receive, for their daily subsistence, the following number of rations. of provisions: a colonel, six rations; a lieutenant-colonel, five rations; a major, four rations; a captain, three rations; a lieutenant, two rations; an ensign, two rations; a surgeon, three rations; a surgeon's mate, two rations; a cadet, two rations or money in lieu thereof, at the option of the said officers and cadets at the posts respectively, where the rations shall become due; and if at such posts supplies are not furnished by contract, then such allowance as shall be deemed equitable, having reference to former contracts, and the position of the place in question; and each non-commissioned officer, musician, and private, one ration;12 to the commanding officer of each separate post, such additional number of rations as the President of the United States shall, from time to time, direct, having respect to the special circumstances of each post; to the women who may be allowed to any particular corps not exceeding the proportion of four to a company, one ration each; to such matrons and nurses as may be necessarily employed in the hospital, one ration each; and to every commissioned officer who shall keep one servant, not a soldier of the line, one additional ration.-Sec. 5, March 16, 1802, chap. 9.

13

270. Each ration shall consist of one pound and a quarter of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork, eighteen ounces of bread or flour, one gill of rum, whisky, or brandy; and at the rate of two quarts of salt, four quarts of vinegar, four pounds of soap, and one pound and a half of candles, to every hundred rations." Sec. 6, ibid.

12 One and one-half rations per day to sergeants and corporals of ordnance. See 211, February 11, 1815, chap. 38; and ¶ 404, note 5 b.

13 LAUNDRESSES.-The companies under sec. 2 of same act consisted of seventy-six enlisted men. They are now allowed to each company or detachment of twelve or more enlisted men, at the rate of one for every nineteen, or fraction of nineteen, enlisted men present.-G. O. No. 72, A.-G. O., 1868.

"The secretary of war authorizes the number of laundresses to remain as fixed by the authorized strength of a company, though it may fall below that strength for a time, by casualties."-Adjutant-general, September, 1870.

A laundress absent from her company will not be rationed, unless the officer commanding the company shall send, each month, to the commanding officer of the post or station where she may be living, a notification in writing, designating her by name as a laundress attached to his company, and entitled to rations for the month specified in such notification.-Circular from Commissary-general, April 3, 1865.

14 ISSUES.-This ration was re-established under the 7th sec., act of March 2, 1815. See Chap. xvii., ¶ 492.

But in determining the present ration¶¶271-276 must also be considered. See

note 15.

Seamen and marines, of the navy, when acting on shore in co-operation with the army, are to be rationed, but the contract price of rations thus issued is to be reimbursed from the navy appropriations. See Chap. xxviii., ¶ 959.

271. The President may make such alterations in the component parts of the ration as a due regard to the health and comfort of the army and economy may require.-Sec. 8, April 14, 1818, chap. 61.

272. The allowance of sugar and coffee to the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, in lieu of the spirit or whisky component part of the army ration, now directed by regulation, shall be fixed at six pounds of coffee and twelve pounds of sugar to every one hundred rations, to be issued weekly when it can be done with convenience to the public service, and, when not so issued, to be paid in money.-Sec. 17, July 5, 1838, chap.

162.

273. The allowance of sugar and coffee to the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the army, as fixed by the 17th section of the act of July 5, 1838, shall hereafter be ten pounds of coffee and fifteen pounds of sugar for every one hundred rations.— Sec. 4, June 21, 1860, chap. 163.

274. That the secretary of war be authorized to commute the army ration of coffee and sugar for the extract of coffee, combined with milk and sugar, to be procured in the same manner and under like restrictions and guarantees as preserved meats, pickles, butter, and desiccated vegetables are procured for the navy, if he shall believe it will be conducive to the health and comfort of the army, and not more expensive to the government than the present ration, and if it shall be acceptable to the men.-Sec. 10, July 5, 1862, chap. 133.

275. The army ration shall hereafter include pepper, in the proportion of four ounces to every hundred rations.-Sec. 11, March 3, 1863, chap. 78.

276. The army ration shall hereafter be the same as provided by law and regulations on the 1st day of July, 1861.15 Provided,

1864.

Veterinary surgeons are not entitled to draw rations.-Adjutant-general, March 18, But they may purchase subsistence for cash, at cost prices, exclusive of transportation.-Ibid., June 16, 1871. Acting assistant surgeons serving west of the hundredth degree of west longitude to receive one ration daily, in kind, upon report of the surgeon-general that the contract made by his order allows such ration.-G. O. No. 48, A.-G. O., 1868.

Superintendents of national cemeteries not entitled to rations.-See note 22 a, Chap. xxi.

15 THE RATION thus re-established, and subject (¶271) to alteration in its component parts, consists of:

Twelve ounces of pork or bacon, or one pound and four ounces of salt or fresh beef; eighteen ounces of soft bread or flour, one pound of hard bread, or one pound and four ounces of corn meal: and, to every one hundred rations, fifteen pounds of beans or

That the ration of pepper prescribed in the 11th section of the "Act to promote the efficiency of the corps of engineers and of the ordnance department, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1863, shall continue to be furnished as heretofore. But nothing contained in this act shall be construed to alter the commutation16 value of rations as regulated by existing laws.-Sec. 2, June 20, 1864, chấp. 145.

277. It shall be lawful for the commander-in chief of the army, or the commanding officer of any separate detachment or garrison thereof, at his discretion, to cause to be issued, from time to time, to the troops under his command, out of such supplies as shall have been provided for the purpose, rum, whisky, or other ardent spirits, in quantities not exceeding half a gill to each man per day, excepting

peas, or ten pounds of rice or hominy; ten pounds of green coffee, or eight pounds of roasted (or roasted and ground) coffee, or one pound and eight ounces of tea; fifteen pounds of sugar; four quarts of vinegar; one pound and four ounces of adamantine or star candles; four pounds of soap; three pounds and twelve ounces of salt, and four ounces of pepper. The subsistence department, as may be most convenient or least expensive to it, and according to the condition and amount of its supplies, shall determine whether soft bread or flour, and what other component parts of the ration as equivalents, shall be issued.

Desiccated compressed potatoes, or desiccated compressed mixed vegetables, at the rate of one ounce and a half of the former and one ounce of the latter to the ration, may be substituted for beans, peas, rice, or hominy.

When deemed necessary, fresh vegetables, dried fruit, molasses, pickles, or any other proper food, may be purchased and issued in lieu of any component part of the ration of equal money value. The commissary-general of subsistence is alone authorized to order such purchases.-G. O. No. 226, A.-G. O., 1864, and G. O. No. 62, A.-G. O., 1867.

A ration of fish, fourteen ounces of dried fish, or eighteen ounces of pickled fish, may be issued once a week in lieu of the ration of fresh beef.-Circular No. 5, Commissary-general, 1865.

16 COMMUTATION OF RATIONS.-The last clause of this section was intended to guard against an increase in the pay of commissioned officers; but they are no longer authorized to draw or commute them. See Chap. xi., ¶ 321.

Soldiers on furlough have their ration, while so absent, commuted at twenty-five cents.-G. O. No. 88, A.-G. O., 1865. But they are not entitled to commutation unless they return to the company, regiment, or station whence furloughed, at or before the expiration of their furlough.-Secretary of War, December 7, 1867.

Discharged soldiers have their ration commuted at thirty cents [paid by pay department].-S. O. No. 5, A.-G. O., 1868.

Ordnance sergeants, at stations where there are no other troops, commute their rations at forty cents.-G. O. No. 53, A.-G. O., 1869.

Sergeants and corporals of ordnance, while on furlough, are entitled to commutation at the rate of one and a half rations per day.-Second Comptroller, 1840. See Chap.

General service clerks at the headquarters of geographical divisions and departments (not more than ten at each headquarters) commute their rations at seventy-five cents per day.-G. O. No. 92, A.-G. O., 1868, and No. 30, ibid., 1869.

Soldiers traveling under orders.-"The attention of the department having been called to the growing frequency with which accounts are presented for commutation of rations of enlisted men traveling under orders, greatly in excess of the regulation rate of seventy-five cents per day, it is directed that hereafter rations in kind be furnished, cooked, to be taken in the haversacks of the men, in all practicable cases where the cost of their subsistence would exceed the regulation rate."-G. O. No. 108, A.-G. O., 1872.

in cases of fatigue service, or other extraordinary occasions."-Sec. 22, March 3, 1799, chap. 48.

17 EXTRA ISSUES.-In 1802 (¶ 270) the regular spirit ration was increased to one gill, but under the act of 1818 (271) a ration of sugar and coffee had been substituted for the regular issue of spirits, and by and since the act of 1838 (¶ 272) substituting coffee and sugar, all issues of spirits have been extra issues. By act of March 2, 1819, an "extra gill of whisky or spirits" was allowed to the enlisted men employed on fortification, surveys, etc.; but the act of May 19, 1846, provided for the commutation in money of that allowance, and the only authority for the issue of spirits from the subsistence department is to be found in the above act of 1799.

"The whisky ration will no longer be supplied to the troops of the United States by the subsistence department."-G. O. No. 120, A.-G. O., 1865.

CHAPTER X.

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.

la

ORGANIZATION.

281. THE medical department of the army shall' hereafter consist of one surgeon-general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general; one assistant surgeon-general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a colonel of cavalry; one chief medical purveyor and four assistant medical purveyors, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of lieutenant-colonels of cavalry, who shall give the same bonds which are or may be required of assistant paymastergenerals of like grade, and shall, when not acting as purveyors, be

1b

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, as now constituted, had its foundation in the act of March 2, 1821; but a medical establishment, afterwards called the hospital department, was created by the act of March 2, 1799, and continued under various modifications till the organization of 1821.

(a.) THE SURGEON-GENERAL.-Under the act of March 2, 1799, the "physiciangeneral" was "charged with the superintendence and direction of all military hospitals, and, generally, of all medical and chirurgical practice or service concerning the army or navy of the United States, and of all persons who shall be employed in and about the same, in camps, garrisons, and hospitals." This office was abolished in the reduction of 1802; but the act of March 3, 1813, "for the better organization of the general staff of the army," established the offices of a physician- and surgeon-general, and of an apothecary-general, "whose respective duties and powers shall be prescribed by the President of the United States." These offices were not provided for in the reduction of 1815, but the apothecary-general was "provisionally retained" by the President (his action being confirmed by the act of April 24, 1816), and obtained till reorganization of 1821. The office of surgeon-general was re-established, April 14, 1818, and has since been continuous.

(b.) The deputy paymaster-generals are of like grade, and give bonds in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. See Chap. xi., ¶ 318. And for duties of medical purveyors see288.

(c.) CONTRACT SURGEONS.-The army regulations make provision for the employment, in cases of necessity, of private physicians under contracts with commanding officers, medical directors, or the surgeon-general.

Contracts made with private physicians by the surgeon-general, or the medical director of a department, can be annulled only by these officers, or by the department commander.-G. O. No. 3, A.-G. O., 1869.

Forage allowed to acting assistant-surgeons detailed upon duty requiring them to be mounted. See note 21 b, ¶ 244.

Mileage allowed. See note 12 h, ¶ 324.

Pay accounts.-"The physician's account of pay due, in the ordinary form of an officer's pay account, shall be presented to a paymaster for payment, vouched for by a certificate thereon by the commanding officer that it is correct and agreeably to contract, and that the services have been duly rendered, which certificate he will not make unless the contract has been approved by the surgeon-general or the medical director of the department."