Upon the capture of Hilton Head by the Federals, the white masters fled to Charleston and the up-country and abandoned all of their property.[7] The control of abandoned property at this time rested with the Treasury Department. Accordingly, Secretary Chase sent Edward L. Pierce, of Milton, Massachusetts, to Port Royal to report on the amount of cotton and also to make recommendations for its collection and sale. The findings of Pierce together with that of Sherman in command of the military forces introduce us to our main story. At the suggestion of Chase, Pierce and Sherman sent appeals broadcast to the North for the immediate relief of the abandoned slaves. In February, 1862, Sherman issued this General Order No. 9: "The helpless condition of the blacks inhabiting the vast area in the occupation of the forces of this command, calls for immediate action on the part of a highly favored and philanthropic people.... Hordes of totally uneducated, ignorant and improvident blacks have been abandoned by their constitutional guardians, not only to all the future chances of anarchy and starvation, but in such a state of abject ignorance and mental stolidity as to preclude all possibility of self-government and self-maintenance in their present condition.... To relieve the Government of a burden that may hereafter become insupportable ... a suitable system of culture and instruction must be combined with one providing for their physical wants. In the meanwhile ... the service of competent instructors will be received whose duties will consist in teaching them, both young and old, the rudiments of civilization and Christianity."[8] In response to this appeal there was organized in Boston, on February 7, 1862, the Boston Education Commission, later known as the New England Freedmen's Aid Society or the New England Society, and on the twenty-second of the same month, at a mass meeting held at the Cooper Institute in New York City, the New York National Freedmen's Relief Association was organized. At this meeting the following rules were adopted with reference to the abandoned slaves: 1. "They must be treated as free men. 2. "They must earn their livelihood like other freemen and not be dependent upon charity. 3. "Schools and churches shall be established among them, and the sick shall be cared for."[9]