74 
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS. 
to develop the character of that portion of our national domain, and supply all the facts which 
enter into the solution of the particular problem of a railroad. 
“ 4th. Brevet Captain George B. McClellan, already under orders to report to Governor 
Stevens, is assigned to duty on this survey, according to his brevet rank. 
“ 5th. Captain John W. T. Gardiner, first dragoons ; Captain Joseph Roberts, fourth artillery ; 
Second Lieutenant Johnson K. Duncan, third artillery; Second Lieutenant Rufus Saxton, jr., 
fourth artillery; Second Lieutenant Cuvier Grover, fourth artillery, and Brevet Second Lieutenant 
John Mullan, jr., first artillery, are assigned to duty on this survey, and will report to Governor 
Stevens for instructions. 
“6th. In addition to Lieutenant A. J. Donelson and ten non-commissioned officers, artificers and 
privates of the engineer company, already under orders for the expedition, one sergeant, two cor¬ 
porals, one musician, and sixteen privates of company D, first dragoons, now stationed at Fort 
Snelling, will be placed at the disposal of Governor Stevens; and, in view of the character of the 
service, the officers of the company are required to select none but tried men and animals for the 
duty. 
“7th. In the exploration of the Cascade range, the brigadier general in command of the Pacific 
division will assign to Captain McClellan two officers from those who may volunteer for the 
service, and thirty men, to be selected from the several companies stationed in the Territory of 
Washington, and on the Columbia river. Every Facility^ will be given to Captain McClellan and 
his party in the discharge of their difficult and important duties, and much is expected from the 
hearty co-operation and assistance of the officers and troops stationed in the Territory. 
“ Sth. The several administrative branches of the service will, on requisition duly approved 
by Governor Stevens, supply the officers, soldiers, and civil employes of the expedition, (except 
the scientific corps and their assistants,) with transportation, subsistence, medical stores, and 
arms. The Quartermaster’s department will supply funds to provide means of transportation, 
and to pay for the hired men of the department attached to the command. The Subsistence 
department will supply rations, or funds for their purchase. The Ordnance department will fur¬ 
nish forty Colt’s revolvers, forty Sharp’s patent rifles, forty ordinary rifles, and a mountain piece, 
with the necessary ammunition, and a travelling forge. The Surgeon General’s department will 
assign a medical officer to the command, having skill as a naturalist, provided he can be detailed 
without detriment to the service. 
“9th. After the completion of the survey of the passes of the Rocky mountains, such portions 
of the officers, troops, and employes, both of the escort and of the scientific corps, as are not 
needed in the operation westward to the Pacific, will be despatched homewmrd by new routes, 
still further to develop the geograph}'- and resources of the country. Such of the officers and 
troops as are not wanted for office duty, will report to their several stations; all civil employes 
not necessary for a similar purpose will be discharged, and the office force will proceed to such 
point as may be designated by Governor Stevens, to prepare the usual reports. 
“10th. After the completion of the field examinations, the expedition will rendezvous at some 
point in the Territory of Washington, to prepare the usual reports, sending to Washington at the 
earliest practicable moment a summary of the principal events of the expedition, and a railroad 
report, to be laid before Congress, on or before the 1st of February, to be followed at a later 
period by an elaborate report, presenting a full account of the labors and results of the expedition. 
“11th. The sum of forty thousand dollars ($40,000) is set apart from the appropriation for the 
survey thus intrusted to Governor Stevens. 
“JEFFERSON DAVIS, 
“ Secretary of War." 
In conformity with these instructions, I proceeded to organize the parties for the work assigned 
to me, took the field in person at the'earliest practicable period, and have now the honor to 
