The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-11-21
The Removal of Mcclellan.
LETTER OF GENERAL HALLECK 70 THE
SECRETARY OF WAR.

The following correspondence contains,
it is stated, some of the reasons why the
President has concurred with his military
advisers i'll making the recent important
change in the command of the Army of
the Potomac:
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
WAsHINGTON, Oct. 20, 1862. !
Hon. z. NJ. STANTON, Secretary of Wars
SIR: In reply to the general interroga
tories contained in your letter of yester-
day, l have the honor to report:
First That acquisitions for supplies to
the army under General Mcclellan, are
made by his staff officers on the chiefs of
bureaus here-that is, the quartermaster
supplies, by his chief quartermaster on
guartermaster general; for commissary
supplies, by his chief commissary on the
commissary general. No such acquisitions
have been, to my knowledge, made upon
the Secretary of War, and none upon the
General-in-Ch
Second. On several occasions Gen. Nc
Clellan has telegraphed me that his army
was deficient in certain supplies. All these
kilograms were Immediately reported to
the heads of bureaus, with orders to report;
it is ascertained that in every instance the
acquisitions have been Immediately filled,
except where the quartermaster general
had been obliged to send from Philadelphia
certain articles of clothing, tents, &c, not
having full supply here. There has not
been, so far as it could be ascertained, any
neglect or delay in any department Or bu-
reau in issuing all the supplies asked for by
Gen. Mcclellan or by the officers of his
staff. Delays have occurred in forwarding
supplies by said road on account of the
crowded condition of railroad depots, or Of
a want of sufficient number of cars, but
whenever notified of this fact agents have
been sent out to remove the difficulty.
Under the excellent superintendent of
Gen. HOupt, 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 Gen.
Mcclellan will frequently be for some days
without the supplies it has asked for, on
account of the neglect in making timely re-
QUESTIONS for them, and unavoidable delays
in forwarding them and distributing them
to the different brigades and regiments.
From all the information I can obtain, l
am of the opinion that acquisitions from
that army have been filled more promtly,
and that the men, as a 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 tar
less facilities for transportation. In fine, I
believe that no armies in the world in
campaigning have been more promtly or
better supplied than ours.
Third. Soon after the battle of Ante
tam, Gen. Mcclellan was urged to give me
information of his intended movements, in
order that if he moved between the enemy
and Washington the reinforcements could
be sent from this place. On October 1st,
finding that he purposed to operate from
Harper's Ferry, urged him to cross the
river at once, and give battle to the enemy,
pointing out to him the disadvantages of
delaying until the autumnal rains had
swollen the Potomac and impaired the
roads. On the 9th of October, he was per-
emptorily 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
condition" 1t will be observed that three
weeks have elapsed since that order was
given.
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 advance
upon the enemy. Had he moved his army
to the south side of the Potomac, he
could have received his supplies almost as
readily as while remaining inactive on the
north side
FYM. Onsthe 7th of October, in a tele-
gram in regard to his intended movement,
Gen. Mcclellan stated that he would re-
quire at least three days to supply the LIST,
9th and 9th 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 it was inferred
from his language that he was only hating
for the distribution Of his supplies. On
the 18th OF October he telegraphed to me
that a portion of his supplies, sent by rail-
road, had been delayed. AS already stat
ed, agents were being sent from here to
investigate this complaint, and they re-
ported that everything had gone forward
On the same date, the 18th, Gen. Nc
Clellan spoke of many of his horses being
broken down by fatigue. On the 18th Of
October, he complained that the rate of
supply was only $50 horses per week for
his entire army there and in front of
Washington Immediately directed the
quartermaster-g general to inquire into this
matter, and report why a larger supply
was not furnished to Gen. Mcclellan
Gen. Meigs reported to me on the 9th OF, /
October, that the average issue of horses
to Gen. McClellan's army,in the field and
in front Of Washington, for the previous
six4weels had been 1850 per week or
8,454 In all.
In addition he reported to me that a
large number of mules had been supplied,