763. Official correspondence between the heads of the different departments of the staff of any command and its commander will pass through the adjutant-general or adjutant of the command. Communications to or from a commander and his subordinates will pass through the same channel. Communications, however, between a disbursing officer and the chief of the bureau in which he is serving, which do not involve questions of administrative responsibility within the supervision of commanding officers, nor affect the official interests of individuals, but which relate exclusively to the routine of business in his department, will pass direct.

764. Except as provided in paragraph 767, all communications, reports, and estimates from officers serving at a military post, and communications of every nature addressed to them relating to affairs of the post, will pass through the post commander.

765. Officers who forward communications will indorse thereon their approval or disapproval, with remarks. No communication should be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army by a department commander or other superior officer for the action of the Commanding General of the Army or the Secretary of War without some recommendation or expression of opinion.

766. A commander or chief of bureau may communicate with those under his command or direction through a staff or other suitable officer. With all others he will himself make the communication.

767. Chiefs of bureaus of the War Department are authorized to correspond directly with the Secretary of War and with the subordinate officers of their respective corps upon any matter relating exclusively to the duties of the bureau required by statute to be performed under the direction of the Secretary of War, and necessary sub-references of such correspondence and sub-reports will, in like manner, be direct through officers of the respective corps. Such correspondence with subordinate officers will not embody instructions to be carried out by an officer reporting to or serving under an officer commanding troops, in relation to any matter not specifically excepted from his command and control by law, or by the Secretary of War; and replies thereto will not embody remarks or recommendations on matters pertaining to the administration of the officer commanding.

768. Unless otherwise expressly authorized by statute, an application for the official opinion of the Judge-Advocate-General or of an officer of any Executive Department of the Government other than the War Department will be addressed to the Adjutant-General of the Army, and by him submitted to the Secretary of War. Abstract questions will not be presented. 769. Unimportant and trivial communications need not be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army simply because addressed to him. Department commanders should decide whether a communication is of sufficient importance to be forwarded to the Commanding General of the Army or the Secretary of War.

ARTICLE LXV.

ORDERS.

770. The orders of commanders of armies, corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, posts, territorial departments, and districts are denominated "general (or special) orders" of such army, corps, etc., according to char

acter. General and special orders are numbered in separate series, each beginning with the calendar year or at the time of the establishment of the headquarters. Orders issued by commanders of battalions, companies, or small detachments are simply denominated "orders," and are numbered in a single series, beginning with the year. Circulars issued from any headquarters are numbered in a separate series.

771. General orders announce the time and place of issues and payments, hours for roll calls and duties, police regulations and prohibitions, returns to be made and their forms, laws and regulations for the Army, promotions and appointments, eulogies or censures, the results of trial by general courts-martial in all cases of officers or of enlisted men involving matters of general interest and importance, and generally, whatever it may be important to publish to the whole command. Orders eulogizing the conduct of living officers will not be issued except in cases of gallantry in action or performance of specially hazardous service.

772. Special orders are such as concern individuals or relate to matters that need not be made known to the whole command.

773. General orders and all important special orders must be read and approved, before issue, by the officer whose orders they are.

774. An order will state at its head the source from which it emanates, its number, date, and place of issue; and at its foot, the name of the commander by whose authority it is issued. It may be put in the form of a letter addressed to the individual concerned through the proper channel.

775. Orders for any body of troops will be addressed to its commander. They will be executed by the commander present, and will be published and copies distributed by him when necessary.

776. Orders to an officer involving travel on duty, as for the inspection or payment of troops, etc., will designate the troops and posts to be visited, and the order in which he will visit them.

777. Orders and instructions will be transmitted through intermediate commanders, in order of rank, except when they are of such character that the commanders have no power to modify or suspend them. In such cases the orders or instructions will be sent direct to the officer by whom they are to be executed, copies being furnished to the intermediate commanders.

778. Printed orders are generally distributed direct to posts by the headquarters from which issued. Files of such orders will be kept by each regiment and company, and at each military post, and will be turned over by a commander, when relieved, to his successor. If general orders in regular succession are not received within a reasonable time, commanding officers will report missing numbers to the proper headquarters.

779. In camp or garrison, orders that affect a command will, as a rule, be read to the troops at the first regular parade after they are received. In the field, when orderly hours can not be observed, they will be sent direct to the troops, or commanders of regiments or corps will be informed when to send to headquarters for them, or during a halt orders will be read to troops, without waiting for the regular parades.

780. In the field, verbal and important written orders are carried by officers. Dispatches for distant corps should be intrusted only to officers to whom their contents may be confided.

781. Mounted enlisted men will be employed to carry important dispatches only in special and urgent cases. The precise hours of departure and the rates at which they are to be conveyed will be written clearly on the covers of all dispatches transmitted by mounted orderlies.

782. Copies of all orders issued by commanders of armies or territorial departments will be forwarded at their dates, or as soon as practicable, to the Adjutant-General of the Army and to the head of each staff department in Washington.

783. The date of any appointment, detail or removal affecting the pay of staff officers or acting staff officers will be immediately reported by the officer making the same to the Adjutant-General of the Army and to the paymaster of the department or command to which such officers belong.

ARTICLE LXVI.

MUSTER AND PAY ROLLS.

784. At every muster of troops, muster and pay rolls will be prepared, signed, and disposed of by the commander of each regiment, company, or separate detachment, in accordance with the directions on the blank forms furnished by the Adjutant-General of the Army. There will be reported on the regimental roll the regimental field officers, staff (commissioned and noncommissioned), and band; on the company roll, the officers and enlisted men belonging to the company; on the hospital roll, the medical officers, the hospital corps, and the authorized matrons; on the post noncommissioned staff roll, the post noncommissioned staff and enlisted men of the Signal Corps serving at the post. The post noncommissioned staff roll will be prepared and signed by the adjutant, who will also keep the accounts and prepare the final statements of the men borne thereon.

785. A soldier on duty or in hospital at a post or station where his company is not mustered will be mustered on a detachment roll, a separate roll being prepared for each regiment.

786. Companies will be designated on the rolls by letters and regiments, and by the names of their captains whether present or absent.

787. Calculations on the muster and pay roll are made by the paymaster, and copied on the retained roll by the company or detachment commander, who will certify that he witnessed the payment, and will enter thereon the name of the paymaster.

788. Corrections on muster rolls, after muster and before they have been forwarded, will not be made except with the approval of the mustering officer. Retained rolls will not be changed without authority from the AdjutantGeneral of the Army.

ARTICLE LXVII.

RETURNS OF TROOPS.

789. Commanders of departments, corps, and posts will make to the Adjutant-General's Office, in Washington, monthly returns of their respective commands on forms furnished by the Adjutant-General of the Army, and in accordance with the directions printed thereon. In like manner company commanders will make monthly returns of their companies to regimental headquarters.

790. Every commander of a separate body of troops, whether an army corps, division, brigade, regiment, or detachment, and whether engaged in campaign, field service, or occupying a temporary camp, or simply in transit from one place to another, will make the monthly return required in the preceding paragraph. Any detachment so far separated from the main body to which it belongs as to render it impracticable for the commander of the main body to make the muster and inspection enjoined by the regulations is a separate command within the meaning of this paragraph.

791. At the close of January, March, May, July, September and November of each year each company commander will forward with his morning report to the commanding officer a report of enlisted strength in the prescribed form. These the commanding officer will at once transmit to the Adjutant-General of the Army. Regimental commanders will forward similar reports of noncommissioned staff and band, including unassigned recruits if any.

792. Regimental returns will be made in the name of the colonel and those of the company in that of the captain, whether those officers be present or absent.

793. When a field officer is serving with detached companies of his regiment the commanders thereof will forward their returns through him, and he will transmit them with his personal report to regimental headquarters.

794. In campaign, one copy of every return of troops will be forwarded through intermediate commanders and one direct to the Adjutant-General of the Army, unless otherwise ordered.

795. Whenever the strength of a separate command is temporarily or permanently increased or diminished by the moving of any organization, the commanding officer will immediately inform the Adjutant-General of the Army direct, designating the organization moved, number and names of officers, and strength in men, animals, and arms.

796. In campaign two columns will be added to the monthly return in the space reserved for remarks, in which shall be entered the effective strength of the organization. In determining such strength only those who are available for service in the line of battle will be included. Officers or enlisted men who are sick or disabled, on duty in any of the staff or supply departments, or detached for any cause will be excluded.

797. After any action or affair resulting in casualties, a return in triplicate of killed, wounded, and missing will be made, containing the name, rank, and regiment of each person, with such remarks and explanations as may be necessary to a full understanding of any claims of the wounded soldiers or of representatives of the deceased. The nature of the wound, the time when and place where received; the company, regiment, or corps to which the person belongs, and the name of his captain, colonel, or other commanding officer will be carefully entered. One copy of this return will be retained, one forwarded direct, and the third through military channels, to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

798. A return of all captured property will be rendered to the AdjutantGeneral of the Army through intermediate channels, by the immediate commander of the troops making the capture.

ARTICLE LXVIII.

RECORDS.

799. All military records will be carefully preserved.

800. Whenever a post or other command is discontinued all records not required for use at headquarters of the departments in which the command was included will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army, as will also the records of departments upon discontinuance.

801. The use of colored inks, except as carmine or red ink is used in annotation and ruling, is prohibited in the records and correspondence of the Army.

802. Sections 5403 and 5408, Revised Statutes, prescribe penalties for the fraudulent or wrongful destruction, withdrawal or removal from any public office of any public record, paper or document therein deposited.

803. No information will be furnished by any person in the military service which can be made the basis of a claim against the Government, except it be given as the regulations prescribe to the proper officers of the War, Treasury, or Interior Departments, or the Department of Justice. Information concerning sick and wounded officers and enlisted men may be freely conveyed to allay the anxiety of friends. The fact of death may be communicated to relatives, but not circumstances connected therewith which could be made use of in prosecuting claims against the Government. If any person in the military service has knowledge of facts pertaining to the service of an individual who is an applicant for a pension, he may, upon request, if not pecuniarily interested, furnish a certificate or affidavit setting forth his knowledge; but record evidence will be furnished by the War Department only.

ARTICLE LXIX.

PERSONAL AND EFFICIENCY REPORTS.

804. When any officer arrives at Washington, D. C., he will report at the Adjutant-General's Office, and will there record his name, residence in the city, and the authority by which he is absent from his station.

805. An officer detached from his regiment or corps for duty at another station, or a field officer serving with troops but not at the headquarters of his regiment, will immediately report to the Adjutant-General of the Army and to his regimental and post commanders the time of departure from former station, of arrival at new station with a reference to the authority for the change, and his post-office address. As soon as practicable he will in like manner report the nature of his duties, and from time to time any material change therein, and any change of address, to the same officers. An officer of a staff corps or department, or an officer serving therein who is not carried on department or post returns, will make similar reports to the Adjutant-General of the Army and the head of the corps or department, and such other reports as the chief of the bureau may require. An officer on the retired list will, unless specially exempted, report each change of address to the Adjutant-General of the Army.

806. An individual service report will be made on June 30 of each year by each officer of the Army, except general officers and the chief of each staff corps or department. All reports made by regimental officers will be