Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 10.
Frank Moore, Ed.

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“ [67] the diet and maintenance of the sick and wounded soldiers in such hospital. And provided further, that the Surgeon-General shall, with the approval of the Secretary of War, establish regulations for the accountability of medical officers having charge of the hospital fund. And any officer who shall appropriate to his own use, or shall misapply, any portion of a hospital fund, or who shall make any false report of the number of soldiers sick in hospital, shall, on conviction, be punished as a court martial or military commission may direct. That all non-commissioned officers and privates in the regular army, serving under enlistments made prior to July twenty-second, 1861, shall have the privilege of reenlisting for the term of three years in their respective organizations, until the first day of August next; and all such non-commissioned officers and privates so reenlisting shall be entitled to the bounties mentioned in the joint resolution of Congress approved January thirteenth, 1864. That section thirty-five of the “Act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, 1863, shall not be construed to apply to enlisted men employed as clerks and messengers in the military offices in Washington, and at the several geographical, division, and department headquarters. That there be added to the battalion of engineers one sergeant-major and one quartermaster-sergeant, who shall also be commissary-sergeant, and each shall have the pay of a sergeant of engineers.” This amendment was agreed to without a division.

The Committee reported as an amendment, to add as new sections seven, eight, and nine: That there should be attached to, and made a part of, the War Department, during the continuance of the present rebellion, a bureau to be known as the Bureau of Military Justice, to which should be returned for revision the records and proceedings of all the courts-martial, courts of inquiry, and military commissions of the armies of the United States, and in which a record should be kept of all proceedings had thereupon. That the President should appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, as the head of said bureau, a judge-advocate general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general, and one assistant judge-advocate general, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a colonel of cavalry. And the judge-advocate and his assistant should receive, revise, and have recorded the proceedings of the courts-martial, courts of inquiry, and military commissions of the armies of the United States, and perform such other duties as had before been performed by the Judge-Advocate General of the armies of the United States. That the Secretary of War should have power to appoint for said bureau one fourth class, one third class, one second class, and two first class clerks. The amendment was agreed to — yeas, twenty-three; nays, eleven. The bill was further amended by adding: “That in all cases where the Government shall furnish transportation and subsistence to discharged officers and soldiers from the place of their discharge to the place of their enrolment or original muster into the service, they shall not be entitled to travel, pay, or commutation of subsistence.”

On the seventeenth, on motion of Mr. Grimes, the section providing for the appointment of an assistant judge-advocate general, with the rank of colonel, was amended by striking out the word “colonel,” and inserting “major,” which was agreed to — yeas, twenty-two; nays, twelve. Mr. Powell moved that from and after the first day of May, 1864, the army should be paid in gold, or if paid in paper, it should be paid an amount equal to gold at the time of payment — yeas, six; nays, twenty-three. So the amendment was rejected. It was then moved by Mr. Powell to add to the first section of the amendment of the Military Committee, increasing the pay of non-commissioned officers and privates, a proviso that the provisions of the act should not apply to colored soldiers; but the motion was lost — yeas, five; nays, twenty-six.

The House disagreed to the Senate amendments, asked a committee of conference, and the Speaker appointed Mr. Schenck, of Ohio, Mr. F. W. Kellogg, of Michigan, and Mr. J. S. Rollins, of Missouri, managers on the part of the House. The Senate insisted on its amendments to the amendments of the House to the original bill, and Mr. Wilson, Mr. Grimes, and Mr. Nesmith were appointed managers on the part of the Senate.

Mr. Wilson, from the committee of conference, reported that the House agree to the first amendment of the Senate, increasing the pay of the army, with some slight amendments; that the Senate recede from its amendment concerning rations issued to soldiers sick in hospital; that the House agree to the third amendment of the Senate; that non-commissioned officers and privates of the regular army, serving under enlistments previous to the twenty-second of July, 1861, should have the privilege of reenlisting and receiving the veteran bounties; that the Senate recede from its fourth amendment, providing that the thirty-fifth section of the act for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, approved March third, 1863, should not apply to enlisted men employed as clerks and messengers in the military offices in Washington; that in the second line of the sixth section of the Senate amendment, strike out all of said section after the words “sergeant-major,” and insert, in lieu thereof, “who shall be paid thirty-six dollars per month, and one quartermaster-sergeant, who shall also be commissary-sergeant, who shall be paid twenty-two dollars per month.” And that the House of Representatives do agree to said amendment of the Senate as amended. That the House of Representatives do agree to the sixth Senate amendment, to wit, the insertion of section seven. Strike out the fourth, fifth, and all of the sixth line down to the word “and” in the seventh Senate amendment, and insert the following in lieu thereof, “The rank, pay, and allowances of a brigadier-general, and an assistant judge-advocate general, with the ”