General Schofield Yields to Pressure

All state, county, and municipal office elections in Virginia have been postponed for the time being. Appointments will be made by the General while other military commissioners report names of officers whose are no longer eligible for reelection.

General Schofield Yields to the Pressure. Headquarters First Military District, State of Virginia, Richmond, Va., March 30, 1868. General Orders No. 33. 1. By an order issued from these headquarters on the 2d day of April, 1867, all elections for State, county, and municipal officers in Virginia having been suspended until the registration prescribed by act of Congress should be completed, and it having been found expedient to continue said suspension of elections, whereby certain elective offices have become vacant by expiration of terms of service, and some of the officers whose terms have expired being ineligible for reelection, appointments will be made by the commanding General, as soon as suitable persons can be selected, to fill all such vacancies. 2. Military commissioners will report, without unnecessary delay, the names of all elective officers whose legal terms have expired, stating whether such officers are eligible for reelection; and if ineligible, they will also forward the names of suitable persons to fill the vacancies, accompanied with satisfactory evidence of character and qualifications. Petitions from citizens (registered voters) for the appointment of any person to office will in like manner be forwarded by the military commissioners, with endorsement as to character and qualifications. 3. All officers will continue to act after the expiration of their official terms, as required by existing laws, until their successors are qualified. By command of Brevet Major-General Schofield. S. F. Chalfix, Assistant Adjutant-General.

“General Schofield Yields to Pressure,” Reconstructing Virginia, accessed March 30, 2023, https://reconstructingvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/950.