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shall compose another division. The counties of Henry, Patrick, Franklin, Campbell and Bedford, shall compose one brigade; the counties of Pitsylvania, Halifax, Charlotte and Prince Edward, one brigade; the counties of Dinwiddie, Greensville, Brunswick, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg, one brigade; the counties of Chesterfield, Amelia, Nottoway, Powhatan, Cuinberland and Buckingham, one brigade; and the said brigades shall compose another division. Battalions and re- 2. And be it further enacted, That the several counties and corporations within this commonwealth, shall constitute the battalions, portions of battalions, regiments or portions of regiments, as now established Provided, That it shall be lawful for the executive to consolidate and divide regiments in the several counties, as circumstances may require.

giments.

How field officers shall be appointed

3 And be it further enacted, That there shall be an adjutant and commissioned. general for the militia of the state, a major general to each division, and a brigadier general to each brigade, to be appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the general assembly, who shall reside within the limits of their respective commands. Each major general shall appoint his own aid-de-camp, and each brigadier his own brigade inspector. The brigade inspectors shall reside within the limits of the brigades for which they are appointed. And the governor with the advice of council shall commission the several major generals, brigadier generals, and the adjutant general, who may be hereafter appointed pursuant to this act; and all vacancies hereafter accruing in any of the said offices, shall be supplied by appointments in like manner to be made.

Commanding officers of artillery and cavalry to make returns.

Courts to recom

ry officers.

4. And be it further enacted, That the governor with the advice of council shall be, and he is hereby authorized and required, to appoint and commission to each division, one lieutenant colonel commandant and two majors, to command the several companies of artillery and cavalry (as the case may be,) annexed to each division, and to arrange such companies of artillery into regiments and battalions, in such manner as to them may seem most convenient, to be denominated the regiment and battalion of the regiment of artillery or cavalry (as the case may be), and all returns of the strength and state of the several companies of artillery and cavalry, shall be made by the commanding officers of the several regiments, battalions and companies, under the like rules, regulations and penalties, as are by law directed with respect. to the rest of the militia.

5. And be it further enacted, That where it has not already mend the necessa- been done, the courts of the several counties and corporations shall, from the field and other officers who hold commissions in the militia, proceed to recommend to the executive the officers necessary to complete the regiments, battalions and companies pursuant to this act; and the persons so recommended shall be commissioned by the governor, agreeably to the constitution of this state. And all vacancies thereafter happening in the said offices of the militia, shall be supplied by appointment of the governor with the advice of the council, or recommendation from the court of the respective county or corporation where such vacancy happens, any thing in any act to the contrary notwithstanding.

Who shall be con

6. All persons who hold commissions under the late militia laws sidered supernu- of this state prior to the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and who have not been recommended by their respec

merary officers.

tive courts, shall be considered as supernumerary officers, but may be recommended to supply vacancies hereafter happening in the officers of the militia; and in case any supernumerary officer so recommended, shall, on such recommendation, refuse to serve, such officer shall no longer avail himself of his former commission, so as to claim an exemption from militia duty.

oath.

7. And be it further enacted, That each and every officer who Officer to take an may be hereafter appointed and commissioned in manner aforesaid, shall, previous to his entering on the execution of his office, take the following oath (to be administered by a justice of the peace, or the court of the county or corporation in which such officer resides), to wit: "I, do swear, that I will be faithful and true to the commonwealth of Virginia, of which I profess myself to be a citizen, and that I will faithfully and justly execute the office of in the militia thereof, according to the best of my skill and judgment: So help me God." If the said oath be administered by a justice of the peace, it shall be his duty to certify the same to the court of his respective county or corporation, there to be entered of record by the clerk.

gades and regi.

8. It shall be the duty of the executive to number by ballot, Divisions, briwhere the same has not already been done, the several divisions, ments to be numbrigades and regiments, and cause the same to be registered in the berod. office of the adjutant general; and every commission hereafter issued by the governor as aforesaid, shall express the number of the division, brigade and regiment respectively, to which the person obtaining the same shall belong.

laid off and re

9. Where commanding officers of regiments have failed to lay off Districts to be their regimental, battalion and company districts, or where any al- corded. teration in districts actually laid off may hereafter be found necessary, commanding officers of regiments shall assemble the commanding officers of battalions and companies, at some fit and convenient place, and may proceed to lay off or alter any such regimental, battalion or company district, which districts shall in all cases be designated by certain lines and bounds, and recorded by the clerks of the courts of enquiry respectively.

actual service.

10. And be it further enacted, That where it has not already Men allotted for been done, it shall be the duty of the commanding officers of companies to proceed forthwith to divide their companies into divisions by ballot from one to ten, for the purpose of a regular rotine of duty when called into actual service; and to return a roster of each division and its number in rotation, within fifteen days thereafter to the commanding officer of his battalion, who shall forthwith transmit the same to the commanding officer of the regiment, who shall direct the same to be recorded by the clerk of the court of enquiry. The same regulations shall be observed by every commanding officer of a company, battalion and regiment, on the subsequent inrollment of any person therein, unless such person shall produce a certificate of his having been before drawn for the above purpose, in which case he shall be inrolled accordingly, and every A militiaman remilitiaman removing out of the bounds of one company into ano- bounds of his comther, shall apply to the commanding officer of the company to which pany shall obtain he did belong, who shall give him a discharge, certifying the class wherein he was arraigned, and whether he had performed his tour of duty or not, and also the time and date of such service; which certificate the said militiaman shall produce to the captain or com

moving out of the

a certificate.

manding officer of the company into whose bounds he shall so have removed, within ten days after his settlement; and such officer is hereby required to inroll him in the numerical class specified therein; and every militiaman so removing and failing to produce such certificate, shall be arraigned and inrolled in the class destined Penalty for an offi- to perform the next tour of duty. And if any captain or comcer refusing such certificate. manding officer of a company, shall refuse to grant such certificate upon application to him made for that purpose, he shall, for such refusal, incur a penalty of thirty dollars, to be assessed and applied as other fines imposed by this act.

Governor, &c. to allot entire com

actual service.

11. And be it further enacted, That the governor with the adpanies of artillery, vice of council, shall and may cause the several companies of artillery, cavalry, grenadiers, light infantry and riflemen, to be allotted by entire companies into divisions from one to ten, for a regular rotine of duty; and the said companies shall in future be called into actual service by entire companies, in such manner and proportion as the rest of the militia, or as the nature of the service may require; and all such allotments shall be returned to the of fice of the adjutant general to be recorded by him.

Who shall be ex

duty.

12. And be it further enacted, That the members of the counempt from militia cil of state, judges of the superior courts, clerks of both houses of the general assembly, clerks of the superior and inferior courts, the attorney general, the treasurer and his clerks, the auditor of public accounts, the register of the land office, and their clerks, all inspectors of tobacco, all professors and tutors and students of the college of William and Mary, and all other public seminaries of learning, all ministers of the gospel licenced to preach according to the rules of their sect, who shall have previously taken, before the court of their county, the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth; keepers of the public, district and county jails, and of the public hospital; millers actually and necessarily employed in the management of water grist mills, legally established; all ferrymen actually and necessarily employed as such, shall and they are hereby exempted from the performance of all and any part of the duties required by this act :

Men to be inrolled.

Volunteers to be enlisted for each battalion.

13. And be it further enacted, That the commanding officers of companies shall inroll every able-bodied white male citizen, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such as are exempted by this act, resident within his district; and that in all cases of doubt respecting the age of any person inrolled or intended to be inrolled in any company of militia, the party questioned shall prove his age to the satisfaction of a majority of the officers of the company within whose bounds he may reside.

14. And be it further enacted, That the governor with the advice of council, or on the recommendation of the county or corporation courts, shall issue commissions for at least one captain, one lieutenant and one ensign, to each battalion, who shall proceed by voluntary enlistment within their battalion to inroll a sufficient number of men to compleat their company or companies, and be distinguished by the denomination of grenadiers, light infantry or riflemen, at the discretion of the commanding officer of the regi One troop of ca- ment; and the governor shall moreover as aforesaid, issue commisvalry to each regi- sions for officers of one or more troops of cavalry to each regiment, and with the advice of council at their own discretion, to appoint and commission the necessary officers for one or more companies

ment, and one

company of artillery to each brigade at least.

shall form part of

of artillery in each brigade; which said officers of cavalry and artillery are hereby empowered to enlist by voluntary enlistment within their respective regiments or brigades, in such proportion to each officer respectively appointed, as the executive shall direct, a company or companies of cavalry or artillery, according to the tenor of the commissions, to be denominated respectively the company of cavalry or the company of artillery, (as the case may be). The said companies of grenadiers, light infantry Their uniforms. or riflemen, shall wear, while on duty, such caps and uniforms as the executive shall direct, to be purchased out of the money arising on delinquents, and shall, together with the said troops of cavalry and companies of artillery perform the same rotine of duty, and be subject to the same rules, regulations and orders as the rest of the militia. The said light companies shall constitute a part of the Such companies battalion in which they are raised, and the said troops of cavalry the battalion in and companies of artillery shall parade with the regiment out of which they are which they have been enlisted: Provided, That where there are Proviso. more than one regiment in any county, and but one such troop or company, the brigadier general of the brigade of which such county is a part, shall direct with which of the said regiments the said troop or company shall parade. And where two, troops of cavalry are attached to one regiment, one troop shall be annexed to each battalion by the commanding officer of such regiment. All Officers failing to and every officer appointed as herein before directed to command complent their quota in a given in any of the volunteer companies, who shall fail to compleat his time may be disquota within six months after receiving his commission, shall, at the discretion of the executive, (unless good cause is shewn to the contrary) be discontinued: Provided, That no person enlisting in any of the said volunteer companies, shall be compelled to serve therein more than five years.

raised.

continued.

months.

fined.

15. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a muster of Volunteers to each troop of cavalry and company of artillery once in every two muster every two months, except the months of January, February, March and December in every year; and it shall be the duty of the commanding Delinquents to be officer of every such troop or company, and they are hereby required, at each and every muster, to call his roll, examine every person belonging thereto, and note down all delinquencies occurring therein, and make return thereof on oath to the commanding officer of the regiment within whose bounds such delinquent may reside, to be reported and proceeded against in like manner as other delinquents; and it shall be lawful for any commissioned officer of cavalry or artillery to sit in any court of enquiry and assessment of fines, to which any person in their respective companies is reported a delinquent: Provided, That not more than one such officer sit in any such court at the same time.

16. There shall be a muster of each company of militia, including Militia to muster the light companies, once in every two months, except the months every two months. of December, January, February and March, in every year, at such times and places as the regimental courts of enquiry shall from time to time direct and appoint. And there shall be a muster of each battalion in the month of May in every year, to be appointed by the commanding officer of the regiment to which such battalions respectively belong, at such place as he deems most convenient within the battalion district; and there shall be a muster of each regiment Regimental mus in the month of October or November in every year, to be ap- ber or November.

ter to be in Octo

cers.

Proviso.

Roll to be called

pointed by the commanding officer of the brigade to which such regiments respectively belong, at such place as he shall think most convenient within the regimental district; which said company, battalion and regimental musters shall continue one day and no Notice thereof to longer. The time and place of such regimental musters shall be be given to offi. notified to the commanding officers of regiments forty days previous thereto; the commanding officers of regiments shall give notice to the commanding officers of battalions of the time and place of regimental and battalion musters, at least thirty days; and the commanding officers of battalions, to the commanding officers of companies, at least twenty days; and the commanding officers of companies to their serjeants, at least ten days; and the serjeants to each person in their companies, at least three days before such muster. The notices given by the commanding officers of brigades, regiments and battalions, shall be in writing delivered to each person to be notified, or left at his usual place of abode; and every serjeant failing to give notice agreeable to this act, shall forfeit and pay for every offence three dollars; nevertheless, all notices publicly given by the commanding officers of companies at their respective musters, of any subsequent muster, shall be held and deemed as legal notice: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to make notices of company musters necessary. Every officer and soldier shall appear at his respective muster field on the day appointed, by eleven o'clock in the forenoon. At every muster, the commanding officer of the company shall call his roll, quents returned. examine every person belonging thereto, and note down all delinquencies accruing therein, and make return thereof at or before the next regimental or battalion court of enquiry, to the commanding officer of his battalion, including those which occurred on the day of his last regimental or battalion muster; and the commanding officers of regiments and battalions shall, at their respective regimental or battalion musters, as the case may be, take notice of all the delinquent officers, and shall lay the same, together with the returns of delinquencies from the commanding officers of companies, before the court of enquiry under this act to take cognizance of, and determine on them; and to each of the said returns shall Form of certificate be annexed the following certificate, to wit: "I, do certify, returns of delin- that the returns hereto annexed contain all the delinquencies which have occurred since my last return, having duly examined the same.” 17. Every commanding officer of a company shall, within ten made after regi- days after every regimental muster, make up and report to the commanding officer of his battalion, a return of his company, in such manner and form, as shall be furnished by the proper officer from time to time. It shall be the duty of the commanding officers of battalions to make like returns to the commanding officers of regiments within ten days thereafter, who shall cause the adjutant of his regiment to make regimental returns to their respective brigade inspectors within twenty days thereafter.

at company muster, and delin

to be annexed to

quents.

Returns to be

mental musters.

Non-commission

sicians to be ap

pointed.

18. Each captain or commanding officer of a company shall aped officers and mu- point to his company, four serjeants, four corporals, a drummer and fifer, to be approved of by the commanding officer of his battalion. In case of absence, 19. In all cases of death, absence or resignation, of any major officer next in rank general, brigadier general, lieutenant colonel commandant, major, to take command. captain or lieutenant, the next officer in rank in his respective commands shall be considered as the commanding officer during such

death, &c, the

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