company the troops. All other trains were assembled at Richardsville, and placed, as heretofore, under my direction, with a view to crossing the Rapidan by bridges at Ely's Ford and Culpeper Mine Ford.

The army was put in motion on the 4th. On that day the depot at Brandy Station and other points on the railroad, as far as the Rappahannock, were broken up, and all extra and surplus property, with the depot officers and employes were sent in to Alexandria. These officers were directed to await orders, and are the same that subsequently took positions and opened our flying depots at Aquia, Belle Plain, Fredericksburg, Port Royal, White House, and City Point, as the army fought its bloody way along and approached within striking distance of these points. So soon as the army made the passage of the Rapidan into the Wilderness the trains were immediately crossed at the fords before mentioned and parked near that river. The crossing was hastened in consequence of the movements of the enemy's cavalry on the north side.

The battles of the Wilderness at once threw many thousand wounded upon our department for transportation to the rear. The medical department had no more ambulances than were absolutely necessary on the immediate fields of battle. My first effort was to send the wounded in our empty wagons to Rappahannock Station to meet cars for which I had telegraphed you; but, had dispatched cars, it became necessary to send them into Fredericksburg, on account of the presence of rebel cavalry at Ely's Ford.

Communications were quickly opened with Aquia and Belle Plain, and in a few days the navy cleared the river of obstructions to Fredericksburg. Our wounded were at first sent to Belle Plain, and thence by water to the different hospitals. The most severe cases were kept in Fredericksburg some time. In a few days the Aquia railroad was repaired to the north bank at Fredericksburg, and was used to take away many wounded. Vessels ascended the Rappahannock also for the same purpose. The same system of transportation for wounded was pursued throughout the campaign as in the Wilderness. Our empty wagons, as a rule, carried most of the wounded from the field hospitals to the depots, and returned laden with forage and subsistence.

During the first epoch-from May 4 to 13, inclusive-our trains occupied the plank road from Chancellorsville via Alrich's to Tabernacle Church, and to the south at Piney Branch Church and Alsop's, changing parks according to movements of our troops or the enemy. On the evening and night of the 13th, the army made its first flank movement to Spotsylvania, and the trains were concentrated on the 14th on the bluffs at Fredericksburg.

During the second epoch-from the 14th to the 20th, inclusive-the trains were parked at Fredericksburg, and our depots remained unchanged. Several trains of wounded were sent in under the direction of myself and the medical director.

The third epoch embraces the interval of time between the 21st and 26th, inclusive. The line of Fredericksburg, Belle Plain, and Aquia was now abandoned, and the depot established at Port Royal. On the 20th, the main trains were assembled near Guiney's Station, under the immediate charge of Captain L. H. Peirce, assistant chief quartermaster, Army of the Potomac, and were conducted by him, under by daily orders, by Bowling Green to Milford Station, where they