promptly the suddenly-increased demand, was the unavoidable cause of introducing into the service much inferior ordnance material. The gun-carriages were particularly open to this objection, and their bad construction was in more than one instance the unfortunate occasion of the loss of field guns.

[11th.] It affords me great satisfaction to state that the Ordnance Department in the main kept the supply constantly up to the demand, and by cheerful and ready attention to complaints and the prompt creation of the requisite means enabled me to withdraw inferior material and substitute such as was found to be more reliable.

[12th.] To Lieutenant-Colonel Ramsay, in command of Washington Arsenal, to Lieutenant Bradford, his assistant, and to Captain Benton, in the office of the Chief of Ordnance, these remarks in particular apply. To their promptness, industry, and active general co-operation am I indebted in a great degree for the means which enabled me to organize such an immense artillery force in so short a time.

[13th.] As has been before stated, the whole of the field artillery of the Army of the Potomac July 25, 1861, was comprised in nine imperfectly-equipped batteries of 30 guns, 650 men, and 400 horses. In March, 1862, when the whole army took the field, it consisted of ninety-two batteries of 520 guns, 12,500 men, and 11,000 horses, fully equipped and in readiness for active field service. Of the whole force thirty batteries were regulars and sixty-two batteries volunteers. During this short period of seven months all of this immense amount of material was issued to me and placed in the hands of the artillery troops after their arrival in Washington. About one-quarter of all the volunteer batteries brought with them from their respective States a few guns and carriages, but they were nearly all of such peculiar caliber as to lack uniformity with the more modern and more serviceable ordnance with which I was arming the other batteries, and they therefore had to be withdrawn and replaced by more suitable material. While about one-sixth came supplied with horses and harness, less than one-tenth were apparently fully equipped for service when they reported to me, and every one of those required the supply of many deficiencies of material and very extensive instruction in the theory and practice of their special arm.

[14th.] When the Army of the Potomac on the 1st of April embarked for Fort Monroe and the Virginia Peninsula the field-artillery force which had been organized was disposed of as follows, viz:

Batteries. Guns.

Detached for service in the Department of South

Carolina ....................................... 2 12

Detached for service in the Department of North

Carolina ....................................... 1 6

Detached for service in the Department of the.

Gulf ........................................... 1 6

Detached for service in the command of Major-

General Dix .................................... 3 20

Detached for service in the Mountain Department

(division Blenker) ............................. 3 18

First Corps (Major-General McDowell) ........... 12 68

Fifth Corps (Major-General Banks) .............. 13 59

Defenses of Washington (Brigadier-General Wads-

worth) ......................................... 7 32

42 221

Embarked March 15 to April 1, 1862, for the.

Peninsula ...................................... 52 299

[15th.] The operations on the Peninsula by the Army of the Potomac commenced with a field-artillery force of fifty-two batteries, of 299 guns. To this must be added the field artillery of Franklin's division of McDowell's corps, which joined a few days before the capture of Yorktown, but was not disembarked from its transports for service until after the.