intend to permit the President or his Cabinet to direct the process of
reconstruction, and in the Act of July 19, 1867, it gave a radical
interpretation to the reconstruction legislation, declared itself in control,
gave full power to General Grant and to the district commanders subject only
to Grant, directed the removal of all local officials who opposed the
reconstruction policies, and warned the civil and military officers of the
United States that none of them should "be bound in his action by any opinion
of any civil officer of the United States." This interpretive legislation gave
a broad basis for the military government and resulted in a severe application
of the disfranchising provisions of the laws.

The rule of the five generals lasted in all the States until June 1868, and
continued in Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, and Georgia until 1870. There had
been, to be sure, some military government in 1865, subject, however, to the
President, and from 1865 to 1867 the army, along with the Freedmen's Bureau,
had exerted a strong influence in the government of the South, but in the
regime now inaugurated the military was supreme. The generals had a superior
at Washington, but whether it was the President, General Grant, or Congress
was not clear until the Act of July 19, 1867 made Congress the source of
authority.

The power of the generals most strikingly appeared in their control of the
state governments which were continued as provisional organizations. Since no
elections were permitted, all appointments and removals were made from
military headquarters, which soon became political beehives, centers of
wirepulling and agencies for the distribution of spoils. At the outset civil
officers were ordered to retain their offices during good behavior, subject to
military control. But no local official was permitted to use his influence
ever so slightly against reconstruction. Since most of them did not favor the
policy of Congress, thousands were removed as "obstacles to reconstruction."