The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1862-11-17

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, !
WASHINGTON, October %, 1862.
Hon. e. M Stanton, Secretary of Var:
SIR-In reply to the general interro-
gatories contained in your letter of yes
terday / have to report:
l. The acquisitions for supplies to the
army under Gen. Mcclellan are made by
his staff officers on the Chiefs of Bureaus
here: that is, for. the Quartermasters'
supplies by his Chief Quartermaster on
the Quartermaster General; for Commits
sary supplies by his Chief Commissary
on the Commissary General, &c No
such acquisitions have been, to my know
ledge, made upon the Secretary of War,
and none upon the General-in-C Chief
2. On several occasions Gen. McClel-
Ian has telegraphed to me that his army
was deficient in certain supplies. All
these kilograms were Immediately refer
red to the Heads Of Bureaus, with orders
to report 1t was ascertained that in
every instance the acquisitions had been
Immediately filled, except one, where
the Quartermaster General had been
obliged to send from Philadelphia GER
tain articles of clothing, tents, &C., not
having a full supply here.
There has not been, so far as l could
ascertain, any neglect or delay in any
Department or Bureau, in issuing all
supplies asked for by Gen. Mcclellan or
by the officers of his staff Delays have
occasionally occurred in forwarding sup
plies by rail, on account of the crowded
condition of the depots, or of a want of
IL e Al.
agents have been sent out to remove the
difficulty. Under the excellent superin-
tendence of Gen. Haupt, think these
delays have been less frequent and of
shorter duration than is usual with
freight trains.
An army of the size of that under Gen.
Mcclellan will frequently be for some
days without the supplies asked, on ac-
count of neglect in making timely requi-
sitions and unavoidable delays in for
. warding them, and in distributing them
to the different brigades and regiments.
From all the information / can obtain
/ am of opinion that the acquisitions
from that army have been filed more
promptly, and that the man, as general
rule, have been better supplied than our
armies operating in the West. The lat
ter have operated at much greater dis
tance from the sources of supply, and
have had far less facilities for transpor-
tation In fine, believe no armies in
the world, while in campaign, have been
more promptly or better supplied than
ours.
8. 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 ene-
my and Washington, reinforcements
could be sent from this place. On the
| lst Of October, finding that he proposed
to operate from Harper's Ferry l urged
! him to cross the river at once and give
F., battle to the enemy, pointing out to him
the disadvantages of delaying till the au
tumn rains had swollen the Potomac anC
impaired the roads. On the 9th of DC
tober he was peremptoriiy ordered tC
"cross the Potomac and give battle tC
the enemy, or drive him South. You
army must move now while the roads are
good" 1t will be observed that three
weeks have elapsed since this order wa,
!, given.
q. In my opinion, there has been ne
such want of supplies in the army under
General Mcclellan as to prevent his com
pliance with the orders to advance agains
the enemy. Had he moved to the soutl
side of the Potomac he would have re
ceived his supplies almost as readily a
by remaining inactive on the north.
5. On the 7th of October, in q tele
gram in regard to his intended move
ments, Gen. Mcclellan stated that i
would require at least three days to sup
ply the 1st, 9th, and 9th corps, that the,
needed shoes and other indispensable
articles of clothing, as we'll as shelte
tents. No complaint was made that an,
reauisitions had not been filled, and i
was inferred from his language that h
was only waiting for the distribution O
his supplies On the lIth he telegraph
ed that portion of his supplies sent b.
rail had been delayed.
AS already stated, agents were imme
diately sent from here to Investigate thi
complaint, and they reported that every
thing had gone forward. On the sam
date (the llth) he spoke of many of hi
horses being broken down by fatigue
On the 18th he complained that the rat
of supply was only $50 horses per wee
for the entire army the and in front {
Washington" | Immediately directe
the Quartermaster General to inquir
into this matter, and report why large
supply was not furnished.
General Meigs reported, on the 14tl
that the average issue of horses to Ger
McClellans army in the field and in fror
of Washington for the previous 81
weeksshad been ], ,459 per week, or 81
in all In addition, that large number
of mules had been supplied and that tn
number of animals with General McCle
: lan's army on the Upper Potomac wa
,, over 1000. He also reported that h
|, was then sending to that army all th
0 horses he could procure.
On the 18th, Gen. Mcclellan stated, i
!, regard to Gen. Meigs' report that he ha
. filled every requisition for shoes an
, clothing: "Gen. Meigs may have orde
r ed these articles TO be forwarded, br
they have not reached our depots; an