of Mr. Guthrie and General Woods. The Secretary replied that he supposed that the Kentuckians would not, in any number, take up arms to operate against the rebels, but he thought General Sherman over estimated the number and power of the rebel forces; that the government would furnish troops to Kentucky to accomplish the work; that he (the Secretary) was tired of this defensive war, and that the troops must assume the offensive, and carry the war to the firesides of the enemy; that the season for operations in Western Virginia was about over, and that he would take the troops from there and send them to Kentucky; but he begged of General Sherman to assume the offensive, and to keep the rebels hereafter on the defensive. The Secretary desired that the Cumberland Ford and Gap should be siezed, and the East Tennessee and Virginia railroad taken possession of, and the artery that supplied the rebellion east. Complaint was made of the want of arms, and on the question being asked, "What became of the arms we sent to Kentucky?" we were informed by General Sherman that they had passed into the hands of the Home Guards, and could not be recovered; that many were already in the hands of the rebels, and others refused to surrender those in their possession, alleging the desire to use them in defence of their individual homes if invaded. In the hands of individuals, and scattered over the State, these arms are lost to the army in Kentucky. Having ascertained that 6,200 arms had arrived from Europe at Philadelphia, 3,000 were ordered to Governor Morton, who promised to place them immediately in the hands of troops for Kentucky. The remaining 3,200 were sent to General Sherman, at Louisville. Negley's brigade at Pittsburg, 2,800 strong, two companies of the 19th infantry from Indianapolis, the 8th Wisconsin at St. Louis, the 2d regiment of Minnesota volunteers at Pittsburg, and two regiments from Wisconsin, were then ordered to Kentucky, making in all a re-enforcement of about ten thousand men. We left Louisville at 3 o'clock p. m. for Lexington, accompanied by General Sherman and Mr. Guthrie. Remained there a few hours, and proceeded to Cincinnati, arriving at 8 o'clock p. m. At Lexington, also, we found that the opinion existed that the young men of Kentucky had joined the rebels; that no large bodies of troops could be raised in Kentucky, and that the defence of the State must necessarily devolve upon the free States of the west and northwest. Having accomplished the object of our visit to the west, we left Cincinnati on the 18th and reached Washington on the 21st, having spent the 19th and 20th at Harrisburg. Respectfully submitted. Hon. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. L. THOMAS, Adjutant General. [Paper No. 3.] HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, SIR: You are hereby appointed captain of cavalry, to be employed in the land transport department, and will report for duty at these headquarters. To Captain FELIX VOGELI, Present. A true copy: J. C. FREMONT, Major General Conmanding. C. MCKEEVER, Assistant Adjutant General. [Exhibit No. 6.] HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Camp Siller, October 2, 1861. SIR: I am requested by the commanding general to authorize Colonel Degraf to take any hay that has been contracted for by the government, his receipt for the same being all the voucher you require. Respectfully, yours, LEONIDAS HASKILL, [Paper No. 9.] HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, Jefferson City, Missouri, October 4, 1861. COLONEL: Your letter of yesterday, ordering me to march this morning, was only received this morning at ten minutes after two. You will see by my report of transportation, sent you on the 2d instant, that for the fortyone wagons in possession of my quartermaster he has only forty mules. It will therefore be impossible for him to take the forty or more wagons agreeably to your order. Colonel Stevenson, of the 7th Missouri regiment, informs me that he is attached to Colonel Totten's brigade of the fifth division. I must protest, in the strongest terms, against this very unmilitary proceeding of depriving me of the most important part of my command, when under marching orders, without giving me an official notice of the change. Detaching Colonel Stevenson from my division will leave me but one regiment here fit to take the field. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major General Commanding 1st Division. Colonel J. H. EATON, Headquarters Western Department, Jefferson City. [Paper No. 10.] HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Camp Asboth, Tipton, Mo., October 10, 1861. GENERAL: The following movements of the several divisions of the army of Western Missouri, under my command, have been decided upon : Acting Major General Pope, with the forces under his immediate command, will march, by way of Otterville, to Sedalia, and from there by the most. direct route to Leesville. Acting Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis will start on the 13th of October from Georgetown, by Sedalia, with the troops belonging to General Pope's division, and pursue the same direct road to Leesville, reaching his destination on the 15th instant. Acting Major General Sigel will start from Sedalia on the 13th, and proceed in three marches by Spring Rock and Cole Camp to Warsaw, which place he will occupy; commence preparations immediately to cross the river the next day, supported by Acting Major General McKinstry's forces, and cross on the 16th at all hazards, if a position can be taken on the right bank under the protection of which a bridge may be built. Acting Major General McKinstry will start on the 13th, and proceed in Part iii-2 four marches, by Florence, How creek and Cole Camp, to Warsaw, where he will co-operate with General Sigel. Major General Hunter will also start on the 13th instant, and proceed in four marches, by way of Versailles and Minerva, (Hibernia,) to Duroc Ferry. Acting Major General Asboth will start with his division on the 14th, and march in three days to Cole Camp creek, by way of Wheatland and Hibernia. Generals Sturgis and Lane are expected to be at the same time in Clinton on our extreme right. You are therefore instructed to commence your march on the day appointed for your troops to move, and proceed according to the directions above laid down. The state of the roads is such that trains may not unfrequently be delayed, which renders it more than usually necessary that the troops should in all cases have at least one day's rations in their haversacks. The commanders of divisions will also in all cases where possible send forward, in advance of the march, a company of pioneers, protected by cavalry, to repair the bridges and roads wherever impassable. J. C. FREMONT, Major General Commanding. QUARTERMASTER'S OFFICE, St. Louis, Missouri, October 11, 1861. GENERAL: I take the occasion of the presence of the honorable Secretary of War and yourself to make certain inquiries. Is it competent for every member of the staff of Major General John C. Frémont to issue orders in the name of the general, directed to me, and involving an expenditure of money? Am I bound to recognize any other signature than that of Captain McKeever, the regularly-constituted assistant adjutant general of the western department? I desire to be instructed whether the simple approval of an account by the commanding general carries with it the weight of an order. There are heavy accounts, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, that have come under my observation, which are approved by Major General John C. Frémont, but in direct terms are not ordered. It is doubtless the intention of the general to order the payment. But as I understand the army regulations and the laws of Congress, an approval is not an order. If I am mistaken in this, I desire to be corrected. Great latitude is taken in verbal orders. And the general being in the field, I cannot stop to question the authenticity of these orders, and feel it to be my duty to see them executed, although I have not the authority on paper necessary to carry these expenditures through the treasury. Accounts involving hundreds of thousand of dollars have been presented to me within the few days I have been here, informal, irregular, and not authorized by law or regulations. No quartermaster who understands his duty can pay this class of accounts without involving himself in irretrievable ruin. I do not mean to say that these accounts are not just, or should not be paid; but as they are outside of the regulations-in other words, extraordinary-they can be adjusted only by extraordinary authority. Some three days ago I telegraphed the quartermaster general, M. C. Meigs, a message; and I give you an extract, from memory: "If the reckless expenditures in this department are not arrested by a stronger arm than mine, the quartermaster's department will be wrecked in Missouri alone." I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ROB'T ALLEN, Major and Quartermaster. General LORENZO THOMAS, Adjutant General United States Army. JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI, October 11, 1861. GENERAL: In June, 1855, I left St. Louis with seven steamboats, with stores and troops for the Upper Missouri river. I remained there on duty until 1857. I joined General Johnston, and went to Utah. I returned from Utah last winter, on the first and only leave of absence I have had in twelve years. While on my way to Washington, in April, I stopped at Harrisburg; and, at the request of Governor Curtin, I remained there to assist in organizing the troops there assembling into camps, and to put their commissariat into order. From there I was on duty constantly, day and night, at various posts-York, Cockeysville, Baltimore, Perrysville, and Annapolis. Finally, about the 20th of July, I was ordered to report to General Frémont. I did so at New York. I was ordered on duty at St. Louis, where I resumed similar labors to those I had been at in the east, and have been on my feet night and day since. A few days ago I received orders to report at this place for duty in the field. I left all my public accounts open, in an incomplete and exposed condition, on my office table in St. Louis, besides a vast deal of property not turned over. My health is so broken down that I am not able longer to stand up. I desire, as an act of simple justice to me, I be allowed to resume the leave of absence I surrendered in April, (it would have expired 15th June,) or else that I be ordered permanently to a post where I can get some rest, and be able to make up and forward to the Treasury Department my public accounts. Your early reply to this is respectfully requested. Respectfully, General L. THOMAS, P. T. TURNLEY, Assistant Quartermaster. Adjutant General United States. NOTE. My unsettled and unadjusted accounts will reach over one million and a half dollars. [Paper No. 11.] HEADQUARTERS 1ST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Tipton, Missouri, October 12, 1861. COLONEL: I have received the general's order directing my division to move in the morning. Not one-half of my division has yet reported. Colonel Ellis's cavalry are without ammunition, cartridge-boxes, swords, pistols, and great coats, and many of them are greatly in want of clothing. The men of the Indiana batteries are in want of great coats, clothing, and ammunition. Requisitions have been sent in for ambulances, but they have not been furnished. Some of our mules are unshod, and we shall have them lame and unservicable, unless we can be furnished with portable forges and blacksmith's tools. About fifty tents are needed for the division. As we shall have to send our teams back for provisions after four days' march, we should not leave here with less than sixty thousand rations, as we cannot calculate on their return in less than fifteen days to our camp, even if we should remain stationary at the end of our four days' march. The cavalry regiment has not a wagon; and Colonel Palmer's and Colonel Bland's have neither of them sufficient for their baggage. To enable us to move efficiently we need at least one hundred wagons, and the ambulances already ordered to be supplied to the division by the general commanding. I have the honor to be, very respectfully your obedient servant. Colonel J. H. EATON, D. HUNTER, Major General Commanding. Acting Assistant Adjutant General, [Paper No. 12.] HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, Camp Asboth near Tipton, Missouri, October 12, 1861. GENERAL: In complying with the letter of instructions of yesterday, General Frémont directs that you proceed from Tipton for the present, only so far as the first convenient camp ground, for the purpose of bringing your immediate command together and to enable you to organize the better, your means of transportation. Colonel Woods, director of transportation, will confer with you to supply, at the earliest moment practicable, what is deficient. At a distance of two, three, or five miles, your wagons can return to Tipton for what is needed. Respectfully, your obedient servant, Major General D. HUNTER, J. H. EATON, A. A. A. G. Commanding 1st division, Tipton, Missouri. [Paper No. 7.] JEFFERSON CITY, October 13, 1861. GENERAL: On the 25th September ultimo, I opened the bids, in my office at St. Louis, made under General Meigs's advertisement for furnishing grain and hay. I made contracts in accordance therewith, and gave notice to contractors of the amount I supposed would be required weekly. A day or two after, another party (a Mr. Baird or Baird & Palmer) in St. Louis informed me they had received an order (per telegraph) from Colonel Woods, or General McKinstry, then at Jefferson City with headquarters, to forward as fast a possible to Jefferson City, one hundred thousand bushels of oats, and a like or corresponding amount of hay. The contractors under advertisement objected to this order, because they said Baird got 33 cents for grain, and $19 per ton for hay, while contractors got 28 cents for corn, 30 cents for oats, and $17 95 per ton for hay. I then told contractors they need not send any forage up the river; or if they did they would be paid the same that Bird was. About 29th or 30th September, after the headquarters, western department, had left St. Louis, (I being left there highest in rank in my department but no orders or instructions except the single remark of General Frémont that he wished no delay or obstacle whatever in the forwarding of supplies, &c.,) I was daily and almost hourly called upon by different persons and asked to have their mules inspected. All stated they were turning in mules on Mr. Haskell's account. I called for the contract or order under which Haskell furnished them, but never received any until I received a line from General McKinstry, quartermaster, stating that General Frémont desired me to inspect and receive Mr. Haskell's mules as rapidly as possible. I re |