EXECUTIVE MANSION,
Washington, D.C., March 10, 1864.
Under the authority of an act of Congress to revive the grade of lieutenant-general in the United States Army, approved February 29, 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 98.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 12, 1864.
The President of the United States orders as follows:
I. Major-General H.W. Halleck is, at his own request, relieved from duty as General in Chief of the Army, and Lieutenant-General U.S. Grant is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. The headquarters of the Army will be in Washington and also with Lieutenant-General Grant in the field.
II. Major-General H.W. Halleck is assigned to duty in Washington as chief of staff of the Army, under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Lieutenant-General Commanding. His orders will be obeyed and respected accordingly.
III. Major-General W.T. Sherman is assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, composed of the departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee and the Arkansas.
IV. Major-General J.B. McPherson is assigned to the command of the Department and Army of the Tennessee.