Dr. Seth Rogers to his Daughter, December 27, 1862

CAMP SAXTON, BEAUFORT, S. C.

December 27, 1862.

. . . There is a little more of solid reality in this work of camp-life than I have found in any previous experience. You remember my delight in the life of ship surgeon, when I had three hundred and fifty of the lowest Irish to care for. Multiply that delight by ten and you will approximate to what I get among these children of the tropics. A more childlike, jovial, devotional, musical, shrewd, amusing set of beings never lived. Be true to them and they will be devoted to you. I leave all my things in tent unguarded and at loose ends, as I could never think of doing in a white regiment, and if I ever lose anything you shall be informed. Their religious devotion is more natural than any I ever witnessed. At this moment the air is full of melody from the tents, of prayer and hymns, mingled with the hearty yah, yah, of the playful outsiders.

Last night I had too many business letters to get off in today's mail to allow me time for writing half of what I wished, and since then I have lived so long that much has been lost in the ages. I want, once for all, to say that Col. H. is splendid — pardon the McClellan word, — beyond even my anticipation, which, you know, has for years been quite exalted. I stood by General [Rufus] Saxton, who is a West Pointer, the other night, witnessing the dress parade, and was delighted to hear him say that he knew of no other man who could have magically brought these blacks under the military discipline that makes our camp one of the most enviable. Should we by possibility ever increase to a brigade I can already foresee that our good Colonel is destined to be the Brigadier General.

I am about selecting my orderly from among the privates, and just now a Lieutenant brought little “ Charlie" before me: a boy of fourteen or fifteen, who saw his master shot at Hilton Head without weeping over it; who had some of his own teeth knocked out at the same time. He has always taken care of his master and knows so many things that I shall probably avail myself of his bright eyes and willing bands. We have had an old uncle “Tiff,” whom I should take if I had the time and strength to wait upon him when he should get too tired to wait upon me. He is a dear old man who prays day and night.

I have forgotten whether I have written that the mocking-bird sings by day and the cricket by night. To me it is South America over again. The live oak grows to enormous size. Today I made thirty of my longest paces across the diameter of the branches of one of these handsome trees. The beautiful gray moss pendent everywhere from its branches gave the most decided impression of fatherliness and age.

Col. H. kindly invited James and me to mess with him and the adjutant. Thus we have a pleasant little table under the supervision of “William and Hattie,” in an old home just outside the camp. I am yet sharing the young captain's tent, but in a day or two shall have my own pitched. . . . We are not more than fifty rods from the shore. Our landing is remarkable for its old fort, built of shells and cement in 16— by Jean Paul de la Ribaudière. Its preservation is almost equal to monuments perpetuated by Roman cement.

The chance for wild game here is excellent, and in anticipation I enjoy it much, while in reality I doubt whether I shall ever find time for such recreation, and actual profit to our stomachs. It is not very easy for us to get fresh meat here, but we shall not suffer, because oysters are plentiful and fresh.

Our Chaplain is a great worker, and has a good influence over the soldiers — I presume Mr. Wasson knows him, — Mr. [James H.] Fowler, who was not long ago at Cambridge.

My first assistant surgeon is Dr. [J. M.] Hawks of Manchester, N. H. He is a radical anti-slavery man, somewhat older than I, and has had a large medical experience and in addition has been hospital surgeon at Beaufort during several months. He has been rigidly examined by three regimental surgeons from New England, and they have given him a very flattering certificate of qualification. I consider myself fortunate in having a man so well fitted for the place. The men and officers like him, and I fancy will take to him quite as much as to me. The second assistant is not yet decided upon, but will probably be a young man who has already been several months in the army. The hospital steward has also had experience . . .

SOURCE: Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Volume 43, October, 1909—June,1910: February 1910. p. 338-9

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Edward O. C. Ord, April 15, 1865 — 4 p.m.

WASHINGTON CITY,        

April 15, 1865 — 4 p.m.

Major-General ORD,

Richmond, Va.:

Arrest J. A. Campbell, Mayor Mayo, and the members of the old council of Richmond, who have not yet taken the oath of allegiance, and put them in Libby Prison. Hold them guarded beyond the possibility of escape until further orders. Also arrest all paroled officers and surgeons until they can be sent beyond our lines, unless they take the oath of allegiance. The oath need not be received from any one who you have not good reason to believe will observe it, and from none who are excluded by the President's proclamation, without authority of the President to do so. Extreme rigor will have to be observed whilst assassination remains the order of the day with the rebels.

U.S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 762

Brigadier-General Ulysses S. Grant to Julia Dent Grant, February 24, 1862

Fort Donelson, Feb. 24th 1862.

DEAR JULIA,

I have just returned from Clarkesville.  Yesterday some citizens of Nas[h]ville came down there ostensibly to bring surgeons to attend their wounded at that place but in reality no doubt to get assurances that they would not be molested.  Johns[t]on with his army of rebels have fallen back about forty miles south from Nashville,¹ leaving the river clear to our troops  To-day a Division of Gen. Buells Army reported to me for orders.  As they were on Steamers I ordered them immediately up to Nashville.²  “Secesh” is now about on its last legs in Tennessee.  I want to push on as rapidly as possible to save hard fighting.  These terrible battles are very good things to read about for persons who loose no friends but I am decidedly in favor of having as little of it as possible.  The way to avoid it is to push forward as vigorously as possible.

Gen. Halleck is clearly the same way of thinking and with his clear head I think the Congressional Committee for investigating the Conduct of the war will have nothing to enquire about in the West.

I am writing you in great haste a boat being about leaving here.  I will write you often to make up for the very short letters I send.

Give my love to all at home and write frequently.  Tell me all about the children.  I want to see rascal Jess already.  Tell May she must write to me often.  Kiss the Children for me and the same for yours[elf]

ULYS.

_______________

¹ Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

² See Letter to Brig. Gen. William Nelson, Feb. 24, 1862.

SOURCE: John Y. Simon & William M. Ferraro, Editors The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 4: January 8-March 31, 1862, p. 284

Official Reports of the Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee, November 14, 1864 — January 23, 1865: No. 156. Report of Lieut. Col. George Bradley, Seventh Minnesota Infantry, of operations December 15-16, 1864.

No. 156.

Report of Lieut. Col. George Bradley, Seventh Minnesota Infantry,

of operations December 15-16, 1864.

HDQRS. SEVENTH MINNESOTA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY,           

In the Field, December 20, 1864.

LIEUTENANT: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by the Seventh Regiment Minnesota Infantry in the engagements of the 15th and 16th instant:

On the morning of the 15th instant the regiment, commanded by Col. William R. Marshall, moved out from camp near Nashville, with the brigade to which it belongs, at 6 a.m. They moved out on the Hardin pike about a mile, when they formed line of battle and halted. During this halt the extreme right of the army appeared to be quite heavily engaged. Company B of my regiment, commanded by Capt. A. H. Stevens, was ordered to advance and deploy as skirmishers in front of the regiment. Soon after the whole line moved forward, crossing the Hardin pike obliquely to the left, until they arrived in front of the enemy's works, about three miles from the camp we had left. Here our line was moved somewhat to the left, which brought my regiment into an open field, where they were ordered to lie down, while the artillery in our line opened upon the enemy. The enemy were posted upon a range of high hills, upon which they had erected strong fortifications, from which it was our business to dislodge them. The regiment lay in the field before referred to until the first of the fortifications on the enemy's left were charged and taken by the brigades of our division upon our right, when our brigade was moved forward to a hill opposite a fortification still occupied by the enemy, conforming our movements to those of the troops upon our right. We were shortly moved forward again to the foot of the hill upon which the fortification last named was situated, from which point we charged the enemy in his works, driving him in confusion. The regiment moved rapidly along the enemy's line to a second fortification, a little distance off, again driving the enemy, and forcing him to abandon three of his guns and caissons. From this point we poured a most galling fire upon the retreating enemy. By the death of the gallant officer commanding our brigade, Colonel Hill, of the Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry, who was killed just as he reached the top of the hill upon which the fortification was situated, Colonel Marshall was called to the command of the brigade, and the command of the regiment devolved upon me. It was now dark, and the regiment bivouacked in its place in brigade for the night.

In this action the regiment lost seventeen men wounded, whose names appear in my report of casualties herewith furnished. Lieut. A. A. Rice, of Company B, was severely wounded while in the skirmish line. He is a gallant officer, and performed his duties up to the time he was wounded with courage and ability.

In this day's action the regiment captured over fifty prisoners, who were turned over to the provost-marshal-general, and shared with the other regiments of the brigade the capture of three guns.

On the morning of the 16th instant we again moved upon the enemy and took a position on the left of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, in the front line of the brigade, behind a fence directly in front of a strongly fortified position held by the enemy. The right of the Twelfth Iowa rested on the Granny White pike. The enemy was protected by a high and thick wall of stone, which was strengthened by earth thrown up against its front along a portion of the wall and by large rails planted firmly and slanting from the top of the wall to the ground along the remainder of it. Inside the wall cannon were planted, and deep pits dug for the protection of the men against our guns. Outside the walls, and somewhat advanced, were barricades made of rails piled closely together, with rifle pits behind them, from which the enemy's sharpshooters continually fired upon our line. Here my regiment remained the greater part of the day, the left of the line keeping up a fire upon the enemy the most of the time. We had some men wounded while occupying this line, and two killed in advancing to it. A heavy cannonading upon the enemy was kept up the whole day by the batteries upon our right and in our rear. Toward the close of the day a charge was made upon the enemy's works, commencing upon our right, the brigades of the First Division moving rapidly, one after the other, until the whole line was in motion. My regiment moved forward with the line, in the face of a heavy fire of grape and musketry, passed over the works of the enemy, who were completely routed, capturing their guns and many prisoners. The ground over which the regiment passed was soft; a portion of the way was a corn-field, rendering the rapid movement of the line exceedingly difficult and greatly adding to the hazard of the movement. We advanced as far as a high hill beyond the line of works where we charged the enemy, and bivouacked for the night.

In the charge the regiment captured 4 of the enemy's guns and more than 200 prisoners, making with those taken the day before 250 prisoners taken by them. Major Butt, of my regiment, had charge of the brigade skirmish line during the day, and discharged his duties with his usual skill and fidelity. Our losses in this day's fight were 43, 7 killed and 36 wounded, whose names have been furnished in a previous report. The most of the losses occurred in the charge. Captain McKelvy, of Company I, and Lieutenant Potter, of Company E, were both wounded in this charge, the first slightly, the latter somewhat severely.

In conclusion, I ought not to omit to mention Corporals Sylvester, of Company I, and Dowling, of Company B, who bore the colors of the Regiment in both days' fights. Cool and intrepid, they pushed steadily on through the terrific charges made upon the enemy, unswerved by the “leaden rain and iron hail” which fell thickly around them, mindful only of the honorable duty of bearing the colors erect in the van of the fight. Assistant Surgeon Mattock was constantly with us in the field, fearlessly exposing himself wherever his presence could benefit the wounded, and faithful and untiring in the discharge of all his duties. Doctor Ames was on duty at the hospital during the fight, by order of the division surgeon. Chaplain Edwards was active and zealous in his ministrations to the wounded, constantly and efficiently exerting himself in their behalf. Of the officers of the field, staff, and line of the regiment I can only say that the conduct of all was such that any distinction would be invidious. It is enough to say that all were earnest, zealous, and efficient in the discharge of every duty. Lieutenant Potter, though wounded by a shot through the arm, still pressed on with his company, and did not fall back till the works had been carried. The conduct of the men present in the two days' engagement was unexceptional; they were fearless amid the dangers of the battle, and cheerful and uncomplaining in enduring the hardships and exposures of the bivouac and the march.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

GEO. BRADLEY,    

Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Regiment.

Lieut. HENRY HOOVER,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 45, Part 1 (Serial No. 93), p. 466-8

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 24, 1864

May 24, 1864.

Short march to-day — because it is a full day's march from here to water. At Van Wirt we turned east on the Atlanta road. Will pass through Dallas to-morrow. My company was rear guard to-day for the brigade. One of my men spilled a kettle of boiling coffee last night, filling his shoe. All the skin on the top of his foot that did not come off with the socks is in horrible blisters. The surgeon said he would have to march, and he has, all day, don't that seem rather hard? You remember how I used to detest fat meat? If I didn't eat a pound of raw pickled pork to-day for dinner, shoot me. Things don't go nearly as well as on the march from Memphis. 'Tis much harder, though we don't make as many miles per day. One reason is the weather is much warmer, and another thing, each division then marched independently, and now all three of them camp together every night. Dorrance is nearly sick to-night. I thought I heard some artillery firing this morning, but guess I was mistaken. The cavalry report they have not found any force of Rebels yesterday or to-day. Small-pox has broken out in the 6th Iowa—some 20 cases.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 246

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 2, 1864

West bank of Crow Creek, near Stevenson,

May 2d, 1864.

Only about seven miles from last night's camp, but will have to wait until to-morrow to build a bridge. The creek is some 150 feet wide. Our Pioneer Corps will from the rough put a bridge over it in ten hours, that is to be passed over within the next three days by 800 wagons and 100 cannon of our corps. We reached here about 9 this a. m., and were led into a very large field of prairie grass, standing three feet high and as dry as tinder. A stiff breeze was blowing and the first fire started in our regiment set the grass in our front on a perfect rampage. It run down on the 46th Ohio, and such a grabbing of “traps” and scattering was never before seen, but was equaled about half an hour afterwards when a fire set in our rear came sweeping down on us. We threw our things out on the bare space in our front and escaped with little loss. My drummer had his coat, cap, drum and a pet squirrel burned, and a number of ponchos and small articles were also sent up in smoke. The days are almost like summer, but the nights are rather cool. The trees are about in full leaf and vermin are becoming altogether too numerous. Every man is a vigilance committee on the wood-tick question. They are worse than guerrillas or gray-backs. On an ordinary good "tick day" we capture about ten per capita. They demoralize one tremendously. The boys did some good work fishing in the p. m., catching a number of fine bass, etc.

A surgeon, who I think belongs on some brigade staff, has been stopping at nearly every house visiting, etc., and then rides past us to his place in front. This morning, after a visit he was passing our regiment; as we commenced crossing a little stream his horse got into a hole some four feet deep, stumbled, fell, rolled over, and liked to have finished the doctor. He was under both water and horse. The boys consoled him with a clear 1,000 cheers, groans, and sharp speeches. Anything short of death is a capital joke. I have seen them make sport of a man lying by the roadside in a fit.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 232-3

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: November 1, 1864

Camp Lawton, Millen, Ga. — Arrived at our destination not far from midnight, and it was a tedious journey. Two died in the car I was in. Were taken from the cars to this prison in what they call ambulances, but what I call lumber wagons. Are now congregated in the south-east corner of the stockade under hastily put up tents. This morning we have drawn rations, both the sick and the well, which are good and enough. The stockade is similar to that at Andersonville, but in a more settled country, the ground high and grassy, and through the prison runs a stream of good pure water, with no swamp at all. It is apparently a pleasant and healthy location. A portion of the prison is timber land, and the timber has been cut down and lays where it fell, and the men who arrived before us have been busily at work making shanties and places to sleep in. There are about six thousand prisoners here, and I should judge there was room for twelve or fifteen thousand. Men say they are given food twice each day, which consists of meal and fresh beef in rather small quantities, but good and wholesome. The rebel officer in command is a sociable and kindly disposed man, and the guards are not strict, that is, not cruelly so. We are told that our stay here will be short  A number of our men have been detailed to cook the food for the sick, and their well being is looked to by the rebel surgeon as well as our own men. The same surgeon who for the last ten days had charge of us in Savannah has charge of us now He does not know over and above much but on the whole does very well. Barrels of molasses (nigger toe) have been rolled inside and it is being issued to the men, about one-fourth of a pint to each man, possibly a little more. Some of the men, luxuriantly, put their allowances together and make molasses candy of it. One serious drawback is the scarcity of dishes, and one man I saw draw his portion is his two hands, which held it until his comrade could find a receptacle for it.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 109-10

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: October 30, 1864

It is said prisoners from main prison are being removed every day, and the sick will go last. Quite a batch of the nearest well ones were sent from here to-day to go with the others. Am to be a nurse pretty soon Don't think I could nurse a sick cat, still it's policy to be one, Winn tells me that he has made money dickering at trade with the rebels and prisoners. He has trusted me to twelve dollars worth of things and says he don't expect or want pay. The twelve dollars amounts to only one dollar and twenty cents in our money. The surgeon who has had charge of us has been sent away to the front. It seems he had been wounded in battle and was doing home duty until able to again go to his command. shall always remember him for his kind and skillful treatment. Came round and bid us all good bye, and sick sorry to lose him. Are now in charge of a hospital steward, who does very well. The atmosphere here makes gentlemen of everybody. Papers say that the city must be fortified, and it is being done. Considerable activity about the place. Trains run through at all hours of the night, evidently shifting their troops to other localities. Later — Since the surgeon went away the rebels are drinking up our whiskey, and to-night are having a sort of carnival, with some of the favorite nurses joining in; singing songs, telling stories, and a good time generally. They are welcome to my share.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 107-8

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: October 5, 1864

All in Andersonville will remember Daly, who used to drive the bread wagon into that place. He came to Savannah with us and was in this hospital; a few days ago he went away with some sailors to be exchanged. Soon after leaving Savannah he fell off the cars and was killed, and a few hours after leaving here was brought back and buried; it is said he had been drinking. Getting better every day, eat right smart. Mike waiting for a favorable chance to escape and in the meantime is getting well; heard that Battese has gone away with sailors to our lines Its wonderful the noticeable change of air here from that at Andersonville — wonder that any lived a month inhaling the poison. If some of those good fellows that died there, Jimmy Devers, Dr. Lewis, Swain, McGuire and scores of others, had lived through it to go home with me, should feel better. Have a disagreeable task to perform — that of going to see the relatives of fifteen or twenty who died and deliver messages. Rebel surgeons act as if the war was most over, and not like very bad enemies. Fresh beef issued to those able to eat it which is not me; can chew nothing hard, in fact cannot chew at all. Am all tired out and will stop for to-day.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 100-1

Dr. James Ware

James Ware, M. D., of Lake Charles, was born in Ohio, September 23, 1826, of parents who were natives of Goochland county, Va. He was reared and educated at Columbus, Ohio, and graduated in medicine at Sterling medical college, after which he began the practice at Evergreen, La. In February, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Sixteenth Louisiana infantry, and in July, 1862, was promoted to surgeon. In this capacity he served with the regiment to the close of the war. Since then he has been in the practice of medicine successively at Evergreen, Marksville and Lake Charles.

SOURCE: Clement Anselm Evans, Editor, Confederate Military History, Vol. 10, p. 618

Mrs. Josephine McPherson Ware

Mrs. Josephine Ware, wife of Dr. James Ware, Surgeon of Calcasieu Camp, Lake Charles, La., died on the 27th of February, at the age of seventy-six years. She was born in Maryland and of Scotch-Catholic stock, her parents having emigrated to this country at the time of religious persecution in Scotland. She was married to Dr. Ware in 1865, and had been a resident of Louisiana, and of Lake Charles since 1887.

Mrs. Ware was a woman of remarkable strength of character, and she lived and died an ideal wife, mother, and friend. Her husband was surgeon of the 16th Louisiana Regiment. Gibson's Brigade. As a member of the U. D. C. Chapter of Lake Charles. she was actively interested in its good work, and the pallbearers at her funeral were all Confederate Veterans. Her husband and two sons survive her.

SOURCE: Confederate Veteran, Volume 15, No. 4, April 1907, p. 183

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: September 25, 1864

Can eat better — or drink rather; Some rebel general dead and buried with honors outside. Had another wash and general clean up; ocean breezes severe for invalids. Am visited twice a day by the rebel surgeon who instructs nurses about treatment. Food principally arrow root; have a little whisky. Sleep great deal of the time. Land, my acquaintance and mess-mate, is lame from scurvy, but is not weak and sick as I am. When I think of anything, say: “Land, put her down,” and he writes what I tell him. Everything clean here, but then any place is clean after summering in Andersonville. Don't improve much and sometimes not at all; get blue sometimes; nature of the beast suppose; other sick in the tent worry and make me nervous.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 97

An Act to Amend an Act Entitled “An Act for Enrolling and Calling Out the National Forces, and for Other Purposes,” Approved March Third, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-three, February 24, 1864

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States shall be authorized, whenever he shall deem it necessary, during the present war, to call for such number of men for the military service of the United States as the public exigencies may require.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the quota of each ward of a city, town, township, precinct, or election district, or of a county, where the county is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, shall be, as nearly as possible, in proportion to the number of men resident therein liable to render military service, taking into account, as far as practicable, the number which has been previously furnished therefrom: and in ascertaining and filling said quota there shall be taken into account the number of men who have heretofore entered the naval service of the United States, and whose names are borne upon the enrolment lists as already returned to the office of the provost-marshal-general of the United States.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if the quotas shall not be filled within the time designated by the President, the provost-marshal of the district within which any ward of a city, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, where the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, which is deficient in its quota, is situated, shall, under the direction of the provost marshal-general, make a draft for the number deficient therefrom; but all volunteers who may enlist after the draft shall have been ordered, and before it shall be actually made, shall be deducted from the number ordered to be drafted in such ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county. And if the quota of any district shall not be filled by the draft made in accordance with the provisions of this act, and the act to which it is an amendment, further drafts shall be made, and like proceedings had, until the quota of such district shall be filled.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That any person enrolled under the provisions of the act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or who may he hereafter so enrolled, may furnish, at any time previous to the draft, an acceptable substitute, who is not liable to draft, nor at the time in the military or naval service of the United States, and such person so furnishing a substitute shall be exempt from draft during the time for which [such] substitute shall not be liable to draft, not exceeding the time for which such substitute shall have been accepted.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted. That any person drafted into the military service of the United States may, before the time fixed for his appearance for duty at the draft rendezvous, furnish an acceptable substitute, subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War. That if such substitute is not liable to draft, the person furnishing him shall be exempt from draft during the time for which such substitute is not liable to draft, not exceeding the term for which he was drafted; and, if such substitute is liable to draft, the name of the person furnishing him shall again be placed on the roll, and shall be liable to draft on future calls, but not until the present enrolmont shall be exhausted; and this exemption shall not exceed the term for which such person shall have been drafted. And any person now in the military or naval service of the United States, not physically disqualified, who has so served more than one year, and whose term of unexpired service shall not at the time of substitution exceed six months, may be employed as a substitute to serve in the troops of the State in which he enlisted; and if any drafted person shall hereafter pay money for the procuration of a substitute, under the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, such payment of money shall operate only to relieve such person from draft in filling that quota; and his name shall be retained on the roll in filling future quotas; but in no instance shall the exemption of any person on account of his payment of commutation money for the procuration of a substitute, extend beyond one year; but at the end of one year, in every such case, the name of any person so exempted shall be enrolled again, if not before returned to the enrolment list under the provisions of this section.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That boards of enrolment shall enroll all persons liable to draft under the provisions of this act, and the act to which this is an amendment, whoso names may have been omitted-by the proper enrolling officers; all persons who shall arrive at the age of twenty years before the draft; all aliens who shall declare their intentions to become citizens; all persons discharged from the military or naval service of the United States who have not been in such service two years during the present war; and all persons who have been exempted under the provisions of the second section of the act to which this is an amendment, but who are not exempted by the provisions of this act; and said boards of enrolment shall release and discharge from draft all persons who, between the time of the enrolment and the draft, shall have arrived at the age of forty-five years, and shall strike the names of such persons from the enrolment.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That any mariner or able or ordinary seaman who shall be drafted under this act, or the act to which this is an amendment, shall have the right, within eight days after the notification of such draft, to enlist in the naval service as a seaman, and a certificate that he has so enlisted being made out, in conformity with regulations which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, and duly presented to the provost-marshal of the district in which such mariner or able or ordinary seaman shall have been drafted, shall exempt him from such draft: Provided, That the period for which he shall have enlisted into the naval service shall not be less than the period for which he shall have been drafted into the military service: And provided further, That the said certificate shall declare that satisfactory proof has been made before the naval officer issuing the same that the said person so enlisting in the Navy is a mariner by vocation, or an able or ordinary seaman. And any person now in the military service of the United States, who shall furnish satisfactory proof that he is a mariner by vocation or an able or ordinary seaman, may enlist into the Navy under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the President of the United States: Provided, That such enlistment shall not be for less than the unexpired term of his military service, nor for less than one year. And the bounty-money which any mariner or seaman enlisting from the Army into the. Navy may have received from the United States, or from the State in which he enlisted in the Army, shall be deducted from the prize-money to which he may become entitled during the time required to complete his military service: And provided further, That the whole number of such transfer enlistments shall not exceed ten thousand.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever any such mariner or able or ordinary seaman shall have been exempted from such draft in the military service by such enlistment into the naval service, under such due certificate thereof, then the ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, when the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, from which such person has been drafted, shall be credited with his services to all intents and purposes as if he had been duly mustered into the military service under such draft.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all enlistments into the naval service of the United States, or into the Marine Corps of the United States, that may hereafter be made of persons liable to service under the act of Congress entitled “An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be credited to the ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, when the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, in which such enlisted men were or may be enrolled and liable to duty under the act aforesaid, under such regulations as the provost-marshal-general of the United States may prescribe.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the following persons be and they are hereby exempted from enrolment and draft under the provisions of this act and of the act to which this is an amendment, to wit: Such as are rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service, all persons actually in the military or naval service of the United States at the time of the draft, and all persons who have served in the military or naval service two years during the present war and been honorably discharged therefrom; and no persons but such as arc herein exempted shall be exempt.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted. That section third of the “Act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and so much of section ten of said act as provides for the separate enrolment of each class, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and it shall be the duty of the board of enrolment of each district to consolidate the two classes mentioned in the third section of said act.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall forcibly resist or oppose any enrolment, or who shall incite, counsel, encourage, or who shall conspire or confederate with any other person or persons forcibly to resist or oppose any such enrolment, or who shall aid or assist, or take any part in any forcible resistance or opposition thereto, or who shall assault, obstruct, hinder, impede, or threaten any officer or other person employed in making or in aiding to make such enrolment, or employed in the performance, or in aiding in the performance of any service in anyway relating thereto, or in arresting or aiding to arrest any spy or deserter from the military service of the United States, shall, upon conviction thereof in any court competent to try the offence, be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both of said punishments in the discretion of the court. And in cases where such assaulting, obstructing, hindering, or impeding shall produce the death of such officer or other person, the offender shall be deemed guilty of murder, and, upon conviction thereof upon indictment in the circuit court of the United States for the district within which the offence was committed, shall be punished with death. And nothing in this section contained shall be construed to relieve the party offending from liability, under proper indictment or process, for any crime against the laws of a State, committed by him while violating the provisions of this section.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War shall be authorized to detail or appoint such number of additional surgeons for temporary duty in the examination of persons drafted into the military service, in any district, as may be necessary to secure the prompt examination of all such persons, and to fix the compensation to be paid surgeons so appointed while actually employed. And such surgeons so detailed or appointed shall perform the same duties as the surgeon of the board of enrolment, except that they shall not be permitted to vote or sit with the board of enrolment.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War is authorized, whenever in his judgment the public interest will be subserved thereby, to permit or require boards of examination of enrolled or drafted men to hold their examinations at different points within their respective enrolment districts, to be determined by him: Provided, That in all districts over one hundred miles in extent, and in such as are composed of over ten counties, the board shall hold their sessions in at least two places in such district, and at such points as are best calculated to accommodate the people thereof.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That provost-marshals, boards of enrolment, or any member thereof, acting by authority of the board, shall have power to summon witnesses in behalf of the Government, and enforce their attendance by attachment without previous payment of fees, in any case pending before them, or either of them; and the fees allowed for witnesses attending under summons shall be six cents per mile for mileage, counting one way; and no other fees or costs shall be allowed under the provisions of this section; and they shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations. And any person who shall wilfully and corruptly swear or affirm falsely before any provost marshal, or board of enrolment, or member thereof, acting by authority of the board, or who shall, before any civil magistrate, wilfully and corruptly swear or a affirm falsely to any affidavit to be used in any case pending before any provost-marshal or board of enrolment, shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned not less than six months nor more than twelve mouths. The drafted men shall have process to bring in witnesses, but without mileage.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That copies of any record of a provost-marshal or board of enrolment, or of any part thereof, certified by the provost-marshal, or a majority of said board of enrolment, shall be deemed and taken as evidence in any civil or military court in like manner as the original record: Provided, That if any person shall knowingly certify any false copy or copies of such record, to be used in any civil or military court, he shall be subject to the pains and penalties of perjury.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That members of religious denominations, who shall by oath or affirmation declare that they are conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms, and who are prohibited from doing so by the rules and articles of faith and practice of said religious denominations, shall, when drafted into the military service, be considered noncombatants, and shall be assigned by the Secretary of War to duty in the hospitals, or to the care of freedmen, or shall pay the sum of three hundred dollars to such person as the Secretary of War shall designate to receive it, to be applied to the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of this section unless his declaration of conscientious scruples against bearing arms shall be supported by satisfactory evidence that his deportment has been uniformly consistent with such declaration.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That no person of foreign birth shall, on account of alienage, be exempted from enrolment or draft under the provisions of this act, or the act to which it is an amendment, who has at any time assumed the rights of a citizen by voting at any election held under authority of the laws of any State or Territory, or of the United States, or who has held any office under such laws or any of them; but the fact that any such person of foreign birth has voted or held, or shall vote or hold, office as aforesaid, shall be taken as conclusive evidence that he is not entitled to exemption from military service on account of alienage.

SEC. 19. And he it further enacted, That all claims to exemption shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the party claiming exemption to the truth of the facts stated, unless it shall satisfactorily appear to the board of enrolment that such party is for some good and sufficient reason unable to make such oath or affirmation; and the testimony of any other party filed in support, of a claim to exemption shall also be made upon oath or affirmation.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That if any person drafted and liable to render military service shall procure a decision of the board of enrolment in his favor upon a claim to exemption by any fraud or false representation practiced by himself or by his procurement, such decision or exemption shall be of no effect, and the person exempted, or in whose favor the decision may be made, shall be deemed a deserter, and may be arrested, tried by court-martial, and punished as such, and shall be held to service for the full term for which he was drafted, reckoning from the t hue of his arrest: Provided, That the Secretary of War may order the discharge of all persons in the military service who are under the age of eighteen years at the time of the application for their discharge, when it shall appear upon due proof that such persons are in the service without the consent, either expressed or implied, of their parents or guardians. And provided further, That such persons, their parents or guardians, shall first repay to the Government and to the State and local authorities all bounties and advance pay which may have been paid to them, anything in the act to which this is an amendment to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall procure, or attempt to procure, a false report from the surgeon of the board of enrolment concerning the physical condition of any drafted person, or a decision in favor of such person by the board of enrolment upon a claim to exemption, knowing the same to be false, shall, upon conviction in any district or circuit court of the United States, be punished by imprisonment for the period for which the party was drafted.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That the fees of agents and attorneys for making out and causing to be executed any papers in support of a claim for exemption from draft, or for any services that may be rendered to the claimant, shall not, in any case, exceed five dollars; and physicians or surgeons furnishing certificates of disability to any claimant for exemption from draft shall not be entitled to any fees or compensation therefor. And any agent or attorney who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any greater compensation for his services under this act, and any physician or surgeon who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any compensation for furnishing said certificates of disability, and any officer, clerk, or deputy connected with the board of enrolment who shall receive compensation from any drafted man for any services, or obtaining the performance of such service required from any member of said board by the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall, for every such offence, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be recovered upon information or indictment before any court of competent jurisdiction, one-half for the use of any informer who may prosecute for the same in the name of the United States, and the other half for the use of the United States, and shall also be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted. That no member of the board of enrolment, and no surgeon detailed or employed to assist the board of enrolment, and no clerk, assistant, or employee of any provost-marshal or board of enrolment, shall, directly or indirectly, be engaged in procuring or attempting to procure substitutes for persons drafted, or liable to be drafted, into the military service of the United States. And if any member of a board of enrolment, or any such surgeon, clerk, assistant, or employee, shall procure, or attempt to procure, a substitute for any person drafted, or liable to be drafted, as aforesaid, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment not less than thirty days, nor more than six months, and pay a fine not less than one hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, by any court competent to try the offence.

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted. That all able-bodied male colored persons, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, resident in the United States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which, this is an amendment, and form part of the national forces; and when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate thereof, and thereupon such slave shall be free; and the bounty of one hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall appoint a commission in each of the slave States represented in Congress, charged to award to each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer may owe service a just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commutations, and every such colored volunteer on being mustered into the service shall be free. And in all cases where men of color have been heretofore enlisted or have volunteered in the military service of the United States, all the provisions of this act, so far as the payment of bounty and compensation are provided, shall be equally applicable as to those who may be hereafter recruited. But men of color, drafted or enlisted, or who may volunteer into the military service, while they shall be credited on the quotas of the several States, or subdivisions of States, wherein they are respectively drafted, enlisted, or shall volunteer, shall not be assigned as State troops, but shall be mustered into regiments or companies as United States colored troops.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That the fifteenth section of the act to which this is amendatory be so amended that it will read as follows: That any surgeon charged with the duty of such inspection, who shall receive from any person whomsoever any money or other valuable thing, or agree, directly or indirectly, to receive the same to his own or another's use, for making an imperfect inspection, or a false or incorrect report, or who shall wilfully neglect to make a faithful inspection and true report, and each member of the board of enrolment who shall wilfully agree to the discharge from service of any drafted person who is not legally and properly entitled to such discharge, shall be tried by a court-martial, and, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not less than three hundred dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars, shall be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, and be cashiered and dismissed the service.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted. That the words “precinct” and “election district,” as used in this act, shall not be construed to require any subdivision for purposes of enrolment and draft less than the wards into which any city or village maybe divided, or than the towns or townships into which any county may be divided.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act entitled “An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, as may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act, is hereby repealed.

Approved, February 24, 1864.

SOURCE: The Reports of Committees of House of Representatives for the Third Session of the Fifty-third Congress, 1894-95, In Two Volumes, Report No. 1820, p. 6-11

An Act for Enrolling and Calling Out the National Forces, and for other Purposes, March 3, 1863

Whereas there now exist in the United States an insurrection and rebellion against the authority thereof, and it is, under the Constitution of the United States, the duty of the government to suppress insurrection and rebellion, to guarantee to each State a republican form of government, and to preserve the public tranquillity; and whereas, for these high purposes, a military force is indispensable, to raise and support which all persons ought willingly to contribute; and whereas no service can be more praiseworthy and honorable than that which is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and Union, and the consequent preservation of free government: Therefore —

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, except as hereinafter excepted, are hereby declared to constitute the national forces, and shall be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United States when called out by the President for that purpose.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following persons be, and they are hereby, excepted and exempt from the provisions of this act, and shall not be liable to military duty under the same, to wit: Such as are rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service; also, First the Vice-President of the United States, the judges of the various courts of the United States, the heads of the various executive departments of the government, and the governors of the several States. Second, the only son liable to military duty of a widow dependent upon his labor for support. Third, the only son of aged or infirm parent or parents dependent upon his labor for support. Fourth, where there are two or more sons of aged or infirm parents subject to draft, the father, or, if he be dead, the mother, may elect which son shall be exempt. Fifth, the only brother of children not twelve years old, having neither father nor mother dependent upon his labor for support. Sixth, the father of motherless children under twelve years of age dependent upon his labor for support. Seventh, where there are a father and sons in the same family and household, and two of them are in the military service of the United States as noncommissioned officers, musicians, or privates, the residue of such family and household, not exceeding two, shall be exempt. And no persons but such as are herein excepted shall be exempt: Provided, however, That no person who has been convicted of any felony shall be enrolled or permitted to serve in said forces.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the national forces of the United States not now in the military service, enrolled under this act, shall be divided into two classes: the first of which shall comprise all persons subject to do military duty between the ages of twenty and thirty-five years, and all unmarried persons subject to do military duty above the age of thirty-five and under the age of forty-five; the second class shall comprise all other persons subject to do military duty, and they shall not, in any district, be called into the service of the United States until those of the first class shall have been called.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That, for greater convenience in enrolling, calling out, and organizing the national forces, and for the arrest of deserters and spies of the enemy, the United States shall be divided into districts, of which the District of Columbia shall constitute one, each territory of the United States shall constitute one or more, as the President shall direct, and each congressional district of the respective states, as fixed by a law of the state next preceding the enrolment, shall constitute one: Provided, That in states which have not by their laws been divided into two or more congressional districts, the President of the United States shall divide the same into so many enrolment districts as he may deem fit and convenient.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That for each of said districts there shall be appointed by the President a provost-marshal, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a captain of cavalry, or an officer of said rank shall be detailed by the President, who shall be under the direction and         subject to the orders of a provost-marshal-general, appointed or detailed by the President of the United States, whose office shall be at the seat of government, forming a separate bureau of the War Department, and whose rank, pay, and emoluments shall be those of a colonel of cavalry.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the provost-marshal-general, with the approval of the Secretary of War, to make rules and regulations for the government of his subordinates; to furnish them with the names and residences of all deserters from the army, or any of the land forces in the service of the United States, including the militia, when reported to him by the commanding officers; to communicate to them all orders of the President in reference to calling out the national forces; to furnish proper blanks and instructions for enrolling and drafting; to file and preserve copies of all enrolment lists; to require stated reports of all proceedings on the part of his subordinates; to audit all accounts connected with the service under his direction; and to perform such other duties as the President may prescribe in carrying out the provisions of this act.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the marshals. provost-marshals to arrest all deserters, whether regulars, volunteers, militiamen, or persons called into the service under this or any other act of Congress, wherever they may be found, and to send them to the nearest military commander or military post; to detect, seize, and confine spies of the enemy, who shall without unreasonable delay be delivered to the custody of the general commanding the department in which they may be arrested, to be tried as soon as the exigencies of the service permit; to obey all lawful orders and regulations of the provost-marshal-general, and such as may be prescribed by law, concerning the enrolment and calling into service of the national forces.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That in each of said districts there  shall be a board of enrolment, to be composed of the provost-marshal, as president, and two other persons, to be appointed by the President of the United States, one of whom shall be a licensed and practising physician and surgeon.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said board to divide the district into sub-districts of convenient size, if they shall deem it necessary, not exceeding two, without the direction of the Secretary of War, and to appoint, on or before the tenth day of March next, and in each alternate year thereafter, an enrolling officer for each sub-district, and to furnish him with proper blanks and instructions; and he shall immediately proceed to enrol all persons subject to military duty, noting their respective places of residence, ages on the first day of July following, and their occupation, and shall, on or before the first day of April, report the same to the board of enrolment, to be consolidated into one list, a copy of which shall be transmitted to the provost-marshal-general on or before the first day of May succeeding the enrolment: Provided, nevertheless, That if from any cause the duties prescribed by this section cannot be performed within the time specified, then the same shall be performed as soon thereafter as practicable.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the enrolment of each class shall be made separately, and shall only embrace those whose ages shall be on the first day of July thereafter between twenty and forty-five years.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That all persons thus enrolled shall be subject, for two years after the first day of July succeeding the enrolment, to be called into the military service of the United States, and to continue in service during the present rebellion, not, however, exceeding the term of three years; and when called into service shall be placed on the same footing, in all respects, as volunteers for three years, or during the war, including advance pay and bounty as now provided by law.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That whenever it may be necessary to call out the national forces for military service, the President is hereby authorized to assign to each district the number of men to be furnished by said district; and thereupon the enrolling board shall, under the direction of the President, make a draft of the required number, and fifty per cent. in addition, and shall make an exact and complete roll of the names of the persons so drawn, and of the order in which they were drawn, so that the first drawn may stand first upon the said roll, and the second may stand second, and so on; and the persons so drawn shall be notified of the same within ten days thereafter, by a written or printed notice, to be served personally or by leaving a copy at the last place of residence, requiring them to appear at a designated rendezvous to report for duty. In assigning to the districts the number of men to be furnished therefrom, the President shall take into consideration the number of volunteers and militia furnished by and from the several states in which said districts are situated, and the period of their service since the commencement of the present rebellion, and shall so make said assignment as to equalize the numbers among the districts of the several states, considering and allowing for the numbers already furnished as aforesaid and the time of their service.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That any person drafted and notified to appear as aforesaid, may, on or before the day fixed for his appearance, furnish an acceptable substitute to take his place in the draft; or he may pay to such person as the Secretary of War may authorize to receive it, such sum, not exceeding three hundred dollars, as the Secretary may determine, for the procuration of such substitute; which sum shall be fixed at a uniform rate by a general order made at the time of ordering a draft for any state or territory; and thereupon such person so furnishing the substitute, or paying the money, shall be discharged from further liability under that draft. And any person failing to report after due service of notice, as herein prescribed, without furnishing a substitute, or paying the required sum therefor, shall be deemed a deserter, and shall be arrested by the provost-marshal and sent to the nearest military post for trial by court-martial, unless, upon proper showing that he is not liable to do military duty, the board of enrolment shall relieve him from the draft.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That all drafted persons shall, on arriving at the rendezvous, be carefully inspected by the surgeon of the board, who shall truly report to the board the physical condition of each one; and all persons drafted and claiming exemption from military duty on account of disability, or any other cause, shall present their claims to be exempted to the board, whose decision shall be final.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That any surgeon charged with the duty of such inspection who shall receive from any person whomsoever any money or other valuable thing, or agree, directly or indirectly, to receive the same to his own or another's use for making an imperfect inspection or a false or incorrect report, or who shall wilfully neglect to make a faithful inspection and true report, shall be tried by a court-martial, and, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars nor less than two hundred, and be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, and be cashiered and dismissed from the service.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That as soon as the required number of able-bodied men liable to do military duty shall be obtained from the list of those drafted, the remainder shall be discharged; and all drafted persons reporting at the place of rendezvous shall be allowed travelling pay from their places of residence; and all persons discharged at the place of rendezvous shall be allowed travelling pay to their places of residence; and all expenses connected with the enrolment and draft, including subsistence while at the rendezvous, shall be paid from the appropriation for enrolling and drafting, under such regulations as the President of the United States shall prescribe; and all expenses connected with the arrest and return of deserters to their regiments, or such other duties as the provost-marshal shall be called upon to perform, shall be paid from the appropriation for arresting deserters, under such regulations as the President of the United States shall prescribe: Provided, The provost-marshals shall in no case receive commutation for transportation or for fuel and quarters, but only for forage, when not furnished by the government, together with actual expenses of postage, stationery, and clerk hire authorized by the provost-marshal-general.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That any person enrolled and drafted according to the provisions of this act who shall furnish an acceptable substitute, shall thereupon receive from the board of enrolment a certificate of discharge from such draft, which shall exempt him from military duty during the time for which he was drafted; and such substitute shall be entitled to the same pay and allowances provided by law as if he had been originally drafted into the service of the United States.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That such of the volunteers and militia now in the service of the United States as may reënlist to serve one year, unless sooner discharged, after the expiration of their present term of service, shall be entitled to a bounty of fifty dollars, one half of which to be paid upon such reënlistment, and the balance at the expiration of the term of reënlistment; and such as may reënlist to serve for two years, unless sooner discharged, after the expiration of their present term of enlistment, shall receive, upon such reënlistment, twenty-five dollars of the one hundred dollars bounty for enlistment provided by the fifth section of the act approved twenty-second of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled “An act to authorize the employment of volunteers to aid in enforcing the laws and protecting public property.”

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That whenever a regiment of volunteers of the same arm, from the same State, is reduced to one half the maximum number prescribed by law, the President may direct the consolidation of the companies of such regiment: Provided, That no company so formed shall exceed the maximum number prescribed by law. When such consolidation is made, the regimental officers shall be reduced in proportion to the reduction in the number of companies.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That whenever a regiment is reduced below the minimum number allowed by law, no officers shall be appointed in such regiment beyond those necessary for the command of such reduced number.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That so much of the fifth section of the act approved seventeenth July, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled, “An act to amend an act calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union,” and so forth, as requires the approval of the President to carry into execution the sentence of a court-martial, be, and the same is hereby, repealed, as far as relates to carrying into execution the sentence of any court-martial against any person convicted as a spy or deserter, or of mutiny or murder; and hereafter sentences in punishment of these offences may be carried into execution upon the approval of the commanding-general in the field.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That courts-martial shall have power to sentence officers who shall absent themselves from their commands without leave, to be reduced to the ranks to serve three years or during the war.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That the clothes, arms, military outfits, and accoutrements furnished by the United States to any soldier, shall not be sold, bartered, exchanged, pledged, loaned, or given away; and no person not a soldier, or duly authorized officer of the United States, who has possession of any such clothes, arms, military outfits, or accoutrements, furnished as aforesaid, and which have been the subjects of any such sale, barter, exchange, pledge, loan, or gift, shall have any right, title, or interest therein; but the same may be seized and taken wherever found by any officer of the United States, civil or military, and shall thereupon be delivered to any quartermaster, or other officer authorized to receive the same ; and the possession of any such clothes, arms, military outfits, or accoutrements, by any person not a soldier or officer of the United States, shall be primâ facie evidence of such a sale, barter, exchange, pledge, loan, or gift, as aforesaid.

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That every person not subject to the rules and articles of war who shall procure or entice, or attempt to procure or entice, a soldier in the service of the United States to desert; or who shall harbor, conceal, or give employment to a deserter, or carry him away, or aid in carrying him away, knowing him to be such; or who deserters, shall purchase from any soldier his arms, equipments, ammunition, uniform, clothing, or any part thereof; and any captain or commanding officer of any ship or vessel, or any superintendent or conductor of any railroad, or any other public conveyance, carrying away any such soldier as one of his crew or otherwise, knowing him to have deserted, or shall refuse to deliver him up to the orders of his commanding officer, shall, upon legal conviction, be fined, at the discretion of any court having cognizance of the same, in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and he shall be imprisoned not exceeding two years nor less than six months.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall resist any draft of men enrolled under this act into the service of the United States, or shall counsel or aid any person to resist any such draft; or shall assault or obstruct any officer in making such draft, or in the performance of any service in relation thereto; or shall counsel any person to assault or obstruct any such officer, or shall counsel any drafted men not to appear at the place of rendezvous, or wilfully dissuade them from the performance of military duty as required by law, such person shall be subject to summary arrest by the provost-marshal, and shall be forthwith delivered to the civil authorities, and, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, or by both of said punishments.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That, immediately after the passage of this act, the President shall issue his proclamation declaring that all soldiers now absent from their regiments without leave may return within a time specified to such place or places as he may indicate in his proclamation, and be restored to their respective regiments without punishment, except the forfeiture of their pay and allowances during their absence; and all deserters who shall not return within the time so specified by the President shall, upon being arrested, be punished as the law provides.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That depositions of witnesses residing beyond the limits of the state, territory, or district in which military courts shall be ordered to sit, may be taken in cases not capital by either party, and read in evidence; provided the same shall be taken upon reasonable notice to the opposite party, and duly authenticated.

SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That the judge advocate shall have power to appoint a reporter, whose duty it shall be to record the proceedings of and testimony taken before military courts instead of the judge advocate; and such reporter may take down such proceedings and testimony in the first instance in short-hand. The reporter shall be sworn or affirmed faithfully to perform his duty before entering upon it.

SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That the court shall, for reasonable cause, grant a continuance to either party for such time and as often as shall appear to be just; Provided. That if the prisoner be in close confinement, the trial shall not be delayed for a period longer than sixty days.

SEC. 30. And be it further enacted, That in time of war, insurrection, or rebellion, murder, assault and battery with an intent to kill, manslaughter, mayhem, wounding by shooting or stabbing with an intent to commit murder, robbery, arson, burglary, rape, assault and battery with an intent to commit rape, and larceny, shall be punishable by the sentence of a general court-martial or military commission, when committed by persons who are in the military service of the United States, and subject to the articles of war; and the punishments for such offences shall never be less than those inflicted by the laws of the state, territory, or district in which they may have been committed.

SEC. 31. And be it further enacted, That any officer absent from duty with leave, except for sickness or wounds, shall, during his absence, receive half of the pay and allowances prescribed by law, and no more; and any officer absent without leave shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed by law or a court-martial, forfeit all pay or allowances during such absence.

SEC. 32. And be it further enacted, That the commanders of regiments and of batteries in the field, are hereby authorized and empowered to grant furloughs for a period not exceeding thirty days at any one time to five per centum of the non-commissioned officers and privates, for good conduct in the line of duty, and subject to the approval of the commander of the forces of which such non-commissioned officers and privates form a part.

SEC. 33. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and empowered, during the present rebellion, to call forth the national forces, by draft, in the manner provided for in this act.

SEC. 34. And be it further enacted, That all persons drafted under the provisions of this act shall be assigned by the President to military duty in such corps, regiments, or other branches of the service as the exigencies of the service may require.

SEC. 35. And be it further enacted, That hereafter details to special service shall only be made with the consent of the commanding officer of forces in the field; and enlisted men, now or hereafter detailed to special service, shall not receive any extra pay for such services beyond that allowed to other enlisted men.

SEC. 36. And be it further enacted, That general orders of the War Department, numbered one hundred and fifty-four and one hundred and sixty-two, in reference to enlistments from the volunteers into the regular service, be, and the same are hereby, rescinded; and hereafter no such enlistments shall be allowed.

SEC. 37. And be it further enacted, That the grades created in the cavalry forces of the United States by section eleven of the act approved seventeenth July, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and for which no rate of compensation has been provided, shall be paid as follows, to wit: Regimental commissary the same as regimental quartermaster; chief trumpeter the same as chief bugler; sad[d]ler-sergeant the same as regimental commissary-sergeant; company commissary-sergeant the same as company quartermaster's-sergeant: Provided, That the grade of supernumerary second lieutenant, and two teamsters for each company, and one chief farrier and blacksmith for each regiment, as allowed by said section of that act, be, and they are hereby, abolished; and each cavalry company may have two trumpeters, to be paid as buglers; and each regiment shall have one veterinary surgeon, with the rank of a regimental sergeant-major, whose compensation shall be seventy-five dollars per month.

Sec. 38. And be it further enacted, That all persons who, in time of war or of rebellion against the supreme authority of the United States, shall be found lurking or acting as spies, in or about any of the fortifications, posts, quarters, or encampments of any of the armies of the United States, or elsewhere, shall be triable by a general court-martial or military commission, and shall, upon conviction, suffer death.

APPRoved, March 3, 1863.

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. 731-7

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: September 22, 1864

Good many sick brought here. Everybody is kind, rebels and all. Am now differently sick than at any other time. Take lots of medicine, eat nothing but gruel. Surgeons are very attentive. Man died in my tent. Oh, if I was away by myself, I would get well. Don't want to see a sick man. That makes me sick.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 96

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: September 18, 1864

Surgeon examined me very thoroughly to-day. Have some bad sores caused by laying down so much; put something on them that makes them ache. Sergt. Winn gave me a pair of socks.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 95

Captain William Thompson Lusk to Elizabeth Adams Lusk, September 28, 1862

Mouth Of Antietam Creek,

79th Regiment,

Sept. 28th, 1862.

My dear Mother:

I have been sitting smoking my pipe by moonlight, pleasantly chatting with my old friend Dr. McDonald, till remembering my anxious mother, I have returned to say cheering words to that most estimable and precious lady. At last your kind pains have been rewarded. A mail-bag has arrived from Washington, and made me the happy possessor of nine letters. What a treasure! Eight from you, and one full of kindness from dear Lilly who promises moreover to write me more, though I should prove a negligent correspondent myself. Tell her to do so by all means. Such proofs of love are very delightful. I wrote you last, that I was entertaining some idea of joining McDonald as his Asst. Surgeon. We had the thing all nicely arranged — had consulted and received the approval of the Medical Director, when a young man presents himself duly commissioned for the position by the Governor of New-York. My lucky star is not in the ascendant.

Another change has taken place in my affairs. A new brigade has been formed, and the 79th Highlanders transferred to it. I was obliged to follow with my Regiment, and consequently resigned the position of A. A. A. G. to the old Brigade. The same position was offered me in the New Brigade, but, not liking the Brigadier, I declined the honor. So now I am back again, a simple Captain in the 79th, sole commander in chief of a company numbering some 20 effective men. So much for “Glory.” It may perhaps console you that Col. Christ, who had charge of five Regiments in the late battles, writes in his reports: “While I have reason to commend in general the conduct of the officers of my command, my special thanks are due to Capt. Lusk for the valuable services he rendered me.” I quote it (as nearly as I can remember) because in the mass of reports which are sent in, few, if any, will ever come to light again.

I am glad you proposed to visit Maj. Elliott in New London. He is a warm and true friend of mine. I wrote Horace to-day quite a long letter. Hunt's letter, recommending me to accept the position of Aide on General Tyler's staff came too late. I could not apply for it, as a Brigadier is not entitled to an Aide beyond the rank of Lieut., unless the officer receives his commission direct from the President. With Stevens I was simply detached for Staff duties. This could be done inside, but not outside, of the Brigade I may be attached to. I could therefore accept by Army Regulations nothing less than the position of Asst. Adjt.-General. Otherwise I would have fancied the thing right well, as, having consigned all ambitious project to him who is said to be the Father of them, I would like very much to see something of campaigning in the West, and the Western country. We are now resting, recruiting, and getting ready for new deeds. I trust we have inaugurated victory now, and mean to hear nothing more of Manassas.

Great must Uncle John's faith be, if he still believes in Pope. I am sure there was not a man in his army, who had any confidence in his capacity, even previous to his final disasters. We all considered him a very noisy, pretentious liar.

It is now so late that I must say Good-Bye.

Affec'y.,

Will.

79th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Div.

9th Army Corps.

SOURCE: William Chittenden Lusk, Editor, War Letters of William Thompson Lusk, p. 211-3

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Friday, November 25, 1864

Arrived at Baltimore about 9 o'clock a. m.; remained at the Eutaw House until 4.40 o'clock p. m.; arrived at Annapolis at about 8 o'clock p. m.; reported to the surgeon in charge at once who ordered me to report to the Board of Examiners tomorrow morning; am in a room with two other officers.

SOURCE: Lemuel Abijah Abbott, Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864, p. 232