The Secretary-of-War—His Duties—The Department of the Navy—Efficiency of the Army—The Custody of the Flags—Patriotic Trophies—The War of the Rebellion—Captured Flags—An Ugly Flag and a Strange Motto—“Crown for the Brave”—_Sic Semper Tyrannis_—The Stars and Stripes—The Black Flag—No Quarter—The Military Establishment—The Adjutant-General’s Office—The Quartermaster-General’s Office—The Commissary-General’s Office—The Paymaster-General—The Surveyor-General—The Engineer’s Office—The Washington Aqueduct—Topographical Engineers—The Ordnance Bureau—The War Department Building—During the War—Lincoln’s Solitary Walk—Secretary Stanton—The Exigencies of War—The Medical History of the War—Dr. Hammond—Dr. J. H. Baxter—Collecting Physiological Data—The Inspection of Over Half a Million Persons—Who is Unfit for Military Service—Various Nationalities Compared—Curious Calculations Respecting Height, Health, and Color—Healthy Emigrants—Remarkable Statistical Results—The Physical _Status_ of the Nation. The first recorded legislation of importance upon the military affairs of the nation, is the Act of Congress, of the twenty-seventh day of January, 1785, entitled “An Ordinance for ascertaining the Powers and Duties of the Secretary of War.” By this Act the duties of the Secretary are defined; and amongst them is a provision requiring him to visit, “at least once a year,” “all the magazines and deposits of public stores, and report the state of them, with proper arrangements, to Congress.” Immediately after the confederation of the States, by the adoption of the Constitution, this legislation was superseded by an Act of Congress, approved on the seventh day of August, 1789, defining the duties of the department, which was again modified by the fifth Congress, in the Act of the thirtieth day of April, 1798, “To establish an Executive Department, to be denominated the Department of the Navy.” Of the efficiency of this department, and its services to the Republic, there can be no better testimony than that which has been extorted from history, in the following words: “The United States, from the peace of Independence, in 1783, achieved by war, and merely acknowledged by treaty, have always (?) lost by treaty, but never by war.” This sentiment, which is not as true now of our relations with Great Britain as in 1814, contains within it a compliment to the Department which, with limited means, and encountering the natural jealousy of civism, has so administered its scanty finances that the army has been made not only a defence for the frontiers, but a recognized national force, equal to the direst emergency, a nucleus around which, in any peril, the strength and bravery of the Republic may safely rally.