Whereas there appears in the public prints what purports to be a
proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and figures
following, to wit:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
_Hilton Head, S.C., May 9, 1862_.

_General Orders, No. 11_.--The three States of Georgia, Florida, and
South Carolina, comprising the Military Department of the South, having
deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection of the
United States of America, and having taken up arms against the said
United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare them under
martial law. This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862.
Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible;
the persons in these three States--Georgia, Florida, and South
Carolina--heretofore held as slaves are therefore declared forever free.

DAVID HUNTER,
_Major-General Commanding_.

Official:

ED. W. SMITH,
_Acting Assistant Adjutant-General_.


And whereas the same is producing some excitement and misunderstanding:

Therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, proclaim
and declare that the Government of the United States had no knowledge,