public opinion by the organic law of May 8, 1792, entitled "An act more effectually to provide for the national defense, by establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States."

The first section of this law prescribed:

That each and every free, able-bodied, white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of the age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as hereinafter excepted) shall, severally and respectively, be enrolled in the militia by the captain or commanding officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this act. And it shall at all times hereafter, be the duty of every such captain or commanding officer of a company, to enroll every such citizen, as aforesaid, and also those who shall, from time to time, arrive at the age of eighteen years, or, being the age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as before excepted), shall come to reside within his bounds; and shall, without delay, notify such citizen of the said enrollment, by a proper noncommissioned officer of the company, by whom such notice may be proved. That every citizen so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein to contain not less than twentyfour cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball; or, with a good rifle, knapsack, shot pouch, and powderhorn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear, so armed, accoutered, and provided, when called out to exercise or into service; except, that when called out on company days' exercise only, he may appear without a knapsack. That the commissioned officers shall, severally, be armed with a sword or hanger and spontoon; and that from and after five years from the passing of this act all muskets for arming the militia, as herein required, shall be of bores sufficient for balls of the eighteenth part of a pound, and every citizen so enrolled and providing himself with the arms, ammunition, and accouterments required as aforesaid, shall hold the same exempted from all suits, distress, executions, or sales for debt or for the payment of

taxes.

The second section exempted from military duty certain officers of the General Government, ferrymen, pilots, etc., in addition to those who might be exempted by the States.

The third section relates to organization, and prescribed:

That within one year after the passing of this act the militia of the respective States shall be arranged into divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies, as the legislature of such States shall direct; and each division, brigade, and regiment shall be numbered at the formation thereof and a record made of such numbers in the adjutant-general's office in the State; and when in the field, or in service in the State, each division, brigade, and regiment shall, respectively, take rank according to their numbers, reckoning the first or lowest number highest in rank. That, if the same be convenient, each brigade shall consist of four regiments, each regiment of two battalions, each battalion of five companies, each company of 64 privates. That the said militia shall be officered by the respective States as follows:

To each division, one major-general and two aids-de-camp, with the rank of major; to each brigade, one brigadier-general, with one brigade inspector, to serve also as brigade major, with the rank of a major; to each regiment, one lieutenantcolonel commandant; a and 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. That there shall be a regimental staff, to consist of one adjutant and one quartermaster, to rank as lieutenants; one paymaster, one surgeon, and one surgeon's mate, one sergeant-major, one drum major, and one fife major.

The fourth section required that for each division there should be at least one company of artillery, and one troop of horse, and also provided that the officers, privates, and troopers should furnish their own arms and equipments, including horses for the cavalry, the same as in the infantry.

The 20th of April, 1816, a colonel was added to the field officers of each regiment of two battalions.

A mere glance at the military edifice proposed by this law shows that its foundations were built on the sands.

During the Revolution the Government shifted upon the States the responsibility of providing men, arms, and even the daily supplies for the troops; but under the provisions of this law both Government and States went one step further, and shifted upon individual citizens the responsibility of providing their own arms, horses, and equipments. No penalty was enacted for a failure to procure such supplies, Congress having no power to enforce it, and the States were therefore left to apply such penalties by way of fines as their legislatures might see fit to impose. Even had the citizen been willing to furnish at his own cost that which it was the unmistakable duty of the Government to provide, the further execution of the law depended wholly on the voluntary and concurrent action of the States, without which a "uniform militia throughout the United States" would be impossible.

It is not necessary to discuss the military qualifications of the swarm of generals appointed by the different States, nor to dwell upon the utter lack of instruction and discipline of the rank and file of the militia, although it was upon these that the General Government would have had to depend in case of actual war.

The first section of the act, however, laid down the truly democratic doctrine that every able-bodied male citizen owed military service to his country, and likewise provided for a system of enrollment and territorial recruiting. These two features of the law were so praiseworthy and of such vital importance that all its other defects may be overlooked. Again and again the Continental Army was on the verge of dissolution because both of these principles were ignored; and to their subsequent neglect we shall be able to trace most of the weakness and waste which still characterize our wars.

Aside, however, from the military defects of the system, it is only when we examine it from the standpoint of the taxpayer that its fundamental errors become fully apparent. For one National Army were substituted thirteen or more State armies. In place of having a small but efficient force of regulars, supported by indirect taxation, the citizens of each State were called upon to pay over their hard-earned dollars to maintain undisciplined bodies of militia, totaily ignorant of the first principles of the military art. Even had all the States with patriotic regard for the welfare of the whole country maintained their quotas of militia during the long intervals of peace, they would have been at the expense of a large military force for the benefit of the Generai Government, and that, too, without compensation except in time of If, on the contrary, as has since happened, certain States should fail to keep up a militia, the burden of their shortcomings would be unjustly borne by the remainder.

war.

View it in whatever light we may, the conversion of the militia into an army of the first line, as designed by the law, was a wild and impracticable scheme. This class of our citizen soldiers will never take the place wisely reserved for them by the framers of the Constitution, until it becomes our settled policy to call them out as a last resort only, in case of actual invasion.

CORPS OF ARTILLERISTS AND ENGINEERS.

On the 9th of May, 1794, Congress authorized the enlistment of 764 noncommissioned officers and men to serve three years, who were to

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.