General W. T.

Shermans
Field Order No. 15

Compiled by
General 40 ACRES
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As General Sherman made his destructive March to the Sea
there was to become a problem not apparent until it had
become a heavy issue for the Union Armies. The blacks that
were being freed from slavery had no place to go, no means
of survival on their own so they followed the armies as they
routed the southland. This became a heavy burden for the
Union because as the army destroyed the farms, burned the
crops in the fields and killed the livestock not being consumed
by the passing army, nothing was left behind for the freed
slaves. Some of the freed slaves had no choice but to follow the
In 1861
army forPresident Lincoln
their survival had others
whilst given the
tookauthority to his vacated
to cultivating
military
lands andcommanders
claiming thetoland
administer immediate aid to freed
as their own.
slaves as needed.
On March 3rd 1865 the US Congress, now devoid of any
southern representation, established the Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. This agency was established
to provide for the temporary assistance to former slaves and
destitute whites for a period of one year in the post war
southland. President Andrew Johnson vetoed further legislation
on February 19, 1866 and Congress failed to override the veto.
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Established within the Department of War with Major General
Oliver Howard as Commissioner, the Freedmens Bureau
provided food and medical care for the freedmen, established
hospitals, and offered legal services. Land management,
however, was the central concern of the Bureau, and upon its
creation it immediately began intense negotiations with other
federal agencies in the hope of settling the freedmen on ex-
Confederate lands.

Congress determined that no ex-Confederate land would be

given to the freedmen. However, the Freedmens Bureau was
invested authority over all abandoned and confiscated lands,
where a marginal sell-price was fixed to encourage land
ownership among the freedmen. As a result, tens of
thousands of African Americans experienced land ownership
for the first time.

The Freedmens Bureau Act had already provided many

additional rights to ex-slaves, including the distribution of
land, schools for their children, and military courts to ensure
these rights. The Freedmen's Bureau Act gave ex-slaves "any
of the civil rights or immunities belonging Click
to white persons,
on flag to
including the right to.....inherit, purchase, lease, sell,
continue hold and
This bill passed both house and senate and they overrode
the president's veto. This was in response to the Southern
Black Codes & the KKK and other groups who were taking
guns away from freedmen.

In July 1868, Congress voted to again extend the Freedmen's

Bureau, but a couple weeks later decided to limit its
functions to processing claims and supporting
education.Four years later, in June 1872, Congress voted to
completely shut down the Freedmen's Bureau by the end of
that month.

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The lands that were conquered or evacuated by the land
owners from Charleston, South Carolina to Jacksonville,
Florida were seized. These confiscated lands were ordered
to be sold to the newly freemen by Abraham Lincoln as a
result of discussions between Northern abolitionists and
Abraham Lincoln. These lands numbered some 20,000
acres that included the barrier islands off the coast of
South Carolina and Georgia.

The original proposal by Lincoln in 1863 was to sell the

land to the Freedmen in 20 acre plots to allow them to
establish their independent lives. It was the Secretary of
the Treasury, Salmon Chase that expanded the offer to 40
acres per freedman family. There were never any formal
proposals by the Federal government to provide a mule in
the arrangement.

In January 1865 General William T. Sherman met with

twenty black leaders who told him that land ownership
was the best way for blacks to secure and enjoy their
newfound freedom. On 16 January that year, Sherman
issued Special Field Order No. 15. The order reserved
coastal land inGeorgiaand South Carolina for black
Clickacres,
settlement. Each family would receive. forty on flag to
not
The settlements set aside under General Order 15 became
known as Shermans Reservation. These settlements were to
have a completely black structure as far as any governing body
whereby it would be unlawful for any white man to trespass on
these lands. This would mean that the true owners of the
property would not be allowed, by law, to set foot on the
property illegally seized from them by the union Army,
especially General Sherman.

Less than a year after Shermans order, then President Andrew

Johnson intervened, and ordered that the vast majority of
confiscated land be returned to its former owners. This
included most of land that the freedmen had settled. The
Federal government dispossessed tens of thousands of black
landholders. In Georgia and South Carolina, some blacks fought
back, driving away former owners with guns. Federal troops
sometimes evicted blacks by force. In the end only some 2,000
of the 40,000 black temporary owners retained land they had
won and worked after the war.

With westward expansion as an objective, the US Government

offered land under the Southern Homestead Act. This act was to
provide land at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents,
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less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such un-appropriated
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 Special Field Orders No. 15.
Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi,
In the Field, Savannah, Ga., January 16, 1865.

I. The islands from Charleston south, the abandoned rice-fields

along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the
country bordering the Saint Johns River, Fla., are reserved and
set apart for the settlement of the negroes now made free by
the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the
UnitedArticle
States. I of V as written by General
Sherman.

Following is Field Order No. 15 broken down in

shaded quotes
with bold lettering comments to follow.

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Shermans
Reservation The land General
William Tecumseh
Sherman
determined to be
given to the freed
blacks was a
swath of land
beginning at
Charleston, South
Carolina
southward to
Jacksonville,
Florida. This land
mass also
included all the
barrier islands
east of the coast
line and for thirty
miles west of the
coast
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 As stated in Field Order No. 15 by General Sherman:
The islands from Charleston south, the abandoned rice-fields
along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the
country bordering the Saint Johns River, Fla., are reserved and
set apart for the settlement of the negroes now made free by
the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the
United States.

General Sherman overstepped his authority by the reasoning of

many scholars whereby he had no right to seize and transfer
any privately owned land. In 1863 President Lincoln had
discussed with Northern Abolitionists the confiscation of 20,000
acres of southern property to be sold to the blacks that were to
be freed in South Carolina. In 1865 at Savannah, Georgia a
meeting between General Sherman and Secretary of War
Stanton, Stanton questioned Sherman as to if he had the right
by law to transfer this land. Shermans response to Stanton
was that he was the only law in this matter. Secretary
Stanton was reported to have smiled and walked away.
Sherman had decided to confiscate all the plantations along the
riversides and other abandoned lands as he deemed proper.
These included lands that were still occupied by the original
Clickextended
land owners, and all the sea islands. He further on flag tothe
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 Article II of V as written by General
Sherman.
II. At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, Saint
Augustine, and Jacksonville the blacks may remain in their chosen
or accustomed vocations; but on the islands, and in the
settlements hereafter to be established, no white person
whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty,
will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive
management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves,
subject only to the United States military authority and the acts of
Congress. By the laws of war and orders of the President of the
United States the negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. He
cannot be subjected to conscription or forced military service, save
by the written orders of the highest military authority of the
Department, under such regulations as the President or Congress
may prescribe; domestic servants, blacksmiths, carpenters, and
other mechanics will be free to select their own work and
residence, but the young and able-bodied negroes must be
encouraged to enlist as soldiers in the service of the United States,
to contribute their share toward maintaining their own freedom
and securing their rights as citizens of the United States. Negroes
so enlisted will be organized into companies, battalions, and
Clickmilitary
regiments, under the orders of the United States on flag to
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As stated in Field Order No. 15 by General Sherman:
At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, Saint
Augustine, and Jacksonville the blacks may remain in their
chosen or accustomed vocations; but on the islands, and
in the settlements hereafter to be established, no white
person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers
detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole
and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the
freed people themselves, subject only to the United
States military authority and the acts of Congress.

In creating all black communities and restricting whites

from entering their own property General Sherman
effectively established as much segregation as he was
claiming to be relieving of the blacks of at the same time.

the negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. He

cannot be subjected to conscription or forced military
service

but
A the
clear young and able-bodied
contradiction negroes
of statements mademust
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maintaining
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army? their rights
 As stated in Field Order No. 15 by General Sherman:
Negroes so enlisted will be organized into companies, battalions,
and regiments, under the orders of the United States military
authorities, and will be paid, fed, and clothed according to law.
The bounties paid on enlistment may, with the consent of the
recruit, go to assist his family and settlement in procuring
agricultural implements, seed, tools, boats, clothing, and other
articles necessary for their livelihood.

In the Union Army black soldiers were initially paid$10 per

monthfrom which $3 was automatically deducted for clothing,
resulting in a net pay of $7. In contrast, white soldiers
received$13 per month from which no clothing allowance was
drawn.

The negro soldiers were segregated into separate companies

because the white soldiers, for the most part, would not fight
alongside the negro soldiers.

Discriminatory practices resulted in large numbers of negro

soldiers being assigned to perform non-combat, support duties as
cooks, laborers, and teamsters as well as the duties of removing
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and/or burying of the dead on the battle fields.
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 Article III of V as written by General
Sherman.
III. Whenever three respectable negroes, heads of families,
shall desire to settle on land, and shall have selected for that
purpose an island, or a locality clearly defined within the limits
above designated, the inspector of settlements and plantations
will himself, or by such sub-ordinate officer as he may appoint,
give them a license to settle such island or district, and afford
them such assistance as he can to enable them to establish a
peaceable agricultural settlement. The three parties named will
subdivide the land, under the supervision of the inspector,
among themselves and such others as may choose to settle
near them, so that each family shall have a plot of not more
than forty acres of tillable ground, and when it borders on some
water channel with not more than 800 feet water front, in the
possession of which land the military authorities will afford
them protection until such time as they can protect themselves
or until Congress shall regulate their title. The quartermaster
may, on the requisition of the inspector of settlements and
plantations, place at the disposal of the inspector one or more
of the captured steamers to ply between the Click on flag to and
settlements
one or more of the commercial points, heretofore continue
named in
 As stated in Field Order No. 15 by General Sherman:

Whenever three respectable negroes, heads of families, shall

desire to settle on land, and shall have selected for that purpose
an island, or a locality clearly defined within the limits above
designated, the inspector of settlements and plantations will
himself, or by such sub-ordinate officer as he may appoint, give
them a license to settle such island or district, and afford them
such assistance as he can to enable them to establish a
peaceable agricultural settlement.

Any three respectable negroes were allowed to choose from

confiscated land or islands to form these segregated settlements
under the approval of a military officer of the Union Army.
Assistance was provided at the will and desire of the Inspector
designated by the Army.

These military overseers also had the authority to take seized

captured steamers at the disposal of the negros to ply between
the settlements and one or more of the commercial points,
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heretofore named in orders, to afford the settlers theflag to
opportunity
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 Article IV of V as written by General
IV. Whenever a negro hasSherman.
enlisted in the military service of the
United States he may locate his family in any one of the
settlements at pleasure and acquire a homestead and all other
rights and privileges of a settler as though present in person. In
like manner negroes may settle their families and engage on
board the gunboats, or in fishing, or in the navigation of the
inland waters, without losing any claim to land or other
advantages derived from this system. But no one, unless an
actual settler as above defined, or unless absent on Government
service, will be entitled to claim any right to land or property in
any settlement by virtue of these orders.

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 As stated in Field Order No. 15 by General Sherman:

Whenever a negro has enlisted in the military service of the

United States he may locate his family in any one of the
settlements at pleasure and acquire a homestead and all other
rights and privileges of a settler as though present in person.

Freed southern negroes that had enlisted in military service

were allowed to claim homestead rights in the seized property
but the negros that were enlisted from the north in Union
service were not afforded the same rights.

But no one, unless an actual settler as above defined, or

unless absent on Government service, will be entitled to claim
any right to land or property in any settlement by virtue of
these orders.

Forced military service was not required by these orders but

any able bodied freed slave would not qualify to own land in
these established settlements unless he served as noted in
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Section II of Field order No. 15.
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 Article V of V as written by General
Sherman.
V. In order to carry out this system of settlement a general
officer will be detailed as inspector of settlements and
plantations, whose duty it shall be to visit the settlements, to
regulate their police and general management, and who will
furnish personally to each head of a family, subject to the
approval of the President of the United States, a possessory
title in writing, giving as near as possible the description of
boundaries, and who shall adjust all claims or conflicts that may
arise under the same, subject to the like approval, treating such
titles altogether as possessory. The same general officer will
also be charged with the enlistment and organization of the
negro recruits and protecting their interests while absent from
their settlements, and will be governed by the rules and
regulations prescribed by the War Department for such
purpose.

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 As stated in Field Order No. 15 by General Sherman:

a general officer will be detailed as inspector of settlements

and plantations, whose duty it shall be to visit the
settlements, to regulate their police and general
management, and who will furnish personally to each head of
a family a possessory title in writing, giving as near as
possible the description of boundaries, and who shall adjust
all claims or conflicts that may arise under the same, subject
to the like approval, treating such titles altogether as
possessory.

Governorship of the settlements were actually under

marshal law.

The same general officer will also be charged with the

enlistment and organization of the negro recruits and
protecting their interests while absent from their
settlements. This will give the military officer complete
control over anyone he deemed able bodied to be required
to serve in the Union army. Click on flag to
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Special Field Orders No. 15.
Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi,
In the Field, Savannah, Ga., January 16, 1865.

VI. Brig. Gen. R. Saxton is hereby appointed inspector of

settlements and plantations and will at once enter on the
performance of his duties. No change is intended or desired in
the settlement now on Beaufort Island, nor will any rights to
property heretofore acquired be affected thereby.

By order of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman:

L. N. DAYTON, Assistant Adjutant-General.

Presented by Tom Reed

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