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Special Field Orders, No. 15 (series 1865) were military orders issued during the American Civil War, on January 16, 1865, by General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi of the United States Army. They provided for the confiscation of of land along the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida and the dividing of it into parcels of not more than ,O.R. Series 1, Volume 47, Part 2, 60-62
/ref> on which were to be settled approximately 18,000 formerly enslaved families and other black people then living in the area. The orders were issued following Sherman's March to the Sea. They were intended to address the immediate problem of dealing with the tens of thousands of black refugees who had joined Sherman's march in search of protection and sustenance, and "to assure the harmony of action in the area of operations." Critics allege that his intention was for the order to be a temporary measure to address an immediate problem, and not to grant permanent ownership of the land to the freedmen, although most of the recipients assumed otherwise. General Sherman issued his orders four days afte
meeting with twenty local black ministers and lay leaders
and withSavannah Tribune
/ref>
Special Field Orders, No. 15 (series 1865) were military orders issued during the American Civil War, on January 16, 1865, by General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi of the United States Army. They provided for the confiscation of of land along the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida and the dividing of it into parcels of not more than ,O.R. Series 1, Volume 47, Part 2, 60-62/ref> on which were to be settled approximately 18,000 formerly enslaved families and other black people then living in the area. The orders were issued following Sherman's March to the Sea. They were intended to address the immediate problem of dealing with the tens of thousands of black refugees who had joined Sherman's march in search of protection and sustenance, and "to assure the harmony of action in the area of operations." Critics allege that his intention was for the order to be a temporary measure to address an immediate problem, and not to grant permanent ownership of the land to the freedmen, although most of the recipients assumed otherwise. General Sherman issued his orders four days afte
meeting with twenty local black ministers and lay leaders
and with
U.S. Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
Edwin M. Stanton in Savannah, Georgia. Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton
Rufus Saxton (October 19, 1824 – February 23, 1908) was a Union Army brigadier general during the American Civil War who received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions defending Harpers Ferry during Confed ...
, an abolitionist from Massachusetts who had previously organized the recruitment of black soldiers for the Union Army, was put in charge of implementing the orders. Freedmen were settled in Georgia, particularly along the Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...
, in the Ogeechee district of Chatham County, and on islands off of the coast of Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
.
In the end, the orders had little concrete effect because President Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
issued a proclamation that returned the lands to southern owners who took a loyalty oath. Johnson granted amnesty to most former Confederates and allowed the rebel states to elect new governments. These governments, which often included ex-Confederate officials, soon enacted black codes, measures designed to control and repress the recently freed slave population. General Saxton and his staff at the Charleston SC Freedmen Bureau's office refused to carry out President Johnson's wishes and denied all applications to have lands returned. In the end, Johnson and his allies removed General Saxton and his staff, but not before Congress was able to provide legislation to assist some families in keeping their lands.
Although mules are not mentioned in the orders, they were a main source for the expression " forty acres and a mule." A historical marker commemorating the order is in Savannah, near the corner of Harris and Bull streets, in Madison Square./ref>
Orders
Publication in the Official Record
This order is part of the Official Records of the American Civil War. It can be found in Series I — Military Operations, Volume XLVII, Part II, Pages 60–62. The volume was published in 1895.See also
* Forty acres and a muleReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 15 (series 1865) American Civil War documents Slavery in the United States Reconstruction Era William Tecumseh Sherman Florida in the American Civil War Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War South Carolina in the American Civil War General orders January 1865 events Military emancipation in the American Civil War