AKMY OPERATIONS. 



163 



by rail, on account of the crowded condition of the 

 depots, or of a want of cars ; but whenever notified of 

 this, agents hare been sent out to remove the difficulty. 

 Under the excellent superintendence of Gen. Haup, I 

 think these delays have been less frequent and of short- 

 er duration than is usual with freight trains. An army 

 of the size of that under Gen. McClellan will frequently 

 be for some days without the supplies asked for, on ac- 

 count of neglect in making timely requisitions and un- 

 avoidable delays in forwarding them and in distributing 

 them to the different brigades and regiments. From 

 all the information I can obtain, I am of opinion that 

 the requisitions from that army have been filled more 

 promptly, and that the men, as a general rule, have been 

 better supplied 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 faci- 

 lities for transportation. In fine, I believe that no 

 armies in the world, while in campaign, have been more 

 promptly or better supplied than purs. 



3d. Soon after the battle of Antietam Gen. McClellan 

 was urged to give me information of his intended move- 

 ments, in order that, if he moved between the enemy 

 and Washington, reinforcements could be sent from 

 this place. On the first of October, finding that he pro- 

 posed to operate from Harper's Ferry, I urged him to 

 cross the river at once ana give battle to the enemy, 

 pointing out to him the disadvantages of delaying till 

 the autumn rains had swollen the Potomac and impaired 

 the roads. On the 6th of Optober 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. 



4th. In my opinion there has been no such want of 

 supplies in the army under Gen. McClellan as to pre- 

 vent his compliance with the orders to advance against 

 the enemy. Had he moved to the south side of the 

 Potomac he could have received his supplies almost as 

 readily as by remaining inactive on the north side. 



5th. On the 7th of October, in a telegram in regard 

 to his intended movements, Gen. McClellan stated that 

 it 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 well as shelter 

 tents. No complaint was made that any requisitions 

 had not been filled, and it was inferred from his lan- 



fuage that he Was only waiting for the distribution of 

 is supplies. 



On the llth he telegraphed that a portion of his sup- 

 plies sent by rail hadl>een delayed. As already stated, 

 agents were immediately sent from here to investigate 

 this complaint, and they reported that everything had 

 gone forward. On the same date (the llth) he spoke 

 of many of his horses being broken down by fatigue. 

 On the 12th he complained that the rate of supply was 

 only " one hundred and fifty horses per week for the 

 entire armv there and in front of Washington." 



I immediately directed the Quartermaster-General 

 to inquire into this matter and report why a larger sup- 

 ply was not furnished. Gen. Meigs reported on the 

 14th that the average issue of horses to Gen. McClel- 

 lan's army in the field and in front of Washington for 

 the previous six weeks had been 1,459 per week, or 

 8,754 in all. In addition, that large numbers of mules 

 had been supplied, and that the number of animals with 

 Gen. McClellan's army on the upper Potomac was over 

 thirty-one thousand. ' He also reported that he was then 

 sending to that armv all the horses he could procure. 



On the Ibth Gen. McClellan stated, in regard to Gen. 

 Meigs's report that he had filled every requisition for 

 shoes and clothing: "Gen. Meigs may have ordered 

 these articles to be forwarded, but they have not reached 

 our depot, and, unless greater effort to insure prompt 

 transmission is made by the department of which Gen. 

 Meigs is the head, they might as well remain in New 

 York or Philadelphia, so far as this army is concerned." 

 I immediately called Gen. Meigs's attention to this ap- 

 parent neglect of his department. On the 25th he re- 

 ported, as the result of his investigation, that 48,000 

 pairs of boots and shoes had been received by the quar- 



termaster of Gen. McClellan's army at Harper's Ferry, 

 Frederick, and Hagerstown ; that 20,000 pairs were at 

 Harper's Ferry depot on the 21st; that 10,000 more 

 were on their way, and 15,000 more ordered. Col. 

 Ingals, aide-de-camp and chief quartermaster to Gen. 

 McClellan, telegraphed, on the 25th : " The suffering for 

 want of clothing is exaggerated, I think, and certainly 

 might have been avoideo by timely requisitions of regi- 

 mental and brigade commanders." On the 24th ne 

 telegraphed to the Quartermaster-General that the 

 clothing was not detained in cars at the depots : " Such 

 complaints are groundless. The fact is, the clothing 

 arrives and is issued, but more is still wanted. I have 

 ordered more than would seem necessary from any data 

 furnished me, and I beg to remind you that you have 

 always very promptly met all my requisitions, so far as 

 clothing is concerned. Our department is not at fault. 

 It provides as soon as due notice is given. I foresee no 

 time when an army of over 100,000 men will not call for 

 clothing and other articles." 



In regard to Gen. McClellan's means of promptly 

 communicating the wants of his army to me or to the 

 proper bureaus of the War Department, I report that, 

 in addition to the ordinary mails, he has been in hourly 

 communication with Washington by telegraph. 



It is due to Gen. Meigs that I should submit herewith 

 a copy of a telegram received by him from Gen. Mc- 

 Clellan. 



Very respectfullv, your obedient servant, 



"E. W. HALLECK, Gen.-in-Chief. 



UXITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH. 



Received, Oct. 22, 18629 40 p. JL 

 From McClellan's Headquarters. 



To BRIG.-GEX. MEIGS : Your despatch of this date is 

 received. I have never intended, in any letter or de- 

 spatch, to make any accusation against yourself or your 

 department for not furnishing or forwarding clothing as 

 rapidly as it was possible for you to do. I believe that 

 everything has been done that" could be done in this re- 

 spect. The idea that I have tried to convey was, that 

 certain portions of the command were without clothing, 

 and the army could not move until it was supplied. 



G. B. MCCLELLAN, Maj.-Gen. 



Nothing has been made public on the part of 

 Gen. McClellan alluding to or explaining the 

 causes of the delay of the movements of the 

 army. Strict justice requires that, in estimat- 

 ing the importance of the preceding letters, the 

 testimony of Gen. Burnside on a subsequent 

 page should be considered. It was generally 

 understood that Gen. McClellan's movement 

 was delayed by the want of clothing and other 

 supplies, and especially on account of his defi- 

 ciency in cavalry and artillery horses. The 

 purchase and forwarding of these was going on 

 even up to the day of his crossing the Potomac. 

 One army corps did not receive its clothing 

 until it had commenced its march in Virginia. 

 It was stated by several commanders that they 

 made every effort to get the clothing for their 

 troops, repeatedly sent teams to the railroad 

 depots for it, and until a short time previous to 

 the marching of the army they were invariably 

 told that the clothing had not arrived. 



Early on the 26th of October a cavalry force, 

 under Col. Pleasanton, crossed the Potomac 

 on the new pontoon bridge at Berlin, and 

 moved on in the direction of Purcellville. Soon 

 after the corps of Gen. Burnside began to cross 

 in light marching order, followed by an im- 

 mense train of wagons, and took a position 

 near Lovettsville. On the next day a heavy 

 reinforcement joined him. About the same 



