Page images
PDF
EPUB

embrace the State of Oregon and Territories of Washington and Idaho. Headquarters at Fort Vancouver.

18. The Department of California-Major-General Irwin McDowell to command; to embrace the States of California and Nevada, and Territories of Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. Head-quarters at San Francisco.

DIVISIONS.

1. The Military Division of the Atlantic.-Major-General George G. Meade to command; to embrace the Department of the East, Middle Department, Department of Virginia, Department of North Carolina, and Department of South Carolina. Headquarters at Philadelphia.

2. The Military Division of the Mississippi.—Major-General W. T. Sherman to command; to embrace the Department of the Ohio, Department of the Missouri, and Department of Arkansas. Head-quarters at St. Louis.

3. The Military Division of the Gulf.-Major-General P. H. Sheridan to command; to embrace the Department of Mississippi, Department of Louisiana and Texas, and Department of Florida. Head-quarters at New Orleans.

4. The Military Division of the Tennessee.-Major-General G. H. Thomas to command; to embrace the Department of the Tennessee, Department of Kentucky, Department of Georgia, and Department of Alabama. Head-quarters at Nashville. 5. The Military Division of the Pacific.-Major-General H. W. Halleck to command; to embrace the Department of the Columbia, and Department of California. Headquarters at San Francisco.

All officers hereby assigned will proceed, on receipt of this order, to take command of their respective departments or military divisions. All officers relieved by this order will, on being relieved by the proper officer, report by letter to the Adjutant-General for orders.

By order of the President of the United States:

E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A.-General.

Surrender of General Kirby Smith.

[No. 208.]

WAR DEPARTMENT,

[ocr errors]

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 23, 1865, 8.40 P. M.

Major-General JOHN A. DIX, New York: The Navy Department has just received official dispatches from Admiral Thatcher, dated at Galveston, June 8th, reporting that on the 1st of this month General Brown, commanding the United States forces, occupied and garrisoned Brownsville. On the 2d of June the rebel Generals Kirby Smith and Magruder met in the harbor of Galveston General A. J. Smith, representing Major-General Canby, and General Kirby Smith then and there signed the terms of surrender previously agreed on at New Orleans. On the 5th of June full and formal possession of Galveston was delivered up to the United States forces, and the flag of the Union raised. On the 8th of June Admiral Thatcher went ashore, and was cordially received by the rebel naval and military authorities, who requested a part of the United States naval force to remain there for their protection. Galveston is before this time strongly garrisoned by United States land forces sent forward by General Canby. General Sheridan is also probably there in person. The President's proclamation raising the blockade will be immediately issued.

EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.

Reduction of Volunteer Artillery.

General Orders, No. 105.]

WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, June 2, 1865.

Department Commanders will at once reduce their batteries of volunteer light artillery to the number absolutely required under existing circumstances by the necessities of the service in their respective departments.

The companies thus relieved will be sent to Washington, Louisville, or Cairo, as may be most convenient for final payment and muster-out.

All artillery horses that may become surplus under the operation of this order, will be sold in the Department where they now are, and the guns of the companies that are to be discharged will be retained for the present within the Department. The number of public animals retained in service, both for artillery and transportation purposes, will be reduced as far as possible, throughout the country, and all surplus animals will be sold.

By command of Lieutenant-General GRANT:

Retention of Arms.

[General Orders, No. 101.]

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General,

WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, May 30, 1865.

Retention of Arms by Soldiers on being Honorably Discharged from Service. Upon an honorable muster-out and discharge from the service of the United States, all volunteer soldiers, desiring to do so, are hereby authorized to retain their arms and accoutrements, on paying therefor their value to the Ordnance Department.

The payments will be made, under the regulations of the Ordnance Department, to the officer or representative thereof, at the rendezvous in the State to which the troops are ordered for payment and final discharge. By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General.

Card from General J. E. Johnston.

CHARLOTTE, N. C., May 6, 1865.

Having made a convention with Major-General Sherman to terminate hostilities in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, it seems to me proper to put before the people of those States the condition of military affairs which rendered that measure absolutely necessary.

On the 26th of April, the day of the convention, by the returns of three lieutenant-generals of the Army of Tennessee (that under my command), the number of infantry and artillery present and absent was seventy thousand five hundred and ten; the total present eighteen thousand five hundred and seventy-eight; the effective total, or fighting force, fourteen thousand one hundred and seventy-nine. On the 7th of April, the date of the last return I can find, the effective total of the cavalry was five thousand four hundred and forty; but between the 7th and 26th of April it was greatly reduced by events in Virginia and apprehensions of surrender. In South Carolina we had Young's Division of Cavalry, less than one thousand, besides reserves and State troops, together much inferior to the Federal force in that State. In Florida we were as weak. In Georgia our inadequate force had been captured at Macon. In Lieutenant-General Taylor's department there was no means of opposing the formidable army under General Canby which had taken Mobile, nor the cavalry under General Wilson, which had captured every other place of importance west of Augusta. The latter had been stopped at Macon by the armistice as we had been at Greensboro', but its distance from Augusta being less than half of ours, that place was in its power.

To carry on the war, therefore, we had to depend on the Army of Tennessee alone. The United States could have brought against it twelve or fifteen times its number in the armies of Generals Grant, Sherman, and Canby. With such odds against us, without the means of procuring ammunition or repairing arms, without money or credit to provide food, it was impossible to continue the war except as robbers. The consequence of prolonging the struggle would only have been the destruction or dispersion of our bravest men, and great suffering of women and children by the desolation and ruin inevitable from the marching of two hundred thousand men through the country.

Having failed in an attempt to obtain terms, giving security to citizens as well

as soldiers, I had to choose between wantonly bringing the evils of war upon those I had been chosen to defend, and averting those calamities with the confession that hopes were dead which every thinking Southern man had already lost. I therefore stipulated with General Sherman for the security of the brave and true men committed to me on terms which also terminated hostilities in all the country over which my command extended, and announced it to your Governors by telegraph as follows:

"The disaster in Virginia, the capture by the enemy of all our workshops for the preparation of ammunition and repairing of arms, the impossibility of recruiting our little army, opposed to more than ten times its number, or supplying it except by robbing our own citizens, destroyed all hope of successful war. I have, therefore, made a military convention with Major-General Sherman to terminate hostilities in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. I made this convention to spare the blood of this gallant little army, to prevent further suffering of our people by the devastation and ruin inevitable from the marches of invading armies, and to avoid the crime of waging a hopeless war."

Rights of Dismissed Officers.

[General Orders, No. 112.]

J. E. JOHNSTON.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, June 10, 1865.

Right of Officers summarily dismissed to demand a Trial by Court-Martial. I. The following section of the Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1865, Chapter 79, is published for the information of all concerned :

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted. That in case any officer of the military or naval service who may be hereafter dismissed by authority of the President, shall make an application in writing for a trial, setting forth under oath that he has been wrongfully and unjustly dismissed, the President shall, as soon as the necessities of the public service may permit, convene a court-martial to try such officer on the charges on which he was dismissed. And if such court-martial shall not award dismissal or death as the punishment of such offence, the order of dismissal shall be void. And if the court-martial aforesaid shall not be convened for the trial of such officer within six months from the presentation of his application for trial, the sentence of dismissal shall be void.

II. The following regulations for carrying into effect the foregoing provisions are promulgated, and will be complied with in all cases:-

1. Army, Department, or Division Commanders, forwarding recommendations for summary dismissal, will transmit, accompanying the same, charges and specifications, appropriate to the offences imputed, properly framed, and supported by affidavits or official reports, with the names of the witnesses by whom all material allegations can be substantiated.

2. Applications for trial under this act must be made as soon as practicable after receipt of notice of dismissal, setting forth under oath facts showing the error or injustice complained of, and must be addressed to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

3. Should there be no general court-martial, appointed by direction of the Presi dent, then in session at a convenient point, one will be convened within the department or corps wherein the accused last served, unless the latter shall have suggested sufficient reasons for causing the trial to be elsewhere held.

4. The trial will proceed in the usual manner, upon the charges originally forwarded; and should the President revoke the order of dismissal before arraignment of the accused, he may also be tried upon such additional charges as may be properly preferred.

5. Should the court award any other punishment than death or dismissal, such sentence will, if approved by the President, be duly executed. By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General.

VOL. IV.-12

Dismissals,

For the Week ending June 3, 1865.

Additional Paymaster John Brotherline, United States Volunteers, to take effect February 23, 1865.

Captain C. W. Tuttle, 51st Wisconsin Volunteers, to date May 30, 1865, for positive disobedience of orders, in moving his company from Madison, Wisconsin, to Chicago, Illinois, thereby involving a useless and heavy expenditure for transpor tation.

First Lieutenant J. F. Murry, 18th Iowa Volunteers, to date May 30, 1865, for drunkenness, violation of orders, and for speculating in subsistence stores drawn upon certificates that they were for his own use.

The following officers, to date May 8, 1865, for the causes mentioned, having been published officially, and failed to appear before the Commission

Absence without leave, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. First Lieutenant Stephen Walsh, 88th New York Volunteers.

Absence without leave.

First Lieutenant Nicholas Devereux, 14th Michigan Volunteers.
Captain Judson B. Tyler, 18th Indiana Volunteers.

Captain John Shiel, 73d New York Volunteers.

First Lieutenant William J. Wilson, Adjutant 81st Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Second Lieutenant Richard Berrian, 5th New York Volunteers.

First Lieutenant Alexander Cummings, 11th New Jersey Volunteers.
First Lieutenant Charles McBride, 81st Pennsylvania Volunteers.

For the Week ending June 10, 1865.

Lieutenant-Colonel Werner W. Bierg, 147th Illinois Volunteers, to date June 2, 1865, for perpetrating fraud upon the Government by alleging that his appointment was from civil life, and altering his muster-in roll with a view to obtaining a local credit and bounty, he being at the time an officer of the Veteran Reserve Corps, and duly credited upon his original entry into service.

Hospital Chaplain Alexander H. Lackey, to date June 2, 1865.

Captain James C. Culton, 4th Regiment United States Veteran Volunteers (First Army Corps), to date June 5, 1865, for disobedience of orders, drunkenness on duty, and withholding from sixteen enlisted men of his company moneys deposited with him for them.

The following officers, as of the date and for the causes mentioned, having been published officially, and failed to appear before the Commission:

Desertion.

:

Captain William C. Kent, 128th Indiana Volunteers, January 26, 1865. Captain Jonathan J. Wright, 124th Indiana Volunteers, September 20, 1864. First Lieutenant Timothy D. Calvin, 120th Indiana Volunteers, December 15, 1864.

Second Lieutenant George W. Buxton, 120th Indiana Volunteers, February 24, 1865.

Absence without leave.

Second Lieutenant John G. Jewett, 14th New York Heavy Artillery, May 15, 1865.

Second Lieutenant Joseph Thrasher, 8th Indiana Cavalry, May 15, 1865.

The following officers of the 144th Illinois Volunteers, to date June 3, 1865, for conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline:

First Lieutenant Conrad Leck.

First Lieutenant William A. Lowe.

First Lieutenant William H. Coggerhall.

First Lieutenant Chandler B. Bailey, 30th Maine Volunteers, to date May 15, 1865, for absence without leave, having been published officially, and failed to make satisfactory defence before the Commission.

For the Week ending June 17, 1865.

Captain Edward L. Whitney, Commissary of Subsistence, United States Volunteers, to date June 10, 1865.

Captain Ira G. Robertson, 16th Kansas Cavalry, to date June 13, 1865, for defrauding recruits enlisted for the 13th Kansas Volunteers of their local bounties. Captain Stephen H. Edgett, 2d Pennsylvania Cavalry, to date June 14, 1865, for absence without leave, disobedience of orders, and breach of arrest.

First Lieutenant George W. Rowe, 1st Arkansas Cavalry, to date June 10, 1865, for habitual drunkenness, disobedience of orders, and for using disrespectful language and violence towards his superior officer.

First Lieutenant James E. Speake, Adjutant 148th Indiana Volunteers, to date June 12, 1865, for desertion while under arrest awaiting trial upon charge of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

Lieutenant William Devere, 35th New Jersey Volunteers, to date June 9, 1865, for fraudulently obtaining transportation, by inserting in an order for the same issued to him the words "and two men.' 22

For the Week ending June 24, 1865.

Colonel James G. Johnson, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster United States Volunteers, to date June 19, 1865, for disobedience of orders.

First Lieutenant Thomas W. Sullivan, United States Army, to date June 19,

1865.

The following officers, as of the date and for the causes mentioned, having been published officially, and failed to appear before the Commission:

Desertion.

First Lieutenant John Rockett, 14th New York Cavalry, January 28, 1865.

Absence without leave.

Captain W. G. S. McAllister, 2d New York Mounted Rifles, May 29, 1865.
Lieutenant Adam Hand, 184th Pennsylvania Volunteers, May 29, 1865.
Second Lieutenant Martin C. Auld, 10th Missouri Cavalry, May 29, 1865.

Dropped from the Rolls of the Army.

First Lieutenant H. F. W. Little, 29th United States Colored Infantry, as a deserter, to date April 3, 1865.

Captain George W. Strong, 59th United States Colored Infantry, as a deserter, to date April 10, 1865.

Dismissals Revoked.

The orders of dismissal heretofore issued in the following cases have been revoked:

Captain William Angelo Powell, 1st West Virginia Cavalry, and he has been honorably discharged, to date January 3, 1865.

Captain Eugene Farley, 50th United States Colored Infantry, he having been dishonorably dismissed by the sentence of general court-martial.

Captain F. W. Doran, 35th Iowa Volunteers, he having been previously honorably discharged.

Captain J. W. Hall, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and he has been honorably discharged as of the date of the order of dismissal.

Captain H. G. Tibballs, 12th Ohio Volunteers, and he has been restored to ser vice, and honorably mustered out as of date of muster-out of his regiment, July 11, 1864.

Assistant Surgeon Theodore D. Brooks, 38th Ohio Volunteers.

First Lieutenant George W. Steele, 2d New York Veteran Cavalry, and he has been honorably discharged as of the date of the order of dismissal.

Second Lieutenant Henry W. Lee, 16th Iowa Volunteers, he having been previously mustered out.

Major James M. Sanderson, Additional Aide-de-Camp and Captain Commissary of Subsistence United States Volunteers, to take effect May 27, 1865.

« PreviousContinue »