John M. Schofield, Forty-six years in the Army

[505] people drawn there by curiosity and excitement, and ignorant of the great danger to which they are exposed. Under such circumstances the commanding officer should withhold the fire of his troops, if possible, until timely warning has been given to the innocent to separate themselves from the guilty.

Under no circumstances are the troops to fire into a crowd without the order of the commanding officer, except that single sharp-shooters, selected by the commanding officer, may shoot down individual rioters who have fired upon or thrown missiles at the troops.

As a general rule, the bayonet alone should be used against mixed crowds in the first stages of a revolt. But as soon as sufficient warning has been given to enable the innocent to separate themselves from the guilty, the action of the troops should be governed solely by the tactical considerations involved in the duty they are ordered to perform. They are not called upon to consider how great may be the losses inflicted upon the public enemy, except to make their blows so effective as to promptly suppress all resistance to lawful authority, and to stop the destruction of life the moment lawless resistance has ceased. Punishment belongs not to the troops, but to the courts of justice.

By command of Major-General Schofield:

Geo. D. Ruggles, Adjutant-General.

(General orders, no. 15.)

Headquarters of the army, adjutant-General's office, Washington, May 25, 1894.

The following instructions are issued for the government of department commanders:

Whenever the troops may be lawfully employed, under the orders of the President, to suppress ‘insurrection in any State against the government thereof,’ as provided in section 5297 of the Revised Statutes; or to ‘enforce the execution of the laws of the United States’ when ‘by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages of persons’ it has ‘become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to enforce, by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, the laws of the ’