Answer. A requisition was made upon me for ice by Doctor Tellekamp, who was my first medical officer, and I approved the requisition, of course, in the confidence that his judgment was correct as to the quantity of ice that would probably be required in the events that were then expected to take place. He made the requisition in anticipation of a battle between Sedalia and Lexington, in which 70,000 men would be engaged-that being about the number to which the forces on both sides amounted. In that event, there would be many killed and wounded, and that would necessitate the use of a large quantity of ice; and in order to be certain to have enough, he made a requisition for 500 tons so as to secure it at St. Louis. I believe that only a small quantity of ice was sent up, and only what the service actually required. I have no doubt myself that the order, though a large one, was a reasonable requisition on his part under the circumstances. At all events, I was guided by the opinion of the medical officer who made the requisition. I think it is clear, however, that when 70,000 men are engaged in battle, as was his expectation would be the case, there will be some use for ice on such an occasion. It is hardly necessary for me to say that that was the purpose for which it was ordered, and the only purpose for which it was ordered-for the use of the wounded and sick.

Question. Did Mr. Lamon, sometimes called General Lamon, make any application to you for any force to be sent under him into Western Virginia at any time during your administration of the western department?

Answer. He did.

Question. Will you state the circumstances in relation to that?

Answer. General Lamon overtook me on horseback on the road somewhere south of Warsaw. He brought with him a letter from the governor of Illinois, informing me of the purpose for which he came, which was to get the Yates Phalanx, a regiment which had recently come to St. Louis from Illinois. As nearly as I can now recollect the letter, it was an urgent one from Governor Yates, requesting me to let General Lamon have that regiment, stating that it would please him; would please the regiment, and would also please the President. The governor of Illinois had furnished a large body of troops for Missouri, and had always been very solicitous to aid our operations there in every way. And it did not occur to me to hesitate to agree at once to his request, and order the regiment to be turned over to General Lamon. It may be as well for me to remark here in this connexion, also, that at that time I was in expectation of being removed from the department; and, as you may have noticed, things were done a little loosely; I mean, referring in all cases to myself, not done with all the strictness that generally pervades a department like that. And I, probably, acceded to a request of that kind the more readily, and without as much formality as if I had been expecting to remain in command. At all events, I looked upon the presence of General Lamon there, with the letter from Governor Yates, much the same as a request from the President; knowing, as I did, the relations General Lamon bore to the President.

Question. Do I understand you that you considered the request of General Lamon, knowing the relations between him and the President, as having the sanction of the President?

Answer. I did.

Question. And that was the reason you complied with it?

Answer. That was one of the reasons, though General Lamon did not say anything about his relations with the President.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. What was Lamon's rank at that time?

Answer. I supposed his rank to be a brigadier general. He had on the

uniform of a brigadier general. I understood from the governor's etter that he was to command a brigade.

Question. Do you know what became of that regiment?

Answer. I do not know. When I reached St. Louis again I was not in command, and it did not occur to me to inquire.

Question. At that time did you have an excess of troops, so that you could well spare this regiment?

Answer. No, sir. There never was an occasion when I could spare any troops. I remarked to General Lamon at the time that of course he could have the regiment, but that I need not say to him that it was not an agreeable thing to me to let any of my regiments go.

Question. Was there not a military necessity why you should not have let that regiment go?

Answer. Not strictly, I think. If there was not a military necessity for continuing the fortifications at St. Louis, there was not certainly a military necessity to keep one regiment, more or less, there.

Question. That regiment was at St. Louis at that time.

Answer. Yes, sir. There were other regiments to replace them. Very probably the governor suggested in his letter that other regiments would replace

that one.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. In complying with that request, did you feel that you took the responsibility of ordering that regiment from St. Louis to Western Virginia? Answer. No, sir, I did not. The question of responsibility did not occur to me. I supposed, from the manner in which the thing was presented to me, that I was doing a thing of course. Business in our service is not done with the strictness which that would imply. If you remember, there was a great deal done in the western department which was not consistent with strict military propriety; a great deal. And in my condition, then, going south with my army, and not expecting to be retained in command long, it was not a matter to me of very great importance whether that regiment was retained or not, if others thought it best to send it somewhere else. So far as I can now recollect, I thought, when General Lamon overtook me and brought me that letter, that it was a thing I was expected to do, and I did it. And to take the opposite view of it, it would not have been very agreeable to me to refuse to do what I had reason to suppose would be agreeable to the President, and which the governor of Illinois told me would be agreeable to the President.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. It could not be done without a great expenditure of money, could it? Answer. That was not for me to consider at all. If it was agreeable to the President, and pleased him, that was all that concerned me. I knew that a fine regiment had been ordered from me at St. Louis a short time before that to go to Washington. And consequently that would not probably have been considered by me to be a matter of importance.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. As you have alluded to those five regiments, will you state what became of them? Did they come through to Washington?

Answer. No, sir. On their way from the point where they had been stationed-which was Fort Holt, in Kentucky, on the Mississippi river-before they reached Cincinnati, a bridge gave way, and there were some 140, more or less, of the men belonging to those regiments killed and wounded. They then went on to Camp Dennison and stopped there. I, in the meantime, had applied to the government, and urged the government not to take those regiments; not to

take any more; and suggested that they should take two regiments of cavalry, which I could not arm, and leave me the other regiments. And, upon my representations, the result finally was that the government did not press for the five regiments, and permitted these regiments to remain. And seeing that General Anderson had need at the time of forces in Kentucky, as they had gone that far, I ordered them to join General Anderson.

Question. Did the five regiments leave you at that time?

Answer. Only these two.

Question. Was that at a time when you could spare the troops?

Answer. Not at all.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. From whom did you receive the order to send those five regiments on here?

Answer. From General Scott, and from the Secretary of War, both.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. You constructed railroads and equipped them, purchased cars, &c. Will you state to the committee the reasons which led you to construct those railroads, and whether or not any advantages were derived from that work?

Answer. I ordered our superintendent of roads to examine the rolling stock of all the railroads, and ascertain what amount there was, in order to know what force could be moved at any time upon those roads. His report showed that the quantity of rolling stock was not at all equal to what our requirements demanded. I applied to the president of the Pacific railroad to ascertain if any, and what, arrangements could be made to provide more stock. It was found upon examination that it could not well be done through him, mainly because we had no money to give him to enable him to provide additional stock, even if that would have answered the purpose. I therefore had the matter further inquired into, and after some examination I ordered a contract for cars to be made, which was given to a Mr. Murray, of Cincinnati, who had founderies both at Cincinnati and St. Louis. And growing out of the same investigation, I suppose, it became apparent that great advantages would be derived if all those roads could be connected. At the extremities of the roads were our posts. The roads led through portions of country, or to points, which we supposed to be threatened by the enemy at any time, and a junction of the roads, with a sufficient quantity of rolling stock, would enable us to throw from any one or more points to any other point a force to meet any emergency. I therefore ordered a junction to be made which connected the road running from Ironton to St. Louis, the Pacific road, the road that runs to Rolla, and the road that runs through the northern part of the State, so that all the roads were connected; and the result of the whole arrangement was that with twenty-four hours' notice 20,000 troops could be moved from St. Louis to any point which might be threatened. It had this further advantage, the railroad was brought right along the river bank at St. Louis, so that upon the arrival of troops from Illinois, or any other State east, they could be brought over in the steamer always kept in readiness there and transferred directly to the railroad-they and their equipments and their supplies-and sent off immediately to any one of our posts, or to the interior of the State. Formerly the quartermaster's department had to hire wagons, sometimes hauling equipments and supplies two and two and a half miles through the city to the different depots, and troops arriving there had to move from one point to another with all their supplies. In this case, as we often had occasion to employ it, a regiment embarked at Ironton, for instance, and passed right through St. Louis, with all their equipments, &c., and proceeded directly to Jefferson City, or any other point where they were needed; or a regiment from any one of the posts would come to St. Louis

and pass right through on the cars, without stopping at all in the city, and go to any other place where they were needed. And so with regiments arriving by the river boats.

By Mr. Covode :

Question. Where did you connect these roads?

Answer. In the city of St. Louis. They were all brought to a common landing place on the river. As an instance in point: the rebels tore up about 100 miles of track, more or less, on the North Missouri railroad, which runs to St. Joseph. Probably a part of the rolling stock of that road was on one side of that break and a part on the other. The military authorities went to the Pacific railroad and took 35 of these very cars which I had made as the best cars to be used, and transferred them to the North Missouri road, and no doubt that single operation was worth more to the government than the entire cost of all those

cars.

Question. By this connexion you made the stock on all the roads available for any one road?

Answer. Yes, sir. I first sent across the river, before I ordered any cars to be made, to see if stock could be secured from the Illinois roads. But I found they would not answer, as the gauge was different, and I was obliged to have cars constructed. It gives this advantage to Missouri: that at any time, with 24 hours' notice, you can transport as large a body of troops as 20,000 men from one part of the State to any other part.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. You say the government has availed itself, and is still availing itself, of the advantages of this connexion?

Answer. Unquestionably it is. It is an important advantage to the entire State and to the government in its operations there. It is but recently that the instance occurred to which I have referred, when 35 cars were taken from the Pacific road and used on another road.

Question. How many cars did

Answer. Fifty, I think.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. Do you remember the price?

Answer. I think somewhere near $800 a car.

I would not like to be positive.

By Mr. Gooch:

But I do not know exactly.

Question. Can you tell me how many regiments were stationed in Northern Missouri, under General Pope, at the time you took charge of the western department?

Answer. Not exactly; probably from five to seven regiments. I do not now remember the number. I had just reached the State then. The disposable force, whatever it was-all our Illinois disposable force-was ordered into Northern Missouri at General Pope's request.

Question. Do you know where those troops were stationed-at what points? Answer. Along the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, north of the road-scattered about the interior there.

Question. How many troops did you find at St. Louis at that time?

Answer. Few, if any; a regiment or two, possibly, and some home guard regiments.

Question. On what day did you arrive at St. Louis and take command ?
Answer. On the 25th of July.

Question. And the battle of Wilson's Creek was on the 10th of August?
Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. When did you first learn that General Lyon was threatened by a superior force of the enemy?

Answer. While in New York city, I think.

Question. In what manner?

Answer. By a telegraphic despatch to the effect that he needed re-enforcements. That, I think, was about the 18th of July. A large part of the disposable force was then with him.

Question. Was it in your power at that time to have ordered any troops to the assistance of General Lyon?

Answer. No, sir; not under the circumstances.

Question. Did you at any time order any troops to his assistance?

Answer. About the 3d of August, I think, I ordered the regiment under Colonel Stephenson-one of our best regiments-and Colonel Montgomery, with his mounted command, from Kansas, both to march to the relief of General Lyon. And on my arrival at St. Louis I also ordered Colonel Wyman to march with his regiment from Rolla. Colonel Stephenson, who was at Boonville, got as far as Rolla on his way to General Lyon; and there were three regiments under marching orders to join General Lyon when he was defeated. Question. Did those regiments have sufficient means of transportation to enable them to go to the relief of General Lyon?

Answer. That depends upon what would be considered sufficient. Colonel Stephenson did move from Boonville to Rolla. I received a letter from him informing me that he did not consider the transportation at Rolla sufficient; that he thought it inexpedient, or dangerous, to march from that point to the relief of General Lyon, because of the force of the enemy which he apprehended would be between him and the Mississippi river, and which would expose his force to great danger; and he and Colonel Wyman did not march from Rolla. I ordered Colonel Stephenson from Rolla to St. Louis, upon receiving his letter stating the reasons for his not having marched to the relief of General Lyon, intending to place him under arrest; but I admitted his reasons so far as not to do that. Colonel Wyman was already at Rolla with his regiment; and after Colonel Stephenson's regiment had arrived there, there were two regiments at that point which I had ordered to go to General Lyon.

Question. Was there sufficient transportation at Rolla, or transportation with which it would have been possible for those two regiments to have moved to the relief of General Lyon?

Answer. I should certainly consider it possible for those two regiments to have moved; that is to say, I would have moved those two regiments myself, if I had been there. I consider it would have been possible-not convenient, probably. The men would have been exposed to some suffering, no doubt. But that is a matter for the judgment of the officer there.

By Mr. Odell:

Question. What is the distance from Rolla to Springfield?
Answer. I think it is 118 miles.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. There is no railroad from Rolla to Springfield? Answer. No, sir. Question. Had prior to that time? Answer. No, sir. The difficulty about transportation there was in this, as I remember it: General Lyon had retained the transportation at Springfield—had not sent back the supply train to Rolla. With that supply train there would have been abundant transportation, because the transportation afterwards gathered there amounted probably to between three hundred and four hundred

any of the transportation been ordered from Rolla to St. Louis