Subsequent
Enlistment no
Protection from

Desertion.

2 VICT. tinuance of this Act, be inquired of and punished in like Manner as if they had been committed against this Act; and every Warrant for holding any Court-martial under any former Act shall remain in full Force notwithstanding the Expiration of such Act, and all Proceedings of any Court-martial upon any Trial begun under the Authority of such former Act shall not be discontinued by the Expiration of the same; provided that no Person shall be liable to be tried and punished for any Offence against any of the said Acts or Articles of War which shall appear to have been committed more than Three Years before the issuing of the Commission or Warrant for such Trial, unless the Person accused, by reason of his having absented himself, or of some other manifest Impediment, shall not have been amenable to Justice within that Period, in which Case such Person shall be liable to be tried at any Time not exceeding Two Years after the Impediment shall have ceased.

XXI. And be it enacted, That every Soldier shall be liable to be tried and punished for Desertion from any Corps into Punishment for which he may have enlisted, or from Her Majesty's Service, although he may of right belong to the Corps from which he shall have originally deserted; and if such Person shall be claimed as a Deserter by the Corps to which he originally belonged, and be tried as a Deserter therefrom, or shall be tried as a Deserter from any other Corps into which he may have enlisted, or if he shall be tried while actually serving in some Corps for Desertion from any other Corps, every Desertion previous or subsequent to that for which he shall be under Trial, as well as every previous Conviction for any other Offence, may be given in Evidence against him; and in like Manner in the Case of any Soldier tried for any Offence whatever, any previous Convictions may be given in Evidence against him; provided that no such Evidence shall in any Case be received until after the Prisoner shall have been found guilty of such Offence, and then only for the Purpose of affixing Punishment; and provided also, that after he shall so have been found guilty, and before such Evidence shall be received, it shall be proved to the Satisfaction of the Court that he had previously to his Trial received Notice of the Intention to produce such Evidence on the same; and provided further, that the Court shall in no Case award to him any greater or other Punishment or Punishments than may by this Act and by the Articles of War be awarded for the Offence of which he shall so have been found guilty.

Apprehension of Deserters.

XXII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Constable of any Place where any Person reasonably suspected to be a Deserter shall be found, or of any adjoining Place, and if no such Constable can be immediately met with, then for any Officer or Soldier in Her Majesty's Service, to apprehend or cause such suspected Person to be apprehended, and to cause him to be brought before any Justice living in or near such Place, and acting for the same or any adjoining County, who hath hereby Power to examine such suspected Person; and if

by

by his Confession, or the Testimony of One or more Witnesses upon Oath, or by the Knowledge of such Justice, it shall appear that such suspected Person is a Soldier, and ought to be with the Corps to which he belongs, such Justice shall forthwith cause him to be conveyed to some public Prison in such Place, or if there be no public Prison in such Place, then, at the Discretion of such Justice of the Peace, to the nearest or most convenient public Prison in the same or any next adjoining County, or to the Provost Marshal in case such Deserter shall be apprehended within the City or Liberties of Dublin or Places adjacent; or if such Deserter shall be apprehended by any Party of Soldiers of his own Regiment, or shall be apprehended in the Vicinity of the Head Quarters, or of any Depôt of the Regiment to which he shall belong, then such Justice may deliver such Deserter to the Party of his Regiment, or may order such Deserter to be taken to the Head Quarters or Depôt of the Regiment to which he shall belong, instead of committing him to Prison; and such Justice shall transmit an Account thereof, in the Form prescribed in the Schedule annexed to this Act, to the Secretary at War, specifying at the Foot thereof the Commitment to Prison or Delivery of such Deserter to the Party of his Regiment in order for his being taken to the Head Quarters or Depôt of his Regiment, as the Case may be, to the end that such Person may be removed by an Order from the Office of the said Secretary at War, and proceeded against according to Law; and such Justice shall also send to the Secretary at War a Report, stating the Names of the Persons by whom the Deserter was apprehended and secured; and the Secretary at War shall transmit to such Justice an Order for the Payment to such Persons of such Sum, not exceeding Forty Shillings, as the Secretary at War shall be satisfied they are entitled to, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act: Provided also, that the Fee or Reward taken by any Justice or his Clerk, in respect of any Information, Commitment, or Report as aforesaid, shall in no Case exceed the Sum of Two Shillings.

XXIII. And be it enacted, That any Person who shall volun- Fraudulent tarily deliver himself up as a Deserter from Her Majesty's Forces, Confession of or the embodied Militia, or the Forces of the East India Com- Desertion. pany, or who, upon being apprehended for any Offence, shall, in the Presence of the Justice, confess himself to be a Deserter as aforesaid, shall be deemed to have been duly enlisted and to be a Soldier, and shall be liable to serve in any of Her Majesty's Forces, as Her Majesty shall think fit to appoint, whether such Person shall have been ever actually enlisted as a Soldier or not; and in case such Person shall not be a Deserter from the Regiment stated in such Confession he shall be liable to be punished as a Rogue and Vagabond, or may be prosecuted and punished for obtaining Money under false Pretences; and the Confession and receiving Subsistence as a Soldier by such Person shall be Evidence of the false Pretence and of the obtaining Money to the Amount of the Value of such Subsistence, and the Value of such

Recruits desert

transferred to

the nearest Regiment or Depôt.

2 VICT. such Subsistence so obtained may be charged in the Indictment as so much Money received by such Person; and in case such Person shall have been previously convicted of the like Offence, or as a Rogue and Vagabond for making a fraudulent Confession of Desertion, such former Conviction may be alleged in the Indictment, and may be proved upon the Trial of such Person; and in such Indictment for a Second Offence it shall be sufficient to state that the Offender was at a certain Time and Place convicted of obtaining Money under false Pretences as a Deserter, or as a Rogue and Vagabond for making a fraudulent Confession of Desertion, without otherwise describing the said Offence; and a Certificate containing the Substance and Effect only (omitting the formal Part) of the Indictment and Conviction for the former Offence, purporting to be signed by the Clerk of the Court or other Officer having the Custody of the Records of the Court where the Offender was first convicted, or by the Deputy of such Clerk, or by the Clerk of the convicting Magistrates, shall, upon Proof of the Identity of the Person of the Offender, be sufficient Evidence of the First Conviction, without Proof of the Signature or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the same; and if the Person so confessing himself to be a Deserter shall be serving at the Time in any of Her Majesty's Forces, he shall be deemed to be and shall be dealt with as a Deserter.

XXIV. And be it enacted, That any Recruit who shall desert ing liable to be prior to joining the Regiment for which he has enlisted shall, on being apprehended, and committed for such Desertion by any Justice of the Peace upon the Testimony of One or more Witnesses upon Oath, or upon his own Confession, be liable to be transferred to any Regiment or Depôt nearest to the Place where he shall have been apprehended, or to any other Regiment to which Her Majesty may deem it more desirable that he should be transferred: Provided always, that all Cavalry Recruits so committed for Desertion shall be transferred to Cavalry Regiments, and Infantry Recruits to Infantry Regiments; and that such Deserters thus transferred shall not be liable to other Punishment for the Offence, nor to any other Penalty, except the Forfeiture of their personal Bounty, reserving only for them that Part of the Bounty which is applicable to and required for the Provision of Necessaries.

Penalty for

inducing or assisting to desert.

Penalty for forcible Entry.

XXV. And be it enacted, That every Person who shall, in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions, directly or indirectly persuade any Soldier to desert, shall suffer such Punishment by Fine or Imprisonment, or both, as the Court before which the Conviction may take place shall adjudge; and every Person who shall assist any Deserter, knowing him to be such, in deserting or in concealing himself, shall forfeit for every such Offence the Sum of Twenty Pounds.

XXVI. And be it enacted, That every Commissioned Officer who shall, without Warrant from One or more of Her Majesty's Justices, forcibly enter into or break open the Dwelling House

or

H

or Outhouses of any Person whomsoever, under Pretence of searching for Deserters, shall, upon due Proof thereof, forfeit the Sum of Twenty Pounds.

der a Military

XXVII. And be it enacted, That every Gaoler and Keeper Custody of of any Prison or House of Correction in every Part of Her Offenders unMajesty's Dominions shall, upon the Order in Writing of any Sentence. Commanding Officer of a District, Garrison, Regiment, or Corps, (as the Case may be,) receive into his Custody any Soldier under Sentence of Imprisonment by a General or other Court-martial, and keep him in a proper Place of Confinement, with or without hard Labour, according to the Sentence of the Court, and during the Time specified in the said Order, or until he be discharged, or shall, although the Period for which the Soldier was originally committed may not have expired, deliver him up to any Person producing an Order in Writing to that Effect from any such Commanding Officer as aforesaid; and every such Gaoler who shall refuse to receive and to confine any such Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier in manner as aforesaid shall forfeit for every such Offence the Sum of One hundred Pounds.

One Pentagon

in the Penitentiary at Mill

tary Offenders.

XXVIII. And be it enacted, That One Pentagon in the General Penitentiary at Millbank, to be selected by the Superintending Committee of the said Penitentiary, with the Appro- bank to be apbation of One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, propriated as a shall be deemed to be a Prison within the Meaning of any Act Prison for Milinow in force or hereafter to be in force for punishing Mutiny and Desertion; and that any Soldier convicted by a Courtmartial may be sent by Order of any Commanding Officer of a District, Garrison, Regiment, or Corps to such Pentagon, there to undergo Imprisonment, with or without hard Labour or solitary Confinement, or such other Punishment as may be awarded by his Sentence, and during the Time specified in the said Order, or until he be discharged before the Expiration of that Time by an Order duly made for that Purpose.

Powers and Duties of the appointed Superintendent of

Person to be

XXIX. And be it enacted, That the Person who shall for the Time be entrusted by the Superintending Committee or Visitor of the said Penitentiary with the Charge of the same Pentagon, shall be deemed to be the sole Superintendent thereof, and shall perform the same Duties and exercise the same Powers and said Pentagon. Authorities in relation to such Pentagon, and to the Officers exclusively belonging thereto, and to the Soldiers confined therein, as the Governor of the said Penitentiary shall perform and exercise in relation to the other Pentagons, Officers, and Prisoners in the said Penitentiary, any thing in any Act to the contrary notwithstanding; subject nevertheless to such peculiar Regulations as the said Superintending Committee, with the Approbation of One of the Principal Secretaries of State, may from Time to Time make in relation to such Pentagon, and to the Superintendent and Officers thereof, and to the Soldiers confined therein: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any Soldier confined in the said Pentagon from being taken to the Chapel or Infirmary of the said Penitentiary.

XXX. And

Custody and
Subsistence of
Deserters.

Notice of
Expiration of
Imprisonment.

Persons subject to this Act.

XXX. And be it enacted, That the Gaoler or Person having the immediate Inspection of any Prison, Gaol, or House of Correction in every Part of Her Majesty's Dominions shall diet and supply every Soldier with Fuel and other Necessaries according to the Regulations of the Prison to which he shall be committed, and shall receive on account of every Soldier, during the Period of his Imprisonment, Sixpence per Diem, which the Secretary at War shall cause to be issued out of the Subsistence of such Soldier, upon Application in Writing signed by any Justice within whose Jurisdiction such Place of Confinement shall be locally situated, together with a Copy of the Order of Commitment, and which Sum of Sixpence per Diem shall be carried to the Credit of the Fund from which the Expence of such Prison or House of Correction is defrayed; and such Gaoler is hereby required to receive and confine every Deserter who shall be delivered into his Custody by any Soldier conveying such Deserter under lawful Authority, on Production of the Warrant of the Justice of the Peace on which such Deserter shall have been taken, or some Order from the Office of the Secretary at War, which Order shall continue in force until the Deserter shall have arrived at his Destination, and such Gaoler shall be entitled to One Shilling for the safe Custody of the said Deserter while halted on the March, and to such Subsistence for his Maintenance as shall be directed by Her Majesty's Regulations.

XXXI. And be it enacted, That every Gaoler to whom any Notice shall have been given that any Person in his Custody for any Offence is a Soldier liable to serve Her Majesty on the Expiration of his Imprisonment, shall give One Month's Notice of the Period of such Expiration of Imprisonment, or if there shall not be sufficient Time for a Month's Notice, then the longest practicable Notice thereof, to the Secretary at War.

XXXII. And be it enacted, That all the Provisions of this Act shall apply to all Persons employed on the Recruiting Service receiving Pay in respect of such Service, and to the Forces of the East India Company while they shall be in any Part of the United Kingdom, and until their Arrival in the Territories of the East India Company, and to the Officers and Persons who are or shall be serving and hired to be employed in the Royal Artillery and Field Train, and to Master Gunners and Gunners, and Conductors of Stores, and to all Officers and Persons who are or shall be serving in the Regiment of Royal Engineers and the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, and in the Corps of Royal Military Surveyors and Draftsmen, and to Persons in the Ordnance and in the Commissariat Departments, who are or shall be serving with any Part of Her Majesty's Forces, at Home or Abroad, under the Command of any Officer having Commission from Her Majesty, or from His late Majesty King William the Fourth, and to all Storekeepers and other Civil Officers who are or shall be employed by or act under the Ordnance at any of Her Majesty's Ordnance Establishments at Foreign Stations; provided that nothing in this Act contained shall extend to affect any Security which has been given by

such