Freed persons; Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877); Southern States -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950
It is the earnest desire of all military officers, as it
must be of every good citizen, to hasten the day when the troops can with
safety be withdrawn from this State, and the people be left to execute
their own laws, but this will not be hastened by arming at this time the
young men of the State.
The proclamation of the provisional governor is based on the supposed
necessity of increasing the military forces in the State to prevent the
commission of crime by bad men. It is a remarkable fact that most of the
outrages have been committed against northern men, government couriers,
and colored people. Southern citizens have been halted by these outlaws,
but at once released and informed that they had been stopped by mistake;
and these citizens have refused to give information as to the parties by
whom they were halted, although frankly acknowledging that they knew them.
Governor Sharkey, in a communication written after his call for the
organization of militia forces was made, setting forth the necessity for
such organization, states that the people are unwilling to give
information to the United States military authorities which will lead to
the detection of these outlaws, and suggests as a remedy for these evils
the arming of the very people who refuse to give such information.
A better plan will be to disarm all such citizens, and make it for their
interest to aid those who have been sent here to restore order and
preserve peace.
_It is therefore ordered_, that district commanders give notice at once to
all persons within their respective districts that no military
organizations, except those under the control of the United States
authorities, will be permitted within their respective commands, and that
if any attempt is made to organize after such notice, those engaged in it
will be arrested. Whenever any outrages are committed upon either citizens
or soldiers, the commander of the post nearest the point at which the
offence is committed will report the fact at once to the district
commander, who will forthwith send as strong a force to the locality as
can be spared. The officer in command of such force will at once disarm
every citizen within ten miles of the place where the offence was
committed. If any citizen, possessing information which would lead to the
capture of the outlaws, refuses to impart the same, he will be arrested
and held for trial. The troops will be quartered on his premises, and he
be compelled to provide for the support of men and animals. These villains
can be arrested, unless they receive encouragement from some portion of
the community in which they operate; and such communities must be held
responsible for their acts, and must be made to realize the inevitable
consequences of countenancing such outrages.
By order of Major General SLOCUM:
J. WARREN MILLER,
_Assistant Adjutant General_.
No. 14.
[Reported for the Vicksburg Journal.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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