Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Pratt, William M., fl. 1864 [General orders no. 59 regarding the purchase of African Americans to serve in place of drafted persons]

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02224.01 Author/Creator: Pratt, William M., fl. 1864 Place Written: New Bern, North Carolina Type: Printed document signed Date: 31 August 1864 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 19.5 cm, Width: 12.7 cm Order a Copy

Signed by Pratt, Aide-de-Camp (possibly to Brigadier General Innes Newton Palmer). Relates the story of John H. Irish, a recruiting agent, who attempted to bribe officers to allow him to cite previously enlisted men in order to satisfy recruiting quotas for Yates County, New York. States that Irish furthermore intended to sell the names to a recruiting agent in New Jersey, committing a double instance of fraud. Irish is portrayed as "a fair sample of a good portion of the Recruiting Agents who are now sent out from the Northern States, to purchase colored men to do the fighting for them to whom the approaching draft is such a terror." States that Irish will receive a trial if he wishes to have one, but that his option of having a trial is not a precedent for future cases. Issued from headquarters of the District of North Carolina by Assistant Adjutant General J. A. Judson. Issued by the command of Palmer.

Pratt, William M., fl. 1864
Irish, John H., fl. 1864
Judson, J. A., fl. 1864
Palmer, Innis Newton, 1824-1900

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources