320; 
323; 378, his life, 503-11, 
native of Virginia; education; stud- 
ies law; witnesses the trial of Aaron 
Burr; Captain in the United States 
Army; Lieutenant - Colonel, 503, 
at battle of Queenstown; cap- 
tured; taken to Quebec; exchanged; 
adjutant-general with rank of colonel; 
at capture of Fort George; severely 
wounded; at battles of Chippewa 
and Lundy’s Lane, 504, proceeds 
to Philadelphia; visits Europe; quar- 
rel with General Jackson, 505, 
visits Charleston during nullifica- 
tion; represses “northern border” 
troubles; supervises removal of 
Cherokees; north - eastern border 
difficulties; candidate for President 
at Whig national convention in 1839, 
506, establishes headquarters at 
Washington in 1841; takes command 
in Mexico; his career there, 507, 
candidate for President in 1848; 
nominated for President in 1852, 
508, defeated; services at begin- 
ning of war of rebellion; retires; 
his autobiography; death at West 
Point; his character as a citizen, 
statesman, and soldier, 509-11; 
further mention, 518; 521; 535. 
Seminoles, war with, 79-85 ; 223-24. 
Seward, William H., 398; 497. 
Seymour, Horatio, candidate for Presi- 
dent, 541. 
Shays’s rebellion, 403. 
Shelby, General Isaac, appointed Sec- 
retary of War; declines, 460. 
Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan’s cam- 
paign of, 339. 
Sheridan, Lieutenant-General P. H., 
114; 247; 339; 340-4L 372; 376; 
543! 564- 
Sherman, Hon. Charles, 576. 
Sherman, Charles R., 551. 
Sherman, General William T., Sec- 
retary of War ad interim, 114 ; 154- 
55; 193; 247; 330; 332; 333; 337; 
338; 342-43; his “ agreement” with 
General Johnston, 343; 357; 358; 
361; 371-72; 534; 538; 546; sketch 
of his life, 551—6*5 > education; lieu- 
tenant of artillery; serves in Florida; 
at Fort Moultrie, 551, special 
service at other places; sails for 
California; his services there; bre- HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
vetted; returns to “the States” in 
1850; appointed captain and Com- 
missary of Subsistence: serves at St. 
Louis; quits the army in 1852; a 
banker in San Francisco; also in 
New York, 552, removes to 
Kansas; returns to Ohio; takes 
charge of a military college in Loui- 
siana ; leaves the State early in 
1861; visits Washington; his views 
on the impending war; colonel of 
15th infantry; commands a brigade 
at battle of Bull Run; a brigadier- 
general ; ordered to Louisville, 553, 
in command of department 
of Kentucky; visited by Secretary 
Cameron and Adjutant-General L. 
Thomas; they regard his views as 
extravagant; relieved by General 
Buell; in charge of Benton Bar- 
racks ; ordered to Paducah; in com- 
mand of the 5th division of Grant’s 
army; at the battle of Shiloh, 554, 
“ saved the fortunes of the day;” 
the march on Corinth; a major-gen- 
eral of volunteers; assumes com- 
mand of district of Memphis; active 
labors, 555, joins in the move- 
ment on Granada; defeated at Chick- 
asaw bayou; capture of Arkansas 
Post, 556, in command of the 
Fifteenth army corps; his singular 
Yazoo expedition; joins in the move- 
ment against Vicksburgh; at battle 
of Jackson; in the assaults on the 
19th and 22d of May; holds the 
right of Union lines; also a large 
force on the Big Black in observation 
of the rebel General Johnston, 557, 
his siege of Jackson; a summer 
rest; his march to Chattanooga; 
commands left wing at battle of Chat- 
tanooga; marches to the relief of 
Knoxville; brigadier-general in the 
regular army; in command of the 
military district of the Mississippi, 
558, his expedition to Meridian, 
Mississippi, 559, enters upon the 
campaign of Atlanta; principal 
events thereof, 560-63, his march 
to the sea; arrival at Savannah; 
march through the Carolinas, 563, 
occupies Raleigh; makes a 
truce with General Johnston ; John- 
ston’s surrender; becomes lieuten- 
ant-general; in 1868 General; 
travels abroad; keeps army head- 
quarters at Washington, 564, his 
military genius; private life; orator 
and writer; his “Memoirs,” 565. 
Shiloh, battle of, 331-32; 537; 554- 
55- 
Shiras, General A. E., 209. 
Sickles, General Daniel E., 376. 
Signal Office, the, history of, 153-79; 
its branches, 166-68; first weather 
report, 168; daily reports, 170-71; 
its recent progress, 385. 
“ Six Nations,” the, their country in 
1789, 122. 
Smith, Adam, his “ Wealth of Nations,” 
198. 
Smith, General A. J., 337; 338. 
Smith, General Morgan L., 560. 
Smith, General William F., 284. 
Smyth, General Alexander, 471. 
Soldiers’ Homes, 378-79. 
South America, independence of re- 
publics recognized, 451. 
Spencer, Ambrose, 490. 
Spencer, John C., seventeenth Secre- 
tary of War, 113; 481, sketch 
of his life, 490-93, birth; edu- 
cation; secretary to Governor Tomp- 
kins ; studies law; enters upon prac- 
tice; member of Congress, 490, 
member of the New York As- 
sembly and Senate; commissioner 
to revise the laws; special attorney- 
general in the “Morgan” cases; 
member of the legislature; Secre- 
tary of State of New York; super- 
intendent of public instructions; 
Secretary of War; Secretary of the 
Treasury; appointed Justice of the 
Supreme Court; returns to Albany, 
491, devotes attention to im- 
provements of charitable institu- GENERAL INDEX. 
tions; edits De Tocqueville; his 
death, 492. 
Spottsylvania, battle of, 339. 
Springfield, Massachusetts, 392. 
Staff departments, their efficiency, 
105-06. 
Stansbury, H., 291. 
Stanton, Edwin M., twenty-seventh 
Secretary of War, 70; ill; 113; 
152; 330-31; 333; 338; 345; 354- 
555 361; 369; 375-76; 376-77; 
429, his life, 530-34, native 
of Ohio; graduated at Kenyon Col- 
lege ; clerk in book-store; studies 
law; enters on practice at Cadiz; 
moves to Steubenville; reporter to 
Supreme Court of Ohio; removes 
to Pittsburgh; large practice; At- 
torney-General of the United States, 
530, appointed Secretary of War; 
his conduct of the office, 531, 
suspended; reinstated; resigns; ap- 
pointed associate-justice of the Su- 
preme Court; his death, 532, 
wonderful energy, 533, always 
“ terribly in earnest; ” his great ex- 
ecutive capacity, patriotism, and 
genius, 533-34. 
States’, the, contributions to the Mexi- 
can War, 323-24, note. 
St. Clair, General Arthur, 24; 37; 122; 
141. 
Steuben, Baron, 145. 
St. Louis, City of, 133. 
Stoneman, General George, 343. 
Stone River, battle of, 333. 
Storer, Bellamy, 573. 
Stowe, Professor Calvin E., 573. 
Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, 573. 
Subsistence department, the, history of, 
198-210; disbursements during late 
war, 208. 
Sullivan, General John, 398; 434. 
Sumner, Charles, his removal from 
chairmanship of Committee on For- 
eign Affairs, 528. 
Sumter, Fort, attack on, 328. 
Surratt, Mrs., 153. 
Swift, General Joseph G., 267; 268. 
Taft, Hon. Alphonso, thirty-first Sec- 
retary of War, hi; 114, his life, 
572-74, a native of Vermont; 
graduated at Yale College; teacher 
in the Academy; tutor at Yale, 572, 
admitted to the bar; begins 
practice at Cincinnati; gradually 
rises to an eminent position, 572-73, 
twice elected and once ap- 
pointed to the bench; decision on 
the reading of the Bible in public 
schools; appointed Secretary of 
War; remains at the head of the 
War office but a short time; ap- 
pointed Attorney-General; conducts 
that office with great ability; his 
character, 574; mention, 576. 
Talbot, Silas, 28. 
Taney, Judge Roger B., 481. 
Taylor, Zachary, General and Presi- 
dent, 1x4; 209; 228; 230; 232; 
320; 321; 323; 478; 501; 508; 535. 
Tecumseh, the Indian chief, 126-27. 
Telegraph, electric, the first, 322; 
military, operations during the re- 
bellion, 360-61. 
Tennessee, evacuated by the Confed- 
erates, 334. 
Territory, the Indian, its origin, 135. 
Terry, General A. H., 372. 
Thames, the, battle of, 59. 
Thomas, General George H., 194; 
338; at Chickamauga; in command 
of the Army of the Cumberland, 
539; 546; 55B 56o; 561. 
Thomas, Adjutant-General L., his la- 
bors among colored troops, 353, 
note; 376-77; appointed Secretary 
of War ad interim, 532; 554. 
Thompson, Secretary Richard, 165, 
note. 
Tilton, Dr. James, 214. 
Tippecanoe, battle of, 127. 
Tompkins, Colonel D. D., 190. 
Totten, General Joseph G., 273; 280- 
81, and note; 282. 
Tower, General Z. B., 285. 
Townsend, General Edward D., 143. 
Trade, Indian, 131-33. HISTORY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
72-73; buildings, 108-18; the old 
building, 110-11 ; first building oc- 
cupied by, at Washington, 109; 
“ Portrait Gallery,” x 11-15; the new 
building, 1x7-18. 
Warren, General G. K., 284; 291. 
Warren, Dr. John, 211. 
Warren, General Joseph, 211; 439. 
Washburne, Hon. E. B., sets forth 
claims of General Grant, 536. 
Washington, city of, sack of by British 
in 1814,64-69, also 443; and see 
notices of, 108; 288. 
Washington, George, General and 
President, 19; 21; 27; 114; 115; 
396; 402; 419; 422; 423; 424; 
425; 429; 442; 454. 
Watson, P. H., Assistant Secretary of 
War, 345 and note. 
Wayne, General Anthony, 37 ; 123. 
Weather Bureau, daily labors, 172- 
78. 
Webster, Daniel, 463; 464; 488; 508. 
Webster, General J. D., his grand ar- 
tillery fight at Shiloh, 537. 
Weitzel, General Godfrey, 285. 
Weldon Road, battle of, 339. 
Wheeler, Lieutenant George M., his 
Reports, 293-94. 
Whipple, General A. W., 291. 
Whipple, Fort, 166. 
Wilderness, battle of, 339. 
Wilkins, William, nineteenth Secre- 
tary of War; his life, 495-96, 
born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania; 
education ; business man ; member 
of legislature; minister to Russia; 
member of Congress; appointed Sec- 
retary of War; a political address, 
495, his death, 496. 
Wilkinson, General James, 63. 
Williams, General A. S., 560. 
■\yilliams, Colonel Jonathan, 33; 267. 
Williamson, Lieutenant R. S., 291. 
Wilson’s Creek, battle of, 330; 544. 
Wilson, Hon. Henry, 115. 
Wilson, Hon. James F., 582. 
Wilson, General James H., his great 
cavalry raid, 344. 
Trenton, battle of, 397. 
Troup, Hon. George M., speech in Con- 
gress on the war department in 1812, 
39-4°- 
Truxtun, Thomas, 28. 
Tucker, John, Assistant Secretary of 
War, 345. 
Tudor, William, 147. 
Twiggs, General D. E., 327. 
Twining, Major William J., 288. 
Tyler, John, President of United States, 
464; 487; his opposition to Whig 
policy, 488; 543; 553. 
I 
Ulke, Henry, the artist, 112; 113; 
114! US- 
United States troops, their removal 
from New Orleans and Columbia 
in 1877, 383-84. 
Van Buren, Martin, as a presiding 
officer, 463 ; and see 478 ; 486 ; 497. 
Van Renssalaer, Stephen, 474. 
Van Vliet, General Stewart, 190; 551. 
Vera Cruz, siege of, 233. 
Vicksburgh, campaign of, 333-34. 
Volunteers, difference between them 
and militia, 48-49; the system of, 
320-21; the, of the rebellion, their 
disbandment, 368-69; during rebel- 
lion, register of, 377-78. 
Walker, Robert, J., 498. 
Wallace, General Lew, 330; at the 
Monocacy, 339-40. 
War, Secretaries of, their general high 
character, 18. 
War, old Board of, 19. 
War, the last with England, its les- 
sons, 73. 
War Department, origin of its history, 
17; 18; its organization, 19; 20; 
21; 22; conducts naval and Indian 
affairs, 20-21; buildings destroyed 
in 1814, 65 ; vindicated by the gen- 
eral result of the war with England, GENERAL INDEX. 
613 
Winslow, Colonel E. F., 559. 
Wolcott, C. P., Assistant Secretary of 
War, 345. 
Wood, General Thomas J., 560. 
Woodbury, General D. P., 285. 
Woodward, Surgeon J. J., 252. 
Wool, General John E., 63. 
Worth, General W-J., 114; 230. 
Wright, General H. G., 285. 
Wright, Colonel L. P., 359-60, note. 
Wyoming, the valley, 414-15. 
Yates, Richard, Governor of Illinois, 
536. 
Yellow Fever, 220-21; in 1878, aid 
to the sufferers by the War Depart- 
ment, 384-85. 
Yorktown, siege of, 401. 
THE END.