Friday, December 31, 2021

Major-General Ambrose Burnside: General Orders, No. 38, April 13, 1863

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 38.
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,        
Cincinnati, Ohio, April 13, 1863.

The commanding general publishes, for the information of all concerned, that hereafter all persons found within our lines who commit acts for the benefit of the enemies of our country will be tried as spies or traitors, and, if convicted, will suffer death. This order includes the following class of persons: Carriers of secret mails; writers of letters sent by secret mails; secret recruiting officers within the lines; persons who have entered into an agreement to pass our lines for the purpose of joining the enemy; persons found concealed within our lines belonging to the service of the enemy, and, in fact, all persons found improperly within our lines who could give private information to the enemy, and all persons within our lines who harbor, protect, conceal, feed, clothe, or in any way aid the enemies of our country. The habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed in this department. Persons committing such offenses will be at once arrested, with a view to being tried as above stated, or sent beyond our lines into the lines of their friends.

It must be distinctly understood that treason, expressed or implied, will not be tolerated in this department.

All officers and soldiers are strictly charged with the execution of this order.

By command of Major-General Burnside:

LEWIS RICHMOND,        
Assistant Adjutant-General

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 23, Part 2 (Serial No. 35), p. 237

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