four and a half time as much as the subsistence stores. The forage, probably, exceeds the subsistence as much in bulk an in weight.

With armies marching in the field, the forage is in great part gathered along the line of march.

Thus the army of General Sherman, on its march through the Southern States, supplied itself with abundant forage. The moment that the army halted, as at Savannah and at Goldsborough, large shipments of grain and hay were necessary to keep the animals alive.

So the army which operated in the vicinity of Nashville, and General Sherman's army during its slow progress from Nashville [Chattanooga?] to Atlanta, and during the siege of that city, drew immense quantities of grain and hay from the Ohio River at vast expense.

The armies operating against Richmond during the past fiscal year occupied a fixed position in the lines of their fortified camps, and drew all their supplies from the North by sea.

The animals of the Army have been well supplied throughout the year, notwithstanding the extent of the territory over which they have been scattered, and the sudden and great changes of base, and consequently of lines of supply.

When General Sherman's army reached Savannah, and before the opening of the obstructed channels leading to that city permitted the approach of the fleet which had been dispatches to Port Royal, laden with forage and other stores, there was for a short time a scarcity of forage. The rice straw and rice which alone the country about Savannah furnished were soon consumed, and I am informed that some artillery horses perished. But the opening of the river soon enabled the department to deliver ample supplies, and his army moved north with abundance of animals and of food.

Colonel S. L. Brown was placed in charge of the purchase and supply of forage to the armiic Coast in December, 1863, and upon the organization of the Fifth Division of this office was transferred to its head. His administration has been successful, and his business of magnitude and importance seldom equaled. Between the 8th of December, 1862, and the 30th of June, 1865, he purchased and shipped to the depots and armies 2,787,758 bushels of corn, 20,997,289 bushels of oats, 43,311 bushels of barley 269,814 tons of hay, 8,243 tons of straw; the cost of which was $431,308,563.98. The grain was purchased at certain points, under the direction of Colonel Brown, and transported to Portland, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia by rail, canal, river, and lake, making 8,567 car-loads by canal, and 49 schooner, 29 bark, and 20 propeller cargoes on the lakes. The hay, purchased upon the line of railroad was transported to the coast in 5,555 car-loads. The whole was reshipped from the above-named ports to the depots of the armies on the coast in 2,570 cargoes. The freight paid to those vessels was $2,576,152.14.

Daily reports from the depots of the various armies, when daily mail or telegraphic communication was open, have been required, and have kept this office advised of the state of supply. Contracts made at a distance have been subjected to a careful examination by Colonel Brown himself, and every effort made to correct and prevent extravagance and fraud, both in the purchase and consumption of forage.

The loss by wastage, fire, and the perils of the sea upon shipments of forage amounting to $25,000,000, has been less than seven-eighths of one per-cent.-about eighty-three hundredths of one per cent. That