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Desertions.

SECTION IV.

Desertions.

787....Desertion being an offence of the gravest character, every possible endeavor must be made by the officers of the Navy to check it, as well as absence without leave, or straggling, and to apprehend promptly all persons who may desert or so absent themselves. In each case descriptive lists, signed by the commanding officer, showing on their face the amount of reward offered, are to be distributed among the police of the place, but not without the permission of the local authorities. (Form No. 4.)

788....A reward not exceeding twenty dollars may be offered for the recovery of a deserter, and a reward not exceeding ten dollars may be offered for the recovery of a straggler, but in neither case is it to be paid until the delinquent is actually delivered on board the vessel, or at the place on shore where he belongs, and from which he deserted or went without authority. If, however, the vessel should have departed from the port at which the offence occurred, then the delivery of the delinquent to the Commanding naval officer thereat is to be regarded as equivalent to his delivery on board of her. Any reward which may be paid for the apprehension and delivery of a deserter or straggler is at once to be charged to his account.

789...In addition to the reward above authorized to be paid for the apprehension and delivery of deserters and stragglers, there may be paid a reasonable amount to cover such expenses attending their lodgment, subsistence, and travelling as may appear to have been fairly incurred; and this amount, entered separately, is also to be charged against them. No claim, however, for loss of time, or for subsistence, that may be made by any person apprehending and delivering a deserter or straggler, is to be entertained.

790....A reward for the apprehension of an officer is not to be offered unless specially authorized by the Navy Department, or, on a foreign station, by the Commander-in-Chief of a squadron.

791... Absence without leave, and with a manifest intention not to return, is always to be regarded as desertion. Absence without leave,

Desertions.

coupled with a probability that the party does not intend to remain permanently away, is, at first, to be regarded as straggling, and, at the expiration of ten days, if the party still remains absent, as desertion. In either case the Commanding Officer, on informing himself of the facts attending it, is, primarily, to decide the point of intention, and to cause the party to be entered on the log and marked on the books of the Paymaster as above indicated.

792....The wages due a deserter are to be regarded as forfeited to the United States; or, if in debt to the government, the proceeds of his effects left on board are to be applied to liquidate it, and the balance, if any, is to be accounted for to the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury by the Paymaster. If not so in debt, the whole of said proceeds are to be so accounted for.

793...The letter R, marked against a person's name on the books of the Paymaster, is to signify desertion, and no application to the Department for its removal will be entertained unless the Department is furnished with sufficient evidence, either direct or circumstantial, that, in reality, there was no intention to desert.

794.... If the account of any person returning or delivered on board with an R already appearing against his name has not actually been transmitted to the Fourth Auditor, the Commander of a squadron, or of a vessel acting singly, may have it removed if he is satisfied upon explanation that it ought not in justice to remain, in which case the party is to be re-credited with the wages that were due him when the R was placed against his name, and credited with the proceeds that may have resulted from the sale of his effects left on board, or, if he was in debt, with any balance of them that may appear in his favor; but under no circumstances is any allowance of wages to be made to him for the time of his unauthorized absence.

795....Should desertions occur from a vessel in a port of the United States, her commanding officer, before sailing, is to transmit to the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting a list and description of the deserters, and a duplicate of the same, with a statement of the reward offered in each case, to the Commanding Officer of the station, if there be one at the place, and if not, to the commanding officer of the station nearest to it, in order that he may receive such deserters if apprehended and have the reward offered for them paid.

Desertions. Medals of Honor.

796....If a deserter from any vessel of the navy shall take refuge on board of a foreign vessel-of-war, the senior officer present in command shall make a formal request for his delivery; but if this be refused, he is not to resort to force for his recovery, yet he is, however, to report the case and circumstances immediately to the Navy Department.

797. In case of shipwreck, or any other circumstance except capture by an enemy, whereby any person belonging to a vessel of the Navy shall become unavoidably separated from the command, it shall be his duty to proceed at once to the nearest ship, squadron, or station, and report himself to the officer in command. In the event of failure to do this, he will be regarded as a deserter, and no claim for wages will be allowed unless he shall prove, to the satisfaction of the Department, that he was prevented by circumstances beyond his control.

ARTICLE XIX.

Medals of Honor.

798....By an act of Congress, approved December 21, 1861, the Secretary of the Navy is authorized to cause two hundred "Medals of Honor" to be prepared, with suitable emblematic devices, to be bestowed upon such petty officers, others of inferior rating, and marines, as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other commendable qualities during the present war. Medals have accordingly been prepared, and each consists of a star of five rays, in bronze, with a device emblematic of the Union crushing the monster Rebellion— the star itself sustained, as a means of wearing it as intended, by the flukes of an anchor. The following rules are to be observed concerning it :

1. It is to be worn suspended from the left breast by a ribbon of the same pattern as that which will be found attached on its prosentation, showing all blue at top for half an inch downwards, and thirteen vertical stripes, alternately red and white, for eight-tenths of an inch, or the rest of its length to the ring of the anchor.

Medals of Honor.

2. The name of the recipient is to be engraved on the back of the medal.

3. The names of all those upon whom the Navy Department may be pleased to confer the melal shall be publicly made known, and a registry thereof kept in the Department.

4. The medal shall only be awarded to those petty officers, and others indicated, who shall have evinced in battle some signal act of valor or devotion to their country; and nothing save such conduct, coupled with good general qualities in the service, shall be held to establish a sufficient claim to it.

5. In order to enable the Department to discriminate fairly and properly in the premises, Commanding Officers, in recommending parties for the medal, are to state minutely the grounds of their recommendation-precisely what the deeds of valor or devotion were, and the circumstances attending them; and they are also to state the impressions made by the parties as to their general public worth.

6. Every person selected for the medal shall receive it publicly, from the bands of the senior officer present in command, before the crew to which he belongs, and at the instance of a general order from the Navy Department stating the cause of his special distinction.

7. Any one who, after having received the medal, shall again perform an act which, if he had not received the distinction, would have entitled him to it, shall have the authority conferred upon him by the Department to wear a bar attached to the ribbon by which the medal is suspended; and for every additional act of the kind an additional bar shall be added.

8. To preserve pure this "Medal of Honor," it is to be distinctly understood that if any person on whom it shall have been conferred be subsequently convicted of treason, cowardice, felony, or any infamous crime, or if he be accused of any such offence, and do not, after a reasonable time, surrender himself to be tried therefor, his name shall forthwith be erased from the registry above mentioned by a general order from the Secretary of the Navy, who alone is to be the judge of the circumstances demanding the expulsion.

Medals of Honor.. ...Allotments.

9. An act of Congress, approved July 16, 1862, further directs that seamen distinguishing themselves in battle, or by extraordinary heroism in the line of their profession, may be promoted to forward warrant officers, or acting master's mates, as they may be best qualified, upon the recommendation of their Commanding Officer, approved by the Flag Officer and the Department; and that, upon such promotion, they shall receive a gratuity of one hundred dollars, and a "Medal of Honor."

10. In all cases of selections as above authorized, Commanding Officers are to communicate the names of the individuals without delay, in order that the Department may take prompt action with regard to them; and if the selection involve promotion, as contemplated by the act of Congress just mentioned, those officers are to be particular in stating whether it should be that of a forward warrant officer, or to that of an acting master's mate, together with their reasons therefor. Special attention to clauses 5 and 9 of these instructions is enjoined upon all Commanding Officers.

ARTICLE XX.

Allotments.

799....An allotment must not exceed one-half the pay of the person granting it, except by the special permission of the Secretary of the Navy. It must be confined to making provision for the support of the family or other relatives of the grantor, for such time as he may be absent from them on public duty. It must not be made payable on any other than the last day of the month. After having been signed, it must have the approval of the Secretary of the Navy, or of the Commander of the vessel or station to which the person making it is attached, and will be registered by the Paymaster of such vessel or station, who will be responsible for its deduction from the grantor's pay; or, in special cases, it will be registered at the Fourth Auditor's Office.

It will be executed in duplicate, and in the case of commis

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