SEC. I. Pensions to Mothers-Military and Naval............... 251 Pensions to Sisters-Military and Naval.................................. 258 SEC. II. Regulations and Forms to be observed in applying for SEC. I. Laws relating to Bounty Lands......... Laws relating to Land Warrants........................... MANUAL OF PENSIONS, BOUNTY AND PAY. CHAPTER I. OF THE CLASSES OF PENSIONS. THE bounty of the Government of the United States towards those who engage in its military service, whether by land or sea, usually assumes one or more of three forms, namely: Invalid Pensions, Gratuitous Pensions, or Land Donations. Invalid Pensions are grants of money to persons who become disabled in the service, either by wounds or other injuries received, or by sickness contracted, in the line of duty, whereby the sufferer is rendered incapable, in whole or part, of procuring for himself, and those dependent upon him, a livelihood. When promised at or before the time of entering the service, this class of pensions may be regarded as forming a part of the consideration upon which the contract of service is based, and not as a gratuity merely. When granted at the expiration of the term of service, they partake of the nature of gratuitous pensions; but differ from these in this, that the disabled soldier has an equitable claim, or quasi right, to be provided for by his countrymen, for whose sake he has 1 1 Decision of Secretary Stuart, Oct. 29, 1850. IN GENERAL. risked and suffered, and become incapable of providing for himself. Gratuitous Pensions are such as are usually granted at the close of a war or term of service, as a reward for eminent services rendered, or as evidence of a nation's gratitude to its defenders and preservers. In this class of pensions properly belongs the half-pay granted to the widows and orphans of those who die of wounds or sickness incurred in the service. Land Donations, or bounty lands, are sometimes promised at or before the time of enlistment, as an inducement to enter the service; and in such cases these, too, may be regarded as entering into the consideration leading to the contract of service. At other times these are granted as gratuities, after the close of a war, to surviving officers, soldiers, seamen, etc., and to the widows and orphans of such as have died, from the same motives which characterize the granting of gratuitous pensions. It is of the first importance that these distinctions between the several forms of governmental bounty should be fully understood and kept in view, in making application for the benefit of any of the numerous acts by which grants have been made. WHO ENTITLED. CHAPTER II. INVALID PENSIONS. SECTION I. WHO ENTITLED. THE persons entitled to the benefit of the various laws and resolutions of Congress relating to Invalid Pensions are, in general, commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the army (including regulars,1 volunteers, rangers and militia), and navy (including the navy proper, seafencibles, flotilla service, marine corps and revenue cutters, when co-operating with the navy,2 musicians, privates, marines, seamen, ordinary seamen, and all others, in whatsoever capacity they may have served, who were regularly enlisted or drafted, or who volunteered;3 and who, while in the line of duty, were disabled, by wounds or sickness, from subsequently procuring a livelihood. 1 Cadets at West Point belong to the regular army, and are entitled to pensions for disabilities. Opinion of Attorney-General Wirt, April 8, 1820. 2 Act of April 18, 1814, page 85. 3 It is not sufficient that a man should be employed in a mechanical occupation by the government to make him an artificer of the army. The law does not contemplate such persons as these; but only those who formed a component part of the army, and were not only mechanics, but were enlisted also as soldiers. Decision of Secretary Ewing, July 18, 1849. The widow of a person who served as steward, but appeared upon the ship's books as one of the crew, and amenable to martial law is entitled to a pension. Opinion of Attorney-General Butler, Nov. 18, 1837. 4 LINE OF DUTY, WHAT :-Every officer in full commission, and not on furlough, although not at the moment employed; also soldiers kept in pay, with some exceptions. Opinion of Attorney-General Rush, April 6, 1815. It extends to all the operations of the ship, whether civil or military; and |