; LEGISLATIVE HISTORY 
OF THE 
jSUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT 
OF Til 
' UNITED STATES ARMAu LEGISLATIVE HISTORY 
OF THE 
SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT 
OF THE 
UNITED STATES ARMY 
FROM 
JUNE 16, 1775, TO AUGUST 15, 1876. 
Compiled under the direction of the Commissary-General of Subsistence 
BY 
JOHN W. 
MAJOR AND COMMISSARY OF SUBSISTENCE, AND 
BVT. BRIGADIER-GENERAL, U. S. ARMY. 
SECOND EDITION. 
WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1877. CHAPTER I. 
From June 16, 1776, to March 4, 1789. 
CHAPTER II. 
From March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1815. 
CHAPTER III. 
From March 4, 1815, to August 15, 1876. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY 
OF THE 
SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT 
OF THE 
UNITED STATES ARMY. 
CHAPTER I. 
From June 16, 1775, to March 4, 1789. 
The history of the Subsistence Department dates back to the organiza- 
tion of the Continental Army. 
On the 16th of June, 1775, the next day after creating the office of 
General, and electing George Washington to fill the same, the Conti- 
nental Congress passed a resolution, of which the following is an extract: 
“That there be one Commissary-General of Stores and Provisions.” 
This resolution also provided that there should be two Major-Generals; 
eight Brigadier-Generals; an Adjutant-General; a Quartermaster-Gene- 
ral, and a Deputy Quartermaster-General for the separate army; a 
Paymaster-General, and a Deputy Paymaster-General for the separate 
army; a Chief Engineer, and two Assistant Engineers; three Aides-de- 
Camp, and a Secretary to the General; a Secretary to the Major-General 
commanding the separate department; and a Commissary of Musters. 
The chaotic condition of the forces at Boston in the summer of 1775, 
composed as they were of volunteers hurriedly brought together from 
Massachusetts Bay and the neighboring Colonies, and supplied by their 
respective Colonial Commissaries aided by committees—instrumentalities 
which, however well they may have answered as temporary expedients, 
were illy adapted, on account of their unwieldy and precarious character, 
to supplying an army engaged in active operations—so deeply impressed 
General Washington with the necessity for an organized commissariat 
5 6 
with a single head, that in his dispatch to the President of the Continental 
Congress, dated Camp at Cambridge, July 10, 1775, reporting his arrival 
at that place, and his assumption of the command of the Army, he, 
evidently not then informed of the action already taken by Congress in 
passing the foregoing resolution, wrote as follows: 
_ “I should be extremely deficient in gratitude, as well as justice, if I 
did not take the first opportunity to acknowledge the readiness and 
attention which the Provincial Congress, and different committees, have 
shown to make everything as convenient and agreeable as possible; but 
there is a vital and inherent principle of delay, incompatible with military 
service, in transacting business through such numerous and different chan- 
nels.* I esteem it, therefore, my duty to represent the inconvenience which 
must unavoidably ensue from a dependence on a number of persons for 
supplies, and submit it to the consideration of the Congress, whether the 
public service will not be best promoted by appointing a Commissary- 
General for the purpose. We have a striking instance of the preference 
of such a mode in the establishment of Connecticut, as their troops are 
extremely well furnished under the direction of Mr. Trumbull, and he 
has at different times _ assisted others with various articles. Should my 
sentiments happily coincide with those of your honors on this subject, I 
beg leave to recommend Mr. Trumbull as a very proper person for this 
department.” 
On the 19th of July, 1775, the President laid this letter before Congress. 
After the letter had been read and considered, Congress passed the fol- 
lowing resolution: 
“Resolved, That Joseph Trumbull be Commissary-General of Stores 
and Provisions for the Army of the United Colonies.” 
Joseph Trumbull was accordingly announced as Commissary-General of 
the Army of the United Colonies by the following general order: 
“Headquarters, Cambridge, 
July 31, 1775. 
(Parole, Falkland.) (Countersign, Edenton.) 
“The Continental Congress having been pleased to appoint Joseph 
Trumbull, Esq., to be Commissary-General to the Army of the United 
Colonies, all Commissaries heretofore appointed by any of the District or 
Colony Congresses, or by any particular authority of any particular 
District or Colony, are forthwith to make exact return of the provisions, 
and all the different species of provisions, they have in or near the camps 
at Cambridge and Roxbury. Thereupon, Commissary-General Trumbull, 
being assured by the report of his clerk, assistant, or from his own ex- 
amination, that such return is just and true, is to give his receipt for the 
* The General was under the necessity of carrying on a direct correspondence, not 
only with the several Colonial governments, but with the committees of all the im- 
portant towns and some inferior places. [Marshall’s Life of Washington, Vol. 2 
page 246. J 7 
quantity delivered into his hands, which receipt will be a good voucher 
in the passing the account of the different Colony Commissaries hereto- 
fore appointed, and will be allowed as such. 
“The Commissaries at present appointed by the several Colonies are 
forthwith to make up their accounts unto the 3d of August, inclusive, 
ready to be laid before the Commander-in-Chief, and by him transmitted 
to the Continental Congress, or to be adjusted and finally settled by him, 
as the Continental Congress shall think proper to direct.” 
In a letter to the Continental Congress, dated New York, June 28, 
1775, and read before that body on the 17th of July following, Major- 
General Philip Schuyler, commanding the New York Department, wrote 
as follows: 
“I foresee that unless a Commissary-General and a Quartermaster- 
General be appointed for this department, that the service will not only 
suffer, (from disputes already rising,) but the waste of provisions that 
will be occasioned by the want of the first, and the extra expenses in 
having the necessary supplies forwarded to the different armies through 
such a variety of hands, for want of the last, will enhance the expenses 
far, very far indeed, beyond what their appointments will be. On this 
head I can speak with confidence, because I have had long experience.” 
After the reading and consideration of this letter, Congress passed the 
following resolution: 
“Resolved, That a Commissary of Stores and Provisions be appointed 
for the New York Department, during the present campaign.” 
"By unanimous vote- Walter Livingston was chosen. 
"That a Deputy Quartermaster-General be appointed for said depart- 
ment. 
“Mr. Donald Campbell unanimously elected.” 
On the 29th of March, 1776, Congress, having resumed the considera- 
tion of the report of the committee on the means of supplying the troops 
in Canada, passed the following resolution : 
“Resolved, That a Deputy Commissary-General of Stores and Provis- 
ions be appointed for the Army of the United Colonies in Canada. 
"The ballots being taken and examined, Mr. J. Price was elected.” 
The next appointment was made on the 27th of April, 1776, as appears 
from the following extract from the journal of that date: 
"Congress also proceeded to the election of a Deputy Commissary- 
General, for supplying the troops in Virginia with rations; and the bal- 
lots being taken, and examined, William Aylett, Esq., was elected.” 
The first legislation fixing the components of the Army ration was the- 
passage of the following resolution on the 4th of November, 1775: 8 
“Resolved, That a ration consist of the following kind and quantity of 
provisions: 1 lb. beef, or f lb. pork, or 1 lb. salt fish, per day; 1 lb. 
bread or flour, per day; 3 pints of peas or beans per week, or vegetables 
equivalent, at one dollar per bushel for peas or beans; 1 pint of milk per 
man per day, or at the rate of 1-72 of a dollar; 1 half pint of rice, or one 
pint of Indian meal, per man per week; 1 quart of spruce beer or cider 
per man per day, or nine gallons of molasses per company of 100 men 
per week; 3 lbs. candles to 100 men per week, for guards; 24 lbs. soft, 
or 8 lbs. hard soap, for 100 men per week.” 
On the 24th of December, 1775, the following general order was issued, 
provisionally making slight alterations in the ration as established by the 
foregoing resolution, and regulating the issue of equivalents and alter- 
nate components: 
“ Headquarters, Cambridge, 
“December 24, 1775. 
(Parole, Alfred.) (Countersign, Hopkins.) 
“By order of His Excellency General Washington, a board of gene- 
ral officers sat yesterday in Cambridge, and unanimously recommended 
the following rations to be delivered in the manner hereby directed, viz : 
“ Corned beef and pork, four days in a week; salt fish one day, and 
fresh beef two days. 
“As milk cannot he procured during the winter season, the men are to 
have one pound and a half of beef, or eighteen ounces of pork, per day. 
“Half pint of rice, or a pint of Indian meal, per week. 
“One quart of spruce beer per day, or nine gallons of molasses to one 
hundred men, per week. 
“ Six pounds of candles to one hundred men, per week, for guards. 
“Six ounces of butter, or nine ounces of hog’s lard, per week. 
“Three pints of peas or beans per man, per week, or vegetables equiv- 
alent, allowing six shillings per bushel for beans or peas, two and eight 
pence per bushel for onions, one and four pence per bushel for potatoes 
and turnips. 
“One pound of flour per man, each day; hard bread to be dealt out 
one day in a week, in lieu of flour. 
“The above allowance is ordered to be issued by the Commissary-Gen- 
eral to all the troops of the United Colonies serving in this Department, 
until the honorable the Continental Congress, or the Commander-in- 
Chief, thinks proper to alter it.” 
The following table of equivalents is copied from Force’s American 
Archives, 4th series, Yol. IY, page 1513, where it appears as an appen- 
dix to a general order, relating to the issue of provisions, promulgated 
by Major-General Philip Schuyler, dated Headquarters, Albany, Febru- 
ary 27, 1776: 9 
Estimate showing the value of different species of provisions to he given in 
lieu of another, or the value of one species to he given in lieu of the whole 
species, according to the hill of fare settled hy the honorable the Continental 
Congress, the 4 th of November, 1775, viz: 
“Two pounds of bread, or flour, and one pound of pork, are equal to 
one ration of all species. 
“One pound of bread, or flour, one pound of pork, and two pints of 
peas, are equal to one ration of all species. 
“One pound of bread, or flour, twelve ounces of pork, and six ounces 
of butter, are equal to one ration of all species. 
“One pound of bread, or flour, one and a half pounds of beef, a half 
pint of rice, or one pint of Indian meal, are equal to one ration of all 
species. 
“One pound of bread, or flour, one and a half pounds of beef, one quart 
of spruce beer, or cider, or one gill of rum, are equal to one ration of all 
species. 
“Five pounds of bread, or flour, are equal to one ration. 
“Three pounds of beef are equal to one ration. 
“ Twenty-eight ounces of pork are equal to one ration. 
“Sixteen ounces of butter are equal to one ration. 
“One gallon and a half pint of peas are equal to one ration. 
“Four pints of rice are equal to one ration. 
“Eight pints of Indian meal are equal to one ration.” 
It appears from the following general order that, in the plan of organi- 
zation first adopted for the Subsistence Department, the Regimental 
Quartermasters were ex officio Regimental Commissaries; and that they 
drew subsistence stores in bulk weekly, for issue to their respective 
regiments: 
“Headquarters, Cambridge, 
“December 27, 1775. 
(Parole, Annapolis.) (Countersign, Chase.) 
“The Regimental Quartermasters are forthwith to settle with and give 
receipts to the Commissary-General, or his Deputies. The day they 
next draw, they are to take the whole of the provision and weekly allow- 
ance then due.” 
Congress, on the 14th of March, 1777, appointed a committee of three— 
Mr. Lewis Morris, of New York, Mr. Abraham Clark, of New Jersey, 
and Mr. Jonathan B. Smith, of Pennsylvania—to “inquire into the con- 
duct of the Commissaries, with power to send for persons and papers;” 
and on the 14th of April the committee made the following report: 
“That they have made the enquiry directed, as far as time and oppor- 
tunity would admit; and find that the conduct of several, employed in 
that department, is very exceptionable, discovering either a want of 
ability or integrity in discharging their trust, by which means the public 10 
will probably suffer great loss, and the same extravagance and dissipa- 
tion of public money continue, while such numbers of disqualified persons 
are continued in that employ, who, regardless of the general good, are 
raising the prices of the articles they purchase by bidding upon each 
other, under an idea of receiving commissions or compensations propor- 
tioned to the sums they expend.” 
Whereupon, the following resolutions were passed : 
“Resolved, That for preventing the like impositions for the future, 
Commissaries be commissioned by Congress, in different districts, under 
proper regulations in which their duty shall be clearly ascertained. 
“Resolved, That the committee who brought in the foregoing report be 
directed to prepare and bring in a draught of regulations for the purposes 
before mentioned.” 
On the 28th of May the committee brought in their report, and after 
some debate thereon it was— 
“Resolved, That the same be recommitted, and that Mr. R. Morris be 
added to said committee.” 
In the journal of Congress for June 10, 1777, it is recorded that— 
“ The committee to whom was recommitted the report on the Commis- 
sary’s Department brought in the same amended, which, being read, was 
agreeed to as follows: 
“Resolved— 
“I.—That for supplying the Army of the United States with provis- 
ions, one Commissary-General and four Deputy Commissaries-General 
of Purchases, and one Commissary-General and three Deputy Commis- 
saries-General of Issues, be appointed by Congress. 
“II.—That each of the said Commissaries and Deputy Commissaries 
be authorized to appoint for himself one clerk. 
“III.—That the Deputy Commissaries-General have authority to ap- 
point as many Assistant Commissaries to act under them as may from 
time to time be necessary, and the same to displace at pleasure, making 
returns thereof to the Commissaries-General respectively, who shall have 
full power to limit their numbers, to displace such as they shall think dis- 
qualified for the trust, and direct their respective Deputy Commissaries- 
General to appoint others in their stead; that special care be taken by 
the officers empowered as aforesaid, to appoint none but persons of prob- 
ity, capacity, vigilance, and attachment to the United States, and the 
cause they are engaged in; and to make returns to the Board of War, 
the Commander-in-Cliief, and the commander of the respective depart- 
ments, of the Assistant Commissaries by them respectively appointed, 
their several places of abode, the time of their appointment and dismis- 
sion, and the post, place, magazine, or district to which they are severally 
assigned; and that the Deputy Commissaries-General of Purchases and 
Issues in the same district make similar returns to each other. 
“IV.—That the Commissary-General of Purchases shall superintend 
the Deputy Commissaries-General of Purchases, and assign to each a 
separate district, who shall constantly reside therein, and not make any 11 
purchases beyond the limits thereof; and every purchaser employed 
therein shall also have a certain district assigned him by tbe respective 
Deputy Commissary-General, in which he shall reside, and beyond the 
limits of which he shall not be permitted to make any purchases, unless 
by special order of his superior, directing the quantity and quality of 
provisions so to be purchased beyond his limits, and informing such pur- 
chaser of the prices given by the stationed purchaser in the district to 
which he may be sent. 
“V.—That the Commissary-General of Purchases shall direct the 
Deputy Commissaries - General in their respective districts to inform 
themselves and assistants, as nearly as may be, of the prices for which 
the articles, which they are to procure, may be purchased, and that 
neither they nor any of the said assistants employed under their direc- 
tion exceed such prices; and if any Deputy Commissary-General of 
Purchases shall neglect his duty, or be guilty of any fraud or miscon- 
duct in his office, the Commissary-General may suspend him, and shall 
immediately certify the same to Congress, with the reasons for such 
suspension, and appoint a person to act in his stead, with all the powers 
of a Deputy Commissary-General, until the sense of Congress shall be 
known thereon. 
‘‘VI.—That the present Commissary-General, by himself or his dep- 
uties, deliver unto the Commissary-General of Issues, or his deputies or 
assistants, all and every kind of provisions and other public stores in the 
Commissary-General’s department, that now are, or at the time when 
such delivery shall be made, may be, in any of the posts, places, maga- 
zines and store-houses belonging to the United States, taking duplicate 
receipts for the same, one set whereof, together with a general return 
of all stores so delivered, to be sent to the Board of Treasury, that the 
Commissary-General of Issues may be charged therewith. 
“VlL—That it shall be the duty of the Commissary-General of Pur- 
chases, with the assistance of the Deputy Commissaries-General and 
Assistant Commissaries of Purchases, to purchase all provisions and other 
necessaries allowed, or which may hereafter be allowed by Congress to 
the troops of the United States, and deliver the same to the Commissary- 
General of Issues, or his deputies or assistants, in such quantities, and 
at such places or magazines, as the Commander-in-Chief, or the com- 
mander in the respective department, shall direct. 
“VIII.—That the Commissary-General of Issues shall direct the re- 
spective Deputy Commissaries-General to station one of their assistants 
at every fort, post, place, or magazine where provisions are or may be 
stored. 
“IX.—That the Commissary-General of Purchases shall furnish each 
of the Deputy Commissaries-General and assistants with a book, in 
which is to be entered every purchase by them respectively made; and 
that all the accounts may be kept in the same form, he shall cause the 
pages of such book to be divided into ten columns, in the first of which 
shall be entered the year, month, and day in which any purchase is 
made; in the second, the name of the persons from whom; in the third, 
in what place; in the fourth, the species and quantity of provisions, and, 
if live stock, the number, color, and natural marks; in the fifth, the 
artificial marks and number; in the sixth, the prices; in the seventh, 12 
the amount of the purchase-money; in the eighth, ninth, and tenth, the 
weight of the meat, hides, and tallow of the live stock, as hereafter 
directed; and the Commissary-General of Issues shall furnish each of the 
issuing Deputy Commissaries-General and assistants with a similar book, 
in which shall be entered all provisions received by them from the 
purchasers, respectively, the first column to contain the time of receiving 
such provisions; the second, the name of the purchaser; and in each of 
the other columns, the entries before directed. 
“X.—That each purchaser shall enter, in different pages of the said 
book, each species of provisions by him purchased, and, at the end of 
every month, shall foot and transfer the said entries to a general account, 
specifying the quantity, amount, and average cost of each article, and 
shall also, in the course of the next succeeding month, send a copy of 
such account to the respective Deputy Commissaries-General, who shall 
thereupon make out a monthly return of all the provisions purchased 
in his district, specifying the quantity, amount, and average cost of each 
species, as before directed, together with a copy of each purchaser’s 
accounts, to the Board of War and Commissary-General of Purchases, 
within the time limited as aforesaid. 
“XI.—That the purchasing Commissaries shall deliver live stock and 
other provisions required by the Commissary, or several Deputy Com- 
missaries-General of Issues, at such place as they shall respectively direct. 
“XII. —That the Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases in each 
district shall specially appoint one or more assistants to purchase live 
stock, who shall cause to be branded on the horns of all cattle by them 
purchased the number and initial letters of names, respectively; and 
shall also have power to employ drovers, and a person at each place, to 
which they may respectively send cattle, to receive, kill, and deliver the 
same, as hereafter directed. 
“XIII.—That each drove of live stock, or quantity of provisions or 
other stores, that may be sent to any post, place, or magazine, by any 
purchaser, shall be accompanied with duplicate invoices, taken from the 
entries directed to be made in the books of the Purchasing Commissaries, 
one of which, together with the live stock or other stores, shall be de- 
livered at such post, place, or magazine, to the person appointed to receive 
live stock, or to the Issuing Commissaries, respectively, who, on the 
other , hand, shall give his receipt for the articles received to be trans- 
mitted'to the purchaser by the person delivering the said articles; pro- 
vided, that if any live stock, under the care of the drover, shall be wanted 
at any other post than that to which they were ordered, the purchaser’s 
deputy at such post may detain them, taking a copy of the invoice as far 
as it respects the live stock detained, and giving his receipt for the same 
on the back of the said invoice, specifying their marks and numbers; and 
the person to whom the residue may be delivered shall give his receipt 
therefor on the same invoice, and detain the other for use as aforesaid. 
“XIV.—That each drove of live stock shall be killed under the direc- 
tion of the purchaser’s deputy receiving the same, who shall weigh and 
deliver the meat to the Commissary of Issues of the respective posts, 
together with duplicates of the invoice left by the drover, entering in the 
eighth column the weight of the quarters of the several creatures; in the 
ninth, the weight of the hide; in the tenth, the weight of the tallow; and 13 
at the foot of each invoice, the number of heads and tongues; and the 
Commissary of Issues shall endorse his receipt on one of the invoices, 
and deliver it to the deputy aforesaid, who shall return it to the purchaser 
as his voucher, and to enable him to fill up the eighth, ninth, and tenth 
columns of the entries in his book; and the other shall be kept by the 
Issuing Commissary for his own use 
“XV.—That the Commissary-General ot Purchases shall contract, by 
himself, or the respective Deputy Commissaries-General, with one or 
more persons in each district, to make or supply a sufficient quantity of 
vinegar for the use of the Army. 
“XVI.—That the Deputy Commissaries-General of Purchases take 
special care to procure full supplies of vegetables, as being essentially 
necessary to the health of the Army; and they are respectively empowered 
and directed, with the advice of the Commander-in-Chief or Commander 
of the respective district, to hire land therein, and raise such quantities 
of vegetables as are wanted, and cannot be otherwise procured for the 
Army; and for this purpose to employ suitable persons to conduct, and 
laborers to assist in carrying on the said business. 
“XVII.—That the Commissary-General of Purchases shall, from time 
to time, apply to Congress for all the money wanted in his Department, 
and shall make the necessary advances to the respective Deputy Com- 
missaries-General, calling them to account as often as he shall judge it 
necessary; and the Deputy Commissaries-General shall, in like manner, 
make advances of the money received of the said Commissary-General 
to their respective assistants, and call them to account as aforesaid. 
“XVIII.—That the Commissary and Deputy Commissaries-General 
of Purchases and Issues shall respectively be accountable for the con- 
duct of the officers of their own appointment, and all the accounts of pur- 
chases and issues shall, once in six months, be settled by the respective 
Commissaries-General with the proper Commissioners of Accounts; each 
account of purchases to be vouched by the several bills and receipts of 
the venders, specifying the cost, and the receipts of the Issuing Com- 
missaries, showing the delivery of all articles therein charged; and each 
account of issues by the victualling returns hereafter directed to be 
made, and receipts for all provisions charged therein as rations, or sent 
by the respective Issuing Commissary to any other; and the Com- 
missaries-General shall produce the monthly returns of the several Pur- 
chasing and Issuing Commissaries, to be used by the Commissioners in 
adjusting their respective accounts. 
“XIX.—That the Commissaries-General of Purchases and Issues, and 
their respective deputies, for neglect of duty, or other offences in their 
respective offices, shall be subject to military arrest and trial, by order 
of the Commander-in-Chief, or any general officer commanding a division 
of the Army, post, or department, where such neglect or duty or offence 
may happen; and the respective assistants of the Deputy Commissaries- 
General of Purchases and Issues shall, for the same causes, be liable to 
military arrest as commissioned officers in the Army, by any general 
officer, or any officer commanding at a detached post to which such assist- 
ants may be assigned. 
“XX.—That the Commissary-General of Issues shall superintend the 
respective Deputy Commissaries-General, and assign to each a separate 14 
district; and have full powers to suspend them and appoint others for a 
time, as already appointed for the Commissary-General of Purchases. 
"XXI.—That every Issuing Commissary shall enter, in distinct pages 
of the book mentioned in the ninth article, each species of provisions or 
other stores received by him, including the provisions delivered by other 
Issuing Commissaries, or the present Commissary-General, and the same 
entries shall he made with respect to these, as therein are directed, when 
provisions are received from the purchasers, excepting that the prices and 
cost of articles delivered by the said Commissaries may be omitted. 
"XXII.—That every Issuing Commissary shall be furnished with a 
hook of issues, in which he shall open a separate account with each reg- 
iment, corps, or detachment, to which he may issue, or commissary to 
which he may send or deliver provisions; and each page thereof shall he 
divided into columns, in the first of which shall be entered the time of 
delivery; in the second, the name of the officer upon whose return pro- 
visions are issued, or by whom sent to any other Issuing Commissary; 
in the third, the number of rations, and, in other separate columns, the 
several quantities of each species of provisions delivered as rations, or 
sent to the Commissaries as aforesaid. And, on the last day of every 
month, he shall foot the said accounts, and also all the accounts of pro- 
visions received and entered in the book mentioned in the preceding 
article. 
"XXIII.—That every Issuing Commissary shall take duplicate receipts 
for each quantity of provisions and stores by him sent to any post, place, or 
magazine, agreeably to the form of the entries directed to be made in the 
book of issues, one of which he shall deliver to the officer or person employed 
to deliver the said provisions or stores; and the Issuing Commissary at 
such post, place, or magazine, or at any intermediate post, who may receive 
such provisions or stores, or any part thereof, shall certify the quantity on 
the back of the said receipt, which the officer, or person who delivered the 
provisions, shall return to the Commissary that sent them as his voucher; 
and, in case of deficiency, the Commissary who sent the provisions shall 
credit the Commissary to whom they were directed for the quantity lost, if 
the same has been placed to his debit, and shall charge twice the amount 
thereof to the account of the officer or person employed to deliver it, 
and shall also transmit a copy of the said account to the Paymaster or 
Deputy Pay master-General in the district, who shall send to the Issuing 
Commissary a receipt for such account, to be produced by him on set- 
tlement, and shall also deduct the amount thereof from the pay of the 
delinquent, and credit the United States therefor; provided, that if any 
provisions or stores shall be lost by unavoidable accident, and the same 
is proved by sworn evidences before the commanding officer of the post 
from or to which such provisions or stores were sent, his certificate, with 
the proof annexed, shall authorize the Commissary to cancel such charge. 
"XXIV.—That no provisions be issued to any person but by the 
written order of the Commander-in-Chief, the commander of any depart- 
ment, the Quartermaster-General, any of his deputies or assistants, the 
commanding officer of a post, describing the person in whose favor such 
order shall be given; or upon a return signed by the commanding officer 
of a corps, or detachment thereof, whether commissioned or non-com- 
missioned, or by the regimental quartermaster. 15 
“XXV.—That when any troops are ordered to quit a post, and the 
Issuing Commissary remains at such post, the respective commanding' 
officers of the several regiments or corps shall call on the Issuing Com- 
missary for a certificate, specifying the day to which they were victualled, 
inclusively; and, in case detachments of different regiments or corps are 
made, the commanding officer of such detachments shall procure a cer- 
tificate from the Commissary, in which shall be inserted the days to 
which the different troops, of which his detachment may he composed, 
were victualled, and the next, and every subsequent provision return for 
such detachment shall distinguish the corps out of which it is formed, 
and the number of each corps, to the end that the Commissary may 
charge each corps with the provisions issued to it; and if any Commis- 
sary, at any other post, shall victual any corps or detachment compre- 
hended in the foregoing description before such certificates are produced, 
he shall charge the officer commanding the same with twenty days’ pro- 
vision for the whole number of men under his care, and make return 
thereof to the Paymaster-General or Deputy Paymaster-General of the 
district, who shall make the proper stoppages, and also to the Board of 
Treasury, who shall charge him therefor; Provided, That if such certifi- 
cate be procured and delivered within thirty days after the first drawing 
of such provisions without certificate, the Commissary-General shall can- 
cel the charge, keeping the certificate as a voucher for so doing; Provided 
also, That notwithstanding such certificate may be produced, if it shall 
appear that the officer commanding any corps or detachment has drawn 
more provision than the corps or detachment was entitled to, he shall 
stand charged the double quantity so overdrawn 
“XXVI.—That every Issuing Commissary shall take receipts for the 
number of rations, and for so much of every species of provisions as he 
may issue. 
“XXVII.—That every Issuing Commissary, on the last drawing day 
preceding the last drawing day of every month, shall victual the troops 
up to the last day of the month inclusive; and if provisions should be 
ordered for troops going on detachments, for such time as would run be- 
yond that day, two returns shall be made out, one to the last day of the 
month inclusive, and one from the first day of the month inclusive to the 
time ordered. 
“XXVIII.—That every Issuing Commissary shall number the pro- 
vision returns, and endorse the same with the date thereof, and the num- 
ber of men victualled, and put the returns of each detachment or corps 
on separate files, each to contain the returns of a month for such corps 
or detachment. 
“XXIX.—That, wherever any capital magazine shall be established, 
the Commander-in-Chief, or commanding officer of the department, shall 
order store-houses to be built, and a barrack for fifty men, and the same 
to be enclosed with a stockade. 
“XXX.—That, whenever any of the provisions or stores in any of 
the magazines become so damaged as to threaten a total loss of all such 
damaged provisions, the Commissary of Issues, to whose care such pro- 
visions may be committed, shall make return thereof immediately to the 
Deputy Commissary-General of Issues, who is to apply to the Com- 
some general officer, to order a court of inquiry, who 16 
shall thereupon grant one, and such provisions as may by the court be 
condemned shall be sold at public vendue, under the direction of the 
Deputy Commissary-General of Issues, public notice being given of such 
sale, by advertisements, at least ten days before the day of sale, unless 
the court should determine that the same ought to be sold at an earlier day. 
“XXXI.—That every Assistant Commissary of Issues shall, within 
six days after the last day of every month, make a return to the Deputy 
Commissary-General of the district, of all provisions and stores in his 
magazine or store at the last preceding return; of all provisions by him 
received in the preceding month; from whom and whence; of what he 
has issued, specifying the regiment and corps, and the number of rations, 
and quantity of each species of provisions drawn by the same; and of 
what remains in store. 
“XXXII.—That each Deputy Commissary-General of Issues shall, 
from the monthly returns of the Assistant Commissaries, make out a 
general return for the district, specifying what remained in the maga- 
zines or stores at the last return; what has been received since; the num- 
ber of rations and quantity of provisions issued, and what remains in 
store, distinguishing the several posts, places, magazines, and regiments, 
or corps, as aforesaid; one to be sent to the Board of War, one to the 
Commander-in-Chief, one to the Commander of the Department, one to 
the Commissary-General of Purchases, and one to the Commissary- 
General of Issues. 
“XXXIII.—That the Commissary-General of Purchases and Commis- 
sary-General of Issues, each in his own department, make a general 
monthly return to the Board of War, the Commander-in-Chief, and the 
commanding officer of the respective districts, and take special care con- 
stantly to provide and furnish each of the officers under him with priuted 
forms of the books, invoices, receipts, and returns, to be used by them 
respectively, agreeably to these resolves. 
“XXXIV.—That no return of rations drawn or returned by the sev- 
eral regiments be hereafter made by the Issuing Commissaries to the 
Commissary-General of Musters, or by him to the Adjutant-General, or 
by the Adjutant-General to the Board of War, as directed in the regula- 
tions of the Muster-Master-General’s Department, passed by Congress 
the 4th day of April last. 
“XXXV.—That the Commissaries-General and the respective officers 
under them apply to the Quartermaster-General, or bis respective officers, 
for wagons, teams, and horses wanted in the several districts, and if at 
any time it shall be necessary to hire the same, they are not to exceed 
the rates stipulated by Congress, or the Quartermaster-General aforesaid. 
“XXXVI.—That all persons employed to purchase for the United 
States any articles in the several Departments of the Commissary-Gen- 
eral of Purchases, Quartermaster, Director, or Clothier-General, or the 
Commissary-General of Military Stores, shall previously apply to them, 
or the principal officers under them, respectively, for certificates of the 
several prices by them allowed for such articles, and shall not, on any 
pretence whatsoever, exceed such prices. And it is recommended to the 
several States to give their purchasers, respectively, similar directions. 
“XXXVII.—That the Commissary-General of Purchases, from time 
to time, provide sufficient quantities of salt, and deliver it to the Commis- 17 
sary-General of Issues, or the respective officers under him, who are 
directed to issue to the troops only such quantities, and in such manner, 
as the Commander-in-Chief, or commander of the respective district shall 
direct. And the Commissary-General of Issues shall direct the* respec- 
tive Deputy Commissaries-General to employ a suitable number of coop- 
ers and packers, who shall salt and pack provisions at the several maga- 
zines and stores, and take the proper precaution with respect to all 
provisions therein deposited. 
“XXXVIII.—And whereas, great confusion hath arisen from the man- 
ner in which officers and soldiers have been paid for rations and parts of 
rations allowed to, but not drawn by, them respectively. 
“Resolved, That the parts of a ration be estimated as follows, viz: for 
the daily allowance of beef, pork, or fish, 4-90th of a dollar; of bread or 
flour, '2-90th; of peas or beans, l-90th; of milk, l-90th; of beer, l-90th; 
of rice, one-half of l-90th; and of soap, one-half of 190th; making the 
whole 10-90th of a dollar for each and that, for the future, the 
quartermaster, or other person drawing provision for any regiment, corps, 
or detachment, shall, on the last day of every month, make out an abstract 
of the number of retained rations due to each officer respectively, and 
also the number of each part of ration due t6 such regiment, corps, or 
detachment, and deliver the same to the respective Issuing Commissary,; 
who shall compare it with his books, and finding it right, shall certify 
thereon that the several charges in the abstract are just, and that such a 
sum as he shall find to be due shall be paid to the respective Paymaster 
of the regiment, corps, or detachment, who shall annex the said abstract 
to the pay-roll; that the Paymaster, or Deputy Paymaster-General of 
the district, may pay, and he is hereby required to pay, such ration ab- 
stract to the Regimental Paymaster, who is directed to pay the respective 
officers and soldiers, and take their receipts. And when any regiment, 
corps, or detachment, or Issuing Commissary is ordered to leave a post 
before the end of the month, the ration abstract shall be made up to the day 
of his or their leaving the post, and certified by the Commissary as aforesaid. 
“XXXIX.—That the Commissary of Issues, at every post whei’e cattle 
are killed for the use of the Army, appoint a careful person to take charge 
of the hides and tallow, to see that the former are properly dried, and 
that the latter is properly rendered, and that both are disposed of as the 
Commissary-General of Issues, by order of Congress, shall direct. 
“XL.—That the Commissary and Deputy Commissaries-General of 
Purchases, in each department, and every purchaser employed under 
them, shall take the oath of fidelity to the United States, and the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation, viz: 
“ ‘I, , do solemnly and sincerely swear (or affirm) in the pre- 
sence of Almighty God, that I will not collude with any person or persons 
whatever to enhance the price of provisions, or any article of commerce 
which I shall, at any time hereafter, be directed to purchase for the use of 
the United States; and that I will endeavor, by every honest means in 
my power, to procure the articles which I may be directed to purchase, 
at the most reasonable rates; and that I will not charge the public with 
any advance on any purchases by me to be made; and that I will, in all 
things, conduct myself as becometh a faithful servant of the public.’ 18 
“XLI.—That the Commissary and Deputy Commissary-General of 
Issues in each department, and every Issuing Commissary employed 
under them, shall take the said oath of fidelity, and the following oath 
or affirmation, viz: 
“ 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully receive, take 
the care of, and issue the provisions and other stores committed to my 
trust, and keep regular accounts, and make regular returns, agreeable to 
the resolutions of Congress, and oftener, if thereunto required by any 
superior officer having the right to order returns; and that I will, in all 
things, honestly demean myself as a faithful servant of the public.’ ” 
By a resolution passed on the 11th of June, the next day after the 
adoption of the new system, Congress directed that the Commissary- 
General of Purchases should “ keep his office in the place where Congress 
shall sit, and that he, or his clerk, constantly attend therein.” 
The functions of the Commissaries-General were further regulated by 
the following resolution of Congress, passed June 16, 1777: 
“Resolved, That the Commissary-General of Purchases be empowered 
to regulate the pay of drovers and butchers, and transmit such regula- 
tions to Congress. 
"That the Commissary-General of Issues, in like manner, be em- 
powered to regulate and transmit to Congress the pay of coopers, pack- 
ers, and other persons he may find necessary to be employed in such 
kind of services.” 
Congress, on the 18th of June, proceeded to the election of Commis- 
saries - General and Deputy Commissaries - General of Purchases and 
Issues; and the ballots having been taken and examined, the following 
persons were declared to be elected, viz: Joseph Trumbull, to be Com- 
missary-General of Purchases; William Aylett, William Buchanan, Jacob 
Cuyler, and Jeremiah Wadsworth, to be Deputy Commissaries-General of 
Purchases; Charles Stewart, to be Commissary-General of Issues; and 
William Green Mumford, Matthew Irwin, and Elisha Avery, to be Deputy 
Commissaries-General of Issues. 
The following form of commission for officers of the two new depart- 
ments, to be filled up according to their respective grades, was reported 
by the Board of War, and adopted by Congress on the 2d of July: 
“IN CONGRESS. 
“The delegates of the United States of New Hampshire, Massachu- 
setts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to 
“We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, con- 
duct, and fidelity, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to 
be in the Army of the United States, raised for the defence 
of American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof: 19 
You are, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of 
, by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto 
belonging. And you are to observe and follow such orders and direc- 
tions, from time to time, as you shall receive from this, or a future Con- 
gress of the United States, or committee of Congress for that purpose 
appointed, or Commander-in-Chief for the time being of the Army of the 
United States, or any other your superior officer, according to the rules 
and discipline of war, in pursuance of the trust reposed in you. This 
commission to continue in force until revoked by this, or a future Con- 
gress. 
“Dated at 
“By order of Congress: “ , President.” 
“Attest: 
Two Deputy Commissaries-General—one in the purchasing depart- 
ment and the other in the issuing department—were authorized by Con- 
gress on August 1, 1777, for supplying the troops operating in the State 
of Georgia; and on August 6, James Hoe and John Bohun Garardeau 
were elected to fill the offices respectively. 
The resignation of Joseph Trumbull as Commissary-General of Pur- 
chases was received by Congress on the 2d of August, and on the 5th of 
that month William Buchanan was elected to fill the vacancy.* 
* The new regulations were unsatisfactory to Commissary-General Trumbull, and on 
the 19th of July, 1777, he wrote a letter to Congress asking that his successor might 
be designated at an early day. In stating his reasons for this action, he said : 
“In my humble opinion the head of every department ought to have control of it.”" 
In this establishment, an imperium in imperio is created. If I consent to act, I must 
be at continual variance with the whole department, and of course be in hot water. I 
must turn accuser, and be continually applying to Congress, and attending with wit- 
nesses to support my charges: or, must sit down in ease and quiet, let the Deputies 
do as they like, and enjoy a sinecure. The first situation I cannot think of; the last 
I never will accept. It never shall be said that I was the first American pensioner. I 
am willing to do and suffer for my country, and its cause ; but 1 cannot sacrifice my 
honor and my principles. I can by no means consent to act under a regulation which, 
in my opinion, will never answer the purpose intended by Congress, nor supply the 
Army as it should be. 
“I must beg Congress to appoint some person in my place as soon as may be; until 
then I will continue to furnish the Army as heretofore.” 
Col. Trumbull, after the acceptance of his resignation as Commissary-General of 
Purchases, was appointed by Congress one of the commissioners of the Board of War, 
and held that important office until April 18, 1778, when he resigned, on account of 
ill health. He died on the 23d of July, 1778. On the 31st of March, 1779, a com- 
mittee of Congres, composed of Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, I)r. Josiah Bartlett, 
of New Hampshire, Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, and Samuel Adams, of Massa- 
chusetts, to whom the subject had been referred, brought in a report on his services as 
Commissary-General, of which the following is an extract: 
*1 That it appears to your committee that the late Commissary-General, Joseph 
Trumbull, coming into office in the earliest stage of the American contest, found him- 
self without a system by which to trace the plan of his duty; that with great care, 
industry, labor, and attention, he instituted a plan by which the Army, during his 
continuance in office, was amply supplied, with much economy, and to the general 
satisfaction.” 
Congress, after the adoption of this highly eulogistic report, in consideration of 
Col. Trumbull's distinguished services as therein set forth, voted to his heirs a liberal 
commission on the sums disbursed by him during his commissariate. 20 
Congress, on August 6, 1777, proceeded to the election of officers to fill 
vacancies in the Commissary’s Department. Ephraim Blaine was elected 
Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases, vice Buchanan; Archibald 
Stewart, Deputy Commissary-General of Issues, vice Hoops, resigned •, 
and James Blicker, Deputy Commissary-General of Issues, vice Avery, 
resigned. 
An additional Deputy Commissary-General of Issues was authorized 
for the Eastern Department, and Samuel Gray elected to fill the office. 
On the 11th of August Veter Colt was elected Deputy Commissary- 
General of Purchases, vice Jeremiah Wadsworth, resigned. 
On January 14, 1778, the following resolution was passed by Congress: 
“Resolved, That the Commissary’s system he referred to a committee of 
three, and that they he directed to revise the same, and to report such 
alterations therein as they shall deem best calculated to answer the end 
of its institution. The members chosen: Mr. Clark, Mr. J. B. Smith, 
and Mr. Gerry.” 
The committee made their report on the 24th of February, which was 
then taken into consideration, and, after some progress had been made 
thereon, it Was resolved that its further consideration he postponed until 
Thursday the 26th. Final action was not taken upon the report, how- 
ever, until the 13th of March, as appears from the following extract from 
the journal for that day: 
“ Congress resumed the consideration of the report of the committee 
appointed to revise the system of the Commissary’s Department: 
Whereupon— 
“Resolved, That a Commissary-General of Purchases he appointed, 
with full powers to depute or remove any officer of the Department: 
“ That each Assistant Purchasing Commissary shall receive the follow- 
ing allowances for purchasing provisions and other articles, viz: 
“Flour or meal, per cwt., 6-90ths of a dollar; hard bread, per cwt., 
8-90ths of a dollar; salt pork in barrels, per cwt., 24-90ths of a dollar; 
fresh beef, hide, and tallow, per cwt., 24-90ths of a dollar; salt beef in 
barrels, per cwt., 24-90ths of a dollar; salt, per bushel, 6-90ths of a 
dollar; molasses, per gallon, 3-90ths of a dollar; West India rum, per 
gallon, 3-90ths of a dollar; American rum or whisky, per gallon, 3-90ths 
of a dollar; rice, per cwt., 6-90ths of a dollar; meat barrels, for packing 
beef, pork, or fish, each, 4-90ths of a dollar; bread casks with lining 
hoops, each, 3-90ths of a dollar; vinegar, per barrel, 3-90ths of a dollar; 
turnips and potatoes, per bushel, 4-90ths of a dollar; beans and peas, 
per bushel, 6-90ths of a dollar; pickled shad, per barrel, 12-90ths of a 
dollar; onions, per bushel, 5-90ths of a dollar: 
“ That each Assistant Purchasing Commissary shall be allowed ten 
per cent, on the sum which he shall save by purchasing good provisions 
at less prices than such as are fixed in the respective States: 21 
“That it shall he the duty of each Deputy Commissary-General of 
Purchases to superintend the assistant purchasers under him; see that 
the business of his Department is properly conducted; and that full sup- 
plies of provisions are seasonably procured in his district; and that he 
shall be entitled to an allowance equal to one-fifth part of the whole 
allowance made to his assistants, as aforesaid. 
“ Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the Commissary-General of 
Purchases to superintend all the officers of his Department; to give the 
necessary orders to the Deputy Commissaries-General, and see that the 
business in each department is properly executed; and that full supplies 
of provisions for the Army are seasonably procured; and that he shall 
be entitled to an allowance equal to one-third of the whole allowance 
made to his Deputy Commissaries-General, as aforesaid: 
“ That the allowances herein provided for the Commissary and Deputy 
Commissaries-General, and Assistant Commissaries, shall be in lieu of 
all other rewards for their respective services and expenses, including 
the pay of their clerks, in purchasing provisions. 
“That the Commissary-General be directed to visit the armies and 
posts, and that he be subject to the orders of the Commander-in-Cliief; 
and that he be excused from residing at the place where Congress sits, 
he keeping a clerk and office there, to which all returns shall be made, 
and which shall be under the inspection and driection of the Board of 
War. 
“That the Commissary-General, Deputy Commissary-General, and 
Assistant Commissaries of Purchases, govern themselves in all other 
respects by the regulations for the Commissary’s system, passed in Con- 
gress the 10th day of June last, and the subsequent resolutions of the 
4th of October last, except such parts thereof as are altered by these 
regulations.” 
On the 30th of March, 1778, Congress appointed a committee of four, 
consisting of Messrs. Gerry, Clark, Lee, and Dyer, to confer with Col. 
Jeremiah Wadsworth, and “inquire whether he would undertake the office 
of Commissary-General of Purchases.”* Col. Wadsworth consented to 
accept the office, and on the 9th of April was duly elected by Congress. 
After conference with Col. Wadsworth, Congress, on the 14th of April, 
passed a resolution further regulating the Purchasing Department. All 
money from the Treasury for the service of the Department was required 
thereafter to be received by the Commissary-General, or his clerk at the 
office of general returns, by warrant, and distributed to the several Deputy 
Commissaries-General, the latter to distribute to the Purchasing Commis- 
saries in their respective districts. In lieu of the percentage allowed as 
compensation for services, by the resolution passed March 13, 1778, the 
Commissary-Geueral was allowed one-lialf per cent, on all sums trans- 
ferred by him to the Deputy Commissaries-General; the Deputy Com- 
* It is presumed that Commissary-General Buchanan had resigned. 22 
missaries-General, one-half per cent, on all sums by them transferred to 
the Purchasing Commissaries in their respective districts; and the Pur- 
chasing Commissaries, two per cent, on their respective disbursements. 
Money for the use of the Commissary-General’s Department was author- 
ized to he transmitted from the Commissary-General’s office to the 
respective Deputy Commissaries-General, and expresses sent on the 
business of that Department at the expense of the United States. It 
was recommended to all State Governments to exempt from militia duties 
all persons who were bona fide engaged in the Commissary-General’s 
Department. The Commissary-General was authorized to appoint an 
Assistant Commissary-General to reside at the headquarters of the Army, 
under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, at a salary of five dollars 
per day, two rations for himself, and one for his servant, and forage for 
two horses, which were also to be shod at the expense of the United 
States. The Commissary-General, Deputy Commissaries-General, and 
Purchasing Commissaries, respectively, were required to provide teams 
and drivers for transporting provisions, at the expense of the United 
States, when teams and drivers for such service could not in time he 
obtained from the Quartermaster-General’s Department. It was made 
the duty of the Commissary-General to assign the Purchasing Commis- 
saries to their respective districts for the sphere of their purchases. 
Purchasing Commissaries were prohibited from making any purchases 
outside of their respective districts, or from giving any encouragement to 
bringing therein any commodities from any other Purchasing Commis- 
sary’s district, unless authorized by the Commissary-General, or the 
Deputy Commissary-General in charge of the district. All persons in 
the Commissary-General’s Department were required to take "bills of 
parcels” for all articles purchased by them respectively, receipts for all 
moneys paid, and receipts for all stores transferred, to he produced as 
vouchers to their returns and accounts. Purchasing Commissaries were 
required to make monthly returns to the Deputy Commissaries-General 
of their respective districts of their purchases, and the prices paid, and 
to settle their accounts once in six months. The Deputy Commissaries- 
General were required to make up their returns, and send them to the 
Commissary-General’s office every two months, and to settle their 
accounts as often as required to do so by the Commissary-General. The 
Commissary-General was required to render to Congress an account of 
his receipts and expenditures every three months; and every nine months 
a report of the state of the general returns of his Department; and it was 
further required to render such account, and report at such other times, 23 
as Congress should require. All former regulations of Congress relative 
to the Department of the Commissary-General of Purchases in conflict 
with the foregoing were repealed. 
After the adoption of the regulations above sketched, Congress took 
no action materially affecting the Departments for supplying provisions 
until November 25, 1779, when the following resolution was passed, 
transferring the supervision of these Departments, as well as that of the 
Quartermaster-General, from a committee of Congress to the Board of 
War: 
“Resolved, That the Departments of the Quartermaster-General, and 
of the Commissaries-General of Purchases, and Issues, he, for the future, 
under the superintendency and direction of the Board of War; and that 
the committee of Congress on those Departments deliver over to the 
Board of War all papers in their hands respecting them, and thereupon 
be discharged.” 
The Board of War consisted of five commissioners, two of whom 
were members of Congress. Three commissioners constituted a quorum 
for the transaction of business. The functions of the Board were similar 
to those subsequently conferred upon the Secretary of War. 
Commissary-General Wadsworth sent his resignation to Congress early 
in June, 1779. Upon its receipt, June 7, 1779, Congress passed a com- 
plimentary resolution expressing full confidence in his integrity and 
ability, and directing that he be informed that at so critical a season as 
the opening of a campaign, sudden changes in the appointment of prin- 
cipal officers of his Department would be inexpedient and dangerous; 
and that Congress, therefore, declined to accept his resignation. On the 
30th November, the matter was again taken up, and Commissary-General 
Wadsworth granted leave to resign his office on the 1st day of January, 
1780. 
Ephraim Blaine, of Pennsylvania, then a Deputy Commissary-General 
of Purchases, an officer who had had large experience in the Department, 
having entered the service as Commissary of Col. Mackay’s battalion, on 
the 17th of October, 1776, was, on the 5th of November, 1779, elected 
Commissary-General of Purchases, to fill the vacancy made by Commis- 
sary-General Wadsworth’s resignation. 
A resolution was passed on the 1st of January, 1780, giving the Com- 
missary-General, instead of a percentage on moneys disbursed, a fixed 
salary of forty thousand dollars per annum, six rations per day, and 
forage for four horses. Paper currency was then greatly depreciated, 
and the allowance of Purchasing Commissaries was fixed, by the same 
resolution, at two per cent, on twenty-fold the prices at which articles 24 
purchased by them were sold at in the year 1774. The salary of the 
Assistant Commissary-General at the headquarters of the Commander-in- 
Chief was fixed, hy a resolution passed January 7,1780, at ten thousand 
dollars per annum, two rations per day, and forage for one horse. 
The Department of Purchases was reorganized hy the following reso- 
lution of Congress, passed November 30, 1780: 
“Resolved, That there be a Commissary-General of Purchases, whose 
duty shall be to purchase provisions under the direction of Congress, the 
Commander-in-Chief, or Board of War; to call upon the principal State 
agents, or commissioners, for such supplies as their respective legislatures 
shall make provision for, and to keep up a regular correspondence with 
them, to the end that their prospects of furnishing such supplies may he 
fully known; of which correspondence he shall keep a fair and correct 
register, as well as of every other official transaction; to direct the quan- 
tities and species of provisions to be stored in the magazines of the several 
States, under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, and cause the same 
to be forwarded to the Army, as occasion may require; for which purpose 
he is hereby empowered to call on the Quartermaster-General, and the 
Deputy Quartermasters, for the means of transportation; to make monthly 
returns to the Commander-in-Chief, and Board of War, of all persons 
employed by him, specifying for what time and on what terms; and of all 
provisions received in each month, from whom, from what State, and the 
quantities delivered to the Issuing Commissaries, their names, and at 
what posts; also of all provisions remaining on hand, at what magazines, 
and in whose care; the returns to be made up to the last day of each 
month, and forwarded as soon after as may be; to cause all his accounts 
with the United States to be closed annually, on the 1st day of January, 
and laid before the Board of Treasury, for settlement, by the 1st day of 
March ensuing. 
“That there he a Deputy Commissary of Purchases for the Southern 
Army, appointed by the Commissary-General, whose duty shall be the 
same, with respect to that army, as that of the Commissary-General with 
the main army; he shall make his returns to the commanding oflicer of 
the Southern Army, and to the Commissary-General, to whom he shall 
he responsible. 
“The Commissary-General and Deputy Commissary shall each appoint 
one Assistant Commissary, one superintendent of live stock, two clerks, 
and as many butchers, coopers, drovers, and laborers as may be neces- 
sary for conducting the business of the Department, and shall have 
power to fix the pay of the butchers, coopers, drovers, and laborers, 
subject to the control of the Board of War. 
“That the pay of the several officers in the Department be in the bills 
emitted in pursuance of the resolution of the 18th day of March last, as 
follows : 
“The Commissary-General, $177 per month, 3 rations for himself and 
servants, and forage for 2 horses. Deputy Commissary, $125 per month, 
2 rations for himself and servant, and forage for 2 horses. 
“Assistant Commissaries, $75 per month, 2 rations, and forage for 1 
horse. 25 
“Superintendent of live stock, $50 per month, 1 ration, and forage for 
1 horse. 
“Clerks, $40 per month and 1 ration.” 
By a resolution of the same date as the above, Commissary-General 
Blaine was continued in office under the new organization. 
The resolution establishing the new organization was supplemented by 
the following resolution, passed December 4, 1780: 
“Resolved, That no officer of the line of the Army of the United States, 
without express authority from Congress for that purpose, make any 
contract or bargain, or give any orders, for the purchase of articles, for 
the use of the troops, in the Departments of the Clothier-General, Quar- 
termaster-General, or Commissary-General of Purchases, except in cases 
of necessity for provisions and forage for detachments or parties, in places 
where the same cannot be drawn from the public stores or magazines.” 
There was no further legislation affecting the Departments for pur- 
chasing and issuing provisions to the Army, until June 28, 1781, when 
Congress passed the following order: 
“Ordered, That a committee of three be appointed to devise the proper 
mode of transferring to the Superintendent of Finance the business of the 
several Boards and Departments to which the institution of his office ex- 
tends, in order that the said Boards and Departments may be discontinued 
as soon as the situation of affairs will admit.” 
By the following resolution of Congress, passed July 10,1781, the duties 
of the Commissariat were, upon the report of the Board of War, trans- 
ferred to the head of the Treasury Department, who was then styled 
Superintendent of Finance: 
“Resolved, That the Superintendent of Finance be, and he is hereby 
authorized, either by himself or such person or persons as he shall, from 
time to time, appoint for that purpose, to procure, on contract, all necessary 
supplies for the Army or Armies of the United States, and also for the 
Navy artificers, or prisoners of war, and also the transportation thereof; 
and all contracts or agreements heretofore made, or which shall be hereafter 
made, by him, or persons under his authority, for the purposes aforesaid, 
are hereby declared to be binding on the United States.” 
The British forces under the command of the Earl of Cornwallis sur- 
rendered to General Washington, at Yorktown, Virginia, on the 19th of 
October, 1781, and this, in effect, ended the war. 
On the 20th of April, 1782, the Superintendent of Finance wrote a letter 
to Congress recommending the appointment of an officer to be designated 
Intendant of the Army, which was referred to a committee consisting of 
Mr. Clark, Mr. Bland, and Mr. Osgood, who brought in their report on 
the 6th of May. After some progress had been made thereon, the fur- 
ther consideration of the report was postponed until the next day, when 26 
it was again taken up and disposed of by the passage of a resolution 
authorizing the Superintendent of Finance to appoint two Inspectors— 
one for the main, and the other for the Southern Army—whose duties 
should be to take care that the contracts for supplying rations be duly 
executed by the contractors; to supervise the expenditures of public prop- 
erty, and report any fraud, neglect of duty, or other misconduct by which 
the public property was wasted, or expense unnecessarily accumulated. 
The office of Superintendent of Finance was abolished by the ordinance 
of Congress, entitled “An ordinance for putting the Department of Finance 
in commission,” passed May 28, 1784. This ordinance created a board 
of three commissioners, (styled the Board of Treasury,) to be appointed 
by Congress, to superintend the Treasury and manage the finances of the 
United States This ordinance transferred to this board all the duties of 
the Superintendent of Finance, including, of course, the furnishing of 
supplies to the Army, which duty, already very light, on account of the 
reductions made in the Army after the surrender of Cornwallis at York- 
town, was rendered nominal by the legislation of June 2 and 3, 1784, 
which virtually disbanded the Army. 
The resolution of June 2 was as follows: 
“Resolved, That the commanding officer be, and he is hereby, directed 
to discharge the troops now in the service of the United States, except 
25 privates to guard stores at Fort Pitt, and 55 to guard the stores at 
West Point and other magazines, with a proportionate number of officers; 
no officer to remain in service above the rank of a Captain, and those 
privates to be retained who were enlisted on the best terms.” 
On the next day, June 3, an additional force of 700 militia, to serve for 
twelve months, was authorized to be raised “for the protection of the 
northwestern frontiers, and for guarding the public stores.” The Army 
of the United States, under this legislation, consisted of 80 regulars and 
700 militia; total, 780. 
By the ordinance, entitled “An ordinance for ascertaining the powers 
and duties of the Secretary of War,” passed January 27, 1785, it was 
made the duty of the Secretary of War to form estimates for all military 
stores, equipments, and supplies requisite for the military service; and 
for keeping up magazines, and to report the same to the Commissioners 
of the Treasury of the United States, that measures might be taken, in 
due time, for procuring tbe same. 
The term of service @f the additional force of 700 militia, raised under 
the authority of the resolution of June 3, 1784, being about to expire, 
Congress, on the 7th of April, 1785, passed a resolution authorizing the 
raising of a force of 700 men. A resolution passed on April 12, 1785, 27 
besides designating the States which should furnish the troops to be raised 
under the resolution of April 7, and fixing the number and rank of the 
officers, contained the following provisions: 
“That the Secretary of War he directed to form said troops, when 
raised, into one regiment, consisting of eight companies of infantry, and 
two of artillery, to appoint their places of rendezvous, direct their subse- 
quent operations, and make all other inferior necessary arrangements not 
herein particularly mentioned, subject to the order of Congress, and of 
the Committee of the States, in the recess of Congress; and that the 
Commissioners of the Treasury he instructed to furnish, on his warrant, 
the sums necessary for carrying the same into effect. 
“That the Secretary of War ascertain the necessary clothing and rations 
proper for the troops, and report the same to Congress. 
“That the Commissioners of the Treasury contract for the supply of 
rations at such places and in such quantities as the Secretary of War shall 
judge necessary.” 
The journals of Congress for 1785 fail to show what action was taken 
on the report of the Secretary of War, made in obedience to the second 
paragraph of the extract from the resolution of April 12, 1785, above 
quoted, but the nature of the report and the action taken thereon are 
sufficiently shown by the following extract from the report of a committee 
of Congress, submitted on the 2d of October, 1788: 
“ The committee, consisting of Mr. Howard, Mr. Few, Mr. Dayton, 
Mr. Gilman, and Mr. Carrington, appointed to make full inquiry into the 
proceedings in the Department of War, beg leave to report, and present 
to the view of Congress a summary statement of the various branches of 
the Department of War: 
“6th. Of the mode in which the troops are furnished with provisions. 
“In the year 1785, Mr. James O’Harra made a contract with the Board 
of Treasury for furnishing the several posts on the frontiers with rations, 
which were to consist of— 
One pound of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork. 
One pound of bread or flour. 
One gill of common rum. 
One quart of salt, 
Two quarts of vinegar, 
Two pounds of soap, 
One pound of candles, 
> for every 100 rations. 
“ The prices of which, at the several posts where the troops were actually 
stationed, were as follows: 
At Fort Pitt, 
M’Intosh, 
Harmar, 
• 13^-ninetieths of a dollar. “ The contract was performed tolerably well; some complaints were 
made respecting particular posts, but the defects were perhaps insepara- 
bly connected with the state of the frontiers and of public affairs. 
“ In 1786 a contract was formed by the Board of Treasury for the same 
objects with Messrs Turnbull, Marmie & Co., the articles of the ration 
to consist of the same as the preceding, arid the prices thereof— 
At Fort Pitt, lOJ-ninetieths of a dollar. 
28 
“There were some stipulations for payment by warrants on the State of 
Pennsylvania, which were paid in the paper currency by the said State 
when greatly depreciated. This contract was illy executed, and the mode 
of payment was assigned by the contractors as the reason. 
“In 1787 contract was formed by the Board of Treasury with Mr. 
James O’Harra, at the prices herein stated : 
Fort Pitt, 9J-ninetieths of a dollar. 
M’Intosh, 10 J ditto. 
Harmar, 11J ditto. 
Rapids of the Ohio, of a dollar. 
Venango, 14 ditto. 
“This contract was better executed than any of the former. The pay- 
ments were generally made in warrants on New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
and Maryland. 
“A new contract has been formed, to take effect from the 1st of July 
of the present year, to the end of the year 1789, by Messrs Elliot and 
Williams, of Maryland, at the following prices. The terms of payment, 
by warrant on Maryland: 
Fort Pitt, 7-ninetieths of a dollar. 
M’Intosh, the same. 
Harmarjhe same. 
Rapids of the Ohio, 7-J-ninetieths of a dollar. 
Post Vincennes, 16 ditto. 
Venango, 9 ditto. 
There was no further legislation touching subsistence of the Army until 
after the organization of the Government under the Constitution. 
M’Intosh, } 
Harmar, j 
ditto. CHAPTER II. 
From March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1815. 
By the first section of the act of the 1st Congress, entitled "An act to 
establish an Executive Department, to he denominated the Department of 
War,” approved August 7, 1789, it was provided that there should be 
"an Executive Department, to be denominated the Department of War,” 
and there should be a principal officer therein, who should he called the 
"Secretary of War,” who should "perform and execute such duties as 
shall, from time to time, be enjoined on, or entrusted to, him by the 
President of the United States, agreeably to the Constitution, relative to 
* * * warlike storeSof the United States, or to such other matters 
respecting military or naval affairs, as the President of the United States 
shall assign to said Department.” 
Although this act empowered the President to entrust to the Secretary 
of War the duty of furnishing the Army with "warlike stores,” which, 
of course, included subsistence supplies, a contract was nevertheless made 
by the Secretary of the Treasury "for the supplies of the Army, on the 
route from Fort Pitt,” as late as October 28,1790. A few months later, 
however, the discretionary power given to the President, to entrust to 
the Secretary of War the very appropriate duty of procuring “warlike 
stores,” seems to have been exercised; for on April 26,1791, the Secretary 
of War entered into a contract with William Duer, "for supplying the 
troops with provisions until their arrival at Fort Pitt.” 
The first legislation relative to the Army ration, after the organization 
of the Government under the Constitution, is found in section 10 of the 
act entitled "An act regulating the Military Peace Establishment of the 
United States,” approved April 30, 1790, which was as follows: 
" That every non-commissioned officer, private, and musician aforesaid, 
shall receive, daily, the following rations of provisions, or the value 
thereof: One pound of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork; one 
pound of bread or flour; half a gill of rum, brandy, or whisky, or the 
value thereof, at the contract price where the same shall become due; 
and at the rate of one quart of salt, two quarts of vinegar, two pounds of 
soap, and one pound of candles, to every hundred rations.” 
By section 5 of the act of May 8, 1792, making alterations in the 
Treasury and War Departments, the duty of making "all purchases and 
29 30 
contracts for supplying the Army with provisions, clothing, supplies in 
the Quartermaster’s Department, military stores, Indian goods, and all 
other supplies or articles for the use of the Department of War,” was again 
devolved upon the Treasury Department. 
On the 7th of January, 1794, President Washington sent a message to 
Congress strongly recommending the appointment of “an officer [to be 
styled Purveyor of Public SuppliesJ particularly charged, under the 
direction of the Department of War, with the duties of receiving, safe- 
keeping, and distributing the public supplies, in all cases in which the 
laws and the course of service do not devolve them upon other officers, 
and also with that of superintending, in all cases, the issues in detail of 
supplies,- with power, for that purpose, to bring to account all persons 
entrusted to make such issues, in relation thereto.” This message was 
referred, by the House of Representatives, to a select committee, who, on 
the 19th of February, 1794, brought in a report recommending the prepa- 
ration of a bill for an act to establish the office, in accordance with the 
recommendations of the President. Notwithstanding this favorable pre- 
liminary action, the measure failed. 
The following section of the act of June 7, 1794, entitled “An act in 
addition to the 'Act for making further and more effectual provision for 
the protection of the frontiers of the United States/ ” invested the Presi- 
dent with discretionary power to direct, under special circumstances, a 
limited augmentation of some parts of the ration to be issued to troops 
serving on the frontiers: 
“Section 3.—And be it further enacted, That to such of the troops as 
are, or may be, employed on the frontiers, and under such special circum- 
stances as, in the opinion of the President of the United States, may 
require an augmentation of some parts of their rations, the President be 
authorized to direct such augmentation as he may judge necessary, not 
exceeding four ounces of beef, two ounces of flour, and half a gill of rum 
or whisky, in addition to each ration, and half a pint of salt to one hundred 
rations.” 
On December 11, 1794, the President sent a message to Congress, 
transmitting a communication from Hon. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary 
of the Treasury, dated December 2,1794, recommending the appointment 
of an officer in the Treasury Department, under the title of “ Purveyor 
of Public Supplies,” whose duty should be to procure military supplies, 
under section 5 of the act of May 8, 1792; Mr. Hamilton stating that this 
branch of the public business formed a very considerable one of the public 
expenditure, and that the particular arrangement for conducting it should 
be such as to enable the Department to execute the trust in the best 31 
manner. An act was passed accordingly, on the 23d of February, 1795, 
creating “ in the Department of the Treasury an officer to be denominated 
‘Purveyor of Public Supplies/” whose duties should be, under the direc- 
tion and supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury, to conduct the 
procuring and providing of all arms, military and naval stores, provisions, 
clothing, Indian goods, and generally all articles of supply requisite for 
the United States. This officer, it will be observed, had entirely different 
functions from the one proposed in President Washington’s message of 
1794. 
All laws relating to the ration were repealed by the act March 3,1795, 
and the ration re-established by sections 8 and 9 of said act, which were 
as follows: 
“Section 8.—That every non-commissioned officer, private, and 
musician shall receive, daily, the following rations of provisions, to wit: 
One pound of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork, one pound of 
bread or flour, half a gill of rum, brandy, or whisky; and at the rate of 
one quart of salt, two quarts of vinegar, two pounds of soap, and one 
pound of candles, to every one hundred rations, or the value thereof, at 
the contract price, where the same shall become due; and if, at such post, 
supplies are not furnished by contract, then such allowance as shall be 
deemed equitable, having reference to former contracts, and the position 
of the place in question. 
“Section 9.—That to those in the military service of the United 
States who are, or shall be, employed on the western frontier, there shall 
be allowed, during the time of being so employed, two ounces of flour or 
bread, and two ounces of beef or pork, in addition to each of their 
rations, and a half pint of salt in addition to every hundred of their 
rations.” 
The effect of this legislation was to allow increased latitude in com- 
muting the component parts of the ration for money; to reduce somewhat 
the augmentation of the ration for troops serving on the western frontiers; 
and to make the augmented ration, which had been originally established 
for issue under “special circumstances” only, a regular issue to all troops 
serving on the western frontiers. 
The ration was next made a subject of legislation in the act approved 
May 30, 1796, entitled “An act to ascertain and fix the Military Estab- 
lishment of the United States.” This legislation, however, only repealed 
so much of section 8 of the act approved March 3, 1795, as made the 
components of the ration commutable for money. 
The mode of furnishing the Army with subsistence supplies remained 
unchanged until 1798. There were then grave apprehensions of a war 
with France, and Congress, apparently conscious of the inherent weak- 
ness of a military system so organized that the War Department did not 32 
have unrestricted control of the procurement of its own supplies, restored 
to that Department this very essential function. The restoration was 
accomplished by sections 3, 4, and 5 of the act approved July 16, 1798, 
entitled “An act to alter and amend the several acts for the establishment 
and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments.” The 
sections were as follows: 
“ Section 3.—And be it further enacted, That all purchases and con- 
tracts for supplies or services, for the military and naval service of the 
United States, shall be made by, or under the direction of, the chief 
officers of the Departments of War and the Navy, respectively, and all 
agents or contractors for supplies or services, as aforesaid, shall render' 
their accounts for settlement to the Accountant of the proper Department 
for which such supplies or services are required, subject, nevertheless, 
to the inspection and revision of the officers of the Treasury, in the 
manner before prescribed. 
“ Section 4.—And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of 
the Purveyor of Public Supplies to execute all such orders as he may, 
from time to time, receive from the Secretary of War or Secretary of the 
Navy, relative to the procuring and providing of all kinds of stores and 
supplies; and shall render his accounts relative thereto to the Accountants 
of the proper Departments, which accounts shall be subject to the inspec- 
tion and revision of the officers of the Treasury, as aforesaid. 
“Section 5.—And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the 
act, passed on the eighth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and 
ninety-two, entitled, ‘An act making alterations in the Treasury and War 
Departments,’ and the act passed on the twenty-third day of February, 
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, entitled, 'An act to establish 
the office of Purveyor of Public Supplies,’ so far as the same are repugnant 
to the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed.” 
By the following section of the act of July 16, 1798, entitled “An act 
to augment the Army of the United States, and for other purposes,” the 
ration was very considerably increased: 
“ Section 6.— * * * That every non-commissioned officer, 
private, and musician shall receive, daily, the following rations of pro- 
visions, to wit: One pound and a quarter of beef, or three-quarters of a 
pound of pork; eighteen ounces of bread or flour; a gill of rum, brandy, 
or whisky; and at the rate of two quarts of salt, four quarts of vinegar, 
four pounds of soap, and one pound and a half of candles, to every 
hundred rations.” 
By section 19 of the act, entitled “An act for the better organizing of 
the troops of the United States, and for other purposes,” approved March 
3, 1799, all laws relating to the ration were again repealed, and a slightly 
improved ration was established, as follows: 
“ That a ration of provisions shall henceforth consist of eighteen ounces 
of bread or flour, or, when neither can be obtained, one quart of rice, or 33 
one and a half pounds of sifted or bolted Indian meal; one and a quarter 
pounds of fresh beef, or one pound of salted beef, or three-quarters of a 
pound of salted pork; and when fresh meat is issued, salt at the rate of 
two quarts to every one hundred rations; soap, at the rate of four 
pounds, and candles, at the rate of one and a half pounds for every one 
hundred rations: Provided always, That there shall be no diminution of 
the ration to which any of the troops now in service may be entitled by 
the terms of their enlistment.”* 
This ration was supplemented by section 22 of the same act, as follows: 
“That it shall be lawful for the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, or 
the commanding officer of any separate detachment or garrison thereof, at 
his discretion, to cause to be issued, from time to time, to the troops under 
his command, out of such supplies as shall have been provided for the 
purpose, rum, whisky, or other ardent spirits, in quantities not exceeding 
half a gill to each man per day, excepting in cases of fatigue-service, or 
other extraordinary occasions; and that whensoever supplies thereof 
shall be on hand, there shall be issued to the troops vinegar, at the rate 
of two quarts to every hundred rations.” 
By section 3 of the act approved March 16.1802, entitled “An act fixing 
the Military Peace Establishment of the United States,” it was provided 
that there should be “three Military Agents, and such number of Assistant 
Military Agents as the President of the United States shall deem expe- 
dient, not exceeding one to each military post; which assistants shall be 
taken from the line.” The duties of the Military Agents were defined by 
section 17 of the same act, as follows: 
“ That it shall be the duty of the Military Agents, designated by this 
act, to purchase, receive, and forward to their proper destination, all 
military stores and other articles for the troops in their respective depart- 
ments, and all goods and annuities for the Indians, which they may be 
directed to purchase, or which shall be ordered into their care by the 
Department of War. They shall account with the Department of War, 
annually, for all the public property which may pass through their hands, 
and all the moneys which they may expend in discharge of the duties of 
their offices, respectively; previous to their entering on the duties of their 
offices, they shall give bonds, with sufficient sureties, in such sums as the 
President of the United States shall direct, for the faithful discharge of 
the trust reposed in them, and shall take an oath faithfully to perform 
the duties of their respective offices.” 
Section 5 of the above-mentioned act provided for the “daily subsist- 
ence” of laundresses, hospital matrons, hospital nurses, and officers’ 
servants, as follows: 
* This proviso refers to troops enlisted for service on the western frontiers, with the 
understanding that they were to receive the extra allowances authorized by section 
11 of the act approved May 30, 1796. 34 
“To the women who may be allowed to any particular corps, not 
exceeding the proportion of four to a company, one ration each; to such 
matrons and nurses as may be necessarily employed in the hospital, one 
ration each; and to every commissioned officer who shall keep one 
servant, not a soldier of the line, one additional ration.” 
The ration was again modified by section 6 of this act, which was as 
follows: 
“That each ration shall consist of one pound and a quarter of beef, or 
three-quarters of a pound of pork; eighteen ounces of bread, or flour; 
one gill of rum, whisky, or brandy; and at the rate of two quarts of 
salt, four quarts of vinegar, four pounds of soap, and one pound and a 
half of candles, to every hundred rations.”* 
The ration as above established was modified by section 2 of the act 
of March 26, 1804, in so far as to provide “ That an equivalent in malt 
liquor, or low wines, may be supplied the troops of the United States, 
instead of the rum, whisky, or brandy, which by the said act is made 
a component part of a ration at such posts and garrisons, and at such 
seasons of the year, as in the opinion of the President of the United 
States may be necessary for the preservation of their health.” 
The Military-Agency system proved to be very defective and ineffi- 
cient, even in time of peace. The Military Agents had no military rank, 
while their subordinates, the Assistant Military Agents, were all com- 
missioned officers “taken from the line.”, In an official report, dated 
January 1, 1810, to Hon. W. B. Giles, Chairman of the Senate Commit- 
tee on Military Affairs, the Secretary of War, Hon. William Eustis, 
described the defects of the system in the following language: 
“The result of this organization is, that the Assistant Military Agents, 
who account for, and make returns to, the Military Agents, of all prop- 
erty delivered to them, are not held by a proper responsibility—the 
Military Agents having no power or influence in their appointment, nor 
authority to call them to account for malpractices or neglect of duty.” 
Notwithstanding the report of Secretary Eustis, showing that this 
system was radically faulty, in not having within itself the power to 
enforce a proper accountability for the public property, and thereby 
afford the Government adequate security against embezzlements, avoid- 
able losses, etc., no action was taken upon the subject, by Congress, 
until 1812. Complications had then arisen between us and Great Bri- 
tain of so serious a character that Congress deemed it prudent to make 
preparation for war. Acts were passed early in that year, providing 
for an increase in the military force; and, on the 28th of March, an 
act was approved which materially changed the system of procuring 
*This section was re-enacted in section 8 of the act of January il, 1812, entitled 
“An act to raise an additional Military Force.” 35 
and distributing Army supplies. The Quartermaster’s Department 
was re-established; a Purchasing Department was created; the office 
of Purveyor of Public Supplies was abolished; and provision made 
for the ultimate discontinuance of the Military-Agency system. The 
Quartermaster’s Department, as re-organized by this act, consisted of a 
Quartermaster-General, with the rank of brigadier-general; four Deputy 
Quartermasters, and as many Assistant Deputy Quartermasters, as in 
the opinion of the President of the United States the public sei’vice 
might require. The President was also authorized to appoint such 
additional number of Deputy Quartermasters, not exceeding four, to be 
taken from the line or not, at his discretion, as in his judgment the public 
service might require. The sections of the act establishing the Purchas- 
ing Department, and providing for the discontinuance of the office of 
Purveyor of Public Supplies and the Military-Agency system, were as 
follows: 
“ Section 4.—That there shall be a Commissary-General of Purchases, 
and as many Deputy Commissaries as, in the opinion of the President of 
the United States, the public service may require, to be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 
“ Section 5.—That it shall be the duty of the Commissary-General 
of Purchases, under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of 
War, to conduct the procuring and providing of all arms, military stores, 
clothing, and generally all articles of supply requisite for the military 
service of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the Deputy- 
Commissaries, when directed thereto, either by the Secretary of War, the 
Commissary-General of Purchases, or, in case of necessity, by the Com- 
manding General, Quartermaster-General, or Deputy-Quartermasters, to 
purchase all such of the aforesaid articles as may be requisite for the 
military service of the United States. 
“ Section 9.—That from and after the last day of May next, so much 
of the act, entitled 'An act to establish the office of Purveyor of Public 
Supplies,’ as relates to the appointment and services of a Purveyor of 
Public Supplies, be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and in the mean- 
time the Purveyor shall deliver over to the Commissary-General, or one 
of his Deputies, the public stores and property of all sorts in his posses- 
sion, who shall receipt to him for the same. 
"Section 18.—That this act shall go into operation on the 1st day of 
April next; and that so much of the act fixing the Military Peace Estab- 
lishment of the United States, as respects the appointment of Military 
Agents and Assistant Military Agents, be, and the same is hereby repealed, 
from and after that day; but all those Agents shall continue to perform 
their respective duties in the meantime, and until the Deputy and Assist- 
ant Deputy Quartermastei’s shall be appointed, and ready to enter on the 
execution of their respective offices; to whom the said Military Agents 
and Assistant Military Agents shall then deliver all the public stores and 
property in their possession.” 36 
The new system thus instituted was undoubtedly a great improvement 
on its predecessor, but a campaign experience of eleven months clearly 
demonstrated, as the following extracts from official reports attest, that 
it could not be relied on to stand the crucial test of a protracted war. 
Brig.-Gen. Alexander Smyth to the Secretary of War. 
“Near Buffalo, October 20, 1812. 
“ Do not rely on the contractor for provisions. He has no salt meat, 
and only damaged flour. If you have any compassion on the service, 
send money either to Lieutenant Allison, my Brigade Quartermaster, or 
to some public agent under my orders. Without it we cannot supply the 
contractor’s deficiencies.” 
Brig.-Gen. Smyth to Maj.-Gen. Dearborn. 
“Camp near Buffalo, October 24, 1812. 
“I do not expect the contractor to supply us with provisions. I re- 
ceived a number of returns at Lewistown, ‘unfit for duty for want of 
provisions.’ ” 
Same to Same. 
“Camp near Buffalo, November 9,1812. 
“The contractors have failed to supply, and I have ordered purchases 
of provisions for Fort Niagara ” 
Col. W. H. Winder to Brig.-Gen. Smyth. 
“Fort Niagara, November 7, 1812. 
“We are literally starving on this end of the line for bread; and, unless 
the supply is more abundant, the contractors will be answerable for con- 
sequences more fatal to their country than treason.” 
Brig.-Gen Smyth to Capt. James Thomas, Deputy Quartermaster. 
“Headquarters, Camp near Buffalo, November 8, 1812 
“Sir: You will proceed, on the day on which you receive this ord 
to purchase provisions for Fort Niagara; into which, within ten < 
you will deliver rations for five hundred men for two months. 37 
“Be pleased to consider this order as one of the most peremptory kind. 
Fort Niagara, if invested a week, must surrender from hunger. 
“ Very respectfully, your most obedient, 
“ALEXANDER SMYTH, 
“Brigadier- General Commanding. 
“Capt. Thomas, Deputy Quartermaster.” 
“A true copy: 
“JAMES BANKHEAD, 
“Captain and Brigade-Major.” 
Major Armistead to Brig.-Gen. Smytli, dated November 22, 1812. 
“If possible, dear sir, send on ammunition for eighteen and six-pound- 
ers, and fours; but my greatest concern is the want of provisions, which, 
if not supplied, we will inevitably have to evacuate the post.”* 
* * * # * 
Accordingly, on the 3d of March, 1813, an act was approved with the 
significant title, “An act better to provide for the supplies of the Army 
of the United States, and for the accountability of persons intrusted with 
the same.” This act provided that there should be an officer in the War 
Department, styled Superintendent-General of Military Supplies, whose 
duty should be, nnder the direction of the Secretary of War, to keep 
proper accounts of all the military stores and supplies of every descrip- 
tion purchased for or distributed to the Army of the United States, and 
the volunteers and militia in their service; to prescribe the forms of 
all the returns and accounts of such stores and supplies purchased, on 
hand, distributed, used, or sold, to be rendered by the Commissary of 
Ordnance and officers in his Department, by the Commissary-General of 
Purchases and his deputies, by the several officers in the Quartermaster’s 
Department, by the Regimental Quartermasters, by the Hospital Surgeons 
and other officers belonging to the Hospital and Medical Departments, 
and by all other officers, agents, or persons who should receive, distribute, 
or be intrusted with, such stores and supplies; to call to account all such 
persons; to audit and settle all such accounts, and, in case of delinquency, 
to transmit the account, and to state the value of the articles unaccounted 
for, by such delinquency, to the accounting officers of the Treasury, for 
final settlement and recovery of such value; to transmit all such orders? 
and, generally, to perform all such other duties respecting the general 
superintendence of the purchase, transportation, safe-keeping, and ac- 
countability of military supplies and stores, as should be prescribed by 
the Secretary of War. 
* Fort Niagara. 38 
The duties and powers of the Secretary of War were, also, more clearly 
defined in section 5 of this act, as follows: 
“That the Secretary for the War Department shall he, and he is hereby; 
authorized and directed to define and prescribe the species, as well as the 
amount of supplies to be respectively purchased by the Commissary- 
General’s and Quartermaster-General’s Departments, and the respective 
duties and powers of the said Departments respecting such purchases; 
and also to adopt and prescribe general regulations for the transportation 
of the articles of supply from the places of purchase to the several armies, 
garrisons, posts, and recruiting places, for the safe-keeping of such articles, 
and for the distribution of an adequate and timely supply of the same to 
the Regimental Quartermasters, and to such other officers as may, by 
virtue of such regulations, be intrusted with the same. And the Secretary 
aforesaid is also authorized to fix and make reasonable allowances for 
the store-rent, storage, and salary of storekeepers, necessary for the safe- 
keeping of military stores and supplies.” 
Lack of confidence in the ability of this new system (a system remark- 
able for its extreme simplicity of organization and overwhelming multi- 
plicity of duties) “to insure the subsistence of the Army,” was, however, 
very clearly implied in section 8 of the very act that created it, which, 
besides instituting other remedial measures, empowered the President, 
should he deem it expedient, to organize a separate and distinct corps, 
without limit as to the number of officers, for the purpose of supplying, 
by purchases or contract, and of issuing the whole or any part of the 
subsistence of the Army. The section was as follows: 
“Section 8.—That the President of the United States be, and he is 
hereby, empowered, as he may deem expedient, either to appoint, for the 
time being, a special Commissary or Commissaries, for the purpose of 
supplying by purchase or contract, and of issuing, or to authorize any 
officer or officers in the Quartermaster-General’s Department to supply 
and issue, as aforesaid, the whole or any part of the subsistence of the 
Army, in all cases where, either from want of contractors, or from any 
deficiency on their part, or from any contingency, such measure may be 
proper and necessary in order to insure the subsistence of the Army, or 
of any part thereof; and such special Commissaries shall each, whilst 
employed, be entitled to the pay and emoluments of a Deputy Quarter- 
master-General.” 
An exceedingly important step towards securing efficiency in the staff 
departments for supplying the Army was taken in the passage of an act 
approved on the same day as the above, March 3, 1813, entitled “An act 
for the better organization of the General Staff of the Army of the United 
States,” section 5 of which made it the duty of the Secretary of War to 
prepare general regulations better defining and prescribing the duties and 
powers of staff officers—general and regimental. These regulations, 
when approved by the President, were to be respected and obeyed, until altered or revoked by the same authority. It was also provided that the 
general regulations, thus prepared and approved, should be laid before 
Congress at the next session. 
These regulations defined the duties of the officers of the different staff 
corps and departments, and, to such extent as their faulty organization 
permitted, placed those departments which were charged with the impor- 
tant duty of furnishing the Army with supplies in an improved condition 
for efficiency. 
There was no further legislation affecting the mode of subsisting the 
Army until after the close of the war with Great Britain. The staff 
system as perfected by the acts of March 3, 1813, above referred to, 
therefore had a fair and exhaustive trial in actual war, and, as far as 
subsisting the Army was concerned, proved inefficient and unreliable. 
In the army (8th Military District) commanded by Major-General 
Harrison, there was such a scarcity of provisions, in the winter of 
1813-14, due to the failure of the contractors to keep up an adequate 
supply, that officers of the United States were ordered to make purchases. 
The contractors were extremely indignant at this action, and alleged that 
General Harrison, in approving and ordering these purchases, had been 
prompted by improper motives, viz, sentiments of hostility to the con- 
tractors, and personal pecuniary gain. 
General Harrison, to vindicate himself from these aspersions upon his 
character, wrote a letter to Congress, dated December 20, 1815, and 
solicited “an inquiry into the expenditure of public money within the 
8th Military District, whilst under his command; and particularly what- 
ever relates to the supplies of provisions purchased by the Special Com- 
missaries of the United States, and under the contract of Messrs. Orr 
and Greely.” The inquiry was made as requested, and, as will hereafter 
appear, resulted in General Harrison’s complete exoneration. In his 
statement, accompanying his request for an investigation of the charges set 
afloat by the contractors, General Harrison said: 
“Upon my return into the District, in January, 1814, Captain Oliver, 
the Commissary, waited on me, to inform me that he was then employed, 
under an order from Brigadier-General Cass, in purchasing provisions 
for the troops at Detroit, who were almost in a starving situation, in con- 
sequence of the neglect of the contractors to comply with General Cass’s 
requisitions. I approved of the order which had been given by General 
Cass, and his successor in the command of Detroit, Colonel Butler, and 
directed Captain Oliver to continue his exertions to execute them. I had 
scarcely disposed of this affair when I was alarmed by the intelligence 
received from Major-General Gano, of the Ohio Militia, to whom was en- 
trusted the defence of Lower Sandusky and Put-in Bay, at the latter of 
39 40 
which lay the prize ships taken from the enemy, that the troops at those 
places were supplied with provisions from hand to mouth, there being 
scarcely a barrel of flour in store, and that his utmost exertions to procure 
a supply from the contractors had been unavailing. The matter was so 
urgent that no time was to be lost. Captain Oliver was, therefore, in- 
structed to make a contract for the delivery of forty thousand rations at 
Lower Sandusky, with the utmost despatch; to make the best bargains 
he could for the interests of the contractors, but to give a price which 
would insure the delivery of the provisions. What else could have been 
done in the two cases mentioned ? Should I have countermanded the 
orders given by General Cass and Colonel Butler, by the execution of 
which alone the important posts of Detroit and Malden could be pre- 
served, or should I have permitted the enemy to retake the ships in har- 
bor at Put-in Bay, which would have enabled them again to contend for 
the superiority on the lakes, for fear I should deprive Mr. Orr of the 
opportunity of making three hundred thousand dollars instead of one 
hundred thousand?’’ 
The Select Committee of the House of Representatives, who made the 
inquiry into the conduct of General Harrison while commanding the 
Northwestern Army, after an exhaustive examination of the case, sub- 
•mitted the following report, justifying his action, and acquitting him of 
all charges made against him : 
"That they have investigated the facts involved in this inquiry by the 
examination of documents, and a great number of the most respectable 
witnesses personally acquainted with the transactions upon which the 
inquiry originated; and the committee are unanimously of the opinion 
that General Harrison stands above suspicion as to his having had any 
pecuniary or improper connection Avith the officers of the Commissariat 
for the supply of the Northwestern Army; that he did not Avantonly or 
improperly interfere Avith the rights of contractors; and that he Avas in 
his measures governed by a proper zeal and devotion to the public interest. 
The committee ask leave to be discharged from the further consideration 
of the subject; and, as the papers refer in part to the conduct and trans- 
actions of the contractors of the Northwestern Army, Avhose accounts are 
unsettled, and only incidentally involved in this inquiry, that the papers 
be transmitted to the Department of War.” 
On the 12th of November, 1814, the Committee on Military Affairs, of 
the House of Representatives, evidently impelled by the conviction that 
the adverse experience of the' pending Avar Avith Great Britain had fully 
demonstrated the necessity of changing the mode of subsisting the Army, 
to one Avhich would combine, in a greater degree, “ certainty and prompti- 
tude Avith economy and responsibility,” addressed the folloAving com- 
munication to Hon. James Monroe, then Acting Secretary of War: 
“ House of Representatives, Novembe , 12, 1814. 
“Sir: I am instructed by the Committee on Military Affairs to ask 
information on the following points: 41 
“1.—What is the present rpode of subsisting the Army? 
“2.—If by contracts, what are the defects, if any, and the remedy? 
“3.—Whether any other mode can be adopted, combining, in a greater 
degree, certainty and promptitude with economy and responsibility? 
“4.—Whether the alternative offered by law, of substituting Commis- 
saries for contractors, has been adopted; and if yes, what has been the 
general result? 
“I have the honor to be, with high consideration and respect, 
“G. M. TROUP.” 
The following was Mr. Monroe’s reply: 
“War Department, December 23, 1814. 
“ Sir : Not wishing to rely altogether on my own judgment in replying 
to your inquiries relating to the best mode of subsisting the troops of the 
United States, I have consulted the officers of greatest experience who 
were within my reach, on the presumption that I should best promote the 
views of the committee, by collecting all the light that I could on the sub- 
ject. I have the honor now to submit to you a letter from General Scott, one 
from General Gaines, and one from Colonel Fenwick, which meet fully 
those inquries in every circumstance. These officers give a decided prefer- 
ence to the system of supply by Commissaries, in preference to that by 
contractors; and I have reason to believe that the officers generally con- 
cur with them in that preference. It has my unqualified assent. 
“Should the proposed plan be adopted, it will readily occur to the 
committee that the Commissaries to be appointed should be placed on a 
very respectable footing; so high a trust should be committed to such 
of our citizens only as are the most distinguished for their abilities, their 
patriotism, and integrity. I shall be happy to furnish details on this 
subject, should the honorable committee desire it. 
“I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your most obedient 
servant, 
“JAMES MONROE. 
“Hon. Mr. Troup.” 
General Scott’s views on supplying an Army by Contract and by om- 
missariat. 
“The first method is believed to be impolitic, and is vicious in time of 
war; also liable to many objections in a state of peace. The principal 
only is known to the War Office, and therefore may be supposed to be 
free from this objection; but his deputies and issuing agents are appointed 
without the concurrence or knowledge of the General or the Government. 
The deputies or issuing agents are necessarily as well acquainted with 
the numerical strength of the Army to which they are attached, as the 
Adjutant-General himself. For a bribe they may communicate this 
intelligence to the enemy, or fail to make issue at some critical moment, 
and thus defeat the best views and hopes of the Commander-in-Chief. 
The movements of an army are necessarily subordinate to its means of 42 
subsistence; or, as Marshal Saxe expresses it, to considerations of the 
belly. The present mode of subsisting our armies puts the contractor 
above the General. If a contractor corresponds with the enemy, he can 
only be tried by the civil courts of the United States, as in the case of 
other persons charged with treason (courts-martial having decided that 
contractors do not come within the meaning of the 60th Article of the 
Rules and Articles of War); and if a contractor fails to make issues, he 
can only be punished by civil action. I speak of cases arising within 
the United States. In the enemy’s country, I suppose, a General, who 
knows his duty, would not fail to hang a contractor who should, by guilty 
neglect or corruption, bring any serious disaster upon the army. A 
sudden event frequently obliges a General to order troops to a distant 
and new station; notice is given to the contractor to supply, &c.; but the 
latter, finding that prompt arrangements will diminish his profits, pleads 
a want of reasonable notice. This term is indefinite, and if the General 
and contractor differ, it can only be settled by a court of common law. 
It is no reply to his objection to say that, on a sudden emergency, like 
that supposed, the General may appoint a special agent to supply the 
troops, by purchases on account of the United States. This would only 
show the superiority of a commissariat. 
“The interests of the contractor are in precise opposition to those of 
the troops. The checks provided by the contract may be sufficient to 
prevent abuse, if the officers are vigilant, and have leisure to resort to 
those checks; but when the army is on a forced march, or is manoeu- 
vering in the face of the enemy, the contractor has it in his power to 
practice many impositions with impunity, as in the case of an army or 
detachment ordered to march on short notice, and take with it subsistence 
for a given time. In such case there is no formal survey, or minute in- 
spection of the rations offered by the contractor, according to the mode 
pointed out in the contract. The contractor avails himself of the hurry 
of the moment, and issues provisions deficient in quantity and quality. 
Unless the rations, before they are received by the regimental quarter- 
master, are surveyed and condemned, there is no remedy except by a 
civil action on the case, as between citizen and citizen. Contractors, as 
before observed, are not amenable to courts-martial. Every option given 
to the contractor, under the contract, operates to the prejudice of the 
troops, and frequently embarasses the General. 
“W. SCOTT." 
General Gaines’s remarJcs on Contracts for Provisions, <fc. 
“Sir: I regret to be under the necessity of doubling you with com- 
plaints, but my own exertions to enforce the contract, and insure regular 
supplies of rations, having failed, I am compelled to resort to this mode 
of seeking a remedy. 
“The sub-contractor at Wilmington has not furnished a day’s rations 
for near two weeks past. The sub-contractor at Billingsport, New 
Jersey, as well as the one at Marcus Hook, our principal encampment, 
have, in defiance of my frequent orders and threats, and contrary to their 
contract, contrived to palm upon the troops the coarsest and cheapest 43 
provisions, and often sncli as are damaged. To effect this criminal 
species of speculation, they keep in store little more than, and often not 
as much as, is necessary to meet the returns from day to day; hence, the 
troops are often compelled to draw damaged provisions, or draw none at 
all. This conduct on the part of the sub-contractors occasioned yesterday, 
at Marcus Hook, such serious disorders in some of the corps, that it 
became necessary to confine two young officers and some twenty men; 
and I, this evening, received a report from Billingsport, that the troops 
there have been all day without provisions—the rations offered for issue 
in the morning being so much damaged as to require their condemnation. 
I have just now purchased and forwarded a supply. The New Jersey 
militia are very orderly. 
“I have uniformly given the best attention in my power, ever since 
the commencement of the war, to the supply of rations, and the conduct 
of contractors; and if I were called before Heaven to answer, whether 
we have not lost more men by the badness of the provisions, than by the 
fire of the enemy, I should give it as my opinion that we had; and if 
asked what causes have tended most to retard our military operations, 
and repress that high spirit of enterprise, for which the American soldiers 
are pre-eminently distinguished, and the indulgence of which would not 
fail to veteranize our troops, by the annoyance and destruction of the 
enemy, I should say, the irregularity in the supply, and badness of the 
rations, have been the principal causes. 
“Original contractors seem to be a privileged order of men, who, by 
virtue of the profits of the contract, are elevated above the drudgery 
which a common-sense view7 of the contract would seem to impose on 
them. They take care to secure to themselves at least one cent per ration, 
leaving a second, and sometimes a third order of miserable under-con- 
tractors to perform the duties, and each of these must calculate on 
making money. Thus the contract, after being duly entered into at 
Washington, is bid off, until it falls into the hands of men who are forced 
to bear certain loss and ultimate ruin, or commit frauds by furnishing 
damaged provisions; they generally choose the latter, though it should 
tend to destroy the Army. I know the opinion of no officer on this 
subject who does not think w'ith me. 
“It is true, that, in most cases where purchases have been ordered by 
the General, on the failures of the contractor, the provisions have cost 
more than the ordinary contract price; but this proves nothing in favor 
of the contract system; but, on the contrary, proves that the contractor, 
when unable to purchase below the contract price, withdraws himself 
from the service, and leaves the troops to suffer, or he supplied by order 
of the General, with little or no previous notice, so that the purchasing 
officer is obliged to take what can he got, at the highest prices; and 
these failures generally take place when near the enemy, and where 
regular supplies are most wanted The purchases are ordered by the 
General, and made by the officers when their time is most precious and 
their attention constantly called to their regular duties; under these cir 
cumstances, it is vain to expect purchases at very low prices. But if, 
instead of a contractor, a commissioned officer should be authorized to 
supply the rations at the original cost of the provisions, and should be 
allowed a little time to look out for the best markets, and be enabled, by 44 
punctual payments, to support the public credit, I have no doubt that 
the supplies would not only be good and regular, but even lower than 
they can be under any contract system. Commissioned officers only 
should be employed in this duty; men who stand most solemnly pledged 
to serve the United States honestly and faithfully, and to obey orders; 
men who may be cashiered, or capitally punished by military law, for 
neglect of duty or for fraudulent practices. 
“I feel persuaded that I could, with the assistance of one of the general 
staff, and the regimental quartermasters, supply the troops altogether 
and completely, without being more frequently called from my other 
duties than the neglects in the contractor’s department have usually 
called me. If you should deem an experiment desirable, I will most 
cheerfully undertake it, and pledge myself that the rations shall not cost 
more than eighteen cents, and, probably, not so much. 
“I have the honor to be, most respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, 
“E. P. GAINES. 
‘'Hon. James Monroe, Secretary of War ” 
Col. Fenwick's remarks on supplying the Army with Provisions. 
“Washington, December 2d, 1814. 
“In conformity with your commands, I have the honor of reporting to 
you the present means of victualling our Army by contract, the imposi- 
tions and danger attending such a mode of supply, and the necessity of 
destroying the evil, by substituting a commissariat. 
“ Contracts are never fulfilled to the letter, and never will be, so long 
as avarice exists; and where so many opportunities present themselves 
to the military contractor for imposition and fraud, we must expect he 
will avail himself of them ; that his fortune may be made with too great 
rapidity for the comfort and health of the soldier, every expedient is 
resorted to to increase his profits. Bread half baked; sour flour, dam- 
aged meat, are amongst the many resources they employ; more than 
half the issues are made without the smaller parts of the rations; vinegar, 
soap, and candles are retained under the most frivolous excuses; and you 
are, sir, sensible how conducive to the soldier’s health must be both soap 
and vinegar; these evils I have witnessed in every part of the country. 
Seldom could the wrong be redressed, because the commanding officer 
had not the means; the abuse could not be punished; the contractor was 
beyond his control. Discontent was excited amongst the men, but com- 
plaint is often found unprofitable, for, if the provisions are condemned, 
the agent is so dilatory in replacing them, that the men get no food for 
the greater part, if not the whole, of that day.* 
“These are the causes of complaint with the Army, and the best-planned 
operations may be frustrated by the perverse or tardy contractor or his 
dishonest agent, who, if base enough to defraud the soldier, would be 
equally so in communicating with the enemy. The history of all the 
wars in Europe is big with treachery, whenever a Power depended for 
its supplies on contractors. Numerous are the instances of failures of 
expeditions in the wars of Marlborough and Frederick. Contractors, or 
* Occurred at New York. 45 
their agents, were the principals in the mischief. In our own campaigns * 
we have already experienced this evil. Many other reasons might be 
adduced how, and why, supplies will fail, if this system of contract is 
continued; it does not exist in any army of Europe; it has proven itself 
fallacious and expensive in a high degree. Even the British, riveted as 
they are to old habits, have been compelled to abandon it, and assume 
the commissariat of the Continent. Lord Wellington speaks of the 
impossibility of supplying his army in Spain by any other means. 
There is not an officer or soldier in the Army who would not petition you 
to do away this destructive system, and substitute Commissaries, who 
would be actuated by feeling, honor, and the fear of disgrace. 
“I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect and consideration, 
your obedient servant, 
“JOHN R. FENWICK.” 
On the next day, January 24, 1815, after the Military Committee had 
presented to the House of Representatives the very conclusive report of 
Mr. Monroe, Mr. Troup, of Georgia, from the same committee, reported 
“ a bill making provision for subsisting the Army of the United States, 
by authorizing the appointment of Commissaries of Subsistence,” which 
was read the first time; and, on motion, was read the second time, refer- 
red to the Committee of the Whole, and made the special order for the 
next Saturday. The bill, for some reason, was not taken up according 
to the special order. On the 6th of February, however, the House 
resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole, and took up the bill. 
After some time spent thereon, the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. 
Pitkin, of Connecticut, reported that the committee had had the said bill 
under consideration, and made amendments thereto. The amendments 
were then read, and concurred in by the House. It was then ordered, 
“that the said bill be engrossed, and read the third time to-morrow.” 
On the next day the bill, having been engrossed, was taken up by the 
House, and read the third time and passed. It was then ordered, “ that 
the title be, 'An act making provision for subsisting the Army of the 
United States, by authorizing the appointment of Commissaries of Sub- 
sistence’; and that the clerk do carry the said bill to the Senate, and 
desire their concurrence therein.” 
On the 8th of February, 1815, an act entitled “ An act for the better 
regulation of the Ordnance Department,” became a law. By section 11 
of this act it was provided that master-armorers, master-carriage-makers, 
master-blacksmiths, armorers, carriage-makers, and blacksmiths, should 
each receive “one and a half rations per day;” and that artificers and 
laborers should each receive “one ration per day.” 
* At Black Creek, Upper Canada. 46 
The Senate received a message from the House of Representatives, on 
the 8th of February, 1815, by Mr. Dougherty, their clerk, of which the 
following is an extract: 
“Mr. President : 
“The House of Representatives have passed a bill entitled ‘An act 
making provision for subsisting the Army of the United States/ by 
authorizing the appointment of Commissaries of Subsistence, in which 
they request the concurrence of the Senate.” 
* * . * * * 
On the 10th of February, the bill, after having been taken up and read 
the second time, was, on motion of Mr. Smith, referred to the Committee 
on Military Affairs to consider and report thereon. 
On the 11th of February, Mr. Giles, from the Committee on Military 
Affairs, reported back the bill with amendments. 
On the 13th of February, the Senate, sitting as in Committee of the 
Whole, resumed the consideration of the bill, together with the amend- 
ments reported thereto by the Committee on Military Affairs. The 
amendments having been agreed to, the committee rose. The bill was 
then reported to the Senate, ordered to be engrossed and read a third 
time, as amended. 
On the 14th of February, the bill, as amended, was reported by the 
committee correctly engrossed. 
On February 15, on motion of Mr. Tait, of Georgia, it was ordered by 
the Senate that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until 
the following Monday. 
This postponement was doubtless due to the fact that, on that day, 
President Madison sent his message to the Senate, transmitting a copy 
of the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, 
which had been signed at Ghent on the 24th of December previous. 
On the 21st of February, on motion of Mr. Bibb, of Georgia, the Senate 
ordered that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until the 
following Monday. 
The return of peace had very materially changed the aspect of our 
military affairs. The pressure of the necessity for immediate legislation 
changing the mode of subsisting the Army had been relaxed, and this, 
with the proximity of the end of the session, seems to have prevented 
the bill, although such substantial progress had been made thereon, from 
being taken up according to postponement, or again before the final 
adjournment which took place on the 4th of March. The 13th Congress 
expired with this adjournment, and with it, of course, all pending bills. CHAPTER III. 
From March 4, 1815, to August 15, 1876. 
Subsisting the Army without a special and distinct military organiza- 
tion, exclusively charged with that duty, had now been under experiment 
since the close of the Revolutionary war, a period of over thirty years. 
During that long period, the mode of subsisting the Army, viz, by con- 
tracts for complete rations, had remained substantially unchanged, but 
various instrumentalities and combinations of instrumentalities for carry- 
ing it into execution had been adopted. Throughout all these changes 
the result had been uniformly the same—failure. The experience of our 
campaigns, from that of General St. Clair, in 1791, against the Indians 
on the Miami,* to and including those of the late war with Great Britain, 
had proved most conclusively that the mode and all the various instru- 
mentalities successively adopted for its execution were radically wrong 
in principle; and this patent fact had been fully recognized by both 
branches of Congress at the last session, in the preparation and perfection 
of the bill “to provide for subsisting the Army by the appointment of 
Commissaries of Subsistence,” which was on the verge of becoming a law 
when the treaty of Ghent was officially laid before the Senate. Notwith- 
* The following are extracts from the report of the committee, “appointed to inquire 
into the causes of the failure of the late expedition under Major-General St. Clair,” 
communicated to the House of Representatives on the 8th of May, 1792: 
“It appears that the General-in-Chief [Major-General Arthur St. Clair] had it in 
contemplation to commence the expedition at least one month earlier than it was com- 
menced, with the force he then had, which was not very different from the real force 
in action; but was prevented for the want of the Quartermaster and the contractor, and 
in consequence of the extreme deficiencies and derangements of the business of those 
departments—the person sent forward by the Quartermaster being totally incompetent 
for the business, and the contractor’s agents not being sufficiently supplied with money 
to enable them to execute their duties. 
“From the foregoing state of facts, the committee suggest the following as the prin- 
cipal causes, in their opinion, of the failure of the late expedition under Major-General 
St. Clair: 
“ The delays consequent upon the gross and various mismanagements and neglects 
in the Quartermaster’s and contractor’s departments; the lateness of the season at 
which the expedition was undertaken, the green forage having been previously 
destroyed by the frost, so that a sufficiency of subsistence for the horses necessary for 
the army could not be procured.” 
47 48 
standing the mode, in all its phases, had been thus thoroughly condemned, 
the return of peace caused such a degree of apathy with regard to mili- 
tary affairs that this dangerous element of weakness was suffered to 
remain in our military system until a repetition of our former adverse 
experiences again forced the matter upon the attention of Congress. A 
renewal of active operations in the field, as the sequal proved, soon suf- 
ficed to bring the subject into its former conspicuous prominence. 
In the early months of 1817 the Seminole Indians of Florida* began 
to manifest hostile intentions on the southern frontier of Georgia, then 
embraced in the Division of the South, commanded by Major-General 
Andrew Jackson. The hostile demonstrations of the Seminoles rapidly 
developed into settled hostilities. The mode of subsisting the Army, 
which had so often failed at the critical juncture, was, therefore, to be 
once more subjected to the ordeal of war. 
Embarrassments in military operations, arising from want of punctu- 
ality in the supplying of the troops with provisions—experiences similar 
to those which had contributed so largely to the failure of our arms on 
the northern frontier in the war of 1812-T5—soon began to be felt. 
In a letter to the Secretary of War, Hon. John C. Calhoun, dated 
Camp Montgomery, June 4, 1817, Brevet Major-General Edmund P. 
Gaines, commanding the 7th Military Department, comprising the terri- 
tory embraced within the States of South Carolina and Georgia, reported 
as follows: . 
“The late contractors having failed to make a deposit, pursuant to my 
requisition of the 24th of April, the provisions in the contractor’s store 
being reduced below the requisite supply for the present week, ending 
the 7th inst., and the new contractor not having made his appearance or 
notified me of any provision made by him for supplying the troops of my 
command, I have ordered a supply to be purchased for this month, and 
have directed Major Nicks, the officer making the purchases, to draw 
upon the Department of War for the amount.” 
On the 15th of December, 1817, General Gaines, then at Fort Hawkins, 
Georgia, reported to the Secretary of War as follows: 
“They look well and are ready to march, but, through inattention on 
the part of the contractor’s agent to the requisitions for a supply of ra- 
tions, will, I apprehend, according to custom, delay the movement of the 
militia until some part of the frontier settlements suffer by the Indians.” 
The following is an extract from a report, dated December 20, 1817, 
to General Gaines, made by Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Arbuckle, 7th 
Infantry, commanding Fort-Scott, Georgia: 
*At that time a province of Spain. 49 
“There is about twenty days’ rations of meat on hand at this fort. I 
have sent the contractor’s agent to Fort Gaines to procure beef, and if he 
should be disappointed there have directed him to proceed further.” 
On the 24th of December, 1817, Colonel David Brearly, 7th Infantry, 
then commanding the 7th Military Department, made the following re- 
port to the Secretary of War: 
“I have the honor to state that I have this day drawn a hill of exchange 
on you for $10,275.42 in favor of John S. Thomas, on account of supplies 
of provisions purchased, by special contract, for the use of the troops in 
the 7th Military Department, in consequence of the failure of the present 
contractor to comply with a requisition made on him for thirty thousand 
rations by Major General Gaines in May last.” 
In an official letter dated Headquarters, Hartford, Georgia, January 9, 
1818, to the Secretary of War, Brevet Major-General Edmund P. Gaines 
wrote as follows: 
“The detachment under General Glasscock, delayed by rainy weather, 
bad roads, and want of punctuality in the contractor’s department, may 
not be able to form a junction with the United States troops in time to 
put an end to the war before their term of service expires, which will be 
early next month. I have, therefore, requested of His Excellency, the 
Governor of this State, an additional force, to assemble at this place the 
1st of next month, to consist of four battallions of Infantry and four com- 
panies of Riflemen, for three months, which I hope will meet your ap- 
probation.” 
Brigadier General Glasscock, of the Georgia militia, in a letter dated 
Camp Cumming, January 10, 1818, reported as follows to General 
Gaines: 
“We have not now on hand ten bushels of corn, and Brockman is of 
opinion that it will be dangerous to again go to the Chehaw, in conse- 
quence of which I have (with his particular request) sent him with this 
express. I must refer you to him for further information as to the corn 
and provisions to be procured in the nation. 
“Not having calculated on moving from this place for six or seven 
days for want of provisions, &c., I gave a furlough to Captain Melvin. 
Should you deem it necessary for us to move before that time, 1 would be 
glad that he would return.” 
On the 12th of January, 1818, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Arbuckle, 
7th Infantry, commanding Fort Scott, reported as follows to General 
Jackson: 
“I have but about two days’ rations of meat, and something upwards 
of thirty days’ rations of flour on hand, and am without advice of addi- 
tional supplies being on the way; and should Captain Birch, who is now 
at Fort Gaines with a command of 120 men, for the purpose of obtaining 50 
beef, not succeed, and the contractor’s agents persist in neglecting their 
duty much longer, the consequences must be greatly disastrous to the 
troops and the inhabitants of the (’hattahooche. 
“I have sent Captain Cummings to the Bay for the purpose of obtain- 
ing information should any vessel arrive there with provisions, and will 
do all in my power to maintain my position; yet I do greatly fear my 
best exertions to do so will fail.” 
In a postscript to the same communication he further reported: 
“Since writing the above, I have received a letter from General Gaines, 
dated on the 20th ultimo, at Hartford. The contractor’s agent in that 
quarter, I am informed, has failed, and the militia are now about thirty 
miles above this, badly supplied with provisions.” 
On the 13th of January Lieutenant-Colonel Arbuckle wrote as follows 
to Brevet Major-General Edmund P. Gaines, his immediate commander: 
“I received your letter of the 20th ultimo, yesterday, after writing to 
Major-General Jackson; a copy of my letter to him is inclosed, which 
will exhibit to you the state of things in this quarter. 
“ I have heard nothing more of Colonel Brearly, or the militia, except 
that they were within twenty-five miles of the Flint River on the 4th 
instant. Brockman wrote to me on that date, and informed me that he 
was engaged in procuring provisions for the militia, the contractor hav- 
ing failed to supply. This, with the information you gave on that subject, 
has induced me to contract with Mr. McCulloh to deliver fifteen thou- 
sand rations of meat at this post, within twenty days from this time, at 
twelve and a half cents per ration. Should he fulfill hjs agreement, and 
Captain Birch succeed in procuring thirty or forty head of beef-cattle, I 
think that supply will last the troops until provisions are received from 
New Orleans.” 
On the 18th of January, Lieutenant-Colonel Arbuckle wrote to Briga- 
dier-General Glasscock, at Chehaw town, on Flint River, as follows: 
“I have received information this evening, which I have no doubt 
may be relied on, that the whole or the greater portion of the hostile In- 
dians are to have a meeting somewhere near the mouth of Flint River, on 
the 21st instant, for the purpose of concerting measures for the destruc- 
tion of the inhabitants on the Chatahoochee and the reduction of this 
post. In the latter object they expect to succeed, owing to our want of 
supplies; and their calculations are not without a reasonable prospect of 
success, should not uncommon exertions be made to supply us from your 
quarter, as this command has been without meat at this time for five or 
six days, and have barely a hope of receiving a temporary supply by a 
command sent to Fort Gaines for the purpose of collecting a few beef- 
cattle. 
“ I have heard from the Bay this evening; one vessel has arrived 
there with clothing and military stores, having on board very little, if 51 
any, more provisions than will be required by the command on board of 
her, and without certain information of other vessels being on the way. 
“ I have to request that you will let me hear from you without loss of 
time, and that you will inform me of a prospect of supplies from your 
quarter.” 
By the following extract from the report of General Gaines to the Sec- 
retary of War, dated Headquarters, Hartford, Georgia, January 30, 
1818, it appears that, to purchase rations for his troops, he was reduced 
to the extremity of borrowing money from the Governor of Georgia: 
“The Acting Quartermaster, Lieutenant Kaiser, has purchased the 
greater part of the provisions issued during the present month, and is 
now engaged in the purchase of thirty thousand rations, the greater part 
of which is on the way to Fort Scott, by the way of Flint River. To 
pay for these supplies, 1 have been under the necessity of borrowing ten 
thousand dollars from the Governor of Georgia, upon a promise to replace 
the amount in three months from the 23d instant.” 
On. the 10th of February, 1818, Major-General Jackson, then at Fort 
Hawkins, wrote as follows to the Secretary of War: 
“ I reached this place last evening, when I learned, from sundry com- 
munications received from Brevet Major-General Gaines, that the Georgia 
militia, under General Glasscock, had all returned home, leaving the fron- 
tier in a very exposed situation. The regular troops at Fort Scott have 
been out of provisions, but the means adopted by Brevet Major-General 
Gaines to remedy that evil induces a strong presumption that they are 
by this time supplied; which, with the stores ordered by me from New 
Orleans, will, I trust, afford us an ample supply for the campaign. 
“ The contractor having failed, General Gaines has, by my order, 
directed the Quartermaster to purchase provisions, in which he has suc- 
ceeded so far as to procure 1100 hogs, and a sufficiency of bread-stuff; 
this will march the troops to and from the seat of war.” 
In an official letter, dated Hartford, Georgia, February 14, 1818, to 
Hon. John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, General Jackson, in the fol- 
lowing language, emphatically and unqualifiedly condemned the existing 
mode of subsisting the Army, and expressed the hope that some more 
efficient and certain mode would be adopted: 
“ I arrived at this place on the evening of the 12th, and here met 
General Gaines. From a letter received from the Governor of Georgia, 
advising me of the movement of the militia from the several counties to 
the designated point of rendezvous, as well as the punctuality with which 
the troops have assembled here under General Gaines’s requisition, has 
induced a hope that I shall be able to take a prompt and speedy march 
for the relief of Fort Scott 
“ I enclose you a copy of a letter from Colonel B. G. Orr to Captain 
Callis, contractor’s agent at Fort Hawkins. From the sum with which 52 
he states to have furnished his agents in this country you can judge how 
far efficient means have been adopted to insure the necessary supplies for 
the troops, heretofore in service, as well as those summoned to the field 
under the late requisition. The mode of provisioning an army by con- 
tract is not adapted to the prompt and efficient movement of troops. It 
may answer in time of profound peace, where a failure or delay cannot 
prodnce any serious ill consequences; but where active operations are 
necessary, and success dependent on prompt and quick movements, there 
is no dependence to be placed on the contractor. His views are purely 
mercenary; and when supplies will not insure him a profit he hesitates 
not on a failure, never regarding how far it may defeat the best-devised 
plans of the Commander-in-Chief. Experience has confirmed me in this 
opinion, and the recent failure has prompted me again to express it. 
“ The plan which has been adopted to procure the necessary supplies 
for the army, to transport them to Fort Scott, and the quantity otherwise 
ordered to that point, will, I hope, relieve me from any embarrassment 
on that account, until a decisive blow has been struck upon the enemy. 
I have been so frequently embarrassed from the failures of contractors, 
that I cannot but express a hope that some other more efficient and cer- 
tain mode of supplying our Army may be adopted: such a plan as will 
render those charged with the execution of so important a trust respon- 
sible to the military authority, and exposed to severe and merited chas- 
tisements, whenever defaulters, at the discretion of a court-martial.” 
The desideratum was thus clearly outlined by General Jackson, as be- 
ing a separate and distinct military organization exclusively charged 
with the important duty of subsisting the Army. 
The following official reports from General Jackson to the Secretary of 
War not only show to what extremities the troops were subsequently re- 
duced and the sufferings they endured on account of the failure of the 
prevailing mode of subsisting the Army to properly perform its functions, 
but they portray a striking example of the extent to which the operations 
of an army are subordinate to its means of subsistence : 
“Headquarters Division of the South, 
“Fort Early, February 26, 1818. 
“Sir: In my last from Hartford, Georgia, of the 14th instant, I ex- 
pressed a hope that the plans adopted to procure supplies for the de- 
tachment from Georgia to transport them to Fort Scott, together with 
the quantity ordered to that point, would relieve me from any embar- 
rassment on that account, until a decisive blow could be struck upon 
the enemy. 
“ The Georgia detachment marched from their encampment, near Hart- 
ford, on the 19th instant, and on that night General Gaines received a 
letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Arbuckle, commanding at Fort Scott, con- 
taining such intelligence of his intention to abandon that post, in the 
event of not receiving supplies in a short given time, as induced him 
(General Gaines) to set out that night, and, if possible, by reaching the 
place in time to prevent such a disastrous movement. 53 
“ The General has, as he communicated to me, ordered a large supply 
of provisions to the Creek Agency, to be transported in boats to Fort 
Scott and this place, which would serve until that ordered from Mobile 
(by himself) should arrive; and under that order did calculate on meet- 
ing two boats loaded with dour, on his reaching this place, but was de- 
ceived, having arrived here on the night of the 20th, which he left on 
the evening of the 21st, in a small boat with twelve men. On the night 
of the 22d, I received, by express, a letter directed to General Gaines, 
and dated the 19th instant, from Captain Melvin of the 4th Infantry, 
who had been charged by General Gaines to build the boats at the 
Agency, and have the provisions transported thence, stating that two 
boats would be finished in two days which would transport upwards of 
one hundred barrels of dour each; these I had strongly calculated on, 
but they have not arrived. The excessive rains have rendered the roads 
so bad that I ordered the troops, on their march here, to take their bag- 
gage on the wagon-horses, and abandon the wagons; this facilitated their 
march to this place, which they reached to-day; and eleven hundred 
men are now here without a barrel of dour or bushel of corn. We have 
pork on foot; and to-morrow I shall proceed for Fort Scott, and endeavor 
to procure from the Indians a supply of corn that will aid in subsisting 
the detachment until we reach that place. How those failures have hap- 
pened under the superintendence of regular officers I cannot imagine, but 
blame must rest somewhere, and it shall be strictly investigated as soon 
as circumstances will permit.” 
" I have the honor to be, &c., 
"ANDREW JACKSON, 
“Major-General Commanding. 
"Hon. John C. Calhoun, 
“Secretary of War.” 
"Headquarters Division of the South, Fort Gadsden, 
(East bank of the Apalachicola River, formerly Negro Fort,) 
“March 25, 1818. 
“ Sir : At seven o’clock p. m. on the 9th instant I reached Fort Scott, 
with the brigade of Georgia militia, nine hundred bayonets strong, and 
some of the friendly Creeks who had joined me on my march a few days 
before, where, finding but one quart of corn per man, and a few poor 
cattle, which, added to the live pork I brought along, would give us 
three days’ rations of meat, determined me at once to use this small sup- 
ply to the best advantage. Accordingly, having been advised by Col. 
Gibson,* Quartermaster-General, that he would sail from New Orleans 
on the 12th of February with supplies, and being also advised that two 
sloops with provisions were in the Bay, and an officer had been despatched 
from Fort Scott in a large keel-boat to bring up a part of their loading, 
* General Jackson, clearly foreseeing- that he could not rely on the contractor to sub- 
sist his army, had, on the 29th of January, ordered Colonel Gibson, who was then in 
New Orleans, to procure, and bring to Fort Scott, a supply of rations. 54 
and deeming that the preservation of these supplies would be to preserve 
the army and enable me to prosecute the campaign, I assumed the com- 
mand on the morning of the 10th; ordered the live-stock slaughtered, 
and issued to the troops with one quart of corn to each man, and the line 
of march to be taken up at twelve meridian Having to cross the Flint 
River, which was very high, combined with some neglect in returning the 
boats during a very dark night, I was unable to move from the opposite 
bank until nine o’clock on the morning of the 11th, when I took up my 
line of march down the east bank of the river for this place, touching 
the river as often as practicable, looking for the provision boats, which 
were ascending, and which I was fortunate enough to meet on the 13th, 
when I ordered an extra ration to the troops, they not having received a 
full one of meal or flour since their arrival at Fort Early. 
“ On that day my patrols captured three prisoners, and found some 
hidden corn. On the mpruing of the 14th I ordered the boat down the 
river to this place, whilst I descended by land, and reached here, with- 
out interruption, on the 16th. The eligibility of this spot as a depot 
determined me, and I immediately directed my aide-de-camp, Lieutenant 
Gadsden, of the Engineer Corps, to furnish a plan for, and superintend 
the erection of, a fortification. His talents and indefatigable zeal, dis- 
played in the execution of this order, induced me to name it Fort Gadsden, 
to which he is justly entitled. On my arrival here I immediately des- 
patched the boat to the Bay for the balance of the provisions known to 
he there, and to ascertain whether the flotilla, in charge of Colonel 
Gibson, had reached there, and which returned on the 19th with the 
unpleasing intelligence that nothing had been heard from the flotilla from 
New Orleans since it was seen passing Fort Bowyer. I immediately 
put the troops on half rations, and pushed the completion of the fort for 
the protection of the provisions in the event of their arrival, intending 
to march forthwith to the heart of the enemy, and endeavor to subsist 
upon him. In the meantime I despatched Major Fanning, of the Corps 
of Artillery, to take another look into the Bay, whose return, on the 
morning of the 23d, brought the information that Colonel Gibson, with 
one gunboat and three transports, and others in sight, were in the Bay; 
On the same night I received other information that no more had arrived. 
I am, therefore, apprehensive that some of the smaller vessels have been 
lost, as one gunboat went to pieces, and another, when last spoken, had 
one foot of water in her hold; all the vessels had been spoken after a gale 
that had dispersed them. A north and northwest wind has prevailed for 
six days, but has fortunately changed this morning. I am now awaiting 
a boat from the Bay (which is expected to-day) to complete eight days’ 
rations for my troops, upon which I mean to march. 
“In mine of the 14th February, from Hartford, I informed you of the 
means adopted to procure supplies, and in my last of the 26th, from Fort 
Early, I informed you of their situation. To those communications I 
beg leave to refer you. I have only to add that I left Fort Early for 
Fort Scott, and subsisted my troops on ground-peas, corn, and pork, 
that I could occasionally procure from the Indians, with some pork I 
had on foot, the whole subsistence for man and horse not costing five 
hundred dollars. Of all the supplies purchased for the relief of Fort 55 
Scott, and the support of the Georgia militia, not one pound was received 
until I passed Fort Scott. I said in my last that blame rested somewhere. 
The cause of those failures will, in due time, be a subject of investiga- 
tion, and Colonel Brearly has been arrested on the application of General 
Gaines.* 
“By some strange fatality, unaccountable to me, the Tennessee volun- 
teers have not yet joined me; they promptly left their homes, and through 
the inclement weather reached Fort Mitchell, where I had ordered them 
supplies, and where Colonel Hayne, who led them, met my instructions 
to pass hv Fort Gaines, where he could get a supply of corn that would 
enable him to reach Fort Scott; but the idea of starvation had stalked 
abroad, a panic appears to have spread itself everywhere, and he was 
told that they were starving at Fort Gaines and Fort Scott, and he was 
induced to pass into Georgia for supplies. His men and officers, as re- 
ported to me, were willing to risk the worst of consequences on what they 
had to join me; however, they have been marched from their supplies to 
a country stripped of them, when every consideration should have induced 
his advisers to have urged him on to secure the supplies in the Bay, and 
preserve themselves and Fort Scott from starvation. I have a hope they 
will join me before I reach St. Marks or the Mekasuky towns; this 
would be desirable, as the troops ordered from New Orleans, to protect 
the supplies, have not reached the Bay, and leaving garrisons at Forts 
Scott and Gadsden weakens my force too much; the whole effective 
strength of the regulars being but three hundred and sixty privates. 
“ In mine of the 26th ult., from Fort Early, I stated that despatches 
received by General Gaines, on the 19th instant, from the commanding 
officer at Fort Scott, induced him to set out that night for Fort Scott to 
prevent its abandonment, &c. In his passage down the Flint, he was 
shipwrecked, by which he lost his assistant adjutant-general, Major C. 
Wright, and two soldiers, (drowned.) The General reached me six days 
after, nearly exhausted by hunger and cold, having lost his baggage and 
clothing, and being compelled to wander in the woods four and a half 
days without anything to subsist on, or any clothing except a pair of 
pantaloons. I am happy to have it in my power to say that he is now 
with me, at the head of liis brigade, in good health. 
“ANDREW JACKSON, 
“Major-General Commanding 
“P. S.—Since writing the above, I have the pleasure to inform you 
that the boat from the Bay has arrived with provisions; also Col. Gibson 
and Capt. McKeever, the latter of the Navy. I shall move to-morrow, 
having made the necessary arrangements with Captain McKeever for 
his co-operation in transporting my supplies around to the Bay of St. 
Marks, from which place I shall do myself the honor of communicating 
with you. Should our enemy attempt to escape with his supplies and 
* The failures referred to were in regard to transportation, and providing means of 
transportation. In the month of June following, Col. Brearly was tried by a court- 
martial, for “ disobedience of orders and neglect of duty” in connection with these 
failures, found “not guilty of either charge or specification against him, ” and acquitted. 56 
booty to the small islands, and from thence carry on a predatory warfare, 
the assistance of the Navy will prevent his escape. 
“A. J 
“Hon. J. C. Calhoun, 
“Secretary of War.” 
General Jackson having improvised a commissariat, and through its 
instrumentality received a supply of rations, had virtually freed his 
army from subordination to its means of subsistence, and was thus enabled 
(as the commander of every army in the field should be) to give his unre- 
strained attention to matters of discipline and strategy. Accordingly, on 
the 26th of March, he broke camp and entered upon a vigorous campaign, 
which, after several engagements at different places, was abruptly brought 
to a successful termination, on the 16th of April, by the attack on Bow- 
legs’s town, where, after a brief resistance, the Indians abandoned the 
field and fled in precipitate haste, demoralized and disorganized. 
The embarrassments experienced in the campaign against the Seminoles, 
on account of the want of “a more efficient and certain mode” of subsist- 
ing the troops, promptly received the earnest consideration of Congress, 
as the following extracts from the journals will show.* 
Journal of the Senate—15th Congress, 1st Session. 
Wednesday, January 21, 1818. 
Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, submitted the following motion for con- 
sideration : 
Resolved, That the President of the United States he requested to inform 
the Senate in what manner the troops in the service of the United States, 
now operating against the Seminole tribe of Indians, have been subsisted, 
whether by contract or otherwise, and whether they have been furnished 
regularly with rations. 
Thursday, January 22, 1818. 
The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion of the 21st instant, 
for requesting information in what manner the troops in the service of the 
United States, now operating against the Seminole tribe of Indians, have 
been subsisted; and agreed thereto. 
*In view of the importance of the legislation effected, the proceedings of both 
Houses are given in full. 57 
Friday, January 30, 1818. 
The following written message was received from the President of 
the United States, by Mr. Monroe, his Secretary: 
To the Senate of the United States: 
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 22d of this month, 
requesting to be informed “In what manner the troops in the service ot 
the United States, now operating against the Seminole tribe of Indians, 
have been subsisted, whether by contract or otherwise, and whether they 
have been furnished regularly with rations, I now transmit a report from 
the Secretary of War, containing the information required. 
J JAMES MONROE. 
Washington, 28th January, 1818. 
Report of the Secretary of War. 
“The Secretary of War, to whom was referred the. resolution of the 
Senate requesting the President of the United States ' to inform the Senate 
in what manner the troops in the service of the United States, now opera- 
ting against the Seminole tribe of Indians, have been subsisted, whether 
by contract or otherwise, and whether they have been furnished regularly 
with rations,’ has the honor to report that the troops ot the United States 
are regularly subsisted by contract. The contract stipulates that the 
Commanding General, or person appointed by him at each post or place, 
in case of absolute failure or deficiency in the quantity of provisions 
contracted to be delivered and issued, shall have power to supply the 
deficiency by purchase, at the risk and on account of the contractor. 
That portion of the forces which is now operating against the Seminole 
Indians is within the district contracted for by Benjamin G. Orr, esquire. 
His contract commenced the 1st of June last. The Department of War, 
anticipating an increased demand for rations in that quarter, made early 
and liberal advances of money to Mr. Orr to enable him to give prompt 
obedience to the requisitions of the Commanding General. Requisitions 
were made for deposits, in advance, under the terms of the contract, at 
the several posts on the frontier of Georgia and in the adjacent territories. 
By the last official reports, these requisitions were not complied with, and 
the commandant had detailed officers to supply the deficiency by purchase. 
The accompanying correspondence” will show the extent ot the real 
failure, and the evils apprehended from an anticipated one; and embraces 
all the information possessed by this Department on the subject. 
“It is proper to remark that the contractor reports that he has ordered 
an amply supply of rations to Fort Scott from New Orleans, and that 
they were shipped on the 5th ultimo. This supply is intended to be 
conveyed up the Apalachicola River, and it is believed it may have 
arrived at its destination before this period, in which event, the pur- 
chases ordered by the General will cease. 
“Respectfully submitted, 
“JOHN C. CALHOUN.” 
* This correspondence consisted of official reports from Gen. Gaines, 
Lieut.-Col. Arhuckle, Col. Brearly, and Gen. Glasscock, covering the period from June 
4, 1817, to January 10, 1818, extracts from which have already been given in the pre- 
ceding pages. 58 
Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to 
whom the subject was referred, reported a bill to reduce the Staff of the 
Army; and the bill was read. 
Ordered, That it pass to the second reading. 
Wednesday, February 18, 1818. 
. Mr. Barbour submitted the following motion for consideration: 
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to 
inquire into the expediency of changing the mode of supplying the troops 
of the United States by contract, and substituting one cheaper and more 
efficient, by subjecting the parties undertaking that duty, to military law, 
in case of delinquency. 
Friday, February 20, 1818. 
The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion of the 18th instant, 
for instructing the Committee on Military Affairs to inquire into the 
expediency of changing the mode of supplying the troops of the United 
States by contract, and substituting one cheaper and more efficient, by 
subjecting the parties undertaking that duty, to military law, in case of 
delinquency; and agreed thereto. 
■X- X- •it. * -it 
The bill to reduce the Staff of the Army was read the second time. 
Monday, February 23, 1818. 
The Senate resumed the motion of the 19th instant, requesting infor- 
mation of what requisitions were made upon the contractors for deposits 
of provisions in advance, at the several posts on the frontiers of Georgia, 
and in the adjoining territory, together with the substitute proposed 
therefor; and 
On motion of Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, 
Ordered, That the consideration thereof be further postponed until 
to-morrow. 
Tuesday, February 24, 1818. 
The Senate resumed the consideration of the motion of the 19th instant, 
requesting information of what requisitions were made upon the con- 
tractors for deposits of provisions in advance, at the several posts on the 
frontiers of Georgia and the adjoining territory, together with the substi- 
tute proposed therefor; and the said substitute having been withdrawn, 
the original motion was amended, and agreed to as follows: 
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to inform 
the Senate what requisitions were made upon the contractors, between the 
1st day of June, 1817, and the 24th of December, of the same year, for 
deposits of provisions in advance, at the several posts on the frontiers of 59 
Georgia, and in the adjoining territory, specifying the date of such requi- 
sition, the amount of deposit required, and by whom made. And also, the 
particular instances in which B. G. Orr, contractor, has failed to furnish 
rations, agreeable to his contract; the amount of money advanced by the 
Government for supplies, in consequence of such failures; and also, the 
amount of money advanced by the Government to said B. G. Orr, at or 
before the time of said failures; and also, to furnish the Senate with a 
copy of the articles of contract entered into with the said B. G. Orr for sup- 
plying the army under the command of General Gaines with provisions. 
Tuesday, March 3, 1818. 
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration 
of the bill to reduce the Staff of the Army; and, on motion of Mr. Williams, 
of Tennessee, 
Ordered, That the further consideration thereof he postponed until 
to-morrow. 
Tuesday, March 10, 1818. 
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration 
of the bill to reduce the Staff of the Army; and, on motion, by Mr. Wil- 
liams, of Tennessee, 
Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postponed until 
Thursday next. 
Wednesday, March 11, 1818. 
The following message was received from the President of the United 
States, by Mr. Monroe, his Secretary: 
To the Senate of the United States : 
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, requesting information 
respecting the requisitions that were made on the contractors, between the 
1st of June and the 24th of December, 1817, for deposits of provisions in 
advance, at the several posts on the frontiers of Georgia and the adjoin- 
ing territory; their conduct in compliance therewith; the amount of 
money advanced by B. G. Orr, and the extent of his failure, with a copy 
of the articles of contract entered into with him, I now lay before the 
Senate a report from the Secretary of War, which, with the documents 
accompanying it, will afford the information desired. 
JAMES MONROE. 
Washington, March 11, 1818. 60 
Friday, March 20, 1818. 
Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, from the Committee on Military Affairs, 
to whom was referred the bill to reduce the Staff of the Army, reported 
the same with an amendment, which was read. 
Wednesday, March 25, 1818. 
The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration 
of the bill to reduce the Staff of the Army, together with the amendments 
reported thereto hy the Committee on Military Affairs; and the amend- 
ments having been agreed to, the President reported the hill to the House 
amended accordingly; and, on the question to concur in the following 
amendment agreed to, as in Committee of the Whole: 
Sec. 6.—And be it further enacted, That after the first day of June, 
one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, the present system of supplying 
the Army with rations be abolished, and that in lieu thereof there shall be 
appointed hy the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, one Commissary-General, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of 
colonel of Ordnance, who shall, before entering on the duties of his office, 
give bond and security, in such sum as the President may direct, and as 
many Assistants, to be taken from the subalterns of the line, as the service 
may require, who shall receive twenty dollars per month, in addition to 
their pay in the line, and who shall, before entering on the duties of their 
office, give bond and security, in such sums as the President may direct. 
I he Commissary-General and his Assistants shall perform such duties, 
in purchasing and issuing rations to the Army of the United States, as 
the President may direct. 
Sec, 7.—And belt further enacted, That supplies for the Army, unless 
in particular and urgent cases the Secretary of War should otherwise 
direct, shall be purchased by contract, to be made by the Commissary- 
General, on public notice, to be delivered on inspection, in the bulk, and 
at such places as shall be stipulated; which contract shall be made under 
such regulations as the Secretary of War may direct. 
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the President may make such 
alterations in the component parts of the ration as a due regard to the 
health and comfort of the Army, and economy may require 
Sec. 9.—And be it further enacted, That the Commissary-General, and 
his Assistants, shall not he concerned, directly or indirectly, in the pur- 
chase or sale, in trade or commerce, of any article entering into the 
composition of the ration, allowed to the troops in the service of the 
United States, except on account of the United States; nor shall such 
officer take and apply to his own use any gain or emolument for negotiating 
or transacting any business connected with the duties of his office, other 
than what is or may be allowed by law; and the Commissary-General, 
and his Assistants, shall be subject to martial law. 
Sec. 10.—And be it further enacted, That all letters to and from the 
Commissary-General, which may relate to his office duties, shall be free 
from postage. 61 
It was determined in the affirmative—yeas 25, nays 5. 
The bill having been further amended, by adding a proviso limiting its 
duration, 
On the question, uShall this bill be engrossed and read a third time?” 
It was determined in the affirmative. 
The bill to reduce the Staff of the Army having been reported by the 
committee, correctly engrossed, was read a third time; and the blanks 
being filled, 
Resolved, That the bill pass, and that the title thereof be, “An act 
regulating the Staff of the Army.” 
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of 
Representatives in this bill. 
■it. it. -it. A* 4£ 
Thursday, March 26, 1818. 
Journal of the House of Eepresentatiyes. 
15th Congress, 1st Session. 
Friday, March 27, 1818. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Cutts, their Secretary: 
Mr. Speaker : The Senate have passed bills of the following titles, to 
wit: 
1.—An act regulating the Staff of the Army; 
•* * * 
The residue of said bills were read a first and second time, and the 
first-mentioned thereof referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 
And then he withdrew. 
Tuesday, March 31, 1818. 
Mr. Johnson, of Kentncky, from the same committee, to which was 
referred the bills from the Senate, entitled * * * and “An 
act regulating the Staff of the Army,” reported the said bill without 
amendment. 
Ordered, That the bill “regulating the Staff of the Army” lie on the 
table. 
Tuesday, April 7, 1818. 
The House took up and proceeded to consider the bill from the Senate, 
entitled, “An act to regulate the Stalf of the Army,” and being amended, 62 
Mr. Desha moved further to amend the same, by striking out the 6th, 
7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th sections thereof; and the question being taken 
thereon, it was determined in the negative. 
Wednesday, April 8, 1818. 
The bill from the Senate, entitled “An act to regulate the Staff of the 
Army,” was read the third time, and passed as amended. 
Ordered, That the clerk acquaint the Senate therewith. 
■U. -U. -K * 
Journal of the Senate—15th Congress, 1st Session. 
Wednesday, April 8, 1818. 
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Dougherty, their 
clerk. 
Mr. President : 
They have passed the bill which originated in the Senate, entitled “An 
act regulating the Staff of the Army,” with amendment, in which they 
request the concurrence of the Senate. 
On motion of Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, 
The Senate proceeded to consider the amendments of the House of 
Representatives to the bill entitled, “An act regulating the Staff of the 
Army,” whereupon, 
Resolved, That they concur therein. 
Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives ac- 
cordingly. 
Journal of the House of Representatives. 
15th Congress, 1st Session. 
Thursday, April 9, 1818. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Cutts, their Secretary: 
Mr. Speaker : The Senate have concurred in the amendment, proposed 
by the House, to the bill entitled “An act regulating the Staff of the Army.” 
* # # * * 
Friday, April 10,1818. 
Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania, from the Joint Committee for Enrolled 
Bills, reported that the committee had examined enrolled hills of the 
following titles, to wit: 63 
An act regulating the Staff of the Army, and had found the same to be 
truly enrolled; when 
The Speaker signed the said bills. 
Ordered, That the clerk acquaint the Senate therewith. 
JOURNAL of the Senate—15th Congress, 1st Session. 
Friday, April 10,1818. 
Mr. Noble reported from the committee, that they had this day * * 
examined and found duly enrolled the bill entitled “An act regulating 
the Staff of the Army,” the bill entitled “An act to authorize the payment 
of certain certificates,” and also the bill entitled “An act for the relief of 
General Moses Porter.” 
Saturday, April 11, 1818. 
The President signed the three enrolled bills last reported to have been 
examined, and they were delivered to the committee to be laid before the 
President of the United States. 
Tuesday, April 14, 1818. 
The following message was received from the President of the United 
States, by Mr. Monroe, his Secretary: 
Mr. President: The President of the United States, on the 11th 
instant, approved and signed * * * “An act to regulate the Staff 
of the Army.” 
***** 
Journal of the House of Representatives. 
15th Congress, 1st Session. 
Wednesday April 15, 1818. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Cutts, their Secretary: 
Mr. Speaker : The Senate have received official information that the 
President of the United States did, on the 11th instant,* approve and sign 
An act to regulate the Staff of the Army. 
* The date of the approval of the act is given in the official printed editions of the 
Statutes of the United States as 14, 1818, which is manifestly an error. 64 
The sections relating to subsistence of the Army., after the act had been 
passed and approved, stood as follows : 
"Sec. 6.—And he it further enacted, That as soon as the state of ex- 
isting contracts for the subsistence of the Army shall, in the opinion of 
the President of the United States, permit it, there shall be appointed by 
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one 
Commissary-General, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of colonel of 
Ordnance, who shall, before entering on the duties of his office, give bond 
and security, in such sum as the President may direct, and as many As- 
sistants, to be taken from the subalterns of the line, as the service may 
require, who shall receive twenty dollars per month, in addition to their 
pay in the line, and tvho shall, before entering on the duties of their office, 
give bond and security, in such sums as the President may direct. The 
Commissary-General and his Assistants shall perform such duties, in 
purchasing and issuing of rations to the Army of the United States, as 
the President may direct. 
“ Sec. 7.—And he it further enacted, That supplies for the Army, unless 
in particular and urgent cases the Secretary of War should otherwise 
direct, shall be purchased by contract, to be made by the Commissary- 
General, on public notice, to be delivered on inspection, in the bulk, and 
at such places as shall be stipulated; which contract shall be made under 
such regulations as the Secretary of War may direct. 
"Sec. 8.—And he it further enacted, That the President may make 
such alterations in the component parts of the ration as a due regard to 
the health and comfort of the Army and economy may require. 
" Sec. 9.—And he it further enacted, That the Commissary-General, 
and his Assistants, shall not be concerned, directly or indirectly, in the 
purchase or sale, in trade or commerce, of any article entering into the 
composition of the ration, allowed to the troops in the service of the 
United States, except on account of the United States; nor shall such 
officer take and apply to his own use any gain or emolument for nego- 
tiating or transacting any business connected with the duties of his office, 
other than what is or may be allowed by law; and the Commissary- 
General, and his Assistants, shall be subject to martial law. 
" Sec. 10.—And he it further enacted, That all letters to and from the 
Commissary-General, which may relate to his office duties, shall be free 
from postage: Provided, That the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth 
sections of this act shall continue, and be in force for the term of five years 
from the passing of the same, and thence until the end of the next session 
of Congress, and no longer. ’’ 
This legislation which virtually carried us back to where we were 
previous to the passage of the unfortunate resolution of July 10, 1781, 
abolishing the Commissariat and transferring its duties to the Treasury 
Department,* laid the foundation of the present Subsistence Department. 
* This resolution was passed as a preliminary step toward the total disbandment of 
the Army at the close of the Revolution—then regarded as au event in the near future. 
At that early period the idea preva’le I that the maintenance of a standing army was 
incompatible with the principles of free government, and public sentiment was very 
strongly opposed to the retention of any military establishment whatever in time of peace.. 65 
There were, however, practical difficulties to be met in organizing the 
new department, for which legislation was powerless to provide a remedy. 
By the breaking of the continuity of the system, under the operation of 
the resolution of July 10, 1781, the valuable experience in subsisting 
armies, acquired during the Revolutionary War, instead of being pre- 
served, perpetuated, and added to, had been irretrievably lost. In the 
long interval which had elapsed the officers of the old organization had 
passed from the stage of action, and the head of the new organization 
would, therefore, have to enter upon his office without experience to 
guide him in devising “a system by which to trace the plan of his duty.” 
Although this legislation had gone backward to find a model by which 
to design the new organization, and there were practical difficulties to be 
met in putting it into operation, arising from the circumstance that, with 
us, subsisting the Army had virtually become a lost art; yet, in view of 
our deplorable condition after struggling so many years with the miser- 
able expedients Avhich instead of bread had given the Army a stone, and 
of the important fact that the great principle of division of labor, so pro- 
lific in splendid achievements in every department of human effort, had 
been re-recognized as the essential element of an economical and efficient 
mode of subsisting the Army, it was a tremendous stride forward. 
The following resolutions were introduced in the House of Representa- 
tives by Mr. Trimble, of Kentucky, and adopted on the 17th of April, 
1818, only three days after the President had formally notified Congress 
that he had approved and signed the act regulating the Staff of the Army; 
the latter of which shows that there were misgivings (and subsequent 
experience proved that they were well founded) that Congress had not 
gone far enough in this important measure of Army reform : 
“1.—Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, in- 
structed to report to this House, at an early period of the next session of 
Congress, whether any, and, if any, what reduction may be made in the 
Military Peace Establishment of the United States with safety to the 
public service.” 
“2.—Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, in- 
structed to report to this House, at an early period of the next session of 
Congress, whether any, and, if any, what change ought to be made in 
the ration established by law; and also to report a system for the estab- 
lishment of a commissariat for the Army.” 
In explanation of the object of these resolutions, Mr. Trimble said: 
“Intending to bring this subject before the House at this session, I 
have, with that view, paid some attention to the present Peace Establish- 66 
ment; but the bill from the Senate, proposing a reduction in the Medical 
and Hospital Staff',* came up too late to hope for a general reformation. 
From the discussion which took place on that part of the bill proposing 
a change in the law touching contractors, it was manifest that informa- 
tion was wanted on the subject of a commissariat ; and as that subject 
must necessarily be acted on at the next session, it will probably be best 
to have a report from the War Department, made out upon mature re- 
flection; which will serve as a proposition to act upon. I know that it 
would be highly improper to consume time now, by stating the princi- 
ples upon which the Military Peace Establishment of the United States 
ought to be predicated, and still more to go into the details of the subject. 
I will only add, that a saving of half a million, I may say seven hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, can be made, and the Army be left as efficient 
as, or I will say more efficient than it is, at present. Indeed, it is im- 
possible to say what sums could be saved by the establishment of a com- 
missariat, proper ly organized, for our service.” 
George Gibson, of Pennsylvania, was appointed Commissary-General 
of Subsistence, with the rank of colonel, to date from April 18, 1818, and 
his appointment was announced to the Army in a general order issued 
from the War Department on the 30th of April, 1818. The new system 
did not, however, go into operation until June 1, 1819. 
On the 20th of April, Congress adjourned until the third Monday in 
the following November, the time fixed by law for the next meeting. 
General Jackson, whose experience as an army commander had made 
him an excellent authority on the subject, in a letter to Colonel Gibson, 
dated September 20,1818, inclosed the following sketch of a commissariat, 
from which it will be seen that the recent legislation in this regard had 
not fully met his views: 
" The Commissariat Department should consist of— 
"One Commissary-General (brevet brigadier-general,) stationed at 
Washington City. 
"One Deputy Commissary-General, (brevet major,) at the headquarters 
of each Division. 
"As many Assistant Commissaries (brevet captains) as the President 
of the United States may deem necessary, either in peace or war, all of 
whom to be appointed as other commissioned officers of the Army. 
"All purchases to be made under the direction of the Commissary- 
General, by the Deputies and Assistants, and before delivery to pass in- 
spection at the depot where they may be intended for issue; and where 
there may not be any regular inspector, persons not belonging to the 
Army shall be called on, unless there should be an officer of the Inspector- 
General’s Department present. 
"All provisions purchased and condemned shall be the loss of the 
purchaser. 
"To each post or place where troops are stationed there shall be an 
* The bill to regulate the Staff of the Army, which had just become a law. 67 
Issuing Commissary, appointed by the Commissary-General, who will 
receive and receipt for all the supplies destined for the use of their posts, 
respectively, and who will be required by the Commissary-General to 
give bond and approved security for the faithful preservation and issue 
of the same, and be accountable for deficiencies; and to secure industry 
and worth, their compensation should be $50 per month and two rations 
per day. The whole Department to be subject to the rules and regula- 
tions governing the Army. The minute details should be left with the 
head of the Department. 
“In a southern climate, the following alteration in the ration is recom- 
mended : Give molasses in lieu of whisky and beer, and add to the ration 
half a pint of peas, beans, or rice, per day.” 
On the 15th of December, 1818, the Speaker laid before the House of 
Representatives the report of the Secretary of War, (Mr. Calhoun,) 
made in obedience to the resolutions of the House, passed on the 17th of 
April previous. The report, by an order of the House, was referred to 
the Committee on Military Affairs. 
This very able report covered the whole field of Army and Army-Staff 
organization. 
The portion of the report especially relating to subsistence of the Army 
was as follows: 
“On the quality of the ration, and the system of supplying and issuing 
it, which I propose next to consider, the health, comfort, and efficiency 
of the Army mainly depend. Too much care cannot be bestowed on these 
important subjects; for let the military system be ever so perfect in other 
particulars, any considerable deficiency in these must, in all great military 
operations, expose an army to the greatest disasters. All human efforts 
must, of necessity, be limited by the means of sustenance. Food sustains 
the immense machinery of war, and gives the impulse to all its operations; 
and if this essential be withdrawn, even but for a few days, the whole 
must cease to act. No absolute standard can be fixed, as regards either 
quantity or quality of the ration. These must vary, according to the 
habits and products of different countries. The great objects are, first,' 
and mainly, to sustain the health and spirit of the troops; and the next, 
to do it with the least possible expense. The system which effects these 
in the greatest degree is the most perfect. The ration, as established by 
the act of the 16th March, 1802, experience proves to be ample in quan- 
tity, but not of the quality best calculated to secure either health or 
economy. It consists of eighteen ounces of bread or flour; one pound 
and a quarter of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork; one gill of 
rum, brandy, or whisky; and at the rate of two quarts of salt, four quarts 
of vinegar, four pounds of soap, and one pound and a half of candles, to 
every hundred rations. 
“The objection to it, in relation to the health of the Army, is fully 
stated in a report of the Surgeon-General, to the War Department, marked 
I, which I would respectfully annex as a part of this report. Under 
this view of the subject, more need not be added, except to urge its im- 
portance, both on the score of humanity and policy. 68 
“ Our people, even the poorest, being accustomed to a plentiful mode 
of living, require, to preserve their health, a continuation, in a consider- 
able degree, of the same habits of life, in a camp; and a sudden and 
great departure from it subjects them, as is proved by experience, to 
great mortality. Our losses, in the late and Revolutionary wars, from 
this cause, were probably greater than from the sword. However well 
qualified for war in other respects, in the mere capacity of bearing pri- 
vations we are inferior to most nations. An American would starve on 
what a Tartar would live with comfort. In fact, barbarous and oppressed 
nations have, in this particular, a striking advantage, which, however, 
ought to be much more than compensated by the skill and resources of a 
free and civilized people. If, however, such a people want the skill and 
spirit to direct its resources to its defense, the very wealth, by which it 
ought to defend itself, becomes the motive for invasion and conques-t. 
Besides, there is something shocking to the feelings, that in a country of 
plenty beyond all others, in a country which ordinarily is so careful of 
the happiness and life of the meanest of its citizens, that its brave defend- 
ers, who are not only ready, but anxious to expose their lives for the 
safety and glory of their country, should, through a defective system of 
supply, be permitted almost to starve, or to perish by the poison of un- 
wholesome food, as has frequently been the case. If it could be supposed 
that these considerations are not sufficient to excite the most anxious care 
on this subject, we ought to remember, that nothing adds more to the 
expense of military operations, or exposes more to its disasters, than the 
sickness and mortality which result from defective or unwholesome sup-, 
plies. Impressed with this view of the subject, considerable changes 
have been made in the ration, under the authority of the eighth section 
of the act regulating the Staff of the Army, passed at the last session of 
Congress. The vegetable part of the ration has been much increased. 
Twice a week, a half allowance of meat, with a suitable quantity of peas 
or beans, is directed to be issued. Fresh meat has also been substituted 
twice a week for salted. In the Southern Division, bacon and kiln- dried 
Indian corn-meal have been, to a certain extent, substituted for pork and 
wheat flour. In addition, orders have been given, at all of the perma- 
nent posts where it can be done, to cultivate a sufficient supply of ordi- 
nary garden vegetables for the use of the troops; and at the posts remote 
from the settled parts of the country, the order is extended to the culti- 
vation of corn and to the supply of the meat part of the ration, both to 
avoid the expense of distant and expensive transportation and to secure 
at all times a supply within the posts themselves. 
“In addition to these changes, I am of opinion that the spirit part of 
the ration, as a regular issue, ought to be dispensed with; and such 
appears to be the opinion of most of the officers of the Army. It both 
produces and perpetuates habits of intemperance, destructive alike to 
the health, and moral and physical energy of the soldiers. The spirits' 
ought to be placed in depot, and be issued occasionally under the direc- 
tion of the commander. Thus used, their noxious effects would be 
avoided, and the troops, when great efforts were necessary, would, by a 
judicious use, derive important benefits therefrom. Molasses, beer, and 
cider, according to circumstances, might be used as substitutes. The 
substitution of bacon and kiln-dried corn-meal in the Southern Division 69 
will have, it is believed, valuable effects. They are both much more 
congenial to the habit of the people in that section of our country. 
Corn-meal has another, and, in my opinion, great and almost decisive 
advantage—it requires so little art to prepare it for use. It is not easy 
to make good bread of wheat flour, whilst it is almost impossible to 
make had of that of Indian corn; besides, wheat is much more liable 
to be damaged than the Indian corn; for the latter is better protected 
against disease, and the effects of bad seasons in time of harvest than 
any other grain; and, when injured, the good is easily separated from 
the had. Experience proves it to be not less nutritious than wheat, or 
any other grain. Parched corn constitutes the principal food of an 
Indian warrior; and such are its nutritious qualities, that they can sup- 
port long and fatiguing marches on it alone. —> 
“I next proceed to consider the system of supplying the Army 
with provisions, or the establishment of a commissariat; and, as they 
are connected in their nature, I propose to consider that part of the 
resolution in relation to a commissariat, and the mode of issuing the 
rations at the same time. The system established at the last session 
will, in time of peace, be adequate to the cheap and certain supply of 
the Army. The act provides for the appointment of a Commissary- 
General, and as many Assistants as the service may require, and au- 
thorizes the President to assign to them their duties in purchasing and 
issuing rations. It also directs that the ordinary supplies of the Army 
should be purchased on contracts, to he made by the Commissary- 
General, and to be delivered, on inspection, in the bulk, at such places 
as shall be stipulated in the contract. Document marked J contains 
the rules and regulations which have been established by the order of 
the President, and presents the operation of the system in detail. It is 
believed that it is as well guarded against fraud as any other depart- 
ment of our military supplies; and, judging from the contracts already 
formed under it, will, when improved by experience, probably make a 
very considerable saving. It would improve the system to authorize 
the appointment of two Deputy Commissaries, one for each division, 
with the pay, rank, and emoluments of major of Infantry, to he taken 
from the line, or from citizens; and to amend the act of last session so 
as to authorize the President to appoint the Assistant Commissaries 
either from the line or citizens. When the Assistant Commissary is 
not taken from the line, to make his pay equal to that of a subaltern 
appointed from the line, it ought to be fifty dollars per month, with two 
rations a day. It should be the duty of the Deputy Commissaries to 
perform such service as the Commissary-General might prescribe, and 
particularly to inspect the principal depots, and, in cases of necessity, to 
make the necessary purchases. When a suitable subaltern cannot be 
had, or when his services are necessary in the line, the power proposed 
to he vested in the President, to select from citizens, would be important. 
It is not believed that any other alteration would be necessary in peace; 
but the system would require great enlargement in war, to render it 
sufficiently energetic to meet the many vicissitudes incidental to the 
operations of war. 
“It would then be necessary to divide the system into two divisions, 
one for purchasing, and the other for issuing of rations, with as many 70 
Deputy Commissaries of Purchases and Issues as there may he armies 
and military districts, to whom ought to be added a suitable number of 
Assistants. The basis of the system ought in war to be the same as is 
now established. The ordinary supplies ought to be by contract on 
public proposal. By a judicious collection of provisions at proper 
depots, combined with an active and energetic system of transportation, 
it would be seldom necessary to resort to any other mode of purchasing. 
To provide, however, for contingencies, the purchasing department 
ought to be efficiently organized, and a branch of it, as already stated, 
attached to each army and military department. As it is the means 
to be resorted to in cases of necessity, it ought to possess those high 
and discretionary powers which do not admit of exact control. It is, in 
its nature, liable to many abuses; and to prevent them from being great, 
more efficient regulations and checks are required than in any other 
branch of the General Staff. 
“ The defects of the mere contract system is so universally acknowl- 
edged by those who have experienced its operation in the late war, 
that it cannot be necessary to make many observations in relation to it. 
Nothing can appear more absurd than that the success of the most im- 
portant military operations, on which the very fate of the country may 
depend, should ultimately rest on men who are subject to no military 
responsibility, and on whom there is no other hold than the penalty of a 
bond. When we add to this observation, that it is often the interest 
of a contractor to fail at the most critical juncture, when the means of 
supply become the most expensive, it seems strange that the system 
should have been continued for a single campaign. It may be said, 
that when the contractor fails, the commander has a right to purchase at 
his risk, by which the disasters which naturally result from a failure 
may be avoided. The observation is more specious than solid. If, on 
failure of the contractor, there existed a well-organized system for pur- 
chasing the supplies, there would be some truth in it; but without such 
a system, without depots of provisions, and with the funds intended for 
the supply of the Army perhaps in the hands of the contractor, his 
failure must generally be fatal to a compaign. It is believed that a 
well-organized commissariat, whose ordinary supplies are obtained by 
contract, founded on public notice, possesses (besides those peculiar to 
itself) all of the advantages fairly attributable to the system of issuing 
rations by contract. It is equally guarded against fraud, and its pur- 
chases can be made on terms more advantageous. A considerable 
objection to the system of issuing the ration by contract is, that the 
merchants and capitalists are deterred from bidding, by the hazard of 
issuing the ration; and thus the sphere of competition is contracted, 
and the contracts for supplying the Army often thrown into the hands 
of adventurers. This objection is avoided under the present system, by 
which the ration will be cheaply supplied, and the danger of failure almost 
wholly removed. 
“All of which is respectfully submitted. 
“J. C. CALHOUN.” 71 
I. 
“ Surgeon-General’s Office, 
“November 16, 1818. 
“Sir: In compliance with your instructions, I have the honor to 
submit the following report: 
“In deciding upon the component parts of the ration, to he furnished 
the Army, it must be obvious, that so far as the health of the troops is 
concerned, those will of course be the best which afford the greatest 
quantity of good, nutritious matter from a given quantity of food; but 
as the soldier is, in general, his own cook, it is also necessary that they 
be o£ such a nature as to enable him effectually to extract this nutriment 
in the easiest and most simple manner. The first will depend on the 
habits of the soldier previous to enlistment, and the last upon the mode 
of cooking, which the experience of the Army has found most convenient 
and advantageous. 
“With regard to the articles best suited to compose the ration, it is 
necessary that they be not only adapted to the habits of the soldier, 
but also of such a nature as to be easily procured, of a good quality, 
and capable of being preserved from injury in the several parts of the 
country where they are to be used. Wheat flour is easily damaged in 
all places, and in that state is extremely prejudicial to health. Most of 
the diseases of the troops during the late war were, by general consent, 
attributed to the ration; but though by no means true to the extent 
believed, it was too often so; and, nine times in ten, damaged flour 
was the noxious article. At French Mills, particularly, where the mor- 
tality was almost incredible, the flour was unfit for any human 
stomach. Where it can be obtained, therefore, kiln-dried corn-meal is 
far preferable to flour in every respect; but where it cannot, the evil 
may in a great measure be remedied, by causing the latter to be baked 
in the form of hard biscuits, which cannot only be preserved a much 
longer time, but are more palatable and less injurious when damaged, 
and far more nutritious when good, than the soft bread furnished to or 
made by the soldiers. This, it is believed, is a matter of no small im- 
portance, not only on account of the bad effects of damaged flour, but 
from the fact well known to many valetudinarians, and most physicians, 
that hard bread or soft bread toasted is much more easily digested, and 
affords more nutriment than in any other form, however good the quality 
may be; and since a pound of this bread will be equal to a pound of the 
flour, baking will be but little, if any, additional expense. 
“For the same reason that kiln-dried corn-meal should, in many cases, 
be substituted for flour, bacon ought to be furnished instead of salt beef 
and pork; at the South, particularly, this change appears absolutely 
necessary for the health of the troops. With this alteration, and a proper 
reduction of the quantity of the meat, this part of the ration, provided a 
due proportion of it be fresh, would be as good as can possibly be re- 
quired. 72 
“As to the additional vegetables that may be substituted for part oi 
the meat, the kinds best adapted to this purpose, on every account, are 
those used by the British and French, viz, peas, beans, and rice; they 
may be obtained in abundance, and generally at a low rate; and if issued 
either regularly or occasionally, would not only promote the health and 
comfort of the soldier, by approaching nearer to his accustomed food, but 
by enabling him to introduce frequent changes in his mode of preparing it. 
"The deleterious effects of ardent spirits, particularly in the Army, are 
well known; for, in the reports of sick, 'sudden death from intoxication’ 
is no small item. It is suggested, therefore, whether this troublesome 
poison should not be altogether excluded, and the healthy drinks of mo- 
lasses and water, or beer, substituted for it. If I am rightly informed, by 
supplying molasses and the essence of spruce, one quart of beer may be 
furnished for about the same sum as one gill of whisky. 
" The necessity of this will be more evident when it is remembered 
that, in fact, the soldier has at present only water with his meals; for, 
notwithstanding all regulations, he will make a morning dram of his 
whisky, which is one chief cause of its injurious effects. 
"Almost all classes of men among us are accustomed to the free use 
of spices and other condiments, particularly of pickles, which, on ac- 
count of the vegetable acid they contain, are both a pleasant and 
healthy stimulant to the stomach. Indeed, vinegar is of great use on 
many accounts; it is one of the best correctors of the superabundance 
of bile, induced by an unnatural or long-continued stimulus; whether 
it be the excessive heat of a warm climate, an abundance of animal 
food, or that of a crude consistence, or a too free use of ardent spirits; 
in the latter case, as well as where laudanum or other narcotics have 
been taken, it seems to act as a specific. Whenever, therefore, the 
soldiers are supplied with the lighter vegetables, as cabbage, beets, 
cucumbers, &c., which may, by suitable arrangements, easily be done, 
especially on the peace establishment, there can be no doubt of the 
benefit of allowing a sufficient quantity of vinegar to furnish them with 
a regular supply of pickles, and even without these it might be used 
with great advantage, and would generally be very acceptable in its 
simple form. 
" If, from these circumstances, it should appear that the health of the 
Army requires alteration in the ration, they will be of still greater weight 
when we remember that, from the nature of our public institutions, the 
greater part of our force in actual service does, and will for many years, 
consist of militia, of men who must necessarily, in all cases, be suddenly 
taken from their customary habits and comforts, and exposed to all the 
hardships and privations of the soldier, without any of his advantages; 
the effects of this have been too lately and too severely felt to be soon 
forgotten; and it is suggested whether this circumstance be not of suf- 
ficient importance to have a very considerable influence in deciding not 
only the nature of the ration, but of all those supplies upon which militia, 
when on duty, are equally as dependent as the regular soldiers; and as 
every able-bodied citizen is liable, at a moment’s warning, to feel the 73 
necessity of having these supplies as good as practicable, he will have 
less objection to furnish his portion of any additional expense that may 
be necessary to insure their provision. 
“All of which is respectfully submitted. 
“JOSEPH LOVELL, 
“ Surgeon- General.” 
“Hon. J. C. Calhoun, 
“Secretary of War.” 
J. 
“Regulations of the Subsistence Department. 
“Commissary- General. 
“1.—The Commissary-General of Subsistence will be stationed at 
Washington, and have a general superintendence of his department. 
He will make all estimates of expenditures for his department, regulate 
the transmission of funds to his assistants, receive their returns and 
accounts, and adjust them for settlement. 
“Assistant Commissaries. 
“2.—It shall be the duty of the Assistant Commissaries, or store- 
keepers, to receive and account, in the manner hereafter prescribed, for 
all subsistence stores intrusted to their charge, and to make and transmit 
to the proper accounting officer, through the office of the Commissary- 
General, all returns and accounts. They will not receive subsistence 
stores from the contractors until duly inspected according to the terms of 
the contract. 
“3— In case of failure on the part of the contractor, or a deficiency 
of rations, the Assistant Commissary stationed at the depot where such 
failure happens shall give immediate notice thereof to the Commissary- 
General ; and shall, at the same time, make purchases of the necessary 
supplies on the best terms possible. 
“4.—It shall be the duty of the several Assistant Commissaries, or 
storekeepers, stationed at the depots where subsistence stores shall have 
been inspected and delivered agreeably to the conditions of the contract, 
to give the contractor duplicate receipts for the same, stating at length 
the articles as enumerated in the contract. 
“5.—Whenever it is found necessary to forward subsistence stores to 
an out-post, the Assistant Commissary, or storekeeper, stationed at the 
depot will require the necessary transportation of the Quartermaster’s 
Department, and will forward with the supplies triplicate invoices, two 
of which will be receipted and returned by the receiving commissary, 
and one of them must accompany the monthly return of stores received 
and issued. 
“6.—The Assistant Commissary, or storekeeper, will he held strictly 
accountable for the good condition of the supplies when turned over to 
the Quartermaster’s Department for transportation. They will be held 
accountable for the safe-keeping and storage of all supplies intrusted to 74 
tlieir charge, and they will require of the Quartermaster’s Department 
good and sufficient storehouses for that purpose; and it will be their 
duty to examine frequently into the state of the stores, and to prevent 
damage or waste of any description. 
“ 7.—Should subsistence stores become damaged or unfit for issue, the 
Assistant Commissary, or storekeeper, having them in charge will report 
the same to the commanding officer of the post, who is hereby authorized 
and required to institute a board of survey, to be composed of two offi- 
cers, when the service will permit; otherwise of two respectable persons 
well qualified, to act under oath; and all stores found damaged and unfit 
for issue, from causes other than neglect of the Assistant Commissary, or 
storekeeper, shall be condemned and sold—the auctioneer’s bill of such sale 
to accompany the account-current, and an invoice of the stores thus con- 
demned, with the cause of damage, certified by the board of survey, to 
accompany the monthly return of stores received and issued; and in case 
the board of survey be of opinion that stores have been damaged by 
neglect of the Assistant Commissiary, or storekeeper, they will make out 
an invoice of the articles damaged, and certify the same to the Commis- 
sary-General, at Washington, who will have the amount of such damaged 
articles charged to the Assistant Commissary, or storekeeper, in his ac- 
counts with the United States 
“ 8.—Issues to the troops will be made on provision-returns signed by 
the commanding officer of the post, agreeably to the form hereafter 
prescribed; and at the end of every month the Assistant Commissary 
will make out duplicate abstracts, which will be compared with the 
original returns, and certified by the commanding officer of the post; one 
of which abstracts must accompany the monthly return of stores received 
and issued. Issues will be made for men in hospital, on returns of the 
senior surgeon, for the whole or parts of the rations. When parts only 
are drawn, the Assistant Commissary will, on requisition of the surgeon, 
purchase and issue eggs, fowls,'milk, or other articles of subsistence, in 
lieu thereof, which he will account for in the same manner as other sub- 
sistence stores purchased and issued. 
“ 9.—Abstracts for issues to the hospital will be made out by the As- 
sistant Commissary, and certified by the surgeon in the usual form, one 
of which will accompany the return of stores received and issued. 
“ 10.—Officers commanding recruiting-parties distant from depots will 
enter into a written contract for the rations necessary for their parties, first 
giving the necessary public notice for proposals. The issues will be 
made on returns, for the complete ration, of which abstracts will be made 
at the end of each month, certified in the usual form. A duplicate or 
certified copy of each contract will be forwarded to the Commissary- 
General at Washington. 
“11.—When troops are detached to points where there is no Assistant 
Commissary, the commanding officer of the post or detachment may 
appoint an officer to do that duty, who will, while acting, be entitled to 
the additional pay of an Assistant Commissary; but as such appoint- 
ments are only necessary to meet the casualties of service, the officer 
thus appointed will not be considered on pay after he has ceased to per- 
form the duties. Officers making appointments of this nature will forth- 
with report them to the Commissary-General at Washington. 75 
“12.—The Assistant Commissaries will be located by the Commissary- 
General at the several permanent depots and established posts, and they 
will not be removed but by orders from the commanding general of the 
troops, or the Commissary-General of Subsistence, except when posts 
are evacuated, or in case of courts-martial; in the latter case a suitable 
person is to be appointed by the commanding officer to do their duty. 
“13.—A reasonable percentage will be allowed for unavoidable waste 
in issuing provisions, to be accounted for in the monthly returns of stores 
received and issued.” 
On the 21st of December, 1818, Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, from the 
House Committee on Military Atfairs, reported a bill “ respecting the 
Military Establishment,” which was then read the first and the second 
time, and referred to the Committee of the Whole. 
This bill, as reported, contained seven sections, providing for a reor- 
ganization of the Army upon the basis of the recommendations contained 
in Mr. Calhoun’s report. The fifth section provided for the pay of the 
Commissary-General of Subsistence, and authorized the appointment of 
two Deputy Commissaries of Subsistence with the rank of major of Ord- 
nance. 
On the 22d of December, Mr. Johnson laid before the House of Repre- 
sentatives a letter from Mr. Calhoun, the Secretary of War, respecting 
the alterations proposed to be made in the Military Establishment by the 
bill then before the House. The letter was referred to the Committee of 
the Whole, to whom the bill was also referred. 
In relation to the new system for subsisting the Army, Mr. Calhoun 
said: 
“Since the estimates were formed, the contracts, under the new system 
for supplying the Army with provisions after the 1st of June next, have 
been completed, and it is ascertained that a reduction can be made under 
the head of subsistence. The contract system will terminate on the 1st 
of June next. To complete the deliveries under the present contracts 
until that time will probably require the sum of $303,441; and it is esti- 
mated that the expense of subsistence from the 1st of June, 1819, at which 
time the system of supplying the Army by Commissaries will commence, 
until the 1st of June, 1820, cannot exceed $503,700; but as four-fifths of 
the rations will be required, by the terms of the contracts, to be delivered 
between the 1st of June, 1819, and the 1st of January, 1820, the sum of 
$403,160 will be necessary to meet the deliveries in 1819; and, conse- 
quently, the whole appropriation required for that year, under this head, 
will be $706,601, instead of $858,125, the sum stated in the estimate.” 
On the 12th of January, 1819, the House, sitting as in Committee of 
the Whole, took up the bill. 
On the suggestion of Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, a letter from the Sec- 76 
retary of War to the Committee on Military Affairs was read, recommend- 
ing the adoption of the provisions of the bill as necessary to equalize the 
standing of different corps, and for the purpose of enforcing economy in 
the public expenditures. 
Mr. Johnson, as Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, then 
explained the sections relating to General Officers and their Aides-de- 
Camp, the Corps of Engineers, and the Quartermaster’s and Medical 
Departments; and, in conclusion, said: 
"Other parts* of the bill scarcely need explanation, and I will not 
detain the committee by going over them; but if any gentleman desires 
it, when they are taken up by sections, I will willingly give any infor- 
mation in my power. The leading object of the bill is to combine economy 
with utility to the greatest possible extent, so that one shall not overpower 
the other; but that both may harmonize in the advancement and safety 
of the nation.” 
After considerable debate on the bill, the question was taken on the 
motion of Mr. Williams, of North Carolina, to strike out the first section, 
and decided in the affirmative—73 to 52. 
The Committee then rose. 
Mr. Mercer, of Virginia, expressed a desire that the further considera- 
tion of the bill should be postponed until the House should have received 
the information as to the strength of the Army, its distribution, &c., 
called for by the resolutions introduced by him, and adopted by the House, 
on January 6th and 7tli ;t and, on motion of Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, 
the bill was ordered to lie on the table. 
No further action was taken on the subject at this session. 
On the 17th of December, 1819, on motion of Mr. Whitman, of Mas- 
sachusetts, the House of Representatives directed the Secretary of War 
to furnish a statement showing the expense of furnishing the Army with 
rations, and the average cost of the ration, for the period of one year 
ending April 14, 1818; and also, a like statement, covering a period of 
one year, under the provisions of the act of April 14, 1818, entitled "An 
act to regulate the Staff of the Army.” 
On the 25th of January, on motion of Mr. Eppes, of Virginia, the 
Senate Committee on Military Affairs was instructed to prepare and report 
a bill to regulate the compensation of, and other allowances made to, 
officers and soldiers when employed on fatigue duty; and, on the next 
day, Mr. Williams, of Tennessee, chairman of that committee, reported 
a bill in compliance with the instructions of the Senate. 
* One of which was the fifth section, relating to the Subsistence Department, 
t These resolution* were introduced and adopted pending the debate on the Military 
Appropriation Bill. 77 
The bill passed the Senate on the 16th of February; the House of 
Representatives, on the 19th of February; and was approved and signed 
by the President on the 2d of March. 
As passed and approved, the act read as follows: 
“ AN ACT to regulate the Pay of the Army when employed on Fatigue Duty. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever it shall be found 
expedient to employ the Army at work on fortifications, in surveys, in 
cutting roads, and other constant labor, of not less than ten days, the 
non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates so employed, shall be 
allowed fifteen cents, and an extra gill of whisky or spirits, each, per day, 
while so employed.” 
On the 24th of February, 1820, the Speaker laid before the House of 
Representatives a letter from the Secretary of War, inclosing reports 
from the Third Auditor and the Commissary-General of Subsistence, 
called for by the House on the 17th of December previous. 
The reports of the Third Auditor and the Commissary-General of Sub- 
sistence were accompanied by statistical tables, prepared from the official 
accounts and returns, showing a very decided economy in favor of the 
new system. 
On the 28th of February, 1820, Mr. Smyth, of Virginia, from the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, reported a bill “respecting the Military Estab- 
lishment of the United States,” which did not, however, propose any 
change in the status of the Commissariat, as fixed by the act of April 14, 
1818. 
This bill was finally disposed of on the 11th of May, 1820, when, upon 
motion of Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, it was laid on the table, to give him an 
opportunity to offer the following resolution, which was adopted: 
“Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to report to this 
House, at the commencement of the next session of Congress, a plan for 
the reduction of the Army to six thousand officers, non-commissioned 
officers, musicians, and privates, and preserving such parts of the Corps 
of Engineers as, in his opinion, without regard to that number, it may be 
for the public interest to retain; and also, what saving of the public 
revenue will be produced by such an arrangement of the Army as he may 
propose in conformity to this resolution.” 
An act, entitled “An act in addition to the several acts for the estab- 
lishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments,” 
containing the following section relating to making contracts for the sub- 
sistence and clothing of the Army and Navy, passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives on the 25th of March; the Senate, on the 24th of April; and 
was approved by the President on the 1st of May, 1820: 78 
"SECTION 6.—That no contract shall hereafter be made by the Secre- 
tary of State, or of the Treasury, or of the Department of War, or of the 
Navy, except under a law authorizing the same, or under an appropria- 
tion adequate to its fulfilment; and excepting, also, contracts for the sub- 
sistence and clothing of the Army or Navy, and contracts by the Quarter- 
master’s Department, which may be made by the Secretaries of those 
Departments.” 
On the 20th of November, 1820, Mr. Cocke, of Tennessee, submitted 
to the House of Representatives the following resolution, which was 
adopted: 
“Resolved, That the Committee on the Military Establishment be 
instructed to inquire into the expediency of reducing the Military Peace 
Establishment of the United States.” 
On the 12th of December, 1820, the Speaker laid before the House of 
Representatives the report of Mr. Calhoun, the Secretary of War, rendered 
in conformity to the resolution of the House, adopted on the 11th of May 
previous, directing him to report to that body, at the commencement of 
the next session, a plan for the reduction of the Army to the aggregate 
strength of six thousand men, exclusive of such parts of the Corps of 
Engineers as, in his opinion, it would be for the interest of the public 
service to retain'; and also what economy would be effected by his pro- 
posed arrangement of the Army in conformity with the resolution. 
This masterly and statesmanlike report showed that the gifted Secretary 
had given the subject profound consideration. After briefly stating the 
general principles upon which he conceived the Military Peace Estab- 
lishment ought to be organized, Mr. Calhoun said: 
"To give such an organization, the leading principle in its formation 
ought to be, that at the commencement of hostilities there should be 
nothing either to new-model or to create. The only difference, conse- 
quently, between the peace and the war formation of the Army, ought to 
be in the increased magnitude of the latter; and the only change in pass- 
ing from the former to the latter should consist in giving to it the augmen- 
tation which will then be necessary. 
"It is thus, and thus only, the dangerous transition from peace to war 
may be made without confusion or disorder; and the weakness and 
danger, which otherwise would be inevitable, be avoided.” 
Upon the subject of the Staff of the Army, Mr. Calhoun gave his views 
as follows: 
"It is believed that the true principle of its organization is, that every 
distinct branch of the Staff should terminate in a chief, to be stationed 
near the seat of Government, and to be made responsible for its condition. 
It is thus that the Government may, at all times, obtain correct knowledge 
of the condition of the Army in every particular, and be enabled to intro- 79 
duce method, order, and economy in its disbursements. It is, at present, 
with slight exceptions, thus organized, and the beneficial effects of it have 
already been strikingly exemplified by experience. Since the passage of 
the act of April 14, 1818, which gave the present organization to the 
Staff) the expense of the Army has been greatly reduced, while, at the 
same time, the various articles supplied have been improved in quality, 
and in the punctuality with which they have been issued; and while the 
movements of the Army have, at least for the present, been rendered 
more expensive by occupying the distant frontier posts at the mouth of 
the St. Peter’s and at the Council Bluffs.” 
After referring to a tabular statement accompanying his report, showing 
that in the year 1820, after allowing for the diminution of prices, there had 
been a saving of $957,356.46 effected through the organization of the 
new Staff-system established by the act of April 14, 1818, “ by enabling 
the Department to superintend in its minute details, as well the various 
disbursements of the Army, as the measures taken to prevent the waste 
of public property,” Mr. Calhoun further said: 
“As great as the result is, it is only in war that the benefits of a proper 
organization of the Staff can be fully realized, With a complete organi- 
zation and experienced officers, trained in peace to an exact and punctual 
discharge of their duty, the saving in war (not to insist on increased 
energy and success in our military movements) would be of incalculable 
advantage to the country. 
“The number of Deputies and Assistants in each branch ought to he 
regulated by the exigency of the service, and this must obviously depend 
much more on the number of posts than on the number of troops; and as 
no material change can, consistently with the public interest, be made as 
to the posts, under the proposed reduction, little diminution can be made 
in the number of subordinate officers belonging to the Staff.” 
On the 28th of December, pursuant to the resolution of the House of 
the 20th of November, Mr. Smyth, of Virginia, from the Military Com- 
mittee, reported an elaborate bill to reduce the Army to six thousand men. 
This bill, after having been debated in both Houses, and sundry amend- 
ments made thereto, finally became a law on the 2d of March, 1821, under 
the title, “An act to reduce and fix the Military Peace Establishment of 
the United States.” By section 8 of this act, the system of subsisting the 
Army established by section 6 of the act of April 14,1818, was, however, 
retained with but slight modifications—the only changes being in limiting 
the number of Assistant Commissaries of Subsistence to fifty, and fixing 
their extra pay at not less than ten nor more than twenty dollars per 
month, instead of twenty dollars per month; and making the Assistant 80 
Quartermasters* and the Assistant Commissaries of Subsistence subject 
to duties in both departments, under the orders of the Secretary of War. 
The section stood as follows: 
“ Section 8.—And be it further enacted, That there shall he one Com- 
missary-General of Subsistence; and there shall he as many Assistant 
Commissaries as the service may require, not exceeding fifty, who shall 
be taken from the subalterns of the line, and shall, in addition to their 
pay in the line, receive a sum not less than ten, nor more than twenty, 
dollars per month; and that the Assistant Quartermasters and Assistant 
Commissaries of Subsistence shall be subject to duties in both Depart- 
ments under the orders of the Secretary of War.” 
On the 15th of December, 1821, Mr. Walworth, of New York, submit- 
ted the following resolution to the House of Representatives: 
“Resolved, That the_ Military Committee he instructed to inquire into 
the expediency of discontinuing the daily allowance of ardent spirits to 
soldiers in the Army of the United States.” 
The resolution was read, and the question taken, “Will the House 
agree to the same?” and determined in the negative. 
In the Senate, on the 18th of December, 1821, Mr. Williams, of Ten- 
nessee, moved the following resolution: 
“Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to 
cause to be laid before the Senate a report of the practical operation of 
the system of subsisting the Army, under the provisions of the act passed 
April 14, 1818, together with a comparative view of the present and 
former modes of subsisting the Army.” 
In offering this resolution, Mr. Williams said : 
“ Many gentlemen present will doubtless recollect that the act com- 
monly called the ‘ Staff Bill,’ has engaged the attention of Congress for 
several sessions, and that its passage was, for some time, successfully 
resisted. The gentlemen opposed to it warned us against innovation; 
they predicted that the troops would not be well supplied, that each ra- 
tion would cost the Government at least fifty cents, and that the public 
money would be wasted. Others, who were not alarmed at these predic- 
tions, contended that the contract system was as wrong in principle as it 
had been ruinous in practice; that all laws ought to be so framed that it 
would be the interest as well as the duty of every one to execute them ; 
that it was the interest of the contractor to issue the cheapest provisions 
which could be had, and at places where he made the greatest profit; 
his interest being in direct collision with the Government, he seldom 
* The status of the Assistant Quartermasters was similar to that of the Assistant 
Commissaries of Subsistence. The grade of Assistant Quartermaster was created 
(apparently upon the model of the grade of Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, 
established by the act of April 14, 1818) by section 7 of this act, which provided that 
there should be “ten Assistant Quartermasters, who shall, in addition to their pay 
in the line, receive a sum not less than ten dollars, nor more than twenty dollars, per 
month, to be regulated by the Secretary of War.” 81 
failed to pursue it to the great injury of the country. The contractors 
being exempt from martial law, they availed themselves of this immunity, 
and did, at pleasure, paralyze the operations of the Army. The remedy 
provided by law, of a suit on the contractor’s bond, had proved ineffectual, 
because there was no tribunal which could at the same time issue an in- 
junction to stay the appetites of hungry soldiers. 
“Most of the disappointments, vexations, and defeats experienced 
during the progress of the late war can be traced directly to the, then, 
defective Staff; which seemed to be adhered to in despite of experience, 
and purely on account of its wretched deformity. 
“I hazard but little when I say that one-third of the expense of the 
late war would have been saved to this nation, if we had had at its com- 
mencement well-organized Commissariat and Quartermaster’s Depart- 
ments. Independently of the great saving of national debt, we should 
have preserved the lives of at least one-half of those who perished by 
disease. 
“My object in offering this resolution, at the early stage of the session, 
is to obtain a faithful report, from the War Department, as to the practi- 
cal operation of the commissariat system, which will enable us to judge 
of its merits. This report will prove that all the anticipations of the 
friends of the new system have been more than realized; that the troops 
have been better fed at little more than half the former expense. I am 
desirous, if there have been any abuses under the new system, that they 
may be exposed; and I invite gentlemen to a strict scrutiny of everything 
connected with this subject, as I intend to introduce a bill to make.the 
provisions of the Staff act, which limited the Commissariat to five years, 
a permanent law.” 
The motion of Mr. Williams, under the rules of the Senate, was 
ordered to lie over one day. 
On the 20th of December the Senate took up Mr. Williams’s resolution. 
On motion, the following clause was added thereto: 
“ Stating the rank of the otficers, their number, and the number of the 
soldiers, in actual service for each year; together with the amount of 
their pay and subsistence from the commencement of the Military Estab- 
lishment.” 
Thus amended, the resolution was adopted. 
On the 3d of January, 1822, Mr. Walworth, of New York, introduced 
the following resolution in the House of Representatives, which was 
ordered to lie on the table: 
“Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to 
inquire and report to this House whether any, and, if any, what, altera- 
tions are necessary to be made in the component parts of the ration 
issued to the Army of the United States; and that the said committee be 
also instructed to inquire into the practicability of regulating the issue of 
ardent spirits in such manner as more effectually to preserve the health 
and morals of the soldiers.” 82 
On the 11th of January the House proceeded to the consideration of 
the foregoing resolution; and in support thereof, Mr. Walworth said: 
“The proportions of the ration are established by law; and, although 
the President is authorized by law to change the component parts of the 
ration, he is not authorized to make any but a general change in it. 
Now, a change may be necessary at the northern extremity of the Union, 
and not at the southern; but under the law, such a change cannot be 
made. The effect of the general commixture of spirituous liquors in the 
ration of the soldier has been very prejudicial to the service; so much 
so, that reports have been made by various officers deprecating the sys- 
tem as now established and practiced. Under its operation, a young man 
who goes into the Army with sober and steady habits becomes in time 
almost necessarily intemperate. At times the use of spirituous liquors 
may be necessary to the health of the soldier—when on fatigue duty, &c. 
But there ought to be a discretion vested in the officers commanding to give 
or withhold it—a discretion which they cannot now exercise without 
violating the law of the country. While the officer is thus situated, the 
soldier is left without the option of accepting or refusing the component 
part of the ration. He is surrounded, on its being offered to him, by vet- 
erans in the art and practice of drinking, and, by scoffs and jeers, and 
even by force, compelled to take the cup. He is thus put in the way to 
become an habitual drunkard, and every finer feeling of his mind is 
destroyed. It is worthwhile to inquire, at least, whether this evil cannot 
be remedied.” 
The question was then taken on the resolution, and it was agreed to 
without a division. 
On the 4th of February, 1822, Mr. Eustis, of Massachusetts, from the 
Committee on Military Affairs, in pursuance of a resolution previously 
adopted by the House, on a motion made by Mr. Cannon, of Tennessee, 
reported a bill in addition to an act entitled “An act to reduce and fix the 
Military Peace Establishment of the United States,” approved March 2, 
1821. 
This bill provided for such sweeping reductions and radical alterations 
in the Staff of the Army, that Mr. Tatnall of Georgia, in a speech deliv- 
ered in the House on the 15th of April, 1822, said, “one glance at this bill 
will satisfy any one that its object is (at all events its effect would be) to 
destroy the Staff.” It is noteworthy, however, that the new system of 
subsisting the Army had, by this time, so far demonstrated its excellence 
that in the 5th section of this bill it was proposed to make the office of 
Commissary-General of Subsistence permanent. 
This bill, however, never got beyond the House in which it originated. 
When under consideration, in the Committee of the Whole, it was opposed 
by Mr. Tatnall, of Georgia, Mr. Sterling, of New York, and Mr. Poin- 
sett, of South Carolina, and its impolicy so clearly shown that when the 83 
House, on the 18th of April, proceeded to its final consideration, it was, 
on motion of Mr. Tatnall, laid on the table. 
On the 1st of May, 1822, a message was received by the Senate from 
the President of the United States, transmitting a report from the Secre- 
tary of War, furnishing the information called for by Mr. Williams’s reso- 
lution, adopted by the Senate on the 20th of December previous. 
With the report of the Secretary of War were inclosed statements 
from the Second and Third Auditors, and the Commissary-General of 
Subsistence, which contained, in detail, the information required. These 
statements showed that the practical operation of the commissariat sys- 
tem had been to effect a very great economy for the Government, while 
it had not only furnished the sick with delicacies, by the commutation of 
the hospital ration, “ at a very considerable expense to the subsistence 
fund,” but had, also, incurred a still greater expense in “the improve- 
ment in the quality of the ration.” 
All that had been claimed for the system by Mr. Williams, in his speech 
in the Senate on the 18th of December previous, when he moved the call 
for the report, was fully verified by the official figures. 
On the 7th of May, preparatory to final adjournment on the next day, 
the House Committee on Military Affairs was discharged from the further 
consideration of “ all petitions and other matters ” before it, and among 
the latter was Mr. Walworth’s resolution in relation to the components 
of the army ration. 
President Monroe, in his annual message, dated December 3, 1822, in 
reference to the organization of the Army and the Army Staff, said: 
“ The organization of the several corps composing the Army is such 
as to admit its expansion to a great extent in case of emergency. * * * 
“ With the organization of the Staff, there is equal cause to be satisfied. 
By the concentration of every branch, with its chief in this city, in the 
presence of the Department, and with a grade in the chief military station to 
keep alive and cherish a military spirit, the greatest promptitude in the 
execution of orders, with the greatest economy and efficiency, are secured.” 
In referring to the new system of subsisting the Army, he spoke in the 
following terms of approval: 
“ It appearing that so much of the act entitled 'An act regulating the 
Staff of the Army,’ which passed on the 14th of April, 1818, as relates 
to the Commissariat, will expire in April next, and the practical opera- 
tion of that Department having evinced its great utility, the propriety of 
its renewal is submitted to your consideration.” 
On the 17th of December, Mr. Eustis, of Massachusetts, Chairman of 
the Committee on Military Affairs, in accordance with the recommenda- 84 
tion in the President’s annual message, introduced a bill in the House of 
Eepresentatives to continue the present mode of subsisting the Army. 
The bill passed the House on the 3d of January, 1823, the Senate on the 
14th, and was approved by the President on the 23d of the same month. 
The following is the act in full: 
“AN ACT to continue the present mode of supplying the Army of the United States. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Eepresentatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the seventh, eighth, ninth, 
and tenth sections of the act entitled ‘An act regulating the Staff of the 
Army,’ passed April fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighteen, be, and 
the same are hereby, continued in force for the term of five years, and 
until the end of the next session of Congress thereafter.” 
When the 18th Congress met, in December, 1823, the condition of the 
Army was so satisfactory, that President Monroe, in his annual message, 
held the following language in relation to it: 
“ The state of the Army, and its organization and discipline, has been 
gradually improving for several years, and has now attained a high degree 
of perfection. The military disbursements have been regularly made, 
and the accounts regularly and promptly rendered for settlement. The 
supplies of various descriptions have been of good quality, and regularly 
issued at all of the posts. A system of economy and accountability has 
been introduced into every branch of the service, which admits of little 
additional improvement. This desirable state has been attained by the 
act reorganizing the Staff of the Army, passed on the fourteenth of April, 
eighteen hundred and eighteen.” 
In his annual report for the year 1827, Hon. James Barbour, Secretary 
of War, made the following statement and recommendation with refer- 
ence to continuing the commissariat system of subsisting the Army: 
“I beg leave, also, to recommend to the favorable consideration of 
Congress the alteration proposed by the Commissary-General of Subsist- 
ence, in the organization of that Department, presuming that the mode of 
supplying the Army by commissariat, whose advantages have been so 
satisfactorily manifested, will be continued by a new act of legislation, 
the forme! law being about to expire. In confirmation of this suggestion, 
as to the advantage of supplying the Army by this system, I beg leave 
to state that the price of rations, although of a much superior quality to 
those formerly issued, has been reduced to 11.6 cents at our most expen- 
sive posts, while at those least so we procure them at 6.8 cents.” 
A bill in accordance with the foregoing recommendation, entitled “A 
bill to continue the present mode of supplying the Army of the United 
States, and for other purposes appertaining to the same,” was introduced 
in the House of Eepresentatives, on the 2d of January, 1828, by Mr. 
Hamilton, of South Carolina. Chairman of the Committee on Military 
Affairs. 85 
No farther action was taken on the bill, however, until the next session 
of Congress. Early in that session it was taken up, and after having 
been considered in Committee of the Whole, recommitted to the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, and reported again with amendments, it passed 
the House on the 29th of January, 1829; the Senate, on the 28th of 
February; and was signed by the President on the 2d of March 
The act was as follows : 
“ AN ACT to continue the present mode of supplying the Army of the United States. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the sixth, seventh, eighth, 
ninth, and tenth sections of the act entitled ‘An act regulating the Staff 
of the Army of the United States,’ passed April the fourteenth, eighteen 
hundred and eighteen, and the eighth section of the act entitled ‘An act 
to reduce and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States,’ 
passed March the second, eighteen hundred and twenty-one, are hereby 
continued in force for five years from the passing of this act, and thence 
to the end of the next session of Congress thereafter, and no longer. 
“Section 2.—And be it further enacted, That the better to enable the 
Commissary-General of Subsistence to carry into effect the provisions 
of the above-specified acts, there be appointed two Commissaries, to he 
taken from the line of the Army, one of whom shall have the same rank, 
pay, and emoluments as Quartermaster, and the other with the rank, pay, 
and emoluments of Assistant Quartermaster.” 
On the 14th of January, 1829, Mr. Sprague, of Maine, upon whose 
motion a resolution had been adopted by the House of Representatives, 
on the 11th of December previous, instructing the Committee on Military 
Affairs “ to inquire into the expediency of providing by law that spirit- 
uous liquors shall not, hereafter, be furnished to the Army, except when 
prescribed by a Surgeon; and of prohibiting sutlers from selling spirit- 
uous liquors to the soldiers of the Army,” moved the following resolution, 
which was read, and laid on the table : 
“Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to inform this House 
what beneficial effects, if any, have arisen, or are likely to arise, from the 
daily use of spirituous liquors by the Army; and whether the conse- 
quences of that practice have not been, and will not be, injurious; and 
particularly of its influence upon the health, morals, and discipline of the 
soldiers.” 
On the next day this resolution was taken up and agreed to by the 
House., 
On the 3d of February the Speaker laid before the House of Represent- 
atives a report from the Secretary of War, on the effects of the daily use 
of spirituous liquors in the Army, made in obedience to the foregoing resolu- 
tion ; which report was laid on the table. 86 
The report of the Secretary of War, Hon. Peter Buel Porter, was accom- 
panied by reports from Major-General Alexander Macomb, General-in- 
Chief of the Army, Doctor Joseph Lovell, Surgeon-General, and Brevet 
Brigadier-General George Gibson, Commissary-General of Subsistence; 
to whom, severally, he had referred the resolution of the House for their 
opinions. 
The Secretary, after referring to the fact that, on some points, the 
opinions of these officers were not exactly concurrent, but that on the 
whole subject they were not essentially at variance, said: 
“From these opinions, as well as from other sources of information, 
the following proposition may be deduced: 
“ 1st. That the habitual use of ardent spirits, even in moderate quan- 
tities, is unfavorable to health; and that the chances for health, vigor, 
and protracted life, in favor of an individual who finds it convenient 
wholly to abstain from them, are generally greater than of him who 
indulges. 
“2d. That the use of so small a quantity as one gill a day, taken at 
proper times, will not seriously impair the constitution or diminish the 
health of a man who pursues laborious or active employments. 
“ 3d. That a sudden and total abandonment of the practice, by one 
who has been long accustomed to the free use of ardent spirits, will 
diminish his vigor, and probably injure rather than improve his health 
and constitution; and, 
“ 4th. That the evils of intemperance in our Army arise, not so much 
from the moderate allowance of spirits made to the soldiers by the Govern- 
ment and its officers, as from the excessive quantities procured by other 
means.” 
As to the expediency of legislating on the subject, the Secretary sub- 
mitted the following views : 
“The President of the United States is authorized to prescribe the com- 
ponent parts of a soldier’s ration, and it will be in his power, with per- 
haps some small additional legislative aids, to correct in a great measure 
the evils complained of. A law or regulation, allowing to a soldier, who 
will abstain from the use of spirits, a sum in money, as a commutation for 
that part of the ration, equal to, or perhaps, by way of arrangement, 
somewhat greater than, its actual cost to the Government, might be 
advantageously adopted. Other experiments may, and probably will, 
be introduced by the Executive with a view to the desired reform. But 
the legislative aid, if any, which is most wanted at this time, is such as 
will prevent soldiers from procuring a greater quantity of spirits than is 
allowed by the regulations of the Army; and to this end, the separate 
legislation of the respective States would be required.” 
The next legislation affecting the Subsistence Department was sug- 
gested by Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War. In his annual report for 
1833, he said: 
“The act organizing the Subsistence Department expires by its own 87 
limitation on the second day of March next. It was originally passed in 
1818, and has been continued by successive temporary acts till the pres- 
ent time. The reason of this course of legislation is undoubtedly to be 
found in the fact that the introduction of the system was an experiment, 
and it was deemed prudent to test its operation before a permanent char- 
acter was given it. This has been fully done, and the result is, in every 
point of view, satisfactory. All who were acquainted with the mode of 
supplying the Army previously to, and during the late war, and for a 
few years after its termination, must be sensible of the superiority of the 
present plan. In the quality of the provisions, in the certainty of the 
supply, and in the economy of administration, its operation is decidedly 
superior to the old system, where contractors furnished and issued all 
the subsistence required. The continued failures that took place, and 
frequently in the most critical state of atfairs, the controversies arising 
out of perpetual attempts to issue unsound provisions, and the serious ob- 
stacles which these and the other operations of the system interposed to 
the public service, must be fresh in the recollection of every military man 
who participated in the events of those periods. The Army is now well 
and promptly supplied, and the faithful officer at the head of the Subsist- 
ence Department has established a system of purchasing, of issuing, and 
of responsibility, which, while it insures this result, guards the public in- 
terest against loss and imposition as far as a business necessarily so ex- 
tended permits. During the fifteen years in which this Department has 
been in operation, more than five millions and a half of dollars have been 
expended under its direction, and the whole loss which has been incurred 
by the defalcations of its officers does not amount >to sixteen thousand 
dollars. 
“ I consider that the time has arrived when the present arrangement 
should be rendered permanent, and I therefore present the subject with 
that view to your notice. And I also beg leave to suggest that the com- 
pensation of the clerks in the office should be increased. It is now lower 
than the average amount allowed in the other public offices, and less than 
is due to their labor and responsibility.” 
Consonant with the foregoing recommendation, Mr. R. M. Johnson, of 
Kentucky, from the House Committee on Military Affairs, on the 19tli of 
December, 1833, reported a bill “to render permanent the present mode 
of supplying the Army of the United States;” which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee of the Whole. 
On the 10th of February, 1834, the bill was considered in Committee 
of the Whole, and reported to the House by Mr. Thomson, of Ohio, with- 
out amendment. 
On the 19th of February, the bill was taken up for its third reading; 
but objection being made by Mr. Wilde, of Georgia, to the increased num- 
ber of clerks provided for in the office of the Commissary-General of Sub- 
sistence, it was, on motion of Mr. Blair, of South Carolina, recommitted 
to the Committee on Military Affairs. 88 
On the 4th of March, Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, from the Committee 
on Military Affairs, reported the hill with an amendment. 
The bill as reported was then referred to the Committee of the Whole 
on the state of the Union; but no further action was taken thereon until 
the next session. 
Issues of rations, in limited quantities, to friendly Indians visiting mil- 
itary posts or agencies on the frontiers, were authorized by the following 
section of the act, entitled “An act to provide for the organization of the 
Department of Indian Affairs,” approved June 30, 1834 : 
“ Section 16.—And be it further enacted, That the President he, and 
he is hereby, authorized to cause such rations as he shall judge proper, 
and as can be spared from the Army provisions without injury to the ser- 
vice, to be issued, under such regulations as he shall think fit to estab- 
lish, to Indians who may visit the military posts or agencies of the 
United States on the frontiers, or in their respective nations, and a special 
account of these issues shall be kept and rendered.” 
On the 24th day of February, 1835, Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, from 
the Committee on Military Affairs, reported the following resolution, 
which was agreed to : 
“Resolved, That on Wednesday morning, after reading the Journal, 
and receiving reports from committees, the House will appropriate one 
hour to the consideration of the following bills: 
“A bill to render permanent the present mode of supplying the Army 
of the United States.” 
On the next day, on motion of Mr. Johnson, the House went into Com- 
mittee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and considered the bill as 
amended, which having been read and agreed to, the Committee rose and 
reported the bill to the House. After some intervening legislation, the 
bill was taken up, passed, and sent to the Senate. On the same day it 
was read twice in the Senate, and referred to the Committee on Military 
Affairs; and on the next day, February 26th, it was reported by Mr. Ben- 
ton, from the Committee on Military Affairs, and, on March 2d, passed. 
The bill as approved by the President, March 3,1835, was as follows: 
“AN ACT to render permanent the present mode of supplying the Army of the 
United States, and fixing the salary of certain clerks therein named. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the seventh, eighth, ninth, 
and tenth sections of the act entitled ‘An act regulating the Staff of the 
Army/ passed April fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighteen, be, and 
the same are hereby, continued in force until repealed by Congress. 
“ Section 2.—And be it further enacted, That the principal clerk in the 
office of the Commissary-General of Subsistence shall receive the annual 
sum of sixteen hundred dollars, one of the other clerks the sum of twelve 89 
hundred dollars, arid the other clerk the sum of one thousand dollars, to 
be paid for the year eighteen hundred and thirty-five, out of any money 
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.” 
From its re-establishment in 1818, until 1836, the commissariat system 
of subsisting the Army had, as to economy and efficiency, more than ful- 
filled the most sanguine expectations. In 1836, however, it was, for the 
first time, subjected to an unusual strain. The organization proper then 
consisted of the Commissary-General and two Commissaries—a major 
and a captain. To provide for the army in Florida, therefore, taxed the 
little organization to its full capacity—one of the Commissaries being re- 
quired for duty as assistant to the Commissary-General, and the other as 
Chief Commissary of the army in the field. The important depots had 
perforce to be placed in charge of Assistant Commissaries, who were 
lieutenants of the line. This demonstrated very clearly the necessity for 
a stronger organization—an organization which would make it practicable 
to put a Commissary of rank and experience in charge of each of the im- 
portant depots to purchase and distribute supplies; and one at each 
general headquarters to ascertain the wants of the troops, and, under the 
direction of the commander, supervise the Assistant Commissaries making 
the issues. 
The Department was then organized on the principle of having a chief 
at the seat of Government, with one or two officers to assist him ; and all 
other duties, embracing the purchase, distribution, and issue of supplies, 
and the disbursement of the large sums of money in payment therefor, to 
be performed by lieutenants of the line, detailed as Assistant Commissa- 
ries of Subsistence. The same principle of organization obtained in other 
staff corps and departments; and upon its injurious effects in impairing 
the efficiency of both the staff and the line the Secretary of War ad 
interim, Hon. B. F. Butler, of New York, commented as follows, in 
his annual report, dated December 3, 1836: 
“The present system seems to have been framed upon the principle of 
concentrating the business of these Departments at the seat of Govern- 
ment, and of employing therein a very small number of officers commis- 
sioned in the staff; the deficiencies having been supplied by selections 
from the line. This arrangement is very well adapted to a time of pro- 
found peace, when officers can be spared from the line without injury to 
the service; when the positions of the troops are chiefly permanent; and 
when the changes which occur are made with so much deliberation as to 
afford ample time for preparing adequate means for transportation and 
supply; but when large bodies of troops, whose numbers and movements 
may be varied by unforeseen contingencies, are to be supplied in the field, 
and at a great distance from the seat of Government, the system is worse 
than insufficient; it is the parent of expense, confusion, and delay. * 
To prevent inconvenience of this sort, it is evident 90 
that staff officers of experience and rank should be associated with the 
commander; and to supply such associates, the staff department must be 
enlarged. On the other hand, to make the line of the Army truly effect- 
ive, officers should not he taken for staff service, or other detached duties, 
in large numbers, nor for long periods, from their companies. And 
when, to relieve the weakness of the staff, on a pressing emergency, 
officers are selected from the line, the difficulty, instead of being remedied, 
is only exchanged for a new, and possibly a greater one. The embar- 
rassments occasioned by these causes during the operations of the year 
have been of constant recurrence and of the most serious character.” 
On the 8th of December, 1836, Mr. Benton, of Missouri, Chairman of 
the Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a bill based on the recom- 
mendations of Mr. Butler. 
This bill passed the Senate on the 16th of February, 1837, by a vote of 
26 to 13. 
The bill was taken,up, in the House of Representatives, on the 3d of 
March, and considered in Committee of the Whole; but after some pro- 
gress had been made, Mr. Mann, of New York, asked leave to make a 
motion, which was adopted, to discharge the Committee of the Whole 
from the further consideration of the bill. Mr. Mann said he was in favor 
of the bill, but being well assured it would occupy the whole residue of 
the session,* he made the motion only for the purpose of laying the bill 
on the table to enable the House to proceed to other business. 
No further action was taken on this bill, but early in the next session 
of Congress, Mr. Benton, of Missouri, from the Committee on Military 
Affairs, reported substantially the same hill, which passed the Senate on 
the 25th of January, 1838, and the House, with an amendment, on the 
2d of July. The House amendment was concurred in by .the Senate on 
the 4th of July, and on the 5th of July, 1838, the bill as amended was 
approved by the President. 
The title of the act as passed was “An act to increase the present 
Military Establishment of the United States, and for other purposes,” 
and the sections relating to subsistence of the Army were as follows : 
“Section 11.—And be it further enacted, That there be added to the 
Commissariat of Subsistence one Assistant Commissary-General of Sub- 
sistence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a lieutenant-colonel of 
Cavalry; one Commissary of Subsistence, with the rank, pay, and emol- 
uments of a Quartermaster of the Army; and three Commissaries of 
Subsistence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of Assistant Quarter- 
masters.” 
“Section 17.—And be it further enacted, That the allowance of sugar 
and coffee to the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, in 
* This was the last day of the session. 91 
lieu of the spirit or whisky component part of the army ration, now di- 
rected by regulation,* shall be fixed at six pounds of coffee and twelve 
pounds of sugar to every one hundred rations, to be issued weekly when 
it can be done with convenience to the public service, and, when not so 
issued, to be paid for in money.” 
The 11th section of the foregoing act was modified by the 7th section 
of the supplementary act, approved July 7, 1838, so far as to prohibit 
the last three Commissaries of Subsistence, therein authorized, from 
being separated from the line of the Army, i. e. from vacating their regi- 
mental commissions. The section of the supplementary act was as fol- 
lows : 
“ Section 7.—And be it further enacted, That the three Commissaries 
of Subsistence authorized by said act shall not be separated from the line 
of the Army.” t 
The act, entitled “An act to provide for raising a regiment of mounted 
riflemen, and for establishing military stations on the route to Oregon,” 
approved May 19, 1846, contained the following section: 
“Section 4.—And be it further enacted, That the non-commissioned 
officers, musicians, and privates of said regiment, when employed in con- 
structing fortifications, making surveys, cutting roads, or performing 
other labor, shall be allowed fifteen cents per day each, with a commuta- 
tion in money for the extra spirit ration, as provided by the act of the 
second of March, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, entitled 'An 
act to regulate the pay of the Army when on fatigue duty.’ ” 
The next legislation relative to the Subsistence Department was to 
provide for its expansion to meet the requirements of the Army in the 
pending war with Mexico. 
The legislation of 1838 had, fortunately, given to the Subsistence De- 
partment an organization which, although exceedingly small, conformed 
to the fundamental principle of Army organization enunciated by Mr. 
Calhoun in his report as Secretary of War, communicated to the House 
of Representatives on the 12th of December, 1820, viz: “that at the 
commencement of hostilities there should be nothing either to new-model 
or to create,” and it was, therefore, capable of expansion, without con- 
fusion or disorder, to any extent which might be required by the exigen- 
cies of a great war. 
To pass from the peace to the war basis it was only necessary to ade- 
* Under the authority given to the President by section 8 of the act of April 14, 
1818, an allowance of four pounds of coffee and eight pounds of sugar to every hun- 
dred rations had been substituted, on the 25th of October, 1832, for the allowance of 
“ one gill of rum, whisky, or brandy,” authorized by section 8 of the act of January 
11, 1812. 
t This law was so materially changed as to be virtually repealed by section 7 of the 
supplemental Army-organization act, of June 18,1846. 92 
quately increase the number of officers; and this was provided for by 
section 5 of the act approved June 18, 1846, entitled “An act supple- 
mental to an act entitled 'An act providing for the prosecution of the 
existing war between the United States and the Republic of Mexico/ 
and for other purposes,” which was as follows : 
“ Section 5.—And be it further enacted, That when volunteers or 
militia are called into the service of the United States in such numbers 
that the officers of the Quartermaster, Commissary, and Medical Depart- 
ments, authorized by law, be not sufficient to provide for supplying, 
quartering, transporting, and furnishing them with the requisite medical 
attendance, it shall be lawful for the President to appoint, with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, as many additional officers of said departments 
as the service may require, not exceeding one Quartermaster and one 
Commissary for each brigade, with the rank of major; and one Assistant 
Quartermaster, with the rank of captain; one Assistant Commissary, 
with the rank of captain; one Surgeon, and one Assistant Surgeon 
for each regiment; the said Quartermasters and Commissaries, Assistant 
Quartermasters and Assistant Commissaries, to give bonds, with good 
and sufficient sureties, for the faithful performance of their duties; and 
they and the said Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons to perform such 
duties as the President shall direct: Provided, That the said officers 
shall be allowed the same pay and emoluments as are now allowed to 
officers of the same descriptions and grades in those departments, respec- 
tively ; that they be subject to the rules and articles of war, and continue 
in service only so long as their services shall be required in connection 
with the militia and volunteers.” 
By section 7 of the same act it was provided “ that appointments in 
the line and in the general staff, which confer equal rank in the Army, 
shall not be held by the same officer at the same time; and when any 
officer of the staff who may have been taken from the line shall, in virtue 
of seniority, have obtained, or be entitled to, promotion to a grade in his 
regiment equal to the commission he may have held in the staff, the said 
officer shall vacate such staff commission, or he may, at his option, vacate 
his commission in the line.” 
On the 4th day of January, 1850, Gen. Gibson, the Commissary-Gen- 
eral of Subsistence, addressed a letter to Hon. G. W. Crawford, the Sec- 
retary of War, requesting “that there be added to the Subsistence De- 
partment four Commissaries of Subsistence, with the rank of captain, to 
be taken from the line of the Army.” 
In explanation of the necessity for this increase, Gen. Gibson said: 
“The addition of Oregon, California, New Mexico, and Texas to our 
territory compels me to ask for an increase of the number of officers in 
the Subsistence Department. Each of these commands requires the pres- 
ence of an officer of the Commissariat, and from no point occupied by 
my officers can one be spared for these duties.” 93 
General Gibson further explained that the necessity for this additional 
number of officers was of a permanent character. 
The Secretary of War, on the 30th of January, transmitted eopies of 
this letter to the Military Committees of both Houses of Congress, and 
recommended it to their favorable consideration. 
On the 21st of February, Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, Chairman of the 
Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a bill in the Senate embodying 
the recommendations of the Commissary-General, as approved by the 
Secretary of War, which became a law on the 26th of September, 1850. 
The following is so much of the act as related to the Subsistence De- 
partment : 
“AN ACT to increase the Commissariat of the United States Army.” 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That there be added to the Sub- 
sistence Department four Commissaries of Subsistence, with the rank of 
captain, to be taken from the line of the Army.” 
The following section of the Army-appropriation act, approved Sep- 
tember 28, 1850, exempted the proceeds of sales of subsistence supplies 
from being covered into the Treasury: 
“ Section 3.—And be it further enacted, That the moneys which may 
be received by the proper officers of the Army for the sales of subsistence, 
military stores, and other supplies, be, and they are hereby, exempted 
from the operation of the act of the third of March, eighteen hundred 
and focfcy-nine,. entitled 'An act requiring all moneys received from the 
customs, and all other sources, to be paid into the Treasury, without 
abatement or reduction.’ ” 
Section 2 of the act, entitled “An act to found a Military Asylum* for 
the relief and support of invalid and disabled soldiers of the Army of the 
United States,” approved March 3, 1851, provided that the Commissary- 
General of Subsistence should be, ex officio, one of the commissioners of 
said Asylum. 
Promotion in the Subsistence Department was regulated as follows, by 
section 1 of an act approved March 3, 1851: 
“ Section 1.— * * * Provided, That all 
promotions in the staff departments, or corps, shall be made as in other 
corps of the Army.” 
The insufficiency of the coffee-and-sugar ration, as fixed by section 17 
of the act approved July 5, 1838, was made the subject of an inquiry by 
the Secretary of War in 1856, and in replying thereto, on the 4th of 
August, 1856, the Acting Commissary-General (Capt. A. E. Shiras) said: 
changed to “Soldiers’ Home,” by section 7 of the Army-appropria- 
tion act of March 3, 1859." 94 
“ The allowance is six pounds of coffee and twelve pounds of sugar to 
one hundred rations, and this allowance was, by the act of July 5, 1838, 
specially made in lieu of the ‘spirit or whisky component of the ration/ 
These, therefore, are the only articles in which the President ‘may not 
make such alterations as the health and comfort of the Army and econo- 
my may require/ 
“I doubt not the pleasure and comfort of the soldier would be increased, 
and believe, in many instances, the health of the troops would be im- 
proved, by an additional allowance of those articles.” 
Notwithstanding the foregoing favorable recommendation, it does not 
appear that any further action was then taken on the matter. 
The subject was, however, finally brought to the attention of Congress 
through a letter addressed to the Commissary-General of Subsistence, 
by Surgeon Charles McCormick, Medical Director of the Department of 
Texas, dated San Antonio, Texas, January 6,1858, in Avliich he advanced 
the opinion “that a proper increase in the allowance of coffee and sugar 
to the hundred rations will greatly conduce to the interest of the service, 
by the greatly increased health, comfort, and power of endurance a liberal 
use of its infusion will bestow upon all who drink it,” which he supported 
by a very conclusive argument. 
The Department Commander, Brevet Major-General Twiggs, in for- 
warding Surgeon McCormick’s letter, fully concurred in the views ex- 
pressed therein, and stated that he believed the proposed addition to the 
Army ration would “ add greatly to the comfort and welfare of the enlisted 
men, and render them far more efficient at all times when efficiency is 
most required.” 
No action appeal’s to have been taken on Surgeon McCormick’s letter, 
however, until the next year, 1859, when the Secretary of War, Hon. 
John B. Floyd, called attention to it in his annual report, as follows: 
“The coffee ration of the Army is fixed by law, and cannot be altered 
by any regulation. It is manifestly too small, and ought to be increased. 
The good of the service requires that the supply of coffee for the Army 
should be put on the same footing with all other rations, and left to the 
experience of the service to fix the quantity. I herewith transmit a com- 
munication from a surgeon of the Army upon this subject, whose recom- 
mendations are concurred in by Brevet Major-General Twiggs.” 
On the 3d of April, 1860, Mr. Fitzpatrick, of Georgia, Chairman pro 
tern, of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, addressed a communi- 
cation to the Secretary of War stating that the attention of the committee 
had been called, by his annual report, to the subject of the “coffee ration,” 
and that they would “be obliged for the views of the War Department 
as to the extent to which the present allowance of coffee and sugar should 
be increased in the Army ration.” 95 
This communication was referred to the Commissary-General of Sub- 
sistence for report; and on the 5th of April was returned with the rec- 
ommendation that the allowance “be increased to ten pounds of coffee 
and fifteen pounds of sugar to every one hundred rations.” 
The Senate Committee on Military Affairs made the foregoing recom- 
mendations the subject of an amendment to the hill making appropriations 
for the support of the Army for the year ending the 30tli of June, 1861. 
In the consideration of the Army-appropriation bill by the Senate in 
Committee of the Whole, this amendment was reached on the 2d of June, 
1860, and agreed to; and on the 9th of June the bill, with this amend- 
ment, passed the Senate. 
On the 14th of June, the House of Representatives in Committee of 
the Whole, on the bill as amended by the Senate, reached the amendment 
increasing the coffee-and-sugar ration, and the Committee on Ways and 
Means having recommended concurrence in this amendment, it was 
concurred in without debate. 
The bill became a law on the 21st of June, 1860. 
The section increasing the coffee-and-sugar ration was as follows: 
“Section 4.—And be it further enacted, That the allowance of sugar 
and coffee to the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of 
the Army, as fixed by the seventeenth section of the act of the fifth of 
July, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, shall hereafter be ten pounds of 
coffee and fifteen pounds of sugar for every one hundred rations.” 
Section 3 of the act, entitled “An act making appropriation for the 
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial expenses of the Government for 
the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one,” approved 
June 23, 1860, contained the following provisions, which modified section 
7 of the act of May 1, 1820, so as to restrict contracts for, and purchases 
of, subsistence supplies, in case of failure of appropriations, to the neces- 
sities of the current year: 
“No contract or purchase shall hereafter be made unless the.same be 
authorized bylaw, or be under an appropriation adequate to its fulfillment, 
except in the War and Navy Departments, for clothing, subsistence, forage, 
fuel, quarters, or transportation, which, however, shall not exceed the 
necessities of the current year.”* 
The next legislation affecting the Subsistence Department was to facil- 
itate its expansion to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of a 
sudden increase in the Army of 500,000 men, provided for by the act, 
* Repealed by section 5 of the Naval appropriation act, approved February 21,1861; 
but re-enacted in section 10 of the Sundry-Civil appropriation act, approved March 
21, 1861. 96 
entitled “An act to authorize the employment of Volunteers to aid in 
enforcing the Laws and protecting Public Property,” approved July 22, 
1861. 
This act authorized the President “to accept the services of volunteers, 
either as Cavalry, Infantry, or Artillery, in such numbers, not exceeding 
five hundred thousand, as he may deem necessary, for the purpose of 
repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, enforcing the laws, and pre- 
serving and protecting public property: Provided, That the services of 
the volunteers shall be for such time as the President may direct, not 
exceeding three years, nor less than six months, and that they shall be 
disbanded at the end of the war.” 
The 3d and 4th sections of this act provided for the organization of 
these forces into divisions and brigades, and for the appointment of gen- 
eral and general statf officers, as follows: 
“Section 3.—And be it further enacted, That these forces, when ac- 
cepted as herein authorized, shall be organized into divisions of three or 
more brigades each; and each division shall have a Major-General, three 
Aides-de-Camp, and one Assistant Adjutant-General with the rank of 
major. Each brigade shall be composed of four or more regiments, and 
shall have one Brigadier-General, two Aides-de-Camp, one Assistant 
Adjutant-General with the rank of captain, one Surgeon, one Assistant 
Quartermaster, and one Commissary of Subsistence. 
“Section 4.—And be it further enacted, That the President shall be 
authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
for the command of tbe forces provided for in this act, a number of Major- 
Generals, not exceeding six, and a number of Brigadier-Generals, not 
exceeding eighteen, and the other brigade and division officers required 
for the organization of these forces, except the Aides-de-Camp, who shall 
he selected by their respective Generals from the officers of the Army or 
Volunteer Corps.” 
The above-mentioned act also provided that each regiment of Infantry 
organized thereunder should, in addition to the usual complement of non- 
commissioned staff officers, have one Commissary-Sergeant, with the pay 
and allowances of a sergeant-major. 
By the act of July 29, 1861, entitled “An act to increase the present 
Military Establishment of the United States,” there were added to the 
regular Army nine regiments of Infantry, one regiment of Cavalry, and 
one regiment of Artillery. It was provided by this act that each regi- 
ment of Infantry should consist of not less than two, nor more than three, 
battalions, of eight companies each; that the regiment of Cavalry should 
consist of not more than three battalions of not more than two squadrons 
(four companies) each; and that the regiment of Artillery should consist 
of not more than twelve batteries. 97 
To each of these regiments was allowed one Regimental Quartermaster 
and Commissary, (to be taken from the lieutenants of the regiment;) and 
to each battalion of Infantry or Cavalry, one Battalion Quartermaster 
and Commissary, (to he taken from the lieutenants of the battalion,) and 
one Battalion Commissary-Sergeant. 
To the regiment of Artillery was allowed one Regimental Commissary- 
Sergeant. 
By section 2 of the act, entitled “An act for the better organization of 
the Military Establishment,” approved August 3, 1861, four majors and 
eight captains were added to the Subsistence Department. 
The following is so much of the section as related to the Subsistence 
Department: 
“Section 2.—And be it further enacted, That * * * 
there be added to the Subsistence Department four Commissaries of Sub- 
sistence, each with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a major of Cavalry; 
eight Commissaries of Subsistence, each with the rank, pay, and emolu- 
ments of a captain of Cavalry, and to be taken from the line of the Army, 
either of the Volunteers or Regular Army.” 
By the following section of the same act the Army ration was largely 
increased: 
“Section 13.—And be it further enacted, That the Army ration shall 
be increased as follows, viz: twenty-two ounces of bread or flour, or one 
pound of hard bread, instead of the present issue; fresh beef shall be 
issued as often as the commanding officer of any detachment or regiment 
shall require it, when practicable, in place of salt meat; beans and rice 
or hominy, shall be issued in the same ration, in the proportions now 
provided by the regulation; and one pound of potatoes per man shall 
be issued at least three times a week, if practicable; and when these 
articles cannot be issued in these proportions, an equivalent in value 
shall be issued in some other proper food, and a ration of tea may be 
substituted for a ration of coffee, upon the requisition of the proper officer: 
Provided, That after the present insurrection shall cease, the ration shall 
be as provided by law and regulations on the first day of July, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-one.” 
On the 29th of September, 1861, Brevet Major-General George Gibson 
died, after having served as Commissary-General of Subsistence, with 
honorable distinction, for over forty-three years. 
Brevet Colonel Joseph P. Taylor, Assistant Commissary-General of 
Subsistence, was promoted to fill the vacancy occasioned by General 
Gibson’s death. 
The success attending the sudden expansion of our staff system to 
meet the requirements of a large army—so large that, in comparison 98 
with it, all armies raised by us in previous wars were insignificant—was 
so complete that, in alluding to it in his annual report for 1861, the Sec- 
retary of War, Hon. Simon Cameron, said: 
“Extraordinary labor, energy, and talent have been required of the 
various bureaus of this Department to provide for the wants of our im- 
mense Army. While errors may have been occasionally committed by 
subordinates, and while extravagant prices have undoubtedly, in some 
cases, controlled by haste and the pressure of rapid events, been paid for 
supplies, it is with great gratification that I refer to the economical 
administration of affairs displayed in the various branches of the service. 
Our forces had not only to be armed, clothed, and fed, but had to be 
suddenly provided with means of transportation to an extent heretofore 
unparalleled. While I believe that there is no army in the world better 
provided for in every respect than our regulars and volunteers, I can- 
didly think that no force so large, and so well equipped, was ever put in 
the field in so short a space of time at so small an expense.” 
Section 3 of the Army-appropriation act, approved July 5,1862, changed 
the designation of the grades of the enlisted men of the Ordnance Depart- 
ment, but provided that the changes in designation should not affect their 
pay and allowances; and section 10 of the same act gave the Secretary 
of War restricted authority to commute the coffee-and-sugar ration for 
the extract of coffee combined with milk and sugar. The sections were 
as follows: 
“Section 3—And be it further enacted, That the enlisted men of the 
Ordnance Department now designated as master-workmen shall hereafter 
he designated and mustered as sergeants; those now designated as 
armorers, carriage-makers, and blacksmiths shall be designated and 
mustered as corporals; those now designated as artificers shall he desig- 
nated and mustered as privates of the first class; and those now desig- 
nated as laborers shall be designated and mustered as privates of the 
second class: Provided, That the pay, rations, and clothing now author- 
ized by law to the respective grades of enlisted Ordnance men shall not 
be changed.” 
“Section 10.—And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War 
he authorized to commute the Army ration of coffee and sugar for the 
extract of coffee combined with milk and sugar, to be procured in the 
same manner and under like restrictions and quantities, as preserved 
meats, pickles, butter, and desiccated vegetables are procured for the 
Navy, if he shall believe it will be conducive to the health and comfort 
of the Army, and not more expensive to the Government than the present 
ration, and if it shall be acceptable to the men.” 
Section 9 of the act of July 17, 1862, entitled “An act to amend the 
act calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress 
insurrection, and repel invasion, approved February 28, 1796, and the 
act amendatory thereof, and for other purposes,” authorized the Presi- 99 
dent to “establish and organize Army Corps, according to his discre- 
tion.” 
The 10th section of the same act prescribed the staff of the commander 
of each Army Corps, allowing, among other staff officers, one Commis- 
sary of Subsistence, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, to be assigned 
from the Army, or volunteer force, by the President.* 
The 11th section prescribed a more complete organization for Cavalry 
regiments. Among the officers and non-commissioned officers authorized 
for each regiment were a Regimental Commissary of Subsistence, (to be 
taken from the lieutenants of the regiment,) one Regimental Commissary- 
Sergeant, and a Commissary-Sergeant for each company. 
On the 8th of January, 1863, Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, introduced 
a bill “to promote the efficiency of the Commissary Department,” which 
became a law on the 9th of February, 1863. 
The act was as follows: 
“AN ACT to promote the efficiency of the Commissary Department. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That there be added to the Sub- 
sistence Department of the Army one brigadier-general, to be selected 
from the Subsistence Department, who shall be Commissary-General of 
Subsistence, and, by regular promotion, one colonel, one lieutenant- 
colonel, and two majors; the colonels and lieutenant-colonels to be As- 
sistant Commissaries-General of Subsistence, and that vacancies in the 
above-mentioned grades shall be filled by regular promotions in said 
Department; and the vacancies created by promotions herein authorized 
may be filled by selections from the officers of the regular or volunteer 
force.” 
Under the provisions of the foregoing act, Colonel Joseph P. Taylor 
was appointed Commissary-General of Subsistence, with the rank of 
brigadier-general. 
On the 2d of March, 1863, while the bill which became a law on the 
next day, under the title “An act to promote the efficiency of the Corps 
of Engineers and the Ordnance Department, and for other purposes,” 
was under consideration by the Senate sitting in Committee of the Whole, 
Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, proposed, as an amendment thereto, four 
additional sections—one establishing a system of supervision of army 
cooking, two sections regulating the detail of cooks for companies, and 
*This law, providing that the officers to fill one of the highest and most respon- 
sible grades in the Subsistence Department should be appointed by the President 
alone, without the advice and consent of the Senate, appears to have been in violation 
of section 2 of Article II of the Constitution of the United States; as it is not easily 
discerned that such officers were “inferior officers,” within the meaning of said section. 
The use of the term “assigned” in a sense synonymous with “appointed,” doubtless 
caused this peculiar feature of the bill to be overlooked. 100 
authorizing the enlistment of under-cooks, and another section making 
pepper a component of the Army ration and fixing the allowance thereof 
at four ounces to one hundred rations. 
These amendments were agreed to, and were a part of the bill when 
it became a law, March 3, 1863. 
These sections were as follows: 
“ Section 8.—And be it further enacted, That the officers of the Medi- 
cal Department shall unite with the line officers of the Army, under such 
rules and regulations as shall he prescribed hv the Secretary of War, in 
supervising the cooking within the same as an important sanitary meas- 
ure, and that said Medical Department shall promulgate to its officers 
such regulations and instructions as may tend to insure the proper prep- 
aration of the ration of the soldier. 
“Section 9.—And be it further enacted, That cooks shall be detailed 
in turn, from the privates of each company of troops in the service of the 
United States, at the rate of one cook for each company numbering over 
thirty men, who shall serve ten days each. 
“Section 10.—And be it further enacted, That the President of the 
United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause to be enlisted, 
for each cook, two under-cooks of African descent, who shall receive for 
their full compensation ten dollars per month, and one ration per day— 
three dollars of said monthly pay may be in clothing. 
“Section 11.—And be it further enacted, That the Army ration shall 
hereafter include pepper, in the proportion of four ounces to every hun- 
dred rations.” 
On the 1st of February, 1864, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, Chairman 
of the Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a bill in the Senate to 
provide for the examination of Commissaries of Subsistence and other 
staff- officers, which became a law, in the following form, on the 25th of 
June, 1864: 
“AN ACT to provide for the examination of certain officers of the Army. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That every Quartermaster, 
Assistant Quartermaster, and every Commissary and Assistant Commis- 
sary of Subsistence, and every Paymaster, and Additional Paymaster, 
shall, as soon as practicable, be ordered to appear for examination as to 
his qualification before a board to be composed of three stall- officers of 
the coi’ps to which he belongs, of recognized merit and fitness, of whom 
two at least shall be officers of volunteers, which board shall make a 
careful examination as to the qualifications of all officers who may appear 
before them in pursuance of this act, and shall also keep minutes, and 
make a full and true record of the examination in each case. And all 
members of such boards of examination shall, before proceeding to the 
discharge of their duties as herein provided, swear or affirm that they 
will conduct all examinations with impartiality, and with the sole view 
to the qualifications of the person or persons to be examined, and that 101 
they will not divulge the vote of any member upon the examination of 
any officer who may appear before them. 
“Section 2.—And be it further enacted, That such boards of exami- 
nation shall be convened, under the direction of the Secretary of War, 
by the Quartermaster-General, the Commissary-General of Subsistence, 
and the Paymaster-General, at convenient places; and general rules of 
examination, and a standard of qualifications, shall be prescribed by 
said officers, subject to the approval of the Secretary-of War, and shall 
be published in General Orders. 
“Section 3.—And be it further enacted, That after such General 
Orders shall have been published for sixty days, if any officer who shall 
then be ordered before a board of examiners, under the provisions of this 
act, shall fail for thirty days after receiving such special order to report 
himself as directed, all his pay and allowances shall cease and be forfeited 
until he does appear and report for examination; and if he shall still 
hereafter fail for a further period of thirty days so to appear, he shall 
thereupon be dropped from the rolls of the Army: Provided, however, 
That if such failure to appear and report shall have been occasioned by 
wounds or sickness, or other physical disability, then there shall be no 
forfeiture of pay until thirty days after such disability has been removed; 
but if in sixty days after the disability is removed the officer shall not 
report himself, he shall then be dropped from the rolls as in other cases. 
“Section 4.—And be it further enacted, That if the board of examina- 
tion shall report that any officer does not possess the requisite business 
qualifications, they shall forward the record of the examination of such 
officer to the head of the bureau to which he may belong; and if the head 
of such bureau shall approve the finding and report of the board, he shall 
forward the same, through the Secretary of War, to the President of the 
United States; and if the President shall confirm the same, the officer so 
failing in his examination shall, if commissioned, be dismissed from the 
service with one month’s pay; and if not yet commissioned, his appoint- 
ment shall be revoked. And if the board shall report that any officer 
fails to pass a satisfactory examination by reason of intemperance, 
gambling, or other immorality, and if the head of the bureau shall approve 
the finding and report of the board, and the same being communicated, 
as before provided, to the President, and confirmed by him, then such 
officer shall be dismissed from the service without pay, and shall not be 
permitted to re-enter the service as an officer: Provided, That such dis- 
missal shall not relieve him from liability under existing laws for any 
offense he may have committed. 
“Section 5.—And be it further enacted, That the boards of examina- 
tion shall forward all their records of examination to the heads of the 
bureaus to which they appertain, and such records shall be filed in the 
proper bureaus with a suitable index; and any officer who may desire it 
shall be entitled to receive a copy of the record in his own case, upon 
paying the cost of copying the same.” 
On the 8th of March, 1864, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, Chairman 
of the Senate Committee on Military-Affairs, addressed a communication 
to the Secretary of War, making inquiries relative to the Army ration. 102 
This communication was referred by the Secretary of War to the Com- 
missary-General of Subsistence, (Brigadier-General Joseph P. Taylor,) 
who, on the 15th of March, returned it with the following report and 
recommendations: 
“It is the opinion of this office— 
“ 1st. That the present Army ration is larger than is necessary for the 
subsistence of the soldier. 
“2d. That the ration allowed prior to the passage of the act of August 
3, 1861, is sufficient for the soldier. 
“3d. That it is advisable to reduce the ration to the amount allowed 
prior to the passage of the aforesaid act, and to add the value of this 
reduction to the soldier’s pay, rather than to continue the present system 
of purchasing the savings made from the use of the present ration. 
“In order to meet the exigencies of the service, and to facilitate the 
settlement of accounts at the Treasury, it is deemed important that the 
clause of the act of August 3d, 1861, which allows the issue of an equiva- 
lent in value of some other proper food when the articles composing the 
ration cannot be issued in the proportions specified, should he embodied 
in any future legislation modifying the present Army ration.” 
In the House of Representatives, on the 3d of May, Mr. Schenck, of 
Ohio, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to which had been re- 
ferred the Senate bill “to equalize the pay of the soldiers of the United 
States Army,” reported hack the same with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute, which embodied the foregoing recommendations of the 
Commissary-General of Subsistence. 
When the section of the bill relating to the reduction of the Army 
ration was reached, Mr. Schenck said, in substance, that it provided for 
the re-establishment of the Army ration at what it was in 1861, at the 
commencement of the war; that the increase made by the act of August 
3, 1861, had proved to be greater than was necessary, and that while it 
added to the difficulty of transportation, the surplus of the rations went 
to post and regimental funds without benefiting the soldiers individually. 
He further stated that the practical effect of the adoption of the proposed 
measure would be to give the soldier an increase of pay without taking 
anything from him. 
The substitute was agreed to. The bill became a law on the 20th of 
June, 1864, under the title, “An act to increase the pay of soldiers in 
the United States Army, and for other purposes.” The section relating 
to the Army ration was as follows: 
“ Section 2.—And be it further enacted, That the Army ration shall 
hereafter be the same as provided by law and regulations on the first day 
of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one: Provided, That the ration of 
pepper prescribed in the eleventh section of the ‘act to promote the 
efficiency of the Corps of Engineers and of the Ordnance Department, and 103 
for other purposes/ approved March three, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
three, shall continue to be furnished as heretofore. But nothing contained 
in this act shall be construed to alter the commutation value of rations as 
regulated by existing laws.”* 
On the 29th of June, 1864, General Taylor died, after having served 
continuously as an officer of the Department for thirty-five years, and as 
its chief for nearly three years in the most eventful period of its existence. 
Colonel Amos B: Eaton, the senior Assistant Commissary-General of 
Subsistence, was appointed the successor of General Taylor. 
The act approved July 4, 1864, entitled “An act to restrict the juris- 
diction of the Court of Claims, and to provide for the payment of certain 
demands for Quartermaster’s Stores and Subsistence Supplies furnished 
to the Army of the United States,” contained the following section: 
“ Section 3.—And be it further enacted, That all claims of loyal 
citizens in States not in rebellion for subsistence actually furnished to 
said Army, and receipted for by the proper officer receiving the same, or 
which may have been taken by such officers without giving such receipt, 
may he submitted to the Commissary-General of Subsistence, accompanied 
with such proof as each claimant may have to offer; and it shall be the 
duty of the Commissary-General of Subsistence to cause each claim to be 
examined, and, if convinced that it is just and of the loyalty of the claim- 
ant, and that the stores have been actually received or taken for the use 
of, and used by, said Army, then to report each case for payment to the 
Third Auditor of the Treasury with a recommendation for settlement.”! 
The following section of the Army-appropriation act, approved March 
* The effect of this law was to fix the components of the Army ration as follows: 
Three-fourths of a pound of pork or bacon, or one and a fourth pounds of fresh or salt 
beef; eighteen ounces of bread or flour, or one and a fourth pounds of corn-meal, or 
twelve ounces of hard bread, or, on campaigns or marches or on board of transports, 
one pound of hard bread; and at the rate, to one hundred rations, of eight quarts of 
peas or beans, or, in lieu thereof, ten pounds of rice; ten pounds of coffee, or, in lieu 
thereof, one and one-half pounds of tea ; fifteen pounds of sugar; four quarts of vinegar; 
one pound of sperm candles, or one and one-fourtli pounds of adamantine candles, or 
one and one-half pounds of tallow candles; four pounds of soap ; two quarts of salt; 
and four ounces of pepper. 
t Extended by the joint resolution approved June 1, 1866, to include the counties of 
Berkeley and Jefferson, of the State of West Virginia; and further extended by the 
joint resolution approved July 28, 1866, to include the State of Tennessee; and again 
further extended by the joint resolution approved March 2, 1867, to cover claims for 
supplies furnished to the command of Major-General Lewis Wallace during the Morgan 
raid through the States of Indiana and Ohio in the summer of 1863. 
The declaratory act which became a law February 9, 1867, provided that the act of 
July 4, 1864, should not be construed to include any claim which ‘ ‘ originated during 
the war for the suppression of the Southern rebellion, in a State, or part of a State, 
declared in insurrection by the proclamation of the President of the United States, 
dated July 1, 1862, or in a State which, by an ordinance of secession, attempted to 
withdraw from the United States Government: Provided, That nothing herein con- 
tained shall repeal or modify the effects of any act or joint resolution extending the 
provisions of said act of July 4, 1861, to the loyal citizens of the State of Tennessee, or 
to the State of West Virginia or any county therein.” 104 
3, 1885, authorized rations to he sold to commissioned officers while 
serving in the field, and tobacco to be furnished to enlisted men: 
“SECTION 5.—And be it further enacted, That commissioned officers 
of the Army, serving in the field, shall hereafter be permitted to purchase 
rations, for their own use, on credit, from any Commissary of Subsistence, 
at cost prices, and the amount due for rations so purchased shall be 
reported monthly to the Paymaster-General, to be deducted from the 
payment next following such purchase. And the Secretary of War is 
hereby directed to issue such orders and regulations as he may deem best 
calculated to insure the proper observance thereof. 
“Section 6.—And he it further enacted, That the Secretary of War is 
hereby authorized and directed to cause tobacco to be furnished to the 
enlisted men of the Army, at cost prices exclusive of the cost of trans- 
portation, in such quantities as they may require, not exceeding sixteen 
ounces per month, and the amount due therefor shall be deducted from 
their pay in the same manner as at present provided for the settlement of 
clothing accounts.” 
The following act was approved on the 3d of March, 1865: 
“AN ACT for the better organization of the Subsistence Department. 
“Be it enacted hy the Senate and Souse of Bepresentatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That during the continuance of 
the present rebellion the Secretary of War may, when in his judgment 
it is necessary, assign to each geographical military division, to each 
separate army in the field consisting of more than one army corps, to 
each military department, and to each principal subsistence depot, not 
exceeding ten in number, an officer of the Subsistence Department to act 
as Chief Commissary of such military division, army, military depart- 
ment, or depot, and also an officer of the Subsistence Department as 
assistant in the office of the Commissary-General of Subsistence, each of 
whom, wThile so assigned and acting, shall have the rank, pay, and emolu- 
ments of a colonel in the Subsistence Department; and, in like manner, 
may assign, for purposes of inspection or other special duty in the Sub- 
sistence Department, Commissaries of Subsistence, not exceeding six in 
number, each of whom, while so assigned and acting, shall have the 
rank, pay, and emoluments of a lieutenant-colonel of the Subsistence 
Department; and to each army corps an officer of the Subsistence Depart- 
ment to be Chief Commissary of the corps, with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel; and, in like manner, may assign to each division of two or more 
brigades a Commissary, who, while so assigned and acting, shall have 
the rank, pay, and emoluments of a major of the Subsistence Depart- 
ment: Provided, That when any one of said officers is relieved from said 
duty his increased rank, pay, and emoluments, allowed because of 
such assignment, shall cease, and he shall return to his commissioned 
rank in the Subsistence Department: And provided further, That the 
officers authorized to be assigned by this act shall be selected for each 
grade from the Commissaries of Subsistence who hold commissions or 
rank in the volunteer service and in the regular Subsistence Department 
in propdrtion to the number of each of said classes, respectively, in service 
at the date of the passage of this act. 105 
“ Section 2.—And be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of 
laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.” * 
The war closed in the spring of 1865. The magnitude of the opera- 
tions of the Subsistence Department is indicated by the following state- 
ment showing the amount of its disbursements for each of the four years 
of the war, and the total amount for the entire period: 
From July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1862 $48,799,521 14 
From July 1, 1862, to June 30, 1863 69,537,582 78 
From July 1, 1863, to June 30, 1864 98, 666,918 50 
From July 1, 1864, to June 30, 1865 144,782,969 41 
Total amount 361,786,991 83 
On the 30th of April, 1865, there were in service in the Subsistence 
Department the 29 officers of the permanent establishment and 535 Com- 
missaries of Volunteers, making a total of 564 officers. 
In referring to the operations of the Subsistence Department, in his 
annual report for 1865, the Secretary of War, Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, 
who had served continuously in that office since January, 13,1862, said : 
“During the war this branch of the service never failed. It answers 
to the demand, and is ever ready to meet the national call.” 
No higher tribute could possibly have been paid to the efficiency of the 
Subsistence Department and its utility as a branch of the Military Estab- 
lishment. 
By sections 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the act of July 28,1866, entitled “An act to 
increase and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States,” 
it was provided that each regiment of Cavalry should have a Regimental 
Commissary of Subsistence, (an extra lieutenant to be selected from the 
first or second lieutenants of the regiment,) and each regiment in the 
Army, a Regimental Commissary-Sergeant; and the grades of Battalion 
Commissary-Sergeant and Company Commissary-Sergeant were abol- 
ished. 
The same act also contained the following sections: 
“Section 16.—And be it further enacted, That the Subsistence Depart- 
ment of the Army shall hereafter consist of the number of officers now 
authorized by law, viz : One Commissary-General of Subsistence, with 
the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general; two Assistant 
* This act, haying been framed on the model of section 10 of the act of July 17,1862, 
(which it repealed and superseded,) of course gave to the President power to promote 
officers to fill two of the highest and most responsible grades in the Department, 
without the advice and consent of the Senate, and thus removed the very effective 
safeguard against abuses so wisely established by the Constitution. Moreover, the 
status of the officers assigned by virtue of these acts was to the last degree anomolous, 
as they exercised the functions pertaining to their high grades without commissions, 
upon the bare authority of a special order issued from the Adjutant-General's Office. 106 
Commissaries-General of Subsistence, with the rank, pay, and emolu- 
ments of colonels of Cavalry; two Assistant Commissaries-General of Sub- 
sistence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of lieutenant-colonels of 
Cavalry; eight Commissaries of Subsistence, with the rank, pay, and 
emoluments of majors of Cavalry; and sixteen Commissaries of Subsist- 
ence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of captains of Cavalry.” 
“Section 23.—And be it further enacted, That the Adjutant-General, 
Quartermaster-General, Commissary-General of Subsistence, Surgeon- 
General, Paymaster-General, Chief of Engineers, and Chief of Ordnance 
shall hereafter be appointed by selection from the corps to which they 
belong.” ******* 
“Section 25.—And be it further enacted, That the office of sutler in 
the Army and at military posts is hereby abolished, and the Subsistence 
Department is hereby authorized and required to furnish such articles as 
may from time to time be designated by the Inspectors-General of the 
Army, the same to be sold to officers and enlisted men at cost prices, and 
if not paid for when purchased a true account thereof shall be kept and 
the amount due the Government shall be deducted by the Paymaster at 
the payment next following such purchase: Provided, That this section 
shall not go into effect until the first day of July, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven.” 
Apparently, it was not intended to change the organization of the Sub- 
sistence Department by this act, but section 38 repealed all laws and parts 
of laws in conflict with the provisions of the act, among which was sec- 
tion 8 of the act of March 2, 1821, authorizing as many Assistant Com- 
missaries of Subsistence, not exceeding fifty, as the service might require, 
to be taken from lieutenants of the line—the Assistant Commissaries of 
Subsistence having been omitted in section 16, in stating the organization 
of the Department. 
Sections 2, 3, and 5 of the Army-appropriation act, approved March 3, 
1869, provided for a gradual reduction, by stoppage of appointments and 
promotions of officers and enlistments of men, of twenty regiments of In- 
fantry, and a corresponding reduction, by prohibition of new appoint 
ments, of the number of brigadier-generals; and the 6th section provided 
“that until otherwise directed by law there should be no new appoint- 
ments and no promotions in the Adjutant-General’s Department, in the 
Inspector-General’s Department, in the Pay Department, in the Com- 
missary Department, in the Ordnance Department, in the Engineer De- 
partment, and in the Medical Department.” 
Section 9 of the Army-appropriation act, approved July 15, 1870, 
abolished the grade of Regimental Commissary of Subsistence in the Cav- 
alry regiments, and section 10 abolished the grade of Regimental Com- 
missary-Sergeant in all regiments. 
By section 24 of the above-mentioned act it was provided that the pay 107 
of an Acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence should be one hundred 
dollars per annum in addition to the pay of his rank. 
By 1873 the Army had been reduced to the normal peace establishment, 
and legislation respecting the Subsistence Department began to assume a 
conservative phase. 
On the 13th of January of that year Mr. Logan, of Illinois, and Mr. 
Donnan, of Iowa, introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives, 
respectively, bills of identical purport, to establish, in the general non- 
commissioned stalf of the Army, the grade of Commissary-Sergeant, which 
resulted in the passage of the following excellent act, which was approved 
on the 3d of March, 1873: 
“ AN ACT to provide for the better care and protection of Subsistence Supplies. 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, 
and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to select from the sergeants 
of the line of the Army who shall have faithfully served therein five years, 
three years of which in the grade of non-commissioned officer, as many 
Commissary-Sergeants as the service may require, not to exceed one for 
each military post or place of deposit of Subsistence Supplies, whose duty 
it shall be to receive and preserve the Subsistence Supplies at the posts, 
under the direction of the proper officers of the Subsistence Department, 
and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of War. 
The Commissary-Sergeants hereby authorized shall be subject to the rules 
and articles of war, and shall receive for their services the same pay and 
allowances as Ordnance-Sergeants.” 
General Eaton was retired from active service by the following general 
order, after having served as an officer of the Subsistence Department 
thirty-five years, ten of which as Commissary-General: 
“War Department, Adjutant-General’s Office, 
“Washington, February 16, 1874. 
“ General Orders No. 12. 
“By direction of the President, Brigadier-General Amos B. Eaton, 
Commissary-General of Subsistence, having served faithfully more than 
forty-five years, is retired from active service, to take effect May 1, 1874. 
His name will be entered accordingly on the list of retired officers of the 
grade to which he now belongs, under section 12, act approved July 17, 
1862. 
“ By order of the Secretary of War : 
“E. D. TOWNSEND, 
‘ 'Adj utant- General. ” 
As under the restrictions of section 6 of the act of March 3, 1869, a suc- 
cessor to General Eaton could not be appointed without further legislation, 108 
Brevet Major-General Alexander E. Shiras, senior Assistant Commissary- 
General of Subsistence, was, by direction of the President, announced as 
Acting Commissary-General of Subsistence, and ordered to relieve Gen- 
eral Eaton. 
The codification of the Statutes of the United States, general and per- 
manent in their nature, in force on the 1st day of December, 1873, made 
by commissioners appointed under the authority of the acts of June 27, 
1866, and May 4, 1870, after having heen revised by Congress, and enacted 
under the title “Revised Statutes of the United States/’ was approved by 
the President on the 22d of June, 1874. 
The sections especially relating to the Subsistence Department were as 
follows: 
“Sec. 1140.—The Subsistence Department of the Army shall consist 
of one Commissary-General of Subsistence, with the rank of brigadier- 
general; two Assistant Commissaries-General of Subsistence, with the 
rank of colonel of Cavalry; two Assistant Commissaries-General of Sub- 
sistence, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of Cavalry; eight Commis- 
saries of Subsistence, with the rank of major of Cavalry; and sixteen 
Commissaries of Subsistence, with the rank of captain of Cavalry. 
“Sec. 1141.—It shall be the duty of the officers of the Subsistence 
Department, under the direction of the Secretary of War, to purchase 
and issue to the Army such supplies as enter into the composition of the 
ration. 
“Sec. 1142.—That the Secretary of War is authorized to select from 
the sergeants of the line of the Army, who shall have faithfully served 
therein five years, three years of which in the grade of non-commissioned 
officers, as many Commissary-Sergeants as the service may require, not 
to exceed one for each military post or place of deposit of subsistence 
supplies, whose duty it shall be to receive and preserve the subsistence 
supplies at the posts, under the direction of the proper officers of the 
Subsistence Department, and under such regulations as shall be pre- 
scribed by the Secretary of War. The Commissary-Sergeants hereby 
authorized shall be subject to the rules and articles of war, and shall 
receive for their services the same pay and allowances as Ordnance- 
Sergeants. 
“Sec. 1143.—The officers of the Subsistence Department shall, upon 
the requisition of the naval or marine officer commanding any detach- 
ment of seamen or marines under orders to act on shore, in co-operation 
with the land troops, and during the time such detachment is so acting 
or proceeding to act, furnish rations to the officers, seamen, and marines 
of the same. 
“Sec. 1144.—The officers of the Subsistence Department shall pro- 
cure, and keep for sale to officers and enlisted men at cost prices, for 
cash or on credit, such articles as may, from time to time, be designated 
by the Inspectors-General of the Army. An account of all sales on 
credit shall be kept, and the amounts due for the same shall be reported 
monthly to the Paymaster-General. [See §§ 1299, 1300. J 109 
“Sec. 1145.—Commissioned officers of the Army, serving in the field, 
may purchase rations for their own use, from any Commissary of Sub- 
sistence, on credit, at cost prices ; and the amounts due for such purchases 
shall he reported monthly to the Paymaster-General. [See §§ 1299, 
1300.] 
“Sec. 1146.—Each ration shall consist of one pound and a quarter of 
beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork, eighteen ounces of bread or 
Hour, and at the rate of ten pounds of coffee, fifteen pounds of sugar, two 
quarts of salt, four quarts of vinegar, four ounces of pepper, four pounds 
of soap, and one pound and a half of candles, to every hundred rations. 
The President may make such alterations in the component parts of the 
ration as a due regard to the health and comfort of the Army and economy 
may require.* 
“Sec. 1147.—The Secretary of War may commute the ration of coffee 
and sugar for the extract of coffee combined with milk and sugar, if he 
shall believe such commutation to he conducive to the health and comfort 
of the Army, and not to be more expensive to the Government than the 
present ration; provided, tjie same shall be acceptable to the men. [See 
§ 1294.] 
“Sec. 1148.—The ration of sugar and coffee, when issued in kind, 
shall, when the convenience of the service permits, be issued weekly. 
“Sec. 1149.—Tobacco shall be furnished to the enlisted men by the 
Commissaries of Subsistence, at cost prices, exclusive of the cost of trans- 
portation, in such quantities as they may require, not exceeding sixteen 
ounces per month. [See § 1301.] 
“Sec. 1150.—No officer belonging to the Subsistence Department, or 
doing the duty of a Subsistence officer, shall be concerned, directly or 
indirectly, in the purchase or sale of any article entering into the compo- 
sition of the ration allowed to troops in the service of the United States, 
or of any article designated by the Inspectors-General of the Army, and 
furnished for sale to officers and enlisted men at cost prices, or of tobacco 
furnished for sale to enlisted men, except on account of the United States; 
nor shall any such officer take or apply to his own use any gain or emolu- 
ment for negotiating or transacting any business connected with the duties 
of his office, other than that which may be allowed by law. 
“Sec. 1191.—All officers of the Quartermaster’s, Subsistence, and 
Pay Departments, the Chief Medical Purveyor, and Assistant Medical 
Purveyors, and all storekeepers shall, before entering upon the duties of 
their respective offices, give good and sufficient bonds to the United 
States, in such sums as the Secretary of War may direct, faithfully to 
account for all public moneys and property which they may receive. The 
President may, at any time, increase the sums so prescribed. 
"Sec. 1193.—The Adjutant-General, the Quartermaster-General, the 
Commissary-General of Subsistence, the Surgeon-General, the Chief of 
* Section 2 of the act of June 20, 1864, seems to have been overlooked or ignored in 
framing this section. 110 
Engineers, the Chief of Ordnance, and the Paymaster-General shall be 
appointed by selection from the corps to which they belong. 
“Sec. 1194.—Until otherwise directed by law there shall be no new 
appointments and no promotions in the departments of Adjutant-General, 
or of Inspector-General, or in the Pay, Quartermaster’s, Subsistence, 
Ordnance, or Medical Departments.” 
“Sec. 1277.—Hospital matrons in post or regimental hospitals shall 
receive ten dollars a month, and female nurses in general hospitals shall 
receive forty cents a day. One ration in kind or by commutation shall be 
allowed to each. 
“ Sec. 1293.—Sergeants and corporals of Ordnance shall be entitled to 
receive one ration and a half daily. Other enlisted men shall be entitled 
to receive one ration daily. 
“ Sec. 1294.—For each ration of sugar and coffee not issued, nor com- 
muted for the extract of coffee combined with milk and sugar, enlisted 
men shall be paid in money. 
“ Sec. 1295.—Laundresses allowed to accompany troops, hospital ma- 
trons, and the nurses employed in post or regimental hospitals, shall be 
entitled to receive one ration daily.” 
“Sec. 1299.—The amount due from any officer for rations purchased 
on credit, or for any article designated by the Inspectors-General of the 
Army and purchased on credit from Commissaries of Subsistence, shall 
be deducted from the payment made to such officer next after such pur- 
chase shall have been reported to the Paymaster-General.” [See §§ 
1144 and 1145.] 
“Sec. 1300.—The amount due from any enlisted man for articles desig- 
nated by the Inspectors-General of the Army, and sold to him on credit 
by Commissaries of Subsistence, shall be deducted from the payment 
made to him next after such sale shall have been reported to the Pay- 
master-General.” [See §§ 1144 and 1145.] 
“Sec. 1301.—The amount due from any enlisted man for tobacco sold 
to him at cost prices by the United States shall be deducted from his pay 
in the manner provided for the settlement of clothing accounts.” [See § 
1149.] 
“Sec. 1650.—The militia when called into actual service of the United 
States shall, during their time of service, be entitled to the same pay, 
rations, clothing, and camp equipage, as may be provided by law for the 
Army of the United States.” 
“Sec. 1655.—When the militia in the military service of the United 
States are employed on the western frontiers, there shall be allowed two 
ounces of flour or bread, and two ounces of beef or pork, in addition to 
each of their rations, and half pint of salt, in addition to every hundred 
rations.” 
“Sec. 2110.—The President is authorized to cause such rations as he 
deems proper, and as can be spared from the Army provisions without 111 
injury to the service, to be issued, under such regulations as he shall 
think fit to establish, to Indians who may visit the military posts or 
agencies of the United States on the frontiers, or in their respective na- 
tions; and a special account of these issues shall be kept and rendered.” 
“Sec. 3715.—Contracts for Subsistence Supplies for the Army, made 
by the Commissary-General, on public notice, shall provide for a com- 
plete delivery of such articles, on inspection, at such places as shall be 
stipulated.” 
“Sec. 3732.—No contract or purchase on behalf of the United States 
shall be made, unless the same is authorized by law or is under an appro- 
priation adequate to its fulfillment, except in the War and Navy Depart- 
ments for clothing, subsistence, forage, fuel, quarters, or transportation, 
which, however, shall not exceed the necessities for the current year.” 
On the 23d of June, 1874, the act entitled “An act reorganizing the 
several Staff Corps of the Army” passed Congress and became a law. 
By this act the organization of the Subsistence Department was reduced 
from twenty-nine to twenty-six officers, notwithstanding it had received 
no increase in 1866, when the line of the Army and several of the staff 
departments were very considerably expanded. Inasmuch, however, as 
this act repealed the law prohibiting appointments and promotions, which 
had then been in force five years, it placed the Department in a very 
much improved condition for efficiency. 
The sections of the act relating to the Subsistence Department were as 
follows: 
“Section 3.—That hereafter there shall be three Assistant Commissa- 
ries-General of Subsistence, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of 
lieutenant-colonel, instead of the two now allowed by law of said grade 
in the Subsistence Department; that the number of Commissaries of 
Subsistence with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a captain of Cavalry 
is hereby reduced to twelve, ami no appointment to fill a vacancy in said 
grade shall be made until the number thereof shall be reduced to twelve, 
and the number thereafter shall remain fixed at twelve.” 
“ Section 8.—That so much of section 6 of an act entitled 'An act 
making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year ending 
June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy, and for other purposes,' 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, as applies to the 
Ordnance, Subsistence, and Medical Departments of the Army be, and 
the game is hereby, repealed: Provided, That this section repealing said 
section shall not apply to any of the grades of the Medical or Ordnance 
Departments which are omitted or abolished by the provisions of this act.’’ 
After the passage of this act General Shiras was appointed to fill the 
vacancy caused by the retirement of General Eaton. 
The act, entitled “An act to correct Errors and to supply Omissions 112 
in the Revised Statutes of the United States,” approved February 18, 
1875, contained the following, which was printed in the Appendix to the 
Revised Statutes: 
“Section 300. B.—All claims of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion 
for subsistence actually furnished to the Army and receipted for by the 
proper officer receiving the same, or which may have been taken by such 
officers without giving such receipt, may be submitted to the Commissary- 
General of Subsistence, accompanied by such proof as each claimant may 
have to offer; and it shall be the duty of the Commissary-General of 
Subsistence to cause each claim to be examined, and, if convinced that it 
is just and of the loyalty of the claimant, and that the stores have actually 
been received or taken for the use of and used by the Army, then to re- 
port each case for payment to the Third Auditor of the Treasury, with a 
recommendation for settlement. 
HThe provisions of the above * * * shall extend to the State of 
Tennessee and to the counties of Berkely and Jefferson, in the State of 
West Virginia. But the provisions of the above * * * shall not 
authorize the payment of claims for the occupation of or injury to real 
estate in any State declared in insurrection during the rebellion.” 
The next legislation affecting the Subsistence Department was in the 
first section of the Army-appropriation act approved March 3, 1875, and 
related to the proceeds of sales of Subsistence Supplies. The following 
extract embraces so much of the section as referred to this subject: 
“Provided, That * * * the proceeds of all sales of Subsistence 
Supplies shall hereafter be exempt from being covered into the Treasury 
and shall be immediately available for the purchase of fresh supplies.” 
General Shiras died on the 14th of April, 1875, less than one year after 
he became chief of the Department. 
Brevet Colonel Robert Macfeely, Commissary of Subsistence, was ap- 
pointed Commissary-General of Subsistence, vice General Shiras, and 
entered upon the duties of his office on the 11th of May, 1875. 
By the following section of the Army-appropriation act approved July 
24, 1876, a commission was created to take into consideration the whole 
subject-matter of Army reform and reorganization, and make report to 
Congress by the first day of the next session, through the President of 
the United States, with all the evidence, record or otherwise, which they 
shall have received and considered: 
“Section 4.—That the whole subject-matter of reform and reorganiza- 
tion of the Army of the United States shall be referred to the Commission 
hereinafter provided for, wTho shall carefully and thoroughly examine 
into the matter with reference to the demands of the public service, as to 
the number and pay of men and officers and the proportion of the several 
arms, and also as to the rank, pay, and duties of the several staff corps, 
and whether any and what reductions can be made either in the line or 113 
staff, in numbers or in pay, by consolidation or otherwise consistently 
with the public service, having in view a just and reasonable economy in 
the expenditure of public money, the actual necessities of the military 
service, and the capacity for rapid and effective increase in time of actual 
war. The Commission hereby created shall consist of two members of 
the Senate and two members of the House of Eepresentatives to be ap- 
pointed by the presiding officers of each House, respectively, of the Secre- 
tary of War, and two officers of the Army, one from the line and one 
from the staff corps, to be selected by the President with special reference 
to their knowledge of the organization and experience in service. Such 
Commission shall assemble as soon as practicable and proceed to the 
consideration of the matters with which they are charged, and make 
report to Congress, by the first day of the session, through the President 
of the United States, with all the evidence, record or otherwise, which 
they shall have received and considered. And the sum of one thousand 
dollars is hereby appropriated from the Contingent fund of the War De- 
partment to defray the expense of such Commission, to be expended 
under the direction of the president of said Commission.” 
The first session of the forty-fourth Congress closed on the 15th day 
of August, 1876. INDEX 
A. 
Act of Congress— Pa#«. 
prescribing functions of the Secretary of War 29 
creating department of War 29 
fixing components of Army ration, 7, 8,27, 29, 30, 31, 32,33, 34, 64, 
77, 90, 91, 95, 97, 98, 100, 102, 103, 109, 110 
devolving on Treasury Department the duty of furnishing 
supplies for the Army 29 
creating a department for purchasing all Army supplies 35 
better to provide for the supplies of the Army of the United 
States 37 
for the better organization of the General Staff of the Army 38 
to regulate the Staff of the Army 63 
to regulate the pay of the Army when employed on fatigue 
duty 77 
in addition to the several acts for the establishment and regula- 
tion of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments 77 
to continue the present mode of supplying the Army 84, 85 
to render permanent the present mode of supplying the Army.. 88 
providing for the prosecution of the existing war between the 
United States and the Republic of Mexico 92 
providing that appointments of the same grade in the line and 
in the general staff shall not be held by the same officer at 
the same time 92 
to increase the Commissariat of the United States Army 93 
to found a Military Asylum for the relief and support of invalid 
and disabled soldiers of the Army of the United States 93 
regulating promotion in the Subsistence Department 93 
to restrict contracts for, and purchases of, subsistence supplies 
in case of failure of appropriations 95 
to authorize the employment of Volunteers to aid in enforcing 
the laws and protecting of public property 96 
for the better organization of the Military Establishment 97 
to increase the Army ration 97 
authorizing the President to establish and organize Army Corps, 
according to his discretion 98 
to promote the efficiency of the Commissary Department 99 
to promote the efficiency of the Corps of Engineers and the 
Ordnance Department, and for other purposes 99 II 
INDEX. 
Act of Congress—Continued. Page, 
to provide for the examination of certain officers of the Army. 100 
to increase the pay of soldiers in the United States Army, 
and for other purposes 102 
to restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, and to provide 
for the payment of certain demands for Quartermaster’s 
stores and Subsistence supplies furnished to the Army of the 
United States 103 
for the better organization of the Subsistence Department 104 
Acting Assistan t Commissaries of Subsistence— 
pay of, fixed 106 
Appointments and Promotions— 
in the Subsistence Department, prohibited 106, 110 
in the Subsistence Department, authorized Ill 
(see Promotions.) 
Arbuckle, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew— 
letter from, to Gen. Andrew Jackson, reporting negligence on 
part of contractor for supplying rations 49 
letter from, to Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, reporting failure of 
contractor, and the measures adopted by him for supplying 
rations to his command 49 
letter from, to Gen. Glasscock, requesting a supply of rations.. 49 
Armistead, Major— 
letter from, to Brig.-Gen. Smyth, reporting lack of provisions 
at Fort Niagara in 1812 37 
Army— 
virtual disbandment of 26 
Army Organization— 
views of Mr. Calhoun on 78 
views of Mr. Monroe on 83 
Army Reform and Reorganization— 
commission created by act of Congress to consider subject of .. 112 
Army Supplies— 
furnished by Treasury Department 26, 29 
furnished by War Department 29, 31 
all purchases of, made by the Commissary-General of Purchases - 35 
act better to provide for 37 
Assistant Commissary- General of Purchases— 
salary of ....22, 24 
Assistant Commissaries of purchases— 
salary of 22 
Assistant Commissaries-General of Subsistence— 
authorized 90, 97, 99, 108, 111 
Assistant Commissaries of Subsistence— 
authorized to be taken from the lieutenants of the line 64 
pay of 64 
number of, limited to fifty 80 
pay of, regulated 80 
abolished 106 
appointment of additional, with rank of captain, authorized. 92 
examination of i 104 Assistant Military Agents— Page. 
authorized 33 
abolished 35 
Auditor, Third— 
(See Third Auditor.) 
Avery, Elisha— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 18 
Aylett, William— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Stores and Provis- 
ions 7 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 18 
B. 
Battalion Commissary-Sergeants— 
authorized 97 
abolished 105 
Barbour, Hon. James— 
remarks of, as Secretary of War, on the advantages of the 
commissariat system 84 
Bill— 
a, making provision for subsisting the Army by authorizing 
the appointment of Commissaries of Subsistence 44 
Blaine, Ephraim— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 20 
elected Commissary-General of Purchases 23 
continued in office under new organization 25 
Blicker, James— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 20 
Board of Treasury— 
(See Commissioners of the Treasury.) 
Board of Wat— 
form of commission for offices of the Commissariat, recom- 
mended by the, and adopted by Congress 18 
Commissaries-General of Issues and Purchases, placed under 
the superintendence and direction of the „ 23 
how constituted 23 
Buchanan, William— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 18 
elected Commissary-General of Purchases 19 
Butler, Hon. B. F.— 
views of, as Secretary of War, on organization of the Staff 
Corps and Departments 89 
C. 
Calhoun, Hon. John C.— 
letter to, as Secretary of War, from Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, 
reporting want of punctuality in the contractor’s department. 49 
letter of Gen. Jackson, reporting failure of contractor, and the 
measures adopted by him to supply his troops with provis- 
ions 51 
INDEX. 
III IV 
INDEX. 
Calhoun, Hon. John C.—Continued. Page, 
letter from, respecting alterations proposed to be made in the 
Military Establishment 75 
letter from, on equalizing the standing of different corps, and 
enforcing economy in the Military Establishment, read in the 
House of Representatives 76 
as Secretary of War, report of, to House of Representatives on 
the reduction of the Army to six thousand men 78 
Cass, Hon. Lewis— 
report of, as Secretary of War, in regard to the Subsistence 
Department 86 
Claims— 
of loyal citizens in States not in rebellion 112 
Cojfee-and-Sugar ration— 
established by law 90 
insufficiency of 94,95 
increase of 95 
authority to commute, for the extract of coffee combined with 
milk and sugar 98,109 
to he issued weekly 91,109 
when not issued, or commuted for the extract of coffee com- 
bined with milk and sugar, to he paid for in money 110 
Colt, Peter— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 20 
Commissariat— 
establishment of, recommended by Gen. Washington 6 
divided into two departments 10 
discontinued 25 
views in relation to, of Gen. Winfield Scott 41 
view's in relation to, of Gen. Edmund P. Gaines 42 
views in relation to, of Col. Fenwick 44 
re- established 63 
Commissariat of the Army— 
act to increase the 93 
Commissaries— 
Colonial 5 
Commissary’s Department— 
system revised 20 
regulations for 10,20,21 
Commissary- General— 
of Stores and Provisions 5 
of Purchases 10,35 
of Issues 10 
of Subsistence 64 
Commissary-General of Issues— 
Charles Stewart elected 18 
empowered by resolution of Congress to regulate pay of em- 
ployes 18 
Commissary-General of Purchases— 
office of, established 35 Commissary-General of Purchases—Continued. Page. 
salary of 23,24 
duties prescribed 24,35 
Joseph Trumbull elected 18 
to keep his office where Congress shall sit 18 
empowered by resolution of Congress to regulate pay of drovers 
and butchers 18 
Joseph Trumbull, resignation of 19 
William Buchanan elected 19 
Jeremiah Wadsworth resigned office of 23 
Ephraim Blaine elected 23 
Commissary- General of Stores and Provisions— 
authorized for the Army of the United Colonies 5 
Joseph Trumbull, of Connecticut, elected 6 
Commissary-General of Subsistence— 
office of, created 64 
functions defined 64 
to be selected from the officers of the Subsistence Depart- 
ment.. «. 99,106,109 
requests increase of the number of officers in the Subsistence 
Department 92 
ex officio one of the Commissioners of Military Asylum 93 
Commissaries of Purchases— 
percentage allowed to 21 
salary of 22 
Commissaries of Subsistence— 
authorized 87,90,92,93,96,97,99,104,106,108, 111 
rank of 87,90,92,93,96,97,99,104,106,108, 111 
a bill making provision for subsisting the Army, by authorizing 
the appointment of special 45 
appointment of, without the advice and consent of the Senate.99,105 
examination of 100 
number of, reduced Ill 
Commissary-Sergeants— 
one for each military post or place of deposit of subsistence sup- 
plies, authorized 107,108 
(See Regimental Commissary-Sergeants, Battalion Commissary- 
Sergeants and Company Commissary-Sergeants.) 
Commissioned Officers— 
serving in the field, may purchase rations on credit 104,109 
sales to, of articles designated by the Inspectors-General of the 
Army, authorized 106,109 
amount due from, for rations or articles designated by the In- 
spectors-General of the Army, purchased on credit, to be de- 
ducted in making payment to 104,106,110 
Commissioners of the Treasury— 
Secretary of War to form estimates, and report the same to 26 
duty of furnishing supplies for the Army devolved upon 26 
to contract for the supply of rations 27 
INDEX. 
V VI 
INDEX. 
Committee of Congress— Page, 
report of, appointed to inquire into conduct of Commissaries... 9 
to devise a proper mode for transferring the duties of supplying 
the Army to Superintendents of Finance 25 
recommendation of Superintendent of Finance that two Inspec- 
tors be appointed, referred to 25 
Company Commissary-Sergeants— 
authorized 99 
abolished 105 
Continental Congress— 
resolution of, appointing Joseph Trumbull to he Commissary- 
General of Stores and Provisions 6 
resolution of, creating office of Commissary-General of Stores 
and Provisions 5 
Contracts and Purchases— 
of Subsistence Supplies ... 10,21,24,25,27,29,31, 32, 33, 35, 38,64, 
78,95,108, 111 
Contract System— 
report on, by Mr. Monroe, acting Secretary of War 40 
CooJcs— 
for companies 100 
Cuyler, Jacob— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 18 
D. 
Dearborn, Major-General— 
letter to, from Brigadier-General Smyth, reporting want of pro- 
visions 36 
Department of Finance— 
created 26 
duty of furnishing supplies for the Army devolved upon 26 
Department of War— 
established 29 
Deputy Commissary-General of Issues— 
William Green Mumford elected a 18 
Matthew Irwin elected a 18 
Elisha Avery elected a 18 
John Bohun Garardeau elected a 19 
Archibald Stewart elected a 20 
James Blicker elected a 20 
Samuel Gray elected a 20 
Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases— 
William Aylett elected a 18 
William Buchanan elected a 18 
Jacob Cuyler elected a 18 
Jeremiah Wadsworth elected a 18 
James Roe elected a 19 
Ephraim Blaine elected a 20 
Peter Colt elected a 20 
duties of 11 
salary of 24 INDEX. 
Deputy Commissary- General of Stores and Provisions— Page. 
authorized for Army of the United Colonies in Canada 7 
authorized for supplying troops in Virginia 7 
J. Price elected a 7 
William Aylett elected a 7 
Deputy Commissaries of Subsistence— 
two provided for in a bill respecting the Military Establishment- 75 
E. 
Eaton, Amos B.— 
appointed Commissary-General of Subsistence 103 
retirement of. 107 
Enlisted Men— 
entitled to one ration daily 29,110 
sales to, of articles designated by the Inspectors-General, au- 
thorized 106,108 
tobacco to be furnished to, at cost prices 104,109 
amount due from, for tobacco, to be deducted from their pay. 104,110 
F. 
Fatigue Duty— 
pay and allowances to officers and soldiers, when employed on. 77 
Finance, Superintendent of— 
(See Superintendent of Finance.) 
Finance, Department of— 
(See Department of Finance.) 
Form of Commission— 
for officers of the Commissariat 18 
G. 
Garardeau, John Bohun— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 19 
Gaines, Edmund P.— 
letter from, to Secretary of War, reporting want of punctuality 
in the contractor's department 49 
General Order— 
announcing appointment of Joseph Trumbull as Commissary- 
General of Stores and Provisions of the Army of the United 
Colonies 6 
appendix to a, showing equivalents of different components of 
the ration 8,9 
announcing retirement of General A. B. Eaton, Commissary- 
General of Subsistence - 107 
Gibson, George— 
appointed Commissary-General of Subsistence 66 
recommends an increase of the Subsistence Department 92,93 
death of 97 
Gray, Samuel— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 20 
VII VIII 
INDEX. 
H. 
Harrison, General W. H.— Page. 
scarcity of provisions in army of 39 
purchase of provisions ordered by 39 
aspersions upon the character of 39 
inquiry requested by, concerning his official conduct 39 
statement of, concerning his official conduct 39 
exonerated by a committee of the House of Representatives 40 
Hospital Matrons— 
one ration in kind or by commutation allowed to each 115 
Hospital Nurses— 
employed in post or regimental hospitals entitled to receive one 
ration daily - 34,110 
House of Representatives— 
resolution of, directing the Secretary of War to report whether 
any, and, if any, what change ought to be made in the ration; 
and also to report a system for the establishment of a com- 
missariat for the Army 65 
direction of, to Secretary of War to furnish a statement showing 
the expense of subsisting the Army under the contract and 
commissariat systems 76 
resolution of, directing the Secretary of War to report a plan for 
the reduction of the Army to six thousand men 77 
I. 
Indians— 
rations authorized to be issued to 88,110, 111 
Inspectors— 
authorized by resolution of Congress 26 
Inspectors-General of the Army— 
authorized to designate articles for sale to officers and enlisted 
men 106,108 
Intendant of the Army— 
Superintendent of Finance recommends appointment of 25 
Irwin, Matthew— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 18 
J. 
Jackson, General Andrew— 
letter to, from Lieut.-Col. Arbuckle, reporting negligence of con- 
tractor for supplying rations 49 
letter from, to Secretary of War, reporting failure of contractor, 
and the measures adopted by him to furnish his troops with 
provisions 51 
letter from, to Secretary of War, condemning existing mode of 
subsisting the Army, and recommending that a more efficient 
and certain mode be adopted - 51,52 
letters from, to Secretary of War, reporting extremities to which 
his troops were reduced, and the embarrassments to which 
the military operations had been subjected on account of fail- 
ure in supply of rations 52,53,54,55,56 
sketch of a commissariat by 66,67 INDEX. 
IX 
Johnson, Mr., of Kentucky— Page, 
from House Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a bill 
authorizing two Deputy Commissaries of Subsistence 75 
L. 
Laundresses— 
allowed to accompany troops entitled to receive one ration 
daily..- 34,110 
Livingston, Walter— 
appointed Commissary of Stores and Provisions 7 
Lovell, Joseph— 
report of, as Surgeon-General, on the Army ration 71 
M. 
Macfeely, Robert— 
appointed Commissary-General of Subsistence 112 
McCormick, Surgeon Charles— 
recommends an increase in the coffee-and-sugar ration 94 
Mexico— 
prosecution of the existing war between the United States and 
the Republic of 91,92 
Military-Agency System— 
defects of 34 
opinion of Secretary Eustis on 34 
discontinuance of 35 
Military Agents — 
authorized by an act of Congress 33 
Military Establishment— 
a bill respecting, based on the recommendations of Mr. Calhoun, 
the Secretary of War 75 
letter from Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of War, recommending the 
adoption of a bill respecting, as necessary to equalize the 
standing of the different corps, and for enforcing economy in 
the 75,76 
an act to increase the present 90,96 
Militia— 
rations allowed to, when called into the actual service of the 
United States 110 
increase in ration allowed to, when employed in the military 
service of the United States 31,110 
Monroe, James— 
report of, as Acting Secretary of War, on the contract and com- 
missariat systems 40 
views of, on the organization of the Army and Army Staff 83 
views of, on the commissariat system 83 
remarks of, in his annual message, in December, 1823, on satis- 
factory state of the Army. 84 
Mumford, William Green— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 18 
N. 
New York Department— 
Commissary of Stores and Provisions appointed for the 7 X 
INDEX. 
O. 
Oath of Office— Page. 
for officers of the Commissariat 18 
Officers of the Subsistence Department— 
duties of the 108 
not to he concerned in the purchase or sale of articles comprised 
in the ration, or designated to be kept for sale to officers and 
enlisted men 109 
to give bonds 109 
reduction in number of the Ill 
Orders, General — 
(see General Orders.) 
Ordnance Department— 
allowance of rations to enlisted men of the 45,98,110 
P. 
Paymaster General— 
all sales on credit to be reported to, monthly 104,108,109 
Pepper— 
allowance of 100,102,109 
Porter, Hon. Peter Duel— 
report of, as Secretary of War, on the issue of ardent spirits as 
a part of the ration 86 
President of the United States— 
message of, in answer to resolution of the Senate, in relation to 
manner in which the troops of the United States operating 
against the Seminole Indians have been subsisted 57 
authorized to make alterations in the component parts of the 
ration 64,109 
Price, J— 
elected Deputy Commisary-General of Stores and Provisions 
for the Army in Canada 7 
Proceeds of sales of Subsistence Supplies— 
exempted from being covered into the Treasury 93,112 
Promotion— 
act regulating, in the Subsistence Department 93 
in the Subsistence Department, prohibited 106,110 
in the Subsistence Department, authorized Ill 
Purchases— 
(see Contracts and Purchases.) 
Purchasing Department— 
reorganized 24 
Purveyor of Public Supplies— 
appointment of, recommended by President Washington 30 
appointment of, recommended by Hon. Alexander Hamilton, 
Secretary of the Treasury 30 
office of, created 31 
duties of, defined 31 
office of, abolished 35 INDEX. 
XI 
Q. 
Page. 
Quartermaster-General 5,35 
Quartermasters, Regimental.—(See Regimental Quartermasters.) 
R. 
Ration— 
first legislation fixing components of 7,8 
general order in relation to 8 
table of equivalents of components of 8,9 
components of, fixed by act of Congress 29 
established for troops employed on the frontiers 30 
modified 31 
increased 32,97 
reduced 102 
President of the United States authorized to make alterations in 
the component parts of the 64,109 ' 
coffee and made components of 90, 91 
increased 1. 97 
to be the same as provided by law and regulation on the first 
day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one 102,103 
report of Mr. Calhoun on the 67 
report of Surgeon-General Joseph Lovell on the 71 
components of the... 7, 8,9,27,29,30, 31, 32, 34,77,90,91,95,97,98, 
102,103,109 
allowed to the militia when called into the actual service of the 
United States 110 
increase of, allowed to militia when employed in the military 
service of the United States on the western frontiers 110 
Rations— 
Secretary of War to ascertain the necessary rations proper for 
the troops and report the same to Congress 27 
to be contracted for by the Commissioners of the Treasury 27 
to be purchased and issued, in certain contingencies, by special 
commissaries 38 
issues of, to Indians 88,110, 111 
Reform and Reorganization of the Army— 
subject-matter of, referred to a Commission 112,113 
Regimental Commissaries of Subsistence— 
authorized for cavalry regiments 105 
abolished in cavalry regiments 106 
Regimental Commissary-Sergeants— 
authorized for each regiment in the Army 105 
abolished 106 
Regimental Quartermasters— 
ex officio regimental Commissaries 9 
Regulations— 
of the Commissary's Department 10 
of the Purchasing Department 20,21,22, 23,24 
of the Subsistence Department 73 XII 
Report— Page, 
of Hon. John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, on the Army ra- 
tion and the Subsistence Department 67 
of Surgeon-General Joseph Lovell on the Army ration 71 
Resolutions of Congress— 
fixing components of the Army ration 7,8 
directing a draught of regulations for government of Commis- 
saries to be prepared 10 
ordering that Commissaries be commissioned by Congress 10 
adopting regulations for the Commissary’s Department 10 
fixing salary of Commissary-General of Purchases 23 
reorganizing Purchasing Department . ... 24 
prohibiting officers of the line of the Army from making pur- 
chases or ordering purchases to he made 25 
to transfer the duty of furnishing Army supplies to the Super- 
intendent of Finance 25 
authorizing appointment of Inspectors 26 
Resolution of the Senate— 
directing the President of the United States to inform the Senate 
in what manner the troops operating against the Seminole 
Indians have been subsisted 57 
Revised Statutes of the United States— 
sections of, especially relating to the Supsistence Department.. 108 
appendix to the 112 
Roe, James— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 19 
S. 
Salary— 
of Commissary-General of Purchases 21 
of Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 21 
of Assistant Commissaries of Purchases 20 
Sales to Officers and Enlisted Men— 
Subsistence Department authorized to furnish for, such articles 
as may, from time to time, be designated by the Inspectors- 
General of the Army 106,108 
Scott, General W.— 
views of, on supplying an army by contract and by com- 
missariat 41 
Schuyler, General Philip— 
recommends appointment of a Commissary-General for his 
army 7 
appendix to order promulgated by, showing equivalents of 
different components of the ration 8 
Secretary of Wai— 
ordinance to ascertain powers and duties of 26 
to form estimates of military supplies and render same to the 
Commissioners of the Treasury 26 
act of Congress prescribing functions of 29 
duties more clearly defined 38 
INDEX. INDEX. 
XIII 
Secretary of War—Continued. Page, 
reply of, to inquiry of House Committee on Military Affairs, 
relative to contract and commissariat systems of substisting 
an army 41 
letters to, from Gen. Gaines 48,49,51 
letters to, from Gen. Jackson, reporting extremities to -which 
his troops were reduced, and the embarrassments to which 
military operations had been subjected on account of failure 
in supply of rations 51,52,53,54,55 
report of, showing cost of subsisting the Army under the con- 
tract and commissariat systems 77 
report of, to the President of the United States, as to the man- 
ner in which the troops operating against the Seminole In- 
dians had been subsisted 57 
report of, to the House of Representatives, on the practical 
operation of the commissariat system 83 
authorized to appoint Commissary-Sergeants 107,108 
Sergeants and Corporals of Ordnance— 
entitled to one ration and a half daily 45,98,110 
Shiras, Alexander E.— 
announced as Acting Commissary-General of Subsistence 108 
appointed Commissary-General of Subsistence Ill 
opinion of, as to proper allowance of coffee and sugar 93 
death of 112 
Smyth, General Alexander— 
letter from, to Secretary of War, reporting failure of a con- 
tractor 36 
letter to, from Maj. Armistead, reporting lack of provisions at 
F ort Niagara 37 
letter from, to Maj.-General Dearborn, reporting want of pro- 
visions 36 
letter to, from Col. W. H. Winder, reporting lack of bread at 
Fort Niagara 36 
letter from, to Capt. James Thomas, Deputy Quartermaster, 
ordering the purchase of rations for Fort Niagara 36, 37 
Soldiers’ Home— 
(see Military Asylum) 93 
Special Commissaries of Subsistence— 
authorized 38 
Spirit Ration— 
increase of, allowed to soldiers when on fatigue duty 77 
resolution of Mr. Walworth, of New York, in regard to 81, 82,83 
resolution of Mr. Sprague, of Maine, in regard to 85 
report of Hon. Peter Buel Porter, as Secretary of War, in re- 
gard to 86 
Staff of the A rmy— 
views of Hon. J. C. Calhoun, on organization of 78 
views of Hon. B. F. Butler, on organization of. 89 
views of President Monroe on the 84 
Statutes— 
(see Revised Statutes of the United States.) XIV 
INDEX. 
Stewart, Archibald— Page. 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Issues 20 
Subsistence Department— 
present, foundation of 64 
act regulating promotion in 93 
organization of the 63, 64, 80,84, 85,88,90,91,92,93, 96, 97,99, 
104,105,108, 111 
prohibition of appointments and promotions in the 106,110, 111 
reorganization of the Ill 
disbursements of the, during the war of 1861-65 105 
number of officers in the, on April 30, 1865 105 
remarks of Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, on 
operations of the, during the war of 1861-65 105 
duties of officers of the 108 
reduction in the number of the officers of the Ill 
Subsistence Supplies— 
act of Congress to restrict contracts for, and purchases of, in 
case of failure of appropriations 78,95, 111 
Superintendent of Finance— 
committee of Congress ordered to devise the proper mode of 
transferring to, the duty of furnishing Army supplies 25 
recommends appointment of an Intendant of the Army 25 
office of, abolished 26 
Superintendent-General of Military Supplies— 
office of, created 37 
duties of, prescribed 37 
System of the Commissary’s Department— 
revised by Congress 20 
T. 
Taylor, Joseph F.— 
appointed Commissary-General of Subsistence 97, 99 
report of, on the Army ration 102 
death of 103 
Third Auditor— 
report of, showing cost of subsisting the Army under the con- 
tract and commissariat systems 77 
Tobacco— 
to be furnished to enlisted men 104,109 
Trimble, Mr., of Kentucky— 
speech of, on resolution relating to establishment of a com- 
missariat 65 
Trumbull, Joseph— 
elected Commissary-General of Stores and Provisions 6 
elected Commissary-General of Purchases 18 
resignation of 19 
eulogistic report of a committee of Congress concerning ser- 
vices of 19 
commission on sums disbursed by, voted by Congress to heirs 
of 19 U. 
United States— Page. 
prosecution of the existing war with the Kepublic of Mexico.. 91 
Under-Cooks— 
enlistment of. authorized 100 
W. 
Wadsworth, Jeremiah— 
elected a Deputy Commissary-General of Purchases 18 
elected Commissary-General of Purchases 21 
resignation of 23 
resolution of Congress complimentary to 23 
Walworth, Mr , of New York— 
resolution of, to instruct the House Military Committee to in- 
quire into the expediency of discontinuing the issue of the 
spirit ration 80 
resolution of, in relation to the alteration of components of the 
ration, and regulating the issue of ardent spirits 81 
remarks of, on the power of the President to make alterations 
in the components of the ration, and on the evils resulting 
from the issue of ardent spirits 82 
War Department— 
(see Department of War.) 
War, Secretary of— 
(see Secretary of War.) 
Washington, George— 
recommends the establishment of a commissariat 6 
Whisky— 
allowance of sugar and coffee in lieu of 91,93,94 
Williams, Mr., of Tennessee— 
resolution of, to request the President of the United States to 
cause to be laid before the Senate a statement showing the 
practical operation of subsisting the Army under the com- 
missariat system 80 
speech of, on subsisting the Army 80,81 
INDEX. 
XV