Part 33 (1/2)

APPENDIX I

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FIELD

+General Orders+, } WAR DEPARTMENT, No. 100. } +Adjutant General's Office+, _Was.h.i.+ngton, April 24, 1863_.

The following ”Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field,” prepared by +Francis Lieber+, LL.D., and revised by a Board of Officers, of which Major General +E. A. Hitchc.o.c.k+ is president, having been approved by the President of the United States, he commands that they be published for the information of all concerned.

+By Order of the Secretary of War+:

E. D. TOWNSEND, _a.s.sistant Adjutant General_.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FIELD

SECTION I

+Martial Law--Military Jurisdiction--Military Necessity--Retaliation+

1

A place, district, or country occupied by an enemy stands, in consequence of the occupation, under the Martial Law of the invading or occupying army, whether any proclamation declaring Martial Law, or any public warning to the inhabitants, has been issued or not. Martial Law is the immediate and direct effect and consequence of occupation or conquest.

The presence of a hostile army proclaims its Martial Law.

2

Martial Law does not cease during the hostile occupation, except by special proclamation, ordered by the commander in chief; or by special mention in the treaty of peace concluding the war, when the occupation of a place or territory continues beyond the conclusion of peace as one of the conditions of the same.

3

Martial Law in a hostile country consists in the suspension, by the occupying military authority, of the criminal and civil law, and of the domestic administration and government in the occupied place or territory, and in the subst.i.tution of military rule and force for the same, as well as in the dictation of general laws, as far as military necessity requires this suspension, subst.i.tution, or dictation.

The commander of the forces may proclaim that the administration of all civil and penal law shall continue either wholly or in part, as in times of peace, unless otherwise ordered by the military authority.

4

Martial Law is simply military authority exercised in accordance with the laws and usages of war. Military oppression is not Martial Law; it is the abuse of the power which that law confers. As Martial Law is executed by military force, it is inc.u.mbent upon those who administer it to be strictly guided by the principles of justice, honor, and humanity--virtues adorning a soldier even more than other men, for the very reason that he possesses the power of his arms against the unarmed.

5

Martial Law should be less stringent in places and countries fully occupied and fairly conquered. Much greater severity may be exercised in places or regions where actual hostilities exist, or are expected and must be prepared for. Its most complete sway is allowed--even in the commander's own country--when face to face with the enemy, because of the absolute necessities of the case, and of the paramount duty to defend the country against invasion.