Chapter 27

Whereas by my proclamation of the 19th of April, 1861, it was declared that the ports of certain States, including those of Norfolk, in the State of Virginia, Fernandina and Pensacola, in the State of Florida, were, for reasons therein set forth, intended to be placed under blockade; and

Whereas the said ports were subsequently blockaded accordingly, but having for some time past been in the military possession of the United States, it is deemed advisable that they should be opened to domestic and foreign commerce:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority in me vested by the fifth section of the act of Congress approved on the 13th of July, 1861, entitled "An act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," do hereby declare that the blockade of the said ports of Norfolk, Fernandina, and Pensacola shall so far cease and determine, from and after the 1st day of December next, that commercial intercourse with those ports, except as to persons, things, and information contraband of war, may from that time be carried on, subject to the laws of the United States, to the limitations and in pursuance of the regulations which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and to such military and naval regulations as are now in force or may hereafter be found necessary.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of November, A.D. 1864, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, _Secretary of State_.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., December 7, 1863_.

Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreating from east Tennessee under circumstances rendering it probable that the Union forces can not hereafter be dislodged from that important position, and esteeming this to be of high national consequence, I recommend that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their places of worship and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for this great advancement of the national cause.

A. LINCOLN.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 398.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, December 21, 1863_.

The following joint resolution by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States is published to the Army:

JOINT RESOLUTION of thanks to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant and the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion, and providing that the President of the United States shall cause a medal to be struck, to be presented to Major-General Grant in the name of the people of the United States of America.

_Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct in the battles in which they have been engaged; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Major-General Grant.

SEC. 2. _And be it further resolved_, That when the said medal shall have been struck the President shall cause a copy of this joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall transmit the same, together with the said medal, to Major-General Grant, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the United States of America.

SEC. 3. _And be it further resolved_, That a sufficient sum of money to carry this resolution into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SCHUYLER COLFAX,

_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.

H. HAMLIN,

_Vice-president of the United States and President of the Senate_.

Approved, December 17, 1863.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1864_.

Information having been received that Caleb B. Smith, late Secretary of the Interior, has departed this life at his residence in Indiana, it is ordered that the executive buildings at the seat of the Government be draped in mourning for the period of fourteen days in honor of his memory as a prudent and loyal counselor and a faithful and effective coadjutor of the Administration in a time of public difficulty and peril.

The Secretary of State will communicate a copy of this order to the family of the deceased, together with proper expressions of the profound sympathy of the President and the heads of Departments in their irreparable bereavement.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

_Washington City, January 12._

_It is hereby ordered_, That all orders and records relating to the Missouri troops, designated, respectively, as Missouri State Militia (M.S.M.) and as Enrolled Missouri Militia (E.M.M.), and which are or have been on file in the offices of the adjutant-generals or their assistants at the different headquarters located in the State of Missouri, shall be open to the inspection of the general assembly of Missouri or of persons commissioned by it, and that copies of such records be furnished them when called for.

By order of the President:

EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 1, 1864_.

_Ordered_, That a draft for 500,000 men, to serve for three years or during the war, be made on the 10th day of March next for the military service of the United States, crediting and deducting therefrom so many as may have been enlisted or drafted into the service prior to the 1st day of March and not heretofore credited.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 1, 1864_.

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

SIR: You are directed to have a transport (either a steam or sailing vessel, as may be deemed proper by the Quartermaster-General) sent to the colored colony established by the United States at the island of Vache, on the coast of San Domingo, to bring back to this country such of the colonists there as desire to return. You will have the transport furnished with suitable supplies for that purpose, and detail an officer of the Quartermaster's Department, who, under special instructions to be given, shall have charge of the business. The colonists will be brought to Washington, unless otherwise hereafter directed, and be employed and provided for at the camps for colored persons around that city. Those only will be brought from the island who desire to return, and their effects will be brought with them.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 76.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, February 26, 1864_.

SENTENCE OF DESERTERS.

The President directs that the sentences of all deserters who have been condemned by court-martial to death, and that have not been otherwise acted upon by him, be mitigated to imprisonment during the war at the Dry Tortugas, Florida, where they will be sent under suitable guards by orders from army commanders.

The commanding generals, who have power to act on proceedings of courts-martial in such cases, are authorized in special cases to restore to duty deserters under sentence, when in their judgment the service will be thereby benefited.

Copies of all orders issued under the foregoing instructions will be immediately forwarded to the Adjutant-General and to the Judge-Advocate-General.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, March 7, 1864_.

Whereas by an Executive order of the 10th of November last permission was given to export certain tobacco belonging to the French Government from insurgent territory, which tobacco was supposed to have been purchased and paid for prior to the 4th day of March, 1861; but whereas it was subsequently ascertained that a part at least of the said tobacco had been purchased subsequently to that date, which fact made it necessary to suspend the carrying into effect of the said order; but whereas, pursuant to mutual explanations, a satisfactory understanding upon the subject has now been reached, it is directed that the order aforesaid may be carried into effect, it being understood that the quantity of French tobacco so to be exported shall not exceed 7,000 hogsheads, and that it is the same tobacco respecting the exportation of which application was originally made by the French Government.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

In pursuance of the provisions of section 14 of the act of Congress entitled "An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," approved July 1, 1862, authorizing and directing the President of the United States to fix the point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa from which the Union Pacific Railroad Company is by said section authorized and required to construct a single line of railroad and telegraph upon the most direct and practicable route, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, so as to form a connection with the lines of said company at some point on the one hundredth meridian of longitude in said section named, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do, upon the application of the said company, designate and establish such first above-named point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa east of and opposite to the east line of section 10, in township 15 north, of range 13 east, of the sixth principal meridian, in the Territory of Nebraska.

Done at the city of Washington, this 7th day of March, A.D. 1864.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., March 10, 1864_.

Under the authority of an act of Congress to revive the grade of lieutenant-general in the United States Army, approved February 29, 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 98.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, March 12, 1864_.

The President of the United States orders as follows:

I. Major-General H.W. Halleck is, at his own request, relieved from duty as General in Chief of the Army, and Lieutenant-General U.S. Grant is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. The headquarters of the Army will be in Washington and also with Lieutenant-General Grant in the field.

II. Major-General H.W. Halleck is assigned to duty in Washington as chief of staff of the Army, under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Lieutenant-General Commanding. His orders will be obeyed and respected accordingly.

III. Major-General W.T. Sherman is assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, composed of the departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee and the Arkansas.

IV. Major-General J.B. McPherson is assigned to the command of the Department and Army of the Tennessee.

V. In relieving Major-General Halleck from duty as General in Chief, the President desires to express his approbation and thanks for the able and zealous manner in which the arduous and responsible duties of that position have been performed.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, March 14, 1864_.

In order to supply the force required to be drafted for the Navy and to provide an adequate reserve force for all contingencies, in addition to the 500,000 men called for February 1, 1864, a call is hereby made and a draft ordered for 200,000 men for the military service (Army, Navy, and Marine Corps) of the United States.

The proportional quotas for the different wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, or counties, will be made known through the Provost-Marshal-General's Bureau, and account will be taken of the credits and deficiencies on former quotas.

The 15th day of April, 1864, is designated as the time up to which the numbers required from each ward of a city, town, etc., may be raised by voluntary enlistment, and drafts will be made in each ward of a city, town, etc., which shall not have filled the quota assigned to it within the time designated for the number required to fill said quotas. The drafts will be commenced as soon after the 15th of April as practicable.

The Government bounties as now paid continue until April 1, 1864, at which time the additional bounties cease. On and after that date $100 bounty only will be paid, as provided by the act approved July 22, 1861,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 2, 1864_.

_Ordered_, That the Executive order of September 4, 1863, in relation to the exportation of live stock from the United States, be so extended as to prohibit the exportation of all classes of salted provisions from any part of the United States to any foreign port, except that meats cured, salted, or packed in any State or Territory bordering on the Pacific Ocean may be exported from any port of such State or Territory.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

I. The governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin offer to the President infantry troops for the approaching campaign as follows:

Ohio 30,000 Indiana 20,000 Illinois 20,000 Iowa 10,000 Wisconsin 5,000

II. The term of service to be one hundred days, reckoning from the date of muster into the service of the United States, unless sooner discharged.

III. The troops to be mustered into the service of the United States by regiments, when the regiments are rilled up, according to regulations, to the minimum strength, the regiments to be organized according to the regulations of the War Department. The whole number to be furnished within twenty days from date of notice of the acceptance of this proposition.

IV. The troops to be clothed, armed, equipped, subsisted, transported, and paid as other United States infantry volunteers, and to serve in fortifications, or wherever their services may be required, within or without their respective States.

V. No bounty to be paid the troops, nor the service charged or credited on any draft.

VI. The draft for three years' service to go on in any State or district where the quota is not filled up; but if any officer or soldier in this special service should be drafted he shall be credited for the service rendered.

JOHN BROUGH, _Governor of Ohio_.

O.P. MORTON, _Governor of Indiana_.

RICHARD YATES, _Governor of Illinois_.

WM. M. STONE, _Governor of Iowa_.

JAMES T. LEWIS, _Governor of Wisconsin_.

APRIL 23, 1864.

The foregoing proposition of the governors is accepted, and the Secretary of War is directed to carry it into execution.

A. LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, May 9, 1864_.

_To the Friends of the Union and Liberty_:

Enough is known of the army operations within the last five days to claim our especial gratitude to God, while what remains undone demands our most sincere prayers to and reliance upon Him, without whom all human efforts are in vain. I recommend that all patriots, at their homes, in their places of public worship, and wherever they may be, unite in common thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, May 18, 1864_.

Major-General JOHN A. DIX,

_Commanding at New York_:

Whereas there has been wickedly and traitorously printed and published this morning in the New York World and New York Journal of Commerce, newspapers printed and published in the city of New York, a false and spurious proclamation purporting to be signed by the President and to be countersigned by the Secretary of State, which publication is of a treasonable nature, designed to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States and to the rebels now at war against the Government and their aiders and abettors, you are therefore hereby commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison in any fort or military prison in your command the editors, proprietors, and publishers of the aforesaid newspapers, and all such persons as, after public notice has been given of the falsehood of said publication, print and publish the same with intent to give aid and comfort to the enemy; and you will hold the persons so arrested in close custody until they can be brought to trial before a military commission for their offense. You will also take possession by military force of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce, and hold the same until further orders, and prohibit any further publication therefrom.

A. LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C._

The President of the United States directs that the four persons whose names follow, to wit, Hon. Clement C. Clay, Hon. Jacob Thompson, Professor James P. Holcombe, George N. Sanders, shall have safe conduct to the city of Washington in company with the Hon. Horace Greeley, and shall be exempt from arrest or annoyance of any kind from any officer of the United States during their journey to the said city of Washington.

By order of the President:

JOHN HAY,

_Major and Assistant Adjutant-General_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, July 18, 1864_.

_To whom it may concern_:

Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be received and considered by the executive government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on other substantial and collateral points; and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, August 31, 1864_.

Any person or persons engaged in bringing out cotton, in strict conformity with authority given by W. P. Fessenden, Secretary of the United States Treasury, must not be hindered by the War, Navy, or any other Department of the Government or any person engaged under any of said Departments.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 3, 1864_.

The national thanks are tendered by the President to Major-General William T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of his command before Atlanta for the distinguished ability, courage, and perseverance displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which, under divine favor, has resulted in the capture of the city of Atlanta. The marches, battles, sieges, and other military operations that have signalized this campaign must render it famous in the annals of war, and have entitled those who have participated therein to the applause and thanks of the nation.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington City, September 3, 1864_.

_Ordered_, first. That on Monday, the 5th day of September, commencing at the hour of 12 o'clock noon, there shall be given a salute of 100 guns at the arsenal and navy-yard at Washington, and on Tuesday, the 6th of September, or on the day after the receipt of this order, at each arsenal and navy-yard in the United States, for the recent brilliant achievements of the fleet and land forces of the United States in the harbor of Mobile and in the reduction of Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan. The Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy will issue the necessary directions in their respective Departments for the execution of this order.

Second. That on Wednesday, the 7th day of September, commencing at the hour of 12 o'clock noon, there shall be fired a salute of 100 guns at the arsenal at Washington, and at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Newport, Ky., and St. Louis, and at New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Hilton Head, and New Berne the day after the receipt of this order, for the brilliant achievements of the army under command of Major-General Sherman in the State of Georgia and the capture of Atlanta. The Secretary of War will issue directions for the execution of this order.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, September 3, 1864_.

The signal success that Divine Providence has recently vouchsafed to the operations of the United States fleet and army in the harbor of Mobile, and the reduction of Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan, and the glorious achievements of the army under Major-General Sherman in the State of Georgia, resulting in the capture of the city of Atlanta, call for devout acknowledgment to the Supreme Being, in whose hands are the destinies of nations. It is therefore requested that on next Sunday, in all places of public worship in the United States, thanksgiving be offered to Him for His mercy in preserving our national existence against the insurgent rebels who so long have been waging a cruel war against the Government of the United States for its overthrow; and also that prayer be made for the divine protection to our brave soldiers and their leaders in the field, who have so often and so gallantly periled their lives in battling with the enemy, and for blessing and comfort from the Father of Mercies to the sick, wounded, and prisoners, and to the orphans and widows of those who have fallen in the service of their country; and that He will continue to uphold the Government of the United States against all the efforts of public enemies and secret foes.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 3, 1864_.

The national thanks are tendered by the President to Admiral Farragut and Major-General Canby for the skill and harmony with which the recent operations in Mobile Harbor and against Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan were planned and carried into execution; also to Admiral Farragut and Major-General Granger, under whose immediate command they were conducted, and to the gallant commanders on sea and land, and to the sailors and soldiers engaged in the operations, for their energy and courage, which, under the blessing of Providence, have been crowned with brilliant success and have won for them the applause and thanks of the nation.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington City, September 10, 1864_.

The term of one hundred days for which the National Guard of Ohio volunteered having expired, the President directs an official acknowledgment to be made of their patriotic and valuable services during the recent campaigns. The term of service of their enlistment was short, but distinguished by memorable events. In the Valley of the Shenandoah, on the Peninsula, in the operations on the James River, around Petersburg and Richmond, in the battle of Monocacy, and in the intrenchments of Washington, and in other important service, the National Guard of Ohio performed with alacrity the duty of patriotic volunteers, for which they are entitled to and are hereby tendered, through the governor of their State, the national thanks.

The Secretary of War is directed to transmit a copy of this order to the governor of Ohio and to cause a certificate of their honorable service to be delivered to the officers and soldiers of the Ohio National Guard who recently served in the military force of the United States as volunteers for one hundred days.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 24, 1864_.