February 22, 1862
Headquarters, Dept. West'n Va.,
Wheeling, Feb. 21, 1862.
Special Orders No. 42.]
4. When the life of this great nation is threatened by fratricidal hands on the very soil where the immortal Washington was born, it doubly becomes all true patriots to cherish the memory of that great man, whose heroism, self-denial and practical wisdom, laid the foundations of this mighty republic.
It is, therefore, ordered that the approaching anniversary of his birthday shall be observed as a holiday throughout this Department. Troops shall be paraded, and this order read at 11 A. M., at all points where it is received, and where practicable the Farewell Address shall be read to them.
5. A salute of thirteen guns will be fired at sunrise and one gun every half hour afterwards until 12 M., when the National salute of thirty-four guns will be fired under the direction of Capt. E. C. Bainbridge, Chief of Artillery.
6. The Department Staff and all other officers on duty here, will assemble at the General Headquarters at 9:30 A. M., in full uniform and mounted. Under direction of Capt. Geo. L. Hartsuff, Assistant Adjutant General, they will then proceed, escorted by the cavalry, up Fourth street, down Monroe to the McLure House, when they will escort the Governor of the State, the Mayor of Wheeling, and other civil functionaries, to the Atheneum, to hear the reading of Washington's Farewell Address. After the proceedings there are over the staff and escort will return, under the direction of Capt. Hartsuff, to the General Headquarters, where they will be dismissed. By command of
Gen. Rosecrans,
Geo. L. Hartsuff, Ass't Adj't Gen.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: February 1862