[Footnote 27:  The construction of the Illinois ship-canal, for vessels of eight and a half feet draught, is estimated at fifteen millions; to give the same draught to the Mississippi and lower Illinois, would require at least ten millions more; a ship canal of the corresponding draught around Niagara Falls, will cost, say, ten millions; the navy yard at Memphis, with docks, storehouses, &c., will cost about two millions, and steamers sent thence to the lakes will cost about fifty thousand dollars per gun.  On the other hand, the military defences which it is deemed necessary to erect in time of peace for the security of the Champlain frontier, will cost only about two thousand dollars per gun; the whole expenditure not exceeding, at most, two millions of dollars!

It is not to be denied that a water communication between the Mississippi and the northern lakes will have great commercial advantages, and that, in case of a protracted war, auxiliary troops and military stores may be drawn from the valley of the Mississippi to assist the North and East in preventing any great accessions to the British military forces in the Canadas.  We speak only of the policy of expending vast sums of money on this military (?) project, to the neglect of matters of more immediate and pressing want.  We have nothing to say of its character as a commercial project, or of the ultimate military advantages that might accrue from such a work.  We speak only of the present condition and wants of the country, and not of what that condition and those wants may be generations hence!]

[Footnote 28:  There are no books devoted exclusively to the subjects embraced in this chapter; but the reader will find many remarks on the northern frontier defences in the histories of the war of 1812, in congressional reports, (vide House Doc. 206, XXVIth Congress, 2d session; and Senate Doc., No. 85, XXVIIIth Congress, 2d session,) and in numerous pamphlets and essays that have appeared from the press within the last few years.]

CHAPTER IX.

ARMY ORGANIZATION—­STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE CORPS.

By the law of the 12th of December, 1790, on the organization of the public force of France, the Army was defined, “A standing force drawn from the public force, and designed to act against external enemies.” [Une force habituelle extraite de la force publique, et destinee essentiellement a agir contre les ennemis du dehors.]

In time of peace, the whole organized military force of the State is intended when we speak of the army; but in time of war this force is broken up into two or more fractions, each of which is called an army.  These armies are usually named from the particular duty which may be assigned to them—­as, army of invasion, army of occupation, army of observation, army of reserve, &c.; or from the country or direction in which they operate—­as, army of the North, of the South, of Mexico, of Canada, of the Rhine, &c.; or from the general who commands it—­as, the army of Soult, army of Wellington, army of Bluecher, &c.