35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

he was charged not to allow any conflict to take place between the troops and the people of the Territory, except only in case he should be called on by the Governor for soldiers to act as a posse comitatus in enforcing obedience to the laws.

In conformity with this sentiment, and to assure these people of the real intention of the movement, an active, discreet officer was sent in advance of the army to Utah, for the purpose of purchasing provisions for it, and of assuring the people of the Territory of the peaceful intentions of the Government. This duty was faithfully performed; the chief men of the fraternity were assured that no violence was intended towards them or any one, and that nothing could be further from the intention of the Government or the army than to molest any one for their religious opinions, however abhorrent they might be to the principles of Christian morality. This officer found, upon entering the Territory, that these deluded people had already, in advance of his arrival, or of any information, except as to the march of the column, determined to resist their approach, and prevent, if possible, and by force, the entrance of the army into the valley of Salt Lake. Supplies of every sort were refused him. The day after his departure from the city, on his way back, Brigham Young issued his proclamation, substantially declaring war against the United States, and, at the same time, putting the Territory under martial law. The facts connected with this mission of Captain Van Vliet will appear more in detail from his reports, herewith transmitted.

In view of the menacing attitude of affairs in Utah, and of the importance of a prompt and thorough suppression of the spirit of rebellion reigning there, I must repeat my recommendation of five new regiments, which I am persuaded is the very smallest addition to the Army which the exigencies of the service will allow.

THE STAFF.

Attention has been repeatedly called to defects in the organization of the Army, and to various details in reference to several of its parts. As these evils increase with time and practice under them, I must again bring them before you.

The basis of our existing system is the British army as it served in the colonies before the Revolution, retaining many of the defects, since corrected in Great Britain, under the experience and necessities of long wars. Provisions inconsistent with the existing system, copied from other nations, and partial legislation designed for particular interests, have augmented these evils, and we have committed the fault of adapting our fundamental organization to a time of peace, instead of basing it on the exigencies of

war.

One of the greatest errors of detail is the separate, independent character of our staff corps. This removes them from their proper position as aids or assistants to the commander, and constitutes them his equals. It contracts the sphere of observation and experience, and thus unfits the officer for change or advancement, and begets an accumulation of precedent and prerogative at war with the vital principle of military organizationthe inviolable and undivided authority of the head. He is bound, as they are, by the law, and his construction of it should govern them, not theirs him.

Another defect is the uncertain and ill-defined rights of brevet rank. We have adopted the word, but not its signification, from the English rule, and applied it to circumstances not contemplated or existing when first established. Repeated decisions and imperfect legislation have only increased the evil by inviting new discussions and adopting new constructions.

We have retained another fault, abandoned, at least practically, in almost every service among civilized nations, even the most aristocratic and monarchical. This is promotion by seniority. Age and experience should bring excellence; but the test lies in the actual possession of the latter, and not merely in the circumstances which it is assumed should produce it. Seniority, with the requirements essential for position, ought certainly to give precedence; but without these, that

Report of the Secretary of War.

dignity and respect which belong to rank and command can never be secured.

All that has been urged in favor of retaining it with us is the danger of political or personal favor governing a selection. There may be danger from this source, but, by the rule of seniority, the worst officer of any arm must, if he lives, come to be one of the most important and responsible officers under the Government-the colonel of a regiment. By selection, it is possible that the very best may not be always chosen, though the chances are in favor of this hypothesis; but certainly the very worst never will be, and this is surely a gain on the present rule.

To correct these and other evils, I would urge so to provide by law for the construction of the regiments of horse, artillery, and infantry, as to approach them, as far as our circumstances require, , to the practice of all nations long experienced in war, and so as to admit their contraction for peace and their reëxpansion in war without altering this basis.

This can be done without any increase of officers or men, or augmentation of expense, by merely arranging those already in service and the companies of each corps to suit the end proposed. ||

To place the staff in proper relation to the rest of the Army, the law should collect all the officers doing that branch of duty into one corps, to be assigned by authority of the President to such duties as each may seem to be best fitted for, securing to each the rank and relative position he now holds. But, as some staff corps are confined to duties requiring special instruction and long experience, their separate organization might be retained.

A general provision dispensing with the staff bureaus and giving the President authority to regulate the duties on the principles above stated, and to transfer, when necessary, officers to and from the line and staff, would restore the institution to its proper effectiveness. Thus, the staff near the War Department, representing the authority of the constitutional commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, would bear the same relation to him as the staff attached to a corps in the field have to the colonel or general who commands it.

To avoid, for the future, the difficulties attending brevet rank, the best plan is to create, permanently, the general offices now exercised under brevets, making as many major generals and brigadier generals as the strength of the Army requires. This would afford promotion to many brevet officers of inferior rank, and thus absorb nearly all; as the strength of the Army requires these officers, and they have always existed under the brevet rank, no increase of expense would follow their being permanently established. The law should then provide that brevet rank should give no right, under any circumstances, unless by the especial assignment of the President in such case, retaining that rank as a mere honorary distinction, except in case of especial assignment, but at all times recommending the bearer as a worthy candidate for promotion.

Promotion may be made a reward of merit and an incentive to zeal by enacting that it shall take place by seniority in corps (unless in extraordinary cases) to the rank of captain, and beyond

that by selection from the next grade in the same arm to that to be filled as far as colonel, inclusive. General officers to be at the choice of the President, as they now are.

Much has been said as to the propriety of separating the purchase of stores and supplies, and all moneyed accountability, from the officers proper of the Army.

This system has been adopted in France, but is objected to as giving to the civil officers thus employed an immunity from military control, injurious, if not fatal, to the interests of the service. This objection would be fully met by providing that this class of officers, without receiving military rank, or being entitled to command, should be amenable to military tribunals, and thus act under the same responsibility that the disbursing officer now does.

It is certain that an officer looking forward to military advancement and fame is tempted to incur risks on the field of battle, the fatal issue

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of which might ruin his family, and some of his friends, and his own reputation, through the disorder which his sudden death might bring into his pecuniary affairs.

These proposed changes would restore our military system to that simplicity which would render such amendments as experience might recommend easy and well adapted to existing cir

cumstances.

I concur with my predecessor in other proposed ameliorations, and especially in preparing for infirm and disabled officers a competent and tranquil retreat, and for the unworthy a substantial dismissal from the service; thus securing that efficiency of the Army which will entitle it to full respect from the country, and which the country have a right to demand.

This should be applied in two ways: First, on the application of the officer; and second, on the direction of the President, as if on accusation. A board of five officers of high rank to be detailed for each case, and the examination to be conducted as though on charges before a court martial; the President to decide on the report of the court. The disposal of the officer to be one of three kinds: First, an honorable release from duty, and from any corps to which he may be attached; remaining as a supernumerary officer with the pay and emoluments of his grade, as on leave of absence: Second, to be retired from the Army, without censure or disgrace, on his pay proper, unless he forfeits it by misconduct: Third, to be retired from the Army, without pay or compen sation, except a gratuity of one year's, or six or three months' pay, to secure him from the evil consequences of absolute want.

REPORT OF THE GENERAL-IN-CHIEF.

I call special attention to the report of the Gen eral-in-Chief, and ask for his recommendations a favorable consideration. It is certainly true that to call ours a peace establishment is a mere abuse of terms. It is well known that the casualties of the battle-field bear a very small proportion to the loss of life from exposure and hardship encountered in long and perilous marches, and from protracted campaigns. In every particular, with the exception only of the battle-field, no hardships encountered by any army prosecuting any war are greater than those to which a very large proportion of our troops are constantly exposed; and the dangers of battle are far from being insignificant, as the reports of these constantly recurring conflicts will abundantly show.

The plan of regimental depots for recruiting, I am confident will be very advantageous to the service. It will produce a spirit of generous rivalry, conducive in the highest degree to good discipline and military bearing. The tone of the rank and file needs elevation extremely, and every means should be resorted to tending to effect it. If our troops were massed sufficiently to insure perfect instead of day-laborers; if a feeling of pride indrill and discipline; if they were made soldiers stead of degradation resulted from their connec tion with the service, the morale of the Army would soon take that elevation which is most desirable in all armies, and which certainly ought to be preeminent in that of a great Republic. The tremely detrimental to the service. They feel habit of employing soldiers as laborers is exdegraded because they are deprived of both the laboring man, who feels that his vocation is honemoluments and the sturdy independence of the orable because it is independent and free. The soldier who enters the service with some degree of military aspiration, can but resent as a wrong the order which changes him from his legitimate vocation to that of a mere operative, deprived of his fair wages. I think it would conduce greatly to the elevation of the rank and file if promotion to commission was made readily and certainly attainable by the really meritorious men in the ranks. If our Army was put upon the proper footing, the anomalous spectacle of having two thirds of our rank and file composed of foreigners would certainly not be witnessed.

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

possible notice, from remote points, to overawe or suppress Indian outbreaks. The temper and spirit of the Indians are entirely unknown to the War Department, except through communications from the Department of the Interior, which, of course, would never be made, except when forces are deemed necessary for the public safety. The system of defense proposed through the double line of posts, herein recommended, would, I think, in a very great measure, neutralize this evil.

RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC.

The surveys heretofore ordered by Congress

to ascertain the best route for the construction of a railroad from the western boundary of our States lying west of the Mississippi to the Pacific, have been carefully made, and the results elaborately set forth in eight large volumes. In the opinion of competent judges, there is now no controversy as to the most eligible route for the railroad, assuming that all the material facts in the case have been fully ascertained. The route from El Paso to the Colorado, besides being the shortest of all yet surveyed, possesses very decided advantages over others in several important particulars. The grades are lower, the climate milder, and the distance across the desert region, common to all the routes, is less upon this. Water, too, is sufficiently abundant upon the tract of this survey; so that in selecting a railroad route between the Pacific and the valley of the Mississippi, as far as our present information goes, that by El Paso would be chosen; but the consummation of this project, freed from all other difficulties, would require immense sums of money and a great length of time. Meanwhile, other military roads very urgently require special and prompt opening and occupation. If the railroad were, to-day, completed from El Paso to the line of California, a strong and urgent necessity would still remain for maintaining and keeping open at least two of the other routes, for the passage of emigrants and the transportation of military stores to vast regions of our country accessible only by these routes. Then, as these routes are to be opened in any event, true policy and economy

would seem to indicate that it should be done at

once.

A line of stockade posts upon two of these routes would not require a very large force to maintain them, and, if placed at proper distances apart, would furnish certain means of a safe and rapid transportation of the mails and perfect protection to a telegraphic line from one ocean to the other, which latter object would, in itself, be worth far more to the country than the cost of the posts, and the expense of maintaining them.

EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS.

There is no appropriation of equal amount, in charge of this Department, that is productive of more real and substantial benefit to the public service than that for military explorations and surveys. At this time we are actually ignorant of the geography and general character of large tracts of country lying between the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific ocean. Every day is adding new and important facts to our present stores of knowledge upon this subject. much as has been accomplished within the last few years, it is hazarding but little to say that we have only begun to acquire what it is so useful for us to understand thoroughly.

And,

Two expeditions have been fitted out expressly to explore tracts of country hitherto wholly unknown. The first was sent to the northwest, beyond the waters of the Upper Missouri, towards the "Black Hills," and will, no doubt, bring valuable information. The other is engaged in exploring the Colorado of the West, of which, to this time, nothing scarcely has been accurately known. I am not without strong hope that this exploration will result in discovering the best means by which the transportation of army stores can be effected to the interior of New Mexico and Utah.

But for the assistance rendered these explorations by the troops detailed for the purpose, the appropriations would prove wholly inadequate for any material results.

I transmit herewith the report of the Bureau

Report of the Secretary of War.

of Explorations and Surveys, for more detailed information of the expeditions fitted out for these purposes, and of the progress made in the experiment of artesian wells.

MILITARY ROADS.

The military roads heretofore in charge of this Department are progressing satisfactorily, under the superintendence of the officers having them in charge.

Amongst them is one from Fort Defiance to the mouth of the Mojave river, which deserves special notice from the plan adopted for its construction. The appropriation for this work was only $50,000, whilst the length of the road was about five hundred and fifty miles. I directed Edward F. Beale, Esq., to whom I intrusted the construction of this road, to pass over and survey the route throughout the entire length, to lay out the road and make it passable for wagons at all difficult places.

With this party I sent thirty-five camels of those recently imported under the direction of my predecessor. This was intended as an experiment to test the efficiency of those animals as beasts of burden and transportation through the barren and difficult country of the great mountain range separating the Mississippi valley from the Pacific ocean. From the recent reports received from Mr. Beale, it would appear that the camels are likely to answer fully the high expectations entertained of them for military purposes by the honorable Secretary who introduced them into the country.

ARTESIAN WELLS.

Nothing worthy of special note has occurred since the last report upon the subject of artesian wells. I think there is not much doubt of the feasibility of procuring abundant supplies of good water by this means, and the benefits resulting from a successful prosecution of this enterprise are too palpable to require any illustration. For military purposes, these wells are altogether indispensable. The desert country, impassable now for want of water by any considerable military force, will, upon completion of the system of wells, be easily traversed from Fort Fillmore to Albuquerque, and from Fort Union to Santa Fé. The work is still under the direction of Captain Pope, who has hitherto had it in charge.

MILITARY RESERVES.

Several military reservations, heretofore established for the occupation of troops upon the Indian frontier, having become useless for any military purposes, and calculated to retard the settlement of the country, have been sold under a law passed at the last session of Congress. With the exception of the reserve at Fort Ripley, the prices offered for these lands were satisfactory. The bids for the lands of the latter reservation being considered too low, the sale was set aside, and the property retained.

MILITARY ASYLUMS.

Under a law of the last Congress directing the sale of the western military asylum at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, an effort was made to consummate it, but without effect. After due and extensive advertisement of the day of sale, and upon the assembling of bidders, the property was offered at public outcry, but the highest sum offered was considered by the agent for the sale so inadequate that the property was withdrawn.

The asylum in this District is, to a limited extent, answering the purposes for which it was established. It furnishes a quiet and abundant home for the invalid soldiers who are admitted to it.

NATIONAL FOUNDERY.

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ety of iron ores and their boundless extent in the United States, we should not have yet discovered a mine capable of making the very best gun, or, if such be discovered, that there are no means by which the public service can be benefited by it;

but such is the fact.

A national foundery would serve as a great laboratory at which the qualities and value of metals throughout the whole Confederacy would be tested and fixed. Every variety of iron, with its especial adaptation to particular uses, would, in a few years, be familiarly known to the country, and individual enterprise would be saved in experiments many times the amount which the works would cost, whilst a great national branch of industry might, by this means, receive a legitimate and efficient encouragement.

There is but little doubt that many American iron ores are equal at least to those of Norway; and yet the national armories are driven by necessity to purchase from abroad the Norwegian iron for the manufacture of small arms. Choosing to have the best quality of arms, we must go abroad for the best quality of iron. A national foundery would soon teach to improve the manufacture of iron, and we would be saved the mortification of bringing iron from abroad, and the money, too, we have to pay for it.

The cost of heavy guns would presently be diminished, and their quality would be, undoubtedly, very materially improved.

It therefore appears to me that every consideration of sound policy and economy demands the establishment of a national foundery, which I accordingly respectfully recommend.

ORDNANCE.

The report of the Chief of Ordnance will explain in detail the condition of that most important branch of the public service. Its general operations have, in the main, been satisfactory. The manufacture of small arms at the two national armories continues with very much the same results as heretofore. The arms fabricated are of the most superior quality, although it is more than questionable whether the rifled or grooved musket is any improvement whatever upon the musket of the pattern adopted in 1842 for the use of infantry in the field.

The valuable property at Baton Rouge belonging to the Government is being greatly injured by reason of the decayed condition of the wooden inclosure, which was constructed many years since. It is, therefore, advisable that some provision be made for building a substantial iron fence, and thereby preserving the buildings and grounds, which are now subject to serious damage and constant depredation.

I would also advise that, for the purpose of still further improving the grounds, authority be building, and to sell a piece of land at the exgiven to purchase a jut of land near the principal treme end of the property, of little value for Government purposes. For these objects a small appropriation will be required.

As a school of practice for the artillery is established at Fort Monroe, which is much needed by the service, it is very desirable that one or two small tracts of land in the immediate vicinity of the post, and directly affected by the target firing, should belong to the Government; therefore authority ought to be given to purchase this land, and thus remove all obstructions to the satisfactory establishment of the school at this important post.

THE NATIONAL DEFENSES.

The report of the Chief Engineer will inform you of the character and condition of our seacoast defenses. It will be seen that these works are gradually, but certainly, advancing towards

a system of maritime defenses formidable in extent, and of great magnitude.

A well-managed national foundery would very speedily develop and establish facts which would add immensely to our national wealth. It is scarcely to be credited that, with the infinite vari

New York, the great heart of commerce on this continent, where more and greater interests concentrate than at any point on our Atlantic coast, may be considered as impregnable from any attack from the sea when the fortifications now in progress shall be finished. The fortifications will be better, the guns heavier and more numerous than those of Sebastopol.

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

Upon the general system of sea-coast defense, it is hardly necessary to say a word at this day. The policy of the Government seems to be fixed in that respect; and wisely, too, no doubt, if the works be prosecuted with a wise economy. Fortifications are now very justly esteemed the cheapest and far the most effectual means of defense for every important commercial point: with the heavy guns of the present day no fleet can match a fortification; and, when completed, these works can be kept in perfect repair at a very trifling cost until needed for actual service. A fortification costing not much more than double the sum necessary to build and equip a first class line-of-battle ship, will constitute a formidable defense for a harbor, and will continue to do so throughout any

length of time. The value of this mode of defense is becoming more apparent every day. As our population increases, and the facilities for intercommunication are multiplied, a military force of any extent can, with more and more readiness, be concentrated at any given point in the shortest possible time. Fortifications, which will naturally retard the landing of a foreign foe, must give time to concentrate a force at any given point equal to any emergency. A larger force could be thrown into New York in two weeks, by means of internal communication, than could be brought there from abroad in a year by all the means which any European Power could possibly com

månd.

Our ramified system of railroads, spreading throughout the whole country-those sinews of iron which bind with indissoluble ties the commercial interests of our community-confer upon the nation a capability for defense which obviates forever the necessity of standing armies, or of a navy more numerous than is necesssary to give protection to our ships in the prosecution of our

extended commerce.

PENSIONS.

The attention of Congress has been frequently called to the glaring discrepancy between the enactments regulating the pensions of soldiers and those of sailors. There is an invidious distinction between these two arms of service which rests upon no principle of reason or justice. It would, beyond doubt, conduce to the interest of the Army, and the public service, too, if pensions in the Army were put upon the same footing precisely with those of the Navy. The recommendation of the General-in-Chief I commend to your favorable notice and to that of Congress.

MILITARY BANDS.

The importance of regimental bands to the service admits of no doubt in the estimation of mil

itary men. In European armies great attention is paid to the subject, and great excellence exists in this department. Heretofore, in our service, the bands have been supported by contributions from the men in the shape of savings from the ration. Under the new regulations of the Army, this fund, which is certainly the property of the soldier, has been returned to him in the shape of more palatable addition to his subsistence, particularly when complaining from indisposition. The bands will be broken up, unless some means are set apart for their maintenance. This can readily be done by appropriating a sufficient sum for the purpose out of the fines and forfeitures of the Army. This fund could not be devoted to a more desirable object.

OREGON AND WASHINGTON CLAIMS.

By a law passed the 18th day of August, 1856, a commission was directed to be appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the sum of money fairly due to the volunteers of Oregon and Washington Territories for their services in the Indian wars which threatened to lay waste those Territories. In compliance with this law, Captain Smith, of the first dragoons, Captain Rufus Ingalls, of the quartermaster's department, and Lafayette Grover, Esq., of Salem, Oregon, were appointed to examine the accounts and claims, and to make a report in conformity with the law and upon the facts as they existed, so far, at least, as it was possible to ascertain them.

charge of them until the 20th day of October last, when they were brought to a close. I have examined this report very carefully, and conclude that, from the data they adopted for their guide as to the prices of stores and subsistence, and time of service rendered by the men, it is not probable a more just or accurate result could be attained than these gentlemen have arrived at. The amount ascertained to be due is a very large one, and Congress will have to make provision for its payment if it is intended they shall be liquidated, of which I presume there can now be no doubt.

BREECH-LOADING ARMS.

breech-loading rifle has been nearly all expended The appropriation for the purchase of the best for arms of different construction-some for experiment in the field, thought to be far the best test, and some have been purchased for use in the Army, having been already approved by trials in the hands of troops in actual service. time the appropriation was made which has not I think there existed no arm of the sort at the been materially improved since; and much of this improvement has taken place since the trial

made of this sort of arm last summer, at West Point, under the direction of a board of officers

appointed for the purpose. The variety of breechloading arms is extremely great, and the ingenuity exhibited in constructing them highly creditable. Some of these arms are best for one sort of service, whilst others answer best for another, and the purchases made have been determined with a view to this object. Improvements are still going on in the construction of this particular arm, and, with some further encouragement, valuable results will no doubt be attained. degree, celerity and accuracy of fire, with great Some of these arms combine, in a very high force, at long range.

TOPOGRAPHICAL BUREAU.

The clear and complete reports from this the past year, and its present condition. bureau will fully apprise you of its labors during

AQUEDUCT, CAPITOL, AND POST OFFICE EXTENSION.

These works are still under the direction of the officer heretofore in charge of them, and his report will show the progress made in their prosecution, as well as his estimates for money to carry on the work in the future.

QUARTERMASTER GENERAL'S BUREAU.

The operations of this department for the past year will fully appear from the Quartermaster General's report, herewith transmitted.

service are extremely large, but the duties The sums expended in this branch of the public formed are very great, and the necessities for the

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mountain region, the chains of which, so far as yet known, have, generally, a direction north and south.

If we draw a line nearly coinciding with the meridian of 990 west longitade, dividing the great plain into two nearly equal parts, we shall find that portion east of this line differing entirely from that west of it. The eastern part is fertile, the western arid and sterile. The width of the fertile district is from four to five hundred miles; of the sterile, from three to four hundred miles. The surface of this uncultivable region, along the routes generally traveled, is sandy, gravely, and pebbly. It supports no trees, except a few willows and cotton-woods along the streams, to which mezquite is added in the southern latitudes.

The grass is sparse; numerous varieties of cac

tus are abundant. Portions of the river bottoms (where the soils of the different strata become mixed, and where water can be had for irrigation)

are, to a limited extent, cultivable. The minor streams frequently disappear in the sands.

On the western border of the plain the mountains rise abruptly from it. The routes explored by the Pacific railroad parties entered the mountain region through the lowest known passes, whose altitudes vary from four to ten thousand feet above the sea. The mountain ridges and peaks rise above these passes from one to six thousand feet. Nearly the entire distance to the Pacific is occupied by mountains separated by desert plains or basing. The two great chains forming the east and west border of the mountain region have the greatest elevation, inclosing, as it were, the others.

Great aridity and sterility characterize the mountain region, except the Pacific slopes of its western border, and generally the aspect is dreary

and desolate in the extreme.

To be sure, at the foot of the western slopes of the highest mountain chains and spurs, fertile soil and the means of irrigation are often found. And there are small mountain valleys that are cultivable, and also river bottoms; but the plains may be called barren, and, with rare exceptions, the soil can only be cultivated when the means of irrigation are at hand. Occasionally belts of forest are found among the mountains, but the instances are exceptional.

The great uncultivated belt, including plain and mountain region, through which all routes to the Pacific must pass, has a width near our northern boundary of eleven hundred miles; in latitude 380, of twelve hundred miles; and near the southern boundary, of one thousand miles. The length of the roads through the belt is of course greater.

Over nearly this whole region, and over disper-department is called upon to furnish transportatances quite as great as these, the quartermaster's tion and supplies for our troops, who are keeping up a continual patrol of that vast territory, and a great portion of the time engaged in warfare with the numerous and hardy savages who range perpetually over those boundless wilds. Heavy expenditures cannot be avoided in the quartermaster's department as long as we keep up a military organization in the West.

payment of immense sums of money in this department seem unavoidable. This vast expenditure will cease to be a matter of surprise to any one who, with proper information, reflects fully upon the extent and character of the country over which our military operations are conducted.

We are not apt to carry along, as an element of reflection in drawing a contrast between the present and former expenditures, the enormous increase of distances to be traversed, and the difficulties which multiply themselves from transportation over a wild, barren, sterile, uninhabited

waste.

Our territory lying between the Mississippi river and the Pacífic ocean is about twelve hundred miles in length from north to south; its breadth from east to west, in latitude 490, is fifteen hundred miles; in latitude 380, eighteen hundred miles; and in latitude 320, fifteen hundred miles; the area being about two million square miles.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Secretary of War. To the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

GENERAL LAND OFFICE,
November 30, 1857.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this office for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1857, and for the quarter ending September 30, 1857.

The quantity of land surveyed and ready for market, and not advertised, on the 30th of September, 1857, exclusive of lands withdrawn on account of railroad grants, embraces an area of 57,442,876 acres. Of this quantity, there was surveyed and returned to this office during the five