| Quartermaster General's Department |
| Richmond Oct. 24th 1864 |
| |
| Maj. Thos Peters |
| QMaster |
| Selma Ala |
| |
| Sir, |
| I enclose herewith for your
information extracts from a report of an inspection recently made at
Mobile, which exhibits a state of affairs requiring immediate attention
& correction. In order to accomplish this more thoroughly, & to have the
responsibility for the future well defined I propose to place the whole
River transportation for the State of Ala in your exclusive control, so
far as all Govt freights are concerned. You will therefore proceed to
take entire control of the forwarding of all government freights by
River within that State, & are empowered to rescind any or all existing
contracts for such transportation & to make new ones, subject to the
approval of this Bureau. |
| From the extracts herewith, it
would seen better policy to abandon altogether the system of chartering
boats, & instead to pay a schedule of rates to be agreed upon, but this
will be determined by yourself, after a careful examination into the
matter. |
| You will confer fully with Maj
T J Noble QM who is charged with the duty of collecting & forwarding
corn in the State, & will cooperate with him. For his information this
letter is sent through him. |
| A R Lawton QMG |
|