QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for the honorable the Secretary of War, the report of operations of the Quartermaster's Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881. A synopsis of the report was forwarded to the War Department on the 26th ultimo. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, M. C. MEIGS, Quartermaster-General, Bvt. Major-General, U. S. A. To the ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE ARMY. [First indorsement.] ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. R. C. DRUM, WAR DEPARTMENT, QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, October 24, 1881. SIR: I have the honor to submit the annual report of operations of the Quartermaster's Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881. The balance at end of June 30, 1880, in Treasury to credit of the Quartermaster's Department was, as by last report... The appropriations made for the service of the Quartermaster's Depart- The appropriations for deficiency for 1880 and prior years. $1,027,815 68 11, 493, 758 19 215,466 41 575, 000 00 540, 147 29 13, 857, 187 57 Total...... Remittances to disbursing officers have amounted to... $11, 203, 536-03 718, 205 13 230, 123 62 26 75 12, 151, 891 53 Balance in Treasury undrawn at end of June 30, 1881.... 1,705, 296 04 A table accompanying this report gives the amount of the various items of appropriations, remittances, &c., in detail. The Quartermaster's Department is charged with the duty of providing the means of transportation by land and water for all troops and all material of war. It furnishes the horses of the artillery and cavalry, and horses and mules for the trains. It provides and distributes clothing, tents, camp and garrison equipage, forage, lumber, and all material for camps and for shelter of troops and stores. It now provides lights for all military posts and buildings. It builds barracks, storehouses, hospitals; provides wagons and ambulances and harness, except for cavalry and artillery horses; builds or charters ships, steamers, and boats, docks, and wharves; constructs and repairs roads, railways, and bridges; clears out obstructions in rivers and harbors when necessary for military purposes; provides, by hire or purchase, grounds for military encampments and buildings; pays generally all expenses of military operations not by law assigned to some other department; and, finally, it provides and maintains military cemeteries in which the dead of the Army are buried. Food, arms, ammunition, medical and hospital stores are purchased and issued by other departments, but the Quartermaster's Department transports them to the place of issue, and provides storehouses for their preservation until consumed. About three hundred officers of the line, in each fiscal year, are placed on duty as acting assistant quartermasters, and are charged with the responsibility for public property, and many of them with the disbursement of public funds. A list of those to whom money has been remitted, or who have acted as assistant quartermasters during the fiscal year, is with this report. For the responsibility thus involved, and the labor attending these duties, it seems to be just that they should be allowed by the government the same moderate monthly compensation which is allowed to acting commissaries of subsistence for duties somewhat similar, viz, $10 per month. The want of post quartermaster sergeants still continues to be felt, and I am requested by officers who have the good of the service at heart to again recommend that their appointment be provided for. The acting assistant quatermaster who is in charge of the military property of the Quartermaster's Department at any military post, as a rule, leaves the post whenever the garrison is exchanged or removed, and the sudden transfer of property, often of great value, is attended with risk of loss to the officers. A post quartermaster sergeant, who would remain at the post, would be able to save officers and the government loss which results from such sudden and frequent changes. This care of supplies would prevent useless transportation and wastage. The value of the service of ordnance and commissary sergeants is well established by experience, but the Quartermaster's Department, whose property at military posts generally exceeds in value all others combined, is without these useful non-commissioned officers. DUTIES OF OFFICERS. Col. Stewart Van Vliet, assistant quartermaster-general, was on duty in this office in charge of the inspection branch and as inspector to January 22, 1881, when retired from active service. Col. S. B. Holabird, assistant quartermaster-general, has had charge of the finance branch and of the examination of accounts and returns of officers preparatory to their being transmitted to the Treasury for settle ment, and of the supply and distribution and manufacture of clothing and camp and garrison equipage. Also, from January 23, 1881, in charge of inspection branch. Lieut. Col. J. G. Chandler, deputy quartermaster-general, has had charge of the transportation, regular supplies, and miscellaneous claims branches of the office since May 20, 1881. Prior to that date Lieut. Col. H. C. Hodges was in charge of them. Colonel Chandler previously served as chief quartermaster Department of the South, at Newport Barracks, Ky., to February 12, 1881, and as chief quartermaster Military Division of the Gulf, at New Orleans, La., to May 20, 1881. Maj. James M. Moore, quartermaster, has had charge of the claims branch and of the barracks and quarters branch of the office. Maj. B. C. Card, quartermaster, has had charge of the maintenance and improvement of national military cemeteries since April 1, 1881, and has also done the duty of depot quartermaster at this station. Prior to that date Capt. A. F. Rockwell, assistant quartermaster, was in charge. Major Card had previously been on duty as chief quartermaster, Department of Texas, at San Antonio, Tex. Other principal regular stations have been occupied as follows: Col. D. H. Rucker, assistant quartermaster-general, has been in charge of the Philadelphia general depot of the Quartermaster's Department, Philadelphia, Pa., the principal depot for purchase and manufacture of clothing for the Army. Col. Rufus Ingalls, assistant quartermaster-general, chief quartermaster Military Division of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill., to February 17, 1881; since then in charge of the general depot of the Quartermaster's Department at New York City. Col. L. C. Easton, assistant quartermaster-general, had charge of the general depot of the Quartermaster's Department at New York City to January 27, 1881, when retired from active service. Col. C. H. Tompkins, assistant quartermaster-general, chief quartermaster Department of Dakota, Saint Paul, Minn., to February 15, 1881; since then chief quartermaster Military Division of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill. Lieut. Col. James A. Ekin, deputy quartermaster-general, in charge of the general depot of the Quartermaster's Department at Jeffersonville, Ind., disbursing officer of the Quartermaster's Department at Louisville, Ky., and in charge of the National Military Cemeteries in Kentucky and Tennessee, and of investigation of claims in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Lieut. Col. Rufus Saxton, deputy quartermaster-general, chief quartermaster Military Division of the Pacific and Department of California, Presidio of San Francisco, Cal. Lieut. Col. J. D. Bingham, deputy quartermaster-general, chief quartermaster Department of the Missouri, Fort Leavenworth, Kans. Lieut. Col. A. J. Perry, deputy quartermaster-general, chief quartermaster Military Division of the Atlantic and Department of the East, Governor's Island, New York Harbor. Lieut. Col. Henry C. Hodges, deputy quartermaster-general, until May 20, 1881, on duty in the Quartermaster General's Office, and since August 6, 1881, chief quartermaster Department of Arizona, Whipple Barracks, Prescott, Ariz. Lieut. Col. William Myers, deputy quartermaster-general, depot quar termaster, Chicago, Ill., to February 17, 1881; since then chief quartermaster Department of Dakota, Fort Snelling, Minn. Lieut. Col. Charles G. Sawtellé, deputy quartermaster-general, chief quartermaster Department, of Columbia, Vancouver Barracks, Wash ington Territory, to April 12, 1881; since then chief quartermaster Department of the South, Newport Barracks, Ky. Maj. James J. Dana, quartermaster, chief quartermaster District of New Mexico, Santa Fé, N. Mex., to August 7, 1880; since then in charge of investigation of war claims in Tennessee, Nashville, Tenn. Maj. R. N. Batchelder, quartermaster, in charge of the general depot of the Quartermaster's Department at San Francisco, Cal. Maj. M. I. Ludington, quartermaster, chief quartermaster Department of the Platte, Fort Omaha, Nebr. Maj. C. A. Reynolds, quartermaster, disbursing quartermaster, Buffalo, N. Y. Maj. George B. Dandy, quartermaster, purchasing and shipping quartermaster at Portland, Oreg., to June 1, 1881; since April 12, 1881, chief quartermaster Department of Columbia, Vancouver Barracks, Washington Territory. Maj. George H. Weeks, quartermaster, depot quartermaster, Fort Leavenworth, Kans. Maj. William B. Hughes, quartermaster, depot quartermaster, Saint Louis, Mo., to March 31, 1881; since then chief quartermaster Depart-ment of Texas, San Antonio, Tex. Maj. A. G. Robinson, quartermaster, disbursing quartermaster District of Montana, Helena, Mont. Maj. E. D. Baker, quartermaster, depot quartermaster, San Antonio, Tex., to April 3, 1881; since then depot quartermaster, Saint Louis, Mo. Maj. J. G. C. Lee, quartermaster, in charge of construction of buildings at Fort Assinaboine, Mont., to September 24, 1880; from November 13, 1880, chief quartermaster District of New Mexico, Santa Fé, N. Mex. Maj. James Gilliss, quartermaster, post quartermaster, and quartermaster of artillery school, Fort Monroe, Va. Maj. T. J. Eckerson, quartermaster, chief quartermaster District of the Rio Grande, Fort Brown, Tex., to April 5, 1881; since then depot quartermaster, Boston, Mass. INSPECTION BRANCH. This branch of the office reports the stations and duties of the offi cers of the Quartermaster's Department, and those of the line officers and officers of other branches of the staff on duty in the Quartermaster's Department as acting assistant quartermasters. Three hundred and six have been on such duty for longer or shorter periods during the year. A list of their names and stations accompanies this report. It prepares the monthly returns of officers of the Quartermaster's Department for the Adjutant-General's Office. It files and examines the annual reports of officers; files and distributes general and special orders, rolls of honor, and other printed documents relating to the Quartermaster's Department. It attends to procuring and distributing to military posts the reading matter furnished to them in connection with the system of military schools and instruction of soldiers and of their children. This reading matter consists principally of the current periodical literature of the day, for which, however, when desired by the post, a supply of school books is occasionally substituted. The total expenditure to supply the schools with reading matter during the year has been about $9,000. Eighty-five thousand seven hundred and forty-nine general orders and other printed papers have been received, and 63,712 sent out during the year. TRANSPORTATION. The movement during the year was of 46,658 persons, 10,355 beasts, and 136,632 tons of material, costing $1,802,931.37, of which $393,156.27 was paid for transportation of persons and $1,409,775.10 for freight. The larger movements of troops were: Third Cavalry, Companies C, G, and L, from Department of the Platte to Department of the Missouri, 291 miles. Second Artillery, Companies E, G, and L, from Department of Texas to Department of the South, 1,080 miles. Sixteenth Infantry, headquarters and ten companies, from Department of the Missouri to Department of Texas, 705 miles. Twenty-fourth Infantry, headquarters and ten companies, from Department of Texas to Department of the Missouri, 608 miles. RAILROAD TRANSPORTATION. There were moved by rail 32,820 persons, 8,782 beasts, and 83,510 tons of material and supplies. The cost to the appropriation for transportation of the Army has been $212,729.90 for passengers and $307,912.66 for stock and freight. The bonded Pacific railroads have earned $836,638.05 for military transportation, which sum is withheld by the Secretary of the Treasury to be applied, under the law of 7th May, 1878, to the liquidation of their indebtedness to the United States. The value at full tariff rates of transportation over the land-grant railroads during the year is estimated at $250,000. There is no appropriation available for the payment of military transportation over land-grant railroads during the fiscal year. Under the existing laws, as interpreted by the courts, the land-grant railroad companies are entitled to compensation for all military transportation service performed by them, respectively, subject to a fair deduction for the use of their respective railroads. Assuming this deduction to be 50 per centum of the ordinary rates in accordance with the acts of 24th February and of 3d March, 1881, the estimated amount due these railroads for service during the year is $125,000. Unsettled railroad accounts, aggregating $200,000, are outstanding and cannot be paid until means are provided by Congress. The total value at tariff rates of service rendered to the War Department by railroads during the year is $1,807,280.61. BONDED PACIFIC RAILROADS. The following tables state the military transportation during the fisca year on the several Pacific railroads named: Union Pacific Kansas Pacific* Sioux City and Pacific Total... Kansas Division." Merged into Union Pacific Railway Company, and now styled "Union Pacific Railway Company, |