CHAPTER XIII.

EXTRACTS FROM THE REVISED REGULATIONS FOR THE
ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.

ART. II.

RANK AND COMMAND.

8. AN officer not having orders from competent authority, cannot put himself on duty by virtue of his commission alone.

9. Officers serving by commission from any State of the Union, take rank next after officers of the like grade by commission from the United States.

ART. V.

RESIGNATION OF OFFICERS.

24. No officer will be considered out of service on the tender of his resignation, until it shall have been duly accepted by the proper authority. Any officer who, having tendered his resignation, shall, prior to due notice of the acceptance of the same by proper authority, and without leave, quit his post or proper duties, with the intent to remain permanently absent therefrom, shall be registered as a deserter, and punished as such.

25. Resignations will be forwarded by the commanding

officer to the adjutant-general of the army for decision of the War Department; and with them, where leave is given, the officer's address.

26. Resignations tendered under charges, when forwarded by any commander, will always be accompanied by a copy of the charges; or, in the absence of written charges, by a report of the case, for the information of the Secretary of War.

27. Before presenting the resignation of any officer, the adjutant-general will ascertain and report to the War Department the state of such officer's accounts of money, as well as of public property, for which he may have been responsible.

28. In time of war, or with an army in the field, resignations shall take effect within thirty days from the date of the order of acceptance.

29. Leaves of absence will not be granted by commanding officers to officers on tendering their resignation, unless the resignation be unconditional and immediate.

ART. XVI.

DECEASED OFFICERS.

149. Whenever an officer dies, or is killed at any military post or station, or in the vicinity of the same, it will be the duty of the commanding officer to report the fact direct to the adjutant-general, with the date, and any other information proper to be communicated. If an officer die at a distance from a military post, any officer having intelligence of the same will in like manner communicate it, specifying the day of his decease; a duplicate of the report will be sent to Department Headquarters.

150. Inventories of the effects of deceased officers, required by the 94th Article of War, will be transmitted to the adjutant-general.

151. If a legal administrator or family connection be

present, and take charge of the effects, it will be so stated to the adjutant-general.

ART. XVII.

152. Inventories of the effects of deceased non-commissioned officers and soldiers, required by the 95th Article of War, will be forwarded to the adjutant-general by the commander of the company to which the deceased belonged, and a duplicate of the same to the colonel of the regiment. Final statements of pay, clothing, &c., will be sent with the inventories. When a soldier dies at a post or station absent from his company, it will be the duty of his immediate commander to furnish the required inventory, and, at the same time, to forward to the commanding officer of the company to which the soldier 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 session at the time of his decease; which report will be noted on the next muster-roll of the company to which the man belonged. Each inventory will be endorsed, "Inventory of the effects of late of company (—),

day of

regiment of

pos

186-." If a legal representative receive the effects, it will be stated in the report. If the soldier leaves no effects, the fact will be reported.

153. Should the effects of a deceased non-commissioned officer or 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 the paymaster, to the credit of the United States, until they shall be claimed by the legal representative of the deceased.

154. 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 adjutantgeneral. The statement will be endorsed, "Report of the proceeds of the effects of late of company

155. If a soldier desert from, or a deserter be received at, any post other than the station of the company or de tachment to which he belonged, he shall be promptly re ported by the commanding officer of such post to the commander of his company or detachment. The time of desertion, apprehension, and delivery will be stated. If the man be a recruit, unattached, the required report will be made to the adjutant-general. When a report is received of the apprehension or surrender of a deserter at any post other than the station of the company or detachment to which he belonged, the commander of such company or detachment shall immediately forward his description and account of clothing to the officer making the report.

156. A reward of five dollars will be paid for the apprehension and delivery of a deserter to an officer of the army at the most convenient post or recruiting station. Rewards thus paid will be promptly reported by the disbursing officer to the officer commanding the company in which the deserter is mustered, and to the authority competent to order his trial. The reward of five dollars will include the remuneration for all expenses incurred for apprehending, securing, and delivering a deserter.

157. When non-commissioned officers or soldiers are sent in pursuit of a deserter, the expenses necessarily incurred will be paid, whether he be apprehended or not, and reported as in case of rewards paid.

158. Deserters shall make good the time lost by deser tion, unless discharged by competent authority.

159. No deserter shall be restored to duty without trial, except by authority competent to order the trial.

160. Rewards and expenses paid for apprehending a deserter will be set against his pay when adjudged by a court martial or when he is restored to duty without trial on such condition.

161. In reckoning the time of service, and the pay and allowance of a deserter, he is to be considered as again in service when delivered up as a deserter to the proper authority.

162. An apprehended deserter, or one who surrenders himself, shall receive no pay while waiting trial, and only such clothing as may be actually necessary for him.

ART. XIX.

DISCHARGES.

163. No enlisted man shall be discharged before the expiration of his term of enlistment without authority of the War Department, except by sentence of a general court martial, or by the commander of the Department or of an army in the field, on certificate of disability, or on application of the soldier after twenty years' service.

164. When an enlisted man is to be discharged, his company commander shall furnish him certificates of his account, usually called final statements, according to Form 4, Pay Department. And to ensure his being at the post to get these, no leave of absence, terminating with his service, will be given to him. He may, however, be discharged in advance of the latter, under the circumstances and conditions described in General Orders No. 24, from the War Department, of November 30th, 1859.

165. Blank discharges on parchment will be furnished from the adjutant-general's office. No discharge shall be