Whereas, certain of the forts, arsenals, custom-houses, navy
yards, and other property of the United States have been seized, and other violations
of law have been committed and are threatened by organized bodies of men in several
of the States, and a conspiracy has been entered into to overthrow the
Government of the United States: Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President
be, and he is hereby, authorized to accept the services of volunteers, either
as cavalry, infantry, or artillery, in such numbers, not exceeding five hundred
thousand, as he may deem necessary, for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing
insurrection, enforcing the laws, and preserving and protecting the public
property: Provided, That the services of the volunteers shall be for
such time as the President may direct, not exceeding three years nor
less than six months, and they shall be disbanded at the end of the war. And
all provisions of law applicable to three years' volunteers shall apply to two
years' volunteers, and to all volunteers who have been, or may be, accepted
into the service of the United States, for a period not less than six months,
in the same manner as if such volunteers were specially named. Before receiving
into service any number of volunteers exceeding those now called for and
accepted, the President shall, from time to time, issue his proclamation,
stating the number desired, either as cavalry, infantry, or artillery, and the
States from which they are to be furnished, having reference, in any such
requisition, to the number then in service from the several States, and to the
exigencies of the service at the time, and equalizing, as far as practicable,
the number furnished by the several States, according to Federal population.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said
volunteers shall be subject to the rules and regulations governing the army of
the United States, and that they shall be formed, by the President, into
regiments of infantry, with the exception of such numbers for cavalry and
artillery, as he may direct, not to exceed the proportion of one company of
each of those arms to every regiment of infantry, and to be organized as in the
regular service. Each regiment of infantry shall have one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel,
one major, one adjutant, (a lieutenant,) one quarter-master, (a lieutenant,)
one surgeon and one assistant surgeon, one sergeant-major, one regimental
quartermaster-sergeant, one regimental commissary-sergeant, one hospital
steward, two principal musicians, and twenty-four musicians for a band, and
shall be composed of ten companies, each company to consist of one captain, one
first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one first sergeant, four sergeants,
eight corporals, two musicians, one wagoner, and from sixty-four to eighty-two
privates.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That these forces,
when accepted as herein authorized, shall be organized into divisions of three
or more brigades each; and each division shall have a major-general, three
aides-de-camp, and one assistant adjutant-general with the rank of major. Each brigade
shall be composed of four or more regiments and shall have one
brigadier-general, two aides-de-camp, one assistant adjutant-general with the
rank of captain, one surgeon, one assistant quartermaster, and one commissary
of subsistence.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President
shall be authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, for of the command of the forces provided for in this act, a number of
major-generals, not exceeding six, and a number of brigadier-generals, not
exceeding eighteen, and the other division and brigade officers required for
the organization of these forces, except the aides-de-camp, who shall be
selected by their respective generals from the officers of the army or
volunteer corps: Provided, That the President may select the major-generals
and brigadier-generals provided for in this act, from the line or staff of the
regular army, and the officers so selected shall be permitted to retain their
rank therein. The governors of the States furnishing volunteers under this act,
shall commission the field, staff, and company officers Field, staff and
requisite for the said volunteers; but, in cases where the State authorities
refuse or omit to furnish volunteers at the call or on the proclamation of the
President, and volunteers from such States offer their services under such call
or proclamation, the President shall have power to accept such services, and to
commission the proper field, staff, and company officers.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the officers,
non-commissioned officers, and privates, organized as above set forth, shall,
in all respects, be placed on the footing, as to pay and allowances, of similar
corps of the regular army: Provided, That the allowances of
non-commissioned officers and privates for clothing, when not furnished in
kind, shall be three dollars and fifty cents per month, and that each company
officer, non-commissioned officer, private, musician, and artificer of cavalry
shall furnish his own horse and horse equipments, and shall receive forty cents
per day for their use and risk, except that in case the horse shall become
disabled, or shall die, the allowance shall cease until the disability be
removed or another horse be supplied. Every volunteer non-commissioned officer,
private, musician, and artificer, who enters the service of the United States
under this act, shall be paid at the rate of fifty cents in lieu of
subsistence, and if a cavalry volunteer, twenty-five cents additional, in lieu
of forage, for every twenty miles of travel from his place of enrolment to the
place of muster — the distance to be measured by the shortest usually travelled
route; and when honorably discharged an allowance at the same rate, from the
place of his discharge to his place of enrolment, and, in addition thereto, if
he shall have served for a period of two years, or during the war, if sooner
ended, the sum of one hundred dollars: Provided, That such of the
companies of cavalry herein provided for, as may require it, may be furnished
with horses and horse equipments in the same manner as in the United States
army.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That any volunteer
who may be received into the service of the United States under this act, and
who may be wounded or otherwise disabled in the service, shall be entitled to
the benefits which have been or may be conferred on persons disabled in the
regular service, and the widow, if there be one, and if not, the legal heirs of
such as die, or may be killed in service, in addition to all arrears of pay and
allowances, shall receive the sum of one hundred dollars.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the bands of
the regiments of infantry and of the regiments of cavalry shall be paid as
follows: one-fourth of each shall receive the pay and allowances of sergeants
of engineer soldiers; one-fourth those of corporals of engineer soldiers; and
the remaining half those of privates of engineer soldiers of the first class;
and the leaders of the band shall receive the same pay and emoluments as second
lieutenants of infantry.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the wagoners
and saddlers shall receive the pay and allowances of corporals of cavalry. The
regimental commissary-sergeant shall receive the pay and allowances of
regimental sergeant-major, and the regimental quartermaster-sergeant shall
receive the pay and allowances of a sergeant of cavalry.
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That there shall
be allowed to each regiment one chaplain, who shall be appointed by the
regimental commander on the vote of the field officers and company commanders
on duty with the regiment at the time the appointment shall be made. The
chaplain so appointed must be a regular ordained minister of a Christian
denomination, and shall receive the pay and allowances of a captain of cavalry,
and shall be required to report to the colonel commanding the regiment to which
he is attached, at the end of each quarter, the moral and religious condition
of the regiment, and such suggestions as may conduce to the social happiness
and moral improvement of the troops.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the general
commanding a separate department or a detached army, is hereby authorized to
appoint a military board or commission, of not less than three nor more than
five officers, whose duty it shall be to examine the capacity, qualifications,
propriety of conduct and efficiency of any commissioned officer of volunteers
within his department or army, who may be reported to the board or commission;
and upon such report, if adverse to such officer, and if approved by the
President of the United States, the commission of such officer shall be
vacated: Provided always, That no officer shall be eligible to sit on
such board or commission, whose rank or promotion would in any way be affected
by its proceedings, and two members at least, if practicable, shall be of equal
rank of the officer being examined. And when vacancies occur in any of the
companies of volunteers, an election shall be called by the colonel of the
regiment to fill such vacancies, and the men of each company shall vote in
their respective companies for all officers as high as captain, and vacancies
above captain shall be filled by the votes of the commissioned officers of the
regiment, and all officers so elected shall be commissioned by the respective
Governors of the States, or by the President of the United States.
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That all letters
written by soldiers in the service of the United States, may be transmitted
through the mails without prepayment of postage, under such regulations as the
Post-Office Department may prescribe, the postage thereon to be paid by the recipients.
SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the
Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to introduce
among the volunteer forces in the service of the United States, the system of
allotment among the volunteer forces in the service of the United States, the
system of allotment tickets now used in the navy, or some equivalent system by
which the family of the volunteer may draw such portions of his pay as he may
request.
APPRoved, July
22, 1861.
SOURCE: George P. Sanger, Editor, The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United
States of America from December 5, 1859 to March 3, 1863, Vol. 12, p. 268-71
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