GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 10. 
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, 
Adjutant General’s Office, 
Washington, February 4, 1862. 
The following act of Congress is published for the information of all 
concerned: 
AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States in certain 
cases to take possession of railroad and telegraph lines, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the 
United States, when in his judgment the public safety may require it, 
be, and he is hereby, authorized to take possession of any or all the 
telegraph lines in the United States, their offices and appurtenances; 
to take possession of any or all the railroad lines in the United States, 
their rolling stock, their offices, shops, buildings, and all their append- 
ages and appurtenances; to prescribe rules and regulations for the 
holding, using, and maintaining of the aforesaid telegraph and railroad 
lines, and to extend, repair, and complete the same, in the manner most 
conducive to the safety and interest of the Government; to place under 
military control all the officers, agents, and employes belonging to the 
telegraph and railroad lines thus taken possession of by the President, 
so that they shall be considered as a post road and a part of the mili- 
tary establishment of the United States, subject to all the restrictions 
imposed by the Rules and Articles of War. 
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That any attempt by any party or 
parties whomsoever, in any State or District in which the laws of the 
United States are opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed by 
insurgents and rebels against the United States, too powerful to be 
suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, to resist or 
interfere with the unrestrained use by Government of the property 
described in the preceding section, or any attempt to injure or destroy 
the property aforesaid, shall be punished as a military offense, by death, 
or such other penalty as a court martial may impose. 
Sec. 3 And be it further enacted, That three commissioners shall be 
appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice 2 
and consent of the Senate, to assess and determine the damages suf- 
fered, or the compensation to which any railroad or telegraph company 
may he entitled by reason of the railroad or telegraph line being seized 
and used under the authority conferred by this act, and their award 
shall be submitted to Congress for their action. 
Sec. 4. And he it further enacted, That the transportation of troops, 
munitions of war, equipments, military property and stores, throughout 
the United States, shall be under the immediate control and supervision 
of the Secretary of War and such agents as he may appoint; and all 
rules, regulations, articles, usages, and laws in conflict with this pro- 
vision are hereby annulled. 
Sec. 5. And he it further enacted, That the compensation of each of 
the commissioners aforesaid, shall be eight dollars per day while in 
actual service; and that the provisions of this act, so far as it relates 
to the operating and using said railroads and telegraphs, shall not be 
in force any longer than is necessary for the suppression of this rebel- 
lion. 
Approved January 31, 1862. 
By command of Major General McClellan: 
L. THOMAS, 
Adjutant General. 
Official : 
Assistant Adjutant General.