Unknown to Edwin M. Stanton, February 24, 1864
These papers are respectfully forwarded to the Secretary of War.
I cannot too earnestly call attention to the views and suggestions presented by Lieutenant-Colonel Sims.* Any agreement drawn from the condition of railroad transportation twelve months since must be fallacious, as the demands of the Government upon the railways have more than doubled in that time. Then corn was not transported from Georgia to forage the horses of General Leeâs army. Then the Commissary Department did not call for corn to feed the troops of the same army, but wheat was relied on solely for that purpose. Then the same department did not attempt to transport meat from points far south to Virginia. Now the roads are expected to respond
* Follows as an inclosure.
promptly to all these new demands without any additional assistance. Let any practical suggestion for improvement be suggested, and it will be promptly adopted. A. R. LAWTON, Quartermaster- General.