The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Volume XIV: Series 1,
vol. 14, Part I, 466-467.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
Hilton Head, S. C., June 9, 1863.
Colonel JAMES MONTGOMERY,
Commanding Second S. C. Regiment, Saint Simon's Island:
COLONEL: I have the honor of transmitting herewith a copy of General
Orders, No. 100, of the War Department, current series, promulgating
a system of "Instructions for the government of armies of the
United States in the field," prepared by an eminent international
and military jurist, Dr. Francis Lieber, revised by a board of high
officers, and approved and established by the President of the United
States.
To sections I, II, III of these instructions I beg to call your particular
attention; not that in any manner I doubt the justice or generosity
of your judgment, but for the reason that it is peculiarly important,
in view of the questions which have heretofore surrounded the employment
of colored troops in the armies of the United States, to give our
enemies (foreign and domestic) as little ground as possible for alleging
any violation of the laws and usages of civilized warfare as a palliation
for these atrocities which are threatened against the men and officers
of commands similar to your own. If, as is threatened by the rebel
Congress, this war has eventually to degenerate into a barbarous and
savage conflict, softened by none of the amenities and rights established
by the wisdom and civilization of the world through successive centuries
of struggle, it is of the first moment that the infamy of this deterioration
should rest exclusively and without excuse upon the rebel Government.
It will therefore be necessary for you to exercise the utmost strictness
in insisting upon compliance with the instructions herewith sent,
and you will avoid any devastation which does not strike immediately
at the resources or material of the armed insurrection which we are
now engaged in the task of suppressing.
All fugitives who come within our lines you will receive, welcome,
and protect. Such of them as are able-bodied men you will at once
enroll and arm as soldiers. You will take all horses and mules available
for transportation to the enemy; also all cattle and other food which
can be of service to our forces. As the rebel Government has laid
all grain and produce under conscription, to be taken at will for
the use of its armed adherents, you will be justified in destroying
all stores of this kind which you shall not be able to remove; but
the destruction of crops in the ground, which may not be fit for use
until the rebellion is over, or which may when ripe be of service
to the forces of our Government occupying the enemy's country, you
will not engage in without mature consideration. This right of war,
though unquestionable in certain extreme cases, is not to be slightly
used, and if wantonly used might fall under that part of the instructions
which prohibits devastation. All household furniture, libraries, churches,
and hospitals you will of course spare.
That the wickedness and folly of the enemy may soon place us in a
position where the immutable laws of self-defense and the stern necessity
of retaliation will not only justify but enjoin every conceivable
species of injury is only to be too clearly apprehended; but until
such time shall have arrived, and until the proof, not merely of declarations
or resolves but of acts, is unmistakable, it will be both right and
wise to hold the troops under your command to the very strictest interpretation
of the laws and usages of civilized warfare.
Expressing the highest confidence in your courage, skill, humanity,
and discretion, I have the honor to be, colonel, very respectfully
yours,
D. HUNTER, Major-General, Commanding.
|
