I. The early completion of military roads in this State being imperatively necessary, it is ordered that the enrollment of negroes be extended to certain portions of Kentucky heretofore exempted.
II. General Orders, Numbers 41, of August 10, 1863, from these headquarters, providing for the impressment of negro slaves in the counties of Harrison, Bourbon, Scott, Clark, Fayette, Woodford, Jessamine, Mercer, Boyle, Garrard, Lincoln, Marion, Washington, and Nelson are so amended as to extend the impressment to the counties of Taylor, Adair, Green, Casey, Russell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Laurel, Jackson and Madison.
III. The negroes in these counties will be impressed in the same proportion as in other counties and in the manner prescribed by General Orders, Numbers 41, 1863, from these headquarters, to wit, "all male negroes from the ages of sixteen to forty-five, both inclusive, are subject to impressment; "but in order that the cultivation of the crops may not be materially interfered with, it is ordered that where a citizen has but one male negro laborer he shall be exempt from impressment under this order. Where a citizen has four or more negroes of the specified ages, one-third of them will be impressed under this order.
IV. Lieutenant-Colonel Mottley, Eleventh Kentucky Volunteers, and Captain Woodward, Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, aide-de-camp, are charged with the execution of this order, under such instructions as may hereafter be given.
V. The owners of negroes subject to impressment under this order are authorized to hire their negroes to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, to be employed as laborers on the extension of their road from Lebanon, Ky., to Stanford, and thence to the State line and all negroes thus hired will be exempt from impressment for works on other roads. This authority is given in consideration of the advantages to be derived by the Government from the speedy construction of the railroad to the Tennessee line, and all impressed negroes thus hired to the railroad company will be fed, clothed, and their services paid for by said railroad company. The negroes employed by the railroad company under the foregoing provisions are to be used only on the work of the road extension, and for no other purposes.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_G._Burbridge Stephen Gano Burbridge (August 19, 1831 – December 2, 1894), also known as "Butcher" Burbridge or the "Butcher of Kentucky", was a controversial Union general during the American Civil War. In June 1864 he was given command over the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where guerrillas had carried out attacks against Unionists. He imposed martial law and was criticized for punitive actions against persons accused of being guerrillas.
