shelving basement sloping down from the railroad, constituting almost another and admirably fitted for the storage of beef, pork, vinegar, whisky, and such like subsistence stores. These two last buildings were assigned to the use of the subsistence department, and so far have answered the purpose extremely well. For a fuller description of these buildings I would respectfully refer you tot he photographic views thereof, heretofore forwarded to you, under date of July 8, 1864. These buildings were happily well advanced toward completion in time to receive the redundant stores, and with the exception of a portion of my forage I was enabled to house everything. My forage, however, accumulated almost mountain high, and after I had filled my forage house and all other available buildings I still found that I had vast piles of it out of doors. This was dunnaged the best that circumstances would allow, being raised from the ground and well covered with tarpaulins, and though I afterward lost some grain from spoiling, &c., yet the amount so long was very trifling when compared with the whole amount poured in upon me. In the absence of positive date I had estimated for forage for 60,000 animals for six months. This would make 108,000,000 pounds, the bulk of which was delivered to me here by General Allen by May 1. Thereupon he notified me that I must expect no more, that he had drained the whole Northwest, and advised me to husband well what I had, as no more would be received until after the maturing of the new crop.

As soon as General Sherman moved I began to send forward to Chattanooga an average of from forty to fifty cars of grain daily, and kept this up pretty steadily until early in August, when I found my supply of grain running short, partly because of some spoiling, both here and at the front, but chiefly because it happened I was feeding nearer 75,000 than 60,000 animals, as I subsequently discovered, the defective information I had from the Armies of the Ohio and the Tennessee havingor. I at once set about to replenish my stock, and, thanks to the new crop of oats, then well harvested, and the splendid backing of General Allen at Louisville, I was entirely successful. The crisis, however, at one period seemed alarming. The Cumberland was down to ten and twelve inches of water on Harpeth Shoals, and my chief reliance at the outset was the Louisville and Nashville and the Nashville and Northwestern roads. I at once put both these roads under the strictest orders to bring forward nothing but Government stores, and proceeded to organize a fleet of light-draft steamers to come up the Cumberland to the shoals, where I stationed 100 yoke of oxen to meet the steamers and tow them over the shallows into deeper water, where they would be able of themselves to make headway again. This last was rather a novel feature in river navigation and unheard of here before, I confess, but it served to give me from 300 to 500 tons of freight additional every day, and so was not to be disregarded. After a fortnight of steady work in this way, as if in the very nick of time, we had a series of heavy rains here, extending far up the river, and the Cumberland rose several feet and remained so for a week or two. General Allen, with great energy, at once availed himself of this godsend--a rise that usually occurs here but once in ten or twelve years--and my stock on hand has again been made good. About the same time subsistence had run low here from a similar miscalculation, but now again we feel free and easy. It was understood that the major-general commanding proposed to open the Atlanta campaign early in May.

Late in April I had my supplies for the summer well here, and was short in nothing except horses. The mule question had embarrassed me somewhat, but in April, in answer to my repeated and urgent calls,