cers connected with the Commissary Department were assailed by newspaper editors after the fall of those two places, and the failure on the part of officers commanding the forts to hold them was attributed to the neglect or incompetency, first of the lieutenant-general commanding, and next to his chief of subsistence. One writer, in a communication over the signature of I. W. T., states that--

The subject of supplying Vicksburg with adequate stores had been earnestly pressed upon the attention of General Pemberton for many months. Supplies were accessible and abundant.

Again, the writer says:

At one time the garrison had only four days' rations, and the supplies subsequently furnished both to Vicksburg and Port Hudson were principally collected and transported by the energy and industry of Colonel W. A. Broadwell, and not by General Pemberton or his chief of subsistence. General Pemberton took his army of nearly 30,000 men into Vicksburg, to stand a siege, with not more than ten days' rations, as the public has at last learned.

That writer claims for Colonel Broadwell that it was mainly due to him that Vicksburg had any stores. The following is a list of stores in this department when I was assigned to duty as chief of subsistence on 15th December, 1862:

Rations.

Bacon and pork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158,580

Lard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,560

Flour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,542

Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614,880

Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,657,869

Sugar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,597,512

Molasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,044,600

Salt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,969,028

Colonel Broadwell and Major [W. H.] Dameron had been on duty in this department for several months before I was assigned to duty. I, however,, acquit Colonel Broadwell of all blame, for he distinctly stated to me that he was not responsible for the subsistence of the Army of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana, but he would cheerfully aid me in any way that he could. I believe he has done so. It will be seen, by reference to the different reports, that there were stores on the Mobile, and Ohio Railroad that could have been sent to Vicksburg if they had been ordered earlier. It will be seen that from 13th of April until 3rd of May, General Pemberton did not think it necessary to have a larger accumulation of stores at Vicksburg. If he had ordered them sent, they could have been placed there. If the bacon at Port Gibson, had been hauled to Vicksburg (360,000 rations, most of which was lost), there would have been nearly 400,000 rations of bacon at that place when it surrendered. If the 25,000 bushels of corn on the Magnolia, at Snyder's Bluff, 12 or 15 miles from Vicksburg, had been hauled across to Vicksburg there would have been no scarcity of breadstuffs. All of these stores were in General Stevenson's district. As you will observe, there was sugar in Vicksburg, which, if made into sirup, and the rice that was there, would have subsisted the men twenty or thirty days longer. There was in Vicksburg when it surrendered half as much bacon as there was in the whole Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana when I was assigned to duty.

In conclusion, I have only to say that I have honestly and earnestly endeavored to perform my duties in such a manner as to benefit the service and reflect credit upon the officers who assigned me and the department to which I belong. I have one request, however, to make, which is, that if in your opinion my services will be of value, either as