1858 with Honor and Credit

STATE OF NEW YORK. No. 184. IN ASSEMBLY, APRIL 7, 1859. • ~ ANNUAL REPORt OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL. STATE OF NEW YORK: ! EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, ALBANY; April 7, 1859. ~ To the Assembly: 1 transmit herewith the annual report of the Adjutant General of the State. E. D. MORGAN. 1 • , - - REPORT. GENERAL HEAD-QUARTERS, STATE OF NEW YORK, 1 ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, ALBANY, Jan. 14. 1859. ~ To his Excellency E. D. MORGAN, Commander-in-Chief of the m'llitary forces of the State of N. Y.: Sir: Pursuant to the provisions of the law of Congress, " establishing a uniform militia throughout the United States," I have the honor to submit the following REPORT: The organized portion of the militia of the State has, during the past year, made marked improvement in discipline and military information. l When compared with its condition during and prior to the year 1857, it is certainly entitled to much praise for its present attitude, and for the evidences of zeal which pervades its ranks. Notwithstanding that the relief which the present defective law affords has always been greatly inadequate to meet the heavy pecuniary demands upon the force, and that the general regulations have recently largely increased these demands, the militia has passed through the trying y'ear of 1858 with honor and credit. To one interested in the development of our militia, and aware of the additional bur~hens in time and money which these regulations have heaped upon it, this intelligence cannot be otherwise than gratifying. betokening as it does a degree of military ardor throughout the State, hopeful in the extreme. It must be confessed, that when the general regulations Were promuJ- gated, it was greatly to be feared that they would fall much short of the mark sought to be attained by them,-not that they were not a proper, compilation of sufficiently exact and effective rules, based upon the present advanced state of military science, but because the militia, for .whose government they were intended, assimilated but slightly with that kind of force requiring the most stringent rules to preserve it in anything like a state of effectiveness, and these regulations partook somewhat of the character of such rules. However, great reliance was to be placed upon the native intelligence and enlightenment of the citizens comprising the militia, and upon the fact that a force pervaded by the sentiment that it is as honorable to obey as it ..,. 4 [ .A.SSEMBL Y is to command, would surely appreciate the necessity of exact discipline in the control of any military body whatsoever. Still, there was another fear, more serious if anything than that to be apprehended in the paradox of sovereignty controlled and yet being sove- reign, namely: the fear that these regulations had impcsed duties of a sedentary character in the various grades of the force quite beyond the possibility of accomplishment by men whose daily avocations were diverse from the pursuit of arms; but the experience of the past year has demonstrated that these fears were in the main groundless. Indeed, it may be safely averred that the general regulations have met with a hearty welcome from the force, and that, if the improvement which they already have inaugurated, be a harbinger of the future, the militia cannot but prove a grand school for the cultivation of the citizen soldier in the arts of war, and that the State, while having at hand the means for the instant suppression of her own disorders, will be ever ready with her quota of instructed men to respond to the Union's call for volunteers. To achieve this in a land where, from the genius of its institutions a large standing army is impossible, is surely wise and commendable, and the exertions now being put forth to direct the militia towards this end seem j to be worthy of something more at the hands of the State, than the trifling encouragement they have hitherto received. The Mexican campaign -has happily demonstrated the practicability of J the employment of volunteers to fight the battles of the nation; and further, that with such troops, if properly officered, there need be no apprehension for liberty though combined Europe were the foe. Is it not advisable, then, in the absence of any other feasible mode, so to organize, instruct, and maintain the militia, that when the necessity is at our doors, officers, as well as the muscle of war, will be equally at hand? It should be remembered that European armies are no less remarkable for their huge proportions than they are distinguished for their discipline, the perfection of their enginery of war, and for their thorough knowledge of its science, constituting a foe altogether different from that which strove to defend against our arms the halls of the Montezumas. To successfully contend in the present day against an army such as coalesced Europe· could send to our shores, a force of at least 600,000 would be no less the instant necessity than that such force be under the lead and management of accomplished and skillful officers. But where, at a moment's call, are these officers to be found, if not in the ranks of the militia? Bounty acts and land warrants may supply the rank and file of an army of whatever proportions the exigency may demand; but they are powerless to produce officers having accomplishments requisite for battle against European troops. It is true that we are not without some relief in our noble Military Academy at 'Vest Point, which, however, though it stands unparalleled throughout the world, in the extent and method of its instruction, and in the brilliant results it has achieved through its eleves, furnishes no more • No. 184.] 5 than the officers yearly needed to supply the vacancies of the regular force,. and could not in years produce the 30,000 officers requisite for such an army had the contingency arrived for its formation. The truth is I the militia is the real army of the land, and it is from its ranks that this great addition of officers must be derived. Then, is it not apparent to everyone, that Congress and the States of the Union should be aroused to the necessity of establishing the militia upon such a basis that it may afford the proper bulwark of defense 1 Happily, however, the contingency of war is so remote, that it may per- haps be considered somewhat premature to call attention to the need of a proper militia; yet, whether it be remote or near, it does seem to be wise to maintain the militia upon such a footing that, in the way of officers, at least, we shall be more nearly on a par with the European world. To attain this end, a large and cumbrous militia in each State, is a gross absurdity. No one will pretend, in the present day, that, for the purposes of a mobile force, the militia, as such, will ever be drafted into the service of the United States. If required at all in war, its services will only be demanded to meet contingencies for which it wa~ impossible in other ways to provide, while doubtless the main dependence will be placed upon volunteers and enlisted troops. Besides, a large militia is by far too great a tax in time and money upon the people of any State, and invariably proves an ignorant and unwieldy mass, into which it is as difficult to infuse zeal as it is impossible to impart military knowledge. In every State there are large numbers of citizens. who, from pure military zeal alone, are willing to abstract from their vocations time enough to devote to the acquirement of military information, and from a thousand motives other than a desire to don the insignia of command, or to swell the ranks of a quasi military and a quasi social body, are ready to assume the real duties of the soldier, with the patriotic view of being ready to suppress the disorders of a time of peace, and to maintain the public liberties in a time of war. Experience has shown that., in our State, at least, there are large numbers of such men, who, in obedience to this spirit, will organize into military bodies, whether pursuant to, or independent of the law; and the Stl}te has wisely recognized the existence of this spirit. By the act of 1846, it swept from its statute books laws which sought to foster what had been proved an impossible militia, and addressed itself to the development of a militia, based upon the predilection of the individual. By this act it inaugurated a system which, if properly sustained by the State, will accomplish the great purposes of a citizen military. Already in lieu of divisions upon divisions, brigades upon brigades, and regiments upon regiments of a tatterdemalion militia, we have a conden~ed and mobile body of uniformed troops, comprising eight divisions, twenty~ six brigades and sixty-two regiment.s, armed, equipped, andpassibly well disciplined for service. Numerous and conflicting statutes have given place to a codified law, 6 [..A~sEMnLY and the ignorance of other days hlts, to a degree, been dissipated by the dis- tribution of books of manoouvre for the various arms, while a comple~e system of general regulations serves to correct that wherein the law and tactics prove deficient. In all this the State of New York, it must be confessed, has set for the sister States an example worthy of all commendation. Still there remains much to be done both by the State and the force itself, if our militia is to realize the hopes now entertained for its accomplishment.

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