HON. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
SIR:-You are directed to have a transport (either a steam or sailing vessel, as may be deemed proper by the Quartermaster-General) sent to the colored colony established by the United States at the island of Vache, on the coast of San Domingo, to bring back to this country such of the colonists there as desire to return. You will have the transport furnished with suitable supplies for that purpose, and detail an officer of the Quartermaster's Department, who, under special instructions to be given, shall have charge of the business. The colonists will be brought to Washington, unless otherwise hereafter directed, and be employed and provided for at the camps for colored persons around that city. Those only will be brought from the island who desire to return, and their effects will be brought with them.
A. LINCOLN. [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]
ORDER FOR A DRAFT OF FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1864.
Ordered, That a draft of five hundred thousand (500,000) men, to serve for three years or during the war, be made on the tenth (10th) day of March next, for the military service of the United States, crediting and deducting therefrom so many as may have been enlisted or drafted into the service prior to the first (1st) day of March, and not before credited.
A. LINCOLN. [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR YATES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, February 3, 1864.
GOVERNOR YATES, Springfield, Ill.: