Letter

Horatio G. Wright to Louw H. Pelouze, March 13, 1862

HEADQUARTERS THIRD BRIGADE, EXPED’Y CORPS,

Capt. Louw H. PELOUZE,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General :

CAPTAIN: I have to report, in regard to the States found here and those who have since come in, that I have not attempted to interfere with the rights of the owner so long as he remained within our lines and conducted himself in a quiet and orderly manner, but that I have refused permission to remove any slave from the limits of the command on any plea whatever.

I have conceived that the property of citizens in slaves should be protected to the extent referred to, and shall continue the same policy in regard to them unless I receive instructions to the contrary. Very respectfu’ly,

your obedient servant,

H. G. WRIGHT,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
[Indorsement.]
Approved, by order of Brigadier-General Sherman:
Editor's Notes
From: Operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, N. Alabama, S.W. Virginia, 1861–62. Location: Fernandina, Fla.. Summary: Brigadier General H. G. Wright reports enforcing a policy protecting slave owners' property rights within Union lines by refusing to allow slaves to be removed from his command during the Civil War.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 6 View original source ↗