Report of the Secretary of war.
This report is extremely interesting, in showing the enormous strength, in men and money, wielded by the
United States, and the rapidity with which this force has been reduced and the vast expense curtailed.
The military estimates for the last fiscal year being $516,240,131.70, and for the next, $33,814,461.83. The United States forces in May, 1865, numbered one million five hundred and sixteen men, of these eight hundred thousand have been already mustered out, and a further reduction to fifty thousand men proposed.
A concise and powerful history of the close of the war follows.
Following the surrender of
General Lee, orders were immediately issued: First, To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States.
Second, To curtail the purchase of military stores.
Third, To reduce the numbers of general and staff officers to the actual necessity of the service.
Fourth, To remove all military restrictions on trade and commerce as far as might be consistent with public safety.
The report calls for the establishment of a well-organized militia system.
Also for the establishment of homes and provisions for aid and roller for disabled soldiers.
The estimates for military appropriations for the next year are based upon a standing force of fifty thousand men, so organized as to admit of an increase to eighty-two thousand without additional organizations.
This force is believed to be sufficient for a peace footing.
The
Secretary thinks that, should a war occur, the veterans already trained for war would form an army with a quickness determined only by the "speed of the railroad and telegraph. " He further says that "a foreign war would intensify national feeling, and thousands once misled would rejoice to atone for their error by rallying to the national flag.
The question of
time in which armies could be raised to quell insurrection or to repel invasion is therefore the only question relative to troops."
The report of the
Adjutant-General is referred to, and various suggestions contained therein recommended.
The leading points of the reports of the
Provost-Marshal-General,
Paymaster-General,
Commissary-General of Subsistence,
Surgeon-General,
Quartermaster-General,
Chief Engineer, Ordnance Bureau,
Judge Advocate,
General Freedmen's Bureau, &c., are given by the
Secretary, who at the same time pays a high tribute to the efficiency and zeal of these officers.
The report shows that, on March 1st, 1865, the United States forces numbered as follows:
| Available force for duty | 602,598 |
| on detached service | 132,538 |
| in field hospitals or unfit for duty | 35,628 |
| in general hospitals or on sick leave | 143,419 |
| absent on furlough or as prisoners of war | 31,695 |
| absent without leave | 19,683 |
| grand aggregate | 965,591 |
the numbers of the Confederate forces at the time of the surrender were:
| General Lee's army | 27,805 |
| General Johnston's army | 31,243 |
| General Jeff. Thompson's army | 7,978 |
| Miscellaneous paroles in Virginia | 9,672 |
| Paroled at Cumberland, Maryland | 9,377 |
| Paroled in Alabama and Florida | 6,428 |
| General Dick Taylor's army | 42,293 |
| General Kirby Smith's army | 17,688 |
| Paroled in Washington | 3,300 |
| Paroled in several States of the South |
| Surrendered in Tennessee | 5,629 |
| Aggregate | 174,223 |
In conclusion, the
Secretary says: ‘"Looking to the causes that have accomplished the
National deliverance, there seems no room henceforth to doubt the stability of the Federal Union.
These causes are permanent, and must always have an active existence.
The majesty of the
National power has been exhibited in the courage and faith of our citizens, and the ignominy of rebellion is witnessed by the hopeless end of the great rebellion."’
