99. That in addition to the volunteer force authorized to be raised under existing laws [84, 88], the President be and he is hereby authorized to accept the services of volunteers who may offer their services, without regard to the place of enlistment, either as cavalry, mounted riflemen, artillery, or infantry, in such proportion of these several arms as he may deem expedient, to serve for and during the existing war, unless sooner discharged [109, 110].

100. That the volunteers so offering their service may be accepted by the President in companies, to be organized by him into squadrons, battalions, or regiments. The President shall appoint all field and staff officers, but the company officers shall be elected by the men composing the company; and if accepted, the officers so elected shall be commissioned by the President [109, 110].

101. That any vacancies [105] occurring in the ranks of the several companies mustered into service under the provisions of this act, may be filled by volunteers accepted under the rules of such companies; and any vacancies occurring in the officers of such companies shall be filled by elections in accordance with the same rules.

102. Except as herein differently provided, the volunteer forces hereby authorized to be raised shall, in all regards, be subject to and organized in accordance with the provisions of “An act to provide for the public defence” [92 et seq.], and all other acts for the government of the Armies of the Confederate States.

103. That so much of the second section of the act entitled “An act to raise an additional military force to serve during the war,” passed May eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, be so amended as to authorize the President, on the application of any commanding officer of a regiment or battalion authorized by said act, to assign a subaltern of the line of the army to the duties of adjutant of said regiment or battalion [100].

104. That volunteers offering their services under an act entitled “An act to raise an additional military force to serve during the war,” approved May eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one [100], may be accepted by the President singly as well as in companies, squadrons, battalions, or regiments.

105. In all appointments of officers raised under this act, the field and company officers shall be chosen and appointed in the manner prescribed by the act entitled “An act providing for the granting of bounty and furloughs to privates and non-commissioned officers in the Provisional Army,” approved December eleventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-one [123]; and all vacancies occurring in the said offices after the first election made under this act, as well as under the act entitled “An act to raise an additional military force to serve during the war,” approved May eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one [99], shall be filled by promotion, according to grade and seniority, as provided in the said act of eleventh December, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, except in case of disability or other incompetency: Provided, however, That the President be authorized to depart from the prescribed rule of promotion in favor of any person specially distinguished by his commanding general for extraordinary merit, or some signal act of military skill or gallantry [157, 158, 310, 382].

106. Any vacancies occurring in the ranks of companies mustered into the Confederate service for three years or for the war, may be filled by volunteers; and the commander of each of said squadrons, battalions, or regiments organized as aforesaid, may detail one commissioned officer, and one non-commissioned officer, and one or more privates, from each company of his command, with the approval of the brigadier-general of the brigade to which said squadron, battalion, or regiment may be attached, to recruit men for said company: so that the same may contain not more than one hundred and twenty-five, rank and file; and the men so recruited shall be mustered at the time of enrolment, and shall be entitled to transportation and subsistence, or commutation of subsistence, till they join their respective companies, and to fifty dollars bounty, to be paid at the time of joining the same.

107. The President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint and commission persons as field-officers or captains, to raise regiments, squadrons, battalions or Companies, and the individuals comprising the same shall be mustered at the time of enrolment, and be entitled to pay, transportation, and subsistence from the date of the organization of companies; but the officers so appointed by the President shall not be entitled to any pay or allowance until their respective commands be fully organized and reported to the Secretary of War; and said appointments shall expire if the officer appointed shall not, within a reasonable time, not to exceed two months for a company and four months for for a battalion, squadron, or regiment, report the corps authorized to be raised by him, organized and read for duty: Provided, nevertheless, That every officer so commissioned for such purpose shall receive an appointment proportioned to the forces he recruits: And provided, furthermore, That no enlistments under the commission of captains shall be obligatory, unless the number be sufficient to constitute a company.

108. That the second section of the above recited-act [105], requiring the election of field and company officers by regiments and companies, shall not apply to companies, battalions, and regiments raised under the fourth section of said act [107]; but the officers appointed by the President to raise such companies, battalions, and regiments shall be the officers of the same; and the commissions of such officers granted by the President shall, when their respective commands are fully organized, be absolute.

109. That the first and second sections [99, 100] of the act to which this is an amendment are hereby declared to have full force and effect in those states and districts in which the President may, under the law, suspend the provisions of the acts providing for the enrolment of persons for military service, or when said acts can not be enforced by reason of the occupation of the enemy: Provided, That the troops received under the sections of said act shall be received for three years or for the war.

110. That the President may, in cases when, in his opinion, the public interest requires that he should do so, appoint major and brigadier-generals, with their appropriate staff, and also the field, company, and staff officers to regiments, battalions, companies, or squadrons before the same are organized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and if said regiments, battalions, companies, or squadrons are not reported as complete within a reasonable time, the President may, in his discretion, vacate the commissions of said officers, who shall be entitled to the pay of their respective grades from the date of their respective appointments until their commissions are vacated; and that companies of infantry shall consist of at least one hundred and twenty-five rank and file, companies of artillery of at least one hundred and fifty rank and file, and companies of cavalry of at least eighty rank and file.

118. That the first section of the act of March sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one [88], be and is hereby so modified as to authorize the President to call upon the several states, in his discretion, for any number of troops, not exceeding, in the aggregate, the number heretofore authorized, to serve for the term of three years or during the war.

119. In making such requisitions, the President shall take into consideration the number of troops from each state already enlisted for the war at the time of the requisition, and shall, as far as practicable, equalize the same among the states according to their respective white population.

129. That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby authorized to adopt measures for recruiting and enlisting men for companies in service for the war, or three years, which, by the casualties of the service, have been reduced by death and discharges.

130. That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby authorized to detail the company commissioned officers for the above duty in such numbers and at such times as in his opinion will best comport with the public service; the officers thus appointed to enlist and recruit for their respective companies.

131. That all companies of volunteers, now in the service of the Confederate States under enlistment for the term of twelve months, may be recruited by enlisting or receiving volunteers for three years or the war, to a number not to exceed one hundred and twenty-five, rank and file, and companies so recruited shall, at the expiration of the term of service of the original company, elect their commissioned officers; and vacancies thereafter occurring in the commissioned offices of such companies shall be filled by promotion of said commissioned officers, except that vacancies in the lowest grade of such officers shall be filled by election.

132. The colonel or commanding officer of the several regiments, battalions, and squadrons enlisted for twelve months as aforesaid, may detail one commissioned officer, and not exceeding two privates of each company, to recruit for their respective companies, and the officers and privates so detailed shall be entitled to transportation while so engaged, and the recruits so enlisted shall be entitled to pay, transportation, and subsistence from the time and place of enlistment, together with the sum of fifty dollars, as a bounty, upon joining their respective companies.

133. The original volunteers in such companies, re-enlisting according to the terms of the act entitled “An act providing for the granting of bounty and furloughs to privates and non-commissioned officers in the Provisional Army” [120 et seq.], may re-enlist in and form part of the companies to be recruited as herein provided; and when all the companies composing the regiment, battalion, or squadron as aforesaid shall, by recruiting as aforesaid, or by re-enlistment and recruiting as aforesaid, have attained, at the date of the expiration of the term of service of the original companies, the, number required by law for a company, the number and designation of such regiment, battalion, or, squadron may continue, or such of said companies as are complete at that date may reorganize into new regiments, battalions, or squadrons, or attach themselves to other regiments, battalions, or squadrons; and in all such cases the field-officers shall be elected, and vacancies thereafter occurring in such field-offices shall be filled by promotion, as directed by the act aforesaid.

134. Companies organized by re-enlisted twelve months' volunteers, under the act aforesaid, may be recruited to the number of one hundred and twenty-five, in the manner prescribed in the second section of this act.

135. Where, at the date of the expiration of the term of service of the original company, the number of recruits and enlisted men may not amount to the minimum number required for a company, the recruited men may combine with recruits of other companies in like situation, so as to form complete companies; and in default of such combinations, the said recruits may be assigned or distributed to other companies from the state in which such recruits were enlisted.

136. The Secretary of War shall make all needful rules to carry into effect the foregoing provisions.

137. That the President of the Confederate States be and he is hereby authorized to grant commissions to officers above the grade of captain to such persons as he may think fit to raise and command volunteer regiments and battalions for the service of the Confederate States, said regiments and battalions to be composed of persons who are, or have been, residents of the States of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, or Delaware, and who have enlisted, or may enlist, under said officers; upon the condition, however, that such officers shall not hold rank or receive pay until such regiments or battalions have been raised and are mustered into service.

138. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to establish recruiting stations within the Confederate States for the reception of volunteers into the military service of the Confederate States from among persons who are, or have been, residents of the States of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware.

139. That the President be authorized to grant commissions as captains to such persons as he may think fit to raise and command companies to be composed of such volunteers; upon the condition, however, that such officers shall not hold rank or receive pay until such companies have been raised and are mustered into service.

140. Whenever such recruits shall amount to a sufficient number to be formed into companies, the President may direct the same to be so organized, appointing all commissioned officers of the several companies, in addition to the captains provided for in the preceding section; and such companies may be organized into regiments in like manner, under the direction of the President.

141. Until such recruits shall amount to a sufficient number to be organized into companies, they shall receive no compensation except their clothing and rations.

142. That all native or adopted citizens of the State of Maryland who have heretofore volunteered, are now in, or may hereafter volunteer in the service of the Confederate States, may, at their option, be organized and enrolled into companies, squadrons, battalions, and regiments, and with the first Maryland regiment, and several companies now in service, into one or more brigades, to be known as the Maryland Line; said organization to be in accordance with existing laws.

176. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to establish camps of instruction for persons enrolled for military service, at such places and in such numbers in the several states as he may deem necessary, and to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, officers in the Provisional Army, with the rank and pay of major, to superintend and command the same.∗

177. Whereas the efficiency of the army is greatly diminished by the withdrawal from the ranks of able-bodied soldiers to act as teamsters, and in various other capacities in which free negroes and slaves might be advantageously employed: Therefore,

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all male free negroes and other free persons of color, not including those who are free under the Treaty of Paris of 1803, or under the Treaty of Spain of 1819, resident in the Confederate States, between the ages of eighteen and fifty years, shall be held liable to perform such duties with the army, or in connection with the military defences of the country, in the way of work upon fortifications or in government works for the production or preparation of materials of war, or in military hospitals, as the Secretary of War or the commanding general of the trans-Mississippi department may from time to time prescribe; and while engaged in the performance of such duties shall receive rations and clothing, and compensation at the rate of eleven dollars a month, under such rules and regulations as the said Secretary may establish: Provided, That the Secretary of War or the commanding general of the trans-Mississippi department, with the approval of the President, may exempt from the operations of this act such free negroes as the interests of the country may require should be exempted, or such as he may think proper to exempt on grounds of justice, equity, or necessity.

178. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to employ, for duties similar to those indicated in the preceding section of this act, as many male negro slaves, not to exceed twenty thousand, as in his judgment the wants of the service may require, furnishing them, while so employed, with proper rations ∗ For drill-masters for camps of instruction, see 303. and clothing, under rules and regulations to be established by him, and paying to the owners of said slaves such wages as may be agreed upon with said owners for their use and service; and in the event of the loss of any slaves while so employed, by the act of the enemy, or by escape to the enemy, or by death inflicted by the enemy, or by disease contracted while in any service required of said slaves, then the owners of the same shall be entitled to receive the full value of such slaves, to be ascertained by agreement or by appraisement, under the law regulating impressments, to be paid under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may establish.

179. That when the Secretary of War shall be unable to procure the services of slaves in any military department in sufficient numbers for the necessities of the department, upon the terms and conditions set forth in the preceding section, then he is hereby authorized to impress [436] the services of as many male slaves, not to exceed twenty thousand, as may be required, from time to time, to discharge the duties indicated in the first section of this act, according to the laws regulating the impressment of slaves in other cases: Provided, That slaves so impressed shall, while employed, receive the same rations and clothing, in kind and quantity, as slaves regularly hired from their owners, and in the event of their loss, shall be paid for in the same manner, and under the same rules established by the said impressment laws: Provided, That if the owner have but one male slave between the ages of eighteen and fifty, he shall not be impressed against the will of said owner: Provided, further, that free negroes shall be first impressed, and if there should be a deficiency, it shall be supplied by the impressment of slaves according to the foregoing provisions: Provided, further, That in making the impressment not more than one of every five male slaves between the ages of eighteen and forty-five shall be taken from any owner, care being taken to allow in each case a credit for all slaves who may have been already impressed under this act, and who are still in service, or have died, or been lost while in service. And all impressments under this act shall be taken in equal ratio from all owners in the same locality, city, county, or district.

180. [That all persons who shall be held to be unfit for military service under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of War; all in the service or employ of the Confederate States; all judicial and executive officers of the Confederate or State governments; the members of both Houses of the Congress and of the Legislatures of the several states and their respective officers; all clerks of the officers of the State and Confederate governments allowed by law; all engaged in carrying the mails; all ferrymen on post-routes; all pilots and persons engaged in the marine service and in actual service on river and railroad routes of transportation; telegraphic operators, and ministers of religion in the regular discharge of ministerial duties; all engaged in working iron mines, furnaces, and foundries; all journeymen printers actually employed in printing newspapers; all presidents and professors of colleges and academies, and all teachers having as many as twenty scholars; superintendents of the public hospitals, lunatic asylums, and the regular nurses and attendants therein, and the teachers employed in the institution for the deaf, and dumb, and blind; in each apothecary-store now established and doing business, one apothecary in good standing, who is a practical druggist; superintendents and operatives in wool and cotton factories, who may be exempted by the Secretary of War—shall be and are hereby exempted from military service in the armies of the Confederate States.]

181. [That all persons who shall he held unfit for military service in the field, by reason of bodily or mental incapacity or imbecility, under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of War; the Vice-President of the Confederate States; the officers, judicial and executive, of the Confederate and State governments, including postmasters appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and such clerks in their offices as are allowed by the Postmaster-General, and now employed, and excluding all other postmasters, their assistants, and clerks; and except such state officers as the several states may have declared, or may hereafter declare by law to be liable to militia duty; the members of both houses of the Congress of the Confederate States and of the Legislatures of the several states, and their respective officers; all clerks now in the offices of the Confederate and State governments authorized by law, receiving salaries or fees; all volunteer troops, heretofore raised by any state since the passage of the act entitled “An act further to provide for the public defence,” approved April the sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two [143], while such troops shall be in active service under state authority: Provided, That this exemption shall not apply to any person who was liable to be called into service by virtue of said act of April the sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two; all pilots and persons engaged in the merchant marine service; the president, superintendents, conductors, treasurer, chief clerk, engineers, managers, station-agents, section-masters, two expert track-hands to each section of eight miles, and mechanics in the active service and employment of railroad companies, not to embrace laborers, porters, and messengers; the president, general superintendent, and operators of telegraph companies, the local superintendent and operators of said companies, not to exceed four in number at any locality, but that of the seat of government of the Confederate States; the president, superintendents, captains, engineers' chief clerk, and mechanics in the active service and employment of all companies engaged in river and canal navigation, and all captains of boats and engineers therein employed; one editor of each newspaper now being published, and such employees as the editor or proprietor may certify, upon oath, to be indispensable for conducting the publication; the public printer, and those employed to perform the public printing for the Confederate and State governments; every minister of religion authorized to preach according to the rules of his sect and in the regular discharge of ministerial duties, and all persons who have been and now are members of the society of Friends and the association of Dunkards, Nazarenes, and Mennonists, in regular membership in their respective denominations: Provided, Members of the society of Friends, Nazarenes, Mennonists, and Dunkards shall furnish substitutes or pay a tax of five hundred dollars each into the public treasury [168]; all physicians who now are, and for the last five years have been, in the actual practice of their profession; all shoemakers, tanners, blacksmiths, wagon-makers, millers and their engineers, millwrights, skilled and actually employed as their regular vocation in the said trades, habitually engaged in working for the public, and while so actually employed: Provided, Said persons shall make oath in writing that they are so skilled and actually employed at the time as their regular vocation in one of the above trades, which affidavit shall only be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated: Provided further, That the exemptions herein granted to persons by reason of their peculiar mechanical or other occupation or employment, not connected with the public service, shall be subject to the condition that the products of the labor of such exempts, or of the companies and establishments with which they are connected, shall be sold and disposed of by the proprietors at prices not exceeding seventy-five per centum upon the cost of production, or within a maximum to be fixed by the Secretary of War, under such regulations as he may prescribe: And it is further provided, That if the proprietors of any such manufacturing establishments shall be shown, upon evidence to be submitted to and judged of by the Secretary of War, to have violated or in any manner evaded the true intent and spirit of the foregoing proviso, the exemptions therein granted shall no longer be extended to them, their superintendents, or operatives in said establishments, but they, and each and every of them, shall be forthwith enrolled under the provisions of this act, and ordered into the Confederate army, and shall, in no event, be again exempted therefrom by reason of said manufacturing establishments or employment therein; all superintendents of public hospitals, lunatic asylums, and the regular physicians, nurses, and attendants therein, and the teachers employed in the institutions for the deaf, dumb, and blind; in each apothecary-store, now established and doing business, one apothecary in good standing, who is a practical apothecary; superintendents and operators in wool and cotton factories, paper-mills, and superintendents and managers of wool-carding machines, who may be exempted by the Secretary of War: Provided, The profits of such establishments shall not exceed seventy-five per centum upon the cost of production, to be determined upon oath of the parties, subject to the same penalties for violation of the provisions herein contained as are hereinbefore provided in case of other manufactories and mechanical employments; all presidents and teachers of colleges, academies, schools, and theological seminaries, who have been regularly engaged as such for two years previous to the passage of this act; all artisans, mechanics, and employees in the establishments of the government for the manufacture of arms, ordnance, ordnance stores, and other munitions of war, saddles, harness, and army supplies, who may be certified by the officer in charge thereof as necessary for such establishments; also, all artizans, mechanics, and employees in the establishments of such persons as are or may be engaged under contracts with the government in furnishing arms, ordnance, ordnance stores, and other munitions of war: Provided, That the Chief of the Ordnance bureau, or some ordnance officer authorized by him for the purpose, shall approve of the number of the operatives required in such establishments; all persons employed in the manufacture of arms or ordnance of any kind by the several states, or by contractors to furnish the same to the several state governments, whom the governor or secretary of state thereof may certify to be necessary to the same; all persons engaged in the construction of ships, gunboats, engines, sails, or other articles necessary to the public defence, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy; all superintendents, managers, mechanics, and miners employed in the production and manufacture of salt to the extent of twenty bushels per day, and of lead and iron, and all persons engaged in burning coke for smelting and manufacture of iron, regular miners in coal-mines, and all colliers engaged in making charcoal for making pig and bar iron, not to embrace laborers, messengers, wagoners, and servants, unless employed at works conducted under the authority and by the officers or agents of a state, or in works employed in the production of iron for the Confederate States; one male citizen for every five hundred head of cattle, for every two hundred and fifty head of horses or mules, and one shepherd for every five hundred head of sheep, of such persons as are engaged exclusively in raising stock: Provided, There is no white male adult not liable to do military duty engaged with such person in raising said stock; to secure the proper police of the country [one person either as agent, owner, or overseer on each plantation on which one white person is requited to be kept by the laws or ordinances of any state, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to do military service, and in states having no such law, one person as agent, owner, or overseer on each plantation of twenty negroes, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military service: And, furthermore, For additional police for every twenty negroes on two or more plantations, within five miles of each other, and each having less than twenty negroes, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military duty, one person, being the oldest of the owners or overseers on such plantations∗]; and such other persons as the President shall be satisfied, on account of justice, equity, or necessity, ought to be exempted, ∗Repealed, see 183. are hereby exempted from military service in the armies of the Confederate States; and also a regiment raised under and by authority of the State of Texas, for frontier defence, now in the service of said state, while in such service: Provided, further, That the exemptions herein above enumerated and granted hereby, shall only continue while the persons exempted are actually engaged in their respective pursuits or occupations.

182. That the act entitled “An act to exempt certain persons from enrolment for service in the armies of the Confederate States” [180], approved the twenty-first of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, is hereby repealed.

183. [That so much of the act approved October eleventh, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, as exempts from military service “one person, either as agent, owner, or overseer on each plantation on which one white person is required to be kept by the laws or ordinances of any state, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military service, and in states having no such law, one person as agent, owner, or overseer on each plantation of twenty negroes, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military service,” and also the following clause in said act, to wit: “And furthermore, for additional police for every twenty negroes on two or more plantations, within five miles of each other, and each having less than twenty negroes, and on which there is no white male adult not liable to military duty, one person, being the oldest of the owners or overseers on such plantations,” be and the same are hereby repealed.

184. For the police and management of slaves, there shall be exempted one person on each farm or plantation, the sole property of a minor, a person of unsound mind, a feme-sole, or a person absent from home in the military or naval service of the Confederacy, on which there are twenty or more slaves: Provided, The person so exempted was employed and acting as an overseer previous to the sixteenth of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and there is no white male adult on said farm or plantation who is not liable to military duty— which fact shall be verified by the affidavits of said person and two respectable citizens, and shall be filed with the enrolling officer: And provided, The owner of such farm or plantation, his agent or legal representative, shall make affidavit and deliver the same to the enrolling officer, that, after diligent effort, no overseer can be procured for such farm or plantation not liable to military duty: Provided, further, That this clause shall not extend to any farm or plantation on which the negroes have been placed by division from any other farm or plantation since the eleventh day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two: Provided, further, That for every person exempted as aforesaid, and during the period of such exemption, there shall be paid annually into the public treasury, by the owners of such slaves, the sum of five hundred dollars.

185. Such other persons shall be exempted as the President shall be satisfied ought to be exempted in districts of country deprived of white or slave labor indispensable to the production of grain or provisions necessary for the support of the population remaining at home, and also on account of justice, equity, and necessity.

186. In addition to the state officers exempted by the act of October eleventh, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two [181], there shall also be exempted all state officers whom the governor of any state may claim to have exempted for the due administration of the government and laws thereof; but this exemption shall not continue in any state after the adjournment of the next regular session of its legislature, unless such legislature shall, by law, exempt them from military duty in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States.]

187. That the contractors for carrying the mails of the Confederate States shall be exempt from the performance of military duty in the armies of the Confederate States from and after the passage of this act, during the time they are such contractors: Provided, That no more than one contractor shall be exempt on any one route, and that no more than one member of any firm of contractors shall be exempt, and no contractor on any route of less than ten miles in length, and on which the mail is carried on horse, shall be exempt under this act; and if one or more members of any such firm be exempt, from age or other cause, from the performance of military duty, the other member or members of such firm shall not be exempt by this act on account of being mail contractors: And provided, further, That no person to whom a contract for carrying the mails may be transferred, with the consent of the Postoffice department, after the passage of this act, shall be exempt from military service on that account.

188. That the drivers of post-coaches and hacks for carrying the mails, on all routes where the weight of the mails requires that they should be carried in coaches or hacks, shall be exempt from military service in the armies of the Confederate States, from and after the passage of this act, so long as they continue to be employed as such drivers: Provided, The contractor by whom any such driver is employed shall take and subscribe an oath, to be furnished to the enrolling officer, that the weight of the mails on his route requires the use of coaches or hacks for their conveyance, and that he has not a greater number of drivers employed in his service than are indispensable to enable him to fulfil his contract for carrying the mails, and that he will not, while a contractor, employ a greater number of drivers than may be indispensably necessary for that purpose, and that he will give notice to the enrolling officer when any such driver ceases to be in his employment.

189. That all laws granting exemptions from military service be and the same are hereby repealed, and hereafter none shall be exempted except the following:∗

190. That there shall be established in each county, parish, or district, and in any city in a county, parish, or district in the several states, a place of rendezvous for the persons in said county, district, parish, or city enrolled for military duty in the field, who shall be there examined by one or more surgeons, to be employed by the government, to be assigned to that duty by the President, on a day of which ten days' notice shall be given by said surgeon, and from day to day next thereafter, until all who shall be in attendance for the purpose of examination shall have been examined; and the decision of said surgeons, under regulations to be established by the Secretary of War, as to the physical and mental capacity of any such person for military duty in the field, shall be final; and those only thus ascertained to be fit for military duty in the field shall be required to assemble at camps of instruction [176].

191. There shall be assigned to each congressional district in the several states three surgeons, who shall constitute a board of examination in such district for the purpose specified in the foregoing section, any one or more of whom may act at any place of rendezvous in said district.

192. When it shall appear to any surgeon attending such place of rendezvous, by the certificate of a respectable physician resident in that county, district, parish, or city in a county, parish, or district, that any enrolled person therein is unable to attend on account of sickness, it shall be the duty of said surgeon to file said certificate with the commandant of the nearest camp of instruction; and if the person named therein shall not, within a reasonable time, report himself for examination at said camp of instruction, or his continued disability certified by the certificate of a respectable physician of his county, city, district, or parish, he shall be held liable as absent without leave of his commanding officer.

193. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to accept the services of volunteers of such kind and in such proportion as he may deem expedient, to serve for such time as he may prescribe, for the defence of exposed places or localities, or such special service as he may deem expedient.

194. And such forces shall be mustered into the service of the Confederate States, for the local defence or special service aforesaid, the muster-roll setting forth distinctly the services to be performed; and the said volunteers shall not be considered in actual service until thereunto specially ordered by the President. And they shall be entitled to pay or subsistence only for such time as they may be on duty under the orders of the President or by his direction.

195. Such volunteer forces, when so accepted and ordered into service, shall be organized in accordance with and subject to all the provisions of the act entitled “An act to provide for the public defence,” approved March 6, 1861 [91, 92, 95, 96], and may be attached to such divisions, brigades, regiments, or battalions as the President may direct, and when not organized into battalions or regiments before being mustered into service, the President shall appoint the field-officers of the battalions and regiments when organized as such by him.

196. That for the purpose of local defence in any portion of the Confederate States, any number of persons not less than twenty, who are over the age of forty-five years, or otherwise not liable to military duty, may associate themselves as a military company, elect their own officers, and establish rules and regulations for their own government, and shall be considered as belonging to the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, serving without pay or allowances, and entitled, when captured by the enemy, to all the privileges of prisoners of war: Provided, That such company shall, as soon as practicable, transmit their muster-roll, or a list of the names of the officers and privates thereof, to the governor of the state, the commanding general of the department, or any brigadier-general in the State or Confederate service, to be forwarded to the Secretary of War; but the President or the commander of the military district may, at any time, disband such companies: Provided, That in the states and districts in which the act entitled “An act to further provide for the public defence,” approved April the sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two [143, 145], and the acts amendatory thereof, have been suspended, persons of any age, resident within such states or districts, may volunteer and form part of such companies so long as such suspension may continue: Provided, That no person shall become a member of said company until he shall have first taken the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America, in writing, a copy of which shall be filed with the muster-roll of said company as above prescribed.

221. That said volunteers [88] shall furnish their own clothes, and, if mounted men, their own horses and horse equipments; and, when mustered into service, shall be armed by the states from which they come, or by the Confederate States of America.

222. That said volunteers shall, when called into actual service, and while remaining therein, be subject to the Rules and Articles of War; and instead of clothing, every non-commissioned officer and private in any company shall be entitled, when called into actual service, to money in a sum equal to the cost of clothing of a non-commissioned officer or private in the regular army of the Confederate States of America [226].

223. That the fourth section of the act of March 6, 1861, “to provide for the public defence” [222], be amended as follows, viz: That there shall be allowed to each volunteer, to be paid to him on the first muster and pay rolls after being received and mustered into the service of the Confederate States, the sum of twenty-one dollars, in lieu of clothing for six months [226]; and thereafter the same allowance in money at every subsequent period of service for six months in lieu of clothing: Provided, That the price of all clothing in kind received by said volunteers from the Confederate States government shall be deducted first from the money thus allowed; and if that sum be not sufficient, the balance shall be charged for stoppage on the muster and pay rolls; and that all accounts arising ∗ For clothing for the sick and wounded in hospitals, see 410. Yearly allowance of clothing to enlisted men, 79. from contracts, agreements, or arrangements for furnishing clothing to volunteers, to be duly certified by the company commander, shall be paid out of the said semi-annual allowance of money.

224. That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby authorized and required to provide, as far as possible, clothing for the entire forces of the Confederate States, and to furnish the same to every regiment or company upon the requisition of the commander thereof, the quantity, quality, and kind thereof to be established by regulation of the department, to be approved by the President; and in case any state shall furnish to its troops and volunteers in the Confederate service such clothing, then the Secretary of War is required to pay over to the governor of such state the money value of the clothing so furnished.

225. The commander of every volunteer company shall have the privilege of receiving commutation for clothing at the rate of twenty-five dollars per man for every six months, when they shall have furnished their own clothing.

226. That so much of the existing law [223] as provides commutation for clothing to the soldiers in the service of the Confederacy, be and the same is hereby repealed; and hereafter the Secretary of War shall provide in kind to the soldiers, respectively, the uniform clothing prescribed by the regulations of the Army of the Confederate States; and should any balance of clothing be due to any soldier at the end of the year, the money value of such balance shall be paid to such soldier, according to the value of such clothing fixed and announced by order from the War department.

227. That the President is hereby authorized to import, duty free, cards or card-cloth, or any machinery or materials necessary for increasing the manufacture of clothing for the army, or any articles necessary for supplying the deficiency of clothing or shoes, or materials for shoes for the army.

228. That any machinery, or parts of machinery, or materials imported as aforesaid, may be worked on government account, or leased, or sold, at the discretion of the President.

229. That the President may extend the privileges of this act to companies or individuals, subject to such regulations as he may prescribe.

230. That the clothing required to be furnished to the troops of the Provisional Army under any existing law may be of such kind, as to color and quality, as it may be practicable to obtain, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

231. That the President be and he is hereby authorized, on the requisition of the Quartermaster-General, to detail from the army persons skilled in the manufacture of shoes, not to exceed two thousand in number; and it shall be the duty of the Quartermaster-General to place them, without delay, at suitable points, in shops, under proper regulations prescribed by him, and employ them diligently in the manufacture of shoes for the army.

232. That soldiers detailed under the provisions of this act shall be entitled to receive pay for extra duty, and also thirty-five cents per pair for shoes manufactured by them severally, in addition to regular pay and rations.

233. That there shall be allowed and paid to the militia of any state who have been, or may hereafter be, called into the service of the Confederate States, under authority of existing laws, to each private and non-commissioned officer commutation for clothing for the time of actual service, at the rate of forty-two dollars a year, up to the thirtieth day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and after that date at the rate of fifty dollars per annum, deducting therefrom the value of any clothing which may have been issued them, or commutation therefor which may have been allowed them.

234. All claims for commutation under authority of this act made by any of the militia who have been heretofore paid, shall be settled by the Second Auditor, with the approval of the Comptroller of the Treasury.

242. When transportation can not be furnished in kind, the discharged soldier shall be entitled to receive ten cents per mile in lieu of all travelling pay, subsistence, forage, and undrawn clothing, from the place of discharge to the place of his enlistment or enrolment, estimating the distance by the shortest mail route, and if there is no mail route, by the shortest practicable route. The foregoing to apply to all officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, artificers, farriers, black-smiths, and privates of volunteers when disbanded, discharged, or mustered out of service of the Confederate States; and it shall also apply to all volunteer troops as above designated, when travelling from the place of enrolment to the place of general rendezvous ∗ For transportation for men recruited for three years or the war, 106, 132. For officers authorized to raise commands, 107. For re-enlisted twelve months' men, 121. For state agents to visit troops, 345. For hospital supplies, 409. For sick and wounded soldiers, 414. Of private property by persons in charge of government transportation, 218. Of sick and wounded soldiers after discharge from hospital, 422. or point where mustered into service: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to deprive the mounted volunteers of the allowance of forty cents a day for the use and risk of his horse, which allowance is made from the date of his enrolment to the date of his discharge, and also for every twenty miles' travel from the place of his discharge to the place of his enrolment.

243. That non-commissioned officers and privates who have been mustered into service for the war, and to whom furloughs may be granted for not more than sixty days, shall be entitled to transportation home and back: Provided, That this allowance shall only be made once during the term of enlistment of such non-commissioned officers and privates.

248. That there shall be appointed by the President such number of chaplains, to serve with the armies of the Confederate States during the existing war, as he may deem expedient; and the President shall assign them to such regiments, brigades, or posts as he may deem necessary; and the appointments made as aforesaid shall expire whenever the existing war shall terminate.

249. The monthly pay of said chaplains shall be [eighty-five dollars; and said pay shall be in full of all allowances whatever] [251, 252].

250. That so much of the second section of the above recited act as fixes the pay of chaplains in the army at eighty-five dollars be repealed, and that the pay of said chaplains be [fifty dollars per month] [252].

251. That chaplains in the army be and they are hereby allowed the same rations as privates.

252. That hereafter the pay of chaplains in the army shall be eighty dollars per month, with rations as now provided by law.

253. That chaplains in the army in actual service in the field shall be entitled to draw forage for one horse: provided the chaplain has a horse in his use.

254. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint officers of engineers in the Provisional ∗ For appointment of officers of engineer troops during recess of Senate, see 486. Army, to a number not exceeding fifty, and of rank not higher than captain, whose pay [68] and emoluments shall be the same as those allowed for officers of a like grade in the Permanent Army of the Confederacy, and whose appointments shall expire at the end of the pending war.

255. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, an additional number of officers in the engineer corps of the Provisional Army, of a rank not higher than captain: Provided, That the whole corps shall not exceed one hundred [257].

256. That the officers of the engineer corps of the Provisional Army may have rank [50 et seq.] conferred on them during the war equal to that authorized by law for the engineer corps of the Confederate States Army: Provided, That the number of officers in each grade be limited to one colonel, three lieutenant-colonels, six majors, forty captains, thirty first lieutenants, and twenty second lieutenants [257].

257. That the acts approved twenty-first April, eighteen hundred and sixty-two [255], and twenty-third September, eighteen hundred and sixty-two [256], regulating the increase and rank of the corps of engineers of the Provisional Army, be amended to read as follows: That the President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, an additional number of officers in the engineer corps of the Provisional Army: Provided, That the whole corps shall not exceed one hundred and twenty, and that the number of officers in each grade be limited to three colonels, four lieutenant-colonels, eight majors, forty-five captains, thirty-five first lieutenants, and twenty-five second lieutenants.

258. That ∗ there shall be selected, in such manner as the Secretary of War may direct, from each division of infantry in service, one company of engineer troops, to consist of one hundred men, chosen with a view to their mechanical skill and physical fitness, and that ∗ This act modified and amended, 269. the men assigned to such company shall be required to serve in the same only during the balance of their term of service respectively.

259. That each company shall consist of eight sergeants, seven corporals, forty artificers, and forty-five laborers, and that two musicians may be added.

260. That the commissioned officers of each company shall consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, and two second lieutenants; and that the original vacancies in these companies shall be filled by the transfer of officers of corresponding grade from the engineer corps, if practicable, and where not, then from the other corps, or from the line or staff of the army, reference being always had to their qualification as engineers, or by selection; but no one shall be selected who is not now serving in or with the army, unless he is a military or civil engineer.

261. That the companies shall be organized into regiments of ten companies each, and that the field and staff officers shall consist of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, one adjutant with the rank of first lieutenant, one quartermaster-sergeant [268], and one sergeant-major; and that the original vacancies in the regiments shall be filled in the manner provided for filling the same in the companies by the third section of this act [260]; and that the sergeant-major and the quartermaster-sergeant shall be selected from the enlisted men of the army.

262. That in each regiment two of the companies shall be assigned to duty as pontoniers, and each be furnished with a bridge train complete.

263. That the officer in charge of the Engineer bureau, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, shall prescribe the number, form, and dimensions of the wagons, pontons, trestles, tools, implements, arms, and other necessaries for all the troops organized by this act.

264. That vacancies in the established regiments, to and including the rank of colonel, shall be filled by promotion, regimentally, according to seniority, except in case of disability or other incompetency.

289. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to commission such officers as he may deem proper, with authority to form bands of partisan rangers [292] in companies, battalions, or regiments, either as infantry or cavalry, the companies, battalions, or regiments to be composed each of such numbers as the President may approve.

290. That such partisan rangers, after being regularly received into service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations, and quarters during their term of service, and be subject to the same regulations, as other soldiers.

291. That for any arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy by any body of partisan rangers, and delivered to any quartermaster at such place or places as may be designated by a commanding general, the rangers shall be paid their full value in such manner as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

292. That the act of Congress aforesaid be and the same is hereby repealed: Provided, That organizations of partisan rangers, acting as regular cavalry at the passage of this act, shall be continued in their present organization: Provided, They shall hereafter be considered as regular cavalry, and not as partisan rangers.

293. That all the bands of partisan rangers organized under the said act may, as the interests of the service allow, be united with other organizations, or be organized into battalions and regiments, with the view to bringing them under the general conditions of the Provisional Army as to discipline, control, and movements, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

294. The Secretary of War shall be authorized, if he deems proper, for a time or permanently, to except from the operation of this act such companies as are serving within the lines of the enemy, and under such conditions as he may prescribe.

295. That the Secretary of War may cause to be organized a battalion of sharp-shooters for each brigade, consisting of not less than three nor more than six companies, to be composed of men selected from the brigade or otherwise, and armed with long-range muskets or rifles, said companies to be organized, and the commissioned officers therefor appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Such battalion shall constitute parts of the brigades to which they belong, and shall have such field and staff officers as are authorized by law for similar battalions, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

296. That for the purpose of arming the said battalion, the long-range muskets and rifles in the hands of the troops may be taken for that purpose: Provided, The government has not at its command a sufficient number of approved long-range rifles or muskets wherewith to arm said corps.

297. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to organize companies, battalions, or regiments of troops, to be armed with pikes, or other available arms to be approved by him, when a sufficient number of arms of the kind now used in the service can not be procured; such companies, battalions, or regiments to be organized in the same manner as like organizations of infantry now are under existing laws.

298. That the President may cause the troops armed and organized as herein provided, to serve as similar organizations of infantry now do, or to attach troops so armed to other regiments in the service, in numbers not exceeding two companies of troops so armed to each regiment. And the colonel of the regiment to which such companies may be attached shall have power to detail men from such companies to take the place of men in the companies armed with fire-arms, whenever vacancies may occur from death or discharge, or in cases of absence from sickness, furlough, or any other cause—the true intent and meaning of this provision being to render every fire-arm in the army available at all times, by having it always in the hands of a well and effective man.

299. Immediately after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to furnish a copy of the same to every general in the service.

300. That the President be and he is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ten officers in the Provisional Army, of a grade not exceeding that of captains, and with the pay of corresponding grades of infantry [70], who shall perform the duties of signal officers of the Army. And the President is hereby authorized to appoint ten sergeants of infantry in the Provisional Army, and to assign them to duty as signal sergeants. The signal Corps above authorized may be organized as a separate corps, or may be attached to the department of the Adjutant and Inspector-General, or to the Engineer corps, as the Secretary of War shall direct.

301. That the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may appoint one major, ten first and ten second lieutenants in the signal corps, and that the Secretary of War may appoint twenty additional sergeants in the said corps.

302. Whereas, under the authority of some of the states, drill-masters were attached to various regiments; And whereas such office[r]s are not recognized by the laws of the Confederate States, and consequently were not mustered into service; And whereas several of such drill-masters have nevertheless continued to do effective service, voluntarily, with their respective regiments: Therefore,

Resolved, That such drill-masters be granted an honorable discharge whenever they shall apply therefore.

303. That the President be and he is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint drill-masters for camps of instruction [176] or reserve forces in any arm of the military service, with such pay as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

304. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint a chief bugler or principal musician, according to corps, to each regiment in the Provisional Army.

305. That whenever colored persons are employed as musicians in any regiment or company, they shall be entitled to the same pay now allowed by law to musicians regularly enlisted [75]: Provided, That no such person shall be so employed except by the consent of the commanding officer of the brigade to which said regiments or companies may belong.

318. That the President be and he is hereby authorized, upon the recommendation of any general commanding a department or any army, to discharge from service any officer of the Confederate States Army, or of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, who has no command, and can not be assigned to any appropriate duty, or who is incompetent or inefficient, ∗ or who may be absent from his command or duty without leave: Provided, That any officer who may be discharged for incompetency, inefficiency, or absence from his command or duty without leave, shall be entitled to a trial before an examining board, under existing laws, if he demands it of the commanding general within thirty days: Provided, further, That it shall not extend to any officer who is absent on account of his captivity.

319. That any commissioned officer of the Regular or Provisional Army who shall be found drunk, either while on or off duty, shall, on conviction thereof before a court of inquiry [322], be cashiered or suspended from the service of the Confederate States, or be publicly reprimanded, according to the aggravation of the offence; and in addition to a sentence cashiering any such officer, he may also be declared incapable of holding any military office under the Confederate States during the war.

320. That it shall be the duty of all officers to report to the commanding officer of the post, regiment, or corps to which they belong, all cases coming under their observation of intoxication of commissioned officers, whether of superior or inferior grades to themselves; and it shall be the duty of the commanding ∗See also 306 et seq. officer of the division or brigade to which post, regiment, or corps belongs, to whom such report may be made, to report the same to the officer commanding the brigade or division, who shall organize said court and order the trial of said offender at the earliest time consistent with the public service.

321. The findings of any such court shall be promptly transmitted to the Secretary of War, by the commanding officer, together with his approval or disapproval thereof, and shall be reported to Congress at the next session thereafter, by the said secretary.

322. That the jurisdiction conferred upon courts of inquiry [319], in the act above recited, is hereby repeated, and the said jurisdiction is hereby conferred, for the punishment of the offence therein named, upon the military courts and general courts-martial convened in the Army of the Confederate States; and the proceedings therein shall be subject to review, as in other cases.

323. That any citizen of the Confederate States is hereby authorized to make report of any violation of the provision of the act to which this is an amendment, in the same manner as officers of the army are now required to do.

324. Upon any trial for drunkenness it shall be lawful to prove, without special charge, that the accused is of intemperate habits; and if the court shall find that he is of such habits, he shall be cashiered or otherwise punished at the discretion of the court.

325. That no officer or soldier of the army shall receive pay for any period during which he may be absent without leave, or beyond the leave granted from competent authority, according to the regulations of the army: Provided, That this restriction shall not affect the sick and wounded in hospitals.

326. In order to enforce the requirements of the foregoing section, it is hereby made the duty of commanding ∗ See also 318. officers of companies to state upon the muster and pay rolls of their companies the length of time any officer or soldier has been absent therefrom, without leave of competent authority, since the previous payment, when the deduction of pay for such absence will be made by the quartermaster from the amount otherwise due the officer or soldier; and any commander of a company who shall fail to note such absence on the muster and pay rolls of the company shall be required to refund to the government the amount forfeited by such absent officer or soldier, unless it shall already have been received from the officer or soldier so absent.

327. Officers shall certify upon honor on their pay accounts, whether they have or have not been absent, without leave by competent authority, within the time for which they claim pay; and if absent without leave, they shall state in their certificates the time and period of such absences. In like manner, commanding officers of companies shall certify on honor on their pay accounts that they have stated fully and correctly on the muster and pay rolls of their companies the length of time each officer and soldier of the company has been absent without leave since the last payment of the company.

328. That this act shall not be construed to relieve any officer or private from any other penalty to which he may be liable by existing laws or regulations.

329. That, from and after the passage of this act, it shall not be lawful for any court-martial or military court to cause any soldier in the service of the Confederate States to be punished by whipping, or the infliction of stripes upon his person; and that all laws and customs contravening the provisions of this act be and the same are hereby repealed.

330. That article twenty of the Articles of War∗ be so amended as to read as follows: “All officers and ∗ See Appendix. soldiers who have received pay, or have been duly enlisted in the service of the Confederate States, and shall be convicted of having deserted the same, shall suffer death or confinement in penitentiary, with or without hard labor, for a period not less than one year, or more than five, or such other punishment, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act as the court-martial or military court may determine.”

346. That courts shall be organized, to be known as military courts, one to attend each army corps in the field, under the direction of the President. Each court shall consist of three members, two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and each member shall be entitled to the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall hold his office during the war, unless the court shall be sooner abolished by Congress. For each court there shall be one Judge Advocate, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the rank and pay of a captain of cavalry, whose duties shall be as prescribed by the Rules and Articles of War, except as enlarged or modified by the purposes and provisions of this act, and who shall also hold his office during the war, unless the court shall be sooner abolished by the Congress; and in case of the absence or disability of the Judge Advocate, upon the application of the court, the commander of the army corps to which such court is attached may appoint or detail an officer to perform the duties of Judge Advocate during such absence or disability, or until the vacancy, if any, shall be filled by the President.

347. Each court shall have the right to appoint a provost marshal to attend its sittings and execute the orders of the court, with the rank and pay of a captain of cavalry; and also a clerk, who shall have a salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month, who shall keep the record of the proceedings of the court, and shall reduce to writing the substance of the evidence in each case, and file the same in court. The provost marshal and clerk shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the court. Each member and officer of the court shall take an oath well and truly to discharge the duties of his office to the best of his skill and ability, without fear, favor, or reward, and to support the Constitution of the Confederate States. Each member of the court, the Judge Advocate, and the clerk, shall have the power to administer oaths.

348. Each court shall have power to adopt rules for conducting business and for the trial of causes, and to enforce the rules adopted, and to punish for contempt, and to regulate the taking of evidence, and to secure the attendance of witnesses, and to enforce and execute its orders, sentences, arid judgments, as in cases of courts-martial.

349. The jurisdiction of each court shall extend to all offences now cognizable by courts-martial under the Rules and Articles of War and the custom of war and also to all offences defined as crimes by the laws of the Confederate States or of the several states, and, when beyond the territory of the Confederate States, to all cases of murder, manslaughter, arson, rape, robbery, and larceny, as defined by the common law, when committed by any private or officer in the Army of the Confederate States, against any other private or officer in the army, or against the property or person of any citizen or other person not in the army: Provided, Said courts shall not have jurisdiction of offenders above the grade of [357] colonel. For offences cognizable by courts-martial the court shall, on conviction, inflict the penalty prescribed by the Rules and Articles of War, and in the manner and mode therein mentioned; and for offences not punishable by the Rules and Articles of War, but punishable by the laws of the Confederate States, said court shall inflict the penalties prescribed by the laws of the Confederate States; and for offences against which penalties are not prescribed by the Rules and Articles of War, nor by the laws of the Confederate States, but for which penalties are prescribed by the laws of a state, said court shall inflict the punishment prescribed by the laws of the state in which the offence was committed: Provided, That in cases in which, by the laws of the Confederate States or of the state, the punishment is by fine or by imprisonment, or by both, the court may, in its discretion, inflict any other punishment less than death; and for the offences defined as murder, manslaughter, arson, rape, robbery, and larceny, by the common law, when committed beyond the territorial limits of the Confederate States, the punishment shall be in the discretion of the court. That when an officer under the grade of brigadier-general, or private, shall be put under arrest for any offence cognizable by the court herein provided for, notice of his arrest, and of the offence with which he shall be charged, shall be given to the Judge Advocate by the officer ordering said arrest, and he shall be entitled to as speedy a trial as the business before said court will allow.

350. Said courts shall attend the army, shall have appropriate quarters within the lines of the army, shall be always open for the transaction of business, and the final decisions and sentences of said courts on convictions shall be subject to review, mitigation, and suspension, as now provided by the Rules and Articles of War in cases of courts-martial.

351. That during the recess of the Senate the President may appoint the members of the courts and the Judges Advocate provided for in the previous sections, subject to the confirmation of the Senate at its session next ensuing said appointments.

352. That in addition to one military court to attend each army corps in the field, as now authorized by an act entitled “An act to organize military courts to attend the Army of the Confederate States in the field, and to define the power of said courts,” approved October ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two [346 et seq.], one military court shall be organized in each of such military departments as, in the judgment of the President, the public exigencies may require—to be organized in the manner and with powers prescribed in the act of which this is amendatory.

353. That the act entitled “An act to organize military courts to attend the Army of the Confederate States in the field, and to define the powers of said courts” [346 et seq.], be so amended as to authorize the President to establish one in North Alabama, which shall sit at such times and places as said court may direct, and shall have all the powers and jurisdiction given to said military courts by said act; but the judges thereof shall give ten days' notice of the times and places of holding said courts before the same are held: Provided, however, That said court shall cease to exist after one year from the passage of this act, unless longer continued by Congress.

354. That in addition to the military courts now authorized by law, the President be and he is hereby authorized to appoint a military court to attend any division of cavalry in the field, and also one for each state within a military department, whenever, in his judgment, such courts would promote the public interest—which courts shall be organized, and have the same powers and duties, and the members thereof appointed, as provided by law.

355. That when two or more army corps are united in the same army, charges shall be referred to said courts, and their proceedings be subject to review by the army commander, as in the case of general courts-martial; and that the jurisdiction of each of said courts shall extend to any person connected with the army of which the corps to which the court is attached may be a part, without being limited to members of the particular corps to which said court may be attached.

356. That when the corps to which any military court may be attached shall, from any cause, cease to exist as such, the Secretary of War shall assign the members and officers of such court to any other unsupplied corps, or other subdivision of any of the armies of the Confederate States, where a military court may be needed; and exchanges and transfers of individual members and officers from any one court to another may be made by the Secretary of War, on application of the parties concerned—the consent of the commander or commanders of the army or armies to which the particular courts may belong having been first obtained to such exchange or transfer.

357. That the fourth section [349] of the act of which this is amendatory, be and the same is hereby so amended as to extend the jurisdiction of the military courts to all offenders below the grade of lieutenant-general.

358. That the President be and he is hereby authorized, at any time, to assign judges from one military court to another, as, in his judgment, the service may require.

359. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

360. That commanders of corps and departments be and they are hereby authorized to detail field-officers as members of military courts, whenever any of the judges of said courts shall be disqualified, by consanguinity or affinity, or unable, from sickness or other unavoidable cause, to attend said courts.

361. That any military court or court-martial convened within the Army of the Confederate States shall have power to summon as a witness before it any citizen of the state in which said court may at the time hold its session; and any citizen disobeying such summons—upon information given thereof by the Judge Advocate of such military court or court-martial, to the judge of the district court of the Confederate States for the district in which said citizen may reside—shall be subject to the same penalties as for disobedience of an order of said district judge; or, on application of the Judge Advocate, such citizen witness may by military force be arrested and brought before said military court or court-martial, by order of the commander of the army, and may be held in close confinement until he or she shall consent to testify.

362. That any citizen witness appearing upon being summoned, as provided in this act, shall be paid such reasonable amount for his or her attendance as the commander of the army shall deem reasonable—which payment shall be made by any paymaster, upon the certificate of said commander, specifying the amount.

363. That the proper quartermaster in the military department of Indian Territory be authorized to pay the officers and men of the company of Creek mounted volunteers, raised in the month of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, by authority of the Commissioner of the Confederate States, for local purposes, at the North Fork village, in the Creek country; and of the Cherokee regiments of Colonels Stand Watie and John Drew, and of the Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment of Colonel Douglas H. Cooper, and of the Creek regiment of Colonel Daniel N. McIntosh, and of the companies of Seminoles raised by the chief, by authority of the same commissioner, and of the other troops, called into the service by Colonel Douglas H. Cooper, to aid in suppressing the insurrection of a part of the Creeks, and of any called into service by the Creek Agent for the same purpose, by direction of the commissioner, for the times during which all of said troops were in the service, after being organized and before being mustered into the service, in the same manner as if they had been mustered in at the respective times when they were organized and received by the commissioner or either of said officers—which payments shall be made upon special pay-rolls for that purpose: Provided, That the allowance in lieu of clothing shall be paid only to such of said officers and men as shall have since been or may be mustered into the service, and that none shall be paid who have deserted or disbanded without permission, or have taken sides with the insurrectionists among the Creeks.

364. That the accounts of the acting commissaries and quartermasters of all said troops shall be settled and paid in the same manner as if the troops with or for which they acted had been regularly mustered into the service at the time when they were organized and received; and that the debts incurred or moneys advanced by them be paid by the brigade quartermaster of the brigade commanded by Brigadier-General Albert Pike: Provided, further, That said accounts shall be also approved by the said brigadier-general, and that the prices paid by them be found by him not to have been excessive or exorbitant, and the debts to have been contracted in good faith, and the moneys actually advanced.

365. That the Quartermaster-General audit and pay the accounts of the acting quartermaster and other officers of the Indian troops for camp utensils, horse equipments, clothing, ordnance, and ordnance stores furnished by Jones and Thebo, and R. M. Jones, for the use of said troops, upon the bills of particulars herewith filed, amounting to eleven thousand two hundred and sixteen dollars and seventy-five cents: Provided, That said accounts have been examined and approved by Brigadier-General Albert Pike.

370. That the President be and he is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint twenty general officers in the Provisional Army, and to assign them to such appropriate duties as he may deem expedient. ∗

371. That the President may appoint one general in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States when, in his discretion, it shall be deemed necessary and proper, for the command of the trans-Mississippi department, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate [563, 564].

372. That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint lieutenant-generals in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States when, in his discretion, it shall be deemed necessary for the command of any one of the military departments. †

373. That the officers appointed under the provisions of this act shall continue to hold the rank herein provided so long as they shall efficiently discharge the duties in command of said several departments, and no longer, but will resume thereafter their former rank in the service.

374. That adjutants of regiments and legions may be appointed by the President, upon the recommendation of the colonel thereof, of the grade of subaltern, in addition to the subaltern officers attached to companies; and said adjutants, when so appointed, ∗ President authorized to appoint general officers; see 85, 92, 110. † Lieutenant-generals to be appointed, 93. shall have the same rank, pay, and allowances as are provided by law to adjutants of regiments.

375. That the provisions of said act [374] shall be extended so as to apply to independent battalions, and that, on the recommendation of the commander of any such battalion, an adjutant of the grade of subaltern may be appointed by the President for said battalion, who is not attached as subaltern to said battalion, and that said adjutant, when so appointed, shall have the same rank, pay, and allowance as are provided by law for adjutants of regiments.

376. That, from and after the passage of this act, commissions in the Army of the Confederate States, and in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, may be issued to persons under twenty-one years of age, except in the case of officers who are required by law to give bond.

377. That any officer, non-commissioned officer, or private now in the military service of the Confederate States, who has been elected or appointed since entering said service, or who may hereafter be elected or appointed a senator or representative in Congress, or in any state legislature, a judge of the circuit, district, or superior courts of law or equity in any state of the Confederacy, district attorney, clerk of any court, of record, sheriff, ordinary, judge of any court of probate, collector of state taxes, not to exceed one for each county, parish recorder, upon furnishing the Secretary of War with evidence of such election or appointment, if an officer, his resignation shall be promptly accepted, and if a non-commissioned officer or private, he shall be honorably discharged by the Secretary of War.

378. That all officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of any legally constituted military organization, which may have been actually received into the service of the Confederate States by any general officer thereof, but were never legally mustered into service, in consequence of the loss of the muster-rolls of such military organization, shall be entitled to receive pay from the time they were so received: Provided, The fact of their having been so received into the service, and the time they served, is duly proved to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War, under rules to be prescribed by him.

379. That the oath required to enable sick, wounded, or other soldiers to receive their pay, may be taken before any quartermaster, who is hereby authorized to administer the same, or before any justice of the peace having jurisdiction, or any other officer having the right, by the laws of the state, to administer oaths.

380. That commutation in lieu of quarters be, and the same is hereby allowed to the Superintendent of the “Army Intelligence-Office” and his clerks, at the discretion of the Secretary of War, and under such regulations as may be prescribed by him, and that the extra pay allowed said clerks shall be and is hereby increased from twenty-five to fifty cents per day.

381. That the President be and he is hereby authorized to bestow medals, with proper devices, upon such officers of the armies of the Confederate States as shall be conspicuous for courage and good conduct on the field of battle; and also to confer a badge of distinction upon one private or non-commissioned officer of each company after every signal victory it shall have assisted to achieve. The non-commissioned officers and privates of the company who may be present on the first dress-parade thereafter may choose, by a majority of their votes, the soldier best entitled to receive such distinction, whose name shall be communicated to the President by commanding officers of the company, and if the award fall upon a deceased soldier, the badge thus awarded him shall be delivered to his widow, or if there be no widow, to any relation the President may adjudge entitled to receive it.

382. That the President is hereby authorized, upon the recommendation of the general commanding a department or a separate army in the field, to fill any vacancy in the commissioned officers of a regiment or battalion, by the promotion to the same, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, of any officer, non-commissioned officer, or private who may have distinguished himself by exhibiting peculiar valor or skill on the battle-field [157, 158, 105]: Provided, That the officer, non-commissioned officer, or private so recommended and nominated for promotion shall belong to the regiment or battalion in which the vacancy may have occurred.

383. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the above provisions are hereby repealed.

384. That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to furnish to volunteer cavalry companies, whose services are accepted for the war by the Confederate States, all necessary equipments.

385. That the Secretary of War be and he is hereby authorized to cause payment to be made to the vendors, upon an audit of the accounts of certain horses heretofore purchased by order of Colonel Angus W. McDonald, to mount the men he was authorized to raise by order of the President of the Confederate States; and upon the payment of the said accounts said horses shall become the property of the government, and shall be subject to the control of the quartermaster's department: Provided, however, That the Quartermaster-General shall be and he is hereby empowered to permit said horses to remain in the possession of the volunteers who now have them, subject to the general law controlling cavalry troops, upon the written agreement of said volunteers that said horses will be paid for by them out of the allowances now made for cavalry troops.

386. That every person not subject to the Rules and Articles of War, who shall procure or entice a soldier or person enrolled for service in the Army of the Confederate States to desert; or who shall aid or assist any deserter from the army, or any person enrolled for service, to evade their proper commanders, or to prevent their arrest to be returned to the service; or who shall knowingly conceal or harbor any such deserter; or shall purchase from any soldier or person enrolled for service any portion of his arms, equipments, rations, or clothing, or any property belonging to the Confederate States, or any officer or soldier of the Confederate States, shall, upon conviction before the district court of the Confederate States having jurisdiction of the offence, be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding two years.

387. That when any officer or private of any legally constituted military organization may have heretofore, by order of his proper superior officer, performed any staff duty appropriate to such command, he shall be entitled to receive pay for the time be was so engaged in the discharge of such duties: Provided, That there was not then present, fit for duty, any officer duly appointed for the discharge of the same [see also 205].