Courts-Martial.

ARTICLE XXXVIII.

COURTS-MARTIAL.

880. In appointing a general court-martial, as many members will be detailed, from five to thirteen inclusively, as can be assembled without manifest injury to the service.

881. The decision of the officer appointing the court, as to the number that can be assembled without manifest injury to the service, is conclusive.

882. A President of the court will not be appointed. The officer highest in rank present will be President.

883. Form of Order appointing a general court-martial; the last paragraph omitted when the court can be kept up with thirteen members.

Head-Quarters,

A General Court-martial is hereby appointed to meet at

day of

of

1.

or as soon thereafter as practicable, for the trial and such other prisoners as may be brought before it.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Detail for the Court:

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

6.

7.

Judge Advocate.

No other officers than those named can be assembled without manifest injury to the service.

884. In the detail the members will be named, and they will take place in the court, in the order of their rank. A decision of the proper authority in regard to the rank of the members cannot be reversed by the court.

885. The place of holding a court is appointed by the authority convening it.

886. Application for delay or postponement of trial must, when practicable, be made to the authority convening the court. When made to the court, it must be before plea, and will then, if in the opinion of the court well founded, be referred to the authority convening the court, to

Courts-Martial.

decide whether the court should be adjourned or dissolved, and the charges reserved for another court.

887. Upon application by the accused for postponement on the ground of the absence of a witness, it ought distinctly to appear on his oath, 1st. that the witness is material, and how; 2d. that the accused has used due diligence to procure his attendance; and, 3d. that he has reasonable ground to believe, and does believe, that he will be able to procure such attendance within a reasonable time stated.

888. The President of a court-martial, besides his duties and privileges as member, is the organ of the court, to keep order and conduct its busiHe speaks and acts for the court in each case where the rule has been prescribed by law, regulation, or its own resolution. In all their deliberations the law secures the equality of the members.

ness.

889. The 76th Article of War does not confer on a court-martial the power to punish its own members. For disorderly conduct, a member is liable as in other offenses against military discipline; improper words are to be taken down, and any disorderly conduct of a member reported to the authority convening the court.

890. The Judge Advocate shall summon the necessary witnesses for the trial; but he shall not summon any witness at the expense of the United States, nor any officer of the army, without the order of the court, unless satisfied that his testimony is material and necessary to the ends of justice.

891. Every court-martial shall keep a complete and accurate record of its proceedings, to be authenticated by the signatures of the President and Judge Advocate; who shall also certify, in like manner, the sentence pronounced by the court in each case. The record must show that the court was organized as the law requires; that the court and Judge Advocate were duly sworn in the presence of the prisoner; that he was previously asked whether he had any objection to any member, and his answer thereto. A copy of the order appointing the court will be entered on the record in each case.

892. Whenever the same court-martial tries more prisoners than one, and they are arraigned on separate and distinct charges, the court is to be sworn at the commencement of each trial, and the proceedings in each case will be made up separately.

893. The record shall be clearly and legibly written; as far as prac ticable, without erasures or interlineations. The pages to be numbered, with a margin of one inch on the left side of each page, and at the top of the odd and bottom of the even pages; through this last margin the sheets to be stitched together; the documents accompanying the pro

Courts-Martial.

ceedings to be noted and marked in such manner as to afford an easy reference.

894. No recommendation will be embraced in the body of the sentence. Those members only who concur in the recommendation will sign it.

895. The legal punishments for soldiers by sentence of a court-martial according to the offense, and the jurisdiction of the court, are—death; confinement; confinement on bread and water diet; solitary confinement; hard labor; ball and chain; forfeiture of pay and allowances; discharges from service; and reprimands, and, when non-commissioned officers, reduction to the ranks. Ordnance Sergeants and Hospital Stewards, however, though liable to discharge, may not be reduced. Nor are they to be tried by regimental or garrison courts-martial, unless by special permission of the department commander. Solitary confinement, or confinement on bread and water, shall not exceed fourteen days at a time, with intervals between the periods of such confinement not less than such periods; and not exceeding eighty-four days in any one year.

896. The Judge Advocate shall transmit the proceedings, without delay, to the officer having authority to confirm the sentence, who shall state, at the end of the proceedings in each case, his decision and orders thereon.

897. The original proceedings of all general courts-martial, after the decision on them of the reviewing authority, and all proceedings that require the decision of the President under the 65th and 89th Articles of War, and copies of all orders confirming or disapproving, or remitting, the sentences of courts-martial, and all official communications for the Judge Advocate of the army, will be addressed to "The Adjutant-General of the Army, War Department," marked on the cover, "Judge Advocate."

898. The proceedings of garrison and regimental courts-martial will be transmitted without delay by the garrison or regimental commander to the department head-quarters for the supervision of the department com

mander.

899. The power to pardon or mitigate the punishment ordered by a court-martial is vested in the authority confirming the proceedings, and in the President of the United States. A superior military commander to the officer confirming the proceedings may suspend the execution of the sentence when, in his judgment, it is void upon the face of the pro ceedings, or when he sees a fit case for executive clemency. In such cases, the record, with his order prohibiting the execution, shall be transmitted for the final orders of the President.

900. When a court-martial or court of inquiry adjourns without day,

Working-Parties.

the members will return to their respective posts and duties unless otherwise ordered.

901. When a court adjourns for three days, the Judge Advocate shall report the fact to the commander of the post or troops, and the members belonging to the command will be liable to duty during the time.

ARTICLE XXXIX.

WORKING-PARTIES.

902. When it is necessary to employ the army at work on fortifications, in surveys, in cutting roads, and other constant labor of not less than ten days, the non-commissioned officers and soldiers so employed are enrolled as extra-duty men, and are allowed twenty-five cents a day when employed as laborers and teamsters, and forty cents a day when employed as mechanics, clerks, storekeepers, &c., at all stations east of the Rocky Mountains, and thirty-five and fifty cents per day, respectively, at all stations west of those mountains. But no man shall be rated and paid as a clerk or mechanic, who is not skilled in his particular employment; nor any man as a storekeeper, &c., whose trust is not of sufficient importance. Mere strikers, inferior workmen, &c. shall be rated as laborers. Commanding officers will particularly see to this; nor shall any soldier be rated at the higher pay, except by their order.

903. Enlisted men of the Ordnance and Engineer Departments, and artificers of artillery, are not entitled to this allowance when employed in their appropriate work.

904. Soldiers will not be employed as extra-duty men for any labor in camp or garrison which can properly be performed by fatigue parties.

905. No extra-duty men, except those required for the ordinary service of the Quartermaster, Commissary, and Medical Departments, and saddlers in mounted companies, will be employed without previous authority from department head-quarters, except in case of necessity, which shall be promptly reported to the department commander.

906. Extra-duty men should attend the weekly and monthly inspections of their companies, and, if possible, one drill in every week.

907. Extra-duty pay of the saddler in a mounted company will be charged on the company muster-roll, to be paid by the Paymaster and refunded by the Ordnance Department. Extra-duty pay of cooks and nurses in the hospital service will be paid by the quartermaster, in the absence of a medical disbursing officer, and refunded by the Medical Department.

908. The officer commanding a working-party will conform to the

Recruiting Service.—Duties of Superintendents.

directions and plans of the engineer or other officer directing the work, without regard to rank.

909. A day's work shall not exceed ten hours in summer, nor eight in winter. Soldiers are paid in proportion for any greater number of hours they are employed each day. Summer is considered to commence on the 1st of April, and winter on the 1st of October.

910. Although the necessities of the service may require soldiers to be ordered on working-parties as a duty, commanding officers are to bear in mind that fitness for military service by instruction and discipline is the object for which the army is kept on foot, and that they are not to employ the troops when not in the field, and especially the mounted troops, in labors that interfere with their military duties and exercises, except in case of immediate necessity, which shall be forthwith reported for the orders of the War Department.

ARTICLE XL.

RECRUITING SERVICE.

911. The recruiting service will be conducted by the Adjutant-General, under the direction of the Secretary of War.

912. Field officers will be detailed to superintend the recruiting districts, and lieutenants to take charge of the recruiting parties. The Adjutant-General will select the field officers, and announce in orders the number of Captains and Lieutenants to be selected for this duty from each regiment by the Colonel.

913. A recruiting party will consist generally of one lieutenant, one non-commissioned officer, two privates, and a drummer and fifer. The parties will be sent from the principal depôts, and none but suitable men selected.

914. Officers on the general recruiting service are not to be ordered on any other duty, except from the Adjutant-General's office.

DUTIES OF SUPERINTENDENTS.

915. As soon as a recruiting station is designated, the superintendent sends estimates for funds to the Adjutant-General, and requisitions on the proper departments (through the Adjutant-General) for clothing, camp equipage, arms, and accoutrements.

916. Subsequent supplies for the station in his district are procured by the superintendent on consolidated estimates; these are made quarterly for funds, and every six or twelve months for clothing, equipage, arms, and accoutrements Estimates for funds will be in the following

form: