Lincoln's Call For Troops

O.R.--SERIES III--VOLUME I [S# 122]
CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS
OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES FROM NOVEMBER 1, 1860, TO MARCH 31, 1862.--#3

SIR: Under the act of Congress "for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, repel invasions," &c., approved February 28, 1795, I have the honor to request Your Excellency to cause to be immediately detached from the militia of your State the quota designated in the table below, to serve as infantry or riflemen, for the period of three months, unless sooner discharged.
Your Excellency will please communicate to me the time at or about which your quota will be expected at its rendezvous, as it will be met as soon as practicable by an officer or officers to muster it into the service and pay of the United States. At the same time the oath of fidelity to the United States will be administered to every officer and man. The mustering officer will be instructed to receive no man under the rank of commissioned officer who is in years apparently over forty-five or under eighteen, or who is not in physical strength and vigor.⁽¹⁾

Table of quotas ⁽²⁾
[Composition of the regiments and proportion of general staff officers omitted.]

State	Major Generals	Brigadier Generals	Regiments	Total of Officers	Total of Men	Aggregate
Maine	---	---	1	37	743	780
New Hampshire	---	---	1	37	743	780
Vermont	---	---	1	37	743	780
Massachusetts	---	---	2	74	1,486	1,560
Rhode Island	---	---	1	37	743	780
Connecticut	---	---	1	37	743	780
New York	2	4	17	649	12,631	13,280
Pennsylvania ⁽³⁾	2	4	16	612	11,888	12,500
New Jersey	---	1	4	151	2,972	3,123
Delaware	---	---	1	37	743	780
Maryland	---	1	4	151	2,972	3,123
Virginia	---	---	3	111	2,229	2,340
North Carolina	---	---	2	74	1,486	1,560
Tennessee	---	---	2	74	1,486	1,560
Arkansas	---	---	1	37	743	780
Kentucky	---	1	4	151	2,972	3,123
Missouri	---	1	4	151	2,972	3,123
Illinois	---	1	6	225	4,458	4,683
Indiana	---	1	6	225	4,458	4,683
Ohio	1	3	13	494	9,659	10,153
Michigan	---	---	1	37	743	780
Wisconsin	---	---	1	37	743	780
Iowa	---	---	1	37	743	780
Minnesota	---	---	1	37	743	780
Total	5	17	94	3,549	69,842	73,391

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
SIMON CAMERON,
Secretary of War.

**Notes**
(1.)	Sent to the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, and they were notified by telegraph, same date, of the requisition being made.
(2.)	Under this call the men furnished were as follows: Maine, 771; New Hampshire, 779; Vermont, 782, Massachusetts, 3,736; Rhode Island, 3,147; Connecticut, 2,402; New York, 13,906; New Jersey, 3,123; Pennsylvania 20,175; Delaware 775; Virginia (Western), 900; Ohio, 12,357; Indiana, 4,686; Illinois, 4,820; Michigan, 781; Wisconsin, 817; Minnesota, 930; Iowa, 968; Missouri 10,591. In addition to the above the District of Columbia furnished 4,720 and the State of Kansas, 650; making a grand total of 91,816.
(3.)	Pennsylvania quota reduced, by telegram of April 16, to fourteen regiments.

O.R.--SERIES III--VOLUME I [S# 122]
CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, REPORTS, AND RETURNS OF THE UNION AUTHORITIES
FROM NOVEMBER 1, 1860, TO MARCH 31, 1862.--#3

        Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past and now are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshals by law:
        Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed.
        The details of this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.
        I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough endured.
        I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union, and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country.
        And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from date.
        Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both houses of Congress.
        Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock noon on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as in their wisdom the public safety and interest may seem to demand.
        In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
        Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.