86 



AEMY OPEKATIONS. 



guarantee to each State a republican form of govern- 

 ment, and to preserve public tranquillity ; and whereas, 

 for these high purposes, a military force is indispensa- 

 ble, to raise and support which all persons ought 

 willingly to contribute ; and whereas, no service can 

 be more praiseworthy and honorable than that which 

 is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution 

 and Union, and consequent preservation of free gov- 

 ernment ; and whereas, for the reasons thus recited, 

 it was enacted by said statute that all able-bodied 

 male citizens of the United States, and persons of for- 

 eign birth who shall have declared on oath their in- 

 tention to become citizens under and in pursuance of 

 the laws thereof, between the ages of 20 and 45 years, 

 with certain exceptions not necessary to be here men- 

 tioned, are declared to constitute the national forces, 

 and shall be liable to perform military duty in the 

 service of the United States, when called on by the 

 President for that purpose ; and whereas, it is claimed, 

 by and in behalf or persons of foreign birth within the 

 ages specified in said act, who have heretofore de- 

 clared on oath their intention to become citizens under 

 and in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and 

 who have not exercised the right of suffrage or any 

 other political franchise under the laws of the United 

 States or of any of the States thereof, are not absolute- 

 Iv concluded by their aforesaid declaration of intention 

 from renouncing their purpose to become citizens ; and 

 that on the contrary such persons under treaties or 

 the law of nations retain a right to renounce that pur- 

 pose and to forego privilege of citizenship and resi- 

 dence within the United States under obligations im- 

 posed by the aforesaid act of Congress : 



Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions con- 

 cerning liability of persons concerned to perform the 

 service required by such enactment, and to give it full 

 effect, I do hereby order and proclaim that no plea of 

 alienage will be received or allowe_d to exempt from 

 obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress 

 any person of foreign birth who shall have declared, 

 on oath, his intention to become a citizen of the United 

 States, under the laws thereof, and who shall be found 

 within the United States at any time during the con- 

 tinuance of the present insurrection and rebellion at 

 or after the expiration of the period of sixty-five days 

 from date of this proclamation ; nor shall any such 

 plea of alienage be allowed in favor of any such per- 

 son who has so as aforesaid declared his intention to 

 become a citizen of the United States, and shall have 

 exercised at any time the right of suffrage or any other 

 political franchise within the United States under laws 

 of any of the several States. In witness whereof I 

 have hereunto set my seal and caused the seal of the 

 United States to be affixed. Done at the City of 

 Washington, this 8th duy of May, in the year of our 

 Lord 1863, and of the independence of the United 

 States the 87th. 



(Signed) ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President. 



W. H. SKWARD, Secretary of State. 



Previously, while the movements of Gen. 

 Hooker were in progress, the following mili- 

 tary orders were issued. The object appears 

 to have been to prevent the transmission of 

 premature and unreliable reports to Halifax, 

 Nova Scotia, and by steamer to Europe : 



WASHINGTON, MAT 1st, 1863. 

 To Major- Gen. Wool, commanding at New York. 



By virtue of the act of Congress authorizing the 

 President to take possession of railroad and telegraph 

 lines, Ac., passed February 4th, 1862, the President 

 directs that you take immediate military possession of 

 the telegraph lines lately established between Phila- 

 delphia ana Boston, called the Independent Telegraph 

 Company, and forbid the transmission of any intelli- 

 gence relating to the movements of the Army of the 

 Potomac or any military forces of the United States. 

 In case this order is violated, arrest and imprison the 

 perpetrators in Fort Delaware, reporting to thia De- 



partment. If the management of the line will stipu- 

 late to transmit no military intelligence without the 

 sanction of the War Department, they need not be in- 

 terfered with so long as the engagement is fulfilled. 

 This order will be executed so as not to interfere with 

 the ordinary business of the Telegraph Company. 



By order of the President : 



E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 



Captain Rowello, aide-de-camp, will proceed by the 

 first conveyance to Boston and execute the above or- 

 der, viz. : Take military possession of the Independent 

 Telegraph Company's lines, and forbid any transmis- 

 sion of information relating to the movements of the 

 Army of the Potomac or any military forces of the 

 United States. If the principal or owner of the line 

 will stipulate not to violate the condition imposed, 

 without the sanction of the War Department, he will 

 not be interfered with. If, however, he violates the 

 stipulations, he will be severely dealt with. 



JOHN E. WOOL, Major-General. 



To E. F. Leighton, Manager Boston Office, Inde- 

 pendent Telegraph : Do not fail to send us the news 

 just the same as heretofore ; that is, everything that is 

 made public in Boston or New York. No military dic- 

 tator can prevent a legitimate use of our facilities for 

 the transmission to any station of intelligence already 

 made public. J. W. STOVER, 



Manager of Boston and Portland District. 



The official statement of the killed and 

 wounded of Gen. Hooker's army was .as fol- 

 lows: 



Officers killed 154 



Enlisted men killed 1,358 



Officers wounded 624 



Enlisted men wounded 8,894 



Total .............................. 11,030 



Some of the wounded remained on the field 

 of battle at least ten days, as appears by the fol- 

 lowing, which was made public : 



HEADQUARTERS AEMY OF THE POTOMAC, ) 

 Tuesday, May 12to, 1863. f 



Dr. Luckley, medical director in charge of our woun- 

 ded on the field, reports that they are all comfortable, 

 and are about twelve hundred in number. An ambu- 

 lance train has been sent for them. They are expected 

 to return to camp by to-night. 



A flag of truce from Gen. Lee stated that 

 he had exhausted his medicines and hospital 

 stores, and fresh supplies were sent over for the 

 wounded of Gen. Hooker's army. The num- 

 ber of prisoners taken was estimated by the 

 enemy at eight thousand. It was an overesti- 

 mate. 



Gen. Halleck, in his annual report, thus 

 speaks of the losses and of these operations : 



For want of official data I am unable to give any de- 

 tailed account of these operations, or of our losses. It 

 is also proper to remark in this place that from the 

 time he was placed in the command of the Army of the 

 Potomac till he reached Fairfax Station, on the 16th of 

 June, a few days before he was relieved from the com- 

 mand, General Hooker reported directly to the Presi- 

 dent, and received instructions directly from him. I 

 received no official information of his plans, or of their 

 execution. 



The loss of the enemy in numbers was less 

 than that of Gen. Hooker, but far greater in 

 the importance of the officers. Among their 

 wounded was Gen. Jackson, who subsequently 

 died. Upon hearing that he was wounded, 

 Gen. Lee addressed to him the following 

 letter : 



