engaged in securing others, so that from the information given by Major Allen, and from such as I was able to gather from other sources, I was satisfied that with the aid of the beef-cattle now being collected there is a present supply of provisions in the surrounding counties ample for the purpose.

In connection with this subject I beg to call your particular attention to a suggestion in Major Allen's letter. He says:

The surplus provisions of said section (the country tributary to Union Springs) have all been bought up or engaged by officers for Government, and if a prison should be established there the subsistence officer of the district should be notified so as to secure the stock for this purpose.

Inasmuch as my instructions directed inquiry and report upon "every fact bearing directly or indirectly upon the question," I beg to call your attention to the condition of the Mobile and Girard Railroad. From Girard, the starting point of the road, on the west bank of the Chattahoochee River, opposite Columbus, to Silver Run, a distance of twenty miles, the road is laid with the Trail and is in good condition, but from Silver Run to Union Springs the superstructure and iron are of the most inferior description.

The iron is of the old flange pattern and is very much worn, and the cross-ties and stringers greatly decayed. Steps should be at once taken to have the necessary repairs made, otherwise there is reason to fear that the road will not be in condition to move the next crop. The transportation facilities of the road are likewise greatly deficient. The motive power consists of four engines and the rolling-stock of twenty-four box and thirty platform cars. When it is borne in mind that the river at Columbus is not spanned by a railroad bridge, and that the Girard road is so cut off as to render it impossible for the trains of other roads to pass over it, it is a matter of grave doubt whether the transportation of the road is sufficient to answer the demands that may be made upon it. This deficiency, however, will not be of so great importance, provided the prison is located at a point nearer Columbus. With a view of a possible location at some other point, though outside of my instructions, I devoted a day to the examination of the country at Silver Run, and found it admirably adapted to the purpose required. Timber, water, everything requisite is at hand, directly on the railroad. The run is a small stream of clear water, having its source in a multitude of springs and never has been known to go dry. It passes through a slight depression between two hills, which furnish a most desirable site for a stockade. The surrounding country is elevated and abounds in pine timber. I have been no place more desirable for a military prison. The only disadvantage connected with it as a location consists in its distance (thirty-four miles) from Union Springs, but this disadvantage is overcome when the condition of the railroad is considered, the transportation facilities of which might very well serve to carry provisions up the road, but which would be altogether too limited to transport the prisoners down, especially when arriving in bodies of 800 and 1,200. Besides, from the distance from Columbus to the Springs, fifty-four miles, and the condition of the road from Silver Run down, not more than one troop a day could be made, whereas Silver Run, being only twenty miles from Columbus, and the road being comparatively good, the limited transportation would not prove so great an evil. Again, between Silver Run and Union Springs there are two Government depots for its in kind, and, on inquiry, I found that each of these depots received nearly as much tithe bacon and other supplies as the depot at Union Springs, so that the disadvantage