Today in History:

813 Series I Volume L-I Serial 105 - Pacific Part I

Page 813 Chapter LXII. CORRESPONDENCE-UNION AND CONFEDERATE.

the interior. The unprecedented rains and storms which have continued uninterruptedly for the past six weeks have submerged and saturated the whole country to such an extnet that it is absolutely impossible to move. This state of affairs unavoidably delays the movement of Colonel Carleton. The elements ae against us, but the troops are in fine spirits, and I have spared no pains to protect them during this inclement weather, and when an advance is made it will be by troops well disciplined and inured to camp life. The suffering in the interior of the State is beyond all presetn calculation. Many lives have been lost. The city of Sacramento, the seat of government, has been for some time entirely under water, and the State Legislature has been compelled to adjourn. Many towns and villages have been swept away, and stock and other property to a vast amount have been destroyed. The inhabitants have been compelled to flee for their lives, and a large number have sought this city, where they are suported by charity. With regard to the military operations in this country, they are at present suspended. My troops, except in the Distict of Humboldt, have generally escaped the overflow. At the small one-company posts of Forts Ter-Waw and Gaston most of the buildings were swept off and some property lost. The pecuniary loss is but little, and prompt measures were taken to forward the necessary supplies to the garrisons. In the present condition of the country we get no mails by land from any direction. The expresses on the tri-monthly stemaers hence to New York, and also to Oregon, afford us the only means of communication. It is not imporbable that many packages of orders and blanks (the latter much needed by the volunteers) may have been sent by the overland mail within the last two months, which will never reach their destination. I beg of you to send a supply by steamer. The new regulations have never been received. The only copy I have was purchased here. The country is quiet.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. WRIGHT,

Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, Commanding.


HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PACIFIC,
San Francisco, Cal., January 18, 1862.

Brigadier General M. C. MEIGS,

Quartermaster-General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: I have this moment received a telegraphid dispatch from Colonel Sibley, written by your direction on the 14th instant. I have just conversed with Colonel Babbitt on the subject of funds for his department. It appears that Colonel Babbitt was advised by letter from your office on the 29th of November that the Treasury Department had been reuqested to place $200,000 to his credit, and again on the 3rd of December that a similar request was made that $69,750 might be placed to his credit. The colonel has not as yet been notified that the above-mentioned amounts have been placed to his orders by the Treasury Department. Since I have been in command of this department I have used the utmost economy consistent with the interests of the public service, but my troops are dispersed over a vast extent of country, my extreme positions being some 2,000 miles apart, and during the last month I have been organizing a large expedition to move from the southwestern forntier of this State, all involving heavy expenditures for the transportation of troops and supplies, and, in


Page 813 Chapter LXII. CORRESPONDENCE-UNION AND CONFEDERATE.