Member Review Another thing Halleck was administering:

[wausaubob]

The livestock buying for the cavalry was not working. The problems were obvious in Missouri because horse thieves could sell the livestock to the US and pocket the money and many of the horses purchased by the quartermaster fell far short of cavalry standards.
Many attempts to fix the problem eventually led to the cavalry bureau buying the horses for the cavalry. That was an improvement but eventually General Halleck set up a separate purchasing bureau, which Meigs did not control. Meigs and his officers bought the mules used by Ingalls. But Halleck was controlling the cavalry purchases. He must have thought it was the only way to eliminate corruption and gain some stability in that part of the system.