This section looks at the structure of the American military system and its various divisions, thoughts and predictions about the future of America's military, articles on military life, etc. It also offers a few pieces on 19th-century advances in ships and weapons. More articles on America's military in the Victorian era can be found in the Civil War section and the American Military History section.

The American Army and Navy (Leisure Hour, 1860)

Our Future Militia System (Atlantic Monthly, 1865)

National Self-Protection, by Joseph Wharton (Atlantic Monthly, 1876)

The Staff of the United States Army, by Col. R. Williams (Atlantic Monthly, 1878)

A Military Education at West Point, by William H. Rideing (Scribner's, 1879B)

Career advice for "the boys of the family."

The Navies of the World; Navy Yards of the US (Collier's Cyclopedia, 1882)

The Militia of the United States (Century Magazine, 1884B)

Our National Defense, by C.F. Goodrich, USN (Century Magazine, 1885B)

A number of suggestions for needed improvements to the US defense.

Cadet Life at West Point, by Charles King (Harper's Monthly, 1887B)

An Urgent Measure of National Defense (Century Magazine, 1887B)

The need to build up the US Navy.

What The United States Army Should Be, by August V. Kautz (Century Magazine, 1888B)

Military Education and the Volunteer Militia, by James Montgomery Rice (Century Magazine, 1888B)

Includes a comment on the paper by George Wingate.

Our National Guard, by Edmund Cone Brust (Century Magazine, 1888B)

The Coast and the Navy (Century Magazine, 1889A)

A Trained Military Reserve (Century Magazine, 1889A)

Sea-Coast and Lake Defenses, by R.H. Thurston (Century Magazine, 1889B)

The G.A.R. as Seen from the Inside, by George L. Kilmer (Century Magazine, 1890B)

The "Grand Army of the Republic" (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War for the Northern/Federal forces.

A National Militia (Century Magazine, 1892A)

The New National Guard, by Francis V. Greene (Century Magazine, 1892A)

The Regular Army and the National Defense (Century Magazine, 1892A)

War Correspondence as a Fine Art, by Archibald Forbes (Century Magazine, 1893A)

The Future of War, by Fitzhugh Lee (Century Magazine, 1895B)

"Military operations as affected by the new weapons."

The Trumpet Call in Camp and Battle, by Gustav Kobbe (Century Magazine, 1898B)

See also:

• The Civil War

• American Military History

• The Military section for non-US military information

Advances in Weaponry

American Machine Cannon and Dynamite Guns, by William R. Hamilton (Century Magazine, 1888B)

Our New Naval Guns, by C.F. Goodrich (Century Magazine, 1890B)

The Evolution of a Battleship, by Albert Franklin Matthews (Century Magazine, 1894B)

The steam battleship "Indiana." "When the Indiana sails down the Delaware in commission, she will be the ninety-second man-of-war built for the United States navy on the Delaware."

New Weapons of the United States Army, by Victor Louis Mason (Century Magazine, 1895A)

A Cruise on a Modern Ram, by J.A. Guthrie (The Strand, 1898B)