Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-11-13
Important Correspondence going 70
Snow wny Gen. Mcclellan was Re:

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LETTER FROM GEN. uALLgcK.
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Sir: In reply the general intcrrogatorics
contnined in your letter of yesterday | have
the h mo- - p rt:
IL st -Tht requi ions for suppl 's to
th army unler Gen. Mc'llc IN nre made
by his staff o.hc1s the Chiefs of Bureaus
here. That is, the Qudrtcrniaster applies
by his Chief Qnartcrmastcr on the Quarter.
master General; for comnlis'ary supplies by
his Chief ComniSsaiy On Cnmmissary Cen
eral, &c No such rc'u Il have been
to my knowl edge made upon the s crltary
of War, aud none upon the General in Chief
,Second-On several. occasions Gen. Nc.
Clelnn has teegraphod me that his army
was deficient in certain su 'pi 8. All the c
telcgranls were iumediatey referred to the
heads OF buleiuS with orders to report. 1t
was ascertained that in every instance tho
requsitions have been Immediately filled
except where the Quartermaster Gen. had
been obliged TO send from Phlladepelphja
certain articles Of clothing, tents, &C., not
having full supply here. There has not
been, so far as could ascertain, any neglect
or delay 10 any department or bureau in is.
suing all the supplies asked for Mcclellan
or by the officers of his staff, Delays have
trequenty occurred in furnishing supplies
by raiiroi I'd on account Of the crowded con-
dition OF the rairoand depots, or OF want
OF sufficient number of cars; but whenever
notified OF the fact, agents have been sent
out to remove the difficulty. Under the ex-
cellent superintendent Of General Houpt,
l think these delays have been less frequent
and OF shorter duration than is usually the
case with freight trains. An army of the
size of that under Mcclellan will frequently
be for some days without the supplies it has
asked for, on account of neglect in making
timely acquisitions for them, and unavoida-
BILE delays in fowarding them to the different
brigades and regiments.
From all the information that l can OBJ
tain, am of the opinion that the requisi.
tions from that army have been filed more
promptly, and that the men as 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.
tion. In fine, believe that no corps in the
world, in campaigning, have been better
supplied than ours.
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 reinforcements could
be sent from this place on the first OF Octo
Der. Finding that he purposed to operate
from Harper's Ferry, urged him to cross
the river at once and give battle to the en-.
envy, pointing out to him the disadvanta.
ges of delaying till the autumn raius had
swollen the Potomac and impaired the
roads. On the sixth of October he was
ordered to cross the Potomac
and give battle to the enemy or drive him
South. said to him: Your army must
move now while the roads are in good con.
dition.' 1t will be observed that three
weeks have elapsed since that order was
given.
FOurth--ln my opinion there has been no
such want of supplies in the army under
General Mcclellan as to prevent his COM
piance with my orders to advance upon the
enemy. Had he moved his army to the
south side ofthe Potomac he could have
received his supplies almost as readily as by
inactive on the North side.
Flfth--On the 18th of October in tele-
gram in regard to his intended movements,
Gen. Mcclellan statel 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 clothing,
as well as shelter tents.
No complaint was made to me that his
army acquisitions had not been filled, and it
was inferred from his language that he was
only waiting for the distribution Of sup
plies.
On the llth of Ootober, he telegraphed
to me that portion of his supplies sent by
railroad had been delayed, as already stated.
Agents were sent from here to investigate
this complaint, and they reported that ev-
erything had gone forward on the same date,
1.-THE llth.) Gen. Mcclellan spoke of many
OF his horses being broken down by fatigue.
On the 18th OF October he complained that
the rate of supply. was one hundred and fiji.
ty horses per week tor his entire army there
and IN front OF Washington. immediate
ly directed the Quartermaster General to
enquire into this matter and report why
larger supply was not furnished to General