corrected and charge to issue. 1250. When such charge of desertion is removed under Military record the provisions of this act, the soldier shall be restored to honorable dis a status of honorable service, his military record shall be corrected as the facts may require, and an honorable discharge shall be issued in those cases where the soldier has received none; and he shall be restored to all his rights as to pension, pay, or allowances as if the charge of desertion Pension, etc., had never been made; and in case of the death of said soldier, his widow or other legal heir shall be entitled to the same rights as in case of other deceased honorably discharged soldiers. Sec. 8, ibid. claims. No pay while Claims to be filed within three 1251. This act shall not be construed to give to any absent. soldier, or his legal representatives or heir, any pay or allowance for any period of time he was absent without leave and not in the performance of military duty. Ibid. 1252. All applications for relief under this act shall be made to and filed with the Secretary of War within the period of three years from and after July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and all applications not so made and filed within said term of three years shall be forever barred, and shall not be received or considered. ibid. Sec. 9, 1253. Section nine of the act for the relief of certain volunteer and regular soldiers of the late war and the war with Mexico, approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, is hereby so amended as to remove the limitation of time within which applications for relief may be received and acted upon under the provisions of said act. Act of March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 814). REMUSTER OF OFFICERS OF VOLUNTEERS.. i, 1889. years from July Sees. 9 and 10, ibid. Time extended for applications. Mar. 2, 1895, v. 28, p. 814. cases. 29, p. 593. 1254. Any person who was duly appointed or commis-Remuster sioned to be an officer of the volunteer service during the Feb. 24, 1897, v. war of the rebellion, and who was subject to the mustering regulations at the time applied to members of the volunteer service, shall be held and considered to have been mustered into the service of the United States in the grade named in his appointment or commission from the date from which he was to take rank under and by the terms of his said appointment or commission, whether the 'The act of July 27, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 278), extended the operation of this section for a period of two years from July 1, 1892. By the act of March 2, 1895 (28 ibid., 814), the limitation of time was indefinitely extended. same was actually received by him or not, and shall be entitled to pay, emoluments, and pension as if actually mustered at that date: Provided, That at the date from which he was to take rank by the terms of his said appointment or commission there was a vacancy to which he could be so appointed or commissioned, and his command had either been recruited to the minimum number required by law and the regulations of the War Department, or had been assigned to duty in the field, and that he was actually performing the duties of the grade to which he was so appointed or commissioned; or if not so performing such duties, then he shall be held and considered to have been mustered into service and to be entitled to the benefits of such muster from such time after the date of rank given in his commission as he may have actually entered upon such duties: Provided further, That any person held as a prisoner of war, or who may have been absent by reason of wounds, or in hospital by reason of disability received in the service in the line of duty, at the date of issue of his appointment or commission, if a vacancy existed for him in the grade to which so appointed or commissioned, shall be entitled to all the benefits to which he would have been entitled under this act if he had been actually performing the duties of the grade to which he was appointed or commissioned at said date: Provided further, That this act shall be construed to apply only in those cases where the commission bears date prior to June twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or after that date when the commands of the persons appointed or commissioned were not below the minimum number required by then existing laws and regulations: And provided further, That the pay and allowances actually received for the period covered by the recognition extended under this act shall be deducted from the sums otherwise to be paid thereunder. Act of February 24, 1897 (29 Stat. L., 593). 1255. The heirs or legal representatives of any person whose muster into service shall be recognized and established under the terms of this act shall be entitled to receive the arrears of pay and emoluments due, and the pension, if any, authorized by law, for the grade to which recognition shall be so extended. Sec. 2, ibid. 1256. The pay and allowances of any rank or grade paid to and received by any military or naval officer in good faith for services actually performed by such officer in such rank or grade during the war of the rebellion, other than as directed in the fourth proviso of the first section of this act, shall not be charged to or recovered back from such officer because of any defect in the title of such officer to the office, rank, or grade in which such services were so actually performed. Sec. 3, ibid. CERTIFICATES OF SERVICE IN MILITARY TELEGRAPH CORPS. Jan. 26, 1897, v 1257. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and Certificates, directed to prepare a roll of all persons who served not 29, p. 497. less than ninety days in the operation of military telegraph lines during the late civil war, and to issue to each, upon application, unless it appears that his service was not creditably performed, or to the representatives of those who are dead, suitable certificates of honorable service in the military telegraph corps of the Army of the United States, stating the service rendered, the length of such service, and the dates, as near as may be, between which such service was performed: Provided, That this law shall Restriction not be construed to entitle the persons herein mentioned to any pay, pension, bounty, or rights not herein specifically provided for. Act of January 26, 1897 (29 Stat L., 497). CHAPTER XXVI. CHAPLAINS. Par. 1258, 1259. Appointment. 1260. Qualifications, age. 1261. The same. 1262. Assignments. Appointment. Sec. 1121, R.S. Par. 1263, 1264. Duties. 1265. Reports. 1266. Facilities in performance of duties. 1258. The President is authorized to appoint, by and 12, v. 31. p. 750 with the advice and consent of the Senate, chaplains in the Sec. 1122, R.S. Army, at the rate of one for each regiment of cavalry and infantry in the United States service, and twelve for the corps of artillery, with the rank, pay, and allowances of captains of infantry. Sec. 12, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 750). The same. Qualifications. 1259. The office of post chaplain is hereby abolished, and the officers holding commissions as chaplains, or who may hereafter become chaplains, shall he assigned to regiments or to the corps of artillery. Sec. 12, act of Febru ary 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 750). 1260. No person shall be appointed a chaplain in the Regular Army who shall have passed the age of forty 'Section 18 of the act of July 5, 1838 (5 Stat. L., 259), conferred authority upon the officers composing the councils of administration, at certain posts to be desig nated by the Secretary of War, to employ from time to time such person as they might think proper to officiate as chaplain. The person so selected and appointed was also to perform the duties of schoolmaster at the post at which he was employed. The chaplains so appointed were to receive as compensation a sum to be determined by the council of administration, with the approval of the Secretary of War, but such sum was not to exceed forty dollars per month in any case; each chaplain was allowed four rations per day, with fuel and quarters. The number of chaplain posts, which was fixed at twenty by the act of July 5, 1838, was increased to forty by section 3 of the act of March 3, 1849 (9 Stat. L., 351). Section 7 of the act of July 28, 1866 (14 Stat L., 333), recognized and continued in service the existing force of chaplains; by section 7 of the act of March 2, 1867 (14 Stat. L., 423), chaplains were placed on the same footing in respect to tenure of office, retirement, pensions, and other allowances as other officers of the Army. Under the authority conferred by the act of April 22, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 363), each regiment of volunteers is entitled to one chaplain; by the act of July 8, 1898 (Ibid., 729), it was provided that chaplains in the volunteer service should have the pay and allowances of captains mounted. The act of March 2, 1899 (30 Stat. L., 977), makes no specific provision for chaplains for the force of volunteers therein authorized. years, nor until he shall have established his fitness as required by existing law. Sec. 12, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 750). Qualifications July 17, 1862, c. 200, s. 8, v. 12, p. Sec. 1123, R.S. 1261. No person shall be appointed as regimental or post chaplain until he shall furnish proof that he is a regularly ordained minister of some religious denomination, in good 59, standing at the time of his appointment, together with a recommendation for such appointment from some authorized ecclesiastical body, or from not less than five accredited ministers of said denomination. Assignment. Feb. 2, 1901, 8. 1262. Chaplains may be assigned to such stations as the Secretary of War shall direct, and they may be trans- 12, v. 31, p. 150. ferred, as chaplains, from one branch of the service or from one regiment to another, by the Secretary of War, without further commission. When serving in the field, chaplains shall be furnished with necessary means of transportation by the Quartermaster's Department. Sec. 12, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 750). 1263. All regimental chaplains and post chaplains shall, when it may be practicable, hold appropriate religious services, for the benefit of the commands to which they may be assigned to duty, at least once on each Sunday, and shall perform appropriate religious burial services at the burial of officers and soldiers who may die in such commands. Duties as cler gymen. 3, s. 4. v. 13, p. 46. school-teachers. July 5, 1838, c. 1264. The duty of chaplains of regiments of colored Duties troops and of post chaplains shall include the instruction, of the enlisted men in the common English branches of ? education.1 162, s. 18, v. 5, p. ports. Apr. 9, 1864, c. Feb. 27, 1877, c. 1265. Post and regimental chaplains shall make monthly reports to the Adjutant-General of the Army, through 53, s. 3.v.13, p. 46; the usual military channels, of the moral condition and general history of the regiments or posts to which they Sec.1126, R.S. may be attached. 69, v. 19, p. 242. performance of duties. 1266. It shall be the duty of commanders of regiments, Facilities in hospitals, and posts to afford to chaplains, assigned to the same for duty, such facilities as may aid them in the formance of their duties. per Apr. 9, 1864, c. 53, v. 13, p. 46. Sec. 1127, B.S. HISTORICAL NOTE.-The office of chaplain existed in the Revolutionary armies, as is indicated by the requirement of section 1, article 4, of the Rules and Articles of War of 1776, which provides a penalty for the nonperformance of the duties appro 1 For statutory provisions respecting post schools, see the article relating to military posts in the chapter entitled THE PUBLIC LANDS. These schools are administered in accordance with paragraphs 321, 341, 350, 351, 355, 362, 1110, 1118, 1124, 1127, 1128, and 1137 of the Army Regulations of 1901. For the duties and assignments of chaplains, see paragraphs 48-51, Army Regulations of 1901. |