| Andersonville |
| July 25, 1864 |
| |
| There are 29,400 prisoners,
2,650 troops, 500 negroes and other laborers and not a ration at the
post. There is great danger in this state of things. I have ordered
that at least ten days' rations should be kept on hand, but it has
never been done. |
| Jno. H. Winder |
| Commanding |
| |
|
First indorsement |
| Respectfully submitted to
Commissary-General. |
| H. L. Clay |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |
| |
|
Second
indorsement |
| The relation which subsists
between commissaries of posts and the commanding officers thereof,
so far as relates to the subsistence of prisoners of war, is quite
different from their duties connected with troops. In the former
relation the commanding officer of the post has nothing to do with
the person employed in feeding the prisoners; if he thinks the
prisoners are likely to rebel on account of food he should state the
case to the Commissary-General. |
| A reference to the acts
approved May 21, 1861, and February 17, 1864, is conclusive. |
| Prisoners, either soldiers or
sailors, were first turned over to the Quartermaster-General to be
kept in custody and fed by him and his subordinates under direction
of the Secretary of War. |
| Now the latter part of these
duties are by law devolved on the Commissary-General. If General
Winder has the custody of the prisoners of war he is so far a
subordinate of the Quartermaster-General. The Commissary General
claims to control everything relating to subsisting them through his
subordinates. If the commanding officer of the post thinks anything
about supplies is going wrong it is his duty to report his views to
the Commissary-General. General Winder has no right to give any
orders on the subject according to my understanding of the laws, and
practice hitherto, when the Quartermaster-General had charge of the
prisoners' subsistence and the Commissary. General furnished the
stores. |
| The supplies for the prisoners
are furnished by the district commissary, Second District of
Georgia, who has long been under orders to send stores for the army
of Virginia as fast as possible hither. |
| Had General Winder's orders for
ten days' rations for over 32,000 men to be kept ahead been complied
with, I should have countermanded it to the district commissary. The
reasons against such accumulation are greater now than before. The {Montgomery
&} West Point Railroad is cut. Fifteen or twenty days
will be required to repair it if we succeed in keeping it open;
hence the support of the Army of Tennessee is on Georgia, which must
still furnish Virginia with stores. Alabama had previously supplied
the former army with corn, while the troops on the waters of the
Atlantic drew from Georgia and South Carolina. |
| Meanwhile we have no money
either to buy or impress provisions. See my paper of July 2 instant.
General Winder thinks the prisoners should have ten days' ahead,
while the army may be restricted in a day's ration. And during this
campaign around Richmond, with all the roads cut, a deficiency below
what was here would have been critical. |
| If General Winder thinks that
the subsistence of the prisoners has been or is critical, and he is
anxious about their remaining quiet or in good condition, he can
communicate with the Commissary-General on the subject if he
pleases, and he will bring to his mind appropriate considerations
which may satisfy his anxiety about them, or if he prefers to
communicate with the Quartermaster-General, who is responsible for
their custody, the latter will receive from the Commissary-General
such information which will satisfy him that the prisoners will be
duly cared for and not suffer until the army is pinched. |
| Respectfully referred to the Secretary of
War. |
| L. B. Northrop |
| Commissary-General of Subsistence |