OCTOBER 14, 1862.
Maj. Gen. H. W.
HALLECK,
Commander-in-Chief, Hdqrs. of the Army, Washington, D. C.:
GENERAL: I find that in the month of September there were
issued from this department to the army defending Washington, under command of
Major-General McClellan, 4,493 horses; from 1st to 11th October, 3,261 horses;
total from this department, 7,754 horses. Colonel Ingalls, by special authority
from this department, purchased in Harrisburg 1,000 horses, which were taken
direct to the army near Frederick and Sharpsburg, so that for six weeks the
issue has been at the rate of 1,459 per week.
There remained on hand, on the 11th, 497 serviceable horses,
which, with what have been daily received since, have been issued before this
time.
During the first days of September 1,500 horses, not
included in the above, were sent out toward Centreville to the army of General
Pope; 42 of these were lost, and the remainder exchanged for unserviceable
stock not included in the above statement.
There have been issued, therefore, to the army about the
Potomac, since the battles in front of Washington, to replace losses, 9,254
horses. For transportation, a very large number of mules has been supplied in
addition to the above.
Is there an instance on record of such a drain and
destruction of horses in a country not a desert?
I was informed by Colonel Ingalls, whose report, though
called for, has not yet been received, that the number of animals with the army
on the Upper Potomac was over 31,000.
I am, respectfully,
your obedient servant,
M. C. MEIGS,
Quartermaster-General.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
19, Part 1 (Serial No. 27), p. 15
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