Beschreibung:

Printed broadside, approx. 8.5 x 12 in. Proclamation To the People of Accomac and Northampton Counties, Va. Baltimore, Maryland, November 13, 1861. Broadside undersigned, "Major General Commanding, John A. Dix." Major General Dix's proclamation warns local residents that Union forces will be entering their land. He reassures residents that federal troops will not interfere in their affairs or "become [their] enemies" unless provoked to do so. The proclamation warns, "It [the Union] sends among you a force too strong to be successfully opposed; a force which cannot be resisted in any other spirit than that of wantonness and malignity. If there are any among you, who, rejecting all overtures of friendship, thus provoke retaliation, and draw down upon themselves consequences, which the Government is most anxious to avert, to their account must be laid the blood which may be shed, and the desolation which may be brought upon peaceful homes." The Union, as part of the famed Anaconda Plan, hoped to cut off supply lines and Confederate transportation through the inlets of the Chesapeake and Atlantic on the Eastern shore of Virginia. The Union Army, thus, looked to secure Accomac and Northampton Counties as a part of this strategy. Major General John A. Dix planned an occupation of the region in November, 1861, but not without giving the residents a stern warning. Though the counties as a whole refrained from active participation in the rebellion, many of their young men joined the Confederate Army, which may have raised suspicions that the counties might offer some hostility. The invasion itself lasted only about a week, but volunteer troops were stationed there to maintain peace under Henry Hayes Lockwood (1814-1899), who was given command of the counties on November 13, 1861. Provenance: Property of N. Flayderman & Co. Condition: Document affixed to red board with some glue bleeding on left side. Right side has one substantial tear and body text has one small tear. Some water discoloration throughout.