Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1863-05-08
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suffering for the want of it," and that he
was constrained to believe that it was
in degree owing to the want of proper
action ON the part of the Quartermaster's
Department" The subject was referred
to the Quartcrmaster General, and Was
called upon for statement in regard to
to the matter. There was much cores
pondenc, upon the subject between Gen.
Halcck, General Mcclellan, and General
Meigs. The result, Of the examination is
fully stated in communication of Gen.
Haleck, of the 2Sth of October, to Sec
retary Stanton, as follows:
WASHINGTON, October %, 1852.
"Sir: In reply to the several interrog-
atorie, contained in your letter of yester-
day, l have to report:
First: That acquisitions for supplies
to the army under General Mcclellan are
made by kis staff .ogcers on the chiefs OF
bureaus here that is, for Quartermaster's
supplies by his Chief Quartermaster on
the Quartermaster-G General, for Commits
sary supplies by his Chief Co nmissary
on the Commissary-G General, &c. No
such acquisitions have been, to my knowl-
edge, made upon the Secretary Of War
and none upon the General-ln-Chicf.
"Second On several occasions Gen.
Mcclellan has telegraphed 10 Inc that
hi, army was deficient in certain supplies
All these kilograms were Immediately
referred to the heads Of bureaus, with or.
ders to report. 1t was asccrtained that
in every instance the requlsitlons had
been Immediately filled, except cne, where
the QuartermasterGe eneral had been
obliged to send from Philadelphia GER
tain articles of clothing, tents, &c, not
having full supply here.
There has not been, so far as | could
ascertain, any neglect or delay il any
department or bureau in issuing all sup
plies asked for by General Mcclellan, OR
by the officers Of his staff. Delays have
occasionally occurred in forwarding sup
plies by rail, on account of the crowded
condition Of the depots or of want OF
of cars but whenever notified of this.
agents have been sent out to remove the
difficulty Under the excellent superin-
tendence of General Haupt + think these
delays have been less frequent and Of
shorter duration than is usual with freigh
trains. Any army of the size of that Of
General Mcclellan will frequently be for
some days without the supplies asked for,
on account 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 l can obtain, l
am Of TIE opinion that the regusiitlons
from that army have been filed more
promptly, and that the men, as general
rule, have been better supplied than our
armies operating in the West. The lat
ter have operated at much greater dis
tances from the sources Of supply, and
have had far less facilities for transport
tation. In fine, believe that no armies
in the world, while in campaign, have
been more promptly or better supplied
than ours.
Third: Soon after ths battle Of Al
tietam General Mcclellan was urged to
give me information of his intenlel move
ments, in order that, if he moved between
the enemy and Washington, reinforce
ments could be sent from this place. On
the 1st Of October, finding that be pro-
posed 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 disadvantage OF delaying till the
autumn rars had swollen the Potomac
and impaired the roads. Oa the 9TH of
October he was to eros the Potomac and
give battle to the enemy, or drive him
south. Your army must move now while
.hc roads are good. 1t will be observed
that three weeks have elapsed since this
order was given.
Fourth: In my opinion there had
been no such want Of supplies in the ar
my under General Mcclellan as TO pre-
vent his compliance with the orders to
advance against the enemy. Had he
novel to the south side Of the Potomac
he could have received his supplies al
most as readily a., by remaining inactive,
on the north side.
"Fifth: On the 7th of October, in a
telegram in regard to his intended move
ments, Gen. Mcclellan stated that it
would require at least three days to sup
ply the First, Fifth and Sixth Corps that
they needed shoes aud other Indispensable
articles Of clothing, as well as SHELTER
tents. No complaint was made that any
acquisitions had not been filled; and it
was Inferred from bis language that be
LAS only waiting for the distribution Of
his supplies.
"On the llth he tclegraphcl that a
portion Of his supplies, sent by rail, had
been delayed AS already stated, agents
were Immediately sent from here to in
vestigate this complaint; and they report
ed that everything had gone forward. On
the same date (the HIN he spoke Of liz my
of his horses haying broken down by far
tigue. On the l2th he complains that
the rate of supply was only one hun red
and fifty horses per week for the entire
army, there and in front Of Washington
| Immediately directed the Quarterlnas.
ter-Gencral to inquire into this matter
aud to report why a larger number was
not furnished. General Megs reported
on tho l4th that the average issue OF
horses to General McClellan's army, in
the field and in front of Washington for
the previous six weeks, had been l,45l
per week, or S,754 in all il addition
4 IL - l,,1., ,,u,,bo, of ,putos b,l haa,,