Circular letter requisitioning enslaved men for defence of the Confederacy
date: label: Date
content: 1864
name: label: Issued by
content: William Smith, American, 1797 - 1887
label: Issued by
content: George W. Munford, American
label: Subject of
content: Confederate States of America, 1861 - 1865
notes: label: Description
content: A circular with letters from William Smith, Governor of Virginia, and George W. Munford, Secretary of the Commonwealth, to County Courts throughout Virginia. The document consists of printed black text on a single sheet of paper, folded to form four pages and then folded again into thirds.
label: Description
content: The first page of the document is a letter from the governor establishing his authority to requisistion enslaved men and put them to work building fortifications. It is dated [January 22, 1864] in the top right corner and addressed at left to [To the Honorable the County Courts / of the several Counties named in the annexed schedule]. It notes [The President has asked for the number of slaves as apportioned in the annexed schedule. You will please make provision for the number assessed to your County.].
label: Description
content: The second page contains a letter from the Secretary of the Commonwealth that outlines instructions for sending the requested impressed enslaved men to Col. W. H. Stevens in Richmond. Among other instructions, the letter notes that railroad companies should be given three days notice and that "the expenses of Sheriffs or others in collecting slaves will be paid on production of receipts" as well as to "send meat for their slaves, when possible."
label: Description
content: The third and final page of the document titled [List of Counties, with the number of Slaves called for, being the third Call under Act passed March 13, 1863] and consists of a schedule of Virginia counties and how many enslaved men they are ordered to send. The schedule has columns for the population of enslaved persons in the 8th census, the number of enslaved persons assessed in 1862, the number of enslaved persons between 18 and 55 years, the calculation of 20 percent of the number of enslaved persons falling in that age category, the "No. of slaves furnished" in former calls and under the act of October 3, 1862, the quota caleld for in the first call under the March 1863 act and the quota now called for with this document.
place: label: Place depicted
content: Richmond, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Finance
label: Topic
content: Government
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Slave hire system
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, Civil War, 1861-1865
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.28.14.3
objectType: label: Type
content: letters (correspondence)
label: Type
content: circulars
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper (fiber product)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (folded): 11 × 8 5/8 in. (28 × 21.9 cm)