transactions by the Quartermaster in which the Government suffered loss by purchases and charters at "higher rates than the cash market price." His conduct is, in the opinion of this Department, without necessity, justification, or excuse, and to such conduct the Department attaches a high degree of criminality. Few things can be more culpable than for a public officer systematically to pay to certain favored parties higher rates for supplies than might be and are, in fact, furnished at greatly lower rates in the same city by other dealers. To say the least of such conduct, it is a gross negligence that amounts to fraud. The statement by the Court of the facts found being in conflict with the formal finding on the charges makes the proceedings a nullity. The evidence fully establishes that Colonel Belger is guilty of gross neglect and violation of duty, to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. The proceedings of the Court are therefore disapproved, and Colonel Belger, Quartermaster, is, by order of the President, dishonorably dismissed from the United States service, EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. III.-The General Court Martial, of which Major General E. A. Hitchcock is President, is hereby dissolved. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. General Orders, No. 386. WAR DEP'T, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, December 1, 1863. The time for enlisting recruits in the Regular Army, under the provisions of General Orders, No. 190, of June 25, 1863, and No. 338, of October 16, 1863, current series, from this office, is hereby extended to June 25, 1864, during which the extra bounty of $300 will be paid. The time for enlisting Veteran Volunteers, in the respective States, under the provis ions of General Orders, No. 191, current series, from this office, is hereby extended to January 5, 1864. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant Genéral, General Orders,} No. 388. WAR DEP'T, Adjutant GenERAL'S OFFICE, The following named enlisted men having passed the examination prescribed in paragraph 4 of General Orders, No. 106, War Department, Adjutant General's Office, dated April 28, 1863, are, in accordance with authority granted in paragraph 11 of same Order, transferred to the Signal Corps, U. S. Army, and will be dropped from the rolls of their respective Regiments, and will report without arms, and with descriptive lists, to the Commanding Officer, Signal Camp of Instruction, Georgetown, D. C.: Sergeant Charles S. Page, Battery "M," 2d Artillery, Pennsylvania Volunteers. Private Joseph N. Chums, Company "K," 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers. แ Private Thomas F. Reyner, Company "M," 112th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Private Alfred Godfrey, Company “F,” 17th Connecticut Volunteers, who will report to Captain L. B. Norton, Chief Signal Officer, Army of the Potomac. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. General Orders, No. 389. WAR DEP'T, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, December 7, 1863. I.-Before a General Court Martial, which convened at St Louis, Missouri, August 26, 1863, pursuant to Special Orders, No. 28, dated Headquarters, St. Louis District, St. Louis, Missouri, July 23, 1863, and of which Lieutenant Colonel S. S. Curtis, 3d Colorado Infantry, is President, was arraigned and tried Second Lieutenant John Miller, 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. Specification "In this; that he, Second Lieutenant John Miller, of Company ‘D,' 14th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, did engage in selling liquors and keeping and attending bar in a house of prostitution and ill-fame; and this in the uniform, and while wearing the emblems of his rank and position as an officer of the volunteer service of the United States. This in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on or about the 30th day of March, 1863." CHARGE II.-" Absence without leave." Specification" In this; that he, Second Lieutenant John Miller, of Company 'D,' 14th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, did absent himself from his camp and Company at Camp Peoria, at Peoria, Illinois, without leave of absence from his Commanding Officer, and did so remain absent till on or about the 30th day of March, 1863, when he was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri. This on or about the 28th day of February 1863." To which charges and specifications the accused, Second Lieutenant John Miller, 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, pleaded "Not Guilty." FINDING. The Court having maturely considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused, Second Lieutenant John Miller, 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, as follows: CHARGE I. Of the Specification, "Guilty, except the word 'keeping.'" Of the Charge, "Guilty." Of the Specification, "Not Guilty." CHARGE II. SENTENCE. And the Court does therefore sentence him, Second Lieutenant John Miller, 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, "To be dismissed the service; to forfeit all pay and allowances now due or may become due him from the Government; and to be forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United States: this sentence to be published in the public journals of St. Louis, Missouri, and Peoria, Illinois." II. The proceedings of the Court in the above case have been approved by the proper Commanders, and forwarded for the action of the President of the United States. The sentence awarded Second Lieutenant John Miller, 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, is approved, except so much of it as inflicts forfeiture of pay and disqualification for holding any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United States, which, not being authorized by the article of War under which the accused was convicted and sentenced, is disapproved. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. General Orders,) No. 390. WAR DEP'T, Adjutant GenerAL'S OFFICE, Officers of the Medical Department, in charge of Hospitals for Blacks, are authorized to employ as cooks or nurses either males or females, who will be paid by the Medical Purveyor or Storekeeper at the rate of ten dollars per month. In cases where white females are employed they will receive forty cents per day. All such persons will also receive one ration per day. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. Memorandum to correct General Orders, No. 390, dated War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, December 8, 1863. The employment of either males or females as cooks or nurses is authorized in all General Hospitals. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. General Orders, No. 391. WAR DEP'T, Adjutant GenerAL'S OFFICE, Commanders of Departments are authorized to grant furloughs to enlisted men in the General Hospitals within the limits of their command, upon the approval of the Medical Director or Chief Medical Officer. The number allowed to be absent at one time to be limited to five (5) per cent., and the period not to exceed thirty (30) days, and to be graduated according to the distance of the applicant from his home. The good conduct of the applicant to be made the rule of the Medical Officers in recommending the furloughs. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General, General Orders,} No. 392. WAR DEP'T, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, December 9, 1863. 1. The Quartermaster General of the Army will report to the Paymaster General the name of every 'officer who, in his Department, has received, or shall hereafter receive, public money or military supplies, and fail to take up and account for the same, and render proper returns therefor; or who has hired and employed, or shall hereafter hire or employ, persons and articles in the public service, and fail to make out and transmit reports therefor, as required by the Army Regulations. And the Paymaster General, upon the receipt of such notification, will give directions to the officers of his corps to make no payments to the delinquent officers until such delinquents shall have rendered the prescribed reports and returns, of which the Paymaster General shall be promptly advised by the Quartermaster General. 2. When officers give or issue certified accounts for purchases made or services rendered in the Quartermaster's Department, they will immediately send an abstract of them to the principal officer of the Department in which they are serving, and to the Quartermaster General at Washington. Any officer failing to forward these abstracts will have his pay stopped until he sends them. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. General Orders. No. 393. WAR DEP'T, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, All applicants for appointment as Second Lieutenant, or for promotion to the rank of First Lieutenant and Captain in the Ordnance Department of the Army, who may be recommended by a Board of Ordnance Officers, pursuant to General Orders, No. 138, of May 18, 1863, will be examined on the following subjects: 1. Each applicant will be examined as to his capacity and fitness for the correct and efficient discharge of the duties of an Ordnance Officer, physical, moral, and mental. 2. Under the first, as regards age, present state of healthfulness, soundness of vision and hearing, freedom from organic disease, and capacity of bearing fatigue and exposure; and no applicant for an appointment into the Corps shall be over twenty-eight years of age. 3. Under the second, habits, past and present, with full and distinct evidence of loyalty to the United States, and trustworthiness for employment in the service. 4. Under the third, candidates for a Second Lieutenancy of Ordnance will be expected to be perfectly familiar with the following subjects, viz.: Mathematics. Arithmetic; Algebra; Plane, Descriptive, and Analytical Geometry; Trigonometry; Surveying; Elements of Calculus. English Studies and Literature. Physical and Political Geography; English Grammar and Composition; Outlines of National and Military History. Elements of Civil Engineering; especially those which relate to building materials and strength of materials. Military Engineering. Elements of Field Fortifications. Laro. The Constitution of the United States; Rules and Articles of War; the Law of February 8, 1815, organizing the Ordnance Department. Tactics. School of the Soldier and Company; of the Squadron and of the Battery. FOR A FIRST LIEUTENANT OF Ordnance. He must be perfectly conversant with all that is required of a Second Lieutenant of Ordnance, and, in addition thereto, with the following subjects: Civil and Military Engineering and Architecture. Elements of Permanent Fortification; theory and practice of the Steam Engine; general principles of Machines; general principles of Architecture; familiar knowledge of all woods used in Ordnance constructions. Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology. Familiarity with, and the process of reducing, the ores of all metals which enter into the fabrication of Ordnance stores. VOL. II.-44 Law, Regulations, and Organization. The General Regulations of the Army and the General Regulations of the Ordnance Department; all laws relating to the Ordnance Department since its organization; Military Law, and the practice of Courts Martial; Kent's Commentaries; Thackeray's Army Organization and Âdministration. Tactics. Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery Tactics. Technology. A thorough acquaintance with the resources and business of all the Arsenals at which, as a Second Lieutenant, he may have been stationed; as regards the kind of Ordnance supplies made at each; their capacity for manufacturing; the cost of labor and material as compared with each other; the extent of store-room; and the advantages or disadvantages, in a geographical and military point of view, for the business carried on at each. Perfect familiarity with the method of enlisting, mustering, paying, and discharging soldiers; of receiving and issuing all Ordnance stores; the technical names and uses of stores, tools, machines, and other articles used in the Ordnance service; of making all monthly returns to the Adjutant General, the Treasury, and the Ordnance; of making quarterly and annual papers of all kinds; in short, the whole method of administration in force at each post. A thorough acquaintance with the duties and responsibility of an Assistant Quartermaster, or an Assistant Commissary, and all the duties and regulations of the Departments. FOR A CAPTAIN OF ORDNANCE. In addition to all required of a Lieutenant: Application of Chemistry, Mechanics, and Engineering, to Metallurgy. Method of working ores of iron for making gun metal, including furnaces and other necessary appliances; the art of casting in all branches relating to military work; history of the experiments made by the Department on this subject. Method of making steel and bronze, and of reducing lead, zinc, and tin ores, and all the necessary furnaces and fixtures used in the process. Wrought iron: how manufactured; its uses and applications in the manufacture of Ordnance stores. The alloys familiarity with all those used in the manufacture of stores, and how pre pared. Application of Mechanics to Machinery. A thorough acquaintance with all the machines in use at all the Arsenals, Armories, and Foundries; how made; their object and use; capacity, power required to run them, and all the details connected with the subject. (For general list of such machines see Circular No. 60, series 1863, Ordnance Office.) Practical application of the foregoing knowledge to the uses of the Ordnance Department. A thorough conversance with all the details of manufacture and subsequent critical inspection of cannon, with all the implements, equipments, harness, carriages, and projectiles (fitted and unfitted for service) required for their use All the varieties of small arms used in the service, and the requisite ammunition pertaining to each; all accoutrements and horse equipments; the whole subject of Powder in all its details; general machines for the use of Artillery in field or garrison; and, finally, all the tools and materials furnished or in use by the Ordnance Department. Law and Regulations, and Administration. All the General Orders from the Adjutant General's Office since the publication of the then latest edition of the General Regulations of the Army. All the Circulars from the Ordnance Office, bearing on the duties of an Ordnance Officer, published since the date of the then last edition of the Ordnance Regulations. A perfect knowledge of the administrative duties of the Ordnance Office, its relation to the other Bureaus of the War Department, and a full acquaintance with the method of conducting the business of each division in that Office. Theory of the duties of an Ordnance Officer at the Headquarters of an Army or Department. |