Major-General Daniel E. Sickles is hereby relieved from the command of the Second Military District.

Brevet Major-General Edward R. S. Canby is hereby assigned to the command of the Second Military District, created by the act of Congress of March 2, 1867, and of the Military Department of the South, embracing the States of North Carolina…

In consequence of the unfavorable condition of the health of Major-General George H. Thomas, as reported to you in Surgeon Hasson's dispatch of the 21st instant, my order dated August 17, 1867, is hereby modified so as to assign…

Major-General P. H. Sheridan will at once turn over his present command to the officer next in rank to himself, and, proceeding without delay to Fort Leavenworth, Kans., will relieve Major-General Hancock of the command of the Department…

He will, as soon as practicable, relieve Major-General Daniel E. Sickles, and, on assuming the command to which he is hereby assigned, will, when necessary to a faithful execution of the laws, exercise any and all powers conferred by acts…

By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby suspended from office as Secretary of War, and will cease to exercise any and all functions pertaining to the…

You will at once transfer to General Ulysses S. Grant, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, and other property now in your custody and charge.

They apply equally well to the bill now before me, and I am content merely to refer to them and to reiterate my conviction that they are sound and unanswerable.

Within a period less than a year the legislation of Congress has attempted to strip the executive department of the Government of some of its essential powers.

For reasons heretofore stated in my several veto messages to Congress upon the subject of reconstruction, I return without my approval the 'Joint resolution to carry into effect the several acts providing for the more efficient government…

The inevitable result is that the Federal Government, by the agency of its own sworn officers, in effect assumes the civil government of the State.