The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-08

erai t9uarfermaster. stores. and literally
ransacked the Northwest for horses,
mules, corn. oats, hay and whatever
else II possessed that Sherman needed.
me whole was concentrated on the
ohio and Mississippi, and thence poured
into Nashville and other points as re-
qu1red, by railroad and steamboat via
the Cumberland and the Tennessee, un-
III all such dependencies were duly sup
pied and kept supplied. Nashville be-
came one vast stOrehouse and corral,
with warehouses covering whole blocks.
one Oh tnem over quarter of mile
long, with corrals and stables by the
IL and 20 acres each, and repair shops
by the feldful
Thus Sherman's great campaign be-
came pre-eminently success; primari-
~, or course, because of his own great
genius as a military commander, born
soldier that he was, but also largely
because his Quartermaster's Depart
ment throughout sustained itself SO ex-
ceilently. Before his campaign began
II was scarcely believed, in high quar-
tiers that this could be done. To supply
single line OF faulty railroad, hundreds
of miles from it's true base was a new
and untried thing
The best soldiers in Europe pro-
nounced the attempt quixotic, and the
war Department and Mr.. Lincoln, it
must be confessed, grew more and more
nervous as Sherman plunged deeper
and deeper into Georgia The Army of
the Potomac, not much more numerous
as whole, prOfesSed to be baff1ed by
1t, again and again; 1t never got 100
miles away from it's base at Washing
ton on single-track railroad; and ex-
perienced Quartermasters East and
West, Of acknowledged capacity, were
dubious as to the result. But Allen and
his subOrdfnates, at Nashville Chatta-
nooga and elsewhere, accepted the task
and not only filled the BILL" but did
1t magnificently.
In his Official Report Of the Atlanta
Campaign" Sherman said: From that
day to this MAY to Sept. Is, 1864
stores have been brought forward in
wonderful abundance, with a surplus
that has enabled me to feed the army
well during the whole period Of time"
1t is not often that the Quartermaster's
Department gets such generous recog-
milton. But Sherman could well afford
1t. for the whole problem of his cam
paign was wrapped up in this one ques-
ton OF transportation and supplies, as
no one more willingly conceded than
that great captain himself always
The Chief Work Over.
With the fall of Atlanta and Sher-
mans departure for Savannah, Gen.
Thomas soon coupled the defeat and
almost humiliation Of Hood before
Nashville. This ended the war, prac-
tically, in the, West, and though Gen.
Allen continued to send large supplies
to Nashville, and down the Mississippi
generally, until after the surrender Of
Lee and Johnston, yet his chief work
was over. ,a
1t is true, he "lent a hand" in the
transportation East OF the Twenty-third
Corps. in the Spring Of 1866, and had
considerable to do In fitting out and
following up various cavalry expedi-
tons into East Tennessee and West Vir-
ginia soon afterward, and also was
somewhat busy again later in the sea-
son. when Sherman's and Thomas's vet
Grams returned to Louisville for mus
ter-out and transportation to their
homes. But all this was "child's play"
compared with the multiplied and her
culean labors he had performed
throughout the war, and for which he
was duly brevetted Major General to
date from March 13, 1865.
To present some Of his work little
more specifically, I give the following
figures from official reports, wrich, it
is submitted. speak for themselves.
From Oct. I. 1851. to June 80, 1855,
he received and disbursed himself, on
account Of the United States, $1O6,694.-
667.24. During the same period there
was disbursed at st. Louis. under his
direction. $s0,79S,4s6.8S in addition.
That IL to say, during the said period
he made and controlled an aggregate
public funds. His total disbursements
during tho civil war. including those
prior to Oct. /. 1851. and subsequent to
June 30. 1855. exceeded $500. 900, 900
q greater sum. I venture to say, than
was ever hAnd1ad by Q single Quarter