cheerful and hearty co-operation, which have always characterized the clerks in my employ. They have never hesitated to work beyond hours, and without regard to hours, including nights and even Sundays, whenever requested to do by me, and oftentimes without my solicitation, when the known exigencies of their several departments of the public business seemed to them to require it; while their capabilities and adaptation to the duties of their several desks have been such as to leave me nothing to desire.

OFFICERS.

From the opening of my office till June 4, 1863, I was without the assistance of any commissioned officer. June 4, 1863, First Lieutenant James W. Davidson, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Special Orders, No. 221, Adjutant-General's Office, dated May 18, 1863, reported to me for duty, and remained till August 8, 1863, when he was relieved. This officer proved capable and efficient, and rendered valuable service, especially in connection with the Veteran Reserve Corps, then known as the Invalid Corps. Other officers were assigned to me from time to time as the demands of the service required. The whole number of officers reporting to me for duty in this department from the organization of the office to the present time is sixteen, varying in rank from major to second lieutenant. For list of these officers, including name and rank, arm and regiment, date of reporting, authority, date of relief, and the particular duties which each had in charge, see Schedule No. 2, Appendix.

While I am permitted to say of these officers, in general terms, that they have acquitted themselves well, it is proper to refer with especial commendation to Major Addison S. Norton, additional aide-de-camp; Captain John A. Haddock, Twelfth Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps; First Lieutenant James W. Davidson, Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry; First Lieutenant Charles E. Hay, Third U. S. Cavalry; First Lieutenant John F. Cleghorn, Twenth-second Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps; First Lieutenant B. F. Hawkes, Seventeenth Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps; First Lieutenant and Bvt. Major Harry C. Egbert, Twelfth U. S. Infantry, and Second Lieutenant Simeon G. Butts, Twelfth Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps, to whose ability and steady faithfulness I am much indebted for the successful management of the respective branches of business to which they were severally assigned, as well as for their valuable aid in the prosecution of the general business of the office.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENTS.

As soon as the nature and scope of my duties were sufficiently developed to admit of it I commenced to systematize and classify the several branches of the public business connected with the office. The subdivision was at first necessarily but partial, and the boundaries of each department not very clearly defined or strictly adhered to. But as the work progressed, and the assistance of a corps of trained clerks rendered it practicable, the work of classification was gradually perfected. The smoothness, promptitude, and efficiency of the operations of the office have been commensurate with the completeness of the divisions of labor and the distinctness of the lines of demarcation defining them. It is believed that the different departments and desks among which the work was finally distributed, and which have been in operation since the removal of the office to the present building,