Part 44

Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT, May 25, 1862.

Ordered: By virtue of the authority vested by act of Congress, the President takes military possession of all the railroads in the United States from and after this date until further order, and directs that the respective railroad companies, their officers and servants, shall hold themselves in readiness for the transportation of such troops and munitions of war as may be ordered by the military authorities, to the exclusion of all other business.

By order of the Secretary of War:

M.C. MEIGS,

Quartermaster-General.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, D.C., May 28, 1862.

Colonel HAUPT:

SIR: You are hereby appointed chief of construction and transportation in the Department of the Rappahannock, with the rank of colonel, and attached to the staff of Major-General McDowell.

You are authorized to do whatever you may deem expedient to open for use in the shortest possible time all military railroads now or hereafter required in said department; to use the same for transportation under such rules and regulations as you may prescribe; to appoint such assistants and employees as you may deem necessary, define their duties and fix their compensation; to make requisitions upon any of the military authorities, with the approval of the Commanding General, for such temporary or permanent details of men as may be required for the construction or protection of lines of communication; to use such Government steamers and transports as you may deem necessary; to pass free of charge in such steamers and transports and on other military roads all persons whose services may be required in construction or transportation; to purchase all such machinery, rolling stock, and supplies as the proper use and operation of the said railroads may require, and certify the same to the Quartermaster-General, who shall make payment therefor. You are also authorized to form a permanent corps of artificers, organized, officered, and equipped in such manner as you may prescribe; to supply said corps with rations, transportation, tools, and implements by requisitions upon the proper departments; to employ civilians as foremen and assistants, under such rules and rates of compensation as you may deem expedient; to make such additions to ordinary rations when actually at work as you may deem necessary.

You are also authorized to take possession of and use all railroads, engines, cars, buildings, machinery, and appurtenances within the geographical limits of the Department of the Rappahannock, and all authority heretofore given to other parties which may in any way conflict with the instructions herein contained are and will be without force and effect in the said Department of the Rappahannock from and after this date.

By order of the President, Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States:

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington City, D.C., May 30, 1862.

All regiments of militia or of three-months' volunteers who have offered their services under the recent call of the War Department, and who have so far perfected their organization as to be able to report for orders at St. Louis, at Columbus, or at Washington City by the 10th of June, will be mustered into the service of the United States for three months from that date, the pay of each volunteer or militiaman commencing from the date of his enlistment.

Under the call for three-years volunteers 50,000 men will be accepted as raised and reported by the respective State governors.

By order of the President:

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

NEW YORK, June 30, 1862.

To the Governors of the several States:

The capture of New Orleans, Norfolk, and Corinth by the national forces has enabled the insurgents to concentrate a large force at and about Richmond, which place we must take with the least possible delay; in fact, there will soon be no formidable insurgent force except at Richmond. With so large an army there, the enemy can threaten us on the Potomac and elsewhere. Until we have reestablished the national authority, all these places must be held, and we must keep a respectable force in front of Washington. But this, from the diminished strength of our Army by sickness and casualties, renders an addition to it necessary in order to close the struggle which has been prosecuted for the last three months with energy and success. Rather than hazard the misapprehension of our military condition and of groundless alarm by a call for troops by proclamation, I have deemed it best to address you in this form. To accomplish the object stated we require without delay 150,000 men, including those recently called for by the Secretary of War. Thus reenforced our gallant Army will be enabled to realize the hopes and expectations of the Government and the people.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

JUNE 28, 1862.

The PRESIDENT: