General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of Mississippi of the United States Army, issued “Special Field Orders No. 15” on January 16, 1865, otherwise known as “40 Acres and a Mule.”
These military orders issued during the American Civil War led to the confiscation of 400,000 acres of land along the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. Through this command, the land was divided into sections of no more than 40 acres on which 18,000 freed slave families and blacks settled.
Learn more about Special Field Orders No. 15 and 40 acres and a mule through the video below.
YouTube video posted by John Fitz