Joaquin and other valleys," and of the board of engineers for making the examination, survey, and plan of harbor on San Antonio Creek, bay of San Francisco.

BATTALION OF ENGINEERS AND ENGINEER-DEPOTS.

Battalion of engineers, commanded by Maj. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers, headquarters Willet's Point, eastern entrance to New York Harbor.

The strength of the five companies constituting the battalion of engineers on June 30, 1873, was 12 officers and 308 enlisted men; 46 recruits were needed to complete the reduced organization fixed by General Orders No. 122, series of 1870, from the War Department. The organization then prescribed was as follows: Companies A, B, C, and E, 83 enlisted men each; company D, 20 enlisted men; non-commissioned staff of battalion, 2 enlisted men; making a total of 354 enlisted men of engineers.

The companies of the battalion were stationed and commanded as follows At Willet's Point, Company A, Capt. Alexander Mackenzie; Company B, Capt. W. R. King; Company C, Capt. James C. Post; Company D, (a skeleton organization,) under command of the battalion adjutant.

At West Point, Company E, Capt. O. H. Ernst, also instructor of practical engineering, and, ex officio, member of the academic board. Detachments of one sergeant and five first-class privates of Company D were stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., guarding and caring for the engineer property there; two sergeants and five first-class privates on field-duty in the Department of the Missouri, under direction of the engineer-officer of the Department; two sergeants and five first-class privates on field-duty in the Department of Dakota under direction of the engineer officer of the Department; two first-class privates of Company C, two first-class privates of Company A, one first-class and one second-class private of Company B, on field-duty under First Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, Corps of Engineers, upon explorations and surveys west of the one hundredth meridian; and six enlisted men on recruiting duty at New York City.

The recruiting for the battalion has been carried on during the past year on the same system as the preceding year, by two officers of the corps-one at New York City and one at Detroit-in addition to their other duties. During the year 142 men were enlisted, 2 re-enlisted, and 144 deserted.

During the year the battalion has been engaged as follows: At Willet's Point the engineer-depot has been guarded and the property and instruments received and issued by the troops. Much labor has been expended by the troops in the construction and repair of buildings and grading and improvement of the grounds, the cost of which has thereby been materially reduced. The property at Jefferson Barracks depot has been gaurded by the detachment there stationed.

At West Point similar work has been performed by Company E, which has also aided in the instruction of the cadets in practical engineering, pontoniering, signaling, &c.

The detachments on field-duty in the military departments and with Lieut. Wheeler have been employed in military and geographical reconnoissances and surveys services which have been well and economically performed.

The drills and instruction of the battalion at Willet's Point have been such as to keep it always ready for active service, and good progress has been made in field-fortification, pontoniering, military reconnoissance, photography, and infantry tactics. Theoretical instruction of the non-commissioned officers was carried on during the winter, and the school for enlisted men prescribed by General Orders No. 56, Adjutant General's Office, 1866, was open to voluntary attendance under the personal supervision of the commissioned officers.

Every effort has been made to give the officers stationed at this post the advantages of a practical knowledge of the use of instruments. During the winter months, in lieu of the usual professional essays, each officer was required, by authority of the Secretary of War, to prepare a detailed project for a line of field-works extending from Willet's Point to Jamaica Bay, designed for the defense of Brooklyn against an anticipated sudden invasion of an army landing on the east end of Long Island; the project included plan, sections, and estimates of time and materials.

The work of torpedo experiment has been satisfactorily prosecuted, many subjects experimentally investigated, and much progress made in obtaining needful data for fixing upon a practical system of torpedo defense of our harbors. This has been substantially accomplished subject to improvements in some minor details.

In the torpedo-school the officers and enlisted men of the battalion have been practically instructed in the application of the system of torpedo defense in accordance with a well-arranged plan, in the execution of which many points of practical importance requiring laborious observation and measurement have been investigated, and material aid has been afforded to the torpedo trials in progress.

I would respectfully recommend an appropriation of $1,000 for the purchase of engineering material, to continue the present system of instruction of the battalion, and of $10,000, to be expended in experiments, apparatus, &c., for the torpedo-school, and again renew my recommendation of former years, that the organization of the battalion be completed by the addition of one chief musician and two principal musicians, as allowed by law to regiments of other arms.

Engineer post and depot at Willet's Point, New York Harbor, commanded by Maj. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers.-This post is the principal engineer-depot of the Army for the storage of instruments, ponton trains, siege and mining tools, and torpedo material. It is garrisoned by the battalion of engineers, which issues from time to time such articles as are needed at the various public works in charge of the Corps of Engineers.

Work upon the public buildings has been pushed forward nearly to completion, and no further appropriations are needed for new barracks or quarters. For putting a new roof upon one of the store-houses, and for other incidental repairs, the sum of $2,000 is requested.

For continuing the remodeling of the ponton trains, to make them correspond with the new patterns adopted after a thorough trial during the late war, an appropriation of $1,000 is needed. The labor will be chiefly performed by the troops.

To avoid loss of time in fitting parties for the field, it is desirable to keep in store a small number of such surveying and astronomical instruments as are in constant demand. For purchasing such instruments and for repairing those returned in an unserviceable condition an appropriation of $3,000 is asked.

For such incidental expenses of the depot as coal, forage, extra-duty

pay for soldiers employed in mechanical work, &c., the sum of $2,800 is needed.

Depot of engineer-stores at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.-The engineer material stored at this post, consisting principally of ponton trains, being no longer required by the Engineer Department, was disposed of at public sale in June, and the detachment left there to guard it was ordered to proceed to Willett's Point as soon as the property should be removed.

RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENT.

The operations of this branch of the engineer service have been conducted in the manner exhibited in the last and previous annual reports. The means provided by the appropriation act approved June 10, 1872, (Statutes at Large, volume 17, page 370,) have been applied to the works therein specified, and the greater portion of the examinations and surveys required by the second section of that act have been completed, and the reports of many transmitted to Congress during the last session. These will be included in the appendix to this report, together with others which have been completed during the working season of the year. The few remaining surveys and reports, it is believed, will be completed in time for transmission to Congress early in the coming session.

The amounts appropriated by the act approved March 3, 1873, (Statutes at Large, volume 17, page 560,) have been applied to the improvements named, and in all cases where works were in progress under previous appropriations they were continued during the present working season without interruption. Preparatory measures were taken for the early prosecution of the new works provided for by this act, and on the approval of the projects operations in accordance therewith were immediately commenced. With very few exceptions these works are now in progress. The greater portion of the examinations and surveys required by the second section of the act will, it is hoped, be submitted to you in time for consideration and action during the approaching session of Congress. I submit a summary exhibiting the amount of work done, or the progress of the improvements, during the past year, and showing the present condition of each improvement. For more detailed information, reference should be made to the annual reports of the officer in charge of the works, which will be found in the appendix herewith.

In accordance with the third section of this act, a board of engineer officers have been convened and instructed to inquire into, and report upon, the practicability of bridging the channel between Lake Huron and Lake Erie; the number and character of the vessels navigating that channel, and the number of trips made by each; and if bridging be practicable, to report what length of spans and elevation above water will be required, so as not seriously to injure the navigation of the channel. The board is now occupied with this investigation, and it is expected that their report will be received in the early part of the next session of Congress.

LAKE HARBORS.

HARBORS ON LAKE SUPERIOR WEST OF KEWEENAW POINT.

Officers in charge, Maj. D. C. Houston, Corps of Engineers, to May 1, 1873, since which time Maj. F. U. Farquhar, Corps of Engineers.

1. Du Luth Breakwater, Lake Superior, Minnesota. Five cribs, 50 feet long and 30 feet wide, were placed in extension of the breakwater during the working season. On the 13th and 14th November, 1872, a violent northeast storm did great damage to the work. The breakwater was so

much injured as to expose the docks and elevator on the lake-shore to serious damage. To secure these as far as possible, the balance of the appropriation of June 10, 1872, was expended in building a riprap wall of heavy stone exterior to the breakwater near the shore, and rebuilding the work behind it. So far this wall has answered the purpose for which it was intended, but the breakwater remains in a ragged state.

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of December 16, 1872, a communication was transmitted from this office submitting a plan and estimate for reconstructing and strengthening this breakwater, but in view of the appropriation made for the improvement of the inner harbor no estimate is sumbitted for this work.

(See Appendixes A 1 and A 2.)

2. Superior City Harbor, Lake Superior, Wisconsin.-From July 1, 1862, to close of working season, the Wisconsin pier was extended 642 feet; the channel deepened by the action of the current, the material composing the bottom being loosened by the use of a scraper.

(See Appendix A 1.)

A special survey of the Bay of Superior was made in 1872, at the request of the governor of Wisconsin, to determine generally whether the Du Luth Canal had been detrimental in any way to the harbor of Superior City. It was ascertained that no injury had been done and that the channel between the piers at Superior entry had continued to deepen, but that a still greater deepening would in all probability have taken place if the entire discharge of the Saint Louis River in high water had been confined to the entry.

(See Appendix A 5.)

3. Dredging Bay of Superior and preserving entrances thereto.-The piers of Superior City entrance having been extended to the proposed distance, during the present year the superstructure of the piers will be completed and the channel between them deepened to 13 feet. A channel will also be dredged from the deep waters of the bay to the dock at Superior City, and some dredging and repair of piers may be necessary, for which $10,000 is asked. An opening was made through the dike allowing the passage of ferry-boats between Superior City and Du Luth. To repair the dike will cost $55,000. A contract has been made for the repair of the piers of the Du Luth Canal, which work will be finished dur ing the present season. A great deal of dredging is necessary to make a harbor at Du Luth and a channel between Du Luth and Superior City. The appropriation of $100,000 made by act of March 3, 1873, was distributed as follows:

1. Completing the piers at the natural entrance to Superior Bay..

2. Dredging between the piers at the natural entrance..

3. Dredging from natural entrance to docks at Superior City.

4. Repairing piers at Du Luth entrance...

5. Dredging between piers at Du Luth entrance and from the piers to the docks of Du Luth...

6. Opening through the dike and protecting the same..

$25,000 00 11,340 00 12, 000 00 19,500 00

16, 400 00 5,000 00

Leaving a balance of $9,000 applicable to any contingencies which

Amount appropriated by act of March 3, 1873, to dredging out Bay of Supe

rior to docks of Superior and Du Luth, &c..

100,000 00

212, 452 01

Amount expended during fiscal year ending June 30, 1873.............

94, 158 81

Balance available July 1, 1873....

118,293 20

4. Improvement of Ontonagon Harbor, Michigan-There has been no work done at this harbor during the last fiscal year, no appropriation having been made since 1870.

Some work is very necessary if the harbor is to be made one of use to the general commerce of the lakes.

The old pile-work should be repaired and extended inward, which would cost $15,000. The west pier should be extended 1,300 feet, and the east pier 775 feet, which would cost $142,700.

This harbor is a very important one as a harbor of refuge, as it is the only harbor on a long stretch of coast.

Amount on hand July 1, 1872

Amount expended during fiscal year ending June 30, 1873.
Amount required for fiscal year ending June 30, 1875.

(See Appendix A 3.)

$553 22

553 22 150,000 00

5. Improvement of Eagle Harbor, Michigan-No work has been done during the last fiscal year. A channel should be excavated through the rock at the entrance to the harbor to a depth of 14 feet below low water and 130 feet wide, the cost of which will be about $168,000, and the cost of building the proposed breakwater to cover the anchorage-ground will be not less than $80,000. The work of rock-excavation should be done by hired labor.

The amount on hand July 1, 1872, was..

Amount expended during fiscal year ending June 30, 1873

Amount available July 1, 1873

Amount required for fiscal year ending June 30, 1875..

(See Appendix A 4.)

$24,808 68

24,808 68

150,000 00

HARBORS ON LAKE SUPERIOR EAST OF KEWEENAW POINT, AND HARBORS ON THE WEST AND SOUTH SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGANIMPROVEMENT OF THE FOX AND WISCONSIN RIVERS.

Officer in charge, Maj. D. C. Houston, Corps of Engineers, with Capt. J. W. Cuyler, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders.

1. Marquette Harbor, Lake Superior, Michigan.-During the year the breakwater was extended 150 feet by sinking three cribs, each 50 feet long and 30 feet wide. Two violent storms occurred in September and November, 1872, interrupting the work and washing out large quantities of stone. The effect of these storms showed the necessity of protecting the foot of the breakwater by riprapping.

It is proposed this season to add one more crib to the work; to complete the superstructure over all except the last two cribs; to cover the entire work with a plank decking; and to riprap the exterior of the work as far as the funds will permit. The breakwater will then be 1,960 feet in length, all complete except the superstructure over the last 100 feet and its riprapping. It is proposed to extend the breakwater