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QUARTERLY CIRCULAR. 
 
 Quartermaster General's Officb, 
 Richmond, Dec. 31, 13G4. 
 
 The following General Orders, issued from the office of the Adjutant 
 and Inspector General during the fourth quarter of the year 1^64, are 
 published for the information and guidance of all officers of the Quarter- 
 master's Department: 
 
 General Orders, No. 78, October 11, 1864. 
 
 I. The attention of officers and Boldiers is specially directed t^ the 
 34th Article of Army Regulations, and General Orders, No. o* ( 
 The rapidly increasing correspondence of the War Department demands 
 that their requirements shall hereafter be strictly observed. A violation 
 of them will subject the offender to prompt trial by court martial. The 
 regulations respecting military correspdj are made after long ex- 
 
 perience, and are indispensable to an intelligent and efficient discharge <»f 
 business. 
 
 The remarks and opinions of intermediate commanders upon the sub- 
 ject matter of each communication, are important to the Department, and 
 in all cases required. Opportunity must, therefore, be afforded for their 
 expression; and all communications which are not forwarded thi I 
 the prescribed channel, will be invariably returned, without other action 
 than instructions to bring the party to trial for violation of orders.* 
 
 Letter paper will be folded in three, and foolscap in four equal folds, 
 parallel with the writing, and endorsed on the fold corresponding urith tkt 
 top of the sheet, thus : 
 
 Post or Station and Date of Letter. 
 
 Name and Rank of Writer. 
 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 * This order is not, of course, intended to be enfpreed in, eye? of eorre*ponn>nca 
 between this Bureau and officers o< the QuarterraWMerK Department, in which th« 
 opinions of commanding officers are not important, or when the subject matter of 
 th« same is one which pertains exclusively to quartermaster*' return*, tc. 
 
The endorsements should be carefully made, so as to afford information 
 of its contents at a glance, and to present only those points which ar« 
 material and pertinent. This will leave ample space for subsequent en- 
 dorsement. Commanders will return for completion all papers not so 
 •ndorsed. The practice of wrapping 1 communications with mere strips 
 of paper for the purpose of endorsement, owing to their liability to be 
 detached and lost, is prohibited. 
 
 General Order*, No. 83, Novamber 1, 1884. 
 
 III. Paragraph VII, General Orders, No. 48 (current series), is thus 
 amended : 
 
 Officers of the Quartermaster's Department failing to return the sacks 
 in which grain is received from the quartermaster, will be charged thre« 
 dollars for every one not returned. 
 
 VI. Commanders of cavalry regiments or battalions will require com- 
 pany commanders to keep a descriptive roll of all horses in their compa- 
 nies, noting all changes which are made amongst them by casualties or 
 other causes, as they occur. 
 
 VII. Every horse, borne upon the descriptive roll, will be treated as 
 public property, so long as forage and the forty cents a day are drawn 
 from the government. No soldier will be permitted to ride his horse, ex- 
 cept in the discharge of public duty, or to sell or exchange him, except 
 to secure one more serviceable ; such superiority to be determined and 
 certified by the company officers present for duty, and the fact noted upon 
 the descriptive roll. Such sales or exchanges, however, are strictly for- 
 bidden between cavalrymen of the same or different commands. 
 
 General Orders, No. 84, Not. 21, 1864. 
 
 V. The telegraph will be used as economically as possible, and mes- 
 sages will not be sent by it without the approval of the commanding 
 officer present. Where the telegram exceeds ten words, the voucher for 
 its payment must embrace, in his certificate, that it was not for the per- 
 sonal benefit of Ibe person by whom it was sent, and that it was neces- 
 sary, and contained official business, which could not be transacted by 
 mail without detriment to the public service. 
 
 VI. Supplies collected or held by county or district agents, for tbs 
 benefit of soldiers' families, are not liable to impressment. 
 
Adjutant and Inspector General's Office. 
 Richmond, December 15. 1864. 
 
 Special Orders, ) - . „„, 
 No. 297. \ Extract. 
 
 XXXV. To facilitate missionary operations in the army, post quarter- 
 masters and commissaries are allowed to receive from any religious de- 
 nomination such amount of forage and subsistence as may be offered by 
 the denomination, and to receipt for the same, to be returned in kind in 
 rations to be issued in the field to properly accredited missionaries, under 
 such regulations as will hereafter be prescribed by each Department. 
 
 By command of the Secretary of War. 
 
 John W. Riely, 
 
 Assistant Adjutant General 
 
 ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
 Hides, &c. 
 
 1. Officers of the. Quartermaster's Department are notified, that here- 
 after no accounts for dead animals will be allowed to pass, unless th« 
 hides are accounted for, or satisfactory reasons are given for failure to ac- 
 count for the same. 
 
 Miscellaneous Stores. 
 
 2. Depot officers, having on hand miscellaneous stores, to wit, other 
 quartermasters' stores than clothing, camp equipage and stationery, can 
 issue the same at discretion, and independent of the action of this offics, 
 taking care to prefer, as far as may be proper, requisitions from the field . 
 A report will be made quarterly, showing the miscellaneous stores pur- 
 chased or received, the aggregate of issues, and the remainder of each 
 article on hand. 
 
 Reports of Officers. 
 
 3. The attention of all officers of the Quartermaster's Department, 
 <tther than those serving with troops in the field, is called to the require- 
 ment contained in paragraph 5, ''additional instructions" of Circular of 
 October 1, 1864, directing them to forward reports of their present duties, 
 letting forth the orders under which they are acting. 
 
Clothing of Deceased Soldiers. 
 
 4. All post quartermasters and officers attached to hospitals will do all 
 in their power to collect and preserve the military clothing of deceased 
 soldiers, in accordance with existing orders. It will be turned over for 
 insue to negroes, to the nearest depot officer, and the amount reported 
 quarterly to this office. The following are the names and location of th* 
 depot officers to whom transfers can be made : 
 
 1. Maj. W. G. Beutley, Richmond, Va. 
 
 2. Maj. H. M. Bell, Staunton, Va. 
 
 3. Maj. H. R. Hooper, Raleigh, N. C. 
 
 4. Capt. G. J. Crafts, Charleston, S. C. 
 
 5. Maj. L. O. Bridewell, Augusta, Ga. 
 
 6. Maj. F. W. Dillard, Columbus, Ga. 
 
 7. Capt. W. M. Gillaspie, Montgomery, Ala. 
 
 8. Maj. L. Mims, Enterprise, Miss. 
 
 9. Maj. W. J. Anderson, Columbus, Miss. 
 
 It is important to collect these and other supplies, suitable for issue to 
 negroes, hired or impressed by the year. Depot officers will do all they 
 can to increase the supply, and will make reports quarterly to this office, 
 distinct from the reports now made weekly and monthly, showing the 
 quantity of each article received, the total issues made, and the remainder 
 on hand. 
 
 Bonded Agents, how Paid. 
 
 5. Bonded agents of the Commissary and other Departments will be paid 
 by the Departments to which they are attached, and not from funds of 
 this Department 
 
 Pay Funds. 
 
 QUARTERMASTRR GENERAL'S OFFICE, 
 
 Richmond, January 1865. 
 
 6. All pay funds in the possession of officers of the Quartermaster's De- 
 partment, attached to the armies of the Confederate States, will, on the 
 completion of each periodical payment, be reported to the Chief Quarter- 
 master of said armies, who will deduct the amount from the next subse- 
 quent estimate submitted. 
 
 Estimates will show the number of officers of each grade, non-commis- 
 sioned officers, musicians ,and privates, in each regiment or battalion, 
 together with the brigades, divisions and corps of which they form a part, 
 
and will be made for pay due for each period of two months separately ; 
 so that, in the event of the inability ot the Treasury Department to sup- 
 ply the whole amount needed — should estimates embrace a longer time — 
 a sum sufficient to pay for a stated period, may be furnished. 
 
 Returns of disbursements made, on account of pay of the army, will 
 be carefully compared with estimates presented, in the office of the Quar- 
 termaster General, in order to ascertain whether or not the latter are in 
 excess of the amount required to pay the troops, and officers will be held 
 to a strict accountability for overestimating. These returns will be made 
 every two months. 
 
 Care will be observed to pay officer* and men granted furloughs 01 
 indulgence, before they leave their commands, to the date of the last mus- 
 ter for payment ; and no payment will be ma<le them by post quarter- 
 masters for a period anterior to such time. Chief Quartermasters will 
 be careful to cause compliance with this order. 
 
 Attention is directed to the accompanying extract from General Orders, 
 No. 1, Adjutant and Inspector General's office, January 6th, 1865, viz: 
 
 VIII. Generals commanding armies and departments will require com- 
 pany commanders to furnish descriptive lists to soldiers sent to hospitals. 
 
 IX. Sick or wounded soldiers in hospitals may be paid, as heretofore, 
 four months' pay, if due, upon receipts supported by their affidavits; but 
 company commanders will provide them with descriptive lists before they 
 leave their commands, if it be possible. If otherwise, they will, as soon 
 thereafter as practicable, forward such lists to the surgeon in charge of 
 the hospitals of which they may be inmates. 
 
 X. Articles of clothing issued during the year to soldiers, will be stated 
 on company muster roll?, with the prices annexed, upon which annual 
 settlements on clothing accounts are made. 
 
 XI. Payment of the bounty of fifty dollars, allowed by the Act of Con- 
 gress, approved December 11th, 1861, will not be paid to persons between 
 seventeen aud fifty years, subject to conscription. It will be limited to 
 those not liable to service, who enter the army for the war as non-com- 
 missioned officers, musicians or privates. All who enter the general ser- 
 vice from the reserves, must do so by transfer ; and in no case will bounty 
 be paid upon such transfers or enlistments. 
 
 XII. Quartermasters performing duty exclusively as paymasters, will 
 be under the control of Chief Quartermasters of armies or military de- 
 partments. They will not be subject to orders from other quartermasters. 
 
 If, from any cause, the paymaster of a corps or division is unable to 
 discharge the duties appertaining to his office, the Chief Quartermaster 
 
of \he army with which such corps or division may be serving, will de- 
 signate a quartermaster or an assistant quartermaster to perform such duty 
 temporarily; in which event, the name of the quartermaster so assigned 
 will be communicated to the Quartermaster General. 
 
 Clothing. 
 
 Quartermaster General's Office, 
 » Richmond, Jan. 23, 1865. 
 
 7. The attention of officers and soldiers is called to the following Act of 
 Congress, and regulations based thereon : 
 
 [No. 22] 
 
 An Act to provide Commissioned Officers of the Army and Navy and 
 Marine Corps icith Clothing, 
 
 •'The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That 
 all officers of the army, navy and marine corps, on duty in the field, 
 afloat or in batteries, and all officers on other duty who are disabled for 
 service in the field, hy reason of wounds or disease contracted in the ser- 
 vice, and officers of the invalid corps on duty, below the rank of briga- 
 dier general in the army, and below the rank of captain in the navy, 
 shall be furnished once in every year, with one complete suit of uniform 
 clothing: provided, that the quantity and quality of clothing to be de- 
 livered to non-commissioned officers and privates, seamen and marines, 
 under existing or future laws, shall in no wise be interfered with by reason 
 of any th'ng contained in this act; and in the distribution of clothing, 
 officers on duty in the field shall, in all cases, have a preference over those 
 on post, or detailed on office duty, so that when there is not a sufficiency 
 of clothing for all, the non-commissioned officers and privates shall be 
 first served, and next to them the officers actually on duty in the field." 
 [Approved January 16, 1865.] 
 
 A true copy. 
 
 Jas. M Matthews, Law Clerk. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 The above act, after securing a supply to soldiers, prefers officer* 
 below the rank of brigadier general, as follows : First, officers on duty 
 in the field ; next, officers on duty, disabled for service in the field, by 
 reason of wounds, or disease contracted in the service, and officers of the 
 invalid corps on duty, all of whom draw free of cost: and, lastly, permits 
 
other officers to pur-eliase, as heretofore, under the provisions of the old 
 act of February 17, 1864. 
 
 Care will be taken to observe these preferences. To that end, order* 
 will not be given hereafter at this office, under any circumstances, for th» 
 purchase of cloth, or any article of clothing, or for the issue of same. 
 
 Officers in the field will be supplied through the Chief Quartermas- 
 ter of the command to which they may be attached. When the supply 
 will permit, cloth will be apportioned between the armies in«the field ac- 
 cording to their strength, and will be placed at the control of the Chief 
 Quartermaster thereof, who will be looked to, t< distribute the same to 
 the officers entitled and most in need. Other art lies of clothing, not ex- 
 ceeding in all one suit a year, may be issued to c ficers in the field, from 
 stores forwarded to the command to which, they 1 elong, when the want* 
 of the privates will admit. 
 
 Other officers will draw or purchase, as the ;ase may be, from the 
 nearest depot, but from such supplies only as ma; be set aside, from tirm- 
 to time, by direction of this office. Mr. Ranki , bonded agent of this 
 Department, corner of 14th and Cary streets, \vi 1 be charged with the 
 duty of issuing and selling, at this point, cloth ar 1 articles of clothing to 
 officers. When he has nothing for sale or issue, i( will be useless to make 
 application elsewhere in this city, all other officers being prohibited from 
 either selling or issuing. 
 
 The yearly suit of clothing for an officer will consist of a coat and 
 pair of pants, or material (4 yards double width), and trimmings therefor, 
 one pair of shoes, one hat or cap, three pairs of drawers, three cotton 
 shirts, two flannel shirts and four pairs of socks Issues on sales to offi- 
 cers will be noted on suitable rolls prepared fur that purpose, and in every 
 case the officer shall certify that the articles drawn, or purchased are ne- 
 cessary for his own personal comfort and use, and'that the same will not 
 be in excess of his prescribed allowance. Returns) of such issues or sales 
 will be made quarterly to this office. The price of cloth, when sold, will 
 be $20 a yard, double width, and of other articles bf clothing as fixed in 
 General Orders. 
 
 Privates. 
 
 Men attached to command's in the field will bp supplied there, and 
 men who have been retired, at the post at which they may be located in 
 orders. Issues to men on furlough and on horse details have been sus- 
 pended. Meu in hospital will be supplied by the issuing quartermaster 
 attached thereto. All detailed men in Richmond and the immediate vici- 
 
8 
 
 nit j are supplied through Mr. Rankin. Paroled and exchanged men 
 draw at Camp Lee. 
 
 The interest of the service and the dispatch of public business re- 
 quire that these regulations shall be strictly observed. 
 
 i 
 
 Stationary, Blanks and Printing. 
 
 8. All purchases of stationery, by contract or otherwise, all contract* 
 for making 'paper, and contracts for printing quartermasters' blanks, for 
 the states of Virginia, Nerth Carolina and South Carolina, will hereafter 
 be made exclusively by Major Thomas L. Broun, Quartermaster, Colum- 
 bia, Snurh Carolina; aud in the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, 
 Florida, and other portions of the Confederacy, this side of the Missis- 
 sippi river, by Major J H. McMahon, Quartermaster, Montgomery, Ala- 
 bama. Quartermasters having contracts for stationery, or an excess of 
 any kind of stationery on hand, are directed to turn the same over to one 
 or the other of these officers, according to locality. 
 
 9. Majors Broun and McMahon, are empowered, each within his sec- 
 tion of country, to receive all stationery imported for this Department; to 
 recommend such detats as may be essential to the execution of contract? 
 for stationery or printing; to establish depots of stationery and blanks. 
 and to issue same upon requisitions approved at this office. They will 
 make monthly reports showing the quantity purchased, what issued— dis- 
 
 tinguishing between the 
 on hand. 
 
 10. Field and tax in 
 post quartermaster all ( 
 
 different armies in the field — and the remainder 
 
 iiud quartermasters will turn over to the nearest 
 nts, sacks and wagon covers condemned and unfit 
 for use. Post quartern asters will also collect all cotton and linen rags, 
 rope cuttings, bagging, damaged cotton, and all other material useful in 
 the manufacture of pap er. The same will be reported to Major Broun or 
 Major McMahon, and will be held subject to his order. 
 
 A. R. LAWTON, 
 
 Quartermaster General. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
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