1st Session. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES ARMY, TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR, FOR THE YEAR 1881. IN THREE PARTS. PART I. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. [EXTRACT FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR.] WAR DEPARTMENT, November 10, 1881. I invite especial attention to that part of the report of the Chief of, Engineers which refers to our sea-coast defenses. For many years, during which no work whatever has been done upon these defenses: except for their preservation and repair, under small appropriations confined to these purposes by law, the Chief of Engineers has called: attention in his annual reports to the very great danger which results from leaving our fortifications in their present condition. The casemated works, which necessarily form a large part of our sea-coast defenses, were built before the invention of modern armor, and before the introduction of rifled guns into maritime warfare. They are built of masonry, unprotected by armor, and although in their day they were equal to any in the world, they are utterly unfitted to with-. stand the assaults of modern ships of war. The Chief of Engineers shows that a defense by fortifications and: torpedoes is the only one which is at all practicable for coasts as extended as ours, comprising so many rich maritime cities, extensive navyyards, and depots of supply; that any attempt at any other mode of defense would be enormously expensive both for first cost and cost of maintenance, and that it is the only mode adopted by maritime nations. Experience shows that modern wars come on suddenly; that serious international disputes occur between nations the relations of which are apparently the most unlikely to be other than friendly, and that a condition of readiness for defense and an attitude of belligerency are sometimes the best preventives of actual war. We know that the necessary new works and the proper modifications of our old works will require many years for their completion, and it seems simply a matter of common prudence that we commence without delay, and under liberal appropriations, to put our coasts in an efficient condition of defense. I also commend attention to that part of the report of the Chief of Engineers which speaks of the needs of our torpedo system, and the |