wounds received in battle prior to the expiration of two years' service. The act making appropriations for the army, approved February 9th, 1863, appropriates the sum of forty-five thousand dollars for the purchase of artificial limbs for volunteer soldiers and seamen. The act of March 3d, 1863, called the Conscription Act, repeals the law allowing soldiers detailed on special duty "extra duty pay." CHAPTER II. OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY: THEIR RIGHTS, SOLDIERS enlisting in the service of the United States are entitled by law to one month's pay in advance, and to twenty-five of the one hundred dollars bounty granted by the act of 1861. Enlistments for short periods having proved a failure, it is probable that in future the Government will not accept the services of soldiers for a less time than three years, unless sooner discharged. By the act of Congress commonly called the Conscription Act, the payments to the Secretary of War of the $300 exemption money, are to be used to procure substitutes for the persons thus exempted, and this fund is in the hands of the Secretary, to be used for that purpose in the manner which to him appears best adapted for the purpose of secur ing the services of veteran soldiers. The bounty granted by the act of July 22d, 1861, is to be paid on the discharge of the soldier after two years' service. If the soldier be discharged before the expiration of two years he is not entitled to the bounty, unless he was discharged by reason of wounds received in battle.* Soldiers discharged for that reason will do well to see *See act of March 3d, 1863, p. 255. that the cause is so stated on the face of the discharge, and properly recorded by the discharging surgeon. Discharged soldiers should keep their discharge papers in an envelope, and not keep them loosely folded in their pockets, to be worn out and destroyed. Soldiers, when discharged, should be furnished with a descriptive list and their final statements, to enable them to obtain their pay. The army is, or ought to be, paid every two months. Soldiers may allot a portion of their pay regularly to their friends, and the paymaster will give them a check for such portion, payable only on the indorsement of the person to whom it is allotted. In case a soldier wishes to make a single remittance of a portion of his pay to his friends at home, his safest plan is to ask the paymaster for a check, payable to the order of the person to whom he wishes to give the money. This check can thus be transmitted by mail, without any risk of loss, or of the wrong person getting the money. Soldiers who have lost a limb in the line of their duty, are entitled to be supplied with an artificial one, for directions concerning which see page 24. Soldiers who are ruptured will be furnished with trusses on application to medical directors. See page 27. Soldiers ought to make themselves familiar with the articles of war. They form the code under which they live while in the service, and infractions of which are severely punished. Absence from duty without leave subjects a soldier to punishment as a deserter, and a soldier dying while so absent deprives his wife or child not only of a pension, but of all his arrears of pay and bounty. The code of the soldier may be summed up in three words-Obey! obey! obey! While in the service, officers' and soldiers' accounts are settled by paymasters. After leaving the service, any claims they may have on the Government must be present ed to the Second Auditor of the Treasury. As the delay in this office amounts to a year on the average, officers and soldiers are strongly urged to procure a full settlement of accounts before leaving the army. Soldiers, on their discharge, are entitled to transportation to the place of enrolment, and if such transportation be not furnished, they are entitled to fifty cents for every twenty miles travelled. If not settled by payment on discharge, claims of this description must be presented to the Second Auditor of the Treasury. On discharge for disability, immediate application for a pension should be made. See directions and forms under the head of Pensions. By the act of Congress of July 1st, 1862,* 14 per cent. income tax is deducted from officers' pay on all amounts exceeding fifty dollars a month. By the act of Congress approved June 18th, 1863,† line officers are to be paid on the muster roll of their company. The act of July 17th, 1862, takes away commutation for forage, except in cases where forage in kind is not supplied. The act of March 3d, 1863,§ provides that soldiers detailed on extra duty shall not thereafter be entitled to extraduty pay. Soldiers desiring to leave their arrears of pay, bounty, &c. to any particular relative, cannot do so by any other means than by making a regular will. A mere letter, or any other writing not amounting to a formal will, has not the desired effect. A simple form of a will for officers and soldiers is given on page 37. Thirty-seventh Congress, second session, chap. 119. + Id., chap. 109. § Id., third session, chap. 75. |