Order

Unknown to Operations in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Indian Territory, February 6, 1864

GENERAL ORDERS, ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL’S OFFICE,
February 6, 1864.
No. 16. { Richmond, February 6, 1864.

I. The Bureau of Conscription affords adequate means for bringing into service persons liable to military duty; and all authorities given prior to December 1, 1863, to raise troops from men not within the lines of the enemy, or to recruit for any particular command in the field, are hereby revoked.

II. Reeruits enlisted by authority for new companies which have not at this time seventy-two non-commissioned officers and privates actually mustered upon the rolls will be turned over to the Bureau of Conscription and allowed to select any infantry company they may prefer, under the provisions of paragraph II, General Orders, No. 7, 1864.

III. Persons acting under authorities to enlist men for new companies, either without or within the lines of the enemy, granted since lst of December, 1863, will at once report to the commanding general of the department in which they may be copies of such authority, with a statement of the number of men enrolled by them; and without further authorization from such commanders, their power will expire at the end of thirty days from the date of this order.

IV. The preceding orders are not intended to have any effect in the Trans-Mississippi Department.

V. Commandants of posts and officers of the Conscription Bureau will enforce this order.

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

Editor's Notes
From: Operations in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Indian Territory, 1861. Summary: The 1864 general order revokes prior recruitment authorities, centralizes enlistment under the Bureau of Conscription, and mandates reporting of new enlistment activities to departmental commanders.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 3 View original source ↗