Litchfield enquirer., 1862-11-20
GEN. HALLECKS LETTER ON GE MCCLELLAN.
 [Ofcial Correspondence HEAD QUARTERS oF THE ARMY, waspIxGToy. Oct 2S. 1862. ]

MCCLELLAN.
 IOffcial Correspondence
 HEAD QUARTERS oF TEE ARMY,
 WASHINGTON, Oct. 2s, 1862. Hen- F. x Stantoa, Secretary of War.
 SIR: In reply to the general interrogatories contained in your letter of yesterday, have to ssPOst:
 l. That acquisitions for supplies to the army undsr Gen. M'Clellan are made by his staff offi- eers on the Chiefs of Bureaus here that IS, for suartermasters' supplies, by his chief quarter master on the 9uartermaster-g general; for commits sary supplies, by his chief commissary on the eonmissary general, &c. No such acquisitions have been to my knowledge made upon the Sec retary of War, and none upon the Generals-in- Chief
 2. On several occasions, Gen. M' 'Clellan has teleeraphed to me that his army was deficient in certain supplies. All these telegrams were in. uediasely referred to the heads of the bureaus with orders to report. It was ascertainsd that in every instance the acquisitions had been i'm mediately filed, except one, where the quarter master 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 l could ascertain, any neglect 0r delay in any department or bureau, in issuing all supplies asked for by Gen. M'CIellan or by the officers of his staff. Delays have occasion. ally occurred in forwarding supplies by rail, on account of the crowded condition of the depots or of want of cars but whenever notified of this, agents have been sent out to remove the difficulty. Under the excellent superintendence 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. NJ M'Clellan viii frequently be Aa,- u.fbn,,f tho Spnplios asEad on count of neglect in making timely acquisitions and unavoidable delays in forwarding them, and in distributing them to the different brigades and regiments.
 From all the information I can obtain, am of the opinion that the acquisitions from the ar my have been filled more promptly, and that the men, as a general rule, have been better supple than our armies operating in the West. The latter have operated at much greater distances from the sources of supply, and have had far less facilities for transportation. In fine, be lieve no armies in the world, while in campaign, have been more promptly or better supplied than ours.
 B. Soon after the battle of Antietam, General NClellan was urged to give me information of hIs intended movements, in order that if he moved between the enemy and Washington, re Inducements could be sent from this place. On the first of October, fudng that he proposed t" operate from Harper's Ferry, l urged him to cross the river at once and give battle to the en emy, pointing out to him tie disadvantages If delaying till the autumn rains had swollen the Potomac and impaired the roads. On the 6th of October. he was peremptorily ordered to "cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good" It will be observed that three weeks have elapsed since this order was given.
 A. In my opinion there has been no such want of supplies in the army nnder Gen. M'Clellan as to prevent his compliance with the orders to ad vance against the enemy. Had he moved to the south sidc of the Potomac, he could have re- ceived his supplies almost as readily as by re- maining inactive in the north.
 5. On the 7th of October, in telegram in regard to his intended movements, Gen. NJ 'Clel- Ian stated that 1t would require at least three days to supply the first, fifth and sixth corps that they needed shoes and other indispensable articles of clothing. as we'll as shelter tents. Nc complaint was made that any acquisitions hat not been filled, and it inferred from his Ian guage that he only waiting for the dstribu tion of his supplies. On the lth he telegraph ed that portion of his supplies sent by rail hat been delayed.
 As already stated. agents were already sen from here to investigate this complaint, and they reported that every thing had gone forward. 0, the same date, (the llth,) Ee spoke of many 0 his horses being broken down by fatigue. Or the l2th he complained that the rate of suppl, was only " l50 horses per week for the entire army there and in front of Washington" i'm medlatey directed the Quarermaster General |, inquire into this matter, and report why large snpply Was not furnished Gen. Meigs reported on the l4th, that the average issue of horses tt MClellan's army in the field and in front 0 Washington for the previous six weeks, hat been l.459 per week, or S,754 in all. In addi ton, that large numbers of mules had been sup piled, and that the number of animals for Gen MClellan's army on the Upper Potomac Wa over 3l 900. He also reported that he was thel sending to that army ali the horses be coul, procure.
 On the 18th, Gen. M'Clean stated in regard to Gen. Meig's report that he had filled every ry quistion for shoes and clothing. Gen. Meig may have ordered these articles to be forwarded but they have not reached our depots and un less greater effort to insure prompt transmission is made by the department of which Gen. Meg is the head, they might as well remain in New York or Philadelphia, as far as this army is con cerned." immediately called Gen. Meig' $ at tention to this apparent neglect of his depart ment. On the 25tl, he reported as the resul of his investigations that 4S,GO0 pairs of boot, and shoes had been received by the quartermas ter of Gen. NJ Clelans army at Harper Ferry Frederick and Hagerstown; that 10000 pair were at Harpers Ferry depot on the 2lst; tha 10000 mor were on their way, and 5000 nor ordered. Col. Ingals, aid-de camp and chi, quartermaster to Gen. Mcclellan, teiegraphed o the 25th, The suffering for want of clothing i exaggerated, think, and certainly might hav been avoided by timely acquisitions of regimen tai and brigade commanders.' On the 24th h. telegraphed to the quartcrmastcr general tha the clothing was not detained in cars at the de pots "Such complaints are groundless Tn fact is, the clothing arrives and is issued. bu more is still wanted. have ordered more ha would seem necessary from any data fnrnishe. me, and beg to remind you that you have al ways very promptly met my reqHisltions so f., AS clothing is concerned. Our depot is not a fault. It provides as soon as due notice is giv en. foresee no time when an army of ove 100000 men will not call for clothing and othe articles.
 In regard to Gen. M'Cellan's means o promptly communicating the wants of the arm, to me or to the proper bureaus of the war de partment, report that, in addition to the ordi nary mails, he has been in hourly communica ton with Washington by telegraph.
 ltis due to Gen. Meiss that should su5u,i, herewith a copy of a telegram received by hin from Gen. MClean.
 Very respectfully, your obedt serv't
 Il. W. HALLECK, Gen. in Chief
 
 MARRIAGE has been said to be lottery, SC little can the results of it as source of unex
 q