The Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established on March 3, 1865. The duties of the Freedmen’s Bureau included supervision of all affairs relating to refugees, freedmen, and the custody of abandoned lands and property. These documents come from the Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of North Carolina, Series 8: Issuances
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Among the records of the Assistant Commissioner are one volume of general orders and circulars issued, three volumes of special orders issued, and unbound series of general orders, circulars, and special orders received.
The volume of general orders and circulars issued by the Assistant Commissioner or his Assistant Adjutant General, July 1, 1865–December 9, 1868, is arranged chronologically. This volume also contains several circular letters interfiled chronologically with general orders and circulars. General orders consist primarily of issuances outlining the general policies of the Bureau. Several of them are reprints of letters of instructions from the Commissioner of the Bureau, the Secretary of War, and the President. The circulars are mostly policy directives published for general information and guidance of Bureau officials in North Carolina. There is a partial "Subject Index" book for the circulars issued in 1865.
The three volumes of special orders issued by the Assistant Commissioner or his Assistant Adjutant General, June 26, 1865–May 4, 1869, are arranged by year and numbered in sequence. These orders deal with personnel matters and therefore differ from general orders and circulars. Special orders were also used by the Assistant Commissioner in North Carolina to order specific investigations and to restore property. There is a name index for each volume of the special orders. For the first and third volumes the reference is in the form of a fractional citation; the numerator denotes the order number, the denominator the page number. In the second volume the index reference is to page number.
The unbound general orders and circulars (filmed after the general orders and circulars issued) and unbound special orders received (filmed after the special orders issued) by the Assistant Commissioner were issued by the Commissioner's office, the War Department, or the military command of which North Carolina was a part. These three series—general orders received, March 1865–July 1868, circulars received, May 1865–April 1869, and special orders received, July 1865–March 1869 are arranged by type of issuance and thereunder chronologically.