Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-11-11
.8g, TlJeleg !, ).
AFTERNOON DISPATCHES.
Important Correspondence going to
Show why Gen. Mcclellan was Re-

President to make a change in the COM
manl Of the army Of the Potomac.
LETTER FROM GIN. HALLEoK.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, L
WASHINGTON, Oct. 90.
To Hon. 3. N. Stanton, Sec'y Of Var: on
SIR:-In reply to the general interroga-
tories contained in your letter of yesterday
l have the honor to report:
| First-ThRt acquisitions for supplies to
the army under Gen. Mcclellan are made
by his staff officers on the Chiefs of Bureaus
here. That is, the Quartermaster applies
by his Chief QuartermasteI on the Quarter
master General; for commIssary supplies
by his Chief Oomuissary on Commissary
General 30. No such acquisitions have
been to my knowledge made upon the Sec
rotary Of War, and none upon the General
in Chief
Second-On several occasions Gen. Nc
olellan has telegraphed me that his army
was deficient in certain supplies. ALI these
kilograms were Immediately referred to the
heads Of bureaus with orders to report. 1t
was ascertained that in everyiustauce the re-
QUESTIONS have been Immediately filled, ex-
| Cept where the Quartermaster Gen. had been
obliged to send from Philadelphia certain
articles of clothing, tents, &c, not having
Il full supply here. There has not been
so far as / conld ascertain, any neglect or.
delay in any department or bureau in is
suing all the supplies asked for McClel-
Ian or by the officers OF his staff. Delays
have frequently occurred in furnishing sup
plies by railroad on account of the crowd
ed condition of the railroad depots, or of
want of sufficient number of cars but
whenever notified Of the fact, agents have
been sent out to remove the difficulty.
VIrIa hn ,e,s, -
General Houpt, / think these delays have
been less frequent and of shorter duration
than is usually the case with freight trains.
An army of tue size of that under McClel-
Ian will frequently be for some days
without the supplies 1t has asked for, on
account of neglect in making timely requi-
sitions for them, and unavoidable delays
in forwarding them to the different bril-
gades and regiments.
From all the information that 1 can OBJ
tain, am of the opinion that the requisi-
tons from that army have been filled more
promptly, and that the men as u general
rule have been better supplied than in the
case of our armies operating in the West.
The latter have operated at much greater
distances from the sources OF supplies, and
have had far less facilities for transporta-
ton. In fine, believe that no corps in
the world, in campaigning, have been bet
ter supplied than ours. ..-.. -......s
Third-SOOn after the battle of Antietam
Gen. Mcclellan was urged to give me In
formation of his intended movements, in
/ order that If he moved between the enemy
and Washington the achievements could
be sent from this place on the first of Oc-
tober. Finding that he purPosedito ope-
rate from Harper,s Ferry, urged him to
cross the river at once aud give battle to
tho - him Nh0
yantages OF delaying till the autumn rains
had swollen the Potomac and impaired the
roads. On the sixth of October he was
peremptorily ordered to cross the Potomac
aud give battle TO the enemy or drive him
| South. said to him: "Your army must
move now while the roads are in good
condition." II will be observed that three
weeks have elapsed since that order was
given. s5s.l
Fourth-In my opinion there has been
no such want of supplies in the army un-
der General Mcclellan As to prevent his
compliance with my orders to advanced up-
on the enemy. Had he moved his army to
the south side of the Potomac he could
/ have received his supplies almost as reSdi-
ly as by remaining inactive on the North
side. liza
Fifth-0n tho 18th of October in tele.
gram in regard to his Intended movements,
Gen. Mcclellan stated that he would re-
quire at least three days to supply the first,
| fifth and sixth corps; that they needed shoes
and other Indispensable articles of cloth
ing, as well as shelter tents.
| No complaint was made to me that his
army acquisitions had not been filed, and
1t was inferred from his language that he
was ouly waiting for the distribution of
supplies.
On the lIth of October, he telegraphed
to me that portion of his supplies sent by
railroad had been delayed as already stated.
Agents were sent from here to investi-
gate this complaint, and they reported
that everything had gone forward on the
same date, (the llth). Gen. Mcclellan
spoke of many ofhis horses being broken
down by fatigue. On the 18th of October
he complained that the rate Of supply was
one hundred and fifty horses per week for
his entire army'there and in front OfWash-
ington. l Immediately directed the Quar-
termaster General to enquire into this mat
tor aud report why a larger supply was
not furnished to Gen. Mcclellan. General
Meigs reported to me ON the 18th of OctO-
Der that the average issue of horses to Gen.
McClellan's army in the field and in front
of Washington for the previous six weeks
had been 1860 per week, or 1854 in all. In
addition he reported TO ME that n large
number of mules had been supplied, aud
the number of these animals with Geaeral
McOlellan's army on the Upper Potomac
was over 300. BE also reportedto me that
he was sending that army all the horses he
could procure.
On the 18th of October Gen. Mcclellan
stated in regard to Gen. Meigs' report that
he had filed every requisiIion for shoes and
clothing: "Gen. Meigs may have ordered
these articles to be forwarded, but they
might as well remain in New York or Phil
adelphia, so far as my army is concerned"
Immediately called Gen. Meigs' attention
to this apparent neglect of his department
On the 25th of October ne reported as the
result Of his investigation that 1900 pairs
boots and shoes had been received by the
Quartermaster of McClellan's army at Har-