Summary:
John Schultz, the Union Assistant Adjutant for the Department of the Susquehanna
at Chambersburg, issues these November, 1864, General Orders concerning
treatment of deserters and citizens of Confederate states. The orders mandate
that any deserters, refugees or citizens of Confederate states within the
jurisdiction of the Department of the Susquehanna register with the nearest
provost marshal and obtain passes for their movements. In addition, the orders
allow for summary punishment of any men found pillaging, raiding, or plotting
against the government. The document also contains orders to crack down on
deserters from the Union army.
Chambersburg, Pa.,
November 1, 1864.
I. That the interests of the Government and the welfare of the department may be maintained, it is ordered that all refugees, deserters from the rebel lines, and citizens of States in rebellion, who are now within this department, or may enter it before the 8th day of November instant, shall report to the nearest district or town provost-marshall, that they may be registered, their residence and description recorded, and to receive proper certificates and passes. Persons belonging to any of the classes hereinbefore mentioned found within the limits of this department, on or after the date named, without authority, or who by pillaging, counseling outbreak, destruction of life or property, or in any manner acting as enemies of the Government, will be regarded as spies, and subjected to summary punishment.
II. In view of the approaching election, deserters from the army and the draft may return to their homes, and every effort must be made to arrest and hold them to the service they owe their Government.
III. Military commanders, district provost-marshals, their deputies and assistants, within this department, will be held responsible for the faithful execution of this order, and will adopt such measure as will best secure the desired object.
IV. All law-abiding citizens are earnestly requested to act in junction with the proper authorities, and to aid them, if necessary, in the instructions herein set forth.
By command of Maj.-Gen. Couch:
JNO. S. SHULTZE,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 43, Serial No. 91, Pages 523-524, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
