UNITED 8TTAES. 



749 



i lint, BO far aa the pub- 

 lie intfivit.t arc in\ol\ed, there is : 



:.av.- been introduced : 

 tary ul i/it<rini, and great : 



i'-r lii-i iiiliniuistrulinii of the 

 \V;ir !' , to tho savin.' of inillimis to the 



\ JOUN8 

 >, /> ccmbtr 1-J, , 



t'.) ; l.iwin^ is tho correspondence lu-tweon 



-:il (Iran! uiitl Si-i-ivtury St;int.u relative 

 to tin- ivtiivmi-tit of tin- latter: 



I! r uigUARTKRS ARMIKS op THE UNITED STATKH, ) 



\V taMXOTOB, l. I' . .1, .-./"<' I. 1 , \ ''. j 

 J/<in. /:'. M. ~ "/ War : 



'.'. h 1 have the honor to 



mil to you n copy of a letter just received from tho 

 .-lit of tin- I'micd Status, notifying mo of my 

 assignment as Actiiiu' Secretary of War, and din-et'- 

 iiiu' in those duties at once. 



In iiotityin.r you of my acceptance, I cannot let the 



opportunity pass without expressing to you niv np- 



ion of tin- /.;:!, patriotism, firmness, and ability 



with which you have ever discharged the duties of 



y of 'War. * 



With great respect, your obedient servant. 



U. S. <,i; A NT, General. 



The reply of the Secretary was as follows : 



WAK DEPARTMENT, ) 

 WASHINGTON CITY, Augiix/ 1-.'. ; 

 KRAL : Your note of th. >mpanied by 



a copy of a letter addressed to you, August 12th, by 

 tl^j r'resident, appointing you Secretary of war aa in- 

 and informing mo of your acceptance of tho 

 appointment, has been received. 



Under a sense of public duty, I am compelled to 

 deny the President's right under the laws of the 

 I States to suspend me from office as Seen tary 

 of War, or to authorize any other person to enter 

 upon the discharge of the duties of that office, or re- 

 quire i iu- to transfer to you, or any other person, the 

 records, books, papers, and other public property in 

 my official custody as Secretary of War. 



Bat inasmuch as the President has assumed to sus- 

 ]>.-!nl me from office as Secretary of War, and you 

 have notified me of your acceptance of the appoint- 

 ment of Secretary of War ad interim, I have no al- 

 ternative but to submit, under protest, to the superior 

 of the President. You will please accept my 

 acknowledgment of the kind terms in which you have 

 notified me of your acceptance of tho President's ap- 

 "ient, and my cordial reciprocation of tho senti- 



ssed. 

 I am. with sincere regard, truly yours, 



KDWIN M. ST ANTON, Secretary of "War. 

 To General U. S. GRANT. 



General Grant now entered upon the duties 

 Ti-tary of War, and continued to discharge 

 them beyond the close of the year. 



On August 20th the President issued hi* 

 proclamation, declaring that the insurrection 

 which heretofore existed in the State of Texas 

 was at an end, and that peace, order, tranquillity, 

 ami civil authority existed throughout the whole 

 I " ni ted States. The proclamation was as fol- 

 lows : 



"Whereas, by the proclamation of the 15th and 19th 

 of April. 1861, tho President of tho United States t in 

 virtue of the power vested in him by the Constitution 

 and the laws, declared that the laws of the United 

 States were opposed and the execution thereof ob- 

 structed in tho States of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, 

 by combinations too powerful to bo suppressed by the 

 ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the 

 power vested in the marshals by law ; 



And whereas, by another proclamation, made on 



tho 16th day of Aii 

 auoe of an 



the inhabitant 



-u.it, iii the same year, in ptmu- 

 f an Act of Congress approved July IS, 1861, 

 tabltants of the States of Georgia, South Caro- 



:th c., r . .:.:,:. Tennessee, Alabama, 



: inhabitant* of that part of the Mat.: of Virginia 

 '.any Mountains, and < 



ie inhabitant-* of such other part* of that State 

 and tl -ert before named an mi.- 



a loyal udhesion to th.- fJnion aad the Constii 



or might be from time to time occupied and ontrolleu 



tod States engaged in t' 

 M of tin; insurgents, wi-n- declared to I 

 htate of insurrection ug:^' 



And wh. : .tlier proclamation 'of the 1st 



day of July, 18ti2, issued in pursuance of an Act of 

 Congress, approved June 7th. in the same year, the 

 insurrection was de. -hired to be still existing in the 

 aforesaid, with the exception of certain speci- 

 fied counties in the State of Virginia ; 



And whereas, by another proclamation, made on 

 the 2d day of April, 1863, in pursue 

 Congress of July 13, 1861, the exceptions nan 



- tclamation of August 16, 1861, were revoked, 

 and the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, 

 Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Lou- 

 isiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mis.-i.--ippi l Florid 

 Virginia, except the forty-eight counties of Virginia 

 designated as West Virginia, and the ports of New 

 Orleans, Key West, Port Royal, and Beaufort, in 

 North Carolina, were declared to be still in a state of 

 insurrection against tho United States ; 



And whereas, by another proclamation of the 15th 

 day of September, 1863, made in pursuance of a 

 of Congress, approved March 3, 1863. the rebellion 

 was declared to be still existing, and the privilege of 

 the writ of habeas corpus was in certain specified oases 

 suspended throughout the United States, said sus- 

 pension to continue throughout the duration of the 

 rebellion, or until said proclamation should by a sub- 

 sequent one be modified or revoked ; 



And whereas, the House of Representatives, on the 

 22d dav of July, 1861, adopted a resolution in the 

 words following, namely : 



Resolved, by tho House of Representatives of the Con- 

 gress of the United States, that tho present deplorable civil 

 war has been forced upon the country by the disnnlonists of 

 the Southern States now In revolt against the constitutional 

 Government, and in arms around the capital: that in this 

 national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings of mere 

 passion or resentment, will recollect only Its duty to tho 

 whole country ; that this war is not waged on our part in any 

 spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest o^sub- 

 jWation, nor for the purpose o'f overthrowing or interfering 

 with the rights or established institutionsof th. 

 to tlei'.-nd and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, 

 ami to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and 

 rights of the several States unimpaired ; and that as soon as 

 these objects arc accomplished tho war ought to cease. 



And whereas, the Senate of tho United States, on 

 the 25th day of July, 1861, adopted a resolution in 

 the words following, to wit : 



Resolved, That the prosent deplorable civil war has been 

 forced upon tho country by tho disunionlsts of the Southern 

 States, now In revolt against the constitutional Government, 

 and in arms around the capital: that in this national emer- 

 gency Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or re- 

 M-ntmeiit, will reoolleet only its duty to tho whole country; 

 that this war is not prosecuted upon our part In any spirit 

 of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjuga- 

 tion, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with 

 the rights or established institutions of tho-e States, hut to 

 def. ml and maintain the supremacy of tbo Constitution and 

 all laws made in pursuance thereof, and to preserve the 

 Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several 

 1'iiinpairt'd ; and that as soon as these objects are ac- 

 complished the war ought to cease. 



And whereas, these resolutions, not joint or con- 

 current in form, are substantially identical, and as 

 such have hitherto been and yet are regarded as hav- 

 ing expressed the voice of Congress upon the subject 

 to which they relate ; 



And whereas, the President of the United States, 



