1863 Civil War Draft Document Calling for "All Able-Bodied Colored Men"
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
[African American- CIVIL WAR.] John G. Foster. Order from the Department of the South for a draft for "all able-bodied colored men." General Orders No. 119. Hilton Head, SC, 16 August 1863. 2 pages, 7 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches, signed in type by Foster as Major General, and also in manuscript by Lieutenant Thomas J. Robinson as assistant adjutant general. The Order reads "All able-bodied colored men, between the ages of 18 and 50, within the military lines of the Department of the South . . . shall be drafted into the military service of the United States." Civilian laborers working for military units were liable for this draft - "their places shall be filled from those who are exempted by the surgeons as unfit for military duty." Plantation owners are required to hand over "all deserters in their employ or loitering about their plantations." As commander of the Department of the South, Foster aided General William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea", where they captured Savannah, a key Confederate city and essentially its last major port, allowing the Union's naval blockade to totally isolate the flagging Confederacy. Sherman's March attracted a caravan of liberated slaves, thousands in number. Many of these men would be conscripted into support units through orders such as this one. Vertical fold, two binding slits in margin. Very good condition overall.Item #18702
Price: $4,800.00
See all items by Civil War US Colored Troops
SUGGESTED ITEMS
