JULY 19, 1846. SIR: Your last letter bears date the 8th instant, and contains. your report and that of the architect and engineer on the iron steamer Chatham. Whilst the repairs are making on the steamer De Rossett, I wish you to proceed to Columbus, Georgia, where I have directed Captain Howard to purchase from fifty to a hundred wagons and sets of harness, and from two to four hundred draught horses and mules. If he should have made the purchase you will pay for them, and direct him to proceed with them to Lieutenant Colonel Hunt, at New Orleans. Should he not have purchased them, you will, with his aid and such other assistance as you can obtain, purchase as many as can be had, and in the shortest possible time, and send them by the best route-by steamboats the greater part of the way, if possible. I have been informed that great numbers of wagons are made at the Georgia penitentiary. I think the penitentiary is at Milledgeville. I will thank you to ascertain whether the information is correct; if so, you may be able to obtain the wagons and harness there. Do the best you can, and in the shortest possible time. TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Captain H. C. WAYNE, Assistant Quartermaster, Savannah, Ga. JULY 20, 1846. SIR: I will thank you to inform me how many wagons and sets of harness, as well as ox yokes and chains, you have sent to Lieutenant Colonel Hunt. Purchase all you can obtain, and set all the wagon and harness makers at work. The present contracts should be completed at the stipulated price; but for the additional contracts you may allow whatever you think right. If by increasing the amount ten dollars, as you propose, for each wagon, you can stimulate the mechanics to greater exertion, you are authorized to do so on all existing engagements, so far as relates to wagons not yet. finished. I wish you to have, as soon as possible, in addition to other wagons, fifty for oxen, with three yokes and bows to each. wagon, and all other necessary appendages. As fast as completed they must be sent to Lieutenant Colonel Hunt. If Russia duck cannot be obtained for covers, good cotton or domestic linen duck may be substituted. TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Captain EDWARD HARDING, Commanding arsenal, JULY 20, 1846. COLONEL: I enclose you copies of two letters to Captain Hetzel. As he may have left, I wish you to carry out the instructions contained in those letters should the captain not be at St. Louis or in the neighborhood. Employ for this purpose Colonel Marsh, and any other energetic agents you may think proper. Purchase and send to Lieutenant Colonel Hunt all the wagons and harness you can obtain; also ox wagons, yokes, bows, chains, &c. If Captain Hetzel is below, communicate with him by express. Lieutenant Colonel ENEAS MCKAY, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Deputy Quartermaster General, St. Louis, Mo. JULY 20, 1846. SIR: I have received your letter of the 18th. You cannot be spared from more important duty to visit Bangor for the purpose of examining the boat. In what time could the wagons of Mr. Tomlinson be ready? Is there harness with them, or could it be obtained readily? In what time could the wagons reach the army or New Orleans through the lakes, canals, and rivers? I wrote to you. on the 18th, and requested you to obtain all wagons and harness to be had in New York. Can wagons and harness be had in the towns above New York? Answer through the telegraph, as well as by mail. Captain VINTON, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Assistant Quartermaster, New York. [TELEGRAPH.] JULY 21, 1846. SIR: Your despatch of yesterday is received. Could not the 120 wagons be ready by the 1st of August, and 20 or more under the new contract be ready by the 5th? The price may be increased if this can be accomplished. Energy only is necessary to accomplish it. Ascertain the fact, and inform me by telegraph; also by mail. TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Major H. BACHE, At Major Tompkins's office, Philadelphia. JULY 21, 1846. SIR: You are authorized to pay Mr. Griffin, whilst on duty in the quartermaster's department, the commuted allowance for quarters and fuel of a lieutenant-quarters at eight dollars per room, and fuel at the market price. You will push on the repairs of the boats with the utmost rapidity, and start them to the Rio Grande as soon as possible; provide them with coal, and ship on board as many wagons and sets of harness as you can procure. Ship, also, if they can be provided in time, all the necessary materials for constructing tow-boats, properly prepared to be put together at once on the arrival of the boats at their place of destination. Captain H. C. WAYNE, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Assistant Quartermaster, Savannah, Ga. JULY 21, 1846. SIR: You will proceed to York, Pennsylvania, and purchase all the wagons and harness you can find there suitable for service in Mexico. You wil also set all the makers of those articles at work to manufacture as many as possible, and in as short a time as practicable. Should there be any towns in the neighborhood of York where wagons and harness can be procured, you will visit them and purchase all you can find. Ship them to New Orleans or Texas as rapidly as you can obtain them. The utmost energy is expected of you in the performance of this duty. We are willing to pay for time; and if you can induce the manufacturers to increase their hours of labor, and thereby make their deliveries more rapidly, you are authorized to pay a more liberal price for their articles. Let me hear from you as soon after you have ascertained what you can accomplish as possible. Captain S B. DUSENBERY, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Assistant Quartermaster, Baltimore, Md. JULY 21, 1846. SIR: I wish four hundred wagons, harness, &c., for four horses or mules for each, by the 15th August, in New York. I wish you to go to Troy, or to any other place or places where such articles are to be had, and set every body to work who can make wagons and harness. I rely on your energy and zeal, and you must impart both to those whom you employ. The number mentioned above must be ready, cost what they may. You know what should be paid for them, and I rely on you that all required be ready by the time stated. If six hundred can be ready by that day, so much the better. If two or three hundred could be had by the 1st or 2 of August, I wish them sent down to Captain Vinton. You must superintend the work yourself, and then I shall rest satisfied that every thing will be ready in time. You will be allowed three dollars per day, and ten cents per mile for travelling. Captain H. L. THISTLE, TH. S. JESUP, Agent Quartermaster's Department, Washington city. [TELEGRAPH.] JULY 22, 1846. SIR: Yours of this date has been received. Let the 650 sets of harness be procured. Cannot you employ other manufacturers than those now engaged to make wagons? If only one or two can be obtained from each small manufacturer, secure them at as early a date as practicable. Major HARTMAN Bache, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. United States Army, Philadelphia. JULY 22, 1846. Major Eastland is requested to visit New York and examine steamers suited to the navigation of the Texan coast. If he find a boat that he believes to be suited to the service, at a reasonable price, he is authorised to purchase it. He should be certain that any vessel he may purchase be complete in every respect. Boilers, machinery, &c., should be in a state for efficient service. Major THOMAS B. EASTLAND, [TELEGRAPH.] TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. JULY 23, 1846. SIR: I have received yours of the 21st instant. You will have the wagons made at Newark of such materials as the manufacturers have on hand. Increase, if possible, the number to be delivered in the first twenty days, and also the periodical deliveries thereafter. It will not be necessary for you to go up the Hudson river. I have an agent on that route. Captain M. M. CLARK, Care of Capt. D. H. Vinton, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. 60 Greenwich street, New York. JULY 23, 1846. MAJOR: Increase the number of mules, including those purchased by Mr. Roberston, to a thousand. Send six hundred of them to Lieutenant Colonel Hunt; and the remainder, with the horses which. I ordered Captain Heintzelman to purchase, send by water to the mouth of Red river, and thence by land. Send on at least two hundred teamsters with the mules if you can employ them; one hundred and fifty with those ordered to New Orleans, and fifty with the mules and horses to go to the mouth of Red river, and thence by land. Get all the wagons you can, and send them off as rapidly as you can. Aval yourself, as far as possible, of the services of the officers ordered to report to you. Major D. D. TOMPKINS, Quartermaster, Cincinnati, Ohio. TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. JULY 24, 1846. SIR: I have just received information from the quartermaster in Philadelphia that you have left an agent there. You may remember that I informed you I had made arrangements to obtain every thing that could be made by the workmen in Philadelphia. You must not interfere with them, nor with the work at Newark. At all other places you can operate. I want the number of wagons and harness mentioned in my instructions to you, in addition to all that Philadelphia and Newark can furnish. The interference of the agent you have left in Philadelphia has deranged my plans most injuriously. He must be directed not to interfere there, but be informed that I have secured all the harness and wagons that can be supplied there and at Newark. You might direct your agent at Philadelphia to go to Easton, Pennsylvania. He may be able to obtain some wagons there, without interfering with the work at Philadelphia. Captain H. L. THISTLE, TH. S. JESUP, Quartermaster General. Agent Quartermaster's Department, Troy, N. Y. JULY 24, 1846. SIR: I have received your telegraphic despatch of the present date. Captain Thistle had no authority to contract for wagons in Philadelphia. He was ordered to Troy to procure 400 in addition to those we can obtain in Philadelphia and Newark. The acts of his agent will not be recognised by this department, and he will be directed to countermand the orders he had given him. I wish |