6 volumes, 8vo (177 x 114 mm, some shorter). Half-titles in vols.1, 3-4, index title-pages in vols. 5-6; several folding tables; errata slips. (Some occasional dampstaining, small strips of paper affixed to the last General Orders in almost all volumes, presumably covering old library markings.) Later red buckram, some marbling to edges (some rubbing to extremities, evidence of call number removal on spines).

A NEARLY COMPLETE RUN OF OVER 1,000 GENERAL ORDERS, MANY SIGNED BY ASSISTANT ADJUTANT GENERALS JAMES E. FRY, E.D. TOWNSEND, AND OTHERS.

The volumes comprise 1,011 general orders: Volume 1: Index, General Orders nos. 1-111 (18 January-30 December 1861); 2: Index, General Orders nos. 1-7, 9-10, 12-75, 77-80, 82-163, 165-169, 175-205, 207-217 (6 January-30 December 1862), War Order no. 3, Special Orders nos. 34, 214; Volumes 3-4: General Orders nos. 1-315 (2 January-17 September 1863), and 152pp. Official Army Register, for 1863 (lacking Orders 316-400); Volume 5: Index, Memorandums (1 May 1864), General Orders nos. 1-3, 5-6, 9-10, 12, 14-17, 20, 23, 25-26, 28-30, 34-35, 38-42, 47, 49, 54-55, 58, 64, 66, 68-70, 75-76, 79-81, 87-89, 91-92, 96-98, 100, 103, 106-107, 111, 114-115, 117, 119-129, 131-132, 137-138, 144, 152, 154-155, 158, 162, 164, 174-179, 189-308 (1 January-29 December 29); Volume 6: Index, General Orders nos. 1-175 (7 January-28 December 1865).

AMONG THE IMPORTANT GENERAL ORDERS REPRESENTED HERE ARE:

1) CAMERON, Simon. General Orders, No. 6. Washington, D.C., 13 March 1861. 23pp. including inserted title-page. REGULATIONS FOR THE UNIFORM AND DRESS OF THE U.S. ARMY: "All officers shall wear a frock coat of dark blue cloth..."

2) LINCOLN, Abraham. General Orders, No. 13. Washington, D.C., 30 April 1861. 1p. Lincoln orders all army officers to take the oath of office. SIGNED BY JAMES B. FRY.

3) LINCOLN. General Orders, No. 139. Washington, D.C., 24 September 1862. 3pp. LINCOLN'S PRELIMINARY EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. The fourth edition, and the first issued to the military, almost four months before the Proclamation was made public. The present issue is the first widely disseminated issue, though still not to the general public. The final proclamation appeared on 1 January 1863 (see below). Eberstadt 4 ("often described as the first separate appearance of the preliminary proclamation").

4) LINCOLN. General Orders, No. 1. Washington, D.C., 2 January 1863. 3pp. (Corners chipped.) THE FIRST WAR DEPARTMENT PRINTING OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, and the final version of the proclamation. Eberstadt 12; Grolier American 71.

5) LINCOLN. General Orders, No. 252. Washington, D.C., 31 July 1863. 1p. LINCOLN GIVES PROTECTION TO ALL SOLDIERS, REGARDLESS OF COLOR.

6) LINCOLN. General Orders, No. 50. Washington, D.C., 27 March 1865. 1p. Lincoln orders Brevet Major General Robert Anderson on 14 April to" raise and plant upon the ruins of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, the same United States flag which floated over the battlements of that Fort during the rebel assault..." Anderson was the commander of Fort Sumter when it fell to Confederate forces in April 1861, which marked the beginning of the Civil War.

7) STANTON, Edwin. General Orders, No. 66. Washington, D.C., 16 April 1865. 2pp. SECRETARY OF WAR ANNOUNCES TO THE ARMY THAT LINCOLN HAS DIED.

8) [JOHNSON, Andrew]. General Orders, No. 67. Washington, D.C., 16 April 1865. 1p. ANDREW JOHNSON IS APPOINTED PRESIDENT.

9) GRANT, Ulysses S. General Orders, No. 108. Washington, D.C. 2 June 1865. 1p. GRANT ADDRESSES ARMY AT WAR'S END: ..."you have maintained the supremacy of the Union and the Constitution, overthrown all armed opposition to the enforcement of the laws, and of the Proclamation forever abolishing Slavery--the cause and pretext of the Rebellion..."

10) [BOOTH, John Wilkes]. General Orders, No. 164. Washington, D.C., 24 November 1865. 1p. This order officially required all individuals claiming a financial reward for the apprehension of John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Payne, G.A. Atzerodt, David E. Herold, and Jefferson Davis to file their claims with the Adjutant General before 1 January 1866, for final adjudication.