GENERAL ORDERS NO. 16. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, February 14, 1891. 1. The following order of the War Department is published to the Army: WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington , February 14, 1891 . The death of General Sherman is hereby announced in the fitting words of the President in his message to Congress: The following Executive order will be published to the Army: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C . February 14, 1891. It is my painful duty to announce to the country that General William Tecumseh Sherman died this day at 1 o'clock and 50 minutes p.m., at his residence in the city of New York. The Secretary of War will cause the highest military honors to be paid to the memory of this distinguished officer. The national flag will be floated at half-mast over all public buildings until after the burial, and the public business will be suspended in the Executive Departments at the city of Washington and in the city where the interment takes place on the day of the funeral and in all places where public expression is given to the national sorrow during such hours as will enable every officer and employee to participate therein with their fellow-citizens. BENJ. HARRISON The Major-General Commanding will issue the necessary orders to the Army. It is ordered , That the War Department be draped in mourning for the period of thirty days, and that all business be suspended therein on the day of the funeral. L. A. GRANT, Acting Secretary of War. II. On the day of the funeral the troops at every military post will be paraded and this order read to them, after which all labors for the day will cease. The national flag will be displayed at half-staff from the time of the receipt of this order until the close of the funeral. On the day of the funeral a salute of seventeen guns will be fired at half-hour intervals, commencing at 8 o'clock a.m. The officers of the Army will wear the usual badges of mourning, and the colors of the several regiments and battalions will be draped in mourning for a period of six months. The day and hour of the funeral will be communicated to department commanders by telegraph, and by them to their subordinate commanders. Other necessary orders will be issued hereafter relative to the appropriate funeral ceremonies. By command of Major-General Schofield: J. C. KELTON, Adjutant-General.
Presidential Order
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (406 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The death of General Sherman is hereby announced in the fitting words of the President in his message to Congress: The following Executive order will be published to the Army: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C .
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Benjamin Harrison on February 14, 1891, this order reads: Washington, February 14, 1891. 1. The following order of the War Department is published to the Army: WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington , February 14, 1891 . The death of General Sherman is hereby announced in the fitting words of the President in his message to Congress: The following Executive order will be published to the Army: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C . February 14, 1891.
Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
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The death of General Sherman is hereby announced in the fitting words of the President in his message to Congress: The following Executive order will be published to the Army: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C .
▪
The national flag will be floated at half-mast over all public buildings until after the burial, and the public business will be suspended in the Executive Departments at the city of Washington and in the city where the interment takes place on the day of the funeral and in all places where public expression is given to the national sorrow during such hours as will enable every officer and employee to participate therein with their fellow-citizens.
▪
HARRISON The Major-General Commanding will issue the necessary orders to the Army.
▪
It is ordered , That the War Department be draped in mourning for the period of thirty days, and that all business be suspended therein on the day of the funeral.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
48 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
High Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
Audit Synthesis
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
ℹ️
How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
406
2,374 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.3
High School
Text size:
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination therein the following: In the Department of the Treasury, in the Coast and Geodetic Survey: Clerk to act as confidential clerk and cashier to the disbursing officer.
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
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🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
DEPARTMENT OF STATE SIR:* The Hon. William Windom, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, died suddenly last night, in the city of New York, at the hour of eleven minutes past 10 o'clock, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
Benjamin Harrison College Level • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order (Feb. 14, 1891), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-217.
