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TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF MEN AND CASUALTIES IN THE REGULAR AND VOLUNTEER FORCES DURING THE WAR WITH MEXICO-1846 TO 1848.

During the civil war the number of men furnished to the northern armies was 2,778,304, or, reduced to a three years' standing, 2,326,168. They were organized into the Army of the Potomac, Army of the Tennessee, Army of the Cumberland, and Army of the Ohio; the last three being finally united into the Military Division of the Mississippi. These armies were raised under proclamation by the President-each state furnishing its quota, according to population, by voluntary enlistment, and by enforced draft. Regimental organizations, when formed, were mustered into the service of the United States, when they fell under the direction of the war department, and were assigned to brigades, divisions, corps, and armies, as required. All generals and general staff officers received their commissions from the President, line officers being appointed before mustering into the United States service. Toward the close of the war the difficulty of obtaining volunteers so increased that large bounties were offered, in some cases amounting to as much as $1500 for one man. At the close of the war the volunteer army which was mustered out numbered about 1,100,000 men. The regular army was increased during the progress of the war from 18,000 men to 50,000; since the war it has been reduced to 25,000.

On Jan. 1, 1896, the army of the United States comprised 26,955 officers and enlisted men, divided as follows:

By an order of the Secretary of War, issued July 3, 1891, the old distribution of the army by Divisions was abolished, and a single organization by Departments left. On Jan. 1, 1897, these departments were as follows:

1. Department of the East: Headquarters, Governor's Island, N. Y. City, Maj.-Gen. Thomas H. Ruger, commanding.

2. Department of the Missouri (Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indian Territory): Headquarters, Chicago, Ill., Maj.Gen. Wesley Merritt, commanding.

3. Department of the Platte: Headquarters, Omaha, Neb., Brig.-Gen. John J. Coppinger, commanding.

4. Department of Dakota: Headquarters, St. Paul, Minn., Brig.-Gen. John R. Brooke, commanding.

5. Department of Texas: Headquarters, San Antonio, Tex., Brig.-Gen. Zenas R. Bliss, commanding.

6. Department of California: Headquarters, Los Angeles, Cal., Brig.-Gen. James W. Forsyth, commanding.

7. Department of the Columbia: Headquarters, Vancouver Barracks, Wash., Brig.Gen. Elwell S. Otis, commanding.

The medical department of the United States army is allowed by law to consist of 1 surgeon-general, with the rank of Brig.gen.; 1 assistant surgeon-gen., with the rank of col. of cavalry; 1 chief medical purveyor; 4 surgeons, with the rank of col.; 2 assistant medical purveyors; 8 surgeons, with the rank of lieut.col.; 50 surgeons, with the rank of maj.; 125 assistant surgeons, with the rank of lieuts. of cavalry for the first 5 years' service, and of capts. of cavalry after 5 years' service. No person shall be appointed an assistant surgeon unless he shall have been examined and approved by an army medical board, to consist of not less than three surgeons or assistant surgeons, who shall be designated for that purpose by the Secretary of War, and no person shall receive the appointment of surgeon unless he shall have served at least five years as an assistant surgeon. He must also be examined by an army medical board. All candidates for appointment in the medical corps of the army must apply to the Secretary of War to be admitted to examination, and such candidates must be between 21 and 28 years of age, and graduates of a regular medical college; and the morals, habits, physical and mental qualifications, and general aptitude for the service are subjects for examination by the board.

The following table gives the names of those generals who have been in command of the army of the United States since the founding of the Republic.

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NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.-The Americans were a maritime people from the time of the first settlement of the colonies; and, as maritime commerce was conducted in the seventeenth century in the midst of constant danger from pirates, Indians, and freebooters, all vessels sailing out of American ports were armed, while most of the colonies fitted out special armed vessels for the general protection. In 1690 the Massachusetts colony fitted out eight armed vessels against the French privateers of Acadia; and in the same year a squadron of 40 vessels, with 2000 men, also from Massachusetts, made an unsuccessful descent on Quebec. The beginning of the eighteenth century, and the occurrence of the French war, brought the American colonies into hostilities, and, the crown and colonies acting together, expeditions were fitted out against the French, and a considerable American navy temporarily organized. After the peace of Utrecht in 1713, this force was reduced to a few armed vessels employed to guard the coast. In 1739 England declared war against Spain, and many expeditions were fitted out in the colonies, notably that against Carthagena. In 1741 a similar enterprise was undertaken against Cuba, and four years later the expedition against Louisburg, in aid of the new British war against France. In this war there were as many as 400 privateers and letters-of-marque engaged on the part of the colonies. The French and English war of 1756 again involved the colonies, and numerous brilliant naval exploits on the part of the colonial navy are recorded in its history. After the peace of 1763, no further call for armed vessels was made on the colonies, until the breaking out of the war of the revolution. At this period (1775) there existed no naval force whatever in the American colonies; and although Massachusetts fitted out a few privateers at the beginning of hostilities, it was not until six months after the battle of Lexington that Congress took steps to organize a navy. Two small cruisers were equipped to intercept British supply ships; then two more, of a larger class; and by the close of the year the construction of about 20 cruisers had been authorized. The first ensign displayed by a regular American man-of-war was hoisted by John Paul Jones, in Dec., 1775, on board the Alfred, of which he was first-lieutenant, that ship then lying in the Delaware. It is believed that this flag contained the device of a pine-tree, with a rattlesnake at its root, about to strike, and the motto "Don't tread on me!" The present national ensign did not come into use until 1777, and is generally believed to have originated in the arms of the Washington family, as displayed on Gen. Washington's headquarters' flag. The first American squadron consisted of eight vessels, including the Alfred, and sailed on Feb. 17, 1776, on a cruise against the British naval force then ravaging the coast of Virginia. This cruise was unsuccessful, and the officer in command, Commodore Ezek Hopkins, was dismissed from the service. Paul Jones, who was promoted to command of the Providence, 12 guns, atoned for this ill-fortune, in a measure, by capturing 16 prizes in a single cruise. After the Declaration of Independence, Congress set vigorously to work to construct a navy, authorizing in 1776-77 the building of 7 frigates, ? cutters, 2 sloops-of-war, and three 74-gun ships. At the same time congress regulated the rank of the different officers, and 24 captains were appointed to take precedence as their names stood on the list. The new navy did good work; not only as coasters, and upon the high seas, but by descents on the coasts of the British isles. The bo'd expedition of Paul Jones, with a squadron of which the Bon Homme Richard was the flagship, is historical. Meanwhile armed flotillas did good service on the great lakes, as to which brilliant exploits are recorded. On the ocean no less than 342 vessels were captured from the British during the first year of the war. During the second year they lost 467 merchantmen, captured by American cruisers and privateers. In 1779 the American navy encountered many disasters; and the three last years of the war witnessed no important naval engagements. The determination of the British government to exchange no more prisoners captured in American privateers demoralized that system of naval warfare, and but a few of that class of vessels remained, while the continental navy became greatly diminished. It is, however, the fact that British shipping suffered more heavily in this contest than in any other war in which England had previously been engaged. After the peace of 1783, what few public cruisers remained to the Americans were sold by order of the government. But about 1794 difficulties having broken out with the Barbary States, Congress authorized the construction of 6 frigates, and these were speedily built, including the United States and the immortal Constitution. In 1798 anxiety regarding the apparently impending war with France induced the American government to build 20 small armed vessels; and in this year the Department of the Navy was created, Benjamin Stoddart being its first secretary. Other ships were ordered, and on July 11, 1798, the formation of the marine corps was authorized. Before the close of this year 23 American men-of-war were at sea; and the capture of the French frigate L'Insurgente by the Constellation aroused the greatest enthusiasm: this was the first occasion since the establishment of the federal navy, when a national vessel had subdued one of equal force. In the beginning of 1800 the American government had a navy of 34 men-of-war at sea. Early in the following year peace with France was declared, and at once the government proceeded to sell the greater number of these ships-from a very mistaken theory of necessary economy. Hostilities with Tripoli began soon after the amicable settlement with France, and a squadron under Commodore Dale blockaded Tripoli, and captured several neutrals attempting to enter that port. Hostilities were not concluded until the summer of 1805, many important

captures having been in the mean time effected; the town of Tripoli bombarded and nearly captured; and good work having been accomplished in awakening the esprit de corps which has characterized the American navy ever since. From this period until 1812, the duty of American ships-of-war was confined chiefly to guarding the coast. In the latter year broke out the war with England, the American navy then consisting of but 17 efficient vessels, of which only 8 were frigates. The splendid capture of the British frigate Guerriere by the Constitution on Aug. 19, 1812, awakened renewed enthusiasm, however; and this was followed by that of the Frolic by the American sloop Wasp, and by the American frigate United States capturing the British frigate Macedonian-three most spirited and well-matched encounters. Early in 1813 Congress ordered the building of 4 ships of the line and 6 frigates, to be immediately followed by the construction of 6 sloops-of-war; only the sloops, however, were completed in time to be of service in this war. The general success of the Americans on the sea during the war of 1812 was equaled by the occurrence of splendid victories on Lake Eric and Lake Champlain; and the reputation of the American navy was greatly increased, while that of the British was correspondingly diminished. This war was followed by a brief period of hostilities against Algiers; and from that time to the outbreak of the Mexican war, America was at peace with all the world. Meanwhile its navy was kept in a condition of efficiency; four squadrons were retained in the Mediterranean, Pacific, on the coast of Brazil, and in the West Indies; and in 1841 a home squadron was created to cruise on the coast of the United States. By this means the dignity of the nation was for a time maintained in every part of the world, and American commerce every where protected. The Wilkes government exploring expedition formed an incident of this period, which raised the United States to the front rank among nations which devoted their naval resources in time of peace to scientific investigation.

The war with Mexico, which broke out in 1846, at once proved the value of the more recent system of keeping American squadrons on service in the different waters. The squadron in the gulf proceeded to blockade Vera Cruz; while that in the Pacific was ordered to the California coast and seized Monterey and Los Angeles. At Vera Cruz the navy now kept up an incessant bombardment of the fort of San Juan de Ulloa, which was eventually captured; there was no other important use made of the navy in this war. The Japan expedition under the command of Com. Perry, which was sent out by the government in 1852, was an important event in connection with opening up the ports of that country to western commerce, and its court to western diplomacy. The outbreak of the civil war found the American navy scattered far abroad, and of practically little value had it been attainable, owing to the peculiar nature of the warfare in which the north and south were now about to be engaged. The character of naval warfare had long before this totally changed. The great improvements in ordnance and projectiles had rendered the old wooden ships useless; and the application of steam power to the navy had been accomplished. But the American steam frigates were incompetent to resist the force of the Whitworth and other modern guns of long range and heavy calibre. The emergency brought forth the necessary inventive faculty, whose expression in the turreted iron-clad was the means of saving the north from ignominious failure at a most desperate moment. The operations of the United States navy during the civil war will be found fully set forth under the title REBELLION.

The following table gives a list of all vessels in the U. S. navy, with details of their construction and condition, on Jan. 1, 1897.