Amount brought forward........ $6,290,963 21 Add remittance from adjutant general Total to be accounted for.... 500 00 68,366 37 94,594 84 $6,454,424 42 7,342,817 16 From which is to be deducted: 1. Expenditures, viz: Prior to the fiscal year, the accounts for which were not received in time for the last annual report...... .... $1,043,229 82 In the 1st quarter of the fiscal year. 922,326 95 2. Deposits to the credit of the Treasurer 1,574,937 48 6,751,674 74 6,764,001 04 From which should be deducted a small sum advanced to Captain Scammon, late of the army, for his own transportation, for which he has not accounted; but, as he is known to have performed the journey for which he received it, he no doubt expended it... 578,816 12 350 00 578,466 12 Late Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter, who was reported in my last annual report as having failed to account for $8,055 99, was killed in battle with Indians in Washington Territory. It is believed that he expended the greater part, if not the whole of the amount for which he was accountable. No vouchers have been received since his death, and in the hazardous and difficult service on which he was engaged when he fell, his papers were probably all lost. I respectfully submit whether it would not be just to ask Congress for authority to close his accounts. From thirty-three officers whose joint accountability amounted to $65,106 98, accounts have not been received for the last quarter of the fiscal year. Many of them are at the extreme outposts and on the way to Utah, and will no doubt account for the small amounts in their hands, as four of them have already done in the first quarter of the present year. The joint accountability of those who have still to account is $58,783 49. Major Osborne Cross, late principal quartermaster on the Pacific, was accountable on the 30th of June for $23,442 21, which should Hire of guides, interpreters, and spies have been turned over to his successor; he has since presented accounts for $804 30, which reduces the balance against him to $22,637 91. The remainder of the sum unaccounted for was divided among one hundred and forty-seven officers at the posts and depots, and in the field, throughout our wide spread territory, the greater part of which, it is ascertained from accounts received for the present year, has been already accounted for. The amounts paid during the year, including purchases made, and for services rendered in the preceding year, and not included in my last annual report, were 1. For regular supplies of the quartermaster's department, viz: Fuel.. Straw for soldiers' bedding. Making a total of.... 2. For incidental expenses Postage on public letters, &c....... $130,094 71 1,414,461 01 5,143 48 13,497 86 $1,563,197 06 $6,528 56 12,015 11 24,728 85 220 59 33,552 09 Pay of wagon and forage masters.. 85,379 24 7,438 59 Hire of laborers..... 147,870 67 3. For the purchase of horses for dragoons, cavalry, mounted rifles, and light artillery... 148,841 21 4. For barracks and quarters, viz: On account of rents........ $119,164 59 On account of construction and repairs 492,864 45 612,029 04 5. Mileage, or transportation of officers and their baggage, when travelling on duty without troops, escorts, or supplies...... 6. For transportation of troops, subsistence, quartermaster's stores, ordnance stores, medical stores, and for means of transportation 7. For materials for and amount expended in the preparation of clothing, camp, and garrison equipage......... &c........ 8. For special appropriations for barracks, mounting Total expenditures $35,705 38 18,129 78 6,761,518 52 Clothing, camp and garrison equipage were provided and furnished to all the troops throughout the Union in the quantities in which they were due. Owing to the different, distant, and dispersed state of the troops, it is necessary to have depôts of clothing and equipage in Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, and on the coast of the Pacific. Storehouses should be provided at several points in the States and Territories named, with accommodations for assistants, so that the property may be preserved, and the wants of the service supplied as they arise. As stated in my last annual report, clothing, often from causes beyond the control of the officers who have charge of it, becomes damaged or injured sometimes slightly. It is then examined by a board of survey, condemned as unsuitable, and turned over to the quartermaster of the post to be disposed of at public sale. When sold it brings but a small part of its real value; and the pecuniary loss is not the greatest evil; for if the sale of clothing and equipage be allowed at all, the soldier will sell good clothing to citizens, and clothing thus sold will probably be represented by the purchaser to have been bought at some of the public sales. In both cases the public must replace the articles sold, and at the additional cost of the transportation at least. I recommend that the clothing injured be issued to the troops at the value assessed by the board of officers, and that all sales of clothing, except to soldiers, be prohibited by law. The various regular supplies, viz: fuel, forage, straw, and stationery, have been promptly furnished to the several officers, corps, and branches of service to whom they were due. Transportation was furnished during the year for all the supplies required for the army at the different posts; for the troops operating in the field; for about 3,515 recruits from the recruiting depots to the regiments and companies to which they were assigned; for the 5th regiment of infantry from the positions which it occupied in Florida to Jefferson barracks, Missouri; for the troops under Colonel Sumner operating against the Cheyenne Indians, including the command of Lieutenant Colonel Johnston; for troops moving to and operating against the Indians in Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington Territories. In addition to which, measures were taken to provide for the transportation of troops and supplies ordered to the Territory of Utah. In regard to barrack accommodations for officers and soldiers, all was done which the limited appropriations confided to the department warranted. In the department of the east, (including all the posts east of the Mississippi and not in Florida,) the construction of quarters was commenced at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, under a special appropriation made by Congress to replace those burnt, and necessary repairs were made to other buildings there. Repairs were also made at Fort Sullivan, Fort Independence, Fort Adams, New York harbor, Fort Ontario, Fort Niagara, Fort Mackinac, Fort Brady, Pittsburg, the clothing arsenal at Philadelphia, Fort McHenry, Fort Monroe, Fort Johnston, Fort Moultrie, and Baton Rouge. At many of these posts new buildings are required for quarters, barracks and storehouses. Extensive repairs are necessary, but larger appropriations than I have ventured to ask for will be necessary to complete the work. In the department of Florida expenditures have been made for repairs at Key West, Fort Dallas, Fort Capron, Fort Mellon, Fort Myers, Fort Brooke, and other posts. In the department of Texas a kitchen and fence were put up at Fort Brown, and ordinary repairs made at Camp Cooper; a building for the accommodation of troops, and to secure the public property, was erected by the troops. At Fort Belknap a set of officers' quarters was built by the troops. At Fort Duncan quarters were erected for a company, and additions and repairs were inade to other buildings. At Fort Clark quarters and a stable were erected, additional quarters commenced, a magazine completed, and various repairs made. At Fort Lancaster barracks were in the course of construction. At Camp Verde quarters, barracks, a smiths' shop, and stables for camels were erected. At Forts Chadbourne and Mason, quarters were in the course of construction, and necessary repairs made. At Ringgold barracks, Fort Davis, Fort McIntosh, Fort Bliss, Fort McKavett, Fort Inge, San Elizario, San Antonio, Camp Colorado, and Indianola, repairs have been made. At many of the posts in Texas extensive buildings are required for the comfort and health of the troops, and for the security of the public property; but the United States own no lands there, and the War Department cannot purchase land without the authority of Congress. The buildings erected at the posts in that State are, therefore, of temporary character, and are constantly requiring repairs. In the department of New Mexico repairs were made at Fort Fillmore, Fort Union, Fort Thorn, Fort Defiance, Albuquerque, Cantonment Burgwin, Fort Craig, Santa Fé, Los Lunas, Fort Stanton, Camp Calabazas, Fort Marcy, and Fort Buchanan; and it is known unofficially that buildings were erected or commenced, but not having any official information on the subject, I am unable to report them. In the department of the Pacific repairs have been made at Fort Yuma, San Diego, Fort Tejon, Fort Miller, Benicia barracks, Fort Vose, Fort Jones, Fort Orford, Cascades, Fort Simcoe, Fort WallaWalla, Fort Yamhill, Fort Hoskins, Fort Steilacoom, Fort Humboldt, and the posts at Fort Townsend and Bellingham bay. At Umpqua, additional buildings were erected; at Fort Vancouver, a stable was erected and repairs made; and at Fort Dalles, barracks, quarters, and storehouses were erected or were being erected. To accommodate the troops comfortably in this department, and to secure the public supplies, a large appropriation will be required. In the department of the West repairs were made at Fort Smith, Fort Washita, Fort Gibson, Fort Pierre, Fort Ridgely, Fort Ripley, Fort Snelling, Fort Look-out, and at Fort Kearney. At Fort Ran dall, barracks and other buildings were in the course of construction; at Fort Leavenworth, barracks, quarters, and storehouses were completed, and necessary repairs were made; at Jefferson barracks, extensive repairs were commenced on other buildings, and were completed since the close of the fiscal year; at Fort Arbuckle, buildings were being erected, and repairs were made to others; at Fort Laramie, a building for hospital, mess, and store-room and kitchen was erected, and a shed building was also put up; at Fort Riley, the hospital was completed, and repairs made. As this is an important outpost, and might be used as a depot, additional quarters and barracks for four companies, at least, should be erected; in addition to which there should be storehouses for the commissary's and quartermaster's stores and clothing, stables for draught and express animals, and cisterns to each of the buildings, including the stables, so as to secure a supply of water. All the water used at the post has now to be hauled a long distance. By having cisterns, water for all purposes might be saved, and of a better quality than is now used. They would last many years, and would save the cost of constructing them in two years, and in case of fire would be invaluable. The estimates presented for the next fiscal year, though much larger than any previous estimates since the war with Mexico, are for not more than will probably be required under any state of the service likely to exist. The estimate for fuel for the last fiscal year, as calculated at this office, was $130,000, but it was required to be cut down to $114,000. The sum actually paid for fuel during the year was $130,094 71, and there are outstanding debts which will probably swell the expendi tures to $150,000. The allowance of fuel to the army as at present organized is, under existing regulations, 68,627 cords of wood, or an equivalent in coal; but as the regiments and corps are not always complete, and when on the march or in the field the troops either supply themselves or receive a reduced allowance, not more than twothirds of the allowance is purchased, and issued to officers and soldiers; this, at three dollars and fifty cents a cord, would exceed the sum estimated. The price of wood varies from $250 to $7 and $10, and at a few stations a still higher rate; and at some stations where the troops cut their own fuel, the public has to pay the owners of the land for it. This is the case at many of the posts in Texas, and will be the case in Kansas and other Territories when the public lands shall be taken up. At Fort Leavenworth, where the troops formerly cut their own fuel, they are now necessarily supplied by purchase, at a rate equal to the cost of fuel here. Unless the allowance be reduced, I cannot venture to ask for less for the next fiscal year, (when all the public lands in the new Territories bearing wood will probably be appropriated by private citizens,) than the sum estimated. As to forage, the estimate last year for the present fiscal year was for 11,043 animals, including those of the mounted corps; but two companies of light artillery have been since mounted, and the animals of the quartermaster's department have been considerably increased, The estimate for the next year is for 12,533 animals, being for 1,872 animals less than we have now in the service. For the forage |
