76 



AKMY OPERATIONS. 



record of prisoners of war to be released under this 

 order, the record to set forth the name of the prison- 

 er, his place of residence, the organization to which 

 he belonged, the time and place of capture, &c. 

 The oaths of allegiance will be administered by com- 

 manding officers of the prisons, camps, and forts, 

 who will send by telegraph daily reports of prison- 

 ers released to the Commissary-Gene. -al of Prisoners. 

 These reports will be consolidated for each day, and 

 transmitted to the Secretary of War. 



By order of the SECRETARY OF WAR. 



James A. Hardie, Brevet Brig.-Gen., Inspector-Gen. 



U. S. Army. 



WAK DEPABTMENT, ADJITTANT-GENEBAL'S OFFICE, ) 

 WASHINGTON, June 6, 1865. ) 



The prisoners of war at the several depots in the 

 North will be discharged, under the following regu- 

 lations and restrictions : 



1. All enlisted men of the rebel army, and petty 

 officers and seamen of the rebel navy, will be dis- 

 charged upon taking the oath of allegiance. 



2. Officers of the rebel army not above the grade 

 of captain, and of the rebel navy not above the grade 

 of lieutenant, except such as have graduated at the 

 United States Military or Naval Academy, and such 

 as held a commission in either the United States 

 army or navy at the beginning of the rebellion, may 

 be discharged upon taking the oath of allegiance. 



8. When the discharges hereby ordered are com- 

 pleted, regulations will be issued in respect to the 

 discharge of officers having higher rank than captains 

 in the army or lieutenants in the navy. 



4. The several commanders of prison stations will 

 discharge each day as much of the prisoners hereby 

 authorized to be discharged as proper rolls can be 

 prepared for, beginning with those who have been 

 longest in prison and from the most remote points of 

 the country, and certified rolls will be forwarded 

 daily to the Commissary-General of Prisoners of 

 those discharged. The oath of allegiance only will 

 be administered. But notice will be given that all 

 who desire will be permitted to take the oath of anv 

 nesty after their release, in accordance with the regu- 

 lations of the Department of State respecting the 

 amnesty. 



5. The Quartermaster's Department will furnish 

 transportation to all released prisoners to the near- 

 est accessible point to their nomes, by rail or by 

 steamboat. 



By order of the President of the United States. 

 E. D. TOWNSEND, Ass't Adjutant-General. 



Subsequently a commission was organized at 

 Washington to investigate the treatment of Fed- 

 eral prisoners at Andersonville, and for the trial 

 of the officer in command. Its proceedings will 

 be found on subsequent pages. 



The charitable organizations which had been 

 called int6 existence by the war, now found the 

 necessity for their services removed. In the 

 brief but bloody campaigns of March and 

 April, 1865, the Sanitary Commission con- 

 tinued its humane and noble work. The sick 

 and wounded were cared for, their friends in- 

 formed of their situation, their pensions, 

 bounties, and back pay collected, and when 

 the armies were disbanded the Soldiers' Homes 

 were thrown open all along their various routes 

 to welcome them, and agents of the Commission 

 met them at railroad stations and steamboat 

 landings to invite them to the homes and 

 lodges, and protect them as far as possible from 

 fraud. ^ The Commission also greatly increased 

 its claim agencies, which, without fee or re- 

 ward, collected the arrearages and pay due to 

 the soldiers, and established at its central office 



in "Washington, with branches in all the princi- 

 pal cities, a bureau of information and employ- 

 ment, to secure to all soldiers desiring employ- 

 ment such situations as they were capable 

 of filling. The receipts of the Commission 

 were large during the spring months, but its 

 disbursements were stUl larger. On the 1st of 

 June, 1865, a second Sanitary Fair was opened 

 at Chicago, 111., for the purpose of raising funds 

 for the maintenance of the claim agencies and 

 , other organizations of the Commission, which 

 it was deemed desirable to continue in opera- 

 tion. About $325,000 above all expenses was 

 received from this fair. On the 1st of July, 

 1865, the Aid Societies, auxiliary to the Com- 

 mission, ceased their cooperative work, though 

 many of them became auxiliary to the Com- 

 mission as claim agencies. It was officially 

 announced on the 26th of April, 1865, that the 

 contributions to the Commission from Califor- 

 nia to that date amounted to $1,199,675.51 ; 

 those of Nevada to $99,512.46 ; Oregon, $75,- 

 597.56 ; and Washington Territory, $20,753.92 

 making a total from the Pacific slope of 

 $1,395,539.45. The Metropolitan Fair in New 

 York yielded $1,184,146.72, and the Central 

 Fair in Philadelphia, $1,035,398.96. The final 

 campaign of the war demanded new efforts 

 from the Christian Commission, and its agents 

 labored with new zeal and energy. No official 

 statement of its receipts during these months 

 was made, but they are understood to have ap- 

 proached half a million of dollars, which was 

 expended for the promotwa of the. physical, in- 

 tellectual, and religious welfare of the soldiers 

 and sailors. As the war closed the Commis- 

 sion disbanded and discontinued its work. 



The Union Commission found, as it expected, 

 a sphere of wider usefulness in, the closing 

 scenes of the war, and in the suffering which fol- 

 lowed among the poorer classes of whites in 

 the Southern States, and was actively engaged 

 in endeavoring to improve their condition. It 

 subsequently cooperated with the Freedmen's 

 Bureau, the Western Sanitary Commission, and 

 other similar institutions, in their useful labors. 



A reduction of the naval force was made at 

 the same time when the armies were disbanded. 

 Volunteer officers resigned, men were dis- 

 charged, and all vessels not needed for future 

 service were sold. The steamer Webb, which 

 had been used as a ram by the enemy on the 

 Red River throughout the war, ran the block- 

 ade on that jiver, and passed down the Missis- 

 sippi about April ?4th, making an attempt to 

 escape to the West Indies. Being pursued after 

 passing New Orleans, and discovering the 

 steamer Richmond coming up the river, her 

 commander, Edward G. Reed, run her ashore, 

 and setting her on fire, escaped, with nearly all 

 the crew, to the swamps. The vessel was con- 

 sumed. All the other vessels in the Confederate 

 service were surrendered, as has been stated, 

 except the Shenandoah, which was in Aus- 

 tralia at the close of the war. She continued 

 her operations, and caused great destruction 



