The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1848-06-22

The QuarternAaster's Department. at New Orleans. e.
correspondent of the s.Concorda Integencer who
signs himself "Noa Bene" after giving interesting
statistical details relative to the business OF the quarter
masters department at New Orleans, concludes fol
lows.
The foregoing statement exhibits the most i'm portan
trans sctons OF the department IN New Orleans during the
period stated under rhe Immediate direction OF Maj Dan
tel d. Tompkins. quartermaster United States army His
Judgment, prompt acton. .eepiess Vigilance an.rinS en-.
ergy great capacity for details. and nasxble integrity,
besides other Qualities OF and address that
rarely possess The Secretary OF War has been
Ss os lnd his selection Of Gss o
u one OF The abest and popular officers employed
vice with kable prompess while a. the same ,me
ne mas protected the government from extortion, and
the wants of the army The ruling prices articles
CURED Tor the service have been greatly diminished In
irresponsible has made important reenchment by
government foundry and shops where all such
utmost energy system, and order and aided by able
OF deputy quarermasers and assistants has largely
contributed TO the success OF our arms"
AS the writer's object be that of calling pub
lc attention 10 the importance of that focal point the
business operations of the late with Mexco-the
quartermaster's department at New Orleans-to the
weight OF duty and responsibility which has devolved
upon the officer charge OF it, and to his merit in
sustaining the same efficiently, 1t may not be amss to
extend the subject by gancIng not only at the present
and recent, but the past which by far the most i'm
portant epoch.
Inc importance oil that place. IN connexion with those
duties, has not been duly appreciated much beyond its
vicinity New Orleans has been the great rendezvous
and depot where mostly the personnel and materie of
war have been collected and whence they have been
transmitted TO the scene OF action The quartz rmastes
department IN that city, administrative point during
the late contest has. in its line, been second only the
Quartermaser Generals office at Washington import
ance and not second to that, TO the amount of
personal duty sustained by its employees
There were two junctures when the of the
in high degree depended the prompt and skful dis
charge OF the duties of the said department in New Or
leans They We're during the early periods Of General
Tayors and of General SCOTS operations, before they
try, and had yet to depend wholly bonneville at
home the aaterie of and the means of conveyance
had not merely to be furnished, but to be
created
1t is hard say which of those periods was most try
ing The former was involved in the difficulties which
sudden offensive war brings to an unpepared govern
ment 1t was time when the employment of numberless
uned hands rendered the task of direction truly ard
GUS; and when fatal delays could only be avoided by
vast expense, which added eauly the responsibility
of those who had to incur it The second period, though
less embarrassed by the newness of subordnates and
the lack OF general preparations had other difficulties,
arising from the greater amount and variety of mdtere
required, the greater distance of the point of operations
and the lnclemency of the and though the pres
ence OF the Quartermaster General at the south, for
tme relieved his officers there of much responsibility,
the weight of details have pressed heavily upon
them at the former period.
That the duties referred to- which those times accu
mulaed upon the officer in charge that point ably
performed by him. needs better proof than the rapid
success of both expeditions; which, while depe nding
wholly home, faltered from lack of supplies al
though, during the last of the periods, the hostility OF
the elements threatened more peril than did that of the
enemy
success such extensive operations, far from, and
dependent home unless its department of ansmsson
and supply had been conducted with energy and talent
not only at the seat of government but at the focal point
of Transmission.
The details of the aforesaid duties at New Orleans
and their direction which, for most of the time was not
he
to, in charge of Lieut. Col T. F. Hunt. deputy quarter
master general, who was stationed there from the
mencement OF the war up to the beginning OF July last
when he was relieved by Major Tonpkns
To the former officer belonged the task of organizing
IN haste from what might literally be called raw MATERIAL
an Office extensive most Of the executive depart
ments and OF remedying, by his incessant appca-
ton the inexperence of those under hm and he shared
with the Quartemaster General, more than any other
subordinate the labor OF meeting sudden and measueess
demands, Tor which sources of supply had to be
| sounded and put in action.
public mind was occupied by more thrilling TOPICS its at
tention was never, that recoec much turned to his
duties by any remarks of the press but later period of
less excitement and qlas, peace has given the press
opportunity of doing justice to the merits OF his
successor So at least infer from the article of Nota
Bene,' which has been extensively copied, and from
others that have OF the same character
Now, though agree with what those articles say,
cannot pass. without notice, what they omit for much
is often implied by leaving little unsaid. Major Temp
kns is talented and experienced officer; and am con-
WINGED that ne Yields with ability the great transport
marine and other of supply and conveyance
which his predecessor aided to create and that he
continues to improve what he found in course
of improvement by carrying measures previ.
ously contemplated in the of the foundry,
&C., mentioned by Nota Bene, and probably by original
measures OF his own and less convinced that,
as the above writer says the ruling prices articles
required for the service have been reduced which
be expected after demand has created supply and sup
ply has diminished demand believe, moreover, that
ne has the ability to fill more arduous position than
that he now occupies, from having merely succeeded to
business already established but, while acknowl
edge the merit claimed for him by his friends of the press.
feel bound in justice to assert fact which they appear
studiously to suppress-namey, that he had predeces
who had more to accomplish with fewer facilities,
and did it with success.
As have here had occasion mention a case of no
ordinary merit overlooked close without refer
ring to another, which, from the rank and services OF
the functonary concerned, is case highly
thy of consideration. | believe that no officer out
of the field has contributed so much to the success
of our arms in Mexico as the Quartennaster General
HIS intense devotion to the duties of his station, the
activity which he infused into his department by visits to
different important points, and the foresight with which
he often anticipates the wants OF the army and the
tngencies of the service, qualities which, from the
become but little known to the public, while the important
results of those abors are still less weighed by it. They
are of the kind of service which gives TO others the
means OF eclipsing them by the briIancy of triumph ;
and il is not awaysn such that the gift is apprec
ated by those who owe their glory to it.
LOUISIANA.
| European House,