| Headquarters Post |
| Salisbury, N. C. |
| February 18, 1865 |
| |
| Brig. Gen. William M. Gardner |
| Richmond |
| |
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General, |
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I have the honor to
call your attention to the condition of this post. The troops here,
three regiments of reserves and one battalion, being without a
quartermaster, are dependent on the post quartermaster for supplies,
pay, fuel, &c. The prisoners, 5,500, are equally dependent on
him, the prison quartermaster, Major Morfit, being restricted to
drawing all supplies from that officer. These three regiments of
reserves during the month of January were entitled to 356 cords 42
feet of wood. They received from him 270, a deficit of 86 cords 42
feet; nearly one-fourth. Up to February 15 they were entitled to 179
cords of wood. They received 34 cords, a deficit of 145 cords; more
than four-fifths. The suffering among green troops and old men in
consequence of this dereliction of the proper officer may be
imagined. The prisoners are ill-clad and poorly sheltered. Their
food is fair; not so full as is necessary to endure hardship and
exposure. The only hospitals are buildings within the prison
inclosure, where the only amelioration we can give to their
sufferings are rude pine bunks and straw to lie on; without them,
they lie on the bare floor or earth with little or no covering. |
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On the 1st of
February Doctor Wilson, prison surgeon, made a requisition for
10,000 pounds of straw; also 100 bunks. Up to 13th of February he
had received 800 pounds of straw and no bunks; the sick prisoners,
therefore, laid on the bare ground, and from 1st to 31st of January,
732 of them died. From February 1 to February 13, 275 died. |
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It is proper to state
that Captain Goodman's (the post quartermaster) excuse for not
furnishing fuel is that transportation on the railroad, on which he
depended, has been interrupted. For the same reason he alleges he
could not get lumber to make bunks; and the straw, he says, he could
not get. This county abounds in the latter article. For a county as
full of wood as this, energy and methodized industry would have
formed a depot to provide for such contingencies as a temporary
failure of supplies. |
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His main employment
is to furnish these troops and prisoners. Forage is collected by
Captain Hanes, assistant quartermaster, here for that purpose, and
the resources of the country are abundant in labor and material to
furnish everything requisite. |
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I have waited for two
months in hopes that I could remedy these evils, but my authority
over staff officers being only as inspector under General Orders,
No. 48, Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, series 1864, I am
powerless. I therefore urgently and respectfully ask that he be
relieved at once. The evils are pressing and need instant remedy. |
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He is an intelligent
officer, but needs the industry, energy, and method necessary for
such a trust as this. He is, unfortunately, unable to co-operate in
harmony with the other staff officers at this post, and his
efficiency, for this reason, is impaired if not destroyed. |
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His report of employés
for February 15 shows 27 exempts, light-duty men, conscripts,
&c., employed as clerks, mechanics, &c., and 83 negroes,
teamsters, laborers, &c., besides a fatigue party of from 40 to
60 men from the troops constantly employed in cutting wood. This
force is more than ample to do everything necessary to be done if
properly managed. I cannot be responsible for the troops committed
to my charge and the lives and safe-keeping of prisoners without a
change is made in this office, and this officer relieved. |
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I
am, general very respectfully, your obedient servant, |
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Bradley
T. Johnson |
|
Brigadier-General |
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[First indorsement] |
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Headquarters Post |
|
Richmond |
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February 21, 1865 |
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Respectfully
forwarded approved. It is believed that one quartermaster (Major
Morfit) is alone sufficient for this post. |
|
W. M. Gardner |
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Brigadier-General |
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[Second indorsement] |
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Bureau Adjt. and Insp. Gen. |
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Appointment Office |
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March 2, 1865 |
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Respectfully
referred to the Quartermaster-General. |
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By
command of the Secretary of War: |
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Ed. A. Palfrey |
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Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General |
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[Third indorsement.] |
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Quartermaster-General's Office |
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March 9, 1865 |
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Respectfully
returned to the Adjutant and Inspector General with the remark that
Maj. M. Morfit has been heretofore ordered to assume the duties of
post quartermaster at Salisbury, N. C. Captain Goodman, who is
regarded as an efficient officer, has been directed to repair to
Chester, S.C., with a view to his assignment to duty at that point.
Capt. M. J. Bearden has been assigned to duty with reserve forces at
Salisbury. |
|
A. R. Lawton |
|
Quartermaster-General |
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