Annual Report of the Adjutant General, Year Ending December 31, 1904

1 ! ii:!'i!'| =!• iiiliiii ii ilijiili iiiiiiiilii ::n ii iij Hiii :!: ;;:!*.::^ •^ii'liiilii i|!|iiiJ!!i!i!li! Inill^iiMiniiHiiiniih;;!::^;^ :!!;;[;; kX'hrx. WW A Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries http://archive.org/details/annualreportofad1904mass : PUBLIC DOCUMENT .... .... No. 7. ANNUAL REPORT ADJUTANT GKENEBAL OP THE C0mm0itforalijj af Utassaijrasftte FOR THE Year ending December 31, 1904. BOSTON • WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 Post Office Square. 1905. qA 2% ™ J Approved by The State Board of Publication. • K ANNUAL REPORT. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Adjutant General's Office, Boston, Dec. 31, 1904. To His Excellency John L. Bates. Governor : — I have the honor to submit the annual report of this department for the year 1904. The militia has maintained the high standard of last year, the average attendance at ordered duty is the largest I have ever known and general earnestness pervades the entire force. For the manner of performance of duties I refer you to the reports of the Inspector General and his assistants. I desire to commend the force for its improve- ment and attention to duties. At this date the force has all compaDies required by law, except one recently disbanded. During the year Company L, Eighth Regiment, at Law- rence, was disbanded, and a new company formed in Law- rence to take its place. Company E, Eighth Regiment, was disbanded, and this vacancy remains unfilled. All organizations performed annual drill and camp duty as required by law, as follows : the First Brigade, except- ing First Regiment of Heavy Artillery, at the State camp ground ; the First Regiment of Heavy Artillery at New Bedford ; the Naval Brigade at New Bedford ; the First Cadets at Hingham ; the Second Cadets at Boxford ; and the Second Brigade at Manassas, Va., in connection with the army manoeuvres at that and adjoining places. From all the reports received and from your personal interviews with commanding officers of the regular army, the brigade made a good record as soldiers and gained some knowledge. If manoeuvres are to continue, more time should be allowed for the performance of duties, and a few days allowed for the line officers and enlisted men to gain knowledge of cus- toms of the service, in issues, care of men and several mat- ters which would be of great benefit to the citizen soldier. 4 ADJUTANT GENERAL'S REPORT. [Jan. It has been proposed to have manoeuvres in Massachusetts of the State force and regulars combined. * This is now receiving consideration. Several details have been made for funerals of officers and enlisted men. Troop A performed escort duty for Your Excellency on your annual visit to Harvard College. Heavy Artillery. The First Regiment has made progress in the work of heavy artillery, and the Board on Revision of the Law to conform to the New National Militia Bill will undoubtedly advocate the organization of this regiment to conform to the same arm in the regular service. Active Militia. The force now allowed by law is 485 officers and 6,116 enlisted men. Enrolled Militia. Returns from cities and towns, with estimates, show the number of enrolled militia to be 496,137, an increase of 1,078 over previous year. Rifle Practice. I refer you to the report of the Inspector General of Rifle Practice for the work performed under him. The amount appropriated for rifle practice was $23,000. The amount expended was $21,656, leaving an unexpended balance of $1,300.44 to meet bills not yet received. The amount appropriated for a rifle team to go to Fort Riley for competition of the regular army and State troops was $2,000. Of this amount $1,504.17 was expended. Armories. The armories remain the same as last year. The new armory at New Bedford was occupied early in the year. Furniture and equipment for this armory were purchased out of the appropriation of the current year. The armories built by the cities, now in charge of this department, are constantly in need of repairs, and if others 1905.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 7. 5 are built during the year, an additional appropriation will be required. The amount appropriated for the care, heating, lighting and furnishing armories was $35,000. There has been expended of this $34,950.98. The amount appropriated for armory rents was $38,000. Of this amount $37,991.67 has been expended. The new law allows all expenses of maintaining armories to be returned after Jan. 1, 1906. I have not made an esti- mate for 1905 for any armories other than the so-called State armories, which are not included in the new law. By acts of the Legislature, the act of 1888, incorporated in the Revised Laws, allows cities and towns to apply for the loan of money to build armories. If any are built, an appropriation will be required for the care, heating and lighting of the same. Adjutant General's Department. All money accounts received, except those due January 1, have been certified to the Auditor. There has been expended for pay and transportation of troops, meetings of boards of officers, office salaries and direct expenses of the militia $208,554.33. There remains in the various appropriations not expended the sum of $35,364.98, but it is not available for deficiencies in other appropriations. A portion of this amount will be expended on January bills. I regret to report deficiencies in some of the appropriations, occasioned by extra camps outside of the State camp ground, the encampment of the Second Brigade at Manassas, extra repairs on armories, and extra freight and express bills, occasioned by new issues and the change of arms. I am unable to tell the exact amount, as all bills will not be in hand until after January 1. The appropriation for janitors' allowances to companies was $7,000. Of this amount there has been expended $5,906.24. The appropriation for allowances for repairs to clothing was $9,000. Of this amount there has been expended $8,997.32. Estimated amount paid out for war records is $3,100. The sum of $4,000 was appropriated for instruction in 6 ADJUTANT GENERAL'S REPORT. [Jan. riding. Of this amount there has been paid out on certified bills of officers the sum of $2,650. There is standing to the credit of the Commonwealth at Washington at the Navy Department a substantial sum for equipping the militia. Returns not yet received from Navy Department. There was standing to the credit of the Commonwealth Jan. 1, 1904, at Washington, the sum of $100,863.36. This has been increased by the July allotment to $132,779.68. Of this amount $25,871.10 has been drawn for supplies, leaving a balance of $106,908.58 available. There was allotted to the Commonwealth, out of the extra appropriation to States, the sum of $56,699.49 ; $6,405.92 has been drawn against it, leaving $50,293.57, making a total available, from which to draw supplies, of $157,202.15. The War Department has not been prepared to fill requisi- tions for clothing and supplies, or more would have been drawn ; obsolete blue clothing and equipments could have been drawn, but it was thought best to wait until new and the latest supplies could be drawn. The amount appropriated for the care of the United States steamship "Inca" was $1,200. Of this amount there has been expended $1,198.06. The amount of appropriation unexpended for Spanish war testimonials was at date of last report $33.20. Of this amount there has been expended $32.45. The act of the Legislature provides for a testimonial to residents of Massa- chusetts Avho served in the Spanish war and were not on the quota. An appropriation will be required to furnish the testimonials for those applying for them. Of the money appropriated to make a list of men who would be entitled to a bounty under a bounty act, a balance of $663.69 was on hand at date of last report. There has been expended during the year out of this sum $532.31. The work for the preservation of war records, authorized by act of the Legislature, and for which appropriation is made, has progressed as rapidly as time has permitted during the year, and the following is an enumeration of the work accomplished : — 1905.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT— No. 7. 7 One volume each of record of commissions and resigna- tions of officers and one laro'e index to commissions have been stitched and bound in a substantial manner. Eighteen volumes, returns of enlistment by towns, 1861- 65 ; ten volumes, letters and reports from the field, 1861- 65 ; one volume, letters and reports from the Department of the East, 1861-65 ; four volumes, reports and orders, provost marshal, United States, 1861-65; twelve volumes, telegrams, 1861-65 ; eighteen volumes, orders of the Gov- ernor, 1861-65 ; twenty volumes, discharges and special orders, 1861-65 ; one large index for the same : twenty- eight volumes, letters Navy Department, 1861-1903 ; forty- nine volumes, letters War Department, 1861-1904 ; have been repaired, stitched and bound, making in all one hundred and sixty-four volumes completed. There are now in hand for preservation by the Emery process the muster-in and muster-out rolls of six regiments of Massachusetts volunteers in the Spanish war, which will be bound in twelve volumes, and one volume individual enlistments to be bound ; four hundred provost marshal's rolls, of the civil war, to be bound in three volumes.

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