Question. Was there any loss of supplies at any other points when the troops commenced their concentration at Murfreesborough?

No, sir; most of the supplies at Stevenson, our main depot, had been forwarded north. Captain Bright, the commissary at that point, forwarded all the supplies before he left.

Question. Did you have an opportunity of observing the troops generally on the march from Nashville to Louisville? And, if so, please state in what manner that march was conducted. Was it orderly or otherwise?

My duties calling me frequently form the head of the column to the rear, I had often occasion to remark to my brother officers the excellent manner and close order in which the troop marched from Nashville to Bowling Green. I remember this distinctly, having had occasion to ride to the head of the column between Tyree Springs and Mitchellsville to learn the particulars of a skirmish between General Crittenden's advance and the rebels. I saw no straggling of any consequence, and for troops who had marched the distance they had passed over, in my experience I never saw troops march in better order or in better preparation for any attack or emergency which might occur. From Bowling Green to Munfordville, in the course of my duty, I passed up and down the column several times, both by rail and horseback, and still noticed the excellent marching order of the troops. At Munfordville, in the course of my duty, supplying each division as it passed Rowlett's Station, near Munfordville, I could not help but notice the excellent order of march, on account of the rapidity and regularity of each brigade drawing its supplies and the absence of stragglers in the rear of the line of march. After the troops had all passed Munfordville and were still on the march I rode along the column from its rear to General Buell at Elizabethtown, and had no reason to change my opinion already expressed. From Elizabethtown to West Point, at the mouth of Salt River, the troops marched with greater alacrity than ever and were going with the hope of soon meeting the enemy, and no depredations were committed along the road to my knowledge.

Question. Can you account for the large numbers of absentees from the army after its arrival at Louisville?

At West Point there was considerable conversation and discussion upon the subject of apprehended desertions, or rather an attempt on the part of the soldiers whose homes were in the neighboring counties of Indiana to visit them, and I have no doubt that on their arrival at West Point many crossed the river in skiffs and otherwise to gratify their desire to visit their homes, mostly by troops living in the southern counties of Indiana. I remember some instances of field officers doing so, and I have no doubt but that many company and regimental officers connived at this absenteeism of their troops.

Question. Have you observed the same thing in other cases when troops arrived near their homes after a long absence?

Yes, sir; in Western Virginia, where I served, the troops we had stationed along the Ohio River on the Virginia side caused us much annoyance by their visits to their homes; and even while at Pittsburg Landing I know there were great complaints among the officers of General Grant's army that the Illinois regiments gave him considerable trouble by soldiers escaping down the river in boats, so much so that the most stringent provost-marshall arrangements had to be made to suspend it. A more striking instance I remember when some of General Rosecrans' troops were transported from Western Virginia to General Buell's command in Kentucky in the fall of 1861, when two regiments from Cincinnati gave considerable trouble. The Ninth and Tenth Ohio being permitted to land at Cincinnati, their home e, great annoyance and delay were occasioned in gathering them up, so much so that the Ninth Ohio had to be almost driven on board their boats at the point of the bayonet. This attachment for home was also exhibited by the Sixth Ohio Regiment, who, not being allowed to land and Cincinnati, their home, and being taken to Louisville, deserted almost in a body and visited Cincinnati.

Question. Did this absence of men from the Army of the Ohio on its arrival at Louisville to visit their homes indicate any demoralization in the army?

I do not think so, because many returned within a few days to join their regiments on the march toward Perryville, and in all cases that I heard of - and I spoke to many of them - they indignantly denied any intention of deserting; it was simply a desire to gratify an ardent wish to visit their homes before the impending battle.