MISSOURI. 



491 



County, while the former was at New Madrid. 

 Amid these exciting circumstances Gen. Fre- 

 mont issued the following proclamation, with 

 its accompanying special military order : 



HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE WESTERS DEPARTMENT, { 

 ST. Loris, August 81, 1861. J 



Circumstances, in my judgment, of sufficient ur- 

 gency, render it necessary that the Commanding Gen- 

 ernal of this Department should assume the adminis- 

 trative powers of the State. Its disorganized condi- 

 tion, the helplessness of the civil authority, the total 

 insecurity of life, and the devastation of property by 

 bands of murderers and marauders, who infest nearly 

 every county of the State, and avail themselves of the 

 public misfortunes and the vicinity of a hostile force to 

 gratify private and neighborhood vengeance, and who 

 find an enemy wherever they find plunder, finally de- 

 mand the severest measures to repress the daily in- 

 creasing crimes and outrages which are driving 'off 

 the inhabitants and ruining the State. 



In this condition the public safety and the success 

 of our arms require unity of purpose, without let or 

 hindrance, to the prompt administration of affairs. 



In order, therefore, to suppress disorder, to main- 

 tain, as far as now practicable, the public peace, and 

 to give security and protection to the persons and 

 property of loyal citizens, I do hereby extend and de- 

 clare established martial law throughout the State of 

 Missouri. 



The lines of the army of occupation in this State 

 are for the present declared to extend from Leaven- 

 worth by way of the posts of Jefferson City, Rolla, 

 and Ironton, to Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi 

 River. 



All persons who shall be taken with arms in their 

 hands within these lines, shall be tried by court-mar- 

 tial, and if found guilty, will be shot. 



The property, real and personal, of all persons, in 

 the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against 

 the United States, or who shall be directly proven to 

 have taken an active part with their euemies in the 

 field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use, 

 and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared 

 free men. 



All persons who shall be proven to have destroyed, 

 after the publication of this order, railroad tracks, 

 bridges, or telegraphs, shall suffer the extreme penalty 

 of the law. 



All persons engaged in treasonable correspondence, 

 in giving or procuring aid to the enemies of the United 

 States, in fomenting tumults, in disturbing the public 

 tranquillity by creating and circulating false reports or 

 incendiary'documents, are in their own interests warned 

 that they are exposing themselves to sudden and severe 

 punishment. 



All persons who have been led awav from their alle- 

 giance are required to return to their homes forth with; 

 anv such absence, without sufficient cause, will be held 

 to "be presumptive evidence against them. 



The object of this declaration is to place in the hands 

 of the military authorities the power to give -instan- 

 taneous effect to existing laws, and to supply such de- 

 ficiencies as the conditions of war demand. But it is 

 not intended to suspend the ordinary tribunals of the 

 country, where the law will be administered by the 

 civil officers in the usual manner, and with their cus- 

 tomary authority, while the same can be peaceably 

 exercised. 



The Commanding General will labor vigilantly for the 

 public welfare, and in his efforts for their safet'v hopes 

 to obtain not only the acquiescence, but the active sup- 

 port of the loyal people of the country. 



J. C. FREMONT, Major-General Commanding. 



SPECIAL MILITARY ORDER. 



HEAD-QUARTERS, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, ) 

 ST. Louis, August 30, 1561. J 



The Commanding General sincerely regrets that he 

 finds it necessary to make any reproach to" the patriotic 



army under his command. He had hoped that the 

 rigid enforcement of discipline and the good example 

 of the mass of the enlightened soldiery which he has 

 the honor to lead, would have been sufficient to correct 

 in good time the irregularities and license of the few 

 who have reflected discredit upon our cause and our- 

 selves. 



But the extension of martial law to all the State 

 of Missouri, rendered suddenly necessary by its un- 

 happy condition, renders it equally imperative to call 

 the army to good order and rigorous discipline. They 

 are reminded that the power to inflict the extraordi- 

 nary severities of the now governing law is rigidly 

 confined to few, who are to be held strictly accountable 

 for its exercise. They are also reminded that the same 

 necessity which requires the establishment of martial 

 law, demands also the enforcement of the military law, 

 which governs themselves with the same sudden sever- 

 ity. 



The Commanding General therefore strictly pro- 

 hibits all vexatious proceedings calculated unneces- 

 sarily to harass the citizens, and also unauthorized 

 searches, seizures, and destruction of property, except 

 in cases of military necessity, and for which the offi- 

 cer authorizing or permitting it will be held strictly 

 and personally responsible. 



All officers commanding districts, posts, or detach- 

 ments, are enjoined to use the utmost prudence and 

 circumspection in the discharge of their duties. Un- 

 der the circumstances, a strict obedience to orders, 

 close attention to duties, and an earnest effort to pro- 

 tect and to avoid harassing innocent persons, is re- 

 quested and expected every where from officers and men. 



The Commanding General trusts that he will find 

 few occasions to reproach the troops. He hopes and 

 believes that he will find many to admire and com- 

 mend them. J. C. FREMONT, 



Major-General Commanding. 



This proclamation, so far as it related to the 

 manumission of slaves, was subsequently modi- 

 fied by President Lincoln. (Set SLATES.) 



On the 12th of September another proclama- 

 tion was issued by Gen. Fremont, carrying into 

 effect that provision of the former proclama- 

 tion relating to slaves. It was as follows : 



HEAD-QUARTERS, WESTKRT* DEPARTMEHT, 

 ST. Louis, Sept. Ifc, 1861. f 



The Major-General commanding the Western De- 

 partment, having satisfactory evidence that Thomas 

 L. Snead, of the city and county of St. Louis and State 

 of Missouri, has been taking active part with the ene- 

 mies of the United States, in the present insurrection- 

 ary movements against its Government; and the Mili- 

 tary Commission, now in session at the arsenal in ibis 

 city, having reported the fact to these bead-quarters 

 as the result of its deliberations, the Major-General 

 commanding has executed and ordered to be pub- 

 lished the following deeds of manumission : 



HEAD-QUARTERS, WESTERS DEPARTMENT. 



Whereas Thomas L. Snead, of the city and county 

 of St. Louis, State of Missouri, has been taking active 

 part with the enemies of the United States, in the 

 present insurrectionary movement against the GOY- 

 ernment of the United States ; now, therefore, I, John 

 Charles Fremont, Maior-General commanding the West- 

 ern Department of the Army of the United "States, by 

 authority of law and the power vested in me as such 

 commanding General, declare Frank Lewis, heretofore 

 held to " service or labor" by said Thomas L. Snead, 

 to be free, and forever discharged from the bonds of 

 servitude, giving him full right and authority to have, 

 use, and control his own labor or service, aa to him 

 may seem proper, without any accountability whatever 

 to said Thomas L. Snead, or any one to claim by, 

 through, or under him. And this deed of manumis- 

 sion shall be respected and treated by all persons and 

 in all courts of justice, as the full and complete evi- 

 dence of the freedom of said Frank Lewis. 



