Confederate Congress
Saturday, Sept 27, 1862.
Senate.
--The Senate met and was called to order at half-past 11 o'clock A. M., the
President,
Mr. Stephens, in the chair.
Mr. Haynes presented a memorial from officers in the army, asking increase of their pay, Referred.
Mr. Sparrow, from the
Committee on Military Affairs, reported a House bill to amend an act to authorize payment to be made for certain horses purchased for the army by
Col. A. W. McDonald.
Passed.
By the same: A House bill to increase the pay of privates and non commissioned officers of the army of the
Confederate States.
with an amendment submitted by the committee.
The bill provides that the pay of privates and non-commissioned officers be increased $4 per month.
The substitute provides, in lieu of the increased pay proposed, the appropriation of five million dollars for the purpose of aiding the indigent families of those who are absent from them and engaged in the military service of the country, as privates and non commissioned officers, and that the said sum shall be paid to the
Governors of the respective States, in proportion to the number of soldiers furnished by said States respectively, to be distributed to such indigent families according to such rules as may be prescribed by the laws of such States.
On motion of
Mr. Burnett, the bill was placed on the calendar and ordered to be painted.
Mr. Hill, from the
Committee on the Judiciary.
reported a bill to organize military courts to attend the army of the
Confederate States in the field, and to define the powers of said courts.
Laid upon the table and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Semmes, from the
Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred a resolution introduced by
Mr. Oldham, defining the power and jurisdiction of Provost Marshals, reported back a substitute to the same.
Laid upon the table and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Sparrow introduced a bill to amend an act to authorize bands of partisan rangers.
Referred to Military Committee.
The order of the day, a bill to organize the Supreme Court of the
Confederate States, was postponed
The
House resolution rescaling the concurrent resolution fixing the day of adjournment and extending the time to the 6th of October, was postponed until Monday.
The bill to provide for filling vacancies in certain cases was taken up.
Mr. Phelan offered the following as a substitute:
That in all cases where a board of inquiry shall declare that the field officer elected or promoted by seniority is unfit to discharge the duties of his office by reason of disability or incompetency, there shall be a regular advance in rank of all field officers inferior in rank to the officer they declared to be disabled or incompetent who shall have been decided to be able and competent for their respective positions, so far as to constitute the
senior captain of a company major of the battalion, squadron, or regiment, to which the said disabled or incompetent officer belonged.
All commissioned officers of the company from which the said
senior captain has been promoted, shall be regularly advanced in rank, provided they have been decided to be able and competent to discharge the duties of their respective positions; and an election shall be held to fill the vacancy they occasioned in the office of the lowest commissioned officer.
Sec. 2.
Be it further enacted, That when a Board of Inquiry may declare that any commissioned officer of a company, elected or promoted by reason of seniority, is unable to perform the duties of his office, there shall be a regular advance in rank of all commissioned officers inferior to the said officer who have been declared to be able and competent to discharge the duties of their respective positions; and an election shall be held to fill the vacancy occasioned in the office of the lowest commissioned officer.
Mr. Semmes offered the following as an additional section to the bill:
The Board of Inquiry mentioned in the previous sections of this act shall make no examination of any officer promoted by seniority or elected, except upon application made by the
Colonel of a regiment for all officers of and below the grade of
Captain, and on the application of a Brigadier or other
General of superior rank for all field officers:
Provided, that no such application shall be entertained unless made within three months after the promotion or election of any officer; and as to officers promoted or elected prior to the passage of this act, no such examination shall take place unless the application be made within sixty days after the approval of this act:
Provided, that any officer being once examined shall not be subject to re-examination on any subject for promotion.
On motion of
Mr. Sparrow, the Senate resolved itself into secret session.
House of Representatives.
--The
House met at 11 o'clock. Prayer by
Rev. Dr. Moore.
Mr. Hodge, of
Ky., from the
Committee on Naval Affairs, reported a bill to amend the act for the organization of the Navy.
Postponed and placed upon the calendar.
[The bill provides that all promotions under the 2d section of said act shall be made of such officers as have been recommended by a Board of Naval Officers, to be convened by order of the
President, such board to consist of at least one officer of each commissioned grade; and that all officers who have served in the navy of the
United States, or of the
Confederate States, or in either of them, for the period of forty years, and who may be at the time of their application borne upon the roll of commissioned officers of the Confederate navy, shall, upon their application to the
President of the
Confederate States, be placed upon a reserved list, retaining their rank, but to be entitled only to leave of absence pay.]
Mr. Read, of
Ky., introduced a bill supplementary to an act to authorize the
Secretary of War to grant transfers, approved Sept. 23, 1862. [The supplementary bill provides that when such transfers are granted by the
Secretary of War, he shall furnish transportation also Passed.
On motion of
Mr. Wright, of Ga, the special order for the morning hour — a bill to reorganize and promote the efficiency of the Medical Department of the Army — was postponed and made the special order for the morning hour on Monday.
Mr. Kenner, of La, from the Committee of Ways and Means, introduced a joint resolution to extend the present session of Congress to Monday, the 6th of October, at 12 o'clock M. The resolution was considered and passed — Yeas 55, nays 12.
Mr. Chambers, of
Miss., introduced a joint resolution of thanks to
Lieut. Isaac N. Brown, and all under his command, for the signal exhibition of skill and gallantry on board the steamer
Arkansas, on the
Mississippi river, July 14th, 1862. Passed.
Mr. Miles, of
S. C., from the Military Committee, reported a bill to purge the army of ignorant and incompetent officers, which is as follows:
Whereas, The efficiency of our army and the health and comfort of our soldiers in the field depend upon the skill, competence, and attention to duty of the officers in the service; and
whereas, it is well known that many of the officers of the army are ignorant of their duties, inefficient in their discharge, and utterly careless of the health of their men: Therefore,
The Congress of the Confederate States do enact, That whenever, in the judgment of the
General commanding a department, the good of the service and the efficiency of his command require it, he is authorized, and it is hereby made his duty, to appoint an Examining Board, to be composed of officers of a rank at least as high as that of the officers whose qualifications it is proposed to inquire into, which Board shall immediately proceed to examine into the cases of such officers as may be brought to their attention, for the purpose of determining their qualifications for the discharge of the duties appertaining to their several positions.
Sec. 2.
Be it further enacted, That whenever such Examining Board shall determine that any officer is clearly unfit to perform his legitimate and proper duties, or careless and inattentive in their discharge, then the said Board shall communicate their decision, together with a full report of their proceedings in the case, to the
General commanding the department in which the examination shall have been held, who shall, if he approve the finding of the Board, be authorized to suspend the officer who has been pronounced unfit for his position, and shall immediately transmit to the
Secretary of War the decision and proceedings of the Examining Board, with his own action and opinion endorsed thereon.
Sec. 3.
Be it further enacted, That the
Secretary of War, if he approve the finding of the Board and the action of the
General commanding the department, shall lay the same before the
President, who is authorized to retire honorably or to drop from the army, as the circumstances of the case may warrant and the good of the service may require, the officer who has been found unfit for his position.
Sec. 4.
Be it further enacted, That in order to secure reliable information of the efficiency and competence of officers, it is hereby made the duty of each officer commanding a regiment, separate battalion, company, battery, or squadron, to make to his immediate commanding officer, who shall transmit the same to the
Brigadier-General commanding, a monthly report, in tabular form, containing a list of all commissioned officers of such regiment, separate battalion, company, battery, or squadron, in which shall be stated the number of days each officer has been absent from his command, with or without, or on sick leave; the number of the times each officer has been observed to have been absent from his command when on march or in action; when and where each officer has been observed to have performed signal acts of service; when and where negligent in the performance of duty, and inattentive to the security and economy of public property.
The bill was ordered to be printed, and made the special order for Monday, and from day to day thereafter until disposed of.
Mr. Garnett, of
Va., from the Military Committee, reported a bill to grant commutation for quarters to the superintendent of the Army Intelligence office and his clerks.
Passed.
Mr. Hilton, of
Fla., from the same committee, to whom was referred a resolution for calling into the service all male slaves between the ages of 20 and 30 years, reported the same back, and asked that it be laid upon the table; which was agreed to. Also, a bill to provide further for the public defence; which, on motion of
Mr. Dargan, of
Ala., was made the special order for Wednesday next.
Mr. Batson, of
Ark., from the same committee, reported a bill to authorize certain battalions and
regiments to elect their field officers; which was considered and passed.
Mr. Gartrell, of
Ga., from the Judiciary Committee, reported a bill to authorize Judges of District Courts to change the places of holding their courts in certain cases; which was taken up and passed.
Also, reported back the Senate bill to divide the
State of Texas into two judicial districts, which was considered and passed.
Also. reported back a Senate bill to regulate the fees of District Attorneys in certain cases; which was taken up, and, being put to vote, was rejected — yeas 31, nays 42.
Also, reported from the same committee, to whom was referred a communication from the
Attorney-General relative to the publication of the journals, reported back the same with a recommendation that it be laid upon the table; which was agreed to.
On motion of
Mr. Russell, of Va, the bill reported from the Judiciary Committee, ‘"to repress atrocities of the enemy,"’ was taken up and made the special order immediately after the existing special order shall have been disposed of.
Mr. Smith, of
N. C., offered the following resolution, which was agreed to:
Resolved, That the
President be requested to cause proper examination to be made, by competent military officers, of the water courses of
Eastern North Carolina and
Eastern Virginia, with a view to such defences as may be necessary for the protection of the country accessible to attack from the enemy's gunboats.
The morning hour having expired, the
House resumed the consideration of the special order, the Exemption bill from the Senate, when a number of amendments were offered and action was had upon the bill up to the time of adjournment.
