General Orders No. 151

WAR DEP'T, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, October 4, 1862.

I. — Captain George H. Johnston, Assistant Adjutant General, having sent a letter to a Member of Congress censuring his superior officers, and enclosing a copy of an official report of a confidential character, in relation to the defence of his post, and asking that his communication be brought to the notice of the Secretary of War, thus doubly violating the Army Regulations and General Orders, is hereby publicly reprimanded.

His immediate Commander is not free from censure for permitting Captain Johnston to copy and transmit, out of the prescribed channels, official documents.

II. — If any officer shall hereafter, without proper authority, permit the publication of any official letter or report, or allow any copy of such document to pass into the hands of persons not authorized to receive it, his name will be submitted to the President for dismissal. This rule applies to all official letters and reports written by an officer himself.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:

L. THOMAS, Adjutant, General

SOURCE: Thomas M. O’Brien & Oliver Diffendorf, Compilers, General Orders of the War Department, Embracing the Years 1861, 1862 & 1863, Volume 1, p. 406-7