APPENDIX No. 5. POST OF WILLETS POINT, NEW YORK; UNITED STATES ENGINEER SCHOOL; BATTALION OF ENGINEERS; ENGINEER DEPOT. REPORT OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL W. R. KING, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1892. UNITED STATES ENGINEER SCHOOL, Post of Willets Point, New York Harbor, July 25, 1892. GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following annual report on the post of Willets Point, New York Harbor; the United States Engineer School, the Battalion of Engineers, and the Engineer Depot. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. R. KING, Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers, Commanding. Brig. Gen. THOMAS L. CASEY, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. I. POST OF WILLETS POINT. At the close of the fiscal year the garrison consisted of 24 commissioned officers and 353 enlisted men, including the following general staff, and infantry officers: Maj. Clarence Ewen, surgeon, U. S. Army. Capt. W. Fitzhugh Carter, assistant surgeon, U. S. Army. Second Lieut. William F. Martin, Twenty-fifth Infantry. The following-named officers were relieved from duty at this post (instruction in submarine mining) on the dates set opposite their respective names, viz: Class 1890-'91. Capt. Quincy O'M. Gillmore, Eighth Cavalry, October 1, 1891. Seven infantry officers were assigned to duty at this post in paragraph 30, Special Orders, No. 251, Headquarters of the Army, AdjutantGeneral's Office, Washington, October 28, 1891. Capt. W. Fitzhugh Carter, assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, joined post January 30, 1892, in compliance with Special Orders, No. 12, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, January 13, 1892, and was assigned to duty at post hospital in Orders, No. 15, Post of Willets Point, January 30, 1892. Capt. Henry S. Kilbourne, assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, was relieved from duty at post hospital in Orders, No. 12, Post of Willets Point, January 23, 1892, in compliance with Special Orders, No. 10, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, January 13, 1892. Left post January 23, 1892. The building of two new brick barracks and a guardhouse by the Quartermaster's Department, which were well under way at the close of the year, will supply long-felt needs of the post, and it is to be hoped that provisions will be made for the third barrack from funds now available. The new brick engine house for fire engines and appliances is nearly completed and will doubtless prove well adapted to its purpose. The roads and sidewalks of the post have been kept in fair condition by adding broken trap rock to the former and screenings to the latter. About 1,300 feet of new sidewalk has been built, extending from near the officers' mess building to the guardhouse. This walk is partly of brick and partly of screenings from the stone-crusher. A section of the iron fence, received some time ago, has been set up, with a solid concrete base, along the line east from the gate and extending to the ditch. All of the foregoing improvements have been made by Lieut. Jervey, post quartermaster, from funds allotted by the Quartermaster's Depart ment. The lighting of the public buildings and grounds by electricity, the cleaning-out of the ditch which bounds the Government lands on the southwest, the walling-in of the ice pond so as to exclude surface water, and the building of a quartermaster and commissary storehouse near the wharf, as recommended in my last report and for each of which items plans and estimates have been made, are respectfully recommended. In September last, on my recommendation, the honorable PostmasterGeneral established a post-office at this place, which has been found of great convenience in the transaction of official business and has recently been declared a money-order office, the amount of revenue from it having reached the necessary figure for that purpose. II.-UNITED STATES ENGINEER SCHOOL. The scope and object of the school have been fully set forth in previous reports and in the order establishing it on its present basis; the orders issued in pursuance of the latter, arranging the details of the season's work, are appended, marked A, B, and C. During the present year a class of five engineer officers completed the full course of two and one-half years and one officer of the artillery, two officers of the cavalry, and five officers of infantry completed their course of torpedo instruction. III.-BATTALION OF ENGINEERS. The law provides for five companies of engineer troops, having an aggregate strength of 752 enlisted men, officered by detail from the Corps of Engineers. At present only four companies, with a total strength of 500 enlisted men, are allowed to be recruited. The aggregate strength of the battalion on June 30, 1892, including Company E, stationed at West Point, was 18 commissioned officers and 437 enlisted men. During the year Companies A, B, and C have been stationed at Willets Point. Company D exists in name only. Company E has been stationed at West Point to assist in the practical instruction of cadets of the Military Academy, in building military bridges, sapping, mining, and signaling. Second Lieutenant Robert McGregor, Corps of Engineers, was appointed acting battalion adjutant August 12, 1891, in Orders, No. 74, Battalion of Engineers, August 8, 1891; relieved from course of instruction at U. S. Engineer School, August 12, 1891, in Orders, No. 139, Post of Willets Point, August 13, 1891; appointed adjutant, Battalion of Engineers, October 21, 1891, in Orders, No. 99, Battalion of Engineers, October 21, 1891. Second Lieutenant Jay J. Morrow, Corps of Engineers, was transferred from Company C to Company A, Battalion of Engineers, April 10, 1892, in Orders, No. 51, Battalion of Engineers, April 10, 1892. The following table shows the changes that have taken place in the personnel of the officers during the year, viz: During the year recruits for the battalion have been obtained by enlistments at Willets Point and West Point and by assignment on their own application from recruiting rendezvous or other branches of the service. An engineer sergeant was detailed to recruit for the Battalion of Engineers on September 29, 1891, under authority granted in letter from the Adjutant-General, U. S. Army, dated September 15, 1888, and was attached by the Superintendent Recruiting Service to rendezvous, 146 Park Row, New York City. He was relieved from this duty March 12, 1892, only 46 recruits being at that time required to complete the authorized strength of the companies at this post, a number which is as large as can be quartered in the old barracks without uncomfortable crowding. The following is a statement of changes among the enlisted men of the battalion during the past year: Gain: Recruits from depot Enlisted in the battalion (Willets Point, 61; West Point, 22). By transfer From desertion. Discharged by order (General Orders, 80, Adjutant-General's Office, series 1890) 14 Discharged by order (General Orders, 81, Adjutant-General's Office, series 1890) 11 34 The following table gives a comparative statement of recruiting, desertions, etc., during the past eight years: The table shows that the enlisted strength of the battalion is greater than at any time in the last eight years, except in 1890; that the number of enlistments has been about double the average number; the number of reënlistments has been slightly above the average, while the number in arrest or confinement and the number of sick are smaller than at any other time during the period considered. The number of desertions is larger than last year, but is still below the average and is slightly less, compared with the number of recruits, than it was last year. The number of trials by court-martial is a little larger than it was last year, but it includes many cases of trial for minor offenses which were formerly punished by company commanders without trial. The summary court continues to work well, and it is seldom that a prisoner demands a trial by other courts. The following statement shows the number of different men tried by court-martial and other facts relative to the trials: The combined mess of the three companies and band has not only been successfully operated, but has been greatly improved during the year by Lieut. Jadwin, who has given it his close personal attention, and nothing is now required but a suitable building to make this im portant agency for the soldiers' welfare all that could be desired. The Post Exchange has also improved during the year and has been carefully looked after by Lieutenants Harding and Cosby. The suggestions of the council and of the committees of enlisted men have been carried out as far as practicable, and it is hoped that a more suitable building will be available when the new barracks are completed. Steps will be taken at an early day to fit up at least a temporary gymnasium and a bowling alley for the enlisted men, as it is believed that a portion of the proceeds of the post exchange can be advantageously applied in that way. For the reasons given in my last report, which have been confirmed by the last year's experience, I would respectfully renew my recommendations that the present complicated system of discharging good men after three years' service, while holding on to the bad ones, be changed by simply reducing the term of enlistment to three years, and that the 11 o'clock roll call be changed to 10 o'clock or, still better, to 9:30. Both of these changes, it is believed, would result in "the greatest good to the greatest number" and would prove a great benefit to the service. DRILLS AND INSTRUCTIONS. During the year the Battalion of Engineers has been drilled and instructed as follows: 1. In infantry tactics: School of the soldier, company, and battalion (new drill regulations). 2. In target practice: The practice season for the post of Willets |