BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas by my proclamation of the 19th of April, 1861, it was declared that the ports of certain States, including those of Norfolk, in the State of Virginia, Fernandina and Pensacola, in the State of Florida, were, for reasons therein set forth, intended to be placed under blockade; and Whereas the said ports were subsequently blockaded accordingly, but having for some time past been in the military possession of the United States, it is deemed advisable that they should be opened to domestic and foreign commerce: Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority in me vested by the fifth section of the act of Congress approved on the 13th of July, 1861, entitled "An act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," do hereby declare that the blockade of the said ports of Norfolk, Fernandina, and Pensacola shall so far cease and determine, from and after the 1st day of December next, that commercial intercourse with those ports, except as to persons, things, and information contraband of war, may from that time be carried on, subject to the laws of the United States, to the limitations and in pursuance of the regulations which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and to such military and naval regulations as are now in force or may hereafter be found necessary. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. [SEAL.] Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of November, A. D. 1864, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. "By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. EXECUTIVE ORDERS. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D. C., December 7, 1863. Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreating from east Tennessee under circumstances rendering it probable that the Union forces can not hereafter be dislodged from that important position, and esteeming this to be of high national consequence, I recommend that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their places of worship and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for this great advancement of the national cause. A. LINCOLN. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 398. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, The following joint resolution by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States is published to the Army: JOINT RESOLUTION of thanks to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant and the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion, and providing that the President of the United States shall cause a medal to be struck, to be presented to Major-General Grant in the name of the people of the United States of America. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct in the battles in which they have been engaged; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to MajorGeneral Grant. SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That when the said medal shall have been struck the President shall cause a copy of this joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall transmit the same, together with the said medal, to MajorGeneral Grant, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the United States of America. SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That a sufficient sum of money to carry this resolution into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives. H. HAMLIN, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate. Approved, December 17, 1863. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By order of the Secretary of War: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 9, 1864. Information having been received that Caleb B. Smith, late Secretary of the Interior, has departed this life at his residence in Indiana, it is ordered that the executive buildings at the seat of the Government be draped in mourning for the period of fourteen days in honor of his memory as a prudent and loyal counselor and a faithful and effective coadjutor of the Administration in a time of public difficulty and peril. The Secretary of State will communicate a copy of this order to the family of the deceased, together with proper expressions of the profound sympathy of the President and the heads of Departments in their irreparable bereavement. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, January 12, 1864. It is hereby ordered, That all orders and records relating to the Missouri troops, designated, respectively, as Missouri State Militia (M. S. M.) and. as Enrolled Missouri Militia (E. M. M.), and which are or have been on file in the offices of the adjutant-generals or their assistants at the different headquarters located in the State of Missouri, shall be open to the inspection of the general assembly of Missouri or of persons commissioned by it, and that copies of such records be furnished them when called for. By order of the President: EDWIN M. STANTON, EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1864. Ordered, That a draft for 500,000 men, to serve for three years or during the war, be made on the roth day of March next for the military service of the United States, crediting and deducting therefrom so many as may have been enlisted or drafted into the service prior to the 1st day of March and not heretofore credited. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1864. Secretary of War. SIR: You are directed to have a transport (either a steam or sailing vessel, as may be deemed proper by the Quartermaster-General) sent to the colored colony established by the United States at the island of Vache, on the coast of San Domingo, to bring back to this country such of the colonists there as desire to return. You will have the transport furnished with suitable supplies for that purpose, and detail an officer of the Quartermaster's Department, who, under special instructions to be given, shall have charge of the business. The colonists will be brought to Washington, unless otherwise hereafter directed, and be employed and provided for at the camps for colored persons around that city. Those only will be brought from the island who desire to return, and their effects will be brought with them. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 76. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, February 26, 1864. SENTENCE OF DESERTERS. The President directs that the sentences of all deserters who have been condemned by court-martial to death, and that have not been otherwise acted upon by him, be mitigated to imprisonment during the war at the Dry Tortugas, Florida, where they will be sent under suitable guards by orders from army commanders. The commanding generals, who have power to act on proceedings of courts-martial in such cases, are authorized in special cases to restore to duty deserters under sentence, when in their judgment the service will be thereby benefited. Copies of all orders issued under the foregoing instructions will be immediately forwarded to the Adjutant-General and to the Judge-Advocate-General. By order of the Secretary of War: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, March 7, 1864. Whereas by an Executive order of the 10th of November last permission was given to export certain tobacco belonging to the French Government from insurgent territory, which tobacco was supposed to have been purchased and paid for prior to the 4th day of March, 1861; but whereas it was subsequently ascertained that a part at least of the said tobacco had been purchased subsequently to that date, which fact made it necessary to suspend the carrying into effect of the said order; but whereas, pursuant to mutual explanations, a satisfactory understanding upon the subject has now been reached, it is directed that the order aforesaid may be carried into effect, it being understood that the quantity of French tobacco so to be exported shall not exceed 7,000 hogsheads, and that it is the same tobacco respecting the exportation of which application was originally made by the French Government. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. In pursuance of the provisions of section 14 of the act of Congress entitled "An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," approved July 1, 1862, authorizing and directing the President of the United States to fix the point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa from which the Union Pacific Railroad Company is by said section authorized and required to construct a single line of railroad and telegraph upon the most direct and practicable route, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, so as to form a connection with the lines of said company at some point on the one hundredth meridian of longitude in said section named, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do, upon the application of the said company, designate and establish such first above-named point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa east of and opposite to the east line of section 10, in township 15 north, of range 13 east, of the sixth principal meridian, in the Territory of Nebraska. Done at the city of Washington, this 7th day of March, A. D. 1864. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D. C., March 10, 1864. Under the authority of an act of Congress to revive the grade of lieutenant-general in the United States Army, approved February 29, 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 98. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, March 12, 1864. The President of the United States orders as follows: I. Major-General H. W. Halleck is, at his own request, relieved from duty as General in Chief of the Army, and Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. The headquarters of the Army will be in Washington and also with Lieutenant-General Grant in the field. II. Major-General H. W. Halleck is assigned to duty in Washington as chief of staff of the Army, under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Lieutenant-General Commanding. His orders will be obeyed and respected accordingly. |