ORGANIZATION OF THE NINTH ARMY CORPS, COMMANDED BY MAJOR-GENERAL AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, ON MAY 4, 1864.' This corps was under the direct orders of Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant until May 24, 1864, when assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Extract from Consolidated Morning Report of the Army of the Poto The grand aggregate of the above officers and enlisted men, 99,438. Excluding engineers it is 97,162, which is 111 less than given by General Drum, the difference between us being my omission of 61 guards and orderlies with General Ingalls and 50 cavalry with the Sixth Corps. There were: On extra or daily duty.. In arrest or confinement.. Officers. Enlisted men. 18,149 851 4,377 All teamsters, ambulance and spring-wagon drivers, hospital attendants, men in the Quartermaster and Subsistence Departments, that is the whole personnel of the Staff Departments and trains, was composed of officers and enlisted men detailed for "extra or daily duty" from the regiments forming the army. They were not available for any other duty. The artillery consisted of 49 batteries, having 274 field guns (120 12-pounder Napoleons, 148 10-pounder and 3-inch rifles, and 6 20-pounder Parrotts). There were also 8 24-pounder coehorns. Two hundred and seventy rounds of ammunition were carried for each gun. There were 657 artillery carriages, including caissons, battery-wagons, and forges, the horses for which numbered 6,239; besides, there were 609 wagons (ordinary army wagons) and 3,721 animals for transport of ammunition. In the Annual Report of the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, dated November 22, 1865, he states, on page 5, in a tabular statement of the numerical strength of the several Military Departments and Armies, that "The aggregate available force present for duty, May 1, 1864," of the Army of the Potomac, the Ninth Corps not included, was 120,384. Upon an examination of the original tabular statement on the files of the Adjutant-General's Office, prepared for Mr. Stanton, the figures of which are exactly those presented by him in the Annual Report specified, I found that those figures included not only the officers and enlisted men of every branch of the service "present for duty," but all those on "extra or daily duty," as well as all those "in arrest or confinement." There is no column of "Aggregate available force present for duty" in any return or morning report. The column "present for duty equipped" is intended to give the number of enlisted men that form the fighting force of the army, together with those that may be made available for it, such as the Provost Guard, but does not include those on extra or daily duty, who form no part whatever of that force, and are not available for it. The foot-note shows that on April 30, 1864, there were about 19,000 officers and enlisted men on extra or daily duty, and about 900 in arrest or confinement. The tabular statement used by Mr. Stanton was prepared from the Return of the Army of the Potomac for April, 1864, between which and the consolidated morning report of April 30, 1864, there is some discrepancy. The morning report gives a better presentation of the condition of the army for that day than the monthly report. Upon ascertaining how Mr. Stanton's tabular statement was prepared, I addressed a letter to General Drum, Adjutant-General of the Army, asking him for an official statement as to the classes of officers and enlisted men, and the number of each that go to the making up the numbers given in the Report of the Secretary of War. My letter and General Drum's reply are herewith. BRIGADIER-GENERAL RICHARD C. Drum, WASHINGTON, December 1, 1881. Adjutant-General U. S. Army, Washington: GENERAL-In the Annual Report of the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, dated November 22, 1865, he states on page 5 that "The aggregate available force present for duty May 1, 1864, was distributed as follows." Here follows a tabular statement of the numerical strength of the several military departments and armies, the second on the list being, "Army of the Potomac. 120,384" It is chiefly to the numbers given for the "available force present for duty with the Army of the Potomac that I desire to ask the attention of the Honorable the Secretary of War. Upon an examination of the original tabular statement on the files of the Adjutant-General's Office, prepared for Mr. Stanton, the figures of which are exactly those presented by him in the Annual Report, I find that those figures include not only the officers and enlisted men of every branch of the service present for duty, but all those on extra or daily duty, as well as all those in arrest and confinement. In this manner it appears that the number, on 1st of May, 1864, of officers and enlisted men of the Army of the Potomac in the line of battle or available for it, that is present for duty, according to the Tabular Statement, is about twenty thousand greater than the actual number; for the officers and enlisted men on XII.-18 extra or daily duty are not in the line of battle nor are they available for it. They form the personnel of the trains. Neither are those in arrest or confinement in or available for the line of battle, though some of them may be temporarily released for it on the eve of a battle. In the present case they numbered 931. The same kind of error will, I believe, be found to exist in all the numbers of the Table. I understand that the Tabular Statement was prepared from the returns of the armies and military departments for the month of April, and not from the Moining Reports of the 30th of April, usually called the Tri-monthly Reports, because made every ten days. These Morning Reports give a better presentation of the condition of the army than the Monthly Return. In the present case there is evidently a large error in the Monthly Return for April of the Army of the Potomac in the number of officers and enlisted men present for duty, and in those on extra or daily duty, especially in the Second Corps. On page 14 of the saine Annual Report of the Secretary of War there is a tabular statement of "The aggregate available force present for duty on the 1st of March," 1865, which contains an error of the same kind as that just pointed out in the numbers given for the Army of the Potomac, by which its actual numerical strength of present for duty is increased by 16,000. The same kind of error undoubtedly exists in the numbers given for the other armies and for the military departments. The object of this communication is to suggest whether the Tabular Statements of the Secretary of War's Report of November, 1865, cannot be officially examined and a statement made as to the classes of officers and enlisted men, and the number of each that go to making up the numbers given in the Report. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. A. HUMPHREYS, Brig. Gen., etc., etc., Retired, Maj.-Gen. Vols. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON, December 23, 1881. GENERAL A. A. HUMPHREYS, U. S. A., Washington, D. C.: GENERAL-In reply to your communication of December 1, 1881, relative to the strength of the Army of the Potomac on the 1st of May, 1864, and the 1st of March, 1865, as shown in the report of the Hon. Secretary of War, dated November 22, 1865, I have the honor to furnish the following information: The strength of the Army of the Potomac on the 1st of May, 1864, as given by the Hon. Secretary of War in his report of November 22, 1865, was obtained from a tabular statement prepared in this office. In his report Mr. Stanton designates the strength therein stated at 120,384, as "the aggregate available force present for duty," while the tabular statement made in the Adjutant-General's Office styles it the present available for duty." In reporting the available or effective strength of the army, or any portion thereof, it is the common practice to give either the "present for duty" or the "present for duty equipped," preferably the latter when obtainable, which shows the force available for conflict. But this custom seems not to have been observed in the preparation of the statement upon which the Secretary of War based his report. In calculating the number" available for duty as given therein, the following classes of officers and men were included: 103,789 15,629 870 92 In computing the "available for duty" only the sick, numbering 4,222, were excluded from the aggregate "present" (124,602), leaving 120,380, or four less than given by Mr. Stanton. An examination of the records leads to the assumption that this slight difference is a typographical error in the Secretary's printed report. The above figures were compiled from the regular monthly return of the Army of the Potomac for April, 1864, but which was not made out until July 18, 1864. Turning to the consolidated morning report, or tri-monthly return (as it is more generally known), for April 30, 1864, the following figures are obtained, viz.: Of the total present for duty there were equipped....... 102,869 19,095 4,576 931 127,471 97,273 The latter is understood to represent the "effective force," or number of officers and men "available for line of battle," and was usually ascertained by deducting from the "present for duty" all non-combatants, and those who from lack of arms or other causes could not be placed in line of battle. By comparing the numbers reported on the monthly return and those borne on the tri-monthly, both purporting to be for the same date (April 30), it is found that a discrepancy of 920 exists in the "present for duty" alone, the monthly return showing that many more than the tri-monthly. There are some other differences between the two returns, but this office has no means at command by which to furnish any certain and satisfactory explanation of the matter. It is believed, however, that in this particular case the tri-monthly return for April 30, 1864, and which bears date of May 2, 1864, only two days after the date it represents, contains the most reliable data. In reference to Mr. Stanton's report of the strength of the Army of the Potomac on the 1st of March, 1865, it may be stated that his figures were obtained from the tri-monthly return for February 28, 1865, which furnishes the following: Deducting from this the sick (5,361), gives the 103,273 reported by the Hon. Secretary of War as the "aggregate available force present for duty." This method of calculating the "available for duty" appears to have been applied to all the commands of the Army mentioned on pages 5 and 14 of the Report of the Secretary of War, dated November 22, 1865. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. C. DRUM, Adjutant-General. APPENDIX C. ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, COMMANDED BY GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, JANUARY 31, 1864. SECOND ARMY CORPS. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL R. S. EWELL COMMANDING. EARLY'S DIVISION. MAJOR-GENERAL JUBAL A. EARLY. Hays's Brigade. Brig.-Gen. H. T. HAYS. 5th Louisiana, Col. Henry Forno. Pegram's Brigade. Brig.-Gen. JOHN PEGRAM. 13th Virginia, Col. J. B. Terrill. 31st Virginia, Col. J. S. Hoffman, 49th Virginia, Col. J. C. Gibson. 52d Virginia, Col. James H. Skinner. 58th Virginia, Col. F. H. Board. |