The National tribune., 1906-02-08

Barracks, storehouses, HOSPITALS were I,
be built; corrals started; repair shop
fnaugurated; steamboats, and railroad
acquired: and horses. mules, wagons
ambulances, harness, forage, clothing
tents, equipage-everythin provided.
Everything Crude.
The Volunteers themselves as We
were an experiment: and the newly
ftedged Quartermasters, as a rule. dit
not know "a "requisition'' from an "in.
voice. nor an abstract" from a prop
erty return" 1t was under such con
ditfons, raw and uniformed, that tn.
dcpots at st. Louis, Cairo, etc, had lit
orally to be created-built up from
Eothing-and Grants heavy force
equipped. moved and followed up, a.
he advanced into Kentucky and Ten.
nessee. Yet the official reports show
that Allen did the job well, and was
warmly commended for his ability and
judgment. his vigor and efficiency
Some idea Of what our Quartermas-
ter's Department was. prior to the civil
war. may be formed from the follow.
ing extract from Report of Quarter.
master-General. 1860, page 189 of the
volume Of presidents Message and
Accompanying Documents" for that
year. He says: "At the end of the las,
fiscal year, the number of clerks en-
ployed in this office was reduced from
g to H." CD That is, less than many
Post Quartermaster had to employ ir
the years 1861 to 1865. Joseph E
Johnston. afterward Lieutenant-Genar-
al, c. s. A, was then Quartermaster-
General, Z. S. A., and he begged for
two more" CD clerks to bring up GER
tain back claims of Quartermaster en-
ployes for military bounty land" AS
contrasted with these II clerks, in 1860,
in December, 1865, the Quartermaster-
clerks, and its work was still in arrears.
Subsequently, after Pittsburg Land
ing, or Shiloh, when Halleck himself
went to the front and advanced on Co.
rinth, he took Allen along and advised
freely with him. Halieck, while a
prodigy Of industry and an encyclope-
dia Of knowledge, 1t goes without say
ing now. was a great red tapist, believ-
ing in the 'circumlocution Office" but
he was soldier enough to know his own
defects as commander in the field.
Allen, on the contrary, always had a
dislike for mere forms; and was gifted
besides with that consummate compre-
hension and knowledge of affairs, SEEM
ingly intuitive. which Mr.. Lincoln used
to define so well by that homely phrase
"horse-sense."
OF really poetic tastes and liberal cul-
ture-few Army officers being so well
versed in letters-Allen yet possessed
CilOuSH ScHS0 as TO all DfacIl-
cal matters to make the fortunes of half
a dozen Brigadiers-as they rum Had
he chosen command instead of logis-
tics, there Is good reason to believe he
would have made one of our most sue
cessful Generals. AS it was, his union
with Halleck In the West, as his Chief
Quartermaster and trusted friend, gave
our army there the benefit of their mu-
tual gifts, and resulted altogether most
faVorably for the country
Quartermaster-Genera for the West.
When Halleck was ordered East
later in 1862. as sort of General-in-
Chief or confidential adviser to the War
Department. Col. Allen was sent back
to st. Louis, as the then natural brain
of the QuartermaSter's Department in
the great West. From there he directed
the supplies, that followed up and sus-
tanned the army Of Gen. Curtis, in its
arduous campaign through Missouri
and Arkansas, which resulted in the
victory of Pea Ridge and occupancy Of
Helena. At the same time he kept the
Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the
Mississippi swarming with transports,
bearing. men and supplies to Rose
crans Grant, Sherman, and Pope. as
they operated in turn against Murfrees-
boro, Island No. 10, Memphis, Chicka-
saw Bluffs, and down the Mississippi
generally. When at last, in 1868, Grant
withdrew from all minor points, and
his forces sat down with
the grimness OF destiny before Vicks-
burg, convinced, like Scipio before