Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-09-05
From Missouri.

st. Lonis. Aug. 81.
The following proclamation was issued this
WESTERN DEPARTMENT.,
st, Louis, August 80
Circums tances in my judgment Of sufl-
ci cnt urgency render it necessary that the
Commanding General of this Department
should assume the admin strativc pow crs OF
the State. II 5 diSorgauizcd cOnditio the
hclplcSsncss of the civil authority, the total
insecurity of life, the devastation of property
by hands of murdercrs and maruudcrs, who
micst nearly every county in the State, and
avail themselves Of ia" public msortuncs
and vicinity of hostile force to crafty pr
vatc and ncighhorhood vengeance, and who
find an enemy wherever they find plunder,
finally demand the Scverst measures to re
press the daily increasing crimes aud out
RACES hich are drivii & OF the inhabitants
and running the State.
In this condit ion III g public safety and the
success OF our aims require unity OF purpose
without let or hindraucc to the prompt ad
mnistrati on OF affairs. In order, there fore
To suppress disorder, to maintain as tar as is
now p.actica bic the public pc .ce. and to give
security to the persons and property OF loyal
citizens, do hereby extend and declare es'
tablishcd martial law throughout the State ot
Missouri The lines of occupati ON in this
State are for the present dec Jared to extend
from Lcavcnworth, by way of tho posts of
Jefferson Ciy, Rolln, and Trenton, to Cape
Grardcau, on the Mississippi river. All per-
sons who shal be taken with arms in their
hands within these lines, shall be tried by
court t-martial aud if found guilty, will be
shot. The property, real and personal, of
all pei sons in the State OF Missouri, who
shall take up arms against the United States
or who shall be directly known To have ia.
ken an active part with thoir enemies in the
field, is declared TO be conf liscated to the
public use, and their slaves if any they have
arc hereby declared free men.
An persons who shall be proven to have
destroyed, after the publication of this order,
any railroad tracks, br idges or talcgraphs.
shall sulcr III ccNtremc penalty orthiS law;-
All persons engaged in reasonable correSpon-
dcncc in giving or producing aid to the enc
mics OF the United st ates in fomcnting tu-
multi, in disturbing the public tranquility by
creating and circulating false reports or in
ccndiary documents, are in their own interest
warned that they ATE exposing themselva to
sudden and severe punishment. All persons
who have been led away from their alcgan GO
are requested to return forthwith to their
homes. Any snch absence without sulci-
ent cause will be held to be prcsumtivc cv-
idencc against them. The object orthis dec
laration is, to place in the hands of the mill
itary authorities the power to give iustanta-
neous effect to existing laws and to supply
such delc iencies as the conditions of war de.
mand but il is not intended to suspend the
ordinary ibunals of the country, where the
law will be administered by the civil officers
in the usual ma nner and with their customary
authority, while the same can be peacably
exercised. The Commanding General viii
labor vigilantly for the public welfare, and
in his efforts for their safety hopes to obtain
not only the acquiescense but the active sup
ports Of the people of the country. [Signedl
J.C FREMONT,
Major General Commanding.