Issued and turned over to the above force by Captain J. J. Dana, assistant quartermaster (in Washington)

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2,261

Issued to forces at and near Washington, which have since joined the command

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352

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Total purchased by Colonel Ingalls and issued and turned over by Captain Dana to the forces in this immediate command-3,813

Issued by Captain J. J. Dana, assistant quartermaster, to the forces in the vicinity of Washington

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3,363

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Grand total purchased by Colonel R. Ingalls, chief quartermaster, and issued and turned over by Captain J. J. Dana, assistant quartermaster, to the entire Army of the Potomac and the forces around Washington

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7,176

About 3,000 horses have been turned over to the Quartermaster's Department by officers as unfit for service. Nearly 1,500 should now be turned over also, being worn out and diseased.

Respectfully submitted.

FRED MYERS,

Lieutenant-Colonel and Quartermaster.

This official statement, made up from the reports of the quartermasters who received and distributed the horses, exhibits the true state of the case, and gibes the total number of horses received by the Army of the Potomac and the troops around Washington during a period of eight weeks as 7,176, or 2,078 less than the number stated by the Quartermaster-General. Supposing that 1,500 were issued to the army under General Pope previous to its return to Washington, as General Meigs states, there would still remain 578 horses which he does not account for.

The letter of the General-in-Chief to the Secretary of War on the 28th of October, and the letter of General Meigs to the General-in-Chief on the 14th of October, convey the impression that, upon my urgent and repeated applications for cavalry and artillery horses for the Army of the Potomac, I had received a much greater number than was really the case.

It will be seen from Colonel Myers' report that of all the horses alluded to by General Meigs, only 3,813 came to the army with which I was ordered to follow and attack the enemy. Of course the remainder did not in the slightest degree contribute to the efficiency of the cavalry or artillery of the army with which I was to cross the river. Neither did they in the least facilitate any preparations for carrying out the order to advance upon the enemy, as the General-in-Chief's letter might seem to imply.

During the same period that we were receiving the horses alluded to, about 3,000 of our old stock were turned in to the Quartermaster's Department, and 1,500 more reported as in such condition that they ought to be turned in as unfit for service, thus leaving the active army some 700 short of the number required to make good existing deficiencies, to say nothing of providing remounts for men whose horses had died or been killed during the campaign and those previously dismounted. Notwithstanding all the efforts made to obtain a remount, there were, after deducting the force engaged in picketing the river, but about 1,000 serviceable cavalry horses on the 21st day of October.

In a letter dated October 14, 1862, the General-in-Chief says:

It is also reported to me that the number of animals with your army in the field is about 31,000. It is believed that your present proportion of cavalry and of animals is much larger than that of any other of our armies.

What number of animals our other armies had I am not prepared to