44. By direction of the President the following transfers are hereby made from the staff of the Nineteenth Army Corps to the staff of the Seventh Army Corps and Department of Arkansas: Major Edmund C. Bainbridge, aide-de-camp; Major Seth C. Farrington, judge-advocate.

* * * * * *

By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, No. 7.
New Orleans, February 8, 1865.

The following orders are prescribed to be obeyed within this command in relation to the leasing and registering of plantations and the hiring and control of freedmen:

First. All colonies, plantations, or other industrial establishment leased, registered, or permitted under Treasury Regulations of February 1, 1865, will be reported to these headquarters for approval and will not be recognized as valid until the department commander shall indorse his approval thereon.

Second. Plantations in interior localities in this department, which shall be leased or registered under said regulations, will be regarded as within the range of military supervision and control as long as quiet and peace shall be maintained in the neighborhood where they are situated. This provision will only extend to plantations so leased or registered, and to them only for the purpose of enabling them to receive necessary supplies for their own plantation use, and bringing in their products, and will be discontinued in any region where the inhabitants give countenance or protection to smugglers or irregular partisans, or upon any order misconduct in such neighborhoods. And it will be distinctly understood that all favors under this paragraph are contingent upon the preservation of peace and good order.

Third. All plantations within the lines of actual occupation belonging to private persons must be registered by the owner, or some person lawfully authorized by such owner, prior to being leased, and the entire interest both of the landlord and tenant will be held responsible for the payment of the portion due the United States under paragraph 5 of regulations concerning the employment of freedmen, and the mode of payment of said portion must be specified in such lease, a certified copy of which must be filed in the office of the supervising special agent at New Orleans. Leases granted prior to the publication of this order will be modified to conform therewith and r.

Fourth. Thomas W. Conway, general superintendent of freedmen for this department, will without delay the necessary measures to have the freedmen heretofore employed, under General Orders, No. 23, series 1864, and other orders issued during that year in relation to laborers, hereafter employed in accordance with Treasury Regulations.

Fifth. All freedmen able to work now supported at Government expense will be required to find immediate employment and support for themselves. The helpless will be provided for under said regulations.

Sixth. Assistant provost-marshal in parishes are required to carry into effect the provisions of said regulations in relation to freedmen until received of this duty by assistant superintendents properly appointed, and will render to Superintendent Conway all assistance required by him.