be incorporated with the four companies of artillery then forming part of the Legion of the United States, and be denominated the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers."

The Corps was organized into 4 battalions of 4 companies each, with a lieutenant-colonel commandant, 4 majors, 1 corps and 4 battalion adjutants, 1 paymaster, 1 surgeon, and 4 surgeon's mates (assistant surgeons). Each company consisted of 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 2 cadets, 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 42 privates, sappers, and miners, 10 artificers to serve as privates, and 2 musicians. The strength of the Corps, exclusive of officers, was fixed at 992.

The appointment of two cadets to each company, which was a recognition of the value of professional training as a qualification for a commission, soon led to important results.

THE WHISKEY REBELLION.

In August, 1794, troubles arose in western Pennsylvania in regard to the enforcement of the revenue laws of the United States, and it was again made manifest that civil officers, unsupported by military force, are not always able to keep the peace. With the motto “Liberty and no excise," malcontents assembled in arms to the number of 7,000, and refusing to disperse, pursuant to a proclamation of the President, he was obliged to call upon the governors of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia for 15,000 militia, no regular troops being available. The quotas asked for were promptly furnished, except by Pennsylvania, where the militia were unreliable through sympathy with their rebellious fellow-citizens; but when the governors of the States, who marched at the head of their troops, reached the scene of the troubles, the insurgents were induced to disperse without bloodshed.

a

In anticipation of such disturbances, and as indication of its distrust. of the militia, Congress, by the act of May 2, 1792, authorizing the President "to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, to suppress insurrection, and repel invasions," wisely provided that "if the militia of the State where such combination may happen shall refuse or be insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President, if the Legislature of the United States be not in session, to call forth and employ such number of the militia of any other State, or States, most convenient thereto, as may be necessary.

Going a step further, if there were no Regular Army, it is clear that the power of the President to execute the laws would be completely exhausted should the militia of all the States refuse to obey his call, whether from sympathy with disaffection or other cause; and should it ever be our policy to raise a revenue solely by excise duties or direct taxation, the General Government could be reduced to a state of utter helplessness and inefficiency if it depended upon the militia alone.

REORGANIZATION OF 1795-1797.

By the act of March 3, 1795, the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers and the Legion of the United States to the number of 4,800 enlisted men were continued, subject to the condition that the whole or any

a Pennsylvania's quota was partially replaced by a force of volunteers.

part of the troops could be discharged by the President at such times. as might be deemed expedient.

On the 30th of May, 1796, further legislation made our military establishment comprise the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers as already constituted, 2 companies of light dragoons, and 4 regiments of infantry. Under this law the infantry regiments consisted of 8 companies, with 3 field officers, and a total of 502 enlisted men. These regiments and the companies of dragoons were formed from the officers and men serving in the Legion, which as a military phenomenon now disappeared.

The General Staff, under this act, was only to continue in service until the 4th of the following March. It consisted of 1 major-general, 1 brigadier-general, 1 inspector, to do duty as adjutant-general, 1 quartermaster-general, and 1 paymaster-general.

The bounty by this act was also raised to $16 for soldiers reenlisting for five years, and to $14 for recruits enlisting for the same period.

On the 3d of March, 1797, the clause of the act of May 30, 1796, relating to the General Staff was repealed, and a new General Staff was created, consisting of 1 brigadier-general, 1 quartermaster-general, 1 paymaster-general, and 1 judge-advocate. The brigade-majors and inspectors were to be selected from the line.

INCREASE OF ENGINEERS.

Complications with England, and more particularly with France, made it highly important to fortify our seacoast, and led, on the 27th of April, 1798, to an increase of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers, by an additional regiment of three battalions, the term of enlistment being fixed at five years.

On the 3d and 4th of May nearly $1,200,000 were appropriated for the construction of fortifications and for the purchase of arms and munitions of war.

PROVISIONAL ARMY.

These steps were followed on the 28th of May, 1798, by an act authorizing the President "in the event of a declaration of war against the United States, or of actual invasion of their territory by a foreign power, or of our imminent danger of such invasion, discovered in his opinion to exist before the next session of Congress, to raise a force of 10,000 noncommissioned officers and men, to be enlisted for the period of three years."

This provisional force was to be officered by the President and organized according to his judgment into cavalry, infantry, and artillery, with the necessary number of general officers to command. In addition to the regular troops contemplated by the law, the President was empowered at any time within three years to accept any company or companies of volunteers of infantry, cavalry, or artillery, who should arm, clothe, and equip themselves and offer themselves for service. The appointment of all the officers was vested in the President, who, by a later law (June 22, 1798), was authorized, whenever he thought it expedient, to commission such field officers as might be required for organizing the volunteers into legions, regiments, or

battalions, but these officers were not to draw pay until called into the service of the United States.

Although this army, of which Washington was appointed Commander in Chief with the rank of lieutenant-general, was never called into service, the provisions of the law show that the country proposed to rely upon regulars and volunteers, instead of upon regulars and militia, and that so far as the regulars were concerned, the mistake of short enlistments was not to be repeated.

The next law, July 16, 1798, added 2 companies to each of the 4 existing 8-company regiments and empowered the President to raise, in addition to the regular military establishment, 12 infanty regiments of 10 companies each and 6 troops of dragoons, which, with the 2 troops already in service, were to form a regiment. These troops were "to be enlisted for and during the continuance of the existing differences between the United States and the French Republic, unless sooner discharged.'

Still apprehensive of war, the act of March 2, 1799, authorized the President, in case war should break out between the United States and a foreign European power, or in case of danger of invasion, to increase the military force of the United States by 24 regiments of infantry, 1 regiment and 1 battalion of riflemen, 1 battalion of artillerists and engineers, and 3 regiments of cavalry. These additional troops were to be enlisted for a period not exceeding three years, and, except captains and lieutenants on recruiting duty, no officers were to receive pay until called into actual service.

Had this force been raised, the Regular Army would have numbered about 40,000 men. By another provision of this law the President was authorized to accept the services of 75,000 volunteers, apportioned among the several States, with power to organize them into regiments, brigades, and divisions, and to appoint all necessary officers. Coupled with this authority was the fatal provision that "the said volunteers shall not be compelled to serve out of the State in which they reside, or for longer time than three months after their arrival at the place of rendezvous."

Another section of the law, most important in its bearings on our future military policy, empowered the President to employ these volunteers in all cases in which he had authority to call out the militia, under the provisions of the act of May 2, 1792, to enable him "to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions."

Thus, in addition to the Regular Army, the military legislation of that period, profiting by our Revolutionary experience, had provided a body of national volunteers, officered by the President, to take the place of the State militia troops. Had this organization come down to the beginning of the late war," or even had the companies only been raised by the State authorities, leaving it to the President to organize them into battalions and regiments with a professional soldier at the head of each, it is more than probable that in one-half the time 300,000 men would have done the work finally accomplished by little less than 3,000,000.

A further act of Congress, approved on the following day, March 3, 1799, touched chiefly upon the organization of the force above described. It provided that each infantry regiment should consist of 10 com

a The War of the Rebellion.

panies, divided into 2 battalions; each cavalry regiment of 10 companies, divided into 5 squadrons; and each artillery regiment of 16 companies, divided into 4 battalions.

To obviate the evils of detached service, the sixth section prescribed "That when any officer shall be detached from a regiment, to serve as an aid to a general officer, or as an assistant or other inspector, or as an assistant to the Quartermaster-General, by whatsoever name, or as an assistant to the Adjutant-General, by whatsoever name, the place of such officer in his regiment shall be supplied by promotion or newappointment, or both as may be requisite; but the officer shall, nevertheless, retain his station in his regiment and shall rank and rise therein in the same manner as if he had not been detached." The military principle here enunciated finds practical application to-day in the great armies of Europe, and is of vital importance in keeping up close and intimate relations between staff and line.

Another important feature of this law was the extension of the principle of appointing cadets, already applied to the artillery and engineers, 10 of whom were now to be attached to each regiment of cavalry and infantry and 32 to each regiment of artillery.

The difficulties with France having been settled without resort to arms, such officers and men as had been added to the Army were disbanded under the act of May 14, 1800. This law made our military establishment consist of the staff, 4 regiments of infantry, 2 regiments of artillerists and engineers, and 2 troops of light dragoons, numbering 293 officers, 106 cadets, and 5,038 enlisted men; aggregate, 5,437.

The actual strength of the Army on the 19th of December, 1801, was 248 officers, 9 cadets, and 3,794 enlisted men; aggregate, 4,051.

REORGANIZATION OF 1802.

No present danger impending, the military peace establishment was reorganized and reduced by the act of March 16, 1802, which prescribed that the Army, after the 1st of January, 1803, should consist of one regiment of artillerists of 20 companies, organized in 5 battalions, and two regiments of infantry of 10 companies each.

Forty cadets were authorized to be appointed to the regiment of artillery, but none were allowed to the infantry.

The staff consisted of 1 brigadier-general; 1 aid-de-camp, taken from the captains or subalterns of the line; 1 adjutant and inspector of the Army, taken from the field officers of the line; 1 chief-paymaster, 7 paymasters, 2 assistant paymasters, taken from the line and who were further charged with clothing the troops; 3 military agents, and such number of assistant military agents as the President might deem expedient, all taken from the line, the latter being limited to one of each post; 2 surgeons, and 25 surgeon's mates.

On the 4th of February, 1805, the actual returns showed a strength of 175 officers, 12 cadets, and 2,389 men; aggregate, 2,576.

THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY.

The most important sections of the law of 1805 were the twentysixth and twenty-seventh, which empowered the President to establish a corps of engineers, with a cadre of not over 20 officers and cadets,

and 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."

Although this law was not enacted till nearly a quarter of a century after the Revolution, the founding of the United States Military Academy, at first intended for the education of but three or four engineer cadets, was the one great and lasting military benefit derived from our experience, during the long struggle for independence.

Washington, Hamilton, Knox, and Pickering, with vivid remembrance of the weakness and inefficiency of an army without trained officers, had repeatedly urged the establishment of such an institution. These recommendations gained strength during the complications with France, and Hamilton, as Inspector-General, laid before the Secretary of War a plan for a military academy.

In approbation of this plan, only three days before his death, Washington wrote as follows to Hamilton:

The establishment of an institution of this kind on a respectable and extensive basis has ever been considered by me an object of primary importance to this country, and while I was in the chair of government I omitted no proper opportunity of recommending it in my public speeches and otherwise to the attention of the Legislature.

Not long after, Mr. McHenry, Secretary of War, recommended the founding of a military academy, and urged that "no sentiment is more just than this, that in proportion as the circumstances and policy of a people are opposed to the maintenance of a large military force, it is important that as much perfection as possible be given to that which may at any time exist." Adding further, "Are we without regular troops, we may lose the military art; are we without engineers, not a little of the money employed on fortifications will always be hazarded, if not actually thrown away."

In submitting to the House of Representatives his views as to the expense and utility of the proposed academy, Mr. McHenry wrote:

It can not be forgotten that in our Revolutionary war it was not till after several years' practice in arms, and the extension of the periods for which our soldiers were at first enlisted, that we found them at all qualified to meet on the field of battle those to whom they were opposed. The occasional brilliant and justly celebrated acts of some of our militia during that eventful period detract nothing from this dear bought truth.

The great man who conducted the war of our Revolution was continually compelled to conform his conduct to the circumstances growing out of the experimental lessons just mentioned. What was the secret of his conduct? Must it be told? It may, and without exciting a blush or an uneasy sensation in any of his surviving companions in arms. He had an army of men, but he had few officers or soldiers in that army.

Our national Military Academy, founded at the instance of the great men of the Revolutionary era, has grown with our growth, has kept up in our midst a thorough knowledge of the military profession, and has given us competent commanders for any force we have found it necessary to use, from the small detachment sent in pursuit of the hostile Indian, to the vast hosts marshaled under a single banner during our greatest war. Whether we have utilized as fully as we might have done, the soldierly training imparted at West Point, is a question which may be as readily answered by an appeal to the facts of history.