SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall resist any draft of men enrolled under this act into the service of the United States, or shall counsel or aid any person to resist any such draft; or shall assault or obstruct any officer in making such draft, or in the performance of any service in relation thereto; or shall counsel any person to assault or obstruct any such officer, or shall counsel any drafted men not to appear at the place of rendezvous, or wilfully dissuade them from the performance of military duty as required by law, such person shall be subject to summary arrest by the provost marshal, and he shall be forthwith delivered to the civil authorities, and, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, or by both of said punishments.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That immediately after the passage of this act, the President shall issue his proclamation declaring that all soldiers now absent from their regiment without leave may return within a time specified to such place or places as he may indicate in his proclamation, and be restored to their respective regiments without punishment, except the forfeiture of their pay and allowances during their absence; and all deserters who shall not return within the time so specified by the President shall, upon being arrested, be punished as the law provides.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That depositions of witnesses residing beyond the limits of the State, Territory, or district in which military courts shall be ordered to sit, may be taken in cases not capital by either party, and read in evidence, provided the same shall be taken upon reasonable notice to the opposite party, and duly authenticated.

SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That the judge advocate shall have power to appoint a reporter, whose duty it shall be to record the proceedings of and testimony taken before military courts instead of the judge advocate; and such reporter may take down such proceedings and testimony in the first instance in shorthand. The reporter shall be sworn or affirmed faithfully to perform his duty before entering upon it.

SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That the court shall, for reasonable cause, grant a continuance to either party for such time and as often as shall appear to be just: Provided, That if the prisoner be in close confinement, the trial shall not be delayed for a period longer than sixty days.

SEC. 30. And be it further enacted, That in time of war, insurrection,

or rebellion, murder, assault and battery with an intent to kill, manslaughter, mayhem, wounding by shooting or stabbing with an intent to commit murder, robbery, arson, burglary, rape, assault and battery with an intent to commit rape, and larceny, shall be punishable by the sentence of a general court-martial or military commission, when committed by persons who are in the military service of the United States, and subject to the articles of war; and the punishments for such offences shall never be less than those inflicted by the laws of the State, Territory, or district in which they may have been committed.

SEC. 31. And be it further enacted, That any officer absent from duty with leave, except for sickness or wounds, shall, during his absence, receive half of the pay and allowances prescribed by law, and no more; and any officer absent without leave shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed by law or a court-martial, forfeit all pay or allowances during such absence.

SEC. 32. And be it further enacted, That the commanders of regiments and of batteries in the field are hereby authorized and empowered to grant furloughs, for a period not exceeding thirty days at any one time, to five per centum of the non-commissioned officers and privates, for good conduct in the line of duty and subject to the approval of the commander of the forces of which such non-commissioned officers and privates form a part.

SEC. 33. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and empowered, during the present rebellion, to call forth the national forces, by draft, in the manner provided for in this act.

SEC. 34. And be it further enacted, That all persons drafted under the provisions of this act shall be assigned by the President to military duty in such corps, regiments, or other branches of the service as the exigencies of the service may require.

SEC. 35. And be it further enacted, That hereafter details to special service shall only be made with the consent of the commanding officer of forces in the field; and enlisted men, now or hereafter detailed to special service, shall not receive any extra pay for such services beyond that allowed to other enlisted men.

SEC. 36. And be it further enacted, That General Orders of the War Department, numbered one hundred and fifty-four and one hundred and sixty-two, in reference to enlistments from the volunteers into the regu

lar service, be, and the same are hereby, rescinded; and hereafter no such enlistments shall be allowed.

SEC. 37. And be it further enacted, That the grades created in the cavalry forces of the United States by section eleven of the act approved seventeenth July, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and for which no rate of compensation has been provided, shall be paid as follows, to wit: regimental commissary the same as regimental quartermaster; chief trumpeter the same as chief bugler; saddler sergeant the same as regimental commissary sergeant; company commissary sergeant the same as company quartermaster's sergeant: Provided, That the grade of supernumerary second lieutenant, and two teamsters for each company, and one chief farrier and blacksmith for each regiment, as allowed by said section of that act, be, and they are hereby, abolished; and each cavalry company may have two trumpeters, to be paid as buglers; and each regiment shall have one veterinary surgeon, with the rank of a regimental sergeant major, whose compensation shall be seventy-five dollars per month.

SEC. 38. And be it further enacted, That all persons who, in time of war or of rebellion against the supreme authority of the United States, shall be found lurking or acting as spies in or about any of the fortifications, posts, quarters, or encampments of any of the armies of the United States, or elsewhere, shall be triable by a general court-martial or military commission, and shall, upon conviction, suffer death. Approved March 3, 1863.

VII..PUBLIC-No. 57.

AN ACT to promote the efficiency of the corps of engineers and of the ordnance department, and for other purposes.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That section two of the act approved March three, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, entitled "An act to provide for the payment of horses and other property lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States" shall be construed to include the steamboats and other vessels, and "railroad engines and cars," in the property to be allowed and paid for when destroyed or lost under the circumstances provided for in said act.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all payments of advance bounty

made to enlisted men who have been discharged before serving out the term required by law for its payment in full shall be allowed in the settlement of the accounts of paymasters at the treasury; but hereafter, in all such cases, the amount so advanced shall be charged against the enlisted men, unless the discharge be upon surgeon's certificate for wounds received or sickness incurred since their last enlistment.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That upon any requisition hereafter being made by the President of the United States for militia, any person who shall have volunteered or been drafted for the service of the United States for the term of nine months, or a shorter period, may enlist into a regiment from the same State to serve for the term of one year, and any person so enlisting shall be entitled to and receive a bounty of fifty dollars, to be paid in time and manner provided by the act of July twentysecond, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, for the payment of the bounty provided for by that act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the officers of the medical department shall unite with the line officers of the army under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of War in supervising the cooking within the same, as an important sanitary measure, and that said medical department shall promulgate to its officers such regulations and instructions as may tend to insure the proper preparation of the ration of the soldier.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That cooks shall be detailed, in turn, from the privates of each company of troops in the service of the United States, at the rate of one cook for each company numbering less than thirty men, and two cooks for each company numbering over thirty men, who shall serve ten days each.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause to be enlisted, for each cook, two under cooks of African descent, who shall receive for their full compensation ten dollars per month, and one ration per day; three dollars of said monthly pay may be in clothing.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the army ration shall hereafter include pepper, in the proportion of four ounces to every hundred rations.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the increase of rank of officers, and in the number of officers provided for in this act, shall continue only during the existence of the present rebellion; and thereafter the several officers promoted under this act shall have the respective rank they would

have had if this act had not passed, and the number shall be reduced by the President to the number authorized by law prior to the passage of this act.

Approved March 3, 1863.

VIII..PUBLIC-No. 58.

AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and for the year ending the 30th of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, for the objects hereinafter expressed, for the fiscal year ending the thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, viz:

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That the signal corps of the army shall, during the present rebellion, be organized as follows: There shall be one chief signal officer, a colonel, who shall be signal officer of the army; one lieutenant colonel; two majors, who shall be inspectors; and for each army corps or military department there shall be one captain, and as many lieutenants, not exceeding eight, as the President may deem necessary, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall receive the pay and emoluments of cavalry officers of similar grades; and for each officer of the signal corps there may be enlisted or detailed one sergeant and six privates, who shall receive the pay of similar grades of engineer soldiers: Provided, That no officer or enlisted man shall be allowed to serve in the signal corps until he shall have been examined and approved by a military board, to be convened for that purpose by the Secretary of War.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That the officers and enlisted men herein provided for shall be subject to the rules and articles of war. They may be mounted upon horses, the property of the United States, and shall serve in any military department, or with any forces to which they may be ordered. And officers of the army who may be appointed in this corps may, after the rebellion, be restored to their respective regiments or corps, and receive the same rank and promotion as if they had continued to serve therein.