a corporal of cavalry, with the same allowance of clothing and rations. Military duty ordinarily is not required of either saddler sergeants or saddlers; but they should be instructed in a knowledge of the ordinary duties, and should at all times be available in case of necessity.

246. ORDNANCE SERGEANT.-Each military post may have an ordnance sergeant, whose duty it is to take charge of all the surplus ordnance at the post. He is enlisted for the position, and belongs to the post, and is not removed when the troops are changed. His pay is twenty-two dollars per month, one ration, and allowance for clothing. Ordnance sergeants do not belong to the Ordnance Department, but to the non-commissioned staff, unattached, of the regiment or post.

247. The following are the Regulations governing the appointment and duties of ordnance sergeant:

"131. The Secretary of War selects from the sergeants of the line of the army, who may have faithfully served eight years (four years in the grade of non-commissioned officer), as many ordnance sergeants as the service may require, not exceeding one to each military post.

"132. Captains will report to their colonels such sergeants as, by their conduct and service, merit such appointment, setting forth the description, length of service of the sergeant, the portion of his service he was a non-commissioned officer, his general character as to fidelity and sobriety, his qualifications as a clerk, and his fitness for the duties to be performed by an ordnance sergeant. These reports will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General,

to be laid before the Secretary of War, with an application in the following form :

To the Adjutant-General:

HEAD-QUARTERS, ETC.

SIR-I forward, for consideration of the proper authority, an application for the appointment of Ordnance Sergeant.

Enclosed herewith you will receive the report of · the officer commanding the company in which the sergeant has been serving, to which I add the following remarks : -, Commanding — Regiment.

"133. When a company is detached from the headquarters of the regiment, the reports of the commanding officer in this matter will pass to the regimental headquarters through the commanding officer of the post or detachment, and be accompanied by his opinion as to the fitness of the candidate.

"134. Ordnance sergeants will be assigned to posts when appointed, and are not to be transferred to other stations, except by orders from the Adjutant-General's Office.

"135. At the expiration of their term of service, ordnance sergeants may be re-enlisted, provided they shall have conducted themselves in a becoming manner, and performed their duties to the satisfaction of the commanding officer. If the commanding officer, however, shall not think proper to re-enlist the ordnance sergeant of his post, he will communicate to the Adjutant-General his reasons for declining to re-enlist him, in time to receive the decision of the War Department before the sergeant may lawfully claim to re-enlist.

"136. The officers interested must be aware, from the nature of the duties assigned to ordnance sergeants, that the judicious selection of them is of no small importance to the interests of the service; and that while the law contemplates, in the appointment of these non-commissioned officers, the better preservation of the ordnance and ordnance stores in deposit in the several forts, there is the further motive of offering a reward to those faithful and well-tried sergeants who have long served their country, and of thus giving encouragement to the soldier in the ranks to emulate them in conduct, and thereby secure substantial promotion. Colonels and captains cannot, therefore, be too particular in investigating the characters of the candidates, and in giving their testimony as to their merits.

"137. The appointment and removal of ordnance sergeants, stationed at military posts, in pursuance of the above provisions of law, shall be reported by the Adjutant-General to the Chief of the Ordnance Department. "138. When a non-commissioned officer receives the

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appointment of ordnance sergeant, he shall be dropped from the rolls of the regiment or company in which he may be serving at the time.

"139. The duty of ordnance sergeants relates to the care of the ordnance, arms, ammunition, and other military stores at the post to which they may be attached, under the direction of the commanding officer, and according to the regulations of the Ordnance Department.

"140. If a post be evacuated, the ordnance sergeant shall remain on duty at the station, under the direction of the Chief of the Ordnance Department, in charge of the ordnance and ordnance stores, and of such other public property as is not in charge of some officer or agent of other departments; for which ordnance stores and other property he will account to the chiefs of the proper departments until otherwise directed.

"141. An ordnance sergeant in charge of ordnance stores at a post where there is no commissioned officer shall be held responsible for the safe-keeping of the property, and he shall be governed by the regulations of the Ordnance Department in making issues of the same, and in preparing and furnishing the requisite returns. If the means at his disposal are not sufficient for the preservation of the property, he shall report the circumstances to the Chief of the Ordnance Department.

"142. Ordnance sergeants are to be considered as belonging to the non-commissioned staff of the post, under the orders of the commanding officer. They are to wear the uniform of the Ordnance Department, with the distinctive badges prescribed for the non-commissioned staff of regiments of artillery; and they are to appear under arms with the troops at all reviews and inspections, monthly and weekly.

"143. When serving at any post which may be the head-quarters of a regiment, ordnance sergeants shall be reported by name on the post returns, and mustered with the non-commissioned staff of the regiment; and at all other posts they shall be mustered and reported in some company stationed at the post at which they serve; be paid on the muster-roll, and be charged with the clothing and all other supplies previously received from any officer, or subsequently issued to them by the commanding officer of the company for the time-being. Whenever the company may be ordered from the post, the ordnance sergeant will be transferred to the rolls of any remaining company, by the order of the commanding officer of the post.

"144. In the event of the troops being all withdrawn from a post at which there is an ordnance sergeant, he shall be furnished with his descriptive roll and account of clothing and pay, signed by the proper officer last in command, accompanied by the remarks necessary for his military history; and on his exhibiting such papers to any paymaster, with a letter from the Ordnance Office acknowledging the receipt of his returns, and that they are satisfactory, he will be paid on a separate account the amount which may be due him at the date of the receipt of the returns mentioned in such letter, together with commutation of rations, according to the regulations of the Subsistence Department. A certified statement of his pay account will be furnished the ordnance sergeant by the paymaster by whom he may be last paid. When there are no troops at the post, the ordnance sergeant will report to the Adjutant-General's Office, by letter, on the last day of evory month."

248. The commanding officer is responsible for the ordnance stores, and the returns are signed by