The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

United States Army, 1861

ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1861 At the time of the attack on Fort Sumter, the entire military force at the disposal of the Government was 16,006 regulars. They were principally employed in the West to hold in check marauding Indians. It has always been the policy of the Government to maintain the army at the lowest number of privates which was practicable consistent with the interests of the country, and to rely upon volunteers whenever any emergency should arise. The effect of this policy was to place the forts and arsenals in seceding States in such a condition as to be entirely unprepared to make any defence when assaulted, even by armed citizens disposed to seize them. The nucleus of an army was always preserved by the education of officers at the military institution at West Point. The wisdom of this policy is now more severely tested than ever before.

The call of the President for troops for three months, in his proclamation of April 16th, asked for 75,000 men. This call amounted, in the aggregate, to ninety-four regiments, making 73,391, officers and men. Of the States called upon, the Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Missouri peremptorily refused to comply with the requirements made by the War Department. All the other non-seceding States promptly furnished the number required of them, except Maryland, whose Governor was prevented from so doing by the outbreak at Baltimore. The quota for each State under this call was as follows:

Maine 1

New Hampshire 1

Vermont 1

Massachusetts. 2

Rhode Island. 1

Connecticut... 1

New York 17

New Jersey... 4

Pennsylvania. 16

Delaware 1

Tennessee.... 2

Maryland 4 

Virginia 3

North Carolina. 2

Kentucky 4

Arkansas 1

Missouri 4

Ohio 13

Indiana 8

Illinois 6

Michigan 1

Iowa 1

Minnesota.... 1

Wisconsin.... 1

The remainder, to constitute the 75,000 men, was composed of troops in the District of Columbia.

Notwithstanding the positive refusal of the Governors of Virginia and Missouri to cooperate with the Government, patriotic citizens voluntarily united together and organized regiments for the Government service. Virginia furnished a regiment, and Missouri raised a force of 11,445, officers and men, making in round numbers twelve organized regiments. The citizens of the District of Columbia furnished no less than 2,813, officers and men, making in all four regiments. It was ordered that each regiment should consist of an aggregate of 780, officers and men. This was at a future day changed. Under the above-mentioned call the Government received, and had in service on the 1st of July, 77,875 men. These troops were infantry or riflemen.

On the 4th of May a second proclamation was issued by the President, calling for volunteers to servo during the war. So patriotic and enthusiastic were the people in favor of preserving the Union, that, under this call, two hundred and eight regiments had been accepted by July 1st. A number of other regiments were also accepted, on condition of being ready to be mustered into service within a specified time. All of those regiments accepted under this call were infantry and riflemen, with the exception of two battalions of artillery and four regiments of cavalry. Many regiments, mustered as infantry, had attached to them one or more artillery companies; and there were also some regiments partly made up of companies of cavalry. Of the two hundred and eight regiments above mentioned, one hundred and fifty-three were in active service on the 1st of July, and the remaining fifty-five within twenty days afterwards.

The total force in the field on July 1st, was computed as follows:—

Regulars and volunteers for three months and for the war 282,875

Add to this 55 regiments of volunteers for the war, accepted and not then in service 60,000

Add new regiments of regular army. 25,000 75,000

Total force at command of Government 307,875

Deduct the three-months volunteers 77,875

Force for service after the withdrawal of the three-months men 230,000

Of this force, 188,000 men were volunteers, and 42,000 men computed for the regular army.

The proclamation of the President of May 4th also called for an increase of the regular army. This increase consisted of one regiment of cavalry of twelve companies, numbering, in the maximum aggregate, 1,189, officers and men; one regiment of artillery of twelve batteries, of six pieces each, numbering, in the maximum aggregate, 1,909, officers and men; nine regiments of infantry, each regiment containing three battalions of eight companies each; numbering, in the maximum aggregate, 2,452, officers and men, making a maximum increase of infantry of 22,068, officers and men.

The system adopted for the organization of the volunteers was different from the one which had existed in the regular army. The French regimental system of three battalions to a regiment was adopted.

The appropriations asked of Congress at its Page 27 extra session in July for the support of the army, were as follows:—

Quartermaster's Department $70,289,200 21

Subsistence Department 27,278,781 50

Ordnance Department 7,468,172 00

Pay Department 67,845,402 48

Adjutant-General's Department. 408,000 00

Engineer Department 685,000 00

Topographical Engineer Department. 50,000 00

Surgeon-General's Department 1,271,841 00

Due States which have made advances for troops. 10,000,000 00

Total 185,296,897 19

By an act of Congress of July 22d, the States were asked to furnish 600,000 volunteers to serve for three years, or during the war; and by an act approved July 29tb, the addition of 25,000 men to the regular army was authorized. At the same session, five hundred millions of dollars were appropriated for the support of the army.

The enlistment and organization of troops were entered upon with great activity and warm popular approbation during the ensuing three months, when it was restricted. Many circumstances aided the enlistment. The cause of the Union was approved by every one; a general stagnation or inactivity pervaded all industrial pursuits, and multitudes were partially or wholly unemployed, and the wages offered to the soldier were extremely liberal. The pay offered to privates by the United States was $13 per month, and a bounty of 100 acres of land at the close of the war. In addition, many of the States gave to each married citizen volunteer about one dollar per week for his wife, and in proportion for each child of his family between certain ages. "Where such a sum was not given to the family of the private by the State, it was in numerous instances bestowed by the city or town in which he lived.

The clothing furnished to the private by the Government, is one uniform hat each year, price $1; one forage cap each year, price 57 cents; one uniform coat each year, price $6 56; three pair of trowsers the first year, two the second, and three the third, price $2 82 per pair; two sack coats each year, price each $2 10; three flannel shirts each year, price 90 cents each; one overcoat in five years, price $6 40; three pairs of drawers the first year, two every other year, price 71 cents each pair; four pair of brogans each year, price $2 20 per pair; two blankets in five years, price $2 44 each.

A variety of other articles are supplied, but these are the chief. To encourage economy and cleanliness among the troops, every article not drawn according to the allowance will be paid for to the soldier.

For the ration, or amount and variety of food famished to privates by the Government, see Ration.

The pay of officers was on an equally liberal Kale; and civilians in profitable, social positions, as well as those in no position, aspired, in the rawest state, to obtain the rank of officers. Too many unworthy persons were successful. It co6t the Government millions, and required the efforts of all the military skill in the country to bring the accumulated mass up to the discipline and order of an approved army.

On the 1st of December, the entire strength of the army, both volunteers and regulars, was estimated as follows:— Volunteers for the War.

California Connecticut. Delaware Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri New Hampshire New Jersey New York Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Virginia. Wisconsin Kansas Colorado Nebraska Nevada, New Mexico District of Columbia., 640,637

Estimated strength of the regular army, including the new enlistments under act of Congress of July 29, 1861 20,334 Total 660,971

This estimate, which was prepared at the "War Department, as representing the force of the army, varied unquestionably from the amount of troops in the field. It was not to be expected that the precise force could be stated with strict accuracy while the enlistment was not closed. The quota of New York in the field was about the amount stated; the same was the case with the force assigned to other States.

The several arms of the service were estimated as follows:— […]

The appropriation asked for to sustain the army, by the Secretary of "War, on the 1st of December, was $360,159,986.

The appropriation was computed for a force Page 28 of 500,000 men. Some portion was to cover deficiencies arising from an excess of force in the field over the estimate for the previous six months.

The great mass of this force was calculated to operate in Virginia and in the West. Detachments were engaged elsewhere. That portion engaged in Virginia it was expected to subsist by supplies drawn chiefly from the cities of New York and Baltimore. That portion in the West would be supplied from St. Louis and the cities on the Ohio River. It is not possible to obtain the details of stores required for a military force until a campaign has closed, and the accounts of an army are made up by the respective officers. Some facts representing the unparalleled magnitude of these operations are of interest. At the very extensive warehouses occupied by the Government at Washington, there were on hand, on the 12th of October, an' amount of stores represented by the following figures:

Pork, 3,000 barrels; beef, 6,000 barrels; beef tongues, 200 barrels; bacon, 300,000 pounds; hams, 50,000 pounds; flour, 11,000 barrels; hard bread, 8,000,000 pounds; beans, 4,000 bushels; rice, 1,000 pounds; hominy, 10,000 pounds; riced barley, 20,000 pounds; green coffee, 20,000 pounds; ground coffee, 40,000 pounds; tea, 1,000 pounds; sugar, 2,000,000 pounds; vinegar, 70,000 gallons; candles, 40,000 pounds; soap, 200,000 pounds; salt, 40,000 bushels; desiccated potatoes, 2,000 pounds; desiccated mixed vegetables, 17,000 pounds; pickles, 278 kegs; dried apples, 50,000 pounds; split peas, 4,000 bushels; molasses, 6,000 gallons; potatoes, 4,000 bushels.

The receipts at these warehouses, for the week ending the 12th of October, were as follows:

1,000 barrels of pork; 2,000 barrels of beef; 1,850 barrels of tongues; 76,000 pounds of bacon; 800 barrels flour; 850,000 pounds hard bread; 3,500 bushels beans; 34,000 pounds rice; 500 bushels hominy; 20,000 pounds riced barley; 150,000 pounds roasted and ground coffee; 100,000 pounds green coffee; 2,000 pounds tea; 750,000 pounds sugar; 9,000 gallons vinegar; 34,000 pounds candles; 80,000 pounds soap; 8,000 pounds desiccated potatoes; 10,000 pounds mixed vegetables; 80,000 pounds dried apples; 1,000 bushels split peas; 3,000 bushels potatoes; 5,000 gallons molasses.

For the previous three weeks the issues had been about equal to the receipts.

The following shows the prices paid by the Government for the specified articles:

Pork, $19 per barrel; beef, $15 per barrel; beef tongues, $16 per barrel; bacon, 10 cents per pound; hams, 12 cents per pound; flour, $7 50 por barrel; hard bread, 4 cents per pound; beans, $2 per bushel; rice, 7 cents per pound; hominy, 2J cents per pound; riced barley, 4J cents per pound; ground coffee, 20 cents per pound; green coffee, 14 cents per pound; tea, 50 cents per pound; sugar, 8 cents per pound; vinegar, 12 cents per gallons; candles, 26 cents per pound; soap, 6 cents per pound; salt, 5 cents per pound; desiccated potatoes, 11 cents per pound; desiccated mixed vegetables, 24 cents per pound; pickle, $8 75 per keg; dried applies, 5J cents per pound; split peas, $2 per bushel; molasses, 82 cents per gallon; potatoes, 60 cents per bushel.

When the necessity of a bakery became apparent, one was constructed in the exterior vaults of the Capitol, under the supervision of Lieut. Cate. From these ovens at least 60,000 loaves were sent out daily, during the winter, to the troops around Washington.

Infantry Arms.—On the commencement of the war the United States Government found itself scantily supplied with small-arms, the armories in the Northern States having been in great part stripped, and the arms removed to the Southern States. {See Confederate States.) The chief dependence for the supply of muskets was upon the Springfield armory and that at Harper's Ferry. The capacity of the few private armories was only a few thousand muskets annually; and on the destruction of the arsenal and armory at Harper's Ferry on the 19th of April, 1861, together with 15,000 muskets, to prevent their falling into the hands of the Confederates, the resources of the Government were seriously diminished. It was, no doubt, the want of arm's that limited the call of the President for volunteers, on the 15th of April, to 75,000 men; and until muskets could be imported from Europe many regiments were detained in their camps in the different States. Orders were sent abroad by the Governors of States, and many arms were imported at high prices, although inferior, most of them very much so, to those of American manufacture. The Springfield armory, the capacity of which was rated at only about 25,000 muskets annually, was enlarged as rapidly as possible, and its production, assisted by outside machine shops, was brought up at the close of the year to about 8,000 muskets per month, and has since been increased to about 15,000 a month. These are rifled with three grooves, making one-half turn in the length of a barrel of 40 inches. The bore is 0.58 inch in diameter, and the projectile used is a hollow base cylindro-conical shot of lead. Including the bayonet, ramrod, and other appendages, the number of pieces belonging »to the musket are 84 in number, 26 of which are of steel, 2 of wood, and the remainder of iron. All of them are made by machinery, and in all the guns the corresponding pieces are so precisely alike that they may be used indiscriminately, and, in case of damage, the injured parts may be replaced without any difficulty as to their fitting. By this system, which is purely American, the arms are made of uniform excellence, and are unsurpassed by any produced by the best armories in Europe. Their estimated cost, from the official reports, is $13 25 each for the gun alone, and Page 29 $1.68 for appendages, making a total of $14 93. This, however, allows nothing for the general expenses, as salaries, interest upon the heavy cost of the establishments, etc. The barrels are made of the best kind of wrought-iron bars, each 14 inches long, 5| inches wide, and of an inch thick. These are rolled with bevelled edges, so as to make a perfect joint when they are turned over to form a tube. This is effected by passing them at a high heat through a succession of grooves in the curving rolls, each groove gradually bringing the bar nearer to the cylindrical form. The edges are brought together and welded in a machine, which also elongates the barrel. The machine is provided with 8 grooves, of decreasing sizes, through which the barrel is passed in succession, being kept in shape by a mandrel thrust through the barrel, and changed for a smaller one with each decreasing groove. After this, the barrel, without a mandrel rod, is passed through the finishing groove twice, to render it smooth and cylindrical. The straightening, which is the next operation, is effected in Large dies of the same length as the barrel, into which this is gradually forced by the pressure given by an eccentric movement. The next operation is what is called coneseating, which is fixing and welding the seat for the nipple for a percussion cap. This is done by the action of tilt hammers. The polishing of the barrel is done by emery wheels, run by steam or water power. The manufacture of the nipples is one of the most difficult parts of the work, as the steel of which they are made has to be brought to the exact degree of hardness by tempering, adapted for receiving the concussion of the hammer without being either broken or flattened by the blow—the former effect resulting from too great, and the latter from too little hardness. The locks are extremely simple in their construction, while at the same time they are of the greatest efficiency. They contain but two springs, which are made of the best English cast steel. The other parts are of the best Norway iron, costing sometimes to import $215 per ton. The lock-plate, like most of the smaller pieces of the gun—as the guards, triggers, etc.—is cut out at once of proper shape in a die, and the finishing is effected by a chisel, the movements of which are exactly regulated by machinery to the shape of the piece, so that it is not even necessary to use the file. The stocks are made of black walnut, well seasoned, and sawed into blocks, with rectangular edges, of the general shape of the stock. The shaping of them, and excavating the grooves for the barrel and ramrod, the screw-holes, and the receptacles for the lock and butt-plate, are all effected by machines of extraordinary ingenuity, developed from the principle of the lathe invented several years ago by Mr. Thomas Blanchard, of Massachusetts. Of these machines, some of which ore also employed in shaping the outside of the barrel, as many as thirteen, each having its separate work to perform, are required for the completion of the gun. An exact pattern in iron of the object to be produced regulates in its rotation the action of the cutters, planes, drills, etc., which excavate in the block depressions corresponding precisely to those of the pattern. The operation of the machines is wonderfully rapid, and so exact that the lock, mountings, etc., are found to fit precisely in their places, with their edges exactly flush with the wood. These machines are among the most expensive of those employed in the gun manufacture. All parts of the gun are subjected to rigid tests of gauge and inspection throughout the different "processes, and the barrels are twice proved by firing with 360 and 240 grs. of powder, with an ovate ball double the weight of the service ball. Only about one gun in 100 or 160 is injured. The service charge is 60 grs. of powder, and the conoidal bullet weighs 500 grs. The final process for completing the gun is the rifling. The bayonets and ramrods also are made of the best English cast steel, and especial care is taken to give the former the exact temper adapted to them.

Similar rifles have been supplied to the Government for many years from the "Whitney Armory, near New Haven, and other private establishments. Of the foreign arms imported the best are the Enfield rifles, made at the Government armory at Enfield, England, upon the same system as the American rifle, and with machinery, the models of which were obtained from the Springfield armory. In size these differ little from the Springfield muskets. The barrel is 3 ft. 3 in. long, and its bore of precisely 0.5777 inch. It weighs 4 lbs. 2 oz., and the whole piece, with the bayonet, 9 lbs. 3 oz. The bullet is of pure lead, compressed in dies, and is 1.05 inch long and 0.55 inch diameter; weighs 520 grains. The rifles are sighted to 900 yards. Many arms have also been imported from Prussia, of the kind known by the Germans as Zundnadelgewehr, or darting needle guns, with which all the armies of Prussia are armed. It is a peculiar breech-loading rifle, having a slide for the reception of the-cartridge, which is introduced on its upper side when this slide is drawn out from the breech end of the barrel by its stout handle. It is then pushed forward into the barrel, and is secured by a catch. The firing is effected by the sudden release of a steel needle, which enters through a hole in the centre of the rear end of the slide, and, passing through the powder, strikes a fulminating composition contained in the base of the conical bullet. This rifle has found little favor with the American "War Department, and all the muskets have been altered to muzzle-loading and percussion locks. The objections are: the liability of the pieces to become foul, in which state they are difficult to charge; and of the cartridges to explode in store, from their containing both the powder and the detonating compound. Breech-loading arms, of which a great variety have been invented, are not approved for general use so highly as the old Page 30 form; and the United States Government, in their contracts for muskets made with private parties, in 1861, requires that all shall be made of the Springfield pattern, with all their parts interchangeable with these.

The impending danger of a foreign war near the close of the year, together with the urgent necessities of the country, rendered it the part of prudence for the Government to adopt extraordinary measures for receiving supplies of arms. Every year the waste by loss and deterioration is estimated at 83 per cent, of all in use; and with European Governments it is found expedient to keep the arsenals stocked with at least as many as are in the hands of the army. Consequently, the War Department at that time issued proposals for the manufacture of large numbers of muskets in separate contracts of 25,000, 80,000, 50,000, etc., each, as well to meet immediate demands as to be prepared for extraordinary and unforeseen future emergencies. The consequence of this will soon be the establishment of private armories adequate to the supply of all the arms that can be required for the country. The price of these is $20 each, the minimum sum offered in response to previous proposals presented by the Government. The price paid for the inferior foreign arms imported has varied from $5 to $30 each, the low rates being for old smoothbore muskets of the Prussian and Austrian service, and the higher prices for Enfield rifles. Most of these have been altered to bring them to the great simplicity and efficiency of the American arms. The Maynard, or percussion tape primer, has been dispensed with, and percussion caps are exclusively used. The only arms furnished to the infantry are the simple musket and bayonet, with cartridges prepared for service at the armories.

A few companies of sharp-shooters have been furnished with revolver rifles of superior construction, fitted with telescope sights adapted for execution at long distances. Colt's and Sharp's rifles are selected for thi3 purpose. The former are manufactured at the great establishment of the late Colonel Colt, at Hartford, which is unsurpassed in extent and in the perfection of its machinery, and has a capacity to furnish more than 1,000 firearms, including rifles, carbines, and pistols, per day. The principle of Colt's revolvers is well understood to consist in a revolving breech of 6 chambers, which are brought in turn in line with the barrel by each successive working of the lock. Sharp's rifle is a breech-loading and self-priming piece, the barrel made of cast steel bored out. The breech is secured by a sliding cut-off or block of metal, which being drawn down by the guard to which it is attached, exposes a cavity on the upper side extending into the barrel. The cartridge is laid into this, and its rear end is cut off by the edge of the block on pushing this up to its place. The escape of the gases is prevented by a ring, so fitted in the face of the slide and against the end of the barrel, that when the discharge takes place, this ring is forced closely against the barrel. Flat disks of copper, containing percussion powder, are used for priming, one being shoved forward upon the nipple by the movement of the lock, or percussion caps are used if preferred. The rifle was invented by Mr. C. Sharp, of Philadelphia, about the year 1852, and has been manufactured, together with pistols of a similar construction, upon an extensive scale, in the works of C. Sharp & Company, near Fairmount, Phila. The principal establishment for their manufacture at present is that of the " Sharp's Rifle Manufacturing Company," at Hartford, Connecticut. All the materials used in their manufacture are made in the buildings, even to the screws that fasten the parts together.

Cavalry.—The fire-arms furnished the U. S. cavalry are of no regular pattern. They consist of a revolver, carbine, and pistols, the varieties of which supplied by private armories are very numerous, and soon after the commencement of the war the productions of these were altogether monopolized by the U. S. Government. The carbine is a weapon intermediate between the rifle and pistol in weight and length, is usually breech-loading, and is sometimes furnished with a bayonet in the form of a sword. This has also an ordinary handle, and is carried as a side-arm, for which purpose it is well adapted, having a curved cutting edge as well as a sharp point. Those in common use, and which have been favorably reported upon by boards of officers, are Burnsides', Sharp's, and Maynard's. They are of steel barrels, which taper uniformly from breech to muzzle. The first, invented by General A. E. Burnside, was formerly manufactured at Bristol, Rhode Island, and is now made by Charles Jackson, at Providence, Rhode Island. The chamber of this carbine opens by turning on a hinge; the cartridge is introduced with its case of sheet-brass, which in the explosion packs the joint, and prevents the escape of the gas. This arm is recommended on account of its strength, its perfectly tight joint, and water-proof cartridges; but it is objected to on account of its cost, and the difficulty of obtaining the cartridges. Sharp's carbines, made by the "Sharp's Rifle Manufacturing Company," Hartford, Connecticut, is like the rifle already described. Maynard's carbine, manufactured by the Maynard's Arms Company, Washington, D. C, has a fixed chambered piece, with the joint closed by a metallic cartridge case. Carbines, pistols, and muskets are manufactured to considerable extent for the army, at the works of Messrs. Remington, at Ilion, Herkimer County, New York. Of the repeating pistols issued to the cavalry and to the light artillery, the following are among the most popular: Colt's; Savage's, made at Middletown, Connecticut; Smith & Wesson's, made at Springfield, Massachusetts; Warner's, at New Haven, Connecticut; and Allen's, at Worcester, Massachusetts Savage's pistol, which is a six- Page 31 barrel revolver, is constructed with a view of obviating the objection to most self-cocking pistols, of the aim being disturbed by the cocking movement. This is effected by the introduction of a double trigger, one part fitted for the middle finger, and the other for the forefinger of the right hand. As the first is pressed the hammer comes up, and a fresh chamber turns to its place. As the pressure is slackened, the cylinder springs forward, making a close connection with the barrel; when the aim is secured and the piece is fired by pressing the other trigger with the forefinger. The pistol is provided with two sights, and its size and length are such that, in the hands of a good marksman, it should prove a formidable weapon, even at 150 yards. The other pistols named, all have a revolving cylinder with several chambers. The cartridge employed is a copper cap, resembling a percussion-cap, exactly fitted to enter the open breech end of the chamber. At the close end it is enlarged by a flange, which affords a thin annular receptacle for the percussion priming, and at the same time prevents the. cap from passing into the bore. In the base of the cap is placed the charge of powder, and over this, as a stopple, a Minie bullet, the pointed end of which projects out like the end of a cork from a phial. Different devices are adopted for releasing the cylinder, so that the cartridges may be introduced into the ends of the chambers. In Smith & Wesson's pistol, the barrel is hinged upon the stock, so as to be easily turned at right angles, thus making room for the cylinder to be slipped off the 6pindle upon which it revolves. It is then easily freed of the remains of the old cartridge cases, and new ones are introduced. In Allen's pistol the barrel is fixed, and the cylinder is slipped out to one side. In Warner's, too, the barrel is stationary, and the cylinder can be removed sidewise for cleaning, or it may be charged through an opening in the side of the stock. In discharging the pistol, the blow of the hammer is directly against the close end of the cartridge, driving its edge in upon the percussion powder. The explosive effect backward of the powder is, in some of the larger pieces, resisted by a fixed guard against the end of the barrel, leaving room only for the thin flange, and a slit through this guard admits a thin projecting portion of the hammer to strike the cap. These cartridges have the advantage of extreme portability, being carried even in the vest pocket; and being made perfectly tight by the close fit of the bullet stopple, they are always preserved dry, and are exceedingly convenient, as requiring no preparation nor even priming.

Artillery.—All the ordnance used by the United States Army for land service, is furnished by private armories in different parts of the country, and of the following kinds and calibres of cannon, as given in the " Ordnance Manual." There have been some recent modifications introduced in the new steel guns of Mr. Wiard, and in the Parrott gun, both of which will be described below:

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Large columbiads of 12 and 15-inch diameter of bore are exceptional pieces, one of each of which only have been cast for trial. The cannon designated by this name were invented by Colonel Bumford, U. S. A., and are recognized by their uniformly decreasing diameter from the breech to the muzzle. They are used for throwing solid shot or shells; and when mounted in barbette, their vertical range is from 5° depression to 39° elevation, around a complete horizontal circle. They are now made with a uniform bore; but were originally chambered. The 15-inch columbiad, now at Fortress Monroe, known as the Union or Rodman gun, was cast by Knapp, Rudd & Company, at Pittsburg, under the directions of Captain T. J. Rodman, of the Ordnance Corps, who conceived the design of cooling the piece, cast hollow, by the introduction of a current of water flowing through the core, thus securing a uniform texture and maximum strength throughout. The dimensions of this great gun are as follows:

Page 32

Total length 190 inches.

Length of calibre of bore 156"

Length of ellipsoidal chamber 9"

Total length of bore 165 

Maximum exterior diameter 48"

Distance between rimbases 48"

Diameter at muzzle 25"

Thickness of metal behind the chamber. 25"

Thickness at junction of bore with chamber 16"

Thickness at muzzle 5" Diameter of shell 14.9"

Weight of gun 49,100 lbs.

Weight of shell 820"

Bursting charge 17"

This gun has been fired several times at Fortress Monroe, and is manoeuvred with great facility, managed by one sergeant and 6 negroes. The mean range at 6° elevation, of ten shots, was 1,936 yards, and the mean lateral deviation 2.2 yards: the charge was 85 lbs. of 0.6-inch grain powder, and the time of flight 7 seconds. At 10° elevation, with 40 lbs. of powder, the range was 2,700 yards, and time of flight 11.48 seconds. At 28° 35' elevation, the range was 5,730 yards, and time of flight 27 seconds, with very slight lateral deviation, as appeared through a telescope attached to one of the trunnions.

Parrott Gun.—This arm, named for its maker, Mr. R. P. Parrott, agent of the West Point Foundry, at Cold Spring, is perhaps the most effective for its weight as a field-piece and siege gun. The plan of its construction is the same in principle as was proposed by M. Thierry, of France, in 1834, and afterwards somewhat modified by other inventors, as Prof. Tread well, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1845, Captain Blakely, of England, in 1855, and others. It first came to be known in 1860, when the State of Virginia was supplied with twelve 10-poundcrs, and 16 more guns were made in the fall of the same year on an order from the State of Georgia. These, however, were not delivered. During the year 1861 there have been made at this establishment, for the U. S. Government, the following pieces:

Sizes, No. of pieces,  No. of projectiles.

10-pounders 292 71,000

20-pounders 153 25,000

30-pounders 94  22,000

100-pounders 5  1,000

There were also made 115 smooth-bore guns, as 8 and 10-inch columbiads and Dahlgren navy guns, with 30,000 projectiles for these. The Parrott guns are manufactured of the strongest cast-iron, all of which is tested before use, and is required to bear a pressure of 80,000 lbs. upon a square inch. They are cast upright, with the breech down, which portion is thus rendered most dense by the pressure of the liquid iron above. After the pieces have been turned and bored, the breech is strengthened by a broad ring of wrought iron, which is put over it hot, and thus shrunk on so as to appear as of one piece with the gun. This ring is prepared from a bar of iron, 4 inches square and of any required length, which is brought to a high heat, and is then wrapped around a cylinder of the size of the gun in a continuous coil, the spirals of which are then welded together by hammering. By this method the guns are made of a comparatively cheap material, and by the economical method of casting, while the wrapping of wrought iron secures the additional strength of this material at that portion of the gun only where extreme strength is required. To obtain the same strength with cast iron alone, would greatly increase the thickness and weight of the breech. The Parrott gun weighing 1,100 lbs., is considered stronger than a columbiad or Dahlgren of the same calibre weighing 1,500 lbs. The proportional weight of the powder used to that of the projectile is only X, while in other heavy guns it is or more. In trials made at Cold Spring with a 100-pounder Parrott gun, using 10 lbs. of powder, a projectile was thrown beyond 6,200 yards, the elevation being 20°; while a columbiad with the same elevation, and using 18 lbs. of powder, threw its projectile only 3,883 yards.

The original projectile for the Parrott gun, known as the Reed projectile, was made with a cast-iron body, furnished with a wrought-iron cup-shaped base opening towards the powder, and secured into the base of the body by being cast in with it. In the explosion the sides ot this, being of a malleable material, were pressed out, filling the grooves of the bore. This is now replaced by a projectile entirely of cast iron, around the base of which is a depression of V-shaped section in which a brass ring is loosely fitted. This is forced by the powder, as it explodes, into the grooves, causing the projectile to follow their curve.

Whitworth Gun.—In June, 1861, there arrived in New York, from England, a battery of six Whitworth guns, with 8,000 rounds of ammunition, sent from England as a present to the United States Government, from patriotic Americans in Europe. These guns, which rank among the most efficient in England, are breechloading, though they may also be loaded from the muzzle. Instead of being rifled the bore is hexagonal, with the angles of the hexagon rounded off, and the effect of rifling is produced by the twist of the sides of the hexagon. The guns are made of what is called homogeneous iron, which is wrought iron melted and cast in moulds, which thus assumes a homogeneous texture and the greatest strength. The projectile is hexagonal, accurately fitted to the bore of the gun with the same twist. It is made of cast iron, unless intended for penetrating hard bodies, as wrought-iron plates, when it is made of homogeneous iron and with a flat head. The charge is | the weight of the projectile, and is placed in the bore in a tin cartridge, which remains behind when the gun is fired, and is then removed. The guns sent to the United States are 12-poundors, measuring 7 feet 9 inches in length, with the major axis of the bore 8.1 inches, and minor axis 2.8 inches, Page 33 and weighing 8 cwt. The high pitch of the twist, which is one turn in 5 feet, must present a powerful resistance to the exit of the projectile, especially when this is of an unyielding metal, and requires to overcome it the high charge of powder named above. This would seem to endanger the bursting of the piece, but no accidents of this kind appear to have attended the use of such a projectile. The range of the gun is very great, as is shown by the results obtained in trials with a 12-poundor, at Southport, England. At 2° elevation, with 1 3/4 lbs. of powder, the projectile was thrown from 1,208 to 1,281 yards; at 5°, from 2,298 to 2,342 yards; and at 10° the average distance was 4,000 yards. The 3-pounder, with 8 oz. charges, threw its projectile at 20°, from 6,300 to 6,800 yards; and at 33°, and 85°, from 9,400 to 9,700 yards, the last exceeding 5-Jniiles.

Steel Cannon.—The excellent qualities possessed by steel for cannon have long been understood, but the difficulties attending the casting or forging of large masses for this purpose, have been formidable obstacles in the way of this application. Three small pieces were brought to this country during the year, for the city of Philadelphia, made of cast steel at the great works of F. Krupp, at Essen, in Rhenish Prussia. Cast-steel cannon were first manufactured there about 17 years since, and from the trials to which they were subjected, at the arsenal of Vincennes, they were found to be superior to bronze cannon. Three thousand successive shots were made with one of them without any sensible vibration or any degradation in the bore. In the French army it is stated that those guns are now taking the place of the old bronze pieces, which are worth more to melt up than the steel. Other European Governments are also supplying themselves with these guns. The works in which they are produced are of very remarkable character for their extent and appliances. They are situated in close proximity to coal mines, and occupy a space of 1,600 by 1,800 feet. The roofs of the buildings cover 20 acres. The men employed are about 2,500 in number, and the coal consumed is about 200 tons daily. The products, besides cannon, are steamboat and other shafts, railroad axles and tires, and machinery rolls for mints, &c. The steel castings exceed in size any thing of the kind ever known. The largest yet made is of 40 tons weight, but the works are competent to make much heavier ones. A 6iriglo hammer in use weighs 40 tons. The largest-sized steel cannon, intended for the London exhibition of 1862, was commenced in 1861, and employed in its casting the labor of 1,250 men in pouring the metal into the mould.

Wiard’s Steel Cannon.—The first steel cannon produced in the United States was manufactured in June, 1861, from plans devised during the two preceding months, by Mr. Norman Wiard, of New York. It was a 6-pounder, ready for service on the first of July, and on the 3d of the month mounted upon an improved field carriage, also of his invention; it was tested at Camp Scott, Staten Island, in fulfilment of a contract with General D. E. Sickles, who had ordered 3 batteries, to consist of two 12 and four 6-pounders each. The contract being assumed by the "War Department, the batteries were completed and delivered to the Government at Washington. General Fremont next ordered 2 batteries for the department of the West, which, however, were afterwards diverted to the Burnside expedition, which at very short notice was supplied with twenty-four 6 and 12-ponnders and two other rifled guns, all of which, up to the time of these sheets going to the press, have been of the most efficient service in the various actions engaged in by this expedition. The governor of Ohio, through the U. S. Ordnance Department, ordered and obtained four 6-gun batteries, which have been in active service in the important campaigns at the West. The guns bear a high reputation as being most accurate, substantial, and effective, and at the same time lighter than other pieces of the same calibre. They are forged under heavy steam hammers from puddled steel blooms, specially made for this purpose at the rolling mills at Troy, New York, and Trenton, New Jersey; the puddling process being stopped at the point where the carbon unexcelled gives to the metal a steely character. The weight of the 6-pounders is 700 lbs., and of the 12-pounders 1,200 lbs. each. They are forged solid at the works of Messrs. Tugnot & Dally, New York, and bored by Messrs. Plass & Company The trunnion bands are shrunk on, and do not affect the strength of the piece in resisting the explosive action. The 6-pounders are of 2.6 inch bore, and the 12-pounders 3.67 inches. The rifling turns to the left once in 9 feet in the 6-pounders, and once in 12 feet in the 12-pounders, the former having 8 and the latter 12 bands and furrows. The projectile preferred is the Hotchkiss. With a 6-pounder, at an elevation of 39°, a flight of 5J miles has been obtained. The carriages, which are made by Messrs. Stephenson, of New York, are peculiar in the construction of the wheels with iron adjustable hubs and felloe wedges, so that by the aid of a small wrench the wheels can be set up or taken down, and the tire be set, and any shrinking of the wood be compensated for at any time. The corresponding parts of all the wheels in any number of batteries are counterparts of each other and interchangeable. The trail is hung under the axle, which admits of a much greater elevation being given to the piece than is practicable on the standard carriage. The forward portions of every part of the carriage are rounded off, so as to render it more secure against harm when struck by shot in action.

Beside the pieces named, Mr. Wiard has furnished to the United States navy several steel howitzers for boat service, of 3.4 inch calibre, Page 34 weighing 860 lbs. each; also 50-pounders of 5.1 inch calibre. These are the largest steel guns yet made in this establishment. Only about one gun in a hundred is found to be defective when tested. The steel is reported by the manufacturers as sustaining a strain of 107,000 to 118,000 lbs. to the square inch, thus showing a tensile strength of 8 to 4 times that of the best iron and bronze.

Mortars are used both for siege and navy service, of several dimensions, as given in the preceding table. The heavy siege mortar, weighing 11,500 lbs., is of 53 inches length, including 13 inches length of chamber, the superior diameter of which is 9.5 inches. When fired at the usual angle of elevation of mortars (45°), its shell weighing 200 lbs., is thrown, with a charge of 20 lbs. of powder, 4,325 yards. The heavy 10-inch mortar, for coast service, throws a 98-lb. shell about the same distance with half the charge of powder. The whole length of this piece is 46 inches, including 10 inches length of chamber. The light 10-inch siege mortar throws a 90-lb. shell, distances varying from 300 to 2,100 yards, according to the charge of powder, which varies from 1 to 4 lbs. The small mortars are also effective at various distances, according to the charge. The stone mortar is used to throw a charge of 120 lbs. of stones with  lb. of powder, to a distance of 150 to 250 yards. Its angle of elevation is 60°.

Shells are hollow shot of cast-iron, charged with sufficient powder to burst them, which is fired by a fuse, introduced through a hole in the shell. They are spherical for mortars and smooth-bore pieces, and generally of elongated form for rifled guns. The spherical-case shot is a thin shell of cast iron, containing, besides the powder for bursting it, a number of musket balls, which are kept in place by pouring in melted sulphur, the powder being in a separate compartment. The leaden balls raise the specific gravity of the shell, till it is about the same as a solid shot, and it will therefore have the same range and velocity. It is intended to be burst by a time fuse, from 50 to 130 yards in front of, and from 15 to 20 feet above the object at which it is fired. Spherical-case shot, thrown from rifled cannon, are said to be effective at over 2,000 yards. The fuse by which shells are fired, is either what is called a time or percussion fuse. The former is a hollow cylinder of paper, wood, or metal, enclosing a burning composition of such length, that the fire shall penetrate to the powder in the required time; or different compositions are used in cases of the same length, and designated by their different colors, as to the time they burn. The fuse is fired by the ignition of the powder by which the shell is thrown. The percussion fuse is a fulminating powder, placed in the cap, which closes the point of the projectile, and it is exploded by the concussion when this strikes the object at which it is thrown. The common safety fuse, such as is used by miners, is not employed in military service except for exploding mines.

A field-battery on the war establishment consists of four 12-pounders or four 6-pounder guns, and two 24-pounders or 12-pounder howitzers, making 6 pieces. Carriages, including caissons, (ammunition wagons,) spare gun carriages, forges and battery wagons, accompany each battery, together with various implements and equipments, definitely specified in the Ordnance Manual. Each battery wagon and 12-pounder gun carriage is drawn by 6 horses, and each of the other carriages by 4 horses, and TV of the whole number of these horses is added to spare. The foot artillery carry a sword resembling a Roman sword, with a straight 2-edged blade 19 inches long. The swords and sabres used by the army are mostly made by James J. Ames, Chicopee, Massachusetts Field-artillery is also manufactured at his establishment.

The foundries for cannon are the South Boston, O. Alger & Company, Boston, Massachusetts; the "West Point, R. P. Parrott, Cold Spring, New York; the Tredegar, J. R. Anderson & Company, Richmond, Virginia; the Bellona, J. L. Archer, Black Heath, Virginia; and the Pennsylvania, Knapp, Rudd & Company, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The following are the arsenals for construction of carriages, &c, or repair:

Kennebec Arsenal, Augusta, Maine

Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Massachusetts

Champlain Arsenal, Vergennes, Vermont

Watervliet Arsenal, West Troy, New York

New York Arsenal, New York

Alleghany Arsenal, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Frankford Arsenal, Bridesburg, Pennsylvania

Pikesville Arsenal, Pikesville, Maryland

Washington Arsenal, Washington, D. C.

Fort Monroe Arsenal, Old Point Comfort, Virginia

North Carolina Arsenal, Fayetteville, North Carolina

Charleston Arsenal, Charleston, South Carolina

Augusta Arsenal, Augusta, Georgia

Mount Vernon Arsenal, Mount Vernon, Alabama

Appalachicola Arsenal, Chattahoochee, Florida

Baton Rouge Arsenal, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Little Rock Arsenal, Little Rock, Arkansas

St. Louis Arsenal, St. Louis, Missouri

Detroit Arsenal, Dearbornville, Michigan

Benicia Arsenal, Benicia, California

Texas Arsenal, San Antonio, Texas.

The following are the armories and arsenals that have remained in possession of the U. S. Government:

Armories and Arsenals. State. Commanding Officer.

Kennebeck Arsenal, Maine

Springfield Armory, Mass Major A. B. Dyer.

Watertown Arsenal,  Mass Capt. T. J. Rodman.

Champlain Arsenal, Vermont

Watervliet Arsenal New York. Major W. A. Thornton.

New York Arsenal New York. Major R. H K. Whiteley.

Alleghany Arsenal, Penn Colonel J. Symington.

Frankfort Arsenal, Penn Lieut. T. J. Treatwell.

Pikesville Arsenal, Maryland

Washington Arsenal, D.C. Lt-Col. G. D. Ramsay.

Fort Monroe Arsenal, Virginia Lieu.t T. G. Baylor.

St Louis Arsenal, Missouri Captain F .D. Callender.

Leavenworth Arsenal., Kansas Capt. J. McNutt

Detroit Arsenal, Michigan

Benicia Arsenal, California Capt. J. McAllister.

Projectiles.—A variety of projectiles have been devised for rifled guns, and introduced into the service of the army. Those made especially for the Parrott and Whitworth guns have already been noticed. The most prominent Page 35 at present are the projectiles of the Messrs. Hotchkiss, of Connecticut, of Mr. Silvanus Sawyer, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, of Mr. Schenkl, of Boston, and of Hon. C. T. James, of Providence, Rhode Island.

The Hotchkiss projectile is composed of 8 distinct parts, a cast-iron conical head and base, which are tied together by a ring or zone of lead which forms the middle portion, and extends quite through in a sheet of lead between the two end pieces. The effect of the explosion is to crowd the base forward and cause the lead to bulge out round the middle and fill the grooves. This it does very efficiently, and the projectiles, when recovered, are generally found complete with the lead ridged to the full depth and width of the grooves. Sometimes, however, the pieces of the projectile have been torn apart by the explosion. The Sawyer projectile is a cylindro-conoidal shell of cast iron, with a brass cap screwed into the truncated apex of the cone. By this opening the powder is introduced, of which a 12-pounder shell holds 14 oz. Under the brass cap is the percussion powder. The outer surface of the projectile is first tinned over to cause adhesion of the coating of lead, which is next run on to the cylindrical part in a coating, nearly of an inch thick, with 6 ridges upon its surface, adapted to the grooves of the bore of the gun with its same twist. The Schenkl projectile, which is much used by the troops from Massachusetts, is a cast-iron bullet, the greatest diameter of which is about the length from the front end. The posterior portion tapers off, terminating in a truncated apex, and is ridged longitudinally. To bring it up to cylindrical shape, a covering of papier mache is filled in between the ridges and around the cone. The effect of the explosion is to drive this forward and into the grooves of the barrel; and if it should be thrown off soon after it leaves the gun, it does no harm.

James' projectile is a cast-iron cylindrical bullet with a conical head, which may be solid, or for use as a shell, hollow. The cylindrical body, with the exception of a narrow hand next the cone and another at the rear end, is | of an inch, and the hands of an inch less than the diameter of the bore, (in the case of a 42-pounder;) and from the depressed portion 10 rectangular openings, like the mortices in the hub of a wheel, connect with a central cavity extending in from the rear end. A cylinder of sheet tin is laid round the central portion, and over the tin and around its edges is laid a wrapping of canvas saturated with tallow, and firmly secured by sewing, making the whole diameter equal to that of the bore of the gun; but there remains an open annular space between the tin and the cast-iron cone, which is filled with melted lead, poured in through the central cavity. This adheres to the tin and forms a compact hand around the central portion of the projectile. In the discharge the gases rush into the central cavity and press out this band, forcing the canvas into the grooves, thus preventing the escape of any portion of the gases past the bullet. In practice, the lead band sometimes separates from the iron projectile soon after leaving the gun, seriously disturbing the accuracy and efficiency of the shot; but in general it remains on, and takes such hold of the grooves as to cause the projectile to assume the spinning motion.

Gunpowder.—The gunpowder for the military service is made by private contractors, in mills in various parts of the country. The same proportions of ingredients are used for the several kinds designated musket, mortar, cannon, and mammoth, which differ from each other only in the size of the grain. The proportions of saltpetre are to 76, of charcoal, 14 to 15, and of sulphur 10. The size of the grain is fixed by sieves, the musket powder being 1,100 particles in ten grains Troy weight, and the cannon powder 150 particles. It is packed in barrels of white oak with cedar hoops. Powder barrels made of strong sheet-iron, corrugated with heads formed by turning over the metal, have been made, and are now on trial. The mammoth powder is of coarsest grains, such as pass through a sieve with inch holes, but not through one of 4 inch holes. Captain Rodman, of the Ordnance Department, has recently invented a new powder, which is found very serviceable. The design of it is to produce the combustion increasing in intensity instead of diminishing from the first ignition, as is the case with ordinary gunpowder. Tins he effects by making cakes of dust powder, and perforating them with numerous email holes with wires. The ignition spread through these holes occupies a sensible time, and spreads over an increasing surface of combustion. The effect of this is to exert the strongest impulse upon the projectile after it has once started from its scat and its inertia is overcome. The large-grained powder produces a similar effect. Gun-cotton, though having an explosive force, compared to gunpowder, as 8 to 8, is not approved of for military 'service for various reasons: as, the danger of preparing and keeping it in large quantities, its too violent action, its changeable character, &c.

Tents.—The military campaigns of 1861 have brought about important changes in the construction of tents for soldiers. Those previously in common use were altogether deficient in proper arrangements for warming and ventilation. They were made of a light sheet of duck, laid over a ridge-pole, which was supported upon two upright poles set in the ground about 6 feet apart. It was pinned down to, the ground when stretched out to sufficient width; and the ends were closed by triangular pieces, which were drawn together and tied. Sometimes one end was made entirely close, while the other was furnished with the overlapping flaps, which could be opened or closed as desired. Such were the tents almost universally used by the French in the Crimean war, and called by them tentes d’abri, simplified by the Page 36 use of a rope instead of the ridge-pole. They were also made for convenience of transportation, in pieces that buttoned upon each other. When made close, for the sake of warmth in cold weather, these tents soon became filled with impure air, which proved very injurious to the health of those who lived and slept "in them. A much better form was obtained from the Comanche lodge, the common tenement of the Indian tribes of the prairies, and of the traders, trappers, and hunters of the far West. These are conical-shaped tents, with hides or cloth laid upon long poles, set around a circle upon the ground, and meeting at a point over the centre, where they are secured together. The apex is left open, and a triangular wing is arranged, so as to take the wind in such manner as to produce an upward draught, thus admitting of the use of a fire in the tent, and securing without it a free circulation of air. The tent introduced by Major H. H. Sibley, and generally known in the army as the " Sibley tent," is the Comanche lodge, with an upright central standard set into an iron tripod, which takes the place of the poles and can be easily transported. This has been used with great satisfaction in exposed encampments, and in severe weather it is made more comfortable by a basement excavated in the ground to the depth of 3 or 4 feet. In the latest improved tents this form is still chiefly preserved, and the principal improvement is in the use of an iron pipe, 3 or 4 inches in diameter, for the central upright, which serves as a smoke-pipe for a small sheet-iron stove.

India-rubber cloth tents, on a plan invented by Mr. John Rider, and termed " tent knapsacks," are also much used. They are formed of separate pieces of the stuff, each 5 feet 3 inches long, and 3 feet 8 inches wide, made to button snugly together to form a tent, and when taken, apart each piece makes a tight covering, in which to carry blankets, overcoats, clothes, &c, instead of in a knapsack. The pieces being all alike, any four men carry with them sufficient to form a cover that will shelter 5 to 7 men. Extra pieces are used with great advantage to spread on the ground as a protection against dampness. Various other tents, specially adapted to secure warmth and ventilation, are in use by the American army, and in general they are far superior to those of any other nation.

The sudden and large increase of the army made some modification of the system of organization connected with the supervision of the hygiene and comfort of the troops necessary. A commission of inquiry and advice was accordingly instituted, with the object of acting in cooperation with the Medical Bureau. This commission was appointed on the 9th of June, by the Secretary of War. The following persons accepted the duty assigned to them, viz.: Henry W. Bellows, D. D., New York; Prof. A. D. Bache, Washington; Elisha Harris, M. D., New York; George W. Cullum, Alexander E. Shiras, Robert C. Wood, M. D., U. S A., Washington; William H. Van Buren, M. D., New York; Wolcott Gibbs, M. D., New York; Samuel G. Howe, M. D., Boston; Cornelius R. Agnew, M. D., New York; J. S. Newberry, M. D., Cleveland.

To these were added by the commission itself others, to wit: George T. Strong, New York; Horace Binney, Jr., Philadelphia; Thos. M. Clark, D. D., Providence, Rhode Island; Joseph Holt, Kentucky; R. W. Burnett, Cincinnati; Mark Skinner, Chicago; Frederick Law Olmsted, New York.

The order appointing the committee, vested in them no power beyond that of " inquiry and advice in respect of the sanitary interests of the United States forces." It was directed, especially, to inquire into the principles and practices connected with the inspection of recruits and enlisted men; the sanitary condition of the volunteers; to the means of preserving and restoring the health and of securing the general comfort and efficiency of troops; to the proper provision of cooks, nurses, and hospitals, and to other subjects of like nature. The office of the commission was thus purely auxiliary and advisory, created solely to give voluntary aid to the Department and Medical Bureau, in meeting the pressure of a great and unexpected demand on their resources. The services of competent physicians were secured, and sent into the field, each having a defined portion of the army under his observation.

Among the subjects to which their attention was especially directed, and on which they were required to make detailed written reports, were : the quality of rations and of water, the method of camp cooking, the ventilation of tents and quarters, the drainage of the camp, the healthfulness of its site, the administration of the hospital and the sufficiency of its supplies, the police of the camp, the quality of the tents and of the clothing of the men, the material used for tent flooring, if any, &c, &c. Whatever deficiencies or evils they found to exist by which the health, morale, or efficiency of the men might be endangered, they were instructed to indicate to the proper officer, at the same time offering advice, if it was needed, as to the best method of remedying them.

The results of their investigation, only for the half year since their appointments, have secured some valuable information, and increased the comfort and health of a portion of the army.

After the inspection of each camp or post, the inspector was required to make an elaborate report upon its condition. More than four hundred of these reports were received and compared, and digests prepared. The inspections made in the months of September and October, furnish the principal basis of the conclusions of the commission. Their statistics have been derived from more than two hundred regimental returns, of which thirty-seven were  from regiments recruited in New England; one hundred and one from regiments recruited Page 37 in the Middle States, including Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware; sixty-two were from regiments recruited in the Western States, including Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. The time occupied in recruiting each of these regiments, averaged six weeks; the shortest period being ten days, the longest about three months.

In seventy-six and a half per cent, of the regiments inspected, native Americans were found to constitute the majority. In six and a half per cent, there was a majority of Germans; in five and a half, of Irish; and in five and a half the number of native born and foreign born was about equal. Of one per cent, the returns give no information on this point. It is considered as near the truth to state that about two-thirds of the volunteer soldiers are American born, and nine-tenths citizens, educated under the laws of the Union and in the English tongue. Sufficient investigation has not been made to determine this statement with complete accuracy.

From incomplete returns, the average age of the volunteers is judged to be a little below twenty-five years. Somewhat more than one-half of their number are under twenty-three. The average age of the officers is about thirty-four. The number of men of any age between eighteen and forty is not far from double the number of those five years older. For example, the number of those twenty years old is double the number of those at twenty-five.

It is important that the degree of liability to death from disease in war, at different ages, should be ascertained. Data are accumulating which will serve to determine this. It is still more important to determine the degree of liability to sickness at different ages in army life, especially as this affects the question of the relative efficiency of men, as soldiers, at different ages. For this purpose, no sufficient records are at present made by the surgeons of the army, and it was not practicable for the commission to supply the deficiency.

In fifty-eight per cent, of the regiments, there had been no pretence of a thorough inspection of recruits on enlistment. In only nine per cent, had there been a thorough re-inspection when or after they were mustered in.

In the month of October, 1,620 men were discharged from the army of the Potomac, as unfit for service, of whom three-fifths were thus discharged on account of disabilities that existed at and before enlistment, and which an intelligent surgeon should have discovered on their inspection.

Camp sites have been generally selected for military reasons alone, and with little if any regard to sanitary considerations. The regimental surgeon has seldom been consulted on the subject. In many instances, disease was directly traceable to this omission. One-fourth the regiments were found encamped on sites which had previously been occupied by others.

Except at Cairo and in the prairie region, camps have been generally formed on the tops and sides of hills. During the hot weather nearly one-half were in the shade of woods— an objectionable circumstance.

Water of wholesome quality was found within convenient distance of the camp in all but two cases. The regiments encamped at Cairo were abundantly supplied with ice during the hot weather.

The average occupation of a camp site, up to the date of inspection, had been twenty-one days. In the east this period had generally been largely exceeded, and regiments frequently occupied the same ground much longer than was 6afe or advisable.

In those cases where the drainage by inclination was the most difficult, the soil and subsoil have been porous and favorable to drainage by filtration. As the immediate inconvenience occasioned by a shower of rain in these flat sites led to the practice of better judgment in artificial drainage than has generally obtained on the hill sites, there has been less prejudice to health from poor drainage in the fixed camps at the west than in those of the armies of the Potomac and Western Virginia, which have generally been upon clay soils or over retentive subsoils. There has been, for instance, not half as much rheumatism at Cairo as in the eastern camps and those of West Virginia.

Until recently, the artificial drainage of camps, when first visited by the inspectors, was found very imperfect—the men of each tent being left in most cases to form drains around it according to their own judgment. In consequence of their ignorance, unskillfulness. or indolence, the drains were often useless, and not unfrequently aggravated the evil they were designed to remedy. As soon, however, as good examples became frequent, the practice of a systematic arrangement began to be generally adopted. The majority of volunteer camps are now at least as well drained as those of the regulars. The average depth of the camp drains is about six inches. In about one-half the camps the drains were found more or less clogged, owing to their crookedness and imperfect construction, and to want of proper attention in keeping them clean.

The consequence of neglecting drainage was frequently apparent on inspection of the sick list.

In general, the plan for laying out a camp supplied in the Army Regulations, has been approximately followed; but the tents are placed more closely together than the minimum there prescribed. The difficulty of drainage is thus increased, and the narrow spaces between the tents, difficult to be swept, become half-concealed receptacles for rubbish. Six men are usually provided with lodging in one of the "wedge" tents. In the Sibley tent from twelve to sixteen; of late sometimes twenty.

Tents are seldom tolerably ventilated at night. Of the regiments under consideration occupying the wedge tents, none were found in which the inspectors were satisfied that proper Page 38 attention was paid to ventilation, and it was obvious in some cases that the men suffered in health in consequence. The Sibley tent is more convenient for ventilation, and cannot as well be tightly closed as the wedge form. It is now found that typhus is occurring more frequently in the regiments occupying these tents than in those that have the Sibley—the ratio being 29.5 to 23. The Massachusetts Seventh Volunteers, Colonel Davis, Surgeon Holman, is the only volunteer regiment reported, in which a thorough ventilation of the wedge tent had been generally established. It was here induced by the occurrence of typhoid fever, and by this, prominently among other means employed for the same end, the unusual result of banishing this formidable disease has been obtained. The inspectors have advised the striking of each tent once a week, for the purpose of giving it a perfect cleansing and airing. Fifty-eight per cent, of the regiments bad been provided with the wedge tent, ten with the wall tent, seven with the bell tent, nineteen with the Sibley, others not stated. Ninety per cent, of these were made of good canvas; the remainder were of twilled cotton or drilling, or so old as to be leaky. Twenty-four per cent, of the regiments were provided with tent flooring of boards, twenty per cent, with india-rubber cloth; in twenty-one per cent, straw or branches were used for this purpose, and in thirty-five per cent, the men slept on the ground. The following table shows the relative proportion of these several kinds of flooring in the three great divisions of the army.

The important influence it will be doubtless found to exert on the health of the men, justifies especial inquiry into the subject: […]

The following table shows the ratio of sick men per thousand, in regiments which had been supplied respectively with india-rubber blankets; wooden tent-floors; straw, fir boughs, or cedar boughs; and in those which have been sleeping on the bare ground.  The data are taken from the returns of 120 regiments, and  in November: Entire OF Those in Western Regiments  Virginia, excluded. SLEEPING Average ratio for Average ratio for 1000. 1000. Wood  India rubber. Bare ground Straw or fir boughs

As the forces in Western Virginia were, at a rule, unprovided with rubber blankets, and as they have suffered special hardship's in other respects, they are excluded from the comparison in the second column.

A limited examination of the diseases of the army indicates that the largest proportion of those of typhoid type occur with regiments sleeping on rubber blankets, the least with those on straw or boughs; the largest proportion of catarrhal with regiments on wooden floors, the least with those on the ground; the largest of rheumatism with those on wood, the smallest with those on straw or boughs; the largest of malarial with those on the ground, the least with those on straw or boughs.

As had been presumed by the commission, it has been proved that the best bed for soldiers in camp can, with a little skill, be formed from fir or cedar spray, whenever it can be obtained in sufficient quantity. It should be frequently removed and burned, after a thorough cleansing of the tent floor, the tents being struck for the purpose.

Experienced officers generally object to the board floors in tents. They are thought to be more damp than the ground itself, and they offer an opportunity for the collection of rubbish and dirt, and make them difficult of removal.

Privies had been established in all the camps inspected, except those of two or three regiments recently mustered in. In eighty per cent, of the camps, they are reported to be properly arranged and kept in proper order, no offensive odor drifting from them. In twenty per cent, proper attention was not given to them, and the health of the men was more or less seriously endangered in consequence.

In sixty-eight per cent, of the camps, the men seemed to be effectively restricted to the use of privies. In thirty-two per cent, the proper prohibition was found by the inspectors not to be strictly enforced. In seventy-seven per cent, of the volunteer camps, slops, refuse, and offal are systematically removed to a distance from camp by a daily detail of men.

In twenty-three per cent, this duty was performed irregularly or very imperfectly. In nineteen of these twenty-three camps, the inspectors found odors of decay and putrefaction perceptible in and about the touts and streets.

The shirts used by the men were found to be of poor quality, in twenty-six per cent, of the regiments examined. In seventy-four per cent, they were of the Regulation quality. In ninety-four per cent, the men had been provided with two shirts each. In four and a half per cent, they had but one each, and in the remainder only a part were supplied properly.

Eighty-two per cent, of the regiments were  well supplied with overcoats, and seven per Page 39 cent, partly so. In eleven per cent, there were Island being probably the most fortunate in none at the time of the inspection. In only this respect, which fact, however, is chiefly due three per cent, of the regiments were the over to their superior discipline early in the camcoats of poor quality. Seventy-five per cent, campaign. of the regiments were  provided with good cloth It is difficult to compare the rate of sickness body coats; the remainder with flannel sack of foreign armies with that of the volunteers, coats or cloth jackets. because it is uncertain what degree of sickness

Of two hundred regiments, all were provided in them places a man upon the sick list. Our with pantaloons—one hundred and seventy-five volunteer surgeons are, undoubtedly, very as sufficiently, eight indifferently, seventeen very accommodating in this respect, probably more so poorly. than the surgeons of the regular army or of

Men have been frequently seen during the foreign armies. It has happened in more than summer on duty and on parade in their draw one instance that upon an order to advance era alone. against the enemy being given, every man of

In seventy-five per cent, of the regiments, a regiment then on the sick list immediately one good blanket had been issued to each soldier reported himself well, was discharged, and dier. In twenty per cent, two had been proshouldered his musket in the line of battle. It vided; these being, however, in most cases, of is probable that at least one-half those returned inferior quality. In five per cent, the men had as sick by the surgeons of volunteers would do never all received each a blanket. the same, under similar circumstances; that in the army of the Potomac the average proportion being excused from duty on account constant number of sick, per one thousand men, of a cold in the head, severe fatigue, or a slight has been sixty-three; in the department of indigestion. Western Virginia, one hundred and sixty-two; In the whole British army, in time of peace, in the Valley of the Mississippi, one hundred 6.5 per cent, of the force otherwise available, and sixteen. is reported constantly "in hospital."

The forces from Ohio and some other States charge, from causes connected with army life.) have been, to a considerable extent, subject to Imperfect data received from the West, ind.itmusual privations and exposure, during the cate a considerably larger rate for the whole campaign among the mountains of Western army; probably it will not be far from five Virginia. A similar remark applies to those per cent, if sweeping epidemics should be esof Illinois, in Missouri. There is reason to caped. think that the most sickness has occurred The following is a statistical classification of where regiments, raised in far northern and the diseases and casualties of forty-seven regihighland districts, have been removed to lowments of volunteers and two of regulars, during land, fluvial, and seaboard districts; those, for periods averaging forty days for each regiment, instance, from Maine and Vermont, the ridge between July 1st and October 1st, 1861. counties of New York, and from Minnesota, The classification adopted is that used in the being more subject to distinct disease, as well British army, and for civil registration in Engas to demoralization, or ill-defined nostalgia, land, Australia, and several of the States of the than others in the army of the Potomac. The Union. healthiest regiments, physically and morally.

Page 41 Diseases of a malarial type, which till recently have given most occasion for anxiety, are now beginning somewhat to decline. On the other hand, there is a slight but appreciable . increase in cases of disease appropriate to the winter months, as severe colds, inflammations, pulmonary affections, and acute rheumatism.

To this must unfortunately be added a decided increase of typhus fever. This term is used to indicate not the typhoidal aspect occasionally assumed by other forms of disease, but the formidable and infectious disorder, known, according to the conditions that produce it, as "camp fever," "ship fever," "hospital fever," &c. Its appearance is traceable to the natural disposition of soldiers to shut themselves up in their tents or huts as much and as closely as possible in cold weather. In many camps they have already been allowed to commence a system of suicide by excavating the ground within their lodgings, and throwing up banks of earth against their walls or curtains. This practice, which, as is well known, occasioned a great loss of life in the British army during the Crimean war, should be at once forbidden, and full ventilation of tents at night made compulsory, even at some real or imaginary expense of comfort.

Measles and small-pox are also common, the latter sufficiently so to justify uneasiness.

The following table shows the distribution, according to statistical classes, of the diseases and casualties of the same portion of the forces of the United States, (1861,) which may be compared with those of the British army when in the Crimea: Number of Diseases and Casualties of each Class and Order to 1,000 cases treated. […]

(The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1861, vol. 1. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868, pp. 26-42.)


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.