signed to employ them, against the Cheyenne Indians, and devolved upon them the delicate and most ungracious task of intervening to suppress insurrectionary movements by citizens of the United States against the organized government of the Territory. To maintain the supremacy of law, and to sustain the regularly constituted authorities of the Government, they were compelled to take the field against those whom it is their habit to regard not only with feelings of kindness but with protective care. Energy tempered with forbearance and firmness, directed by more than ordinary judgment, has enabled them to check civil strife, and to restore order and tranquillity without shedding one drop of blood. In aid of the civil authorities they have arrested violators of the peace, have expelled lawless bands from the country, and regularly guarding its borders have met and disarmed hordes of men, organized, armed, and equipped, and advancing for aggressive invasion; * while the actual use of their uniforms has been reserved until donned against the common enemies of the United States."

*This clause of the report shows how strong a prejudice the Secretary of War felt against any coercion of States or Territories by the army of the United States.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

SECRETARY OF WAR, 1853-57.

WHILE in the Senate," Mr. Davis wrote, "I had advocated the construction of a railway to connect the valley of the Mississippi with the Pacific coast; and, when an appropriation was made to determine the most eligible route for that purpose, the Secretary of War was charged with its application. We had then but little of that minute and accurate knowledge of the interior of the continent which was requisite for the determination of the problem; several different parties were, therefore, organized to examine the various routes, supposed to be practicable, within the northwestern and southern limits of the United States. The arguments which I had used as a Senator were 'the military necessity for such means of transportation and the need of safe and rapid communication with the Pacific slope to secure its continuance as a part of the Union. '

"In the organization and equipment of these parties, and in the selection of their officers, care was taken to provide for securing full

and accurate information upon every point involved in the determination of the route. The only discrimination made was in the more prompt and thorough equipment of the parties for the extreme northern line, and this was only because that was supposed to be the most difficult of execution of all the surveys. In like manner, my advocacy, while in the Senate, of an extension of the Capitol, by the construction of a new Senate Chamber and Hall of Representatives, may have caused the appropriation for that object to be put under my charge as Secretary of War.

"During my administration of the War Department, material changes were made in the models of arms. Iron gun-carriages were introduced, and experiments were made, which led to the casting of heavy guns hollow, instead of boring them after casting. Inquiries were made with regard to gunpowder, which subsequently led to the use of a coarser grain for artillery.

"During the same period the army was increased by the addition of two regiments of infantry, and two of cavalry. The officers of these regiments were chosen partly by selection from those already in service in the regu lar army, and partly by appointment from civil life. In making the selection for the army I was continually indebted to the assistance of

that pure-minded and accurately informed officer, Colonel Samuel Cooper, the AdjutantGeneral, of whom it may be proper here to say that, although his life had been spent in the army, and he, of course, had the likes and dislikes inseparable from men who are brought into close contact and occasional rivalry, I never found, in his official recommendation, any indication of partiality or prejudice toward any one.

"When the first list was made out, to be submitted to the President, a difficulty was found to exist which had not occurred either to Colonel Cooper or myself. This was that the officers, selected purely on their military record, did not contribute a roster conforming to that distribution among the different States which, for political considerations, it was thought desirable to have; that is to say, the number of such officers of Southern birth was found to be disproportionately great. Under instructions from the President, the list was therefore revised and modified in accordance with this new element of geographical distribution. This, as I am happy to remember, was the only occasion in which the current of my official actions, while Secretary of War, was disturbed in any way by sectional or political considerations.

"Under former administration of the War

Office, it had not been customary to make removals or appointments upon political grounds, except in the case of clerkships. To this custom I not only adhered, but extended it to include the clerkships also. The Chief Clerk, who had been removed by my predecessor, had peculiar qualifications for that place; and, although known to me only officially, he was restored to the position.

Upon my first entrance upon duty as Secretary of War, General Jessup, the Quartermaster-General, presented me a list of names from which to make selection of a clerk for his department. Observing that he had attached certain figures to these names, I asked whether the figures were intended to indicate the relative qualifications and preference, in his estimation, of the several applicants; and upon his answer in the affirmative, without further question, authorized him to appoint" No. 1" of his list. A day or two afterward, certain Democratic members of Congress called on me and politely inquired whether it was true that I had appointed a Whig to a position in the War Office. 'Certainly not,' I answered. 'We thought you had not been aware of it,' said they, and proceeded to inform me that Mr. -(the recent appointee to the clerkship post) was a Whig. After listening patiently to their