clear and well-defined purpose at every instant of time, and to cause all efforts to converge to that end.

"To do these things he must know perfectly the strength and quality of each part of his own army, as well as that of his opponent's, and must be where he can personally see and observe with his own eyes, and judge with his own mind. No man can properly command an army from the rear, he must be 'at its front;' and when a detachment is made the commander thereof should be informed of the object to be accomplished, and left as free as possible to execute it in his own way; and when an army is divided up into several parts, the superior should always attend that one which he regards as most important. Some men think that modern armies may be so regulated that a general can sit in an office and play on his several columns as on the keys of a piano; this is a fearful mistake. The directing mind must be at the very head of the army-must be seen there, and the effect of his mind and personal energy must be felt by every officer and man present with it, to secure the best results. Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster."-Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. II, pages 394, 395, 406-408.

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CHAPTER XIII

A GREAT QUARTERMASTER

IN the previous chapters I have several times alluded to the importance of the quartermaster's department. This is the department that supplies quarters, barracks, storehouses, hospitals, clothing, camp and garrison equipage, horses, mules, harness, wagons, ambulances, forage, transportation generally, and the thousand and one other things wherein the other departments fail or fall short. In short, this is the great business department of an army, as distinguished from its mere fighting department, and one is essential to the other.

A good quartermaster is expected to be "sufficient unto himself," and to make good the deficiencies of everybody else. I think it safe to say, were the secret history of our great campaigns in the Civil War known, no great commander on either side succeeded without a good quartermaster. In marked instances they themselves had previously been quartermasters—as Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Joe Johnston, and others.

A signal instance of such an officer, conspicuous in many ways and for many things, was General Robert Allen, U. S. A., whom I venture to call a great quartermaster. In vindication of the brainy staff, as against the fighting line, let us see if we can arrive at some estimate of his work and worth, and thus rescue at least one staff officer from unmerited oblivion. A West Pointer of the class of '36, he performed various duty until the war with Mexico, when he was appointed quartermaster of the Kentucky Cavalry in Taylor's column, that moved via Monterey; but subsequently was assigned to Twiggs's Division

Scott's column, that moved via Vera Cruz to the City of exico. This was a good position for that war, and Allen just have shown sterling qualities already, or General wiggs (himself an old quartermaster) would not have elected him for the place. As it was, Allen-then a capain only conducted affairs with marked ability; and it was the common remark of Twiggs that his division was the best supplied of any in the army" there.

The secret of it was that his quartermaster, though gifted with a wholesome respect for red tape, was yet not fraid to cut it, when the occasion demanded. With much native tact and sagacity, he readily adapted himself to the changed condition of men and things in Mexico, and thus availed himself of all the resources of the country as Scott advanced. Scouring the haciendas far and wide, he found no lack of transport and rations, where other officers reported little; and when one method failed his fertile intellect soon devised another. After the fall of the City of Mexico he was placed in charge of our main depot there, and continued in charge of it until our final evacuation of the country.

That war left him a brevet major (a high rank in those days), "for gallant and meritorious conduct" at Cerro Gordo and elsewhere. Soon afterward he was ordered to California. Of course, when Sumter fell, and our Army jumped suddenly from thirteen thousand men to over half a million, with nearly a quarter of our old officers gone— "seceded" to Jeff Davis and the Confederacy—a quartermaster of such character and efficiency could not be allowed to fossilize on the Pacific Coast. Accordingly Allen, like Sheridan (then also on the Pacific Coast), was soon ordered East, and in October, 1861, was assigned to duty at St. Louis.

Fremont was still there, but his quartermaster (McKinstry) had already been relieved, and he himself was be