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CONGDON'S CAVALRY COMPENDIUM.
ARTICLES OF WAR.
AN ACT FOR ESTABLISHING RULES AND ARTICLES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
SECTION 1.
Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, That, from and after the
passing of this act, the following shall be the rules and articles by
which the armies of the United States shall be governed:
ART.1.
Every officer now in the army of the United States shall, in six months
from the passing of this act, and every officer who shall hereafter be
appointed shall, before he enters on the duties of his office,
subscribe these rules and regulations.
ART. 2.
It is earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers diligently to
attend divine service; and all officers who shall behave indecently or
irreverently at any place of divine worship shall, if commissioned
officers, be brought before a general court-martial, there to be
publicly and severely reprimanded by the president; if non-commissioned
officers or soldiers, every person so offending shall, for his first
offense, forfeit one-sixth of a dollar, to be deducted out of his next
pay; for the second offense, he shall not only forfeit a like sum, but
be confined twenty-four hours; and for every like offense, shall suffer
and pay in like manner; which money, so forfeited, shall be applied, by
the captain or senior officer of the troop or company, to the use of
the sick soldiers of the company or troop to which the offender belongs.
ART. 3.
Any non-commissioned officer or soldier who shall use any profane oath
or execration, shall incur the penalties expressed in the foregoing
article; and a commissioned officer shall forfeit and pay, for each and
every such offense, one dollar, to be applied as in the preceding
article.
ART. 4. Every chaplain
commissioned in the army or armies of the United States, who shall
absent himself from the duties assigned him (excepting in cases of
sickness or leave of absence), shall, on conviction thereof before a
court-martial, be fined not exceeding one month's pay, * besides the
loss of his pay during his absence; or be discharged, as the said
court-martial shall judge proper. * These rules and
articles, with the exceptions indicated by the notes annexed to
articles 10, 20, 65, and 87, remain unaltered and in force at present.
ART. 5.
Any officer or soldier who shall use contemptuous or disrespectful
words against the President of the United States, against the
Vice-President thereof, against the Congress of the United States, or
against the Chief Magistrate or Legislature of any of the United
States, in which he may be quartered, if a commissioned officer, shall
be cashiered, or otherwise punished, as a court-martial shall direct;
if a non-commissioned officer or soldier, he shall suffer such
punishment as shall be inflicted on him by the sentence of a
court-martial.
ART. 6.
Any officer or soldier who shall behave himself with contempt or
disrespect toward his commanding officer, shall be punished, according
to the nature of his offense, by the judgment of a court-martial.
ART. 7.
Any officer or soldier who shall begin, excite, cause, or join in, any
mutiny or sedition, in any troop or company in the service of the
United States, or in any party, post, detachment, or guard, shall
suffer death, or such other punishment as by a court-martial shall be
inflicted.
ART. 8. Any officer,
non-commissioned officer, or soldier, who, being present at any mutiny
or sedition, does not use his utmost endeavor to suppress the same, or,
coming to the knowledge of any intended mutiny, does not, without
delay, give information thereof to his commanding officer, shall be
punished by the sentence of a court-martial with death, or otherwise,
according to the nature of his offense.
ART. 9.
Any officer or soldier who shall strike his superior officer, or draw
or lift up any weapon, or offer any violence against him, being in the
execution of his office, on any pretense whatsoever, or shall disobey
any lawful command of his superior officer, shall suffer death, or such
other punishment as shall, according to the nature of his offense, be
inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court-martial.
ART. 10.
Every non-commissioned officer or soldier, who shall enlist himself in
the service of the United States, shall, at the time of his so
enlisting, or within six days afterward, have the Articles for the
government of the armies of the United States read to him, and shall,
by the officer who enlisted him, or by the commanding officer of the
troop or company into which he was enlisted, be taken before the next
justice of the peace, or chief magistrate of any city or town
corporate, not being an officer of the army,* or where recourse cannot
be had to the civil magistrate, before the judge advocate, and in his
presence shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I, A. B., do solemnly swear, or affirm (as the case
may be), that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of
America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all
their enemies or opposers whatsoever; and observe and obey the orders
of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers
appointed over me, according to the Rules and Articles for the
government of the armies of the United States." Which justice,
magistrate, or judge advocate is to give to the officer a certificate,
signifying that the man enlisted did take the said oath or affirmation.
*By Sect. 11 of Chap. 42 August 3, 1861, the oath of
enlistment and re-enlistment may be administered by any commissioned
officer of the army.
ART. 11.
After a non-commissioned officer or soldier shall have been duly
enlisted and sworn, he shall not be dismissed the service without a
discharge in writing; and no discharge granted to him shall be
sufficient which is not signed by a field officer of the regiment to
which he belongs, or commanding officer, where no field officer of the
regiment is present; and no discharge shall be given to a
non-commissioned officer or soldier before his term of service has
expired; but by order of the President, the Secretary of War, the
commanding officer of a department, or the sentence of a general
court-martial; nor shall a commissioned officer be discharged the
service but by order of the President of the United States, or by
sentence of a general court-martial
ART. 12.
Every colonel, or other officer commanding a regiment, troop, or
company, and actually quartered with it, may give furloughs to
non-commissioned officers or soldiers, in such numbers, and for so long
a time, as he shall judge to be most consistent with the good of the
service; and a captain, or other inferior officer, commanding a troop
or company, or in any garrison, fort, or barrack of the United States
(his field officer being absent), may give furloughs to
non-commissioned officers or soldiers, for a time not exceeding twenty
days in six months, but not to more than two persons to be absent at
the same time, excepting some extraordinary occasion should require it.
ART. 13. At every muster, the commanding officer of each
regiment, troop, or company, there present, shall give to the
commissary of musters, or other officer who musters the said regiment,
troop, or company, certificates signed by himself, signifying how long
such officers, as shall not appear at the said muster, have been
absent, and the reason of their absence. In like manner, the commanding
officer of every troop or company shall give certificates, signifying
the reasons of the absence of the non-commissioned officers and private
soldiers; which reasons and time of absence shall be inserted in the
muster-rolls, opposite the names of the respective absent officers and
soldiers. The certificates shall, together with the muster-rolls, be
remitted by the commissary of musters, or other officer mustering, to
the Department of War, as speedily as the distance of the place will
admit.
ART. 14.
Every officer who shall be convicted before a general court martial of
having signed a false certificate relating to the absence of either
officer or private soldier, or relative to his or their pay, shall be
cashiered.
ART. 15. Every officer
who shall knowingly make a false muster of man or horse, and every
officer or commissary of musters who shall willingly sign, direct, or
allow the signing of muster-rolls wherein such false muster is
contained, shall, upon proof made thereof, by two witnesses, before a
general court-martial, be cashiered, and shall be thereby utterly
disabled to have or hold any office or employment in the service of the
United States.
ART. 16. Any
commissary of musters, or other officer, who shall be convicted of
having taken money, or other thing, by way of gratification, on
mustering any regiment, troop, or company, or on signing muster-rolls,
shall be displaced from his office, and shall be thereby utterly
disabled to have or hold any office or employment in the. service of
the United States.
ART. 17. Any
officer who shall presume to muster a person as a soldier who is not a
soldier, shall be deemed guilty of having made a false muster, and
shall suffer accordingly.
ART. 18.
Every officer who shall knowingly make a false return to the Department
of War, or to any of his superior officers, authorized to call for such
returns, of the state of the regiment, troop, or company, or garrison,
under his command; or of the arms, ammunition, clothing, or other
stores thereunto belonging, shall, on conviction thereof before a
court-martial, be cashiered.
ART. 19.
The commanding officer of every regiment, troop, or independent
company, or garrison, of the United States, shall, in the beginning of
every month, remit, through the proper channels, to the Department of
War, an exact return of the regiment, troop, independent company, or
garrison, under his command, specifying the names of the officers then
absent from their posts, with the reasons for and the time of their
absence. And any officer who shall be convicted of having, through
neglect or design, omitted sending such returns, shall be punished,
according to the nature of his crime, by the judgment of a general
court-martial.
ART. 20. All officers
and soldiers who have received pay, or have been duly enlisted in the
service of the United States, and shall be convicted of having deserted
the same, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as, by sentence
of a court-martial, shall be inflicted.* * No officer
or soldier in the army of the United States shall be subject to the
punishment of death, for desertion in time of peace. -Act 29th, 1830.
ART. 21.
Any non-commissioned officer or soldier who shall, without leave from
his commanding officer, absent himself from his troop, company, or
detachment, shall, upon being convicted thereof, be punished according
to the nature of his offense, at the discretion of a court-martial.
ART. 22.
No non-commissioned officer or soldier shall enlist himself in any
other regiment, troop, or company, without a regular discharge from the
regiment, troop, or company in which he last served, on the penalty f
being reputed a deserter, and suffering accordingly. And in case any
officer shall knowingly receive and entertain such non-commissioned
officer or soldier, or shall not, after his being discovered to be a
deserter, immediately confine him, and give notice thereof to the corps
in which he last served, the said officer shall, by a court-martial, be
cashiered.
ART. 23. Any officer or
soldier who shall be convicted of having advised or persuaded any other
officer or soldier to desert the service of the United States, shall
suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be inflicted upon him
by the sentence of a court-martial.*
ART. 24.
No officer or soldier shall use any reproachful or provoking speeches
or gestures to another, upon pain, if an officer, of being put in
arrest; if a soldier, confined, and of asking pardon of the party
offended, in the presence of his commanding officer.
ART. 25.
No officer or soldier shall send a challenge to another officer or
soldier, to fight a duel, or accept a challenge if sent, upon pain, if
a commissioned officer, of being cashiered; if a non-commissioned
officer or soldier, of suffering corporeal punishment, at the
discretion of a court-martial.
ART. 26.
If any commissioned or non-commissioned officer commanding a guard
shall knowingly or willingly suffer any person whatsoever to go forth
to fight a duel, he shall be punished as a challenger; and all seconds,
promoters, and carriers of challenges, in order to duels, shall be
deemed principals, and be punished accordingly. And it shall be the
duty of every officer commanding an army, regiment, company, post, or
detachment, who is knowing to a challenge being given or accepted by
any officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, under his command,
or has reason to believe the same to be the case, immediately to arrest
and bring to trial such offenders.
ART. 27.
All officers, of what condition so ever, have power to part and quell
all quarrels, frays, and disorders, though the persons concerned should
belong to another regiment, troop, or company; and either to order
officers into arrest, or non-commissioned officers or soldiers into
confinement, until their proper superior officers shall be acquainted
there-with; and whosoever shall refuse to obey such officer (though of
an inferior rank), or shall draw his sword upon him, shall be punished
at the discretion of a general court-martial.
ART. 28.
Any officer or soldier who shall upbraid another for refusing a
challenge, shall himself be punished as a challenger; and all officers
and soldiers are hereby discharged from any disgrace or opinion of
disadvantage which might arise from their having refused to accept of
challenges, as they will only have acted in obedience to the laws, and
done their duty as good soldiers who subject themselves to discipline.
ART. 29.
No sutler shall be permitted to sell any kind of liquors or victuals,
or to keep their houses or shops open for the entertainment of
soldiers, after nine at night, or before the beating of the reveille,
or upon Sundays, during divine service or sermon, on the penalty of
being dismissed from all future sutling.
ART. 30.
All officers commanding in the field, forts, barracks, or garrisons of
the United States, are hereby required to see that the persons
permitted to suttle shall supply the soldiers with good and wholesome
provisions, or other articles, at a reasonable price, as they shall be
answerable for their neglect.
ART. 31.
No officer commanding in any of the garrisons, forts, or barracks of
the United States, shall exact exorbitant prices for houses or stalls,
let out to sutlers, or connive at the like exactions in others; nor by
his own authority, and for his private advantage, lay any duty or
imposition upon, or be interested in, the sale of any victuals,
liquors, or other necessaries of life brought into the garrison, fort,
or barracks, for the use of the soldiers, on the penalty of being
discharged from the service.
ART. 32.
Every officer commanding in quarters, garrisons or on the march, shall
keep good order, and, to the utmost of his power, redress all abuses or
disorders which may be committed by any officer or soldier under his
command; if, upon complaint made to him of officers or soldiers beating
or otherwise ill-treating any person, or disturbing fairs or markets,
or of committing any kind of riots, to the disquieting of the citizens
of the United States, he, the said commander, who shall refuse or omit
to see justice done to the offender or offenders, and reparation made
to the party or parties injured, as far as part of the offender's pay
shall enable him or them, shall, upon proof thereof, be cashiered, or
otherwise punished, as a general court-martial shall direct.
ART. 33.
When any commissioned officer or soldier shall be accused of a capital
crime, or of having used violence, or committed any offense against the
person or property of any citizen of any of the United States, such as
is punishable by the known laws of the land, the commanding officer and
officers of every regiment, troop, or company, to which the person or
persons so accused shall belong, are hereby required, upon application
duly made by, or in behalf of, the party or parties injured, to use
their utmost endeavors to deliver over such accused person or persons
to the civil magistrate, and likewise to be aiding and assisting to the
officers of justice in apprehending and securing the person or persons,
so accused, in order to bring him or them to trial. If any commanding
officer or officers shall willfully neglect, or shall refuse, upon the
application aforesaid, to deliver over such accused person or persons
to the civil magistrates, or to be aiding and assisting to the officers
of justice in apprehending such person or persons, the officer or
officers so offending shall be cashiered.
ART. 34.
If any officer shall think himself wronged by his Colonel, or the
commanding officer of the regiment, and shall, upon due application
being made to him, be refused redress, he may complain to the General
commanding in the State or Territory where such regiment shall be
stationed, in order to obtain justice; who is hereby required to
examine into said complaint, and take proper measures for redressing
the wrong complained of, and transmit, as soon as possible, to the
Department of War, a true state of such complaint, with the proceedings
had thereon.
ART. 35. If any
inferior officer or soldier shall think himself wronged by his Captain
or other officer, he is to complain thereof to the commanding officer
of the regiment, who is hereby required to summon a regimental
court-martial, for the doing justice to the complainant; from which
regimental court-martial either party may, if he thinks himself still
aggrieved, appeal to a general court-martial. But if, upon a second
hearing, the appeal shall appear vexatious and groundless, the person
so appealing shall be punished at the discretion of the said
court-martial.
ART. 36. Any
commissioned officer, store-keeper, or commissary, who shall be
convicted at a general court-martial of having sold, without a proper
order for that purpose, embezzled, misapplied, or willfully, or through
neglect, suffered any of the provisions, forage, arms, clothing,
ammunition, or other military stores belonging to the United States to
be spoiled or damaged, shall, at his own expense, make good the loss or
damage, and shall, moreover, forfeit all his pay, and be dismissed from
the service.
ART. 37.
Any non-commissioned officer or soldier who shall be convicted at a
regimental court-martial of having sold, or designedly, or through
neglect, wasted the ammunition delivered out to him, to be employed in
the service of the United States, shall be punished at the discretion
of such court.
ART. 38. Every
non-commissioned officer or soldier who shall be convicted before a
court-martial of having sold, lost, or spoiled, through neglect, his
horse, arms, clothes, or accoutrements, shall undergo such weekly
stoppages (not exceeding the half of his pay) as such court-martial
shall judge sufficient, for repairing the loss or damage; and shall
suffer confinement, or such other corporeal punishment as his crime
shall deserve.
ART. 39.
Every officer who shall be convicted before a court-martial of having
embezzled or misapplied any money with which he may have been
intrusted, for the payment of the men under his command, or for
enlisting men into the service, or for other purposes, if a
commissioned officer, shall be cashiered, and compelled to refund the
money; if a noncommissioned officer, shall be reduced to the ranks, be
put under stoppages until the money be made good, and suffer such
corporeal punishment as such court-martial shall direct.
ART. 40.
Every captain of a troop or company is charged with the arms,
accoutrements, ammunition) clothing, or other warlike-stores belonging
to the troop or company under his command, which he is to be
accountable for to his Colonel in case of their being lost, spoiled, or
damaged, not by unavoidable accidents, or on actual service.
ART. 41.
All non-commissioned officers and soldiers who shall be found one mile
from the camp without leave, in writing, from their commanding officer,
shall suffer such punishment as shall be inflicted upon them by the
sentence of a court-martial.
ART. 42.
No officer or soldier shall lie out of his quarters, garrison, or camp
without leave from his superior officer, upon penalty of being punished
according to the nature of his offense, by the sentence of a
court-martial.
ART. 43. Every
non-commissioned officer and soldier shall retire to his quarters or
tent at the beating of the retreat; in default of which he shall be
punished according to the nature of his offense.
ART. 44.
No officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier shall fail in
repairing, at the time fixed, to the place of parade, of exercise, or
other rendezvous appointed by his commanding officer, if not prevented
by sickness or some other evident necessity, or shall go from the said
place of rendezvous without leave from his commanding officer, before
he shall be regularly dismissed or relieved, on the penalty of being
punished, according to the nature of his offense, by the sentence of a
court-martial.
ART. 45. Any
commissioned officer who shall be found drunk on his guard, party, or
other duty, shall be cashiered. Any non-commissioned officer or soldier
so offending shall suffer such corporeal punishment as shall be
inflicted by the sentence of a court-martial.
ART. 46.
Any sentinel who shall be found sleeping upon his post, or shall leave
it before he shall be regularly relieved, shall suffer death, or such
other punishment as shall be inflicted by the sentence of a
court-martial.
ART. 47. No soldier
belonging to any regiment, troop, or company shall hire another to do
his duty for him, or be excused from duty but in cases of sickness,
disability, or leave of absence; and every such soldier found guilty of
hiring his duty, as also the party so hired to do another's duty, shall
be punished at the discretion of a regimental court-martial.
ART. 48.
And every non-commissioned officer conniving at such hiring of duty
aforesaid, shall be reduced; and every commissioned officer knowing and
allowing such ill practices in the service, shall be punished by the
judgment of a general court-martial.
ART. 49.
Any officer belonging to the service of the United States, who, by
discharging of firearms, drawing of swords, beating of drums, or by any
other means whatsoever, shall occasion false alarms in camp, garrison,
or quarters, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be
ordered by the sentence of a general court-martial.
ART. 50.
Any officer or soldier who shall, without urgent necessity, or without
the leave of his superior officer, quit his guard, platoon, or
division, shall be punished, according to the nature of his offense, by
the sentence of a court-martial.
ART. 51.
No officer or soldier shall do violence to any person who brings
provisions or other necessaries to the camp, garrison, or quarters of
the forces of the United States, employed in any parts out of the said
States, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as a court-martial
shall direct.
ART. 52. Any officer
or soldier who shall misbehave himself before the enemy, run away, or
shamefully abandon any fort, post, or guard which he or they may be
commanded to defend, or speak words inducing others to do the like, or
shall cast away his arms and ammunition, or who shall quit his post or
colors to plunder and pillage, every such offender, being duly
convicted thereof, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as
shall be ordered by the sentence of a general court-martial.
ART. 53.
Any person belonging to the armies of the United States who shall make
known the watchword to any person who is not entitled to receive it
according to the rules and discipline of war, or shall presume to give
a parole or watchword different from what he received, shall suffer
death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of
a general court-martial.
ART. 54.
All officers and soldiers are to behave themselves orderly in quarters
and on their march; and whoever shall commit any waste or spoil, either
in walks of trees, parks, warrens, fish-ponds, houses, or gardens,
corn-fields, enclosures of meadows, or shall maliciously destroy any
property whatsoever belonging to the inhabitants of the United States,
unless by order of the then commander-in-chief of the armies of the
said States, shall (besides such penalties as they are liable to by
law) be punished according to the nature and degree of the offense, by
the judgment of a regimental or general court-martial.
ART. 55. Whosoever, belonging to the armies of the United States in foreign parts, shall force a safeguard, shall suffer death.
ART. 56.
Whosoever shall relieve the enemy with money, victuals, or ammunition,
or shall knowingly harbor or protect an enemy, shall suffer death, or
such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of a
court-martial.
ART. 57. Whosoever
shall be convicted of holding correspondence with, or giving
intelligence to, the enemy, either directly or indirectly, shall suffer
death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of
a court-martial.
ART. 58. All public
stores taken in the enemy's camp, towns, forts, or magazines, whether
of artillery, ammunition, clothing, forage or provisions shall be
secured for the service of the United States; for the neglect of which
the commanding officer is to be answerable.
ART. 59.
If any commander of any garrison, fortress, or post shall be compelled,
by the officers and soldiers under his command, to give up to the
enemy, or to abandon it, the commissioned officers, non-commissioned
officers, or soldiers who shall be convicted of having so offended,
shall' suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be inflicted
upon them by the sentence of a court martial.
ART. 60.
All sutlers and retainers to the camp, and all persons whatsoever,
serving with the armies of the United States in the field, though not
enlisted soldiers, are to be subject to orders, according to the rules
and discipline of war.
ART. 61.
Officers having brevets or commissions of a prior date to those of the
regiment in which they serve, may take place in courts-martial and on
detachments, when composed of different corps, according to the ranks
given them in their brevets or dates of their former com I missions;
but in the regiment, troop, or company to which such officers belong,
they shall do duty and take rank both in courts-martial and on
detachments which shall be composed of their own corps, according to
the commissions by which they are mustered in the said corps.
ART. 62.
If, upon marches, guards, or in quarters, different corps of the army
shall happen to join, or do duty together, the officer highest in rank
of the line of the army, marine corps, or militia, by commission; there
on duty or in quarters, shall command the whole, and give orders for
what is needful to the service, unless otherwise specially directed by
the President of the United States, according to the nature of the case.
ART. 63.
The functions of the engineers being generally confined to the most
elevated branch of military science, they are not to assume, nor are
they subject to be ordered on any duty beyond the line of their
immediate profession, except by the special order of the President of
the United States; but they are to receive every mark of respect to
which their rank in the army may entitle them respectively, and are
liable to be transferred, at the discretion of the President, from one
corps to another, regard being paid to rank.
ART. 64.
General courts-martial may consist of any number of commissioned
officers, from five to thirteen, inclusively; but they shall not
consist of less than thirteen where that number can be convened without
manifest injury to the service.
ART. 65.*
Any general officer commanding an army, or Colonel commanding a
separate department, may appoint general courts-martial when. ever
necessary, But no sentence of a court-martial shall be carried into
execution until after the whole proceedings shall have been laid before
the officer ordering the same, or the officer commanding the troops for
the time being; neither shall any sentence of a general court-martial,
in the time of peace, extending to the loss of life, or the dismissing
of a commissioned officer, or which shall, either in time of peace or
war, respect a general officer, be carried into execution, until after
the whole proceedings shall have been transmitted to the Secretary of
War, to be laid before the President of the United States for his
confirmation or disapproval, and orders in the case. All other
sentences may be confirmed and executed by the officer ordering the
court to assemble, or the commanding officer for the time being as the
case may be.
* Whenever a general officer commanding an army, or a
colonel commanding a separate department, shall be the accuser or
prosecutor of any officer in the army of the United States, under his
command, the general court-martial for the trial of such officer shall
be appointed by the President of the United States. The proceedings and
sentence of the said court shall be sent directly to the Secretary of
War, to be by him laid before the President, for his confirmation or
approval, or orders in the case. So much of the sixty-fifth article of
the first section of "An act for establishing rules and articles for
the government of the armies of the United States," passed on the tenth
of April, eighteen hundred and six, as is repugnant hereto, shall be,
and the same is hereby, repealed.
ART. 66.
Every officer commanding a regiment or corps may appoint, for his own
regiment or corps, courts-martial, to consist of three commissioned
officers, for the trial and - punishment of offenses not] capital, and
decide upon their sentences. For the same purpose, all officers
commanding any of the garrisons, forts, barracks, or other places where
the troops consist of different corps, may assemble courts-martial, to
consist of three commissioned officers, and decide upon their sentences.
ART. 67.
No garrison or regimental court-martial shall have the power to try
capital cases or commissioned officers; neither shall they inflict a
fine exceeding one month's pay, nor imprison, nor put to hard labor,
any non-commissioned officer or soldier for a longer time than one
month.
ART. 68. Whenever it may be
found convenient and necessary to the public service, the officers of
the marines shall be associated with the officers of the land forces,
for the purpose of holding courts-martial, and trying offenders
belonging to either; and, in such cases, the orders of the senior
officer of either corps who may be present and duly authorized, shall
be received and obeyed.
ART 69. The
judge advocate, or some person deputed by him, or by the general, or
officer commanding the army, detachment, or garrison, shall prosecute
in the name of the United States, but shall so far consider himself as
counsel for the prisoner, after the said prisoner shall have made his
plea, as to object to any leading question to any of the witnesses or
any question to the prisoner, the answer to which might tend to
criminate himself; and administer to each member of the court, before
they proceed upon any trial, the following oath, which shall also be
taken by all members of the regimental and garrison courts-martial: "You, A. B., do swear that you will well and truly
try and determine, according to evidence, the matter now before you,
between the United States of America and the prisoner to be tried, and
that you will duly administer justice, according to the provisions of'
An act establishing Rules and Articles for the government of the armies
of the United States,' without partiality, favor, or affection; and if
any doubt should arise, not explained by said Articles, according to
your conscience, the best of your under standing, and the custom of war
in like cases; and you do further sweat that you will not divulge the
sentence of the court until it shall be published by the proper
authority; neither will you disclose or discover the vote or opinion of
any particular member of the court-martial, unless required to give
evidence thereof, as a witness, by a court of justice, in a due course
of law. So help you God."
And as soon as the said oath shall have been administered to the
respective members, the president of the court shall administer to the
judge advocate, or person officiating as such, an oath in the following
words: "You, A. B., do swear, that you will not disclose or
discover the vote or opinion of any particular member of the
court-martial, unless required to give evidence thereof, as a witness,
by a court of justice, in due course of law; nor divulge the sentence
of the court to any but the proper authority, until it shall be duly
disclosed by the same. So help you God."
ART. 70.
When a prisoner, arraigned before a general court-martial shall, from
obstinacy and deliberate design, stand mute, or answer foreign to the
purpose, the court may proceed to trial and judgment as if the prisoner
had regularly pleaded not guilty.
ART. 71.
When a member shall be challenged by a prisoner, he must state his
cause of challenge, of which the court shall, after due deliberation,
determine the relevancy or validity, and decide accordingly; and no
challenge to more than one member at a time shall be received by the
court.
ART. 72. All the members of a
court-martial are to behave with decency and calmness; and in giving
their votes are to begin with the youngest in commission.
ART. 73. All persons who give evidence before a court-martial are to be examined on oath or affirmation, in the following form:
"You swear, or affirm (as the case may be), the evidence you shall give
in the cause now in hearing shall be the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. So help you God."
ART. 74.
On the trials of cases not capital, before courts-martial, the
deposition of witnesses, not in the line or staff of the army, may be
taken before some justice of the peace, and read in evidence; provided
the prosecutor and person accused are present at the taking the same,
or are duly notified thereof.
ART. 75.
No officer shall be tried but by a general court-martial or by officers
of an inferior rank, if it can be avoided. Nor shall any proceedings of
trials be carried on, excepting between the hours of eight in the
morning and three in the afternoon, excepting in cases which, in the
opinion of the officer appointing the court-martial, require immediate
example.
ART. 76. No person
whatsoever shall use any menacing words, signs, or gestures, in
presence of a court-martial, or shall cause any disorder or riot, or
disturb their proceedings, on the penalty of being punished at the
discretion of the said court-martial.
ART. 77.
Whenever any officer shall be charged with a crime, he shall be
arrested and confined in his barracks, quarters, or tent, and deprived
of his sword by the commanding officer. And any officer who shall leave
his confinement before he shall be set at liberty by his commanding
officer, or by a superior officer, shall be cashiered.
ART. 78.
Non-commissioned officers and soldiers, charged with crimes, shall be
confined until tried by a court-martial, or released by proper
authority.
ART. 79. No officer or
soldier who shall be put in arrest shall continue in confinement more
than eight days, or until such time as a court-martial can be assembled.
ART. 80.
No officer commanding a guard, or provost marshal, shall refuse to
receive or keep any prisoner committed to his charge by an officer
belonging to the forces of the United States; provided the officer
committing shall, at the same time, deliver an account in writing,
signed by himself, of the crime with which the said prisoner is charged.
ART. 81.
No officer commanding a guard, or provost marshal, shall presume to
release any person committed to-his charge without proper authority for
so doing, nor shall he suffer any person to escape, on the penalty of
being punished for it by the sentence of a court-martial.
ART. 82.
Every officer or provost marshal, to whose charge prisoners shall be
committed, shall, within twenty-four hours after such commitment, or as
soon as he shall be relieved from his guard, make report in writing, to
the commanding officer, of their names, their crimes, and the names of
the officers who committed them, on the penalty of being punished for
disobedience or neglect, at the discretion of a court-martial.
ART. 83. Any commissioned officer convicted before a general
court-martial of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, shall be dismissed
from service.
ART. 84.
In cases where a court-martial may think it proper to sentence a
commissioned officer to be suspended from command, they shall have
power also to suspend his pay and emoluments for the same time,
according to the nature and heinousness of the offense.
ART. 85.
In all cases where a commissioned officer is cashiered for cowardice or
fraud, it shall be added in the sentence, that the crime, name, and
place of abode, and punishment of the delinquent, be published in the
newspapers in and about the camp, and of the particular State from
which the offender came, or where he usually resides; after which it
shall be deemed scandalous for an officer to associate with him.
ART. 86.
The commanding officer of any post or detachment, in which there shall
not be a number of officers adequate to form a general court-martial,
shall, in cases which require the cognizance of such a court, report to
the commanding officer of the department, who shall order a court to be
assembled at the nearest post or department, and the party accused,
with necessary witnesses, to be transported to the place where the said
court shall be assembled.
ART. 87.*
No person shall be sentenced to suffer death but by the concurrence of
two-thirds of the members of a general court-martial, nor except in the
cases herein expressly mentioned; nor shall more than fifty lashes be
inflicted on any offender, at the discretion of a court-martial; and no
officer, non-commissioned officer, soldier, or follower of the army,
shat be tried a second time for the same offense.
* So much of these rules and articles as authorizes the
infliction of corporeal punishment by stripes or lashes, was specially
repealed by Act of 16th May, 1812.
ART. 88.
No person shall be liable to be tried and punished by a general
court-martial for any offense which shall appear to have been committed
more than two years before the issuing of the order for such trial,
unless the person, by reason of having absented himself, or some other
manifest impediment, shall not have been amenable to justice within
that period.
ART. 89. Every officer
authorized to order a general court-martial shall have power to pardon
or mitigate any punishment ordered by such court, except the sentence
of death, or of cashiering an officer; which, in the cases where he has
authority (by Article 65) to carry them into execution, he may suspend,
until the pleasure of the President of the United States can be known;
which suspension, together with copies of the proceedings of the
court-martial, the said officer shall immediately transmit to the
President for his determination; And the colonel or commanding officer
of the regiment or garrison where any regimental or garrison
court-martial shall be held, may pardon or mitigate any punishment
ordered by such court to be inflicted.
ART. 90.
Every judge advocate, or person officiating as such, at any general
court-martial, shall transmit, with as much expedition as the
opportunity of time and distance of place can admit, the original
proceedings and sentence of such court-martial to the Secretary of War;
which said original proceedings and sentence shall be carefully kept
and preserved in the office of said Secretary, to the end that the
persons entitled thereto may be enabled, upon application to the said
office, to obtain copies thereof. The party tried by any general
court-martial shall, upon demand thereof, made by himself, or by any
person or persons in his behalf, be entitled to a copy of the sentence
and proceedings of such court-martial.
ART. 91.
In cases where the general, or commanding officer may order a court of
inquiry to examine into the nature of any transaction, accusation, or
imputation against any officer or soldier, the said court shall consist
of one or more officers, not exceeding three, and a judge advocate, or
other suitable person, as a recorder, to reduce the proceedings and
evidence to writing; all of whom shall be sworn to the faithful
performance of their duty. This court shall have the same power to
summon witnesses as a court-martial, and to examine, them on oath. But
they shall not give their opinion on the merits of the, case, excepting
they shall be thereto specially required. The parties accused shall
also be permitted to cross-examine and interrogate the witnesses, so as
to investigate fully the circumstances in the question.
ART. 92. The proceedings of a court of inquiry must be
authenticated by the signature of the recorder and the president, and
delivered to the commanding officer, and the said proceedings may be
admitted as evidence by a court-martial, in cases not capital, or
extending to the dismissing of an officer, provided that the
circumstances are such that oral testimony cannot be obtained. But as
courts of inquiry may be perverted to dis. honorable purposes, and may
be considered as engines of destruction to military merit, in the hands
of weak and envious commandants, they are hereby prohibited, unless
directed by the President of the United States, or demanded by the
accused.
ART. 93. The judge advocate or recorder shall administer to the members the following oath:
"You shall well and truly examine and inquire, according to your
evidence, into the matter now before you, without partiality favor,
affection, prejudice, or hope of reward. So help you God." After which the president shall administer to the judge advocate or recorder the following oath:
"You, A. B., do swear that you will, according to your best abilities
accurately and impartially record the proceedings of the court, and the
evidence to be given in the case in hearing. So help you God." The witnesses shall take the same oath as witnesses sworn before a court-martial.
ART. 94.
When any commissioned officer shall die or be killed in the service of
the United States, the major of the regiment, or the officer doing the
major's duty in his absence, or in any post or garrison, the second
officer in command, or the assistant military agent, shall immediately
secure all his effects or equipage, then in camp or quarters, and shall
make an inventory thereof, and forthwith transmit the same to the
office of the Department of War, to the end that his executors or
administrators may receive the same.
ART. 95.
When any non-commissioned officer or soldier shall die, or be killed in
the service of the United States, the then commanding officer of the
troop or company shall, in the presence of two other commissioned
officers, take an account of what effects he died possessed of, above
his arms and accoutrements, and transmit the same to the office of the
Department of War, which said effects are to be accounted for, and paid
to the representatives of such deceased non-commissioned officer or
soldier. And in case any of the officers, so authorized to take care of
the effects of deceased officers and soldiers, should, before they have
accounted to their representatives for the same, have occasion to leave
the regiment or post, by preferment or otherwise, they shall, before
they be permitted to quit the same, deposit in the hands of the
commanding officer, or of the assistant military agent, all the effects
of such deceased non-commissioned officers and soldiers, in order that
the same may be secured for, and paid to, their respective
representatives.
ART. 96.
All officers, conductors, gunners, matrosses, drivers, or other persons
whatsoever, receiving pay or hire in the service of the artillery, or
corps of engineers of the United States, shall be governed by the
aforesaid Rules and Articles, and shall be subject to be tried by
courts-martial, in like manner with the officers and soldiers of the
other troops in the service of the United States.
ART. 97.
The officers and soldiers of any troops; whether militia or others,
being mustered and in pay of the United States, shall, at all times and
in all places, when joined, or acting in conjunction with the regular
forces of the United States, be governed by these rules and articles of
war, and shall be subject to be tried by courts-martial, in like manner
with the officers and soldiers in the regular forces; save only that
such courts-martial shall be composed entirely of militia officers.
ART. 98.
All officers serving by commission from the authority of any particular
State, shall, on all detachments, courts-martial, or other duty,
wherein they may be employed in conjunction with the regular forces of
the United States, take rank next after all officers of the like grade
in said regular forces, notwithstanding the commissions of such militia
or State officers may be elder than the commissions of the officers of
the regular forces of the United States.
ART. 99.
All crimes not capital, and all disorders and neglects which officers
and soldiers may be guilty of, to the prejudice of good order and
military discipline, though not mentioned in the foregoing articles of
war, are to be taken cognizance of by a general or regimental
court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and
be punished at their discretion.
ART. 100. The President of the United States shall have power to prescribe the uniform of the army.
ART. 101.
The foregoing articles are to be read and published, once in every six
months, to every garrison, regiment, troop, or company, mustered, or to
be mustered, in the service of the United States, and are to be duly
observed and obeyed by all officers and soldiers who are, or shall be,
in said service.
Sec. 2.
And be it further enacted, That in time of war, all persons not
citizens of, or owing allegiance to, the United States of America, who
shall be found lurking as spies in or about the fortifications or
encampments of the armies of the United States, or any of them, shall
suffer death, according to the law and usage of nations, by sentence of
a general court-martial.
Sec. 3.
And be it further enacted, That the rules and regulations by which the
armies of the United States have heretofore been governed, and the
resolves of Congress thereunto annexed, and respecting the same, shall
henceforth be void and of no effect, except so far as may relate to any
transactions under them prior to the promulgation of this act, at the
several posts and garrisons respectively, occupied by any part of the
army of the United States.
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