be absent for a considerable time, and is to operate at a distance, an officer of such rank should always be detailed to accompany the command.

Whenever a corps is operating at a distance from the headquarters or main body of an army, the lieutenant-colonel and chief quartermaster of the corps will be supplied with the necessary funds and will perform the duties herein prescribed for the chief quartermaster of an army.

The general object of this instruction is to reduce as much as possible the number of officers charged with the disbursement and keeping of public money, and thus diminish the risk of los, waste, extravagance, and wrong.

The monthly and semi-monthly estimates of clothing and other supplies needed should be forwarded to the supervising quartermaster, with remarks, showing what supplies are present at the depots within control of the chief quartermaster of the army, what it is necessary to provide, and recommending the mode of providing them. These estimates should always be accompanied by a letter of advice, which should not be mere form, but which should give all the information needed to enable the supervising quartermaster to provide for the wants of the troops and to correct any abuses or errors which may appear. These estimates, with the accompanying paper, will be forwarded to the Quartermaster-General, with remarks and letters of advice by the supervising quartermaster, which will enable the department to take the necessary action.

The chief quartermaster of the Department of the East, of the Susquehanna, of the Monongahela, of West Virginia, of the Middle Department, of the Department of Virginia, of the Army of the Potomac, of the Department of North Carolina, of the South, and of the Gulf will forward their estimates direct to the Quartermaster-General's Office at Washington. Those of the Ohio and of the Cumberland will forward them through Colonel Thomas Swords, assistant quartermaster-general, senior and supervising quartermaster of those departments.

Those of the Northwest, of the Missouri, of the Tennessee, and of Kansas will forward their estimates through Brigadier General Robert Allen, senior and supervising quartermaster of those departments.

II. The attention of officers of the Quartermaster's Department is called to the necessity for greater neatness and care of their animals and means of transportation. The Army has been long enough in the field to give all the necessary experience to officers and drivers.

Horses and mules thrive better, bear fatigue and exposure better, for good grooming and protection from the weather.

Wagons will do better service from being cleaned and occasionally painted.

Harness should be hung up and kept clean, washed with soap and water, and occasionally oiled, and should not be thrown upon the ground.

There is no sufficient excuse for the difference in grooming and cleanliness which is now too apparent between the animals and equipage of the artillery and of the Quartermaster's Department.

To enforce attention in these respects frequent inspections should be made, and the chief quartermaster of each army and army corps should assign the necessary assistant quartermaster for this purpose. Corps quartermasters should inspect all their trains regularly at least once a week.

The duties of the chief quartermaster of an army or of an army corps are intended to be supervisory and administrative. His time