Summary:
T. N. Waul reports in detail on a January, 1862, examination of the Confederate
Quartermaster, Commissary, and Medical Departments. Waul outlines problems and
suggests solutions for clothing, feeding, and paying the army, and caring for
sick and wounded soldiers. He discusses conditions in Staunton hospitals,
including their good track record in healing the sick. Also of interest is
Waul's tribute to the dedication and helpfulness of Confederate citizens,
especially women.
WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1862.
Mr. Waul, from the special committee appointed to examine into the
Quartermaster's, Commissary, and Medical Departments, made a report, which was
laid on the table and ordered to be printed, and is as follows, to wit:
REPORT.
The committee appointed under the resolution of Congress "To inquire into the organization and administration of the Medical, Commissary, and Quartermaster's Departments, and to report what changes in the laws and regulations are necessary and proper," beg leave to report, that after the passage of the resolution they called upon the Secretary of War and obtained his zealous co-operation, and, provided with letters from him, they visited the departments referred to, the principal army corps and posts, hospitals, and depots, every facility being afforded them by the officers in charge for the favorable prosecution of their inquiries.
The resolution comprises all that relates to the supply and transportation of troops in the field or in camp, or that tends to promote the health and comfort of the soldier-it embraces the administration of the civil polity of the Army, as distinguished from its command.
The labors of these departments penetrate the entire military establishment, breathe life into the Army, nurture its growth, give it strength and efficiency in the field, maintaining its health and facilitating its movements; vigilant, prepared, and present, it moves unnoticed amid the stirring events of the field, and obscured by the dust and smoke of the combat it remains unobserved even while collecting the fruits of victory.
To insure success in a military enterprise, its civil administration should be harmonious with and subordinate to its command. The inefficiency of a quartermaster or commissary may effectually check the progress of an army, and the demands of an officer may destroy the most perfect administration, through his inability to comprehend the difficulties or even the facilities for procuring subsistence or transportation.
That the immense Army now in the service of the Confederacy, suddenly collected-men and officers generally inexperienced in camp life and military duty-should be clothed, fed, armed, and moved with the facility of a permanent organization, was not to be expected, and in guarding against abuses or suggesting changes, it is with a view to present emergencies, temporary in their character, rather than to subvert a system of regulations simple in their construction, yet comprehensive enough when properly administrated to achieve the objects intended.
QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT.
The Quartermaster's Department is expected to give effect to the movements and operations of the Army, prepare quarters, hospitals, camp and garrison equipage, transportation, and all military stores, provisions, ordnance, and ordnance stores, furnish storage for all military supplies; provide fuel, forage, and straw; supply blankets, shoes, and clothing; procure cavalry and artillery horses, purchase and have the custody of all horses, mules, and oxen, harness, wagons, carts, boats, and other means of transportation; contract for and regulate the transportation of troops and supplies upon railroads and steam-boats. It is responsible for the prompt and safe transmission of all supplies; for the payment of the troops when in service or discharged, and in general contract and pay for such services as are not specially designated in the duties of any other department.
The committee was greatly assisted in its investigations by the system of entries and analysis of estimates and disbursements in the office of the Quartermaster-Gen. at Richmond, by which it is enabled to determine not only the supplies and transportation on hand and where located, but also the exact state of the account of every officer attached to that department throughout the Army.
These returns and entries show that clothing, camp and garrison equipage are accumulated at depots situated in Richmond, New Orleans, Memphis, Charleston, Savannah, San Antonio, and Fort Smith, to be distributed, upon requisition, to the troops in their vicinity. These supplies, together with shoes and blankets, are on hand, or have been distributed in such quantities as, with the aid given by the contributions of States and individuals, to place our troops beyond the danger of suffering during the present winter; while the experience of the past, the knowledge of the resources of the country, and the power to husband, systematize, and render them available, furnishes an encouraging prospect for the future.
Clothing and commutation.--It is the duty of the Confederacy to have the Army well clothed and, to attain this end, no commutation in money should be allowed until it appears that the volunteer has supply of clothing at least equal to the amount allowed by the regulations. If furnished from private resources with the principal articles, the commutation money due might be paid to the captains to be expended, first in procuring such articles as are necessary to make up the deficiency, and the balance given to the volunteer.
Depots for supplies.--The number and extent of the depots for arms, ordnance, clothing, and stores for the consumption of the Army should be greatly increased and established at secure places near the fields of operation.
Railroad transportation.--The amount of transportation required demands that every legitimate means should be used to increase the capacity of that branch of the service, and for this purpose the committee recommend that military control be taken of the principal railroad routes terminating at or passing through Richmond, Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta, and all route leading to the headquarters of our several army corps, which should be placed under the direction of an efficient superintendent, free from local interests, investments, or connection with special railroads. Great delay, inconvenience, and expense is caused by the numerous unconnected tracks, which, if joined by links, short in distance, would not only increase the facilities for transportation and the capacity of the roads, but would save much time, labor, and expense in transferring troops and freight.
There is a deficiency of rolling-stock on the most used and important railways and branches which could be remedied under a proper administration and distribution of stock, taken from roads where there is a superabundance, and adding where deficient, thus equalizing the supply throughout the Confederacy. Wherever deficient, thus equalizing the supply throughout the Confederacy. Wherever desirable for the public defense, the same stock should pass over the longest available route, and when the width of the grades differ the roads should approach to proximity until a change of width would permit the connection to be perfected. With proper management the capacity of the principal routes can be increased to six trains each way per day, with an average speed of ten miles an hour, while the present transportation is not above two trains a day, and the rate of speed not more than six miles an hour.
Wagon transportation.--The committee are satisfied that the wagon transportation is inadequate, and if the Army was furnished with the full amount allowed by the present Regulations, it would still be insufficient. Our volunteers arrive in the service unused to camp life, encumbered by an allowance of clothing hardly sufficient for their need, yet beyond the amount allowed by Regulations. Overtaken by disease, and with conveniences though scanty, yet forbidden by the frugality and thrift suited to the educated soldier, when a movement is made, the line of march may be traced by the cheap comforts and extra blankets cast aside, to be deeply regretted by the soldier at his next camping ground. From causes like these much suffering has been endured by our troops in exposed situations, especially in Western Virginia, where the transportation was barely sufficient to keep subsistence enough for the daily ration while on the march from Jackson's River to Sewell Mountain.
The amount and necessity for accumulated transportation has been greatly increased by permitting the Army to feed and forage upon the neighborhood where stationed, each succeeding day widening the circle which it exhausts, and to the same extent protracting the distance for transportation, in addition to destroying the source of supply by taking from the country its present subsistence, and its means for furnishing another crop.
This system enhances the price of all products to the Army and the inhabitants, until, forced to abandon their residences, they emigrate in pursuit of cheap food, and leave their homes depopulated. By adopting a different policy, with the judicious use of railways to penetrate the productive regions, and by the aid of wagon transportation, connecting with the neighboring granaries, the supply might be rendered regular, cheap, and of better quality.
Hospitals and stations.--Connected with, and auxiliary to, this subject, the committee advise that hospitals and stations for the wounded, sick, and convalescent should be provided at a distance from the camps or crowded cities wherever pure aid, good water, and an abundance of food would recommend them, leaving for the use of the able, active soldier a large quantity of food and transportation, and removing from the Army an incubus which, with its limited transportation, renders rapid movement impracticable.
Transport trains.--Transportation being the motive power of the Army, without it the most thoroughly organized and disciplined corps is useless and its services unavailable. To be efficient it should be systematized and trained to a performance of its duties. Competent wagon-masters should be selected, and an enlisted or hired number of teamsters engaged, who, by their skill, attention, and adaptation to this service, would faithfully perform their obligations.
The custom of detailing volunteers for this service is fraught with trouble; horses, harness, and wagons are neglected until a movement is required, when the death, disease, or starved condition of the horses, the loss of harness and breakage of wagons, render it impossible, or its performance so defective that suffering to the sick, loss of baggage to the well, and discomfiture to the designs best arranged and matured are the probable results.
Payment of troops and creditors.--Admitting the efficiency of the Quartermaster's Department, as at present constituted for a peace establishment, to be equal to the duties with which it is charged, it would be relieved of much of the embarrassment and complication caused by the magnitude of the present war should a separate pay department by established.
Some discontent has arisen among the troops from a failure to pay them with regularity, particularly at posts and places distant from headquarters of the homes of the volunteers.
To detail an instructed and experienced quartermaster from headquarters for this service would frequently leave a post or important position unsupplied and the necessary routine neglected, and to send an officer new to the service and unacquainted with its duties would result in injury to the department, ruin to the officer, or loss to the soldier. Punctually is important in all the dealings of Government; it is particularly so with its Army. The troops should be paid every two months, and to insure its punctuality the pay-rolls should be prepared after each muster under the superintendence of an inspector and handed over to the officers of the Pay Department for payment.
The system in force in the U. S. Army might be adopted by adding thereto paymasters, with the rank of captain, requiring the senior paymaster in each district to make an estimate and receive funds for the whole of his district upon estimates made by the regimental quartermasters, who might pay their regiments from the funds receive for that purpose from the district paymaster, leaving the field and staff of the divisions and brigades and other floating accounts to be settled by the district paymaster.
The quartermasters unattached to regiments and acting as pay officers might be transferred to the Pay Department, and by their experience facilitate the adjustment of accounts and payments of troops at points where there are no regiments, the sick at general hospitals, and discharged soldiers. The need of this supervising power has caused large amounts of money to be twice paid to soldiers discharged for debility, necessity requiring in many cases payments to be made upon the statement of the soldier himself. Some dissatisfaction has been manifested by the creditors of this and the Subsistence Department from the want of punctuality in settling the debts contracted to be paid at the specified time, and this uncertainty of payment has caused exactions to be made and prices demanded of the Government officers greatly above the market rate, particularly at places distant from the capital, where credit is all important. This has been aggravated by the difficulty in preparing Treasury notes, the absence of facilities for transferring the funds, the trouble and responsibility of transmission, as well as the more pressing emergencies, or urgent solicitations of claimants, more convenient to headquarters.
SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT.
To maintain an abundant and regular supply of provisions for the soldiers is the paramount duty of the commissary of subsistence, and to it everything else must be subordinate. To economize the public money and to justify expenditure and disbursement by well-authenticated accounts are important considerations, but even these must yield to the one great object of military administration-to keep the soldier in fighting condition at all times and under all circumstances.
Without system in the administration of this department the most fertile genius would prove powerless, and the most abundant resources insufficient; yet, so varying are the circumstances attending active warfare, so much influenced by the character of the operations, the resources and extend of the country, the disposition of the population, the confidence and credit in the Government, that far more reliance must be placed upon the intelligence, the ability, and the zeal of the commissary than upon any system established for general guidance. It is in availing himself of every expedient, in seizing every opportunity, in guarding against all risks and providing for all contingencies that the highest qualities of a good officer are put to the test. He must not rely on rumors or trust to probabilities; he must depend upon his own judgment and energy, and, by exerting all his foresight, skill, and decision, anticipate the wants of the troops in whatever position they may be placed.
The machinery, perfectly adapted to a season of peace and a country replete with resources, would entirely fail during a state of war with the ordinary source of supply stopped or diminished.
The returns of this department show that although its chief supply has been obtained within the Confederacy, heretofore considered insufficient to support its population, with an untiring, vigilant, and remorseless enemy surrounding and endeavoring by every means to starve as well as subjugate, we have had our Army well fed, and with an amount on hand so large as to place us beyond the reach for want for the ensuing campaign, and trusting in a kind Providence for our usual seasons and the preparations that are made throughout the Confederacy for the next crop, we need fear no coming want.
Purchasing agents.--To protect the department against the fluctuations and combinations of trade, which are considered legitimate and generally used against the Government where it enters the market as an open purchaser, the Commissary-Gen. should have power, with the approval of the Secretary of War, to select agents from able and practical business men to make purchases at distant points, and a proper discretion allowed them, without referring to the department for confirmation.
Rations and cooks.--The ration, as restricted by the Regulations, is in many respects unsuited to the habit of our volunteer force. Rice and corn-meal, hominy, peas, tea, milk, molasses, and vegetables (particularly potatoes and onions), should be distributed whenever they can be reasonably obtained, and substituted, by a scale to be prepared by the commissary, for the ordinary ration. Flour should only be given in cases of necessity, or where ovens are used by the company or regiments. Bakeries should be established for hard bread at places convenient to the different army corps. Ovens should be erected in every regiment and loaves of bread distributed, so as to avoid the unwholesome mass which constitutes the ordinary specimen of cooking by Southern soldiers. Cooks should be hired or enlisted, at least two to each company, so that well-cooked, wholesome meals may be regularly served, and the cooking inspected at each meal under the direction of the officer of the day. To insure small comforts, the committee recommend that 2 or 3 cents per day be allowed each volunteer, to be disbursed by the captain. That the ration of coffee and sugar be increased to ten pounds of coffee and fifteen pounds of sugar for 100 men. That the surplus rations be under the charge of one of the sergeants, whose duty it shall be to sell them and purchase vegetables and other food not supplied by the Government, for the benefit of the company.
Hospital rations.--The regulations provide that the rations not consumed in the hospitals shall be commuted in money and constitute a hospital fund, from which articles for the sick may be obtained. Under this regulation no money has been furnished the regimental commissaries, and the sick are unprovided for, or forced to use the ordinary ration of beef, bacon, and coffee. This neglect calls for an immediate remedy.
Sutlers.--The comfort of the volunteer would be consulted by a definite number of sutlers, judiciously selected, properly restricted, and a tariff of prices with moderate profits adopted. Much information has been obtained by the committee from the Commissary Department, to be submitted to Congress, but the answer of the Commissary-Gen. to the resolution of Congress including all that is important, and in more elaborate form, the committee beg leave to refer to that communication for the routine of purchase, &c.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.
In relation to the Medical Department, in its organization and administration, your committee report that there is, in the laws regulating that department, no want of power for its efficiency, and, except in a few particulars, no necessary for a change in the regulations which control it.
The authority of the Surgeon-Gen. is ample in the direction of he administration of his department, and, under ordinary circumstances, the medical staff is, perhaps, sufficiently numerous. But, in visiting the camps and hospitals, your committee were deeply impressed with the inadequacy of the preparations and provisions for the comfort of the sick soldiers, as well as the obvious causes for the unusual amount of disease prevailing amongst the troops. Much is to be ascribed to the nature of the service and the persons who compose the Army. The volunteers when at home were not generally accustomed to care for themselves, usually living in families who provided for their comfort and nursed them in sickness, unused to exposure, and entirely unaccustomed to the preparation of their food. When in addition to this it is considered that the summer was unusually rainy, and that a very large proportion of the men contracted the measles in the camps, it could not be otherwise than that there should be great suffering and great mortality. It is the peculiar characteristic of measles that the system is left liable to the invasion of the most formidable diseases, upon exposure a short time after undergoing an attack. Fever, pneumonia and diarrhea, the scourges of camps and armies, follow in the wake of measles where the convalescents are exposed to cold and wet; and when to this we add unsuitable diet, badly-ventilated tents and hospitals, there can be no surprise at the number of sick in the Army, as well as the great suffering and distress.
Your committee found in some regiments but one surgeon or assistant surgeon, sometimes a private detailed from the ranks, who happens to be a physician, the number of sick too great for any one man to attend properly, placed under his care. The diseases prevalent in the Army are camp fever, measles, pneumonia, diarrhea, and dysentery. All of them partook of the depressing character of the camp fever, being of a typhus tendency. In some localities the typhoid fever was found greatly aggravated in its progress by the general morbid influence of the atmosphere of the camps.
The armies on the Potomac and in Western Virginia suffered greatly; those troops in Cheat Mountain and in the vicinity of the Kanawha Valley most intensely. The wet and changeable climate, the difficulty of transportation, exposure to cold and rain, without tents, the necessary consequence of the frequent forward and retrograde movements, as well as the impossibility of a always obtaining suitable food for either sick or well me, produced most of the sickness and greatly aggravated it after its accession.
There were no hospitals in reach of those armies, and it became necessary to subsidize all suitable buildings in reach for the use of the sick, who often accumulated so rapidly as to fill them to crowding.
The rapid movements of armies hourly expecting battle created a necessity for the removal of the sick into the rear at a time when transportation was greatly in demand and at all times insufficient. Under these circumstances the sick in all stages of disease-sometimes when merely moving them must be fatal-were crowded into wagons and delivered at points where, from their unexpected number, there was no adequate provision either for their food or shelter, and in such cases the suffering as well as the mortality was greatly increased.
The diseases in the Peninsula were exceedingly severe and the cases very numerous. They were usually of the miasmatic character, to which men from the upper country would be subject. These, too, were greatly aggravated by measles, which also scourged these camps. In the early part of the campaign there was a great deficiency of hospital accommodation there, but now, in Yorktown and Williamsburg, that want has been in a great measure supplied.
Whenever hospital accommodation was possible, and a due regard paid by those in charge, much of the suffering of the sick was avoided, especially where those hospitals were within a convenient distance, and the transportation at all adequate to the gentle and merciful removal of the sick and helpless.
Your committee were impressed with several evils which, as they are clearly within the reach of remedy by the present laws, will be mentioned, as those which could be obviated by a more full administration of their provisions.
First, upon examination of the medical stores at the various hospitals and camps, with a few exceptions, they were incomplete and insufficient in many of the leading and necessary articles for the prevailing diseases. Second, there was a great deficiency in surgical instruments, and those in possession of the surgeons often very inferior and ill adapted to the service. This they, however, feel assured was the result in a great measure of the almost insuperable difficulty of obtaining a supply in the present state of our commercial atrophy. But it is presumed that sufficient encouragement would secure the manufacture of instruments within the Confederate States. The Surgeon-Gen. assured the committee that this difficulty was in a fair way to be overcome. This, the great insufficiency of transportation to be devoted to the service of the Medical Department, in the camps and at the hospitals. A great increase is indispensable; the want of it has produced much of the mortality and much of the suffering. Sick men, on the advance of the enemy, are crowded into common wagons and ambulances, moved rapidly over bad roads, jolted and rendered uncomfortable, the maladies aggravated, and, in many instances, dying in the removal. Fourth, the regulations requiring reports from the regiments as to the number of sick, their diseases and the wants of the medical station, have not been complied with. The result of this neglect is that, upon a change of position in the Army, it has been the unhappy consequence that the number of sick greatly exceeded that indicated by the reports. They have been hurried to the rear, where the accommodations, both as to food, shelter, and medical attendance, being all insufficient, there has been great suffering and great mortality. Upon inquiry the committee learned from the department of the Surgeon-Gen. that on various occasions, without sufficient notice, large numbers of sick have reached Richmond in the cars, when attention to them was impossible. Your committee also found upon examination that the regulation requiring that the regimental surgeon should, whenever a sick soldier was sent to the hospital, his descriptive roll as well as the nature of his disease, should accompany him, has been sadly neglected. The evil of this neglect is felt in the impossibility of prompt medical treatment, as well as the almost insurmountable difficulty which obstructed every effort of friends to find and identify those to whom their attentions were so desirable. No legislation is necessary to cure this evil. The fault is with the surgeons and the officers of the regiments and the posts. Their authority is complete, and the evils referred to arise from the want of its exercise. In none of the hospitals accurate lists of the sick, convalescent, discharged, and dead have been found, but in a vast majority of instances that list, instead of being made from regimental returns accompanying the sick have been the result of inquiry and observation by the hospital surgeon. When to this is added that the absence of the descriptive roll prevented the sick from the use of their pay in the purchase of comforts for themselves, your committee feel it due to truth and justice to notice this neglect as seriously injuring the service. Fifth, the indifferent as well as the unwholesome food provided for the sick, and the use of which by well men made them sick, attracted the attention of the committee. The rations were wholesome, sound, and abundant, but the cooking, particularly the bread, rendered it unsuitable for either sick or healthy men. Bread hastily made up of flour and water add imperfectly baked, almost incapable of being digested, was deemed a most fruitful source of disease. It was apparent at those camps where well-baked bread was served to the men that the amount of disease was greatly reduced. We think bakeries in Richmond and other convenient localities might be provided, and by serving good bread to the soldiers the saving in material would greatly overbalance any expense to the Government. Until good bread is furnished to the Army we look in vain for a permanent restoration of health. The rapid recovery of many who have been permitted to return home to get well demonstrates the efficacy of wholesome and nutritious diet rather than the use of medicines. The great majority of the deaths result from the want of proper nutriment, such as the impaired digestion of the patient can assimilate, and without which it is impossible for him to recover. At Norfolk, at Staunton, at Charlottesville, the amelioration of the condition of the sick, by improved nutriment and comfortable hospitals and hospital surgeons, was strikingly apparent. The sickness and mortality at Norfolk were inconsiderable because of the fresh vegetables, the good bread, good hospitals, and all the comforts necessary for the sick. Sixth, the establishment of a corps of nurses for the camps, as well as the sick in camps. Good nursing is of equal value to medical attention. Without it the best skill is often unavailable. Constant attention and control of the sick cannot be dispensed with, and the faithful application of remedies prescribed cannot be expected from the attention of casual nurses. Our volunteer army are unaccustomed to such duties, and we shall vainly look for great improvement without the presence of constant and competent nurses for the sick.
Much of the insufficiency of the medical staff is to be attributed to unavoidable evils in the mode of appointment in the sudden organization of so large an army. It was impossible for the head of this Bureau to be thoroughly informed of the fitness of applicants for the position sought by them in the medical staff. He was necessarily dependent upon such means of information as the circumstances would allow, and depended mainly upon the recommendations of the field officers of the regiments to which the surgeons and their assistants were to be assigned. In this way many very young and inexperienced persons were recommended and appointed, and much evil resulted from their want of qualification for their duties. The older and best of the physicians of the country were not usually applicants for the places, and the selection was to be made from those who offered their services. The history of the war up to a month or two since has fully developed this evil, and the institution of a board of examiners, it is hoped, may afford some remedy. The service demands the best talents and the most enlarged experience, and the greatest circumspection is indispensable in assigning to such responsible duties those who seek appointments in the medical staff.
The want of medical stores is the result, in a great measure, of the existing blockade, and the expense and difficulty in procuring those foreign medicines which are indispensable for the sick, and it is but just to say that great and unusually successful efforts have been made by the department in obtaining them. The hospitals established by many of the States for the sick and wounded, and the admirable manner in which they have been conducted, demonstrates that, with the same care on the part of the Confederate Government, the condition of the sick and the prospects of recovery would be greatly improved. Hospital room and an increase of hospital surgeons and assistants are greatly needed.
In connection with the views of the committee upon the means best adapted to the preservation of the health of the Army and the restoration of the sick, they would call attention to the necessity of providing some practical, simple, and easy mode of obtaining furloughs for sick soldiers to visit their homes.
The regulations requiring the certificate of the surgeon of regiments or hospitals when the sick are far distant from their command, and the certificates of commanding officers opposing the application, is, in a large proportion of the cases, a virtual denial of the privilege. Observation proves that whenever it is possible to remove the sick, in the low depressing diseases of the camp, preying as much on the mind and spirits of the sufferer as on his body, a furlough and return to home and its associations caused speedy recoveries and return to duty. Some modifications of the law and regulations on this subject in indispensably necessary, or we may look with apprehension for the recuperation of our Army by volunteers in the spring. They wound recommend such legislation as would reach all cases removed from the regiments to hospitals by authorizing those in command of stations to grant furloughs or discharges and simplify the process by which they are obtained, whilst sick, under the immediate observation of regimental authority.
The committee cannot close this part of the subject without a testimonial to the kindness and patriotism of our citizens at home, manifested in their unremitting efforts to supply the wants and relieve the sufferings of the soldiers, sick and well. The supply of money, clothing, and hospital stores derived from this generous source is not only of immense value in itself, but the most cheering indication of the spirit of our people in the case of our independence. The women of the country, with the tenderness and generosity of their sex, have not only loaded the cars with all those appliances for the comfort of the sick which their patriotic ingenuity could devise, but have also come to the rescue in clothing those who are well and bearing arms in the field. They have made large pecuniary contributions, taken charge of the hospitals established by the States, and, as matrons of those institutions, have carried cleanliness and comfort to the gallant soldier far from home and kindred. To the women of the country simple gratitude demands that public thanks be given and a public acknowledgment of their faithfulness in the glorious work of effecting our independence. As a part of their duty, the committee visited and examined the prisons and hospitals of the prisoners in Richmond. The sick and wounded are fully cared for, and the food furnished for all was both wholesome and ample. There was no cause of complaint in the entire management. Both medical attention and the supply of necessaries for food were such as justice and humanity demanded.
Inspection and reports.--The health, comfort, and efficiency of the Army results less from defects in legislation than the proper enforcement of the Regulations and a regular and thorough system of inspection.
The offices of adjutant and inspector general, now united, have distinct and separate duties. The labors of the adjutant generally confine him to his desk; those of the inspector demand his active presence in the field. The adjutant is the channel of communication in all matters relating to the discipline and organization of the Army, and these officers are constantly occupied with the details of service and in office duties. The duty of the inspector is, by personal investigation, to learn whether the rules and regulations of the Army are properly enforced, and to report when, where, by whom, and in what manner they have been neglected.
A detail of the duties and the requirements of the reports are embraced in the following sections of the Army Regulations:
INSPECTION REPORTS.
462. Inspection reports will show the discipline of the troops, their instruction in all military exercises and duties; the state of their arms, clothing, equipments, and accouterments of all kinds; of their kitchens and messes; of the barracks and quarters at the post; of the guard-house, prisons, hospital, bake-house, magazines, store-houses, and stores of every description; of the stables and horses; the condition of the post school, the management and application of the post and company funds; the state of the post and regimental and company books, papers, and files; the zeal and ability of the officers in command of troops, the capacity of the officers conducting the administrative and staff services, the fidelity and economy of their disbursements, the condition of all public property, and the amount of money in the hands of each disbursing officer; the regularity of issues and payments; the mode of enforcing discipline by courts-martial, and by the authority of the officers; the propriety and legality of all punishments inflicted; and any information whatsoever concerning the service in any matter or particular that may merit notice or aid to correct defects or introduce improvements.
463. Inspectors are required particularly to report if any officer is of intemperate habits, or unfit for active service by infirmity or any other cause.
The importance and extent of these duties show that all the time, attendance, and labor of an efficient corps is necessary for their performance, with such rank as to induce respect and obtain able and energetic officers. The separation would be less imperative in an army thoroughly organized and disciplined, but the immense number of raw recruits and uninstructed officers renders it indispensable to indoctrinate as well as to supervise. The reports should be made to the Inspector-Gen. at the War Department, as well as to the commander to whose staff the inspector is attached, thereby insuring the performance of the duties by the inspectors enforcing the requirements for officers to remedy defects throughout their command, and bringing before the Secretary of War knowledge of the condition of the Army.
Medical Inspectors.--By the Regulations the medical director is made the inspector of hospitals, and required to enforce the regulations, &c. Like the adjutant, his time is so much occupied by the details of service that in most instances this important duty has been neglected, and the committee suggest, for the consideration of Congress, if it is not due to the proper care of the sick and the protection of the well from disease to add officers to the present medical staff, whose duties should require them to inspect and report upon the sanitary condition and police of hospitals, camps, and posts occupied by troops, and the skill and efficiency of the officers, stewards, nurses, and employees attached to this department.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
T. N. WAUL,
For the Committee.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 4, Volume 1, Serial No. 127, Pages 883-891, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
