GENERAL ORDERS,
WAR DEPT., ADJT. GENERAL'S OFFICE, Numbers 31.
Washington, March 8, 1865.

The following acts of Congress are published for the information of all concerned:

I. PUBLIC--Numbers 57.

AN ACT to amend the several acts heretofore passed to provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the measure of allowance for pay for an officer's servant is the pay of a private soldier as fixed by law at the time; that no non- commissioned officer shall be detailed or employed to act as a servant, nor shall any private soldier be so detailed or employed except with his own consent; that for each soldier employed as a servant by any officer there shall be deducted from the monthly pay of such officer the full monthly pay and allowances of the soldier

or soldiers so employed, no officer shall be allowed for any great number of servants than is now provided by law, nor be allowed for any servant not actually and in fact in his employ.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That non-commissioned officers and privates in the volunteers service shall receive the same amount of clothing as non-commissioned officers and privates of the same arm of the Regular Army.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if a soldier discharged for wounds receive in battle die before receiving the bounty provided by the act of March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled "An act to amend an act to authorize the employment of volunteers, and so forth," the bounty due shall be paid to the following persons, and in the order following, and to no other person, to wit: First, to the widow of such deceased soldier, if there be one; second, if there be no widow, then to the children of such deceased soldier, share and share alike; third, if such soldier left neither a widow, or child, or children, then and in that case such bounty shall be paid to the following persons, provided they be residents of the United States, to wit: First, to his father; or if he shall not be living, or has abandoned the support of his family, then to the mother of such living, or has abandoned the support of his family, then to the mother of such soldier; and if there be neither father nor mother as aforesaid, then such bounty shall be paid to the brother sand sisters of the deceased soldier, resident as aforesaid.

SEC.4. And be it further enacted. That every non-commissioned officer, private, or other person, who has been, or shall hereafter be, discharged from the Army of the United States by reason of wounds received in battle, on skirmish, on picket, or in action, or in the line of duty, shall be entitled to receive the same bounty as if he had served out his full term; and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this are hereby repealed.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all persons of color who were enlisted and mustered into the military service of the United States in South Carolina, by and under the direction of Major-General Hunter and Brigadier-General Saxton, fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, "that the persons so received into service, and their officers, to be entitled to and receive the same pay and rations as are allowed by law to other volunteers in the strive" --and in every case where it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War that any regiment of colored troops has been mustered into the service of the United States, under any assurance by the President or the Secretary of War, that the non-commissioned officers and privates of such regiment should be paid the same as other troops of the same arm of the service--shall, from the date of their enlistment, receive the same pay and allowances as are allowed by law to other volunteers in the military service; and the Secretary of War shall make all necessary regulations to cause payment to be made in accordance herewith.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the President is hereby authorized to enlist or organize, out of troops already in the service, six regiments of volunteer engineers, to be organized in accordance with existing laws, to have the same pay and allowances of engineer troops of the Regular Army,and to be subjected to the Rules and Articles of War.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted. That the President is hereby authorized to enlist two additional companies to be added to the regiment of volunteer engineers raised under the provisions of an act approval May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled "An act to organize a regiment of veteran volunteers," and said regiment shall be considered one of the regiments authorized in the preceding section of this act.