Gen. John Dix to the U.S. Marshals in Maryland, Instructions on the upcoming State Elections, November 1, 1861

The preservation of Maryland as a Union state was of utmost importance to the Lincoln Administration. Virtually under military law, any hint of support for secession had been treated seriously, often with imprisonment without trial. Major General John Adams Dix, military commander in the state, sought to make the November 6, 1861 gubernatorial and legislative elections safe for the Union with this proclamation ordering U.S. Marshals to arrest and restrict from voting any suspected of supporting the Confederacy. The election passed off peacefully and the Union ticket, led by Governor-Elect Augustus W. Bradford, was successful. (By John Osborne)

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Record Data

Source citation:

"Proclamation By General Dix," in Frank Moore, ed., The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, Etc. (New York: G. P. Putnam, 1862), III: 269.

Author:

Dix, John Adams

Type:

Military record

Date Certainty:

Exact

Transcriber:

Transcription adapted from The Rebellion Record (1862), edited by Frank Moore

Adapted by John Osborne, Dickinson College

Transcription date:

10/25/2011

Transcription

The following transcript has been adapted from The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, Etc. (1862).

HEAD-QUARTERS, BALTIMORE,
November 1, 1861.

To the United States Marshal of Maryland and the Provost Marshal of the City of Baltimore :

Information has come to my knowledge that certain individuals who formerly resided in this State, and are known to have been recently in Virginia bearing arms against the authority and the forces of the United States, have returned to their former homes with the intention of taking part in the election of the 6th of November inst, thus carrying out at the polls the treason they have committed in the field.

There is reason also to believe that other individuals, lately residents of Maryland, who have been engaged in similar acts of hostility to the United States, or in delivery aiding and abetting those in arms against the United States, are about to participate in the election for the same treacherous purpose, with the hope of carrying over the State by disloyal votes to the cause of rebellion and treason. I, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me to arrest all persons in rebellion against the United States, require you to take into custody all such persons in any of the election districts or precincts in which they may appear at the polls, to effect their criminal attempt to convert their elective franchise into an engine for the subversion of the Government and for the encouragement and support of its enemies.

In furtherance of this object, I request the judges of elections in the several precincts of the State, in case any such person shall present himself and offer his vote, to commit him until he can be taken into custody by the authority of the United States; and I call on all good and loyal citizens to support the judges of elections, the United States Marshal and his deputies, and the Provost Marshal of Baltimore and police, in their efforts to secure a free and fair expression of the voice of the people of Maryland, and at the same time to prevent the ballot-box from being polluted by treasonable votes.

JOHN A. DIX.
Major-General Commanding.

Events

Federal troops in Maryland swoop to arrest pro-secession legislators, officials, and newspaper editors

In Maryland, Unionists triumph in the statewide elections and Augustus Bradford is elected as governor

Major Topics

Civil War Homefront

Civil Liberties

People

Bradford, Augustus Williamson

Places

Baltimore, MD

Maryland

Gen. John Dix to the U.S. Marshals in Maryland, Instructions on the upcoming State Elections, November 1, 1861

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