[CIVIL WAR]. Bound volume of General Orders and Circulars issued by the Department of the Gulf including orders related to Colored Troops, Freedmen, and Lincoln's Assassination, 1865.  

"G. Orders. Dep't of the Gulf." Marbled boards, 5 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (wear to spine and corners, some interior dampstaining, light soil). Hardcover bound collection of 112 separately-published General Orders (January 15 - July 16, 1865) and16 Circulars (January 7, 1865 - June 29, 1865) issued from Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, Louisiana. Volume constitutes a consecutive run of orders and circulars for the Department of the Gulf for the time periods indicated. Orders issued by Commanders of the Department, Major Generals N.P. Banks, S.A. Hurlbut, and E.R.S. Canby. Bound for Capt. Calendar Rohrbough, 118th Illinois Infantry, whose name appears in gilt on the spine and whose signature appears within on General Order #30. Multiple pages featuring additional soldier signatures and notations. Interior printer label "T. Fitzwilliam / Dealer in Staple and Fancy / Stationery / Printer and Blank Book / Manufacturer, / 76 Camp Street / New Orleans." Thomas Fitzwilliam (1833-1917) was an Irish immigrant who was active as a stationer, lithographer, and bookseller in New Orleans ca 1860 and later.

Captain Calendar Rohrbough (1834-1909) enlisted on 11/7/1862 as a 2nd Lieutenant and was commissioned into Co. H of the Illinois 118th Infantry. By the time he mustered out on 10/1/1865 at Baton Rouge, he had attained the rank of captain and served for nearly three years in the Western Theater including in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The orders compiled by Rohrbough during his last year of enlistment bear witness to the significant transformations catalyzed by the end of the war and the end of chattel slavery. Notable orders include General Orders No. 7 in relation to the "Leasing and Registering of Plantations and hiring and control of Freedmen," No. 48 in memory of Abraham Lincoln, No. 80 related to the creation of the bureau for the relief of Freedmen and refugees, and No. 101 related to transfers ordered to the Freedmen's Bureau. Additional orders relate to colored troops, court martials, prisoner of war troop exchanges, the mustering out of soldiers, rules governing paroled Confederate prisoners, and more.