IMPOSITION OF MARTIAL LAW IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, DURING THE CIVIL WAR
VIELE, Egbert Ludovicus. Office of Military Governor… Assemblages in the Streets… are positively forbidden. Norfolk, Va.: Office of Military Governor, June 28, 1862. Small broadside (7-1/4 by 11 inches), printed in large type on recto, matted and framed, entire piece measures 13-1/2 by 15 inches.
Original broadside printed during the Union occupation of Norfolk in the summer of 1862, proclaiming martial law and forbidding assembly in public "for purposes of political discussions, being provocative of civil disturbance" and the "exhibition of badges and flags indicative of disloyal sentiments."
In May 1862, Norfolk Mayor William Lamb surrendered the city to General John E. Wool and Union forces. In June, Brigadier General Egbert Ludovicus Viele imposed martial law with this proclamation, which reads: "Assemblages in the Streets for purposes of political discussions, being provocative of civil disturbance, are positively forbidden, and the exhibition of badges and flags indicative of disloyal sentiments will not be tolerated. Parents will be held responsible for the conduct of their children in this particular. By Command of Brig'r Gen. E.L. Viele, Military Governor." Norfolk remained under martial law for the duration of the Civil War.
A June 1862 article in the New York Times praised Viele's actions: "This last move of our Military Governor was admirably planned, and cannot but have the best results for Norfolk and Portsmouth, and indeed for the whole cause of Government. It will go further than anything else to allay that restless and discontented feeling which was evidently growing among a portion of the Unionists here, who were construing Gen. Viele's leniency in a very different way to what he intended. It will put an effective and immediate stop to any disloyal schemers who may have been fondly imagining that they could work, ad infinitum, upon the General's good nature; while every peaceful citizen, whether loyal or rebel, will feel that they have, under the Military Governor, better protection for their lives and property than could be guaranteed them by the questionable and feeble authority of any party-elected Mayor and Councilmen."
Left margin with residue of buff paper laid down along its length, touching a letter or two of the broadside. Three columns of news articles, unrelated though printed roughly contemporary to the broadside, laid down on verso, with some offsetting to recto, chiefly at upper and lower margins. Faint fold lines, minor edge-wear. Very good condition, beautifully framed.