Chapter CCXCIV. making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and for other Purposes
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CHAP. CCXCIV.— An Act making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and for other Purposes.July 15, 1870. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the following sums be, andArmy appropriation. the same are hereby, appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the support of the army for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-one:— For expenses of recruiting and transportation of recruits, four hundredRecruiting. and seventy-two thousand dollars.
For pay of the army, twelve million nine hundred and thirty-five thousandPay. three hundred and ninety dollars. For commutation in lieu of forage for officers’ horses, where the same isCommutation in lieu of forage. not furnished by the quartermaster’s department, two thousand dollars. For payments to discharged soldiers for clothing not drawn, two hundredDischarged soldiers for clothing.Transfer of surplus of appropriations. thousand dollars. And the proper accounting officers of the treasury are hereby authorized and required to transfer from any surplus of the past appropriations for the “pay of the army, or of the volunteers,” not otherwise disposed of by law, such sum as may be sufficient to cover deficiencies in the appropriations “for payments to discharged soldiers for clothing not drawn,” for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy.
For subsistence in kind for regular troops and employe[e]s, four millionSubsistence. thirteen thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars and twenty-two cents. For contingencies of the army, eighty thousand dollars.Contingencies. For army medical museum, five thousand dollars.Museum. For medical and other necessary works for the library of surgeon-general’sMedical, &c. works. office, three thousand dollars. For expenses of commanding-general’s office, five thousand dollars.Commanding general’s office. 316 FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 294. 1870. For expenses of the signal service of the army, five thousand dollars.Signal service. For regular supplies of the quartermaster’s department, to wit: ForQuartermaster’s department. the regular supplies of the quartermaster’s department consisting of fuel for officers, enlisted men, guards, hospitals, storehouses, and offices; of forage in kind for the horses, mules, and oxen of the quartermaster’s department at the several posts and stations, and with the armies in the field, for the horses of the several regiments of cavalry, the batteries of artillery, and such companies of infantry as may be mounted, and for the authorized number of officers’ horses when serving in the field, and at the outposts, including bedding for the animals; of straw for soldiers’ bedding; and of stationery, including blank-books for the quartermaster’s department, certificates for discharged soldiers, blank forms for the pay and quartermaster’s departments, and for printing of division and department orders and reports, four million five hundred thousand dollars.
For the general and incidental expenses of the quartermaster’s department,Incidental expenses of quartermaster’s department. consisting of postage on letters and packets received and sent by officers of the army on public service; expenses of courts-martial, military commissions, and courts of inquiry, including the additional compensation of judge advocates, recorders, members, and witnesses while on that service, under the act of March sixteen, eighteen hundred and two;1802, ch. 9, §§ 21, 22.Vol. ii. p. 186. extra pay to soldiers employed under the direction of the quartermaster’s department, in the erection of barracks, quarters, storehouses, and hospitals, in the construction of roads, and other constant labor, for periods of not less than ten days, under the acts of March two, eighteen hundred1819, ch. 45.Vol. iii. p. 488.1854, ch. 247, § 6.Vol. x. p. 676. and nineteen, and August four, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, including those employed as clerks at division and department headquarters; expenses of expresses to and from the frontier posts and armies in the field; of escorts to paymasters and other disbursing officers, and to trains where military escorts cannot be furnished; expenses of the interment of officers killed in action, or who die when on duty in the field, or at posts on the frontiers, or at posts and other places when ordered by the Secretary of War, and of non-commissioned officers and soldiers; authorized office-furniture; hire of laborers in the quartermaster’s department, including the hire of interpreters, spies, and guides for the army; compensation of clerks to officers of the quartermaster’s department; compensation of forage and wagon masters, authorized by the act of July five, eighteen1838, ch. 162, § 10.Vol. v. p. 257. hundred and thirty-eight; for the apprehension of deserters, and the expenses incident to their pursuit; and for the following expenditures required for the several regiments of cavalry, the batteries of light artillery, and such companies of infantry as may be mounted, viz.: the purchase of travelling forges, blacksmiths’ and shoeing tools, horse and mule shoes and nails, iron and steel for shoeing, hire of veterinary surgeons, medicines for horses and mules, picket ropes, and for shoeing the horses of the corps named; also, generally, the proper and authorized expenses for the movement and operations of an army, not expressly assigned to any other department, eight hundred thousand dollars.
For mileage, or the allowance made to officers of the army for theMileage. transportation of themselves and their baggage, when travel[l]ing on duty without troops, escorts, or supplies, fifty thousand dollars. For taking meteorological observations and giving notice on northernMeteorological observations and notice of storms. lakes and seaboard of approach and force of storms, fifty thousand dollars. For transportation of the army, including baggage of the troops whenTransportation. moving either by land or water, of clothing, camp, and garrison equipage from the depots of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and New York to the several posts and army depots, and from those depots to the troops in the field; and of subsistence stores from the places of purchase, and from the places of delivery under contract, to such places as the circumstances of the service may require them to be sent; of ordnance, ordnance317 stores, and small-arms from the founderies and armories to the arsenals, fortifications, frontier posts, and army depots; freights, wharfage, tolls, and ferriages; the purchase and hire of horses, mules, oxen, and harness, and the purchase and repair of wagons, carts, and drays, and of ships and other sea-going vessels, and boats required for the transportation of supplies and for garrison purposes; for drayage and cartage at thePublic transports. several posts, hire of teamsters, transportation of funds for the pay and other disbursing departments, the expense of sailing public transports on the various rivers, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic and Pacific; for procuring water at such posts as, from their situation, require it toWater.Obstructions, roads, harbors, rivers. be brought from a distance; and for clearing roads and removing obstructions from roads, harbors, and rivers to the extent which may be required for the actual operations of the troops in the field, five million dollars.
For hire or commutation of quarters for officers on military duty, hireHire, &c. of quarters, huts, repairs, &c. of quarters for troops, of storehouses for the safe-keeping of military stores, and of grounds for summer cantonments; for the construction of temporary huts, hospitals, and stables; and for repairing public buildings at established posts, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. For the ordnance service required to defray the current expenses atOrdnance service. the arsenals, of receiving stores and issuing arms and other ordnance supplies, of police and office duties, of rents, tolls, fuel, and lights; of stationery and office furniture; of tools and instruments for use; of public animals, forage, and vehicles; incidental expenses of the ordnance service, including those attending practical trials and tests of ordnance, small-arms, and other ordnance supplies, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars: *Provided,* That no money appropriated by this act shall be usedNo part to pay for new cannon or small-arms. to pay for any new cannon or small-arms.
For establishing and maintaining national cemeteries, three hundredNational cemeteries.Proviso. thousand dollars: *Provided,* That twenty thousand dollars of this amount be expended in planting and cultivating trees and shrubs in the several cemeteries. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That the President be, and he isNumber of enlisted men in the army. hereby, authorized and directed, on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, to reduce the number of enlisted men in the army to thirty thousand, and thereafter there shall be no more than thirty thousand enlisted men in the army at any one time, unless otherwise authorized by law.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the President be, and he isCertain officers, upon their application, may be honorably discharged with one year’s pay, &c. hereby, authorized, at his discretion, honorably to discharge from the service of the United States officers of the army who may apply therefor on or before the first of January next; and such officers so discharged under the provisions of this act shall be entitled to receive, in addition to the pay and allowances due them at the date of their discharge, one year’s pay and allowances.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That the President be, and he isCertain commissioned officers may be placed upon the retired list; hereby, authorized, at his discretion, to place on the retired list of the army, on their own application, any commissioned officers who have been thirty years in the service, and the officers who may be retired by virtue of this section shall be entitled to the same pay and emoluments as aretheir pay and emoluments. now allowed, or may be hereafter allowed, to officers retired from active service.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That the proviso of the sixteenthLimit to number of officers on retired list repealed.1801, ch. 42, § 16.Vol. xii. p. 289. section of the act approved August three, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, limiting the number of officers on the retired list to seven per centum of the whole number of existing officers, be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and hereafter the number of officers who may be retired in accordance with existing laws shall be in the discretion of the President:Number not to exceed three hundred. *Provided,* That the whole number on the retired list shall at no time exceed three hundred. 318 Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That the offices of general andOffices of general and lieutenant-general to continue only until a vacancy.Laws creating the offices then to be repealed. lieutenant-general of the army shall continue until a vacancy shall occur in the same, and no longer; and when such vacancy shall occur in either of said offices, immediately thereupon all laws and parts of laws creating said office shall become inoperative, and shall, by virtue of this act, from thenceforward be held to be repealed.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That no appointment to the gradeNo appointment to grade of major-general until, &c.; of major-general shall be made until the number of officers of that grade is reduced below three, after which the number of major-generals shall not exceed three. Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That no appointment to the gradeto grade of brigadier-general until, &c. of brigadier-general shall be made until the number of officers of that grade is reduced below six; after which the number of brigadier-generals shall not exceed six.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That the grade of regimental commissaryGrade of regimental commissary in cavalry regiments abolished. in the several cavalry regiments is hereby abolished; and the lieutenants now holding the appointments of regimental commissary may be assigned for duty to companies of their regiments, and shall fill the first vacancies that may occur in their respective grades of first or second lieutenant in the regiments to which they now belong; and nothing hereinDisposition of such officers. contained shall affect their relative rank with other lieutenants of their grade.
Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That the grades of regimental commissaryRegimental commissary-sergeant and hospital steward abolished.Number of corporals reduced.Present corporals may have honorable discharge, &c. sergeant and regimental hospital steward are hereby abolished. The number of corporals in each company of cavalry, artillery, and infantry shall be reduced to four; and the said non-commissioned officers shall have the privilege of receiving an honorable discharge, with full pay and allowances to the actual date thereof, if they shall so elect, in preference to remaining in the service in such other grades as may be assigned to them by the Secretary of War.
Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* That the general of the army andList of officers unfit for duty except, &c. to be sent to Secretary of War.Board of officers established. commanding officers of the several military departments of the army, shall, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act, forward to the Secretary of War a list of officers serving in their respective commands deemed by them unfit for the proper discharge of their duties from any cause except injuries incurred or disease contracted in the line of their duty, setting forth specifically in each case the cause of such unfitness.
The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to constitute aOfficers reported to be mustered out upon, &c. board to consist of one major-general, one brigadier-general, and three colonels, three of said officers to be selected from among those appointed to the regular army on account of distinguished services in the volunteer force during the late war, and on recommendation of such board the President shall muster out of the service any of the said officers so reported, with one year’s pay; but such muster-out shall not be orderedOfficers may have a hearing. without allowing such officer a hearing before such board to show cause against it.
Sec. 12. *And be it further enacted,* That the President is hereby authorizedOfficers of regiments of the various arms may be transferred to list of supernumeraries.Vacancies hereafter to be filled proportionably from such list.Supernumeraries remaining Jan. 1, 1871, to be discharged.Proviso as to filling lower grades by those of higher grades desiring it. to transfer officers from the regiments of cavalry, artillery, and infantry to the list of supernumeraries; and all vacancies now existing, or which may occur prior to the first day of January next, in the cavalry, artillery, or infantry, by reason of such transfer, or from other causes, shall be filled in due proportion by the supernumerary officers, having reference to rank, seniority, and fitness, as provided in existing law regulating promotions in the army.
And if any supernumerary officers shall remain after the first day of January next, they shall be honorably mustered out of the service with one year’s pay and allowances: *Provided,* That vacancies now existing in the grade of second lieutenants, or which may occur prior to said date, may be filled by the assignment of supernumerary first lieutenants, or officers of higher grades, who, when so319 assigned, shall rank as second lieutenants, *providing* [provided] such officers shall prefer to be so assigned, instead of being mustered out under the provisions of this section; and officers so assigned shall take rank from the date of their original entry into the service: *And provided further,*Chaplains.
That no chaplain be appointed to posts or regiments until those on waiting orders are assigned. Sec. 13. *And be it further enacted,* That the professors of the UnitedPay of professors of the Military Academy. States Military Academy, whose service in the army and at the academy exceeds thirty-five years, shall have the pay of colonel, and those whose like service is less than thirty-five, but exceeds twenty-five years, shall have the pay of lieutenant-colonel; and all other professors shall have the pay of major; and hereafter there shall be allowed and paid to said professorsTen per cent. of current pay for every five years’ service.Proviso. ten per centum of their current yearly pay for each and every term of five years’ continuous service: *Provided,* That such addition shall in no case exceed forty per centum of said yearly pay; and said professors are hereby placed upon the same footing as regards retirement from active service as officers of the army.
Sec. 14. *And be it further enacted,* That the pay and allowances ofEnlisted men, pay and allowances of;not to be used as servants by officers. the enlisted men of the army shall remain as now fixed by law until the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-one; and it shall be unlawful for any officer to use any enlisted man as a servant in any case whatever. Sec. 15. *And be it further enacted,* That section two of the act entitledLaw establishing headquarters of the general of the army at Washington, &c. repealed.1867, ch. 170, § 2.Vol. xiv. p. 486.
“An act making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and for other purposes,” approved March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. Sec. 16. *And be it further enacted,* That hereafter no officer shall beOfficers on duty to wear uniform only of actual rank, and to be so addressed. entitled to wear while on duty any uniform other than that of his actual rank, on account of having been brevetted; nor shall he be addressed in orders or official communications by any title other than that of his actual rank.
Sec. 17. *And be it further enacted,* That the President of the UnitedOfficers absent from duty three months without leave to be dropped from the rolls, and not reappointed. States be, and he is hereby, authorized to drop from the rolls of the army for desertion any officer who is now, or who may hereafter be, absent from duty three months without leave; and any officer so dropped shall forfeit all pay and allowances due or to become due, and shall not be eligible for reappointment.
Sec. 18. *And be it further enacted,* That it shall not be lawful for anyOfficers on active list not to hold civil office;accepting or holding, to vacate commission. officer of the army of the United States on the active list to hold any civil office, whether by election or appointment, and any such officer accepting or exercising the functions of a civil office shall at once cease to be an officer of the army, and his commission shall be vacated thereby. Sec. 19. *And be it further enacted,* That nothing in this act shall beGraduates of Military Academy may be assigned. construed to prevent the assignment to duty, as additional second lieutenants, of the graduates of the Military Academy.
Sec. 20. *And be it further enacted,* That the Secretary of War shallArmy regulations to be prepared by, &c.; prepare a system of general regulations for the administration of the affairs of the army, which, when approved by Congress, shall be in force and obeyed until altered or revoked by the same authority; and saideffect of, when approved.Proviso. regulations shall be reported to Congress at its next session: *Provided,* That said regulations shall not be inconsistent with the laws of the United States.
Sec. 21. *And be it further enacted,* That the Secretaries of War andStudents in Military and Naval Academies not to be required to study on Sunday. the Navy be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed so to arrange the course of studies and the order of recitations at the Military and Naval Academies that the students in said institutions will not be required to pursue their studies on Sunday. Sec. 22. *And be it further enacted,* That from and after the passage of320 this act the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized to permitTrading establishments at military posts on the frontier. one or more trading establishments to be maintained at any military post on the frontier not in the vicinity of any city or town, when, in his judgment, such establishment is needed for the accommodation of emigrants, freighters, and other citizens; and the persons to maintain such trading establishments shall be appointed by him: *Provided,* That such tradersProviso. shall be under protection and military control as camp followers.
The joint resolution approved March thirty, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven,Repeal of Pub. Res. No. 33.Vol. xv. p. 29. to authorize the commanding-general of the army to permit traders to remain at certain military posts is hereby repealed. Sec. 23. *And be it further enacted,* That any retired officer may, onRetired officers may serve as professors of colleges. his own application, be detailed to serve as professor in any college; but while so serving such officer shall be allowed no additional compensation.
Sec. 24. *And be it further enacted,* That the pay of the officers of the army shall be as follows: The pay of the general shall be thirteen thousandPay of officers of the army established. five hundred dollars a year; lieutenant-general shall be eleven thousand dollars a year; the pay of major-general shall be seven thousand five hundred dollars; the pay of brigadier-general shall be five thousand five hundred dollars; the pay of colonel shall be three thousand five hundred dollars; the pay of lieutenant-colonel shall be three thousand dollars; the pay of major shall be two thousand five hundred dollars; the pay of captain, mounted, shall be two thousand dollars; the pay of captain, not mounted, shall be eighteen hundred dollars; the pay of adjutant shall be eighteen hundred dollars; the pay of regimental quartermaster shall be eighteen hundred dollars; the pay of first lieutenant, mounted, shall be sixteen hundred dollars; the pay of first lieutenant, not mounted, shall be fifteen hundred dollars; the pay of second lieutenant, mounted, shall be fifteen hundred dollars; the pay of second lieutenant, not mounted, shall be fourteen hundred dollars; the pay of chaplain shall be fifteen hundred dollars; the pay of aide-de-camp to major-general shall be two hundred dollars per annum in addition to pay of his rank; the pay of aide-de-camp to brigadier-general shall be one hundred and fifty dollars per annum in addition to pay of his rank; the pay of acting assistant commissary shall be one hundred dollars in addition to pay of his rank; and there shall beTo officers below rank of brigadier-general ten per cent. of yearly pay to be allowed for each five years’ service.Proviso.Pay of colonel and lieut.-colonel not to exceed.Monthly pay. allowed and paid to each and every commissioned officer below the rank of brigadier-general, including chaplains and others having assimilated rank or pay, ten per centum of their current yearly pay for each and every term of five years of service: *Provided,* That the total amount of such increase for length of service shall in no case exceed forty per centum on the yearly pay of his grade as established by this act: *And provided further,* That the pay of a colonel shall in no case exceed four thousand five hundred dollars per annum, nor the pay of a lieutenant-colonel four thousand dollars per annum, and these sums shall be in full of all commutation of quarters, fuel, forage, servants’ wages and clothing, longevity rations, and all allowances of every name and nature whatever, and shall be paid monthly by the paymaster: *Provided,* That fuel,Fuel, quarters, and forage. quarters, and forage in kind may be furnished to officers by the quartermaster’s department, as now allowed by law and regulations: *And provided further,* That when any officer shall travel under orders, and shallAllowances for travel under orders. not be furnished transportation by the quartermaster’s department, or on a conveyance belonging to or chartered by the United States, he shall be allowed ten cents per mile, and no more, for each mile actually by him travelled under such order, distances to be calculated according to the nearest post-routes; and no payment shall be made to any officer exceptPayments to officers to be by paymaster only.Pay of retired officers. by a paymaster of the army.
Officers retired from active service shall receive seventy-five per centum of the pay of the rank upon which they are retired. Sec. 25. *And be it further enacted,* That every private soldier andOfficers, soldiers, seamen, and marines serving, for ninety days, in the rebellion and remaining loyal, may enter a quarter section of land on lines of railroads, &c.1862, ch. 75.Vol. xii. p. 392.1864, ch. 38.Vol. xiii. p. 35.1866, ch. 127.Vol. xiv. p. 66.1866, ch. 262, § 10.Vol. xiv. p. 253. officer who has served in the army of the United States during the re-321FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 294, 295. 1870.bellion, for ninety days, and remained loyal to the government, and every seaman, marine, and officer, or other person, who has served in the navy of the United States, or in the marine corps or revenue marine, during the rebellion, for ninety days, and remained loyal to the government, shall, on payment of the fee or commission to any register or receiver of any land office required by law, be entitled to enter one quarter section of land, not mineral, of the alternate reserved sections of public lands along the lines of any one of the railroads or other public works in the United States, wherever public lands have been or may be granted by acts of Congress, and to receive a patent therefor under and by virtue of the provisions of the act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, and the acts amendatory thereof, and on the terms and conditions therein prescribed; and all the provisions of said acts, except as herein modified, shall extend and be applicable to entries under this act, and the commissioner of the general land office is hereby authorized to prescribe the necessary rules and regulations to carry this section into effect, and determine all facts necessary therefor.
Approved, July 15, 1870.