ARTICLE LII. VOLUNTEERS AND MILITIA IN THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES.

1664. Whenever volunteer or drafted militia are called into the service of the United States, by any officer authorized to make such call, the requisition must be made on the Governor of the State or Territory in which the militia are to be raised, and the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates will be stated in the requisition, according to the organization prescribed by the law of the United States.

1665. Before militia are received in the service of the United States, they shall be mustered by an Inspector-General, or some other officer of the regular army, specially designated to muster them.

1666. When volunteers are to be mustered into the service of the United States, they will, at the same time, be minutely examined by the surgeon and- assistant surgeon of the regiment, to ascertain whether they have the physical qualifications necessary for the military service. And in case any individual shall be discharged within three months after entering the service, for a disability which existed at that time, he shall receive neither pay nor allowances except subsistence and transportation to his home. The certificate given by the surgeon will, in all cases. state whether the disability existed prior to the date of muster, or was contracted after it.

1667. It shall be the duty of the officer designated to muster and inspect militia, to forward muster-rolls of each company, and of the field and staff of each regiment, direct to the Adjutant-General of the Army, Washington; and he will also immediately forward a consolidated return, by regiments and corps, of the force received into service, for the in formation of the War Department.

1668. Mustering in.-Reference will be made to the particular act ox acts of Congress under which the militia are called into service. If there be no such act, then to the act May 8, 1792, amended by the acts April 18, 1814, and April 20, 1816. Mustering officers will not muster into service a greater number of officers, or of higher rank, than the law prescribes. No officers of the general staff will be mustered or received into service, except such general officers, with their aides-de-camp, as may be required to complete the organization of brigades or divisions.

1669. Mustering out.-The rolls for this purpose will be compared with those of the first muster. All persons on the first rolls, and absent at the final muster, must be accounted for-whether dead, captured, discharged, or otherwise absent; and if the mustering officer, in any particular case, shall have cause to doubt the report made to be entered on the rolls, he shall demand the oath of one or more persons to prove the fact to his satisfaction; further, he shall take care that not more persons of the several ranks be mustered out of service than were mustered in, if there be an excess over the requisition or beyond the law, nor recognize additions or substitutes, without full satisfaction that the additions or substitutions were regularly made, and at the time reported on the rolls.

1670. Officers mustering in troops will be careful that men from one company or detachment are not borrowed for the occasion, to swell the ranks of others about to be mustered. No volunteer will be mustered into the service who is unable to speak the English language.

1671. Officers charged with the duty of mustering militia will take care that the muster-rolls contain all the information that may in any way affect their pay; the distance from the places of residence to the place of rendezvous or organization, and the date of arrival, must be stated in each case; the date and place of discharge, and the distance thence to the place of residence; all stoppages for articles furnished by the Government must be noted on the rolls; and in cases of absence at the time of discharge of the company, the cause of absence must be stated. When the necessary information cannot be obtained, the mustering officer will state the reason.

1672. If, as has sometimes happened, militia, at the end of a term of service, shall, from the want of a mustering officer, disperse or return home without being regularly mustered out; and if, with a view to a payment, a muster shall afterward be ordered by competent authority, the officer sent for the purpose shall carefully verify all the facts affecting pay, by the oath of one or more of the officers belonging to such militia, in order that full justice may be done.

1673. In all cases of muster for payment, whether final or otherwise, the mustering officer will give his particular attention to the state and condition of the public property: such as quarters, camp-equipage, means of transportation, arms, accoutrements, ammunition, &c., which have been in the use or possession of the militia to be paid; and if any such public property shall appear to be damaged, or lost, beyond ordinary wear or unavoidable accident, such loss or damage shall be noted on the muster-rolls, in order that the injury or loss sustained by the United States may be stopped from the pay that would otherwise be due to the individual or detachment mustered for payment. See regulations of the Ordnance Department. This provision shall be read to all detachments of militia on being mustered into service, and as much oftener as may be deemed necessary.

1674. Payments will, in all cases, be made by the paymasters of the regular army.

1675. Officers of the volunteer service tendering their resignations, will forward them through the intermediate commanders to the officer commanding the department or corps, in which they may be serving, who is authorized to grant them honorable discharges. This commander will immediately report his action to the Adjutant-General of the Army, who will communicate the same to the Governor of the State to which the officer belongs. A clear statement of the cause will accompany every resignation.

END.