Sixth. The exigencies of the service require that officers now in the field should remain with their commands, and no officer now in the field in the regular or volunteer service will under any circumstances be detailed to accept a new command.
By order of the President:
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 218.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, September 2, 1862.
By direction of the President, all the clerks and employees of the civil Departments and all the employees on the public buildings in Washington will be immediately organized into companies, under the direction of Brigadier-General Wadsworth, and will be armed and supplied with ammunition, for the defense of the capital.
By command of Major-General Halleck:
F.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.