and quiet of my home, I suffer no inconvenience beyond that which arises from the trouble and anxiety suffered by worthy friends like yourself, who are naturally disturbed by the clamors and calumny of of those whose interest of feeling is hostile to me.

The official records will, at the proper time, fully prove --

1st. That I have employed the whole power of the Government unsparingly to support General McClellan's operations in preference to every other general.

2d. That I have not interfered with or thwarted them in any particular.

3d. That the force retained from his expedition was not needed, and could not have been employed by him; that it was retained by express orders of the President, upon military investigation, and upon the best military advice in the country; that its retention was required to save the capital from the danger to which it was exposed by a disregard of the President's positive order of the 6th of March.

4th. That between the President and myself there has never been any, the slightest, shadow of difference upon any point, save the detachment of Franklin's force, and that was a point of no significance, but in which I was sustained by Generals Hitchcock, Meigs, Thomas, and Ripley, while the President yielded only to an anxious desire to avoid complaint, declaring at the same time his belief that the force was not needed by General McClellan.

You will, of course, regard this explanation as being in the strictest confidence, designed only for your information upon matters wherein you express concern for me. The confidence of yourself, and men like you, is more than a full equivalent for all the railing that has been or can be expressed against me, and in the magnitude of the cause all merely individual questions are swallowed up.

I shall always rejoice to hear from you, and am, as ever, truly yours,

EDWIN M. STANTON.

CAMDEN STATION, B. AND O. R. R.,

September 3, [1862] - 4.45 p. m.

General M. C. MEIGS, Quartermaster-General:

SIR: Some delays are occurring, for want of cars. This arises form the action of the Government in taking our equipments for their use south of the Potomac. With our cars restored, we can move triple the number of troops promptly. We advised the War Department of the injudiciousness of absorbing the cars of this company, which are frequently wanted for Government purposes, thus decreasing our ability of service, whilst suitable cars could readily be seized or obtained for military purposes from roads at the North, unaffected by operations at the seat of war. I learn that one hundred and sixty of our cars have been burned within the past few days near Manassas, and that even now on hundred more are detained from us on the other side of the river. Last night, also, we had to furnish forty-five cars to run through with sick soldier form Washington to Philadelphia. We have also had sudden and large movements required to re-enforce troops on the main stem and Parkersburg road. The remedy is clear; if you will order the return of our cars in use south of the Potomac, and procure cars to replace to us those burned whilst in your use, we can insure prompt transportation to any extent you may desire. I have inquired in all directions, and cannot at present buy cars, and time cannot be