Abraham Lincoln to Confederate military personnel, March 10, 1864

No. 31. Richmond, March 10, 1864.

I. The following act of Congress, ”for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in certain cases,” with the instructions of the War Department, is published for the information of all concerned:

AN ACT to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in certain cases.

Whereas, the Constitution of the Confederate States of America provides, in article first, section nine, paragraph three, that ”the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it;” and whereas, the power of suspending the privilege of said writ, as recognized in said article first, is vested solely in the Congress, which is the exclusive judge of the necessity of such suspension; and whereas, in the opinion of the Congress, the public safety requires the suspension of said writ in the existing case of the invasion of these States by the armies of the United States; and whereas, the President has asked for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and informed Congress of conditions of public danger which render the suspension of the writ a measure proper for the public defence, against invasion and insurrection: Now, therefore,

The Congress of the PL fear ee States of America do enact, That during the present invasion of the Confederate States, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus be, and the same is hereby, suspended; but such suspension shall apply only to the cases of persons arrested or detained

by order of the President, Secretary of War, or the general officer commanding the Trans-Mississippi Military