Head Quarters 4 Brigade
Charleston "Va" August 7, 1862
Col. Nutter
Comdg. 153 Regh. Va Wil.[?]
Sir
The orders issued from these Head Quarters authorizing [unreadable] of Companies of Militia to sieze [sic] the arms of citizen sympathizes with secession is hereby countermanded until further orders.
It is expected that Captains of the different companies will be vigilant and active in processing and capturing all armed bodies of marauders and bushwackers, but citizens who are at their homes must not be molested at present
By order of
J.A.J. Lightburn
Col. Comdg [?] 4 Brigade
P.B. Stanbury
1st Lieu & A.A.A.J_
Transcription by Brittani Lynch, undergraduate student enrolled in Dr. Billy Joe Peyton's Fall 2010 "Introduction to Public History" at West Virginia State University