Operations under the Quartermaster's Department, during the year 1834. The United States are engaged in improvements, both military and civil, upon as great a scale as any other civilized nation. The greater part of those improvements are directed by officers of the army; they ale to be found on all our frontiers, and dispersed over every part of our extensive territories, directing the construction of fortifications, aisenals, barracks, roads, bridges, breakwaters, and other national works; sur veying routes for canals, rail-roads, and military roads; assisting in a trigonometrical survey of our coast, and in hydrographical surveys, and in improving numerous harbors, and removing the obstructions to the navigation of rivers; a large portion of them are emphatically working] meu, and can say, with truth, that, whosoever may eat the bread of idleness, they are not of the number. The improvements on which they have been engaged since the termination of the war with Great Britain, besides their great commercial advantages, will, when completed, have more than quadrupled the defensive military power of the country. BARRACKS, &c. Of the works under the direction of the department, the barracks authorized in the vicinity of New Orleans, were commenced early in the season, and, although the operations had been greatly retarded by the heat and rains, as well as by the prevalence of the yellow fever, the buildings have been covered; every part of the work has been executed in the best manner Of the works authorized at Savannah. the soldiers' quarters, though not entirely finished, are in a state to be occupied; and the officers' quarters are in progress. The works at Baton Rouge, Fort Severn, and Green Bay, are in rapid progress; and, at the later place, will be completed in 1834, except the hospital, which will probably be finished by the 1st of June, 1835. The new barracks at Fort Crawford are in such a state of forwardness as to leave no doubt of their being soon completed. The repairs at Fort Gibson, for which an appropriation of five thousand dollars was made at the last session of Congress, have not been commenced; the buildings are in so bad a condition that the late com manding officer gave it as his opinion that the appropriation would be entirely lost if applied to the old work He urged the necessity of a new work, and recommended that it be built of stone, of which there is an abundance in the neighborhood, and of good quality. A new post has been established, and barracks, stables, and other buildings have been erected, at the Des Moines, on the Upper Mississippi, for three companies of dragoons; and accommodations for four companies at Fort Leavenworth, and for three companies near Fort Gibson, were in a state of preparation at the last reports from those posts. ROADS. The military road in Maine has been thoroughly repaired and completed; and, in compliance with the provisions of an act of Congress, approved the 30th June last, it has been transferred to the State of Maine. Instructions have been given to the principal officer of the department in Arkansas to resume the repair of the Memphis and Little Rock road so soon as the season shall permit; and also, to take measures to cause the following roads, authorized at the last session of Congress, to be surveyed and opened, viz: a road from Helena to the mouth of Cache river; a road from Jackson, in the county of Lawrence, by Liberty and Fayetteville, in the county of Washington, to Fort Smith; a road from Strong's, (a point on the military road from Memphis to Little Rock,) by Litchfield, in Jackson county, to Batesville; and a road from Columbia, in Chicot county, to Little Rock. A road has been opened by the labor of the troops on the Southwestern frontier, from Fort Towson to False Washita, of Red River; also, one from Fort Gibson to the Little Red river of Arkansas, and thence to the mouth of False Washita, and one direct from Fort Gibson to the point where the latter road crosses the north fork of the Canadian. On the road from Pensacola to Tallahassee, in Florida, repairs have been made, and bridges have been erected over several rivers, creeks, and sloughs. The appropriation for the road from Fort Howard to Fort Crawford not being sufficient to carry on the work with advantage by means of hired laborers or by contract, and the troops at both posts being engaged in building, nothing has yet been effected, except the survey of the route. DELAWARE BREAKWATER. The labors at the Delaware breakwater were resumed early in July, and on the 18th of October, when they were suspended for the season, one hundred and twenty-two thousand nine hundred and ninety-five tous of stone had been deposited at the work, the greater part of which was used in bringing up that portion of it which had been previously founded. It appears, by an inspection of the maps representing the state of the works at the close of operations of each year, that, since 1830, every year has presented new additions to a shoal near the west end of the breakwater, and that within the last year, particularly, this shoal has greatly increased. Before 1833 little had been done on the ice-breaker; since that period this work has been brought nearly to completion, and a shoal on either side of this mass has been observed to be simultaneously forming. Upon a consideration of these facts, a board, consisting of General Jesup, Colonel Totten, and Lt. Colonel Thayer, to whom the subject was referred by the Secretary of War, have recommended, that the next year's operations should be confined to giving to all the work already begun the ultimate dimensions, omitting any further extension of the work eastward, and waiting during the year, and, if necessary, for a longer period, the further growth of the shoal; that in the mean time, very numerous and careful observations should be made to determine the precise amount] of enlargement, both in lateral limits and in elevation, of all the shoals. That a system of observations should be steadily pursued, whereby the force and direction of the flood and ebb currents, at different times of tide, and at different distances from the works, may be accurately given, and clearly represented on the map. With the extension of the work above water, herein contemplated, the immediate advantage will be obtained of a considerable augmentation of sheltered space; the same extension will serve to indicate, in a more decided manner, the form and magnitude which the shoals may be expected ultimately to attain; it will bring nearer to a solution the important question as to the most proper with to be given to the eastern entrance to the harbor. And with the aid of the information obtained by the observations on the shoals and on the tides, an opinion less liable to error may be formed as to the exact cause of the shoals, the extent to which they may reach, and, if remedy or correction be possible, the mode and manner of remedy or correction. Officers and Agents, Civil and Military, in the employ of the Quarlermaster's Department, not named in the Army Register. W. A. Gordon, Clk Qr M Gens Office, Washington do Heman A. Fay, Military Storekeeper, Albany, N. Y. Pittsburg, Penn. Compensation. Pay & al Capt Inft do $1200 per annum do 950 do L. A. Fleury, Clerk, do do 70 per month J S. McMullen, Clk Qr Mast. Office, Philadelphia 50 do Daniel Stinson, do John Haverty, Wm. S Ferguson, do Asst Q M Office, New Orleans 70 do W. Neilson, do A. H. Day, J. F. Mills, do Fort Crawford 40 do William Fraser, Charles Tillman, John A. Racker, B. Segui, J. C. . Long, do Samuel Ryan, do James Morgan, do E. Hughes, do Fort Towson 25 do G. M Campbell, do Qr Mast Office, Michael Sanno, Superin'dent Bar'cks do do Savannah 35 do Thos. McCrate do Edgecombe 10 pm & 2 rpd Jonathan Edwards, do Salem 5 do & 1 rp Henry Plumer, do Gloucester 5 do R. Cahoon, do Fort Warren J. A. Thomas, do East Haven Fort Norfolk and Ft Independence Breakwater do do G. R. Orme, Cik Office Del Breakwtr Chester John Burton, in charge of U. S. brig. Operations of the Engineer Department, during the year ending Sept. 30, 1834. 1. FORTIFICATIONS. 1. Fort Independence, Boston Harbor -Operations on Castle Island, the site of this fort, have been confined to the works referred to last year. The sea and wharf walls are nearly completed; their total length is 1,052 feet, and 2,342 cubic yards of stone have been used in their construction. All that part of the island exposed to abrasion from the action of the waves is, with the exception of about 150 feet, now amply protected. A revised project for re-building Fort Independence, with certain improvements, was presented by the board of engineers, in March last; the question as to the adoption of this project not having been settled, it was deemed proper to limit the arrangement for executing that work to the colection and preparation of such materials only as will be alike required on the original and revised plan. The material and workmanship of the fort, in its present condition, are such as to render it probable that the whole work will have to be re-built. 2. Fort Warren, Boston Harbor. The late period at which the appropriations were made, at the last session of Congress, rendered it proper to innt the operations of this work to preparatory measures for efficient prosecution of the fort during the next working season. The buildings necessary to accommodate the laborers, and other persons employed at the work, are in progress of construction, and will be finished in due time. A wharf, requiring for its construction about two thousand cubic yards of stone in walls, and seventeen thousand yards of earth embankment, will soon be ready for the reception of materials. Every thing will be prepared to commence the masonry of the work early next spring. 3. Fort Adams, Narragansett roads, Rhode Island.-Operations at this work have been prosecuted in the usual satisfactory manner; the fort, as far as constructed, is in good condition, and the funds appropriated for it have been applied to advantage. 4. Fort Hamilton, Narrows, New York. The slight defects in construction, always to be expected in a work of this magnitude, have been repaired, and the fort may, by the end of the present year, be considered as finished. 5. Fort Lafayette, Narrows, New York.-A portion of the unexpended balance remaining on account of this work, has been applied to the repairs of the seawali. 6. Fort Columbus and Castle William, Governor's Island, New York.-The report of the engineer charged with the repairs of these works is highly favorable. In the former, the scarp wails, except the pointing and parapets, have been finished; the coun terscarp revetments, and revetments of the glacis, are nearly completed. The facing of the covered way revetment, leading from Fort Columbus to Castle William, will be done this fall. The masonry of the magazines and barracks, as well as that of the communications connecting the former, is finished, as is also the facing of the redan. All the masonry of the barracks on the south, west, and north fronts is nearly finished, and the roofs are in readiness to receive the covering; the masonry of those on the east front is in a state of for wardness. Measures have been taken to finish the repairs of Castle William as speedily as practicable. 7. Fort Schuyler, Throg's Neck, East River. New York.-The most ample preparations have been made to prosecute the work with efficiency during the next working season. A permanent wharf will be in readiness by the time it is required; the necessary boats and machinery have been provided; an ample quarry, of good quality of stone, prepared, and, indeed, every thing that may tend to expedite the work, when commenced, will be found in waiting. 8. Fort Delaware, Delaware River.-The annual report of the officer charged with this work has not yet been received. 9. Fort Monroe, Hampton Roads, Virginia.-All the permanent parts of this work were completed last year. The ramparts of fronts five, six, and seven, together with the glacis and road in advance of these fronts, where, with the exception of a small portion of front five, formed and covered with earth. The rampart of covertway and place of arms, in advance of front five, was in a state of forwardness along its whole extent, and fifteen thousand cubic yards of sand were deposited towards the construction of the redoubt; five hundred tons of stone were collected and put in place for the protection of the beach in front of casemated battery and the glacis of front six; condoit pipes for conducting the water from the roof of casemated battery laid; the piazzas of curtains two and three completed; and all the materials for the draws to bridges and gates procured; the draws and gates to main entrance finished, and the timbers for the others partly prepared; the earth for the parapets on all the fronts except one, two, and three, was collected at the foot of the scarp wall; the ditches of all the fronts were excavated to their proper depth, and the glacis and road in advance formed, except those on front one; the casemated covertway on front four was completed, and the funds available with the force then organized amply sufficient for the completion of the fort, with the exception of putting parapets on the main and outworks, which was not deemed advisable for the present, when the operations of the Engineer Department were arrested by general order No. 54. This order directed that the work, with its funds, be placed under the immediate orders of the officer commanding the troops on that station. The main work was, therefore, entirely completed except the gates, the raising of the half parapets on fronts one, two, and three, and the whole parapets on the other fronts-the earth required for these last being placed at the foot of the scarp. Four thousand three hundred and ten cubic yards of earth were required to complete the rampart of covertway on front five; twenty-one thousand three hundred and eighty to finish the rampart of redoubt; twenty thousand two hundred and ninety-seven yards for the construction of the parapet on covertway, and eight thousand eight hundred and ninety for the parapet of the redoubt. 10. Fort Calhoun, Hampton Roads, Virginia.-Upwards of twenty-eight thousand tons of stone have been added within the year to that previously received. Of the whole quantity received, 654.04 tons have been dressed for building, leaving 5,139.07 tons rough building, and 23,073 tons break water stone. All the stone required for building is now accumulated, and the position that will be eventually occupied by the mole serving as the basis of this work, is covered and protected by breakwater stone. Three thousand four hundred and sixty-five cubic yards of sand have been deposited within the interior of the fort towards elevating the terre plain. All the stone received this year, except eight| hundred tons required for the extension of the mole to its proper limits, has been placed so as to act with a uniform pressure over the foundation of the walis of the work. It is estimated that the fort, when finished and garrisoned, will add to the permanent weight now acting on the foundation about sixty-three thousand tons: of this, there are accumulated along its whole extent, and operating in a similar manner, 61,866 tons. It is proposed to add to this weight 25,000 tons of breakwater stone, the probable balance required for the graduation of the mole, and to compensate for its subsidence, and to allow the whole to remain until an equilibrium is established between the pressure and resistence, when the work may be resumed. A careful examination has shown that although the weight added within the present is double that of the previous year, yet the last annual subsidence of the centre of the work is less than one and a third of what it was in 1833, giving fair indication that the equilibrium will, ere long, be attained. Another favorable indication is, that those parts of the mole that formerly settied most, have this year gone down the least. On the whole, it may be inferred that all irregularity of settling is rapidly disappearing, and that the substratum is approaching a state of uniform compr. ssibility throughout. 11. Fort Macon, Beaufort, North Carolina. The fort is completed, and ready for inspection. The dyke and wharf are, no doubt, done by this time, and the operations for the preservation of the beach have produced results of a very satisf ctory character. 12. Fort Caswell, Oak Island, North Carolina.-This work is in readiness to receive a garrison. 13. Fortifications in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.-Operations under this department in Charleston Harbor have been directed to increasing the mole commenced on the site of Fort Sumpter, and to the protection of the beach in the immediate vicinity of Fort Moultrie. They have, however, been but limited in consequence of the late period at which the funds for the present year were rendered available. Five thousand five hundred and twentyfour tons of stone were added to the foundation of Fort Sumpter in the fall of 1833, and the month of January, 1833, when the shipment from the north were suspended for want of funds. Except the a teration produced by this addition, the mole remains in the same state as at the end of the last fiscal year. The heap, except at one place, is now raised to a level of two feet above low water, requiring about eleven thousand tons of rough stone to complete it, besides ten thousand tons of split granite to form the foundations of the walls between high and low water. In this state it is proposed to leave the work till the question of jurisdiction over the spot shall be settled, and the necessary orders to that effect have been issued. In the month of September last, one hundred and twenty-seven tons of rough stone were deposit d in the breakwater at Fort Moultrie. In consequence of not being able to procure sufficient stone in time, a portion of this work was washed away during the last winter and spring; this injury has, however, been repaired, and the whole work extended about one hundred thirty feet; it is now upwards of one thousand three hundred feet long, presents a firm and substantial appearance, and has withstood several severe gales. The sand is accumulating about it, and experience, thus far, affords flattering assurances that the interesting and very desirable object for which it was commenced will| soon be realized. It is proposed to extend it about four hundred feet further. 14. Fort Pulaski, Cockspur Island, Georgia.- this work has been prosecuted to the extent of the available means. The report from the local engineer presents it in a very satisfactory state. 15. Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida -Little or nothing has been done at this work. 16. Fort Pickens, Pensacola Harbor, Florida.- The work was to have been delivered over to a garrison, in excellent condition, as far as completed, on the 1st of Oct. 1834. 17. Fort on Foster's Bank, Florida.—Ample preparations have been made for prosecuting this work with economy and despatch; wharves, with other fixtures, and quarters have been provided; a large amount of materials has been collected, and a well organized force of mechanics and laborers engaged. The operations have been somewhat retarded by the exposed position of the work, which rendered it proper to limit the excavations for the scarp wall during the month of September. The maximum estimate of 8125,000, submitted by the local engineer, contemplates the completion of the whole work by the end of 1835, which he considers altogether practicable, with the facilities, in the way of materials and workmanship, at his command. 18. Fort Morgan, Mobile Point, Alabama.-This work has been finished according to the original plan, and is garrisoned. 19. Fort Living-| ston, Grande Terre, Louisiana.-The negotiation for the purchase of the site of this work, pending at the date of the last report, was, as anticipated, soon brought to a satisfactory termination. The purchase had been effected, and considerable preparation made for an efficient prosecution of the fort, when the works were suspended in consequence of a want of an officer of engineers to take the immediate direction of the operations. This occurred in July last.. |