Annotation
[1] ALS-P, ISLA. See Lincoln to Stanton, August 21, supra; also to Segar, September 5, and to Schenck, September 6, infra. A thirty-page report submitted on September 10, 1863, by Major Henry Z. Hayner, aide-de-camp on General Schenck's staff, indicates that the difficulties on the Eastern Shore of Virginia were twofold. Several hundred citizens formerly in the ``39th Rebel Regiment'' had accepted amnesty offered by General Dix on the simple provision that they lay down their arms. Later, upon being required by Schenck to take an oath of allegiance, or (1) to be regarded as prisoners of war and put up for exchange, or (2) to be sent beyond Union lines; they objected to the oath on grounds of conscience, regarding themselves as still bound by their oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. The second phase of the difficulty concerned the destruction of a lighthouse by unknown persons. Two hundred and twenty-one residents of Northampton were assessed $20,000 on the grounds that the community was responsible, and collections were made from one hundred and sixty-one, over their violent protests. Hayner's report indicates that the order suspending the oath and assessments were received in a spirit of triumph over the government (DLC-RTL).