United States. Army. Military District, 4th--Department of Mississippi

The Department of Mississippi was a sub-district of the United States Army’s 4th Military District. It was established on April 6, 1867 by General Orders No. 3 issued from Maj. Gen. Edward O. C. Ord. General, commander of the 4th Military District. It was first commanded by Brig. Gen. Alvan C. Gillem of the 24th United States Infantry and its headquarters was located at Vicksburg. It was responsible for the administration of the Army’s occupation forces in Mississippi and charged with protecting freedmen’s rights, keeping the peace, and overseeing the election of a new state government loyal to the federal government in Washington D. C. It was abolished on February 23, 1870 when Mississippi was readmitted into the Union after adopting a new constitution and ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment. (Daily Arkansas Gazette, April 12, 1867; Bradley, The Army and Reconstruction 1865–1877; Eicher, Civil War High Commands, 854-855; Encyclopedia of Arkansas; Wikipedia)