CHAPTER XIV.

FORWARDING TROOPS.

ABOUT the middle of September, General Lee, commanding the rebel forces on the south side of Cheat Mountain, made a bold attempt to surround the command of General Reynolds, but failed in spite of all his well-matured plans. Lee advanced toward General Reynolds, but was driven back to his old position by the General, who was apprised of his movements. The greatly superior forces of the rebels, on the south side of Cheat Mountain, rendered it necessary for the General commanding to order reinforcements from Ohio and Indiana. Brigadier-General Robert C. Schenck, who was at Clarksburg, on his way to join General Rosecrans, having been advised of their coming, returned to Grafton to superintend their movements, and to attend to their thorough equipment. We received from him the following telegram:

Grafton, Va., September 15, 1861.

CAPTAIN CHARLES LEIB:

Milroy's Regiment will arrive here to-night, without knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, or overcoats. The knapsacks and haversacks can be

furnished here. Can you supply canteens and overcoats? Send them, if you can, or all you can,

up to Webster.

ROBT. C. SCHENCK,

We answered:

Brigadier-General.

Clarksburg, September 15, 1861.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL R. C. SCHENCK:

Have overcoats, but no canteens. Have orders to send them all to General Rosecrans. How many do you want for Milroy? Answer.

CHAS. LEIB,

Captain and A. Q. M.

The General answered that he must have ten hundred and fifty, and we took the responsibility of sending them. Without transportation, there was but one course to be pursued to get their camp and garrison equipage to the mountains. It was to impress such teams as were not already in the service. Such a dilapidated train was never before in the service of Uncle Sam, and it was with the greatest difficulty some of the horses reached Beverly. Most of them were wind-broken, spavined, and blind, and would have done discredit to the boneyard, while the wagons were generally coupled and tied together with hickory withes.

The weather in the mountains was becoming very cold; snow fell, and many of the soldiers

were suffering for the want of clothing and shoes. Donations came thick and fast from their homes, and our storehouse, as well as that of the Quartermaster at Grafton, was filled almost to overflowing. These, together with clothing, were sent forward as fast as the goods arrived and the means of transportation enabled us to do so. So, too, with every Quartermaster on the line, and yet newspaper scribblers, for the sake of making readable and sensation articles—and men from whom we had a right to expect, at least, justice-without inquiring as to the reasons for the non-receipt of clothing, charged the Quartermasters with negligence in not obtaining it, and squandering what they did receive, to say nothing of their cursing, because their every request was not complied with, and whim gratified. The mails were filled with letters of complaint to the Quartermaster-General; accusations of the dishonesty of Quartermasters freely made, and, even the poor Wagonmasters, who are required to receipt for the goods intrusted to their care, and to deliver them in good order and condition to the receiving officers, were accused of swindling, as will be seen by the following letter from an agent of Governor Morton, of Indiana, to General Meigs:

INDIANAPOLIS, September, 1861. Being absent for two weeks, I have just returned from Cheat Mountain and Elkwater, as an agent

of Governor Morton, looking after Indiana troops. I am satisfied the Government is being swindled by those Quartermasters, Wagon-trains, and, in fact, we are supporting all Western Virginia. I did not let those officers know my business. There should be a good business man, one who has dealt largely in produce, to look after all those men from Cincinnati through Western Virginia. We are swindled with moulded crackers, mast-fed pork, rain-water vinegar, and no fair proportion of any other supply. I am satisfied something is wrong. A. WALLACE.

Frequently, these "agents" made their appearance in Western Virginia; men who knew as little of the requirements of the service as an unborn child, and with unparalleled impudence would announce their mission, and demand to know all about the workings of the different Departments. They were generally political hacks and party favorites. Their gratuitous and ridiculous suggestions, and unasked for advice, to officers who were making every exertion to render comfortable the brave men who were baring their bosoms to the enemy, only provoked a smile of contempt. When men charge Quartermasters with stealing, they forget, if they ever knew, that they and their securities are responsible for every article that comes into their hands, whether it be a horse-shoe nail, a six-mule wagon, a thousand horses, or ten

thousand overcoats, and they are required to furnish the Department at Washington with a receipt for every article transferred to officers, and to account for what remains in their hands. So exact is the Auditor in the settlement of accounts, that if there is an error amounting to five cents in a business of five hundred thousand dollars per month, the account is returned for correction. It is not only the duty of the Quartermaster to care for the property transferred to him, but also to gather up every article abandoned by regiments when marching or changing stations. He is required to take it up on his property return, and having done so, is charged with it. The Quartermaster's Department is the pack-horse of the Army. While the duties of other officers are specifically laid down in the Army Regulations, Quartermasters occupy the pleasant position of being compelled, in many instances, to take the responsibility of acting without orders, while a refusal to do so would subject them to a charge of neglect of duty, and render them amenable to a Court Martial. Upon page 159, "Revised Regulations for the Army of the United States," will be found the following paragraphs:

QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT.

"This Department provides the quarters and transportation of the Army, storage, and transportation for all army supplies: army clothing, camp and garrison equipage, cavalry and artillery