No. 12.
WAR DEP’T, ADJT. GEN.'S OFFICE,
Washington, April 27,
1861.
1. The Military Department of Washington will include the
District of Columbia, according to its original boundary, Fort Washington and
the country adjacent, and the State of Maryland as far as Bladensburg,
inclusive. Col. J. K. F. Mansfield, inspector-general, is assigned to the
command, headquarters Washington City.
2. A new military department, to be called the Department of
Annapolis, headquarters at that city, will include the country for twenty miles
on each side of the railroad from Annapolis to the city of Washington, as far
as Bladensburg, Md. Brig. Gen. B. F. Butler, Massachusetts Volunteers, is
assigned to the command.
3. A third department, called the Department of
Pennsylvania, will include that State, the State of Delaware, and all of
Maryland not embraced in the foregoing departments. Major-General Patterson to
command, headquarters at Philadelphia, or any other point he may temporarily
occupy.
4. Bvt. Col. C. F. Smith, having been relieved by Colonel
Mansfield, will repair to Fort Columbus, N.Y., and assume the duties of
superintendent of the recruiting service; to which he was assigned in Special
Orders, No. 80, of March 15. Major Heintzelman, on being relieved at Fort
Columbus, will repair to this city, and report for duty to the department commander.
5. Fort Adams, Rhode Island, is hereby placed temporarily
under the control of the Secretary of the Navy, for the purposes of the Naval
Academy now at Annapolis, Md.
The necessary transfer of property will be made by the
departments interested.
By order:
L. THOMAS,
Adjutant-General.
SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 2
(Serial No. 2), p. 607; Jessie Ames Marshall, Editor, Private and
Official Correspondence of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler During the Period of the
Civil War, Volume 1: April 1860 – June 1862, p. 52 which contained an
extract (No. 2) of this order mentioning Butler.
