Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-08-22
msoanELAN,s war eoLIo9.
General Orders to the Army of she Potomac
GENERAL oRDERs-No I54.

GENERAL oRDERs-No 154.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
| CAMP NEAR HARRIs0N's LANDING Va, Aug 9.
! The major general commanding directs tn,
attention Of the officers and soldiers Of the army
of the Potomac to the following executive orde
/ BY the President which has been officially pnb
lished
| WAR DEPARTMENT, WAsHNGToE, July %.
ExECUTIyE ORDER.
FiRsr-0rdered that military commander.
within the States Of Virginia, South Carolina
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louis
lana, Texas and Arkansas, in an orderly manner
seizs and use any property, real or personal
which may be necessary or convenient foT their
several eommands,for supplies, or for other mill
| taTy purposes; and that, while property may be
destroyed for proper military objects, none shall
be destroyed in wantonness or malice.
SECOND = That military and naval COM
manders shall employ as laboTers, within and
nom said States, 50 many persons OF African
descent as can be advantageously used for mill
sagy or naval purposes, giving them reasonable
wages for their labor.
THRQ-That, as to both property aud per
sons of African decent, accounts shall be kept
sufficiently accurate and in detail to show
quantities and amounts, and from whom both
property and such persons shall have come, as
basis upon which compensation can be made
in proper cases and the several departments of
this government shall attend 20 and perform
their appropriate parts toward the execution Of
these orders. By order of the President
EDWIN III. STANTON,
Secretary OF War.
No official copy Of this order has been received
at these headquarters, and the general command
ing has for this reason delayed the issuing of
o~dor f.,
directions of the President Some recent occur
rences in this army have, however, shown that
it has become necessary to DO so, to prevent this
executive order being made pTetext for military
license.
The order of the President aecords SO subssan-
tally with the course uniformly pursued By this
army on this peninsula, under the orders aud In
stTuetionS Of the general commanding, that no
material change in any respect is required there
By in its conduct and government.
Personal property necessary or convenient for
supplies or ether military purposes Of this army
viii be, IS heretofore, seized and used by the pro-
per quartermasters or subsistence officers, upon
the orders Of commanders Of army corps; or, in
case Of troops employed on detached service,
where army corps commanders are not aceessi-
bic, by order of the officer in command Of such
detached force.
Ia all cases the officers thus making the seiz-
UreS shall take an account showing The kind and
quantities of the property seized, and by whose
command; the amounts of its estimated value,
and the names Of the persons from whom the
same shall have come Whenever the ercum-
stances admit Of so doing, receipts viii be given
to the owners or their agents, specifying simply
the particulars above mentioned. Copies Of al
such accounts and receipts will be transmittedin
the usual manner, by the officers making them,
to these headquarters.
Al officers and soldiers Of this army are en-
Joined and ordered to abstain from all seizures
of private property except in the mode above
prescribed; al other appropriations will be re-
gsrded and punished as pillags The idea that
private property may be plundered with impu
nifty is, perhaps, the YER worst that can per
wade an army MaTauding degrades as men
and demoralize as soldiers all who engage in it,
and returns them to their homes untitled for the
pursuits Of honest industry This army is com
posed mostly of young men; and the general
commanding, to whose care they are entrusted,
owes it to the parents who have sent their sons
and to the communities that have sent the flow
er Of their youth into the military service of their
couCtry, to warn and restrain them from any
evil so pernicious.
The order of the President requires the sp-
plieation Of similar rule in the use of real
property. This, however, does not apply to such
-to-wit: marches, camps, pssturags, hospitals,
depots, quarters, and damages oceasioned by
active hOstilties but no use should be made or
injury dcEe TO real property beyond what is &c
tually necessary or convenient for military pur-
poses.
The destruction of any species Of property in
wantOnness or malice is expressly prohibited by
the Presidents order, as well as by the articles
Of war and the Usages Of ell civilized nations.
All commanding officers are earnestly enjoined
to exercise the utmost vigilance on this subject.
Struggling and trespassing are the invarisble
indications Of q tendency to this description Of
crime.
Inhabitants, especially women and children,
remaining pesceably ct their homes, must not
be molested and wherever commanding Off
GERS find families peculiarly exposed in their
persons or property to msraUding from this army,
they WILL as heretofore, 80 far as they csn do so
with safety and without detriment to the service,
post guards for their protection.
In protecting private property, no reference is
intended to persons held to service or labor by
reason of African descent. Such persons will
be regarded by this army, as they heretofore
have been as occupying simply peculiar legal
status under the State laws, which condition the
military authorities Of the United States are not
required to regard st all in districts where mill
tary operations are made necessary by the re-
belliOUs action of the State governments.
Persons subject 10 suspicion of hostile pur
poses residing or being near our forces, viii be,
as heretofore, subject to arrest and detention,
until the cause or necessity is removed. All
such arrested parties viii be sent, as usual, to
the provost marshal general, with statement of
the facts in each case.
The general commanding takes this occasion
to remind the officers and soldiers Of this army
that we ere engaged in supporting the COnstitu
ton and laws of the United States, and in sup
pressing rebellion against their authority; that
we are not engaged in a war of rspine, revenge
or subjugation that this is not contest against
populations, but against armed forces and po-
itical organizations that it is struggle carried
on within the United States, and should be con-
Quoted by Us upon the highest principles known
to Christian civilization.
Since the army commenced active operations,
persons of African descent, including those held
to service or labor under State laws, have al
ways been received, protected and employed as
labOreTs, at wages. Hereafter it shall be the
duty of the provost marshal general TO cause
lists to be made of ell persons of African de-
scent employed in this army as lsborers for mill
tary purposes, such lists being made sufficiently
accurate and in detail to show from whom such
persons shall have come
Persons so subject and so employed have al
ways u8usISL0oQ buaLi ait6I Delug received lnLO
the military service of the United States, in any
capacity, they could never be reclaimed by their
former holders. Except upon such understand
ing on their part the order Of the President as
to this class Of persons would be imperative
The general commanding therefore feels author
ized to declare 70 all such employees that they
will receive permanent military protection against
any compulsory return to q condition of servi-
tude,
By command of Msjor- General Mcclellan
s. WILLIAMS Asst. Adj't General
ALL QUIET AT F0RT SCOTr.-The latest
news from Fort Scott is to the effect that all is
quiet there; its citizens have drawn a long