four wounded were sent down and received by Dr. Smith on the Commodore that day; of these 47 were prisoners. It was intended to remove the remainder of the wounded the next day, but a heavy rain coming on, we were obliged to defer it. That day at 2 p.m. the enemy attacked our left flank at Fair Oaks. The action lasted till night-fall. It was resumed the next morning, and continued till 11 a.m.

Immediately upon the commencement of the battle the boats at White House were ordered to be in readiness to receive the wounded. Surgeons were placed on board those in need of them. Other surgeons, volunteer and contract, of whom I had a supply at White House, were brought up to the field depots. The transportation of the wounded was begun that night and steadily kept up till completed. This was accomplished by the 7th of June. I never received complete returns of the losses in this action. In Keyes' corps 382 were killed and 1,731 wounded. In Sumner's the wounded were about 1,000 and in Heintzelman's 750. The whole number sent from White House by the steamers was 3,580. Of these, 167 were conveyed to Philadelphia by the Wm. Whildin.

June 8 a skirmish took place in front of Sumner's position, in which we had 4 killed and 23 wounded.

During all this time there were of course some men sick in the field hospitals. It was perceived they would be more and more in the way means of getting them to the rear. For this purpose I directed the establishment at Yorktown to be enlarged to the capacity of 2,500 or 3,000 beds, so that I might relieve White House hospital and keep it clear for an emergency. The instructions to the officers in charge are in appendix marked W. I was in hopes I should have received before this the 400 hospital tents I had asked for while we were at Yorktown. About one-half of them arrived the middle of June. I requested General Van Vliet to have 100 pitched at White House for an extension of that hospital, and to deposit 75 at Savage and Fair Oaks Stations for use in another battle.

June 4, about 450 sick were sent to Boston by the Sanitary Commission, contrary to my orders. I had received instructions from the Surgeon-General to send no more sick North for a certain time, and had refused permission for this vessel to go to Boston; still she was sent. I do not doubt that the agent thought it made no difference where he went, but he was none the more excusable for that. However, if civilians are allowed to have anything to do with military matters confusion cannot be avoided. They see things only from their own limited standpoint, will form and act upon their own opinions, and in ninety-nine cases in one hundred go wrong.

June 19, I authorized Mr. Olmstead, of the Commission, to fill the steamer Daniel Webster No. 1 and the Spaulding from the White House and Yorktown hospitals, and proceed with them to New York.

A very large number of rebels killed at Fair Oaks were interred by our troops; still many were left unburied. They had fallen or had been carried into the woods, and had thus escaped observation. In the course of time they became so offensive as to seriously incommode our camps. Disinfectants were sent to be strewn over the grounds, and every exertion was made to abate the nuisance. Still, it had not entirely ceased when we left the vicinity.

June 14 scurvy was again reported as having appeared in Sumner's corps. I sent an able medical officer to investigate it, who found six cases in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts Regiments and