Joy, This order that you quote may be response to Lincoln's late Sept. 1862 Proclamation of suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus. This proclamation provided for the arbitrary arrest of any person suspected of actions disloyal to the government, providing aid and comfort to the enemy. Some reasons for this issue were to protect compulsory conscription from violent backlash. The Army was the chief enforcer. Also, Lincoln and his cabinet were fairly sure that McClellen was harboring a disloyal cabal in the Army of the Potomac, himself being the chief noisemaker. A footnote quoting an order to "run the E.P. by the Army" I'm sorry I can't produce in a jiffy. I have it in my head from Stephen Ambrose "Halleck" or D.H. Donalds' "Lincoln" (the best ever, I think). (Grant and Sherman didn't comment much on politics in their memoirs so I wouldn't go looking in there). Or maybe it was one of those long weekends of research on something years ago. Your probably going to have to slug it out the hard way to find it. But I think its going to be the suspension of habeas corpus angle you want to try first. Mike Hearn.