Special Orders, No. 89. Letterpress broadside. Headq'rs Dis. North Missouri, St. Joseph, Missouri, 9 July 1864. Signed in type by Brigadier General Clinton B. Fisk (1828-1890) and Asst. Adjutant General G.A. Holloway. 15 5/8 x 9 3/8 in.

A rare, possibly unique, broadside preparing the citizens and businesses of Saint Joseph, Missouri, for the organization of new Union recruits from the city.

The Special Orders decree the closure of "all Mercantile Houses, Dram Shops and places of business...for the purpose of not only organizing companies under the late order of General Rosecrans, but also for the purpose of forming Volunteer Companies of Videttes, out of that class of citizens not in military service." Notably, the orders make an exception for Confederate sympathizers: "Persons in sympathy with the rebellion, by making oath to that fact and filing the same with the Post Commander will be excused from military service." Clause II tasks citizens with reporting "all suspicious persons who are lurking about without pursuing any known business avocation" so that they could be "promptly arrested by the Provost Guard." 

The broadside is reflective of the hotly-contested border state. St. Joseph was an important transportation hub; situated on the Missouri River, it was the westernmost American city accessible by rail, connecting with the eastern terminus of the Pony Express. Already the site of partisan fighting before the official outbreak of war, Union troops quickly moved into St. Joseph in 1861 to secure the rail lines. They were reassigned by the summer, however, and a Confederate militia took control. The Federals retook the city by the autumn and placed the city under martial law, requiring citizens to have passes to traverse the city. 

The broadside here indicates that citizens loyal to the Union were being compelled to enlist or volunteer into a company of videttes (sentries or pickets). Remarkably, Confederate sympathizers were exempt should they be willing to make an oath. In reality, most Confederate sympathizers were assessed heavy fines, imprisoned, or had already left to join Confederate regiments. 

Issued by Clinton B. Fisk (1828-1890), who took command of the 33rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry in September 1862, spending most of the war in Missouri, commanding the District of Southeast Missouri and later the Department of North Missouri, opposing raids into the state by Confederate cavalry and guerrillas. He is best remembered for his work in early Reconstruction when he was appointed as an assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Kentucky and Tennessee, establishing the first free public schools for both white and Black children in the South. Fisk University was named in his honor after he created a generous endowment of $30,000. 

EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE. At the time of cataloging no copies were found to have sold at auction or were located in OCLC. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Broadsides, Ephemera, Printing, Posters, Handbills, Documents, Newspapers] [Missouri, Kansas, Bleeding Kansas]

Toning, losses, several teras & separations. Losses to both lower corners. Old paper repair to lower left edge (below Fisk). Entire broadside is affixed to stiff fabric with adhesive residue. Appears to have been executed in mid-20th century or earlier.