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Gardner, W. W., fl. 1865 [General Order No. 21 regarding the education of African American troops]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04219.01 Author/Creator: Gardner, W. W., fl. 1865 Place Written: Dickson, Tennessee Type: Manuscript document signed Date: 2 June 1865 Pagination: 1 p. : docket Height: 24.7 cm, Width: 19.7 cm Order a Copy

Issued by W. W. Gardner as Assistant Adjutant General based on the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Stone. Orders that school will be held instead of company drills. States that classes will be taught by men within each company, and that soldiers may buy their books individually, or the company commander will purchase the books from the company fund. Declares "the surest and only step to a respectable life as Freemen, is intelligence. The best way to win the respect of all and to render themselves worthy of the right which Freemen confers, is for every man to acquire the best Education he can. Let it be deemed a disgrace for any man in the Reg't. to leave the Service without at least, knowing how to read." Created in Smeedsville, the original name of Dickson, Tennessee.

Gardner, W. W., fl. 1865
Stone, Henry, fl. 1864-1865

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