I have had photographs taken of some of our mules.  A number of these animals performed extraordinary service in connection with the Army of the Potomac and the Western Army.  One of them, a remarkable animal, made the great circuit of Sherman’s campaign, and has an historical interest.  I propose to give you these illustrations according to their numbers.

No.1, then, is a very remarkable six-mule team.  It was fitted out at Berryville, Maryland, early in the spring of 1861, under the directions of Captain Sawtelle, A. Q. M. They are all small, compact mules, and I had them photographed in order to show them together.  The leaders and swing, or, as some call them, the middle leaders, have been worked steadily together in the same team since December 31, 1861.  They have also been driven by the same driver, a colored man, of the name of Edward Wesley Williams.  He was with Captain Sawtelle until the 1st of March, 1862; was then transferred, with his team, to the City of Washington, and placed under a wagon-master of the name of Horn, who belonged to Harrisburg, Pa.  Wesley took good care of his team, and was kept at constant work with it in Washington, until May 14, 1862.  He was then transferred, with his team, to a train that was ordered to join General McClellan at Fort Monroe.  He then followed the fortunes of the Army of the Potomac up the Peninsula; was at the siege of Yorktown, the battle of Williamsburg, and in the swamps of the Chickahominy.  He was also in the seven days’ battles, and brought up at Harrison’s Landing with the Army of the Potomac.  He then drove his team back to Fort Monroe, where they were shipped, with the animals of the Army of the Potomac, for Washington.  He was set to work as soon as he reached a landing, and participated in hauling ammunition at the second battle of Bull Run.  He then followed the army to Antietam, and from that battle-field to Fredericksburg, where he hauled ammunition during the terrible disaster under General Burnside.  The team then belonged to a train of which John Dorny was wagon-master.  When General Hooker took command of the army this team followed him through the Chancellorville and Chantilly fights.  It also followed the Army of the Potomac until General Grant took command, when the train it belonged to was sent to City Point.  This brings us up to 1864.  It was with the army in front of Petersburg, and, during that winter, the saddle mule was killed by the enemy’s shot while the team was going for a load of wood.  In short, they were worked every day until Richmond was taken.  In June, 1865, they were transferred back to the City of Washington.  It is now August, 1866, and they are still working in the train, and make one of the very best teams we have.  I refer now to the leaders and swing mules, as they are the only four that are together, and that followed the Army of the Potomac through all its campaigns.  There is not a mule of the four that is over fourteen and a half hands high, and not one that weighs over nine hundred pounds.  This team, I ought to add here, has frequently been without a bite of hay or grain for four or five days, and nothing to eat but what they could pick up along the road.  And there are instances when they have been twenty-four hours without a sup of water.  The experienced eye will see that they have round, compact bodies, and stand well on their feet.