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APPENDIX.
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:
ARTICLE
I.
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 nn-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 Bfay, 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 courtmartial.
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 soever, 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 wilfully 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
wilfully, 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 courtmartial 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 gar dens, corn-fields, inclosures 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
courtsmartial 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 courtmartial, in the time of peace, extending to the
loss of life, or the dismission 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
courtmartial of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, shall
be dismissed the 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
courtmartial, 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 courtmartial; 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 dismission 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, qr
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 courtsmartial, 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 courtmartial, 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 axe, 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.
[APPROVED,
April 10, 1806.]
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