While the march of our armies has generally been retarded by the immense trains which have accompanied them, there have been some remarkable marches, which show what it is possible for troops to do under the spur of necessity or when animated by hope of victory. The march from Saint Louis to Southwestern Missouri, and through Arkansas to Helena, on the Mississippi; that from near Chattanooga to Nashville, and thence to Louisville and back to Nashville; the march from Cumberland Gap to Greenupsburg, on the Ohio River; the rebel march from Richmond to Frederick and back to Gordonsville; the rapid march of the rebel cavalry in their raid into Maryland; that of General Pleasonton in pursuit, when he is said to have marched seventy-eight miles in twenty-four hours, with cavalry and a battery of horse artillery; the movements of the rebel army from Chattanooga to Louisville and back to Knoxville-all show that large armies can be moved in this country without railroad or river transportation to assist them, provided they are willing to bear the privations necessary to insure success.

HORSES AND MULES.

The reports and returns received from the new and inexperienced officers, who from necessity have been employed in this department, are too irregular and imperfect to give at this time a perfectly accurate statement of the number of horses and mules purchased and issued to the Army during the fiscal year.

From the statements of thirty of the principal officers, however, those who have purchased the greater part of these animals, it appears that they purchased during the year ending June 30, 1862, for the trains and for the cavalry and artillery service, 109,789 horses and 83,620 mules. Between the 30th June and the 30th September, 1862, these same officers purchased 36,754 horses and 17,515 mules. The number thus reported during the last fiscal year and the first quarter of the new fiscal year is, then, of horses, 146,543; of mules, 101,135. Total, 247,678.

The number procured through other agents, or by officers in the field purchasing or seizing animals to supply the losses in campaign, with those captured from the rebels, will swell the total to over a quarter of a million of horses and mules.

The consumption of horses has been very great. Mules bear the exposure and hardships of the campaign much better than horses, and they are used to a great extent in the trains. For cavalry and artillery, however, horses are indispensable.

The census returns of 1860 show a total of 4,688,678 horses and 454,081 mules in the loyal States.

The price of horses and mules, as determined by proposals received on public advertisement, has not generally advanced since the commencement of the war. The withdrawal of labor from agricultural employment, the disturbances in Kentucky and Missouri, which have diminished the security and increased the cost of supporting this species of property, have had a geeping down the price.

Ignorance and carelessness of raw soldiers waste our horses; but it is believed that the quality of the animals supplied is quite as good as in any other army.

A copy of the printed specifications now used accompanies this report. The horses are bought upon contract after due public notice, whenever the demand for instant supply is not so urgent as to make purchase in open market imperative.