I. Introduction

(See previous lecture.)

II. Alternatives to Uptonianism

A. From Commanding General to Chief of Staff

1. One alternative was exemplified by Procter and John M. Schofield.

a. Procter was a US Senator from New Hampshire, SecWar under Benj. Harrison.

b. Schofield a distinguished Civil War general, acting SecWar (Jun 68-Mar 69), and--in 1888--commanding general of US Army.

2. Schofield was convinced that an actual commanding general was not possible under US system.

a. Old constitutional issues--President as C-in-C; SecWar his deputy.

b. Schofield redefined his job as basically that of chief of staff.

(1) Previous CGs had tried to be coequal, led to wrangles with SecWars.

(2) Schofield aspired only to be master of the bureaus; did not challenge SecWar.

(3) But: was solidly in charge of Army bureaucracy in a way previous CGs were not.

c. Importantly, Procter backed him up and made this new system stick.

3. Unfortunately, Schofield's successor (Nelson Miles) reverted to the old system--trying to compete for power with SecWar. Still, the Army would eventually return to Schofield's model.

B. Schofield and Procter also implemented reforms that did not require Congressional approval.

1. fitness reports, promotion exams, development of an army school system (without asking for more money--just did it on existing garrison budgets).

III. Manpower Policy

A. A critical problem remained: where to get forces for major operations? Regular Army insufficient.

1. What about revamping the militia system?

a. Old system of volunteers essentially involved creation of new units from "whole cloth"--militia system shot; volunteer companies--now called National Guard--were not nearly numerous enough.

b. Uptonians argued that National Guard was no good.

(1) No immediate utility for war.

(2) Maybe okay for strike-breaking (Army disliked that mission anyway).

c. Others disagreed--thought a good National Guard system could be created.

B. Volunteer system riding high on crest of Civil War service.

1. Sen. John A. Logan of Illinois, The Citizen Soldier in America (pub. 1887).

a. Civil War general and corps commander; chief founder of GAR.

b. Bitter at Regulars, in part because Sherman denied him permanent command of Army of the Tennessee; gave it to a regular (Howard) instead.

2. Grand Army of the Republic (GAR; premier organization of Union veterans. Founded 1866, largely to further Logan's political aspirations. Moribund by 1872, it was revived in late 1807s as a fraternal order. By 1890 it had become a powerful lobby for pensions, a certain view of American nationalism, "correct" history, and the volunteer soldier ethos.

3. The Citizen Soldier in America (1887) was a psalm in praise of the volunteer soldier. Argued as well that professional officers were overrated.

a. Many West Pointers had gone over to the Confederacy.

b. Many had had "undistinguished" careers.

c. Generals like Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, although West Pointers, were accidents of the system--had not finished at top of their class; were simply "born soldiers" who would have been successful even without West Point.

4. Logan argued for the preservation of the American volunteer system. Four-point program for improvement:

a. Rudiments of military instruction should be taught at every state university, not just academies.

b. West Point and Annapolis should be "finishing schools," with admission based on competition.

c. Public schools should include infantry drill.

d. Each state should strengthen its militia system and encourage young men to attach themselves to it.

5. Some of this sounds militaristic. But Logan's program was essentially antimilitaristic. Championed view of natural aptitude for war. Also anti-professional: "To constitute a small body of men the sole military experts of the nation is to invest them with a tremendous power for evil, should they, in the course of human weakness, ever see fit to use it."

C. Volunteer companies in postwar period included only about 120,000 officers and men--less, proportionate to population, than at any time in US history.

D. Some of the building blocks for a revitalized volunteer system already existed.

E. Morrill Act (1862) - had implications for peacetime creation of trained volunteer officers.

1. Land Grant College Act

2. Senator Morrill, Republican, Vermont--one of the populist Republican reformers; had a field day when conservative Southerners left Congress after secession.

3. Basic thrust: broad, affordable, democratizing education.

4. Sale of Federal lands could be used to endow universities.

5. One provision: universities had to offer military training.

a. military science department

b. voluntary system

c. trained students who might become wartime officers

(1) no commissions or ties to National Guard involved.

(2) Reg. Army officers considered this good duty--time at college gave them time to study, prepare for another career.

F. Revival of National Guard

1. NGs basically worn out by Civil War

2. revival in 1870s.

a. One theory--labor disputes led to revival

(1) Esp. Railway Strike of 1877

(2) State legislatures had new interest in organized militia for riot duty.

(a) Neglect, however, continued--not until 1890s did states pay men for summer camps, expenses.

b. But something else was at work, too: "nostalgia phenomenon."

(1) Civil War veterans, having gotten back into civilian life, remained interested in military life.

(a) GAR formed in 1870s, too.

3. This really gave an impetus to renaissance of NGs, whereas funding alone would have been inadequate.

a. George Wingate, Civil War veteran--founded National Rifle Association in 1871.

(1) Government offers active support--weapons, ammo, instructors.

4. NGs had a professionalist cadre that wanted to prepare for wartime mobilization mission

a. National Guard Association of the USA formed to pursue this goal (1878)

b. very, very powerful lobby

c. lobbied for direct Federal assistance to militia that was training for wartime missions, not old-time militia.

5. 1887--Congress increases annual weapons subsidy (which dated from Militia Act of 1808) from $200,000 to $400,000.

a. Weapons remain property of Federal government.

b. Government sets standards for its use and who would get it.

(1) Controversial--NGUSA splits over issue.

6. 1st time since 1792 that NGs begin to look like a real deal.

a. Offer of regular army officers as advisers and trainers

(1) Considered good duty--offered political connections, esp. for volunteer commissions in event of war.

b. 1890s--joint encampments and maneuvers, inspections. War Dept. recommended increased subsify to $1 million; emphasis on NG as Army reserve.

IV. The Endicott Board

A. One traditional mission of the U.S. Army--defense against foreign invasion--gained renewed attention in the mid-1880s.

1. Beginning in the late 1700s, the United States had started a system of coastal fortifications along the Atlantic, Gulf, and later the Pacific coasts.

a. These casemated vertical masonry forts proved vulnerable, during the American Civil War, to the new generation of rifled cannon.

(1) Federal cannon reduced Fort Pulaski, which guarded the water approaches to Savannah, within a few hours in March 1862.

(2) By mid-1863 Federal warships reduced Fort Sumter to rubble.

B. Developments in Europe--especially the success of the Krupp breech-loading steel cannon--prompted concern in the U.S.

1. 1883--As part of the Naval Appropriations Act, a joint Army-Navy Gun Foundry Board was set up to consider the problem of modernizing US weapons.

a. The board toured the armaments factories of Europe and eventually recommended that the government offer subsidies to stimulate American industry to develop appropriate steels and forgings, and that the government itself undertake to assemble these materials into modern guns at the Naval Gun Factory and Army's arsenals.

b. Purpose--too avoid, on the one hand, France's dependence on a hidebound military armaments board; and on the other, to avoid Germany's dependence on private munitions manufacturers.

C. 1885--Another board, chaired by SecWar William C. Endicott, meets to discuss restoration of coastal defenses.

1. Results in somewhat extravagant plans for fortification of 27 (later 28) principal harbors (plus Canadian border) with earthworks and steel-plated masonry sheltering a total of 677 high-powered guns and 824 mortars.

2. To be augmented by mining the harbors.

3. Expected cost--$127 million.

D. A little difficult to justify--who was the likely foe?--but Army and Navy argued in 1890s that Sino-Japanese War suggested ease with which US could be invaded.

E. In the meantime, in 1888 Congress voted intial appropriation to begin carrying out the proposals.

1. Established Board of Ordnance and Fortification (headed by CG Schofield) to review detailed plans to be worked out by Corps of Engineers.

2. During 1890s, Civil War-era forts abandoned and new forts constructed:

a. earthworks, armor-plated concrete pits, ten- and twelve-inch "disappearing" rifled guns.

V. Conclusion

A. By the time of the Spanish-American War, the United States Army had succeeded in modernizing up to a point.

1. Progress in professionalization, esp. schools; some progress with promotion system.

2. Mission redefined toward foreign war, evidenced by emphasis in schools, Endicott Board.

B. Still, big issues remained:

1. General staff--still did not exist, although Schofield had pointed toward a new, better chief of staff arrangement.

2. Manpower policy--still dependent on old volunteer company system, although National Guard--as it was now called--was more vital, more interested in prepping for a wartime mission, and better tied to Federal Government through system of advisers and training standards.

C. Navy was also beginning to modernize and professionalize.

1. We'll deal with that next time.

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