Braxton Bragg to John C. Breckinridge, October 11, 1864

October 11, 1864. Respectfully returned to the Honorable Secretary of War. It appears to me that the Quartermaster-General has strangely misapprehended my action in the matter of which he complains, and still more strangely misconstrued and misapplied the law and regulations. By the ninth section of the act of February 17, 1864, ”it shall be the duty of any district or department commander, upon proof by the oath of any credible person, that any such officer has violated this provision, immediately to relieve such officer from duty, and said commander shall take prompt measures to have him tried for such offense.” By General Orders, No. 48, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, 27th of May, 1864, paragraph VIII, this duty is also devolved on post commanders. Upon thes#eceipt by me of an inspection report made by an officer duly ordered and authorized to make investigation into these matters, setting forth certain violations of the abovequoted law, the whole matter was referred to the proper commander; and my only action was simply to call his attention to the requirements of the law, the neglect of which forfeited his own commission. It will be observed that my instructions to him refer not to the parties reported, but to the ” guilty parties,” thereby indicating that the inspection report sent him was not his guide, but for his ”information.” It is apparent from the tenor of the remarks of the QuartermasterGeneral that he misapprehends to some extent the object of inspections as well as the exact military relations of the officers of his department stationed in and about Richmond. As the chief of the Bureau charged with the financial and property responsibility of his subordinates, it is conceded that information obtained by inspections should be furnished him; but when it comes to the military responsibility of these officers to their proper superiors—as in the case before us—I cannot concede his claim. The error arises from the proximity of the officers to the chief of the Bureau, and the mixed duties (post and depot) improperly assigned them. The post quartermasters in Richmond are no more under the control of the Quartermaster-General, nor less under the control of the post commander, than are the same class of officers in Mobile or Galveston, and every attempt to make a distinction will only work confusion and disorder and result in inefficiency and irresponsibility. A copy of my letter to General Gardner is herewith inclosed.

BRAXTON BRAGG,