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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02224.01 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to the 1860s |
| Title | General orders no. 59 regarding the purchase of African Americans to serve in place of drafted persons |
| Date | 31 August 1864 |
| Author | Pratt, William M. (fl. 1864) |
| Document Type | Government document; Military document |
| Content Description | Signed by Pratt, Aide-de-Camp (possibly to Brigadier General Innes Newton Palmer). Relates the story of John H. Irish, a recruiting agent, who attempted to bribe officers to allow him to cite previously enlisted men in order to satisfy recruiting quotas for Yates County, New York. States that Irish furthermore intended to sell the names to a recruiting agent in New Jersey, committing a double instance of fraud. Irish is portrayed as "a fair sample of a good portion of the Recruiting Agents who are now sent out from the Northern States, to purchase colored men to do the fighting for them to whom the approaching draft is such a terror." States that Irish will receive a trial if he wishes to have one, but that his option of having a trial is not a precedent for future cases. Issued from headquarters of the District of North Carolina by Assistant Adjutant General J. A. Judson. Issued by the command of Palmer. |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History African American History African American Troops Recruitment Corruption and Scandal Forgery and Fraud Conscription Military Law Law Union Forces |
| People | Pratt, William M. (fl. 1864) Irish, John H. (fl. 1864) Judson, J. A. (fl. 1864) Palmer, Innis Newton (1824-1900) |
| Place written | New Berne, North Carolina |
| Theme | African Americans; The American Civil War; Government & Politics; Law |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |