ments, constructing breakwaters, opening channels for the naviga tion of rivers, superintending the erection of important public buildings, etc.

Vacancies in the grade of second lieutenant are filled from the graduates of West Point standing highest in their classes. Supplement, Chap. III, Par. 42.

A The Signal Corps is charged with the construction, repair, and operation of military telegraph and telephone lines and cables, field telegraph trains, balloon trains, aeroplanes, etc. The Chief Signal Officer has supervision of the instruction in military signaling and telegraphy prescribed by the War Department, and he is also charged with the procurement, preservation, and distribution of the necessary supplies for the Signal Corps and for the lake and sea coast defense. Supplement, Chap. III, Par. 43.

B

The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, constitutes an independent command. The body of students at the Academy is known as the United States Corps of Cadets. The Cadets constitute a part of the Army, but are not officers,—they rank next below veterinarian, taking precedence over all noncommissioned officers of the Army. Graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants. Supplement, Chap. III, Par. 44.

C The Chaplains are clergymen with military commissions, by virtue of which they have charge of the spiritual welfare of soldiers. By law they are charged with holding appropriate religious services for the benefit of the commands to which they may be assigned for duty; with performing appropriate religious services at the burial of officers and soldiers who may die in such commands, and with the instruction of the enlisted men in the common English branches of education. They are commissioned officers. Although eligible to be detailed as members of general courts-martial and other duties required of officers, their duties in practice are confined mostly to those of a religious nature and to the superintendence of the Post Schools. Supplement, Chap. III, Par. 45.

D

The Indian Scouts are enlisted for periods of three years and are discharged when the necessity for their service ceases. Their principal duties consist in scouting in the territories and Indian country. The number now authorized is 75, and they are apportioned among several departments west of the Mississippi. They form a part of the Regular Army.

A Retired Officers are those who have been retired from active service. They are a part of the Regular Army, being subject to the rules and articles of war, for a violation of which they may be courtmartialed.

See "Retirement," page 438.

B Retired Enlisted Men are those who have been retired after thirty years' active service either in the Army or the Marine Corps and Army (either as volunteers or regulars). Service in the War of the Rebellion and actual service in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands counts double in computing the thirty years. Their pay is 75 per cent of the pay they were receiving when retired. They also receive commutation of clothing and subsistence at the rate of $9.50 per month, and commutation of fuel, light, and quarters at the rate of $6.25 per month. They are a part of the Regular Army. C There are two general classes of men in the Army, viz: Commissioned Officers and Enlisted Men. The Enlisted Men constitute the Rank and File as that term is now generally understood.1

D The Commissioned Officers exercise a certain authority over others, by virtue of a commission issued to them by the President of the United States.

E

The Enlisted Men are divided into two general classes: Privates and Noncommissioned Officers. Those who exercise no authority, except as may be given them temporarily by an immediate superior, are termed Privates; those given warrants by virtue of which they exercise a limited authority are termed Noncommissioned Officers and are called Sergeants and Corporals. Privates performing the duties of corporal in order to have their capacity tested for such position, are called Lance Corporals."

F The Post Noncommissioned Staff consists of ordnance, post commissary, and post quartermaster sergeants who are appointed by the Secretary of War, after due examination. Supplement, Chap. III, Par. 46.

G The Coast Artillery Noncommissioned Staff consists of the master electricians, the engineers, the electrician sergeants (1st and

Wilhelm's Military Dictionary and Gazetteer and Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, define RANK and FILE, as, "The body of soldiers constituting the mass of the army, and including corporals and privates. In a more extended sense, it includes sergeants also, excepting the noncommissioned staff." This, however, is not the present usual acceptation of the expression.

A Lance Corporal is not a noncommissioned officer. (Opinion of the J. A. G. and Secretary of War, July, 1896),

2d class), the sergeants-major (senior and junior grade), the master gunners, and the firemen.

Α The Regimental Noncommissioned Staff consists of the Regimental Sergeant-Major, the Regimental Quartermaster-Sergeant, the Regimental Commissary-Sergeant, and two Color-Sergeants, appointed by the Regimental Commander.

B

The Battalion Noncommissioned Staff consists of the Battalion Sergeant-Major, appointed by the Regimental Commander upon the recommendation of the Battalion Commander.

In the Engineers and Field Artillery, the Battalion Noncommissioned Staff consists of the battalion sergeant-major and the battalion quartermaster-sergeant.

C

The officers and enlisted men of the Army are divided into two grand divisions, viz.: The Staff and The Line.

The clothing, food, transportation, armament, payment, medical attendance, inspection, administration of justice, means of communication, etc., are provided through the Staff, a large portion of the duties in this connection, however, devolving also at times upon officers of the Line.

The Staff consists of the General Staff Corps and the departments known as the Adjutant General's, Inspector General's, Judge Advocate General's, Quartermaster's, Subsistence, Medical, Pay, Ordnance, Engineer (called Corps of Engineers), and Signal (called Signal Corps).

Although staff officers are eligible to command according to rank, they shall not assume command of troops unless put on duty under orders which specially so direct, by authority of the President. (A. R.)

Officers of the Pay and Medical Departments can not exercise command except in their own departments. (A. R.) Nor can professors at the U. S. Military Academy exercise command. D The Line does the active work, such as marching, fighting, campaigning, etc., and consists of the Cavalry, the Field Artillery, the Coast Artillery, the Infantry, and the (three) Battalions of Engineers,' which, with the exception of the last named, are called the Arms of the Service.

For the organization of The Line of the Regular Army, see Supplement, Chap. III, Par. 47.

1Section 7 of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1899, provides that the BATTALIONS OF ENGINEERS and the officers serving therewith shall constitute a part of the LINE of the Army.

A The primary duties of the Battalions of Engineers, however, are to construct saps, mines, pontoons, military bridges, etc., and to superintend working parties on military roads and fortifications, etc. B The Line also furnishes garrisons for fortified and unfortified posts and in time of peace is occupied with drills, studies, and other matters which tend to the conservation of the organization, instruction and discipline of the various arms.

C

The Coast Artillery Corps is charged with the care and use of the fixed and movable elements of land and coast fortifications, including submarine mine defenses.

D The Field Artillery is the artillery which accompanies an army in the field and includes light artillery, horse artillery, siege artillery, and mountain artillery.

E The Coast Artillery is organized upon a geographical basis. The various organizations of the mobile army, regiment, company, etc., are based upon the number of men or horses which can be controlled under various conditions. However, the Coast Artillery tactical organizations are entirely independent of the number of individuals in them and depend upon local defensive conditions and material.

F There are at present (July, 1911) 24 fortified harbors on the United States coast, each of which constitutes an Artillery District commanded by an officer known as the Artillery District Commander. This officer commands all of the artillery defenses of his district and also the troops of other arms assigned to duty in connection with the fixed defenses. This does not include any part of the mobile army, which may also be assigned to the duty of defending a fortified city from the land side, but it does include what are known as artillery supports assigned to the defense of the immediate rear of the works.

In each harbor there are several forts, in some cases as many as nine. These different forts, however, form no part in the tactical organization of the Coast Artillery, as in some cases single battle command or even fire command extends over several forts, and in other cases there are several battle or fire commands at a single fort. A separate fort usually means that simply a portion of the defenses are separated by water from some other portion.

G The duties of an Artillery District Commander are of the character of those of a general officer, and in time of serious war there is

no doubt that all of the large districts would be commanded by artillery officers of that rank. But under present Coast Artillery organization there is no officer of rank higher than a colonel, except the Chief of Coast Artillery, and all of the districts are commanded by colonels or officers of lesser rank.

A An Artillery District Commander is assisted in the discharge of his duties by a District Staff, consisting of an Adjutant, Quartermaster, Ordnance Officer and Artillery Engineer, who are placed on the "Unassigned list." Each district is allowed by War Department orders a certain number of unassigned officers for district staff duty. If there are not enough unassigned officers to a district, the extra staff officers are appointed from the regular post officers.

B

The

In each district there are one or more Battle Commands. Battle Commander's duties are wholly tactical and he is the senior in the chain of purely tactical artillery command. He commands all of the artillery defenses bearing upon a single channel of approach. The Battle Commander should be a colonel.

с Each Battle Command consists of two or more Fire Commands and Mine Commands. The Fire Commander is usually a major or lieutenant colonel and commands a group of batteries. Each of these batteries is commanded by a Battery Commander, usually a captain or a lieutenant. The normal battery is commanded by a captain, but batteries of less than four small caliber guns would be the proper command of a lieutenant.

D Coordinate with the fire command is the Mine Command. The Mine Commander commands the mine fields and the rapid-fire batteries assigned to their defense. In each case the importance of the command, number of guns, etc., determines the proper rank of its commander.

E For administrative purposes the Coast Artillery Corps is divided into companies. As a rule each company means a single battery. Each Battle Commander has searchlights for searching purposes and most Fire Commanders and Mine Commanders have separate lights for illuminating the targets which are assigned to them by the Battle Commander. Battery commanders have lieutenants in their batteries who perform the duties of Range Officer and Emplacement Officer; Fire and Mine Commanders have Communication Officers, and Battle Commanders have Communication and Searchlight Officers.