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

That there should be appointed by the President an assistant provost-marshal general for each State, who should have the rank, pay, and emoluments of a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry.

That it should not be lawful for any person to engage in the business of procuring recruits or substitutes as an agent, substitute broker, or otherwise, for money or profit, without having first obtained from the Secretary of War authority in writing.

That any recruiting agent, substitute broker, or other person, who, for pay or profit, should enlist, or caused to be enlisted, as a volunteer or substitute, any insane person, or convict, or person under indictment for a felony, or person in a condition of intoxication, or a deserter, should, upon conviction by any court-martial, be dishonorably dismissed the service.

That, in addition to the other lawful penalties of the crime of desertion, all persons who had deserted, who should not return to service within sixty days after the passage of this act, should be deemed to have voluntarily relinquished and forfeited their rights of citizenship and their rights to become citizens.

The bill was further considered on the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh, modified and amended in several particulars, and passed — yeas, eighty-three; nays, forty-six. On the twenty-eighth, it was read twice in the Senate, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. On the first of March, Mr. Wilson reported it back with amendments.

In the House, on the eighteenth of February, Mr. Schenck, from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported a joint resolution declaring and defining the law in relation to officers' servants.

The joint resolution declared the meaning of all provisions of law relating to soldiers employed by officers as servants to be: That, for every soldier thus employed by any officer, there should be deducted from the monthly pay of such officer the full monthly pay and allowances of the soldier so employed; that no officer should be allowed any greater number of servants than provided by law, nor be allowed for any servant not actually in his employment; that the measure of allowance for pay to officers' servants was the pay of a private soldier, and that no non-commissioned officer should be detailed or employed to act as a servant; nor should any private soldier be so detailed or employed, except with his own consent. The joint resolution was passed without a division.

In the Senate, on the twentieth, the joint resolution was referred to the Military Committee, and on the twenty-third, Mr. Wilson reported it back without amendment.

On the second of March, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint resolution. Mr. Wilson moved to strike out all of the original resolution, and insert:

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 so employed; and that, including any soldier or soldiers so employed, no officer shall be allowed for any greater number of servants than is now provided by law, nor be allowed for any servant not actually and in fact in his employ. That non-commissioned officers and privates in the volunteer service shall receive the same amount of clothing as non-commissioned officers and privates of the same arm of the regular army. That, if a soldier, discharged for wounds received in battle, die before receiving the bounty, provided by the act of March third, 1863, 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, nor child nor 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 soldier, and if there be neither father nor mother, then such bounty shall be paid to the brothers and sisters of the deceased soldier. That every non-commissioned officer, private, or other person, who has been, or shall hereafter be, discharged from the army 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. 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, in pursuance of the authority from the Secretary of War, dated August twenty-fifth, 1862, “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 service;” 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 therewith.