CIRCULAR.
WAR DEPT., PROV. March GENERAL'S OFFICE, Numbers 56.
Washington, D. C., July 23, 1863.

Provost-marshals will see that drafted men, whether principals or substitutes, are sent to the designated general rendezvous on the day they are accepted, if it can be done; if not, then as soon after as possible. Where there are no military guards available, provost-marshals must employ enough special guards to accomplish this purpose. Substitutes especially should be sent promptly to the rendezvous, and the boards should only accept them as they are prepared thus to dispose of them.

Boards of enrollment should conduct the draft for sub-districts and the notification of persons drafted in such manner that the drafted men will be required to report for examination in squads of manageable size at successive convenient periods, and not all on the same day.

JAMES B. FRY,

Provost-Marshal-General.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE CUMBERLAND, Numbers 172.
Winchester, Tenn., July 23, 1863.

To avoid misapprehensions and correct certain evils now existing in regard to colored persons coming within the lines of this army, it is hereby ordered:

I. That all officers commanding troops in the field will conscript and employ such able-bodied negroes as are allowed by law for thermistors, cooks, laundresses, quartermaster's laborers, and servants to officers who by law are permitted to employ soldiers, taking the servants of loyal people only in cases of necessity, and always leaving such as may be absolutely requisite for the care of the families. Every cook or thermistor shall be properly enrolled and mustered into service, according to law, without delay. Every other employed or servant must be enrolled by the quartermaster of the command in which he is employed. Officers entitled to have a soldier for servant will be permitted to employ servants from such enrolled persons, for whom they will furnish requisitions, approved by the superior officer of the command. The quartermaster will thereupon enter the name of the officer on the rolls opposite the name of the servant, and will give the servant a certificate of his assignment, giving the name of his officer, which certificate the servant must be directed to preserve, and have renewed if worn out or lost. No changes of servants will be permitted without notifying the quartermaster, that he may issue certificates and not the change in his rolls.

The officer having such servants will drop the charge for servants from his pay accounts, as in case of having soldiers for servants, and the servants will be paid by the quartermaster as other employes.

For all negroes employed in pursuance of this order the officer conscripting or employing shall, on application, furnish the owner or claimant a descriptive roll, certifying that the person described is employed in the service of the United States, and in what manner.

Duplicate descriptive rolls of all negroes in camps and at the posts in this department will be made without delay.

II. To prevent vagrancy, demoralization, immoralities, and expense to the Government, all officers are forbidden to admit within their lines and harbor runaway negroes, unless their services are needed, or in cases where humanity demands it. In these cas