Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-11-29
General IInll.,I.,, Later.

=
have 10 report:
First--1hat acquisitions for supplies to
the army under GeO. Mcclellan are made
by the staff officers on the chiefs Of bureaus
here that Is, for Quartermaster's supplies,
by bis chief Quarlermaster on tho Quarter.
master General for commissary supplies,
by bis Chief CommissHry on the Commis.
sary General, etc. No snch reqnsitions
have been made. to my knoulepge, upon
the Secretary Of War, aud none upon the
ueneral.in. Chief
Second-On several occasions General
Mcclellan has telegrOphed to me that his
army was deficient in certain supplies All
these kilograms we're Immediately referred
TO the heads OF Bureaus with orders to re.
port. 1t was asceri aimed that IN every In
stance the requisiIons had been immediate
ly filled, except one, where the Quartermas-
ter General had been obliged 10 send from
Philadelphia certain articles Of clothing,
tents, etc., not having full supply here.
There has not been, SO far as | could as
cert ain, any neglect or delay in any De
parlment or Bureau in issuing all supplies
asked for by Gen. Mcclellan, or by officers
of bis stuff Delays haze occasionally oc
| SuIlCu u tOl hu'uiHB ouppHSc Wy TAU Ou az
count Of the crowded candition Of the de
pots, or of q want Of cars; but whenever
notified of this, agents have been sent ont
to remove the difficulty. Under the excel
lent snperinteudence 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 Mcclellan will frequently be-,
for some days, without the supplies asked
for, on account of neglect in making time.
ly acquisitions and unavoidable delays in
, forwarding them, and in distributing them
to the different brigade, and regiments.
From oil the information ] could obtain
, / am OF the opinion that the acquisitions
from that army have been filed more
promptly, and that the men as general
rule have been better supplied than our
armies operating 10 the West. The latter
, have operated at much greater distance
from the sources of supplies, and have had
far less facilities Of transportation.
Third. Soon after the battle Of Autie-
4 tam, Gen. Mcclellan was urged to give me
information of his intended movements in
6 order that if he moved between the enemy
\ and Washington reiuforcements could be
sent from this place. On the irSt-of Oct,
finding that he proposed 10 operate from
! Harper's Ferry, urged him to cross the
. river at once and give battle to the enemy,
>. pointing to him the disadvantages of delay
ing until the autumn rains had swollen the
Potomac and impaired the roads. On the
q 9th of Ocl ober he was peremptorily order
4 ed to cross the Potomac and give battle TO
the enemy, or drive him south Your army
must move now while the roads are good.
1t will be observed that three weeks have
, elapsed since lbe order was given.
Fourth--in my opinion. there has been
no snch want of supplies in the army under
Gen Mcclellan as to prevent his conpli-
!. ance with the orders TO advance against the
t enemy. Had he moved TO The south side oI
j. the Potomac, he could have received his
c supplies almost as readily as remaining in
e active on the north.
:, Fifth-On the 7th of October, 10 tele
y gram in regard to his intended movements
!, Gen. Mcclellan states that il would require
! at least three days to supply the lst, 5th
, and 9Th corps ; that they needed shoes and
other indispensable articles of clothing, os
well as shelter tents No complaint was
a made that any requiSiiion had not been
filled. and it was inferred from his language
that he was only waiting for his supplies.
On the llrh he telrgraphed that Dor.
tion of supplies sent by rail had been de
layed.
/. AS already ted agents were immediate.
II ly sent from here to investigate this com
0 plant and they reported that everything
l. had gone forward On The same dale. the
u I1th, he spoke Of many of his horses heine
e broken down by faiigue On the l2lh. hi
n complained that the rate of supply was only
d $50 horses per week for the entire army
s there and in front Of Washington. I i'm
d mediately directed the Quartermaster Gen
d eral to inquire into this matter and report
IL why larger supply was not furnished -
10 Gen. Meigs reported on the l4th. that iht
s. average issue of horses 10 Gen. Mcclellan.
e army in the field and in front of Washing
Ie ton. for the previous six weeks, had heel
d 1850 per week, or 1854 in all in addition
,r that large numbers OF mules had heen sup
d piled, and that ibe number of animals will
e. Gen. McClellan's army on the upper Poto
al mac was over 1000 He also reported
is that he was then sending to that army al
Dr. the horses he conld procure
ID On the 18th Gen. Mcclellan stated Il
regard to Gen. Meigs' report that he ha1
e. filled every rcquisitioD for shoes and cloth
= ing: Gen. Megs mnv have ordered thes
Dr. artisles to he forwarded. bnt they have no
o. reached onr depots, and unless greater el
fort TO cnsure prompt Transmission is mad
bv the department Of which Gen Meigs |
nj the head. they might as we'll remain in New
g Yo or Philadelphia SO far as this arm
70 is concerned.
Immediately called Gen. Meigs aiter
tion to this apparent neglect in his depart
N mert. On the 25'h he reported as the res
j ult of his investigation that 48 900 pairs q
r. honts and shoes had heen received by th
Qnartermaster If Gen. McCleIlanfs arm
at Harper's Ferry. Frederic and Hagers
town 'ha, 20 900 pairs we're at Harper
l, Ferry depot on the 2lst that TO- 900 NOR
~ ~ were on their way, is 900 more ordered
or Col. ingalls,. ABIDE Camp and Chic