JUSTICE TO OUR GALLANT DEFENDERS. [We have received several communications from officers of high rank, on the subject of pay. Among them is the following, which needs no editorial comment, but that of our heartiest sanction and earnest hope for the justice so imperatively demanded by the necessities of men who deserve a thousandfold what we can ever pay them.—ED.] THE PAY OF THE ARMY. THE present pay of the Army was established in peaceful times, when gold was at par, and all the necessaries of life much cheaper than they are in these warlike times, when the price of gold ranges from two dollars twenty-five to two dollars fifty cents. A captain of infantry, who, before the war, received and lived comfortably on, with his family, one hundred and eighteen dollars fifty cents, in gold, per month, which, at the present rate (say two dollars twenty-five cents), would now be worth to him two hundred and sixty-six dollars sixty two cents. So that now he gets less than one-half the pay he did in peaceful times, whilst his expenses are more than doubled, and the risk of life infinitely greater. Before the war, our officers, stationed mostly in places where they could have their families with them, were seldom obliged to maintain two separate establishments, as they are now, when so completely separated from their families. Thousands upon thousands of our volunteers, who rushed to the protection of our national flag, when first assailed, left comfortable homes and a lucrative business to peril their lives in the cause of the country. What a sad record it would be could the number be stated of those who never saw those homes again, or returned only to find their inmates in want, and their business ruined, with the prospect of commencing life anew, weighed down possibly by wounds which but illy fitted them for the additional struggle required. There are thousands now in the service who have this sad prospect before them; many who, actuated by the highest patriotism, still remain in the field, although there is a continued tug at their heart-strings to go home to provide for the dear ones there. Surely Government should try to compensate as adequately as possible those who so freely make these sacrifices for it. The pains and penalties attaching to a state of war are many, and although the war be prosecuted for the good of all, they are not equally shared by all. Those who risk their lives and limbs in the field, should be well paid by those who remain at home and risk neither. It is a fact worthy of the highest credit to our people, that their money has been as freely poured out in this struggle, as has the blood of our brave soldiers in the field; but more of it should go towards paying our soldiers, and less into the pockets of those who do not do the fighting. The pay of army officers is subject to a tax by Government, which amounts to five per cent. on the excess over fifty dollars per month, so that a captain's is re duced from one hundred and eighteen dollars fifty cents, to one hundred and fifteen dollars eight cents, or forty-one dollars ten cents per year; and correspondingly for every other rank. It certainly would be a very proper measure to exempt the pay of officers from this tax altogether, and the pay should be doubled for all officers and soldiers with the exception of the general officers, who do not need so large an increase. Instead of the pay being made to depend upon the commutation value of so many rations, servants, &c., each officer should receive a certain fixed salary. This has often been proposed and recommended by our authorities, but has never become a law, although it is difficult to find a single well-founded objection to it. The distinction made in the Navy, between the pay of officers when on sea and on other duty, is an admirable one, and should be introduced into the Army, making the pay of the officer doing duty in the field higher than that of one out of the field, and the pay of an officer on leave of absence, or waiting orders, less than either. By the present arrangement, the officer exposing his life every day in the field, separated from his family and comfortable home, gets less pay than one who is in quiet enjoyment of both; for the latter draws commutation of fuel and quarters, which is not allowed to the former. This is placing a premium upon an avoidance of duty in the field, which, to say the least of it, is very bad policy. Every argument which can be made use of in favor of increasing the officers' pay, applies with double force to the pay of the enlisted men, those who are, after all, the real patriots of this war, Congress being now in session again, this important matter of the pay of those on whose shoulders the whole welfare of our country depends, should occupy its earliest and most serious attention. Strengthen the hearts, and consequently the arms, of our brave soldiers in the field, by providing for them in such a way that they may always feel amidst the storm of battle, no matter what happens to them, the dear ones at home have bread to eat and a home to cover them. No one, except one who has felt the want of such a feeling, can know how that reflection does strengthen the arm and brave the heart in time of peril! Protect your defenders, and they will protect you. [We are very glad to see that Mr. Wilson has introduced into the Senate a bill to increase the compensation of certain officers of the Army in the field. The first section provides that the commutation price of rations, to all officers below and including brevet brigadier-generals, shall be fifty cents after the 1st of March, instead of thirty cents, as at present; but this shall not apply to officers who are entitled to commutation for quarters, or to officers of the Veteran Reserve Corps. The second section relieves all officers of the Army and Navy from the payment of income tax. The third section provides that every officer who remains in the service, except those in the Veteran Reserve Corps, and those on detached duty, who get commutation for quarters, shall at the close of the war be entitled to three months' pay, on being honorably mustered out of the service. This applies to volunteer officers only. The above was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. This is a movement in the right direction, but is only, we hope, a first step.-ED.] WASHINGTON, D. C., January 19, 1865. To the Editor of the "United States Service Magazine." SIR:-In the January number of your Magazine there is an article headed "A Word for the Quartermaster's Department," wherein a statement is made which I wish to correct. The writer relates a story, which he says "was rife at the time," in relation to a remark said to have been made by me to some quartermaster who presented a requisition to me for one hundred teams "to go to Warrenton or Culpepper, or somewhere about there," for the use of General Pope's army. This story, if “rife at the time," is, like many others told around the camp-fires, without any foundation in fact. The language attributed to me is not such as I am in the habit of using, and I have not the slightest recollection of having made any such remark. The writer was evidently misinformed, and unintentionally does me injustice when he attributes it to me. By publishing this correction in the next number of your Magazine, you will greatly oblige, Yours, truly, F. H. RUCKER, Brigadier-General and Chief Quartermaster, Dépôt of Washington. THE UNITED STATES SERVICE MAGAZINE. VOL. III.-MARCH, 1865.-NO. III. REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.* A PRESIDENTIAL election has just terminated, and the war, so our enemies say, is to continue four years longer. This being the idea, it becomes every one interested in the struggle to gird up his loins, buckle on his armor, and prepare for the strife in the coming spring, which, if it takes place at all, will throw into the shade any which has yet taken place. Our army needs reorganizing, and every one is, or should be, clamorous for it. Our system is defective, more so than that of the rebels, and we should take advantage of the coming winter to remedy its defects. We commenced this war on a small scale. It has been growing, growing, until now it is colossal, and far exceeds the proportions assigned it in anticipation by our greatest military minds. Perhaps in nothing have the civil powers of the Government made a greater mistake than in disregarding the councils of our military men. General Scott's assertion in regard to thirty thousand men and a Hoche to lead them, at the beginning was received with incredulity, and the now celebrated, and pre-eminently sane Sherman was declared insane for stating that two hundred thousand men were required to carry on operations in This article, by a distinguished general now in the field, should command universal attention. It is well-reasoned and practical.-ED. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by C. B. RICHARDSON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. VOL. III.-14 209 the Mississippi Valley. That the advice of such men should have been disregarded at first was, perhaps, considering all things, but natural. But now that our eyes have been opened to the magnitude of the task before us, to discard such advice is not only unnatural; it is criminal. When we are suffering a slight indisposition we are willing to try the simple pill of some good-natured quack as a remedy, but when our complaint assumes the form of a dangerous illness, we eagerly seek the advice of the most experienced and talented medical man we can find. Our "sick man," as they called Turkey some years ago, is dangerously ill. We have called in for consultation a large number of Doctors, some of whom are capable, but many are mere quacks, whose advice, if we do not discharge them, may outweigh in the end the opinions of the capable ones and kill our sick man. It used to be a jest in the Mexican war that the Mexicans had almost as many generals as privates in their army, and we seem fast approaching that point in our organization. Take up an army register (if a recent one had been published the effect would be more startling), and look over our list of general officers. It is astonishing how many there are, and still more astonishing how many have been tried, found wanting, and laid away on the shelf to make political speeches or command posts which might be better commanded by captains, at a much less expense to the Government. One hundred and fifty brigadier and seventy major-generals is an ample allowance for half a million of men. We have something like three hundred of the former and one hundred of the latter, whilst many of the brigadier-generals have major-generals' commands in the field, and our brigades are commanded by colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors. Many of the general officers now in service are notoriously incompetent, others are unwilling to perform the duties assigned them in active service, and have influence enough to obtain comfortable easy places out of the field, which could be quite as well filled, perhaps in many cases better, by officers of inferior rank who have been disabled doing their duty in front of the enemy. These surplus generals should be mustered out of the service, not only to rid the service of unworthy members, but to enable the authorities to reward those who have shown themselves capable and willing to perform the duties of soldiers in the field. The number of general officers will thus be considerably reduced; the expenses of the war lessened, and the Government be enabled to reward many meritorious officers who are now necessarily neglected and are performing the duty without either the pay or the rank. To determine those who should be mustered out, a board of competent general officers should be convened in each army, whose duty it should be to examine |