The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1862-11-19

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Hon. 4. N. stautsn, secretary Of Wax:
SIR:-In reply to the general interroaH.
tories contained in your letter Of yesterda,
Ihave the honor to report, First, That r.
ouisi,ions for supplies to the army und,'
Gen. Mcclellan, are made BY bis staff off
GERS on the chief Of bureaus here--thst J..
the quartermaster supplies, by his chiI
quartcrmaster or quarterma>ter-g general, f,s
com,nissary supplies by his conmissay oi'
the commissary general.
No such requis,tons have been, to my
knowledge, made up II the secretary ii
war, and none upon the gcneral-in. chief.
Second. On several occasions Gen. Nc
Clellan has tclesraphcd me that his army
was deficient in certain supplies. All these
kilograms were Immediately reported to tn.
heads Of bureaus, with orders to report; il
is ascertained that in every instance the
reouisitons have been Immediately filled,
except whre the quartermaster general lad
been obliged to send from Philadelphia
certain articles Of clothing, tents, Sc, not
having a full supply here. There has not
been, so far as it cauld be ascertaincd, 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 tn.
crowded condition Of rairsad depots, or 0r
a want Of q 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, l think these delays have Doe"
less frequent and Of shorter duratior than
is usually the case with freight trains.
An army Of the size Of ttsat under Gen.
Mcclellan will frequently be for some days
without the supplies it has asked for on
account Of neglect in making timely re-
QUESTIONS for them, and unavoidable delays
in forwarding them and distributing thtm
to the different brigades and regiments.--
From all the information that l can obtain,
am Of the opinion that the requisitions
from that army have been filled moro
promptly, and that the men, as . general
rule, have been better supplied than in tho
case Of our armies operating in the West.
The latter have operated at much greater
distances from the sources Of supplies, and
have far less facilities for transportation.
In fine, l believe that no armies in the
world in campaigning have been mere
promptly or better supplied than ours.
Third. Soon after the battle Of Antietan,
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 sen, from this place. On October LIST,
finding that he purposed to operate frou,
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 perempto-
rily ordered to cross the Potomac and give
battle to the enemy, or drive him South
l said to him, "Your army must move now.
while the roads are in good condition" It
will be observed that three weeks has
elapsed since that order was given.
Fourth. In my opinion there has been
no such want of supplies in the army un.
der Gen. Mcclellan as to prevent his coin.
pliance with my orders to advance upon
the enemy. Had he mov>d his army to
the south side of the Potomac he could
have received his supplies almost as rapid
ly as remaining inactive on the north side.
Fifth On the 7th Of October, in 4 tele-
gram in regard to his intended movement,
Gen Mcclellan stated that he would re-.
quirc at least three days to supply the ls.,
| 5th and 9Th corps, thai they needed shoes,
and other indispensable articles Of clothing
as well as shelter tents. No complain
was made to me that his army requisition.
had not been filled, and it was inferred
from his language that he was only haltine
for the distribution of hi supplies. On
the llth Of October he telegraphed TO m'
that portion of his supplies, sent by rail
road, had been delayed As already stated,
agents were being sent from here to inyes
tigate this complaint. and they reported
that everything had gone forward. On thu
same date, the ll,h, Gen. Mcclellan SPOKE
of many Of his horses being broken dow g
by fatigue. On the 18th Of October, h
CON planned that the rate Of supply VA
only 100 hcrses per week for his entire
army there and in front Of Washington.
Immediately directed the quartermastes
general to inquire into this matter, and re
port why larger supply was not furnish
! ed to Gen. Mcclellan. Gen. Mrigs reported
to me on the 10th of October, that th'
average issue Of horses to Gen. McClellan''
army in the field and in front Of Washing
ton, for the previous six weeks had beer
l,459 per week, or s,454 in all.
In addition he reported 10 me that lsrgt
number Of mules had been supplied, and
TIE nun Der Of these animals with Genera
McClellan's army on the Upper Potomac
was over 3,lOO. He also reported to I'M
that he was then sending that army oil tn
horses he could procure.
On the 18th Of October. Gen. Mcclellan
stated in regard to Gen. Meigs' report, tha
he had filled every requsition for shoes
and clothing: THAT Gen. Meigs may have
ordered these articles to be forwarded, bu
they might as we'll remain in New York o
Philadelphia, so far as my army is con
cerned." Immediately called Gen. Meigs
attention to the apparent neglect Of his DC
partment.
s:.On the Goth of October he reported a
the result of his investigation, that 1890
pairs of boots and shoes had been receive.
BY the auartermasters Of McClelian's arm,
at Harper's Ferry, Frederick and Hagers
town; 10000 pairs were at Harper's Ferr!
depot OH the 2lst, and that 10000 NOR
were on their way, and $4,000 more hs
been ordered.
| Col. Ingalls,, aid-de.camp and chief q
staff to Gen. Mcclellan, telegraphed on tn
25th as follows: "The suffering for want Q
clothing is exaggerated, think, and &C.
tainly might have been avoided by timel,
acquisitions by the regimental and brigad'
commanders
On the gath Of October he teicgraphce
to Quartermaster General Meigs that the
clothing was 'not detained IN ths cars Al
depots. Such complaints are groundles.
The fact is, the clothing arrived and is Is
sued, but more is still wanted"
have ordered more than would seem
necessary from aay date furnished me. and