Union Loyalty Oath

OATH PRESCRIBED BY ACT OF JULY 2, 1862. [This oath must be taken and subscribed by every person elected or appointed to office in any of the five Military Districts, before a notary public or some magistrate authorized by law to administer oaths, before entering upon the duties of his Office. (See Section 9, Act of Jul 19, 1867.) The signature of the notary public or magistrate should be attested by the signature of a clerk of a court record, under the seal of the court.]

“I, ______ of ______ county of ______, and state of ______, do solemnly ______ that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought, not accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority, or pretended authority, in hostility to the United states; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution, within the United States hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further _____ that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: so help me God.”

---- Netherton, Ross. In the Path of History: Virginia Between the Rappahannock and the Potomac: An Historical Portrait. Falls Church, VA: Higher Education Publications, 2004. p. 170 (VA REF 975.52 Net)