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of Government property have been lost or abstracted by him, and the money-value thereof shall be charged against him on the next muster-rolls, or as soon thereafter as practicable. The proceedings of this Board will contain a list of the articles, and their value, for which the deserter is responsible, and a copy thereof will be forwarded with the muster-rolls on which the articles are charged. A copy of so much of the proceedings of the Board as relates to the property charged on any return will accompany the return.—[G. O. 66, 1874; G. O. 46 and 110, 1876.]

223. In case of stoppages made against a soldier's pay for loss or damage to public property by sentence of Court-Martial, a certified copy of so much of the Court-Martial orders as refers to the case, giving number, date, and place of issue of the orders, will be sent with the property return of the officer responsible, with a statement on the face of said copy of the rolls on which the charges are made.-[G. O. 46, 1876.]

224. Soldiers who may be discovered to be deserters from the Navy or Marine Corps will be immediately dropped from the rolls of the Army. In all such cases reports will be forwarded with descriptive rolls to the Adjutant General's Office, and the men held without pay, awaiting instructions. This will not be regarded as requiring the discharge of any man who may have been enlisted in the Army after having received a discharge from the Navy or Marine Corps, the recruiting officer being in ignorance of the fact that he had deserted from either of those branches of the service; but whenever such fact of desertion shall be known, it will be regarded as a bar to enlistment in the Army. In case, however, of such enlistments, no benefit can accrue to the soldier for previous time served in the Army.--[G. O. 11, 1875.]

225. Every person who entices or procures, or attempts or endeavors to entice or procure, any soldier in the military service of the United States, or who has been recruited for such service, to desert therefrom, or who aids any such soldier in deserting or attempting to desert from such service, or who harbors, conceals, protects, or assists any such soldier who may have deserted from such service, knowing him to have deserted therefrom, or who refuses to give up and deliver such soldier on the demand of any officer authorized to receive him, shall be punished by imprisonment not less than six months nor more than two years, and by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.-[R. S., § 5455.]

ARTICLE XXIII.

DECEASED SOLDIERS.

[Art. XVII, Regs. 1863, and notes on official blanks.]

226. Inventories of the effects of deceased soldiers required by the 126th Article of War will be prepared in triplicate, two copies to be forwarded to the Adjutant General by the commanding officer of the company to which the deceased belonged, together with

final statements of pay, clothing, &c.; the other copy to be retained with the company records.

of

227. Each inventory will be indorsed, "Inventory of the effects late of company (—), regiment of the day of

18"

who

died at 228. When a soldier, absent from his company, dies at any post or station, it will be the duty of his immediate commander to furnish direct to the Adjutant General the required inventories and final statements, and, at the same time, to forward to the commanding officer of the company to which deceased belonged a report of his death, specifying the date, place, and cause; to what time he was last paid, and the money or other effects in his possession at the time of his decease; and if a legal representative receive the effects, it will be so stated in the report. If the soldier leave no effects, that fact will be reported. This report will be noted on the next muster-roll of his company.

229. Should the effects of a deceased soldier not be administered upon within a short period after his decease, they shall be disposed of by a Council of Administration, under the authority of the commanding officer of the post, and the proceeds deposited with a Paymaster to the credit of the United States, until they shall be claimed by the legal representatives of the deceased.

230. In all such cases of sales by the Council of Administration, a statement in detail or account of the proceeds, duly certified by the Council and commanding officer, accompanied by the Paymaster's receipt for the proceeds, will be forwarded by the commanding officer to the Adjutant General. The statement will be indorsed, "Report of the proceeds of the effects of late of company (—), regiment of the- day of

18-"

who died at

9

231. The effects in all cases should be turned over, when called for, to the legal representatives, without further authority from the Adjutant General. When the effects are turned over to the relatives of the deceased, before these inventories are sent to the Adjutant General, their receipts therefor should be attached to the inventories. In all other cases one copy of the receipt will be sent with a letter of transmittal to the Adjutant General, and a duplicate retained with the company.

232. Receipts in duplicate will be taken from the Paymaster for funds turned over to him-one copy to be sent direct to the Adjutant General, and one retained with the company.

ARTICLE XXIV.

DISCHARGES.

233. No enlisted man shall be discharged before the expiration of his term, except

1. By order of the President, or Secretary of War, or the Commanding Officer of a Department.

2. By sentence of a General Court-Martial.

3. On certificate of disability by the Commander of a Geographical Department or an army in the field.

4. By order of one of the United States courts, or justices or judges thereof, on writ of habeas corpus. The authority of State courts to issue writs of habeas corpus in this matter will not be recognized.—[ Regs. 1863, ¶ 163; R. S., §§ 751, 761; 4th and 112th Arts. of War; A. G. O., Oct. 14, 1871; G. O. 16, 1872.]

5. General Service clerks may be discharged by their commanders. -[4th Art. of War; G. O. 44, 1880.]

234. When an enlisted man is to be discharged, his company commander shall furnish him certificates of his account or final statements, according to Form 4, Pay Department. And to insure his being at the post to get these, no leave of absence, terminating with his service, will be given to him.-[Regs. 1863, ¶ 164.]

235. At remote interior stations, soldiers may be discharged a sufficient time before their term expires to avail themselves of opportunities for returning home, whenever there is reasonable certainty that they would otherwise be detained at the post for a period much longer than that remaining on their enlistment. Permission to discharge must be obtained beforehand from the Department Commander, when possible. When a discharge is granted by the commander of a post under the foregoing conditions, a full report of the circumstance will be promptly made to the Department Commander.-[G. O. 24, 1859.]

236. To insure uniformity in discharges and re-enlistments, whenever an enlisted man is discharged by expiration of service, his discharge shall take effect on the last day of his term of service; i. e., if enlisted on the second day of a month, his term will expire on the first day of same month five years thereafter.—[ G. O. 26, 1879.]

237. Department Commanders are authorized to arrange for the transportation and subsistence of discharged soldiers to their homes. When transportation in kind is furnished to enable the soldier to gain access to a Paymaster, the Quartermaster will note on the man's final statement simply that "transportation in kind” is furnished from such a point to such a point, but not the moneyOn the final payment, deduction will be made of the transportation furnished in kind as such, and payment will be made for the remaining distance.-[G. O. 24, 1872.]

cost.

238. Blank discharges on parchment will be furnished from the Adjutant General's Office. They must, with the blank final statements, be kept in the personal custody of company commanders [Regs. 1863, ¶¶ 165, 171.]

239. No discharge shall be made in duplicate, nor shall any certificate be given in lieu thereof, except by the Secretary of War, as provided in section 224, Revised Statutes; and except that, on application to the Adjutant General of the Army, giving the

regiment, company, date of discharge, and evidence of identity, a certificate will be furnished, which can be filed as proof of discharge, to any soldier desiring to be naturalized under section 2166, Revised Statutes.-[Regs. 1863, ¶ 165; G. O. 33, 1873.]

240. The cause of discharge, and the soldier's age at its date, shall be stated in the body of the discharge certificate. The soldier's character must be carefully described according to the facts. Whenever the man is unfit for re-enlistment because of bad conduct, the space in the discharge certificate left for description of character must be cut off. The officer signing the character on the discharge certificate of an enlisted man will state thereon whether or not the soldier is married.-[Regs. 1863, ¶ 166; G. O. 1, 1869; G. O. 2, 1875; G. O. 68, 1880.]

241. Insane soldiers will not be discharged at the posts where they may be serving, but will be discharged by the Secretary of War after their arrival at the Government Hospital for the Insane. The company commanders will forward with their descriptive lists and accounts of pay and clothing certificates of disability in the usual form, and a medical history of the cases for the information of the superintendent of the hospital.-[Regs. 1863, ¶ 169; G. O. 88, 1877.]

242. An honest and faithful service of twenty years in the Army entitles a soldier to admission to the Soldiers' Home; but applications for discharge by reason of twenty years' service will not be entertained unless the soldier is a fit subject for discharge on certificate of disability, or upon condition that he shall enter the Soldiers' Home.-[Regs. 1863, ¶ 163; R. S., § 4821; A. G. O., May 1, 1872.] 243. To prevent payments on fraudulent discharge papers, Paymasters will refuse payment unless the identity of the soldier is properly established. As discharged soldiers may travel in advance of the mail, the officer who signs final statements will send to the chief Paymaster a notification of discharge several mails previous to date of discharge; and with this notification the signature of the discharged soldier, if he can write his name; if he can not, the fact will be reported in writing on the notification of discharge. If the soldier prefer payment at some particular point other than the station of the chief Paymaster, the notification will be sent to the Paymaster to whom he will present himself. The notification must never be sent by the hands of the man discharged. No payments will be made on discharge papers by any Paymaster except upon receipt of such notification, unless he may be otherwise satisfied of their genuineness, and of the personal identity of the claimant.-[G. O. 82, 1867; G. O. 8, 1872.]

244. The date, place, and cause of discharge of a soldier absent from his company will be reported by the commander of the post to his company commander, accompanied by a complete descriptive list of the soldier.-[Regs. 1863, ¶ 170.]

CERTIFICATE OF DISABILITY.

245. Whenever a non-commissioned officer or soldier shall be unfit for the military service in consequence of wounds, disease, or infirmity, his Captain shall forward to the Commander of the Department or of the army in the field, through the commander of the regiment or post, a statement of his case, with a certificate of his disability, in duplicate, signed by the senior Surgeon of the hospital, regiment, or post, according to the form prescribed in the Medical Regulations, and blanks furnished by the Adjutant General.

246. If the recommendation for the discharge of the invalid be approved, the authority therefor will be indorsed on the "certificate of disability," which will be sent back to be completed and signed by the commanding officer, who will then send the same direct to the Adjutant General's Office. But under no circumstances will the certificate be given into the hands of the soldier.—[ Regs. 1863, ¶¶ 167, 168; Notes on blank form.]

247. In deciding upon applications for pension, reference is made to the certificate of disability for proper proof that the soldier is entitled under the law. Therefore, when it is a probable case for pension, special care must be taken to state the degree of disabilityas,, &c.; to describe particularly the disability, wound, or disease; the extent to which it deprives the soldier of the use of any limb or faculty, or affects his health, strength, activity, constitution, or capacity to labor or earn his subsistence. The Surgeon will add, from his knowledge of the facts and circumstances, and from the evidence in the case, his professional opinion of the cause or origin of the disability, and whether "in the line of duty" or not.-Notes on blank form of Certif. Dis.]

ARTICLE XXV.

CERTIFICATES OF MERIT.

248. The certificates authorized by section 1216, Revised Statntes, will be awarded only for acts of extraordinary gallantry in presence of the enemy, which acts must be specific and certified to by an eye-witness, preferably the immediate commanding officer of the soldier. Good standing and undoubted courage in a soldier will also be required to entitle him to a certificate of merit.-[G. O. 2, 1878.]

249. Recommendations for the certificate of merit must each be in behalf of only one person, and must contain a full description of the merits of the case. They must be forwarded through the regular channel, and indorsed with approval and recommendation by each commander, especially the regimental commander.— [G. O. 2, 1878.]

250. The extra pay granted on certificate of merit commences

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