Saturday, May 17, 2014

Major-General William T. Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 70, September 10, 1864

SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS No. 70.

HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF THE MISS.,
In the Field, Atlanta, Ga.,
September 10, 1864.

I. Pursuant to an agreement between General J. B. Hood, commanding the Confederate forces in Georgia, and Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, commanding this army, a truce is hereby declared to exist from daylight of Monday, September 12, until daylight of Thursday, September 22, being ten full days, at the point on the Macon railroad known as Rough and Ready, and the country round about for a circle of two miles' radius, together with the roads leading to and from in the direction of Atlanta and Lovejoy's Station, respectively, for the purpose of affording the people of Atlanta a safe means of removal to points south.

II. The chief quartermaster at Atlanta, Colonel Easton, will afford all the people of Atlanta who elect to go south all the facilities he can spare to remove them comfortably and safely, with their effects, to Rough and Ready, using cars and wagons and ambulances for that purpose, and commanders of regiments and brigades may use their regimental and staff teams to carry out the object of this order, the whole to cease after Wednesday, the 21st instant.

III. Major-General Thomas will cause a guard to be established on the road, out beyond the camp-ground, with orders to allow all wagons and vehicles to pass that are manifestly used for this purpose without undue search, and Major-General Howard will send a guard of 100 men, with a field officer in command, to take post at Rough and Ready during the truce, with orders, in concert with a guard of like size from the Confederate army, to maintain the most perfect order in that vicinity during the transfer of these families. A white flag will be displayed during the truce, and the guard will cause all wagons to leave at 4 p.m. of Wednesday, the 21st, and the guard to withdraw at dark, the truce to terminate the next morning.

By order of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman:
 L. M. DAYTON,
Aide-de-Camp.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 3, Part 2 (Serial No. 78), p. 356-7

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