State Department Order

On April 17, the State Department issued this circular ordering all officers and employees to wear black crepe armbands on their left sleeves for the next six months. The order is signed by Acting Secretary of State William Hunter because Secretary of State William Seward was recovering from the serious injury he sustained in an assassination attempt on the night of April 14. The attack on Seward was coordinated with the attack on Lincoln as part of the Booth-led conspiracy to cripple the United States government.