HEADQUARTERS RESERVE FORCES OF VIRGINIA, November 25, 1864

November 25, 1864.

Respectfully returned.

General Orders, No. 77, were suspended in Rockingham (as Hon. Mr. Baldwin will remember) to allow the people of that ravaged county to make the best provision they could for the winter, before being sent to the field, and not with any express or implied view of exempting them from service. I trust the Secretary of War may authorize relief to be granted in extreme cases, but I have no further authority in the premises.

Major-General. [Third indorsement. ]

NOVEMBER 29, 1864. Instructions have been given the Conscript Bureau which will extend such relief as can be afforded in individual cases. General exemption cannot be allowed. The exigencies of the service are paramount. Dt oN le Os