can serve with him, for satisfactory evidence of the facts as above staled I refer you Lo Capt. Leander Smith of Nacogdoches. Battlefield A. Somervell Lt. Col. 1st Regt. 24 April 1836 (lo Sam Houston] [2861) lHURNET PROCLAMATION] Executive Order Declaring Martial Law in Galveston The present situation of our country requires that measures the most prompt and decisive be adopted. The island of Galveston must be maintained. To effect this object much is to be done, and in order to do much, the strictest discipline and !iubordination are necessary. Therefore 1, David G. Burnet, President of the Republic of Texas, by and with the advice and consent of the Cabinet, have ordered and decreed, and do hereby order and decree, that the island of Galveston, including its dependencies, to wit, the islets adjacent and Point Bolivar, be and the same are declared to be, under and subject to martial law. It shall be the duty of the commanding officer of the post of Galveston to cause every white man over the age of sixteen and under tl1at of fifty-six years, within his jurisdiction, to be forthwith mustered and enrolled for military duty, and to put the same upon duty; and any person refusing so to muster himself shall be forthwith transported from the island, together with his family, if he have any here. The commanding officer shall also cause a muster to be made of all the colored persons on the island, males and females, being over fourteen years of age; and the same to arrange into suitable parties for fatigue duty, a signing to each party specific employments, with a Superintendent, whose duty it shall be to oversee and forward their work. All persons contravening this order shall be tried and disposed of according to the articles of war. Done at post of Galveston, this 25th day of April, 1836. David G. Burnet
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