Tag Archives: War Department

General Orders – No. 263, 28 September 1864

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General Orders No. 263, issued from the War Department in Washington D.C., assigning Major General Joseph Hooker to the Northern Department and relieving Major General Heintzelman.

GENERAL ORDERS, WAR DEPARTMENT,

No. 263. ADJUTANT GENERALS OFFICE,

Washington, September 28, 1864

I.. By direction of the President of the United States, Major General JOSEPH HOOKER is assigned to the command of the Northern Department. He will immediately proceed to Columbus, Ohio, and relieve Major General HEINTZELMAN.

II.. Major General HEINTZELMAN, on being relieved in command of the Northern Department, will repair to Wheeling, West Virginia, report thence by letter to the Adjutant General of the Army, and there wait until he receives orders.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:

E. D. Townsend,

Assistant Adjutant General.

OFFICIAL:

Assistant Adjutant General

Samuel P. Heintzelman graduated from the United State Military Academy in 1826. He served in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the Yuma War before being promoted to Brigadier General in May of 1861. He led the III Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign. He was eventually relieved of command due to his age and waning aggression. He retired in 1869 and passed away in 1880.

Joseph Hooker graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837. He served in the Seminole War and the Mexican-American War. He resigned from the military in 1853 and moved to California after his reputation was damaged by testifying in the court martial of General Gideon Pillow. At the outbreak of the Civil War he returned east and requested a commission. He commanded the 2nd Division of the III Corps in the Peninsula Campaign, and was appointed to command of the Army of the Potomac in January of 1863. He led the XX Corps in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 until he was sent to the Northern Department. He was at the head of Lincoln’s funeral procession as it traveled through Springfield, IL on May 4, 1865. He retired from the army in 1866 and passed away in 1874.

General Orders – No. 262, 23 September 1864

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General Orders No. 262, issued from the War Department in Washington D.C., extends a discount to charitable and religious organizations for travel permits between seaports via steam transports.

GENERAL ORDERS, WAR DEPARTMENT,

No. 262. ADJUTANT GENERALS OFFICE,

Washington, September 23, 1864

Benevolent, charitable, religious, and educational aid associations, operating, by permission of proper military authority, within rebel States and districts, may, upon application to the War Department, receive permits for transportation for officers, agents, and employees, to and from seaports between which steam transports ply in the service of the War Department: said permits to secure to the persons named therein, passage at one-half the rates charged to civilians and others traveling not on duty, nor under official orders.

This privilege is not extended to railroads nor steamers on Western waters.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:

E. D. Townsend,

Assistant Adjutant General.

OFFICIAL:

Assistant Adjutant General

General Orders – No. 258, 19 September 1864

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General Orders No. 258, issued from the War Department in Washington D.C., regarding how fines imposed via military courts are to be paid.

GENERAL ORDERS, WAR DEPARTMENT,

No. 258. ADJUTANT GENERALS OFFICE,

Washington, September 19, 1864

Fines imposed by Military Courts.

  1. Whenever fines are imposed by sentence of General Court Martial, or Military Commission, upon officers or citizens, the Judge Advocate of the Court or Commission will make a special report of the fact to the Adjutant General, giving a copy of the sentence in the case. The officer who confirms a sentence imposing a fine will transmit to the Adjutant General a special report thereof, together with a copy of the order promulgating the proceedings.
  2. The fines will be paid to the chief officer of the Quartermaster’s Department at the place where the prisoner may be, and no other person is authorized to receive them. Such fines must not be applied to any purpose, but the officer receiving them will forthwith remit the amounts to the Adjutant General of the Army, at Washington, with the names of prisoners who paid them, and the number of the order promulgating the proceedings.
  3. All officers who have heretofore received fines will forthwith report to the Adjutant General the amounts received, by whom paid, number and date of order promulgating the proceedings, and what disposition was made of the money. The amounts will be forwarded with the reports.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:

E. D. Townsend,

Assistant Adjutant General.

OFFICIAL:

Assistant Adjutant General

Acknowledgement of Resignation – Charles H. Eager, 17 December 1863

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Document of Captain Charles H. Eager of Company B, 15th MA Infantry. This document was sent by George F. Balch, Captain of Ordnance and Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance from the War Department in Washington, D.C. Balch is requesting an Ordnance Return from Eager in view of his pending resignation.

Ordnance Office

                                   War Department

                                Washington, Dec. 17, 1863

Capt. C. H. Eager

Co. B, 15th Mass. Infty.

     Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of Dec. 6th, 1863, notifying this office of your intention of resigning your commission as capt.

     Before giving you a certificate of non-indebtedness to the United States on account of Ordnance, it will be necessary for you to make and transmit to this Office the Ordnance Returns now due from you for the pt 1 quarter, 1862. On their receipt at this Office, they will be examined and referred to the Second Auditor; of which action you will be promptly advised. In your letter transmitting them, refer to this by its date.

     By order of the Chief of Ordnance:

                                      Geo. F. Balch

                                      Captain of Ordnance

                              Assistant to Chief of Ordnance

Charles H. Eager, a hardware dealer from Fitchburg, MA was appointed 2nd lieutenant of Co. B, 15th MA Infantry on August 1, 1861, at the age of 31. He was subsequently promoted to 1st lieutenant, May 11, 1862; and captain, October 15, 1862. He was a regimental quartermaster, and commanded the regiment from November 27, 1863 to January 1864. His resignation was announced February 4, 1864. He served at Ball’s Bluff, Antietam, and Gettysburg, among others.