Dear Brother: . . . As to the army, I
agree that it is entirely too costly. Twenty-five thousand soldiers with a due
proportion of officers ought to be maintained at less than present estimates,
which I see are stated at forty and also at fifty-five millions. This must
embrace appropriations for forts, harbors, etc., whose disbursements fall under
the engineer and other bureaus of the War Department. The heaviest cost to the
army is in these expensive bureaus of which we have ten, all of which have a head
in Washington and run, as it were, a separate machine. I have no hesitation in
saying that if the Secretary of War has the lawful power to command the army
through the Adjutant-General, then my office is a sinecure and should be
abolished. Instead of being useful, it is simply ornamental and an obstacle to
unity of command and harmony of action. No two men can fulfil the same office;
and the law should clearly define the functions of each, or mine should be
abolished. . .
SOURCE:
Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence
Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 346-7
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