(Lincoln, Abraham), sixteenth President

Emancipation Proclamation, contemporary transcription in the register of official correspondence apparently kept by the 177th Regiment of Pennsylvania Drafted Militia under the command of George B. Wiestling, Suffolk Virginia, 10 December 1862 –  21 May 1863

Manuscript, folio (15 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.; 390 x 260 mm), 80 pages written plus 16 pages of index and 13 pages of later notes on Forestry, in dark-brown ink on blue lined paper; some dampstains in gutter margin. Contemporary blind-tooled suede; rebacked at an early date but spine torn in two places, scuffed.

C. Aubrey Delong (by descent in his family)

See S.P. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers (1869), vol. 4, pp. 1253-1268

80 pages written plus 16 pages of index and 13 pages of later notes on Forestry, in dark-brown ink on blue lined paper; some dampstains in gutter margin. Contemporary blind-tooled suede; rebacked at an early date but spine torn in two places, scuffed.
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For all its historical, legal and social importance, Lincoln's proclamation was formally a military order (General Order no. 1) requiring that " ... the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons ["held as slaves" in any state then in rebellion], and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom." The order countermanded the legal universality of the Dred Scott decision in which slaves are property to be returned to their rightful owners, but only applied in the rebel states where the Federal jurisdiction could only come from the military. As such, it is all the more interesting to see it in the context of its reception by the armed forces, as just another order to be recorded.

This is a register of official correspondence recording letters and orders received from Brigadier General Michael Corcoran of the "Irish Legion" (69th Regiment of NY Volunteer Infantry), Colonel Alfred Gibbs, and General Henry D. Terry, in Newport News and Suffolk, Virginia, during the campaign to defend Suffolk and Norfolk, Virginia, from Confederate forces under General James Longstreet. The letters relate to supplies, military organization, and courts martial. It includes Gibbs's letter relinquishing command of the 2nd Provisional Brigade to General Terry (23 January 1863, p. 16), and General Peck's thanks to Corcoran's Brigade for their bravery during the battle at Deserted House (5 February 1863, p. 30). The unit which maintained this register is only suggested by a draft return written in the name of George B. Wiestling, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 177th Regiment of Pennsylvania Drafted Militia, laid in with two blank return forms.

The 177th was a militia regiment mustered into the service in November 1862 for nine months proceeding to Washington on 3 December. Ordered to Suffolk, it was assigned to the brigade under Col. Gibbs. The regiment spent the winter in camp on the Nansemond, clearing a pine forest across the river, and joining in frequent expeditions into the surrounding country. In March 1863, it was sent to Deep Creek on the Albemarle & Chesapeake canal to break up contraband trade. On July 10 it was transferred to Washington, thence to the Army of the Potomac in Maryland, and after a period of duty at Maryland heights returned to Pennsylvania. It was mustered out at Harrisburg on 7 August 1863.