U F /\3k4 GIFT OF STRATEGIC LOCATION OF , :,,; [ILITARY DEPOTS, ARSENALS, AND MANUFACTURING PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES PREPARED BY THE WAR COLLEGE DIVISION, GENERAL STAFF CORPS AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THE STATEMENT OF A PROPER MILITARY POUCY FOR THE UNITED STATES WCD 8121-42 ARMY WAR COLLEGE : WASHINGTON NOVEMBER. 191S 532 WASHINGTON QOVIKNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1816 -^ -^^l ^^ War Department, Dociiment No. 532. Office of the Chief of Staff. STRATEGIC LOCATION OF MILITARY DEPOTS, ARSENALS, AND MANUFACTURING PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES. 1. Paragraph 60 of the Statement of a Proper Military Policy for the United States, prepared by the War College Division, Gen- eral Staff Corps, in compliance with instructions of the Secretary of War and submitted September 11, 1915, is as follows: 60. As a general military principle, no supply depot, arsenal, nor manufac- turing plant of any considerable size, supported by War Department appropri- ations for military purposes, should be established or maintained east of the Appalachian Mountains, west of the Cascade or Sierra Nevada Mountains, nor within 200 miles of our Canadian or Mexican borders, and steps should be taken gradually to cause to be moved depots and manufacturing plants already established In violation of this military principle. 2. The soundness of the general principle of establishing perma- nent Government arsenals and supply depots at a safe distance from national frontiers seems so clear that no lengthy discussion or ex- planation of paragraph 60, just quoted, seems necessary. It may be of service, however, to illustrate graphically the trouble liable to arise from violation of this cardinal principle. First, take the case of France in 1870, during the war with Ger- many, and note the handicap imposed upon her by the capture of a number of her arsenals, due to their faulty location. Plate I tells the story at a glance. It shows the positions of the principal arsenals and depots as they existed at the outbreak of hostilities. The shaded portion indicates the territory eventually occupied by the invader. Attention is especially invited to the prox- imity to the frontier of Douai, La Fere, Metz, Mutzig, Strasbourg, and Besancon. All were captured except the first two, and these were cut off from the French armies. 3. Next take our own case to-day, which is even worse, from a military standpoint, than that of France in 1870. Plate II shows the present locations of the principal Government arsenals and sup- ply depots as they exist to-day in the United States. The shaded portions indicate reasonable and probable objectives for an invader, due to our present state of unpreparedness. Attention is especially invited to the proximity to the frontiers of all our arsenals and sup- ply depots except Rock Island, Omaha, Fort Leavenworth, St. Louis, 30669°— No. 632—16 (3) 667389 and Jeffersonville. Our handicap, if these places were captured, can not be overestimated. 4. Plate III shows the locations of some of our more important privately owned manufactories of war munitions, such as cartridge cases, fuses, shells, explosives, ammunition, binoculars, pistols, wag- ons, rifles, and bayonets. •2= m jjjoniLni »/3 •/♦ •4- 6 •y*V^y^y //. 6 •7 PLATE I. Fbancs in 1870. notes showing obnebal chabacteb of stobes ax the places indicated. 1. Toulouse : Cannon foundry, artillery forges, powder mills, arsenal, military magazines. 2. Chateauroux : Carriages of the military train. 3. Cbatellerault : Manufactory of small arms. 4. Rennes : Arsenal. 5. St. Etienne : Manufactory of small arms. 6. Versailles : Large park of artillery, camp equipment. 7. Lyons : Arsenal. 8. Tulle : Manufactory of small arms. 9. Vernon : Manufactory of the equipages of the military train. 10. Besancon : Foundries, artillery arsenal. 11. Mutzlg: Manufactory of small arms. 12..Metz: Arsenal, cannon foundry, powder mills, engineer equipment. 13. Douai : Arsenal, cannon foundry. 14. La Fere : Artillery arsenal. 15. Strasbourg : Artillery arsenal. 682 PLATE II. NOTES SHOWING GENERAL CHARACTCR OF STORS8 AT THB PLACKS INDICATED. 1. Augusta : Arsenal. 2. Washington : Engineer depot, medical depot. 3. Philadelphia : Quartermaster depot, arsenal. 4. Plcatlnny : Powder manufactory. 5. New York : Arsenal, signal corps depot, medical depot, quartemuuster depot. 6. Springfield : Arsenal. 7. WatervUet : Arsenal. 8. Jeffersonvllle : Quartermaster depoL 9. St. Louis : Quartermaster depot, medical depot, engineer depot. 10. Chicago : Quartermaster depot. 11. Rock Island : Arsenal. 12. Fort Leavenworth : Engineer depot. 13. Omaha : Signal corps depot. 14. San Antonio : Arsenal. 15. Vancouver Barracks : Engineer depot. 16. San Francisco and vicinity : Arsenal, quartermaater depot, slsiuU corps depot, medical depot. 082 PLATE III. The following places are Indicated on this plate : Watertown, N. Y. Ilion, N. Y. Chicago, 111. AUentown, Pa. Giesboro, D. C. Worcester, Mass. Bridgeport, Conn. New Haven, Conn. Alton, 111. Lowell, Mass. 6S2 Rochester, N. Y. Cleveland, Ohio. Detroit, Mich. Cincinnati, Ohio Eddystonc, Pa. Schenectady, N. Y. Richmond, Va. Boston, Mass. Philadelphia, Pa. South Bethlehem, Pa. Brooklyn, N. Y. Pittsburgh, Pa. Wilmington, Del. Parlin, N. J. Pompton Lakes, N. Lynn, Mass. Harrison, N. J. Harrisburg, Pa. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO Sl.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. 1 19 30 — W^ ^Ah P. 5 1953 LP fl- JAN 5 1956 U) JAN 9 1953 LD21-100m-7.'83 667389 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA UBRARY '- ^0'- ' ■■'$'<^ff^^^f0^^^^^r^T