The tri-weekly news. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1865-1876, 1866-02-10
Gen. Shcrman's Explanation ot his Order
Concerning tho Sea Islands. "r
|sPEoIAL DISPATCH TO THE WORLD.

SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE WORLD
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2.-Thc. follow.
ing is the correct copy OF The important
letter addressed by Major.Gcneral Sher.
man on yesterday To- the President' IN
reply to note from the latter. The
gist Of the letter was given in my dis
patches last night, and the intimation.
that such a document had been written
caused II decided sensation, in the House
this afternoon when the debate or the
Frecdmen's Bureau was going on with
special reference to the. negro occupa.
ton of the South Carolina cotton lands.
Loud cries came up from the Radical
side, "Give us the letter produce it ~
Mr. Chandler; of New York. and Mr..
Eliot, of Massachusetts, said that they
had seen s"ch n letter, but both differed
widely as to whatit contained. "A dozen
members wanted to know what had be.
come oft, when Mr. Chandler, of New
York, said Raymond took it,and intend.
ed to present it to the lIouscs The
members looked towards Raymonds
seat, bnt he was not there, and the House
adjourned in very unpleasant mood, for
the Radicals wanted the letter, But
here it is. " 20
WAsuiNGroN, Feb. 2 1866.
To Anc}re,o Johnson, President Of the
United Stats.
SIR: | have the honor to acknowl.
edge the receipt Of your letter of Febru.,
airy ]; and, in compliance with yonr re.
quest, | enclose herewith copy Of field
order No. Is, of 1865, with this brief
making it: ~,
The Hon. e. NJ Stanton, Secretary
Of War;, came to Savannah soon aNerits
occupation by the forces under my com.
mand, and conferred freely with me as
to the best method to provide for the
vast number Of negroes who had follow
cd the army from the interior Of Gcor.
GA, as also os those who had already
congregatcd on the is,and near Hilton
Head, and were still c ming into our
lines We agreed pcrtSctly that the
young and able bodied men should be
enlisted as soldiers, or employed by tic
Quartcrmnster in the necessary work
of unloading ships and for other army
purposes. but this let,on ont hands the
old and leeblr, the women and children,
who had necessarily to be fed by the
United States.
Mr.. Stanton summoned alarge mum
Der o. the old negroes, mostly preachers,
with whom he held a long conference
Of which he took down notes. After
this conference, he was satisfied that the
negroes could, with some little aid from
us, by means Of the abandoned 'panta
tions or tie sea islands and aorg the
navigablc rivers, take care of themselves.
llr requested inc to draw up plan that
would be uniform and practicable,
made the rough draft, and we went over
it very carefully, Mr. Stanton making
many changes. and the present orders.
number fifteep resulted and were made
public %3%n
knew, of course, we could not con.
vcy the title to land, and merely pro.
vided possessory titles to be good so long
as war and our military power lasted.
l. merely. aimel to mako provisions for
the negroes who were absolutely depen,
dent on us, leaving the value of thor
possession to be determined by after
events, or legislation. at that time.
January, 1865, it will be remembered,
that the tone Of the people Of the South
was very defiant, and no ono could tell
when the period of war would cease,
therefore l did not contemplate that
event as being so near at hand. s.5
l am, with great respect, !
Your obedient, servant, i.
(Signed) w. r.. SnERMAS, i
Major General