It is generally di-vided into a historical section (collecting mate-rials relative to the history of war, the forma-tion of armies, etc, past and present), a topo-graphical section (intrusted with the collection of maps and the trigonometrical survey of the whole country), a statistical section, etc. At the head of all these establishments, as well as of the army, stands the ministry of war, or-ganized differently in different countries,.but. comprising, as must appear from the preceding observations, an immense variety of subjects. Such is the vast machinery devoted to recruit-ing, remounting, feeding, directing, and always reproducing a modern first-class army. The masses brought together correspond to such an organization. Napoleon's grand army of 1812, when he had 200,000 men in Spain, 200,000 in France, Italy, Germany, and Poland, and invaded Russia with 450,000 men and 1,300 guns, was equalled in 1870, when Prussia put | almost her entire armed force in the field against France, under the immediate command of King William, assisted by Gen. Von Moltke and an able assemblage of army and corps commanders.

This remarkable campaign, although it was characterized by no extraordinary loss of life either to the French or the Prussians, resulted in the capture or annihilation of the entire French army and the complete prostration of the French empire. The Prussian army engaged in the campaign earned for itself the reputation of being the most perfect, all things considered, in the world. Its artillery and infantry are specially good, but its cavalry seems to be behind the age. - The military system of the United States is based upon volunteer armies raised as occasion demands. During the civil war, from first to last, 2,690,401 men (including reenlistments) were enrolled, equipped, and organized into armies. The principal of these were the army of the | Potomac, the army of the Tennessee, the army of the Cumberland, and the army of the Ohio; the last three were finally united into one command, known as the military division of the Mississippi. The troops constituting these armies were raised by the various loyal states, by regiments, under proclamation and demand from the president of the United States, the numbers being apportioned by the secretary of war, through the provost marshal general, according to the population of the respective states.

As soon as the various regiments were mustered into the service of the United States, they were under the complete control of the general government, and were afterward assigned to brigades, divisions, corps, and armies, according to the requirements of the service, and generally without regard to the states from which they came. They received their pay, arms, clothing, and subsistence from the United States, though, with a few exceptions, as in the case of the colored troops, the field and line officers received their commissions and promotions from the governors of their respective states. All general and general staff officers were commissioned by the president, and no officer after having been mustered into the service of the United States could be dismissed by the state authorities. The requisitions upon the various states were generally filled with a reasonable degree of promptitude, although, owing to the great expansion of the currency due to the emission of paper money and the great stimulation of the various industries of the country engaged in the production of army supplies, the rates of wages advanced so rapidly that before the war ended it became exceedingly difficult to raise volunteers, except by the payment of bounties amounting in many instances to $1,500 per man.

The use of this system resulted in the success of the national arms, but at an extravagant cost in men, material, and money. Immediately after the termination of the war the volunteer army, amounting to about 1,100,000 men, was quietly and rapidly disbanded, the various regiments returning to their respective states, and becoming at once absorbed in the body of the people, without the slightest disturbance of the peace and order of society, or derangement of its industries. The regular army, which during the war had been increased from about 18,000 men to something over 50,000, was reduced by successive steps to 30,000 men. This force is mainly used for garrisoning the permanent fortifications, for protecting the highways across the continent, and preserving order among the Indian tribes of the west.