I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0Q0Q5D220CH • %' o* *bv* **,** * o °^ "-M -. -,:•• 9-7\ .- vT. '■ •to *0 -7» V* r ** -V *\>^ ^ ^ ^ ■*> ' • o. r^r*. *• . -» 35th Congress, > HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( Ex. Doc. 1st Session. \ I No. 72. NUMBER OF TROOPS IN THE LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. LETTER FROM T11K PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, COMMUNICATING Information in relation to the number of troops engaged in the service of the United States in the late war with Great Britain. March 4, 1858. — Referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. To the House of Bepresentatives : I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives communications- from the Secretary of War and Secretary of the Interior, in answer to the resolution adopted by the House on the 5th ultimo, requesting the President to furnish certain information in relation to the number of troops, whether regulars, volunteers, draughted men, or militia, who were engaged in the service of the United States in the last war with Great Britain, &c, &c. JAMES BUCHANAN. Washington City, March 4, 1858. War Department, Washington, February 23, 1858. Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith reports of the Adjutant General and Third Auditor, giving all the information in the posses- sion of those bureaus, in answer to a resolution of the House of Rep- resentatives of the 5th instant, requesting the President of the United States to furnish certain information in relation to the number of troops, whether regulars, volunteers, draughted men, or militia, who were mustered into the service in the last war with Great Britain ; those engaged in like manner in any of the Indian wars during the same period ; and the number of persons to whom bounty lands have- 2 NUMBER OF TROOPS IN LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. been awarded for services in said war of 1812, or in the said Indian wars, &c. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, y l •" J W. R. DRINKARD, Acting Secretary of War. The President of the United States. War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, Feb. 9, 1858. Sir : In compliance with the resolution of the House of Represen- tatives of the 5th instant, I have the honor to submit the following statement, which comprises all the information to be gathered from the records of this office: 1. The war of 1812, {with Great Britain.) The whole number of officers and men in the regular service during the war cannot be given. The following statement of the numbers at different periods of the war is the nearest approximation that can be made to it : Officers. Men. Aggregate. July, 1812 301 6,385 0,686 February, 1813 1,476 17,560 19,036 September, 1814 2,395 35,791 38,186 February, 1815 2,396 31,028 33,424 The militia force mustered into the service of the United States during the war was 31,210 officers, 440,412 men; 471,622 aggregate. A detailed statement of this force, the period of service, and State or Territory in which raised, will be found in document No. 20, 2d session 24th Congress, 1836-37, (House Reps.) 2. Indian tear of 1811. In November, 1811, the regular force in service was 414 officers, 5,194 men ; 5,608 aggregate. According to the statement of the Third Auditor, none of the militia who served in this war were in service for the period of six months. Those i Qgaged in the battle of Tippecanoe, though mustered into service for three months, under the law of February 28, 1795, were only in service about two months. 3. l'.ul little can be ascertained with regard to the force under General Wayne, in 1794 and 1795. It appears, from American State Papers, vol. 1, Military Affairs, pages 67 and 109, that the number of non-commissioned officers and privates of his army, in June, 1794, was 2,8 13, and in December, 1795, 2,039. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. COOPER, Adjutant General. Hon. John B. Floyd, Secretary of War. NUMBER OF TROOPS IN LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. Treasury Department, Third Auditor's Office, February 22, 1858. Sir : I have the honor to return to you, herewith, the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th instant, which you refer- red to me for a report — First. As to the whole number of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians^ pnd privates, whether regulars, volunteers, draughted men ormilitia, at any time engaged in or mustered into the service of the United States, in the last war with Great Britain. Second. What was the whole number in like manner engaged in any of the Indian wars which occurred during the same period, dis- tinguishing in both cases the number of those engaged for a greater or less period than one month ; also the same information as to those engaged in any of the Indian wars from the close of the revolutionary war to the commencement of the war of 1812. The third section of the resolution is referriblc to the Commissioner of Pensions for the information required in regard to the number of persons to whom bounty lands have been awarded for services in said war. With regard to the last section, this office has no data by which an estimate, or proximate estimate, of the annual cost of the extension of the systems of revolutionary pensions to the soldiers of the war of 1812, and accompanying Indian wars, could be arrived at. With regard to the requirements of the first section of the resolu- tion, I have the honor to state, so far as regards the militia force, that under a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 29th April, 1836, a full and minute statement of the whole force of the militia- volunteers, rangers, spies and sea-fencibles— engaged in the war of 1812, was furnished by this office, which included the States in which the said troops served ; the years in which they served, with the length of their service, which was accompanied by a summary statement of the whole, showing an aggregate of officers and men of 471,622. This statement will be found in document 20, volume 2, Executive Documents, 2d session 24th Congress, and furnishes all the information that this office possesses in regard to that description of troops. m With regard to the regular forces, I have to state that, in order to give the whole number of t-oops engaged in the war of 1812, and to do justice to the troops who enlisted prior to the war, and who neces- sarily had to serve therein, either for a portion or the whole of their time, I have commenced my computation from the year 1807, for the reason that the enlistments then authorized were for live years. As there were no regular troops authorized to be enlisted for a period less than twelve months, none (except in cases where improper recruits were made) served for a less period than one month. But with regard to the militia— of which there were an aggregate of 471,622—1 find that out of that number 145,590 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, served for a less period than one month ; and of the number engaged in Indian wars during the same period, say 70,919, the number of officers and men who served less than one month was 1,734. NUMBER OF TROOPS IN LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. The result of the investigation is set forth in the following table, viz T CD C . O cc ■TT - 13 <» °o .o ~» v" V r ^ \3 A > "\&ir '-. V