Closely following upon the Federal success of March 6 to 8, came numerous changes and readjustments in the Missouri-Kansas commands; but they were not so much the result of that success as they were a part of the general reorganization that was taking place in the Federal service incident to the more efficient war administration of Secretary Stanton.  By order of March 11, three military departments were arranged for, the Department of the Potomac under McClellan, that of the Mountain under Fremont, and that of the Mississippi under Halleck.  The consolidation of Hunter’s Department of Kansas with Halleck’s Department of Missouri was thus provided for and had long been a consummation devoutly to be wished.[197] Both were naturally parts of the same organic whole when regarded from a military point of view.  Neither could be operated upon independently of the other.  Moreover, both were infested by political vultures.  In both, the army discipline was, in consequence, bad; that is, if it could be said to be in existence at all.  If anything, Kansas was in a worse state than Missouri.  Her condition, as far as the military forces were concerned, had not much improved since Hunter first took command and it was then about the worst that could possibly be imagined.  Major Halpine’s description[198] of it, made by him in his capacity as assistant adjutant-general, officially to Halleck, is anything but flattering.  Hunter was probably well rid of his job and Halleck, whom Lincoln much admired because he was “wholly for the service,"[199] had asked for the entire command.[200]

[Footnote 197:  Halleck, however, had not desired the inclusion of Kansas in the contemplated new department because he thought that state had only a remote connection with present operations.]

[Footnote 198:  Official Records, vol. viii, 615-617.]

[Footnote 199:  Thayer, Life and Letters of John Hay, vol. i, 127-128.]

[Footnote 200:  Badeau, Military History of U.S.  Grant, vol. i, 53, footnote.]

Halleck’s plans for remodeling the constituent elements of his department were made with a thorough comprehension of the difficulties confronting him.  It is not surprising that they brought General Denver again to the fore.  Hunter’s troubles had been bred by local politics.  That Halleck well knew; but he also knew that Indian relations were a source of perplexity and that there was no enemy actually in Kansas and no enemy worth considering that would threaten her, provided her own jay-hawking hordes could be suppressed.  Her problems were chiefly administrative.[201] For the work to be done, Denver seemed the fittest man available and, on the nineteenth, he, having previously been ordered to report to Halleck for duty,[202] was assigned[203] to the command of a newly-constituted District of Kansas, from which the troops,[204] who were guarding the only real danger zone, the southeastern part of the state, were expressly excluded.  The hydra-headed evil of the western world then asserted itself, the meddling, particularistic spoils system, with the result that Lane and Pomeroy, unceasingly vigilant whenever and wherever what they regarded as their preserves were likely to be encroached upon, went to President Lincoln and protested against the preferment of Denver.[205] Lincoln weakly yielded and wired to Halleck to suspend