HEAD-QUARTERS DISTRICT OF ALABAMA. Montgomery Ala., April 2, 1867. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 1. By direction of General POPE, the undersigned is charged with the administration of the Military Reconstruction Bill in this State….

Field-printed General Orders: “A literal compliance with the requirements of the Civil Rights Bill will be exacted…”

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Acting under the Reconstruction Act, Black Alabamians seized a political opening in early 1867 as the U.S. military dissolved the former Confederate state government and began enforcing federal authority in Montgomery.

This rare field-printed April 2, 1867 order, issued from Alabama’s military headquarters under General Wager Swayne, placed the state under the command of the Third Military District led by General John Pope. Aligning with federal Reconstruction policy, the broadside mandates a “literal compliance with the requirements of the Civil Rights Bill” and prohibits payments to the now-defunct Confederate state government.

As head of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Alabama, Swayne oversaw preparations for voter registration that, for the first time, included Black men. In the weeks that followed, Black Alabamians organized political meetings, joined Union Leagues, and helped lay the foundation for Alabama’s 1868 constitutional convention—demanding civil rights, public education, and full political representation.

Autographed by 1st Lieutenant James F. Conyngham, 24th U.S. Infantry, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. The 24th United States Infantry later became widely known as a Buffalo Soldier unit, composed of African American enlisted men and led by white officers such as Conyngham.

Price: $650.00