Chapter LV. *to reorganize and increase the Efficiency of the Medical Department of the Army.* April 16, 1862. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Addition to medical corps of the army; surgeons, assistant surgeons, cadets, and hospit
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Chap. LV.— An Act *to reorganize and increase the Efficiency of the Medical Department of the Army.* April 16, 1862. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Addition to medical corps of the army; surgeons, assistant surgeons, cadets, and hospital stewards. That there shall be added to the present medical corps of the army ten surgeons and ten assistant surgeons, to be promoted and appointed under existing laws; twenty medical cadets, and as many hospital stewards as the surgeon general may consider necessary for the public service, and that their pay and that of all hospital stewards in the volunteer as well as the regular service shall be thirty dollars per month, to be computed from the passage of this act.
Cadets to one ration.And all medical cadets in the service shall, in addition to their pay, receive one ration per day either in kind or commutation. THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 55, 56. 1862. 379 Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted*, That the surgeon general to be appointedRank and pay of surgeon general,of assistant surgeon general &c.Medical inspector general, his power and duty. under this act shall have the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier general. There shall be one assistant surgeon general and one medical inspector general of hospitals, each with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a colonel of cavalry, and the medical inspector general shall have, under the direction of the surgeon general, the supervision of all that relates to the sanitary condition of the army, whether in transports, quarters, or camps, and of the hygiene, police, discipline, and efficiency of field and general hospitals, under such regulations as may hereafter be established.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted*, That there shall be eight medical inspectors,Medical inspectors, rank, pay, duty, &c. with the rank, pay, and emoluments each of a lieutenant colonel of cavalry, and who shall be charged with the duty of inspecting the sanitary condition of transports, quarters, and camps, of field and general hospitals, and who shall report to the medical inspector general, under such regulations as may be hereafter established, all circumstances relating to the sanitary condition and wants of troops and of hospitals, and to the skill, efficiency, and good conduct of the officers and attendants connected with the medical department.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted*, That the surgeon general, the assistantMode of appointment. Burgeon general, medical inspector general, and medical inspectors, shall immediately after the passage of this act be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, by selection from the medical corps of the army, or from the surgeons in the volunteer service, without regard to their rank when so selected, but with sole regard to qualifications. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted*, That medical purveyors shall beMedical surveyors to purchase medical supplies, &c. charged, under the direction of the surgeon general, with the selection and purchase of all medical supplies, including new standard preparations, and of all books, instruments, hospital stores, furniture, and other articles required for the sick and wounded of the army.
In all cases ofTheir power in emergencies. emergency they may provide such additional accommodations for the sick and wounded of the army, and may transport such medical supplies as circumstances may render necessary, under such regulations as may hereafter be established, and shall make prompt and immediate issues upon all special requisitions made upon them under such circumstances by medical officers; and the special requisitions shall consist simply of a list of the articles required, the quantities required, dated and signed by the medical officers requiring them.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted*, That whenever the inspector general,Proceedings when any officer of the medical corps is disqualified for promotion. or any one of the medical inspectors, shall report an officer of the medical corps as disqualified, by age or otherwise, for promotion to a higher grade, or unfitted tor the performance of his professional duties, he shall be reported by the surgeon general for examination to a medical board, as provided by the seventeenth section of the act approved August1861, ch. 42.*Ante*, p. 289. third, eighteen hundred and sixty-one.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted*, That the provisions of this act shallThis act to last during this rebellion.Proviso as to officers promoted from medical staff. continue and be in force during the existence of the present rebellion and no longer: *Provided, however*, That, when this act shall expire, all officers who shall have been promoted from the medical staff of the army under this act shall retain their respective rank in the army, with such promotion as they would have been entitled to.
Approved, April 16, 1862.