General Orders, No. 71.
Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, September 20, 1881.
I. The following order of the Secretary of War announces to the Army the death of James A. Garfield, President of the United States:
War Department, September 20, 1881.
With profound sorrow the Secretary of War announces to the Army that
James A. Garfield, President of the United States, died at Elberon,
N.J., at twenty-five minutes before 11 in the evening of September 19,
1881.
The great grief which is felt by the nation at the untimely death of the President will be especially felt by the Army, in whose service he bore so distinguished a part during the War of the Rebellion. In him the Army has lost a beloved Commander in Chief, friend, and former comrade.
Proper honors will be paid to the memory of the late Chief Magistrate of the nation at headquarters of each military department and division and at each military station.
The General of the Army will give the necessary instructions for carrying this order into effect.
ROBT. T. LINCOLN, Secretary of War.
II. On the day after the receipt of this order at the headquarters of military commands in the field, and at each military station, and at the Military Academy at West Point, the troops and cadets will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and the order read to them, after which all labor for the day will cease.