Duke University Libraries Report of the S Conf Pam #471 P.El>ORT OF THE SECRETAEY OF WAE. CONFEDERATE STATES OF AxMERICA, War Department, Richmond, August 12th, 1862. To His Excellency JeffersoxX Davis, President of the Co?i federate Sta'es. Sir : Although it is not customary for the heads of departments to malce reports at extra sessions of Congress, yet, in consideration of recent changes in the organization of the Army, and of the necessity for further legislation, it is deemed best to depart from this usage on the present occasion. It became apparent, in the course of the last Spring, to all ac- quainted with the condition of the Army, that the acts of Congress, providing for re-enlistmcnts, ^vould not effect the desired object. The privilege allowed of re-enlisting for different corps, .and even for dif- ferent arms of the service, coupled with the love of change always found in camps, and heightened in the case of our armies by the monotony and discomfort of winter quarters, caused such extensive changes, that the re-enlistments tended to the disorganization of the Army. Large numbers of our men, yearning for homo, Aveary of the dis- comfort of camp life, and deceived by the apparent inactivity of the enem}"- into the belief 'that their services were no longer necesary, declined to re-enlist and prepared to turn over the burden of the war to those who had as yet borne no part of it. EiTorts to procure re- enlistments and the expectation of change, relaxed the discipline of the Army, impaired its efficiency, and rendered it incapable of accom- plishing what otherwise might have been achieved. While our armies were thus passing through successive stages of disorganization to dissolution, those of the enemy recruited and re-or- ganized, had reached a high state of efficiency, and were ready at tlie opening of the campaign to enter upon it, with every guarantee of succc-s that numbers, discipline, complete organization and perfect equipments could afford. The success they obtained under these circumstances, far from being a matter of surprise, were necessary consequences of the relative con- ditions of the armies, and it is truly surprising that these successes were not greater and more complete. The plan of voluntary enlistment having failed to preserve the or- ganization, and to recruit the strength of our armies at a time when the safety of the country required both to be effected, a resort to draft or conscription was the only alternative. To all acquainted with the 16 true condition of things there could be no ground for doubt. In a period of thirty days the terms of service of one hundred and forty- eifht regiments expired. There "was good reason to believe that a large majority of the men had not re-enlisted, and of those ^vho had re- enlisted, a very large majority had entered corps which could never be assembled, or if assembled, could not be prepared for the field in time to meet the invasion actually commenced. There vfas, therefore, an interval of disorganization and -weakness impending, and the enemy had already entered Virginia with an army, now known to have had more than double the numerical strength of our own and superior to it in everything but courage and .a good cause. It was obvious that conscription alone could save us, and it could hardly be supposed that a Constitution adopted in the midst of war, inhibited the only possible mode of raising armies. Influenced by these and other considerations. Congress adopted the measure popularly known as the Conscript Act. Four months have not elapsed since its passage and the present condition of the army and of ihe country sufficiently prove its Avisdom. Four months ago our arraio.-; were retiring weak and disorganized before the overwhelm- ing force of the enemy, yielding to them the sea-coast, the mines, the mauufacturing power, the grain fields, and even entire States of the Confederacy. Now we are advancing with increased numbers, improving organization, renewed courage and the prestige of victory, upon an enemy defeated, disheartened, and sheltering himself behind defensive works and under cover of his gun-boats. A military sys- tem which has done so much in so short a time, should be cherished and perfected, and its defects speedily corrected. Soon after the passage of the Conscript Act, the department pre- pared to carry it out, and on the 28th of April, published General Order No. 30, a copy of which is herewith returned, prescribing recrulations for the enrolment, mustering in, subsistence, transporta- tion and disposition of conscripts. It was determined to establish one or more permanent camps in each State, at points selected with reference to health and facilities for subsistence and transportation. Each camp has its Commanding officer, its Drill officers, its Commissary, Quartermaster and Surgeon. The conscripts are to be assembled, drilled, taken through the camp diseases, and distributed among the regiments of the State in propor- tion to their respective deficiencies. The necessity of sending them immediately into the field, has inter- fered with this plan of operations, but it has been carried out as fiir as practicable, and during any period of comparative inactivity it can be fully executed. Recruits thus prepared for the field, will be little in- ferior to old soldiers, and the army will be relieved from its ciowded hospit^ils and the long train of ineOfectives that now drags in its rear. The greatest difficulty encountered in the execution of the law, has been that which constitutes the chief impediment in all involuntary military systems, the enrolment of recruits. The third section of the Act requires the enrolling officers of the State to be used with the consent of the respective Governors, and it is only on failure to ob- 17 tain such consent, that the President is authorized to employ Con- federate officers. The military systems of many of the States are fallen into such disuse, that there are either no enrolling officers, or none that can be relied on. So far the experiment of using State officers has proved a failure, and I would suggest that permission be given to resort to other measures for enrolling recruits. This may be done either by the appointment of a certain number of enrolling officers for each Congressional District, or by giving each corps supernumerary officers to act as enrolling officers for the corps. The latter plan would probably give more activity and efficiency to enrolments than the former, as the enrolling officers would be under military control, and if inefficient, might be ordered back to their- regiments and be substituted by others. The 4th and 13th sections of the act require all conscripts and vol- unteers to enter companies in existence at the passage of the act, thus- cutting oiF recruits for companies mustered into service after that time. The object of this restriction was apparent, the new companies then forming were allowed thirty days to complete their organixation, and had the advantage over companies in the field in recruiting. It was supposed necessary, therefore, to restore equality by giving the conscripts and volunteers after thirty days to the old companies. The effect will be, that many fine regiments brought into service- since the passage of the act will go down for the want of recruits, la think it will be well to permit conscripts to be assigned and volunteers- to enter all companies in service. It is true that the number of regiments is already too great, and' that it is impossible to keep them all up. This may have been a motive for restricting recruits to old regiments and permitting the others gradually to decline. But it Avill be better to discriminate in the reduction of the number of regiments, and to consolidate such as- become too weak to be recruited. The power of consolidating regi- ments, battalions, and companies, is so essential that our armies can-- not be maintained in a tolerable state of efficiency without its exercise. The Department has been compelled to disband corps because useless from loss of men or other cause, but as the law now stands, this can only bg done by discharging the entire corps and enrolling the men within the conscript age for service in other companies. Two inconveniences attend this mode of proceeding: First, all the^ men over thirty-five and under eighteen are lost, even though they: have enlisted for the war. Secondly, it is doubtful whether conscripts can be enrolled out of their own States, and a company, therefore, cannot be disbanded out of the State in which it was raised without Ijsing the whole company. I suggest, therefore, that whenever a corps becomes so much reduced as to be unfit for service, and there is no reasonable expectation of recruiting it, the President be authorized to disband it, to put the officers out of commissio.i and to transfer the non-commissioned officers and privates to other corps from the same State. It may be objected that this violates the contract of enlistment which is for service in 2 18 the company selected by the A'oluntcer, a-nd thus the Government, in accepting the volunteer, impliedly engages to keep him in the com- pany of his choice. I think that the engagement of the Government is fulfilled by retaining the volunteer in his company so long as it is fit for service, but that there is no implied promise to discharge him when his company can be no longer preserved. Such a promise would be a premium to inefiiciency. A company anxious to leave the service would secure its object by rendering itself unfit to remain. I also further recommend that power be given to enrol conscripts wherever they may be found. Military service is a debt due to the Confederacy, and the power of exacting it should not depend on the accident of place. Conscription may be altogether avoided by large numbers of men, if merely crossing a line exonerates them from it. The practice of employing substitutes at pleasure, supposed to be authorized by the 9th section of the Conscript Act, has led to great abuses. The procuration of substitutes has become a regular business. Men thus obtained are usually unfit for service and frequently desert. The Department has restricted the practice by prohibiting the recep- tion of unnaturalized foreigners as substitutes, but the evils of the system are still very great, and further restrictions are necessar3^ It would be well to authorize substitution only where the services of the principal are equally useful to the public, at home as in the field. Such is the case with experts in trades necessary for the prosecution of the war, with overseers in districts of country having iew whites and large numbers of slaves, and generally in such callings as are essential to the public welfare. It is unwise to injure the public ser- vice for the benefit of individuals, and therefore no substitution founded merely on considerations of private interest should be tole- rated. In this connection I desire to call attention to what seems to be an omission in the Exemption Act. Millers^ tanners and saltmakers are essential to the prosecution of the war. Without them armies can neither be subsisted or properly clad. They are equally essential to the community at large, and the restriction of such callings to per- sons under eighteen and over thirty-five years of age inflict injury upon the army and upon the people. I recommend, therefore, that they be included in the Exemption Act. The greatest defect in our present system is to be found in the rule of promotion established by the 10th section of the Conscript Act, and by the Acts of the Provisional Congress, approved December 1 1th, 1861, and January 22d, 1862. They require promotion to be by seniority. To this rule no valid objection could be made if provision were made for exceptional cases in which it becomes impracticable. In long established armies, seniority implies experience, and the rule is applied to individuals who, by previous examination or other test, have been found qualified for their position. In our armies there is little or no difference in the experience of our officers, and no test is applied to ascertain their moral or intellectual fitness for a commission. As the act provides that commissions shall be granted by the Presi- dent, it was supposed that this was intended as a safeguard against the admission of unqualified persons to important public trusts. • 19 Accordingly, by General Order No. 39, a copy of which is here- with returned, Boards of Enquiry were directed to be summoned in all cases of promotion or election where the fitness of the claimant was doubtful. This, however, only keeps out unfit persons, but makes no provision for filling vacancies in case there be no unfit per- son in the corps, or in case all entitled to promotion decline it. Such cases occur and they contribute an element of disorganization and in- efficiency in the army. I earnestly recommend, therefore, that in all cases where election or promotion by seniority fails to fill a vacancy with a qualified officer, such vacancy may be filled by appointment. It may be objected that this increases executive patronage, and, by the intervention of examin- ing boards, that promotion by seniority and by election may be cut off. If the increase of executive patronage be necessary to remove a great evil, its possible abuse is a poor argument against such increase. It is unwise to prefer certain evils to contingent abuses. Practically, it has been found difficult to get the examining boards to be rigid enouf^h ; they are too apt from indolence or good nature to scrutinize slightly the qualifications of brother officers, and would prove to be very unfit instruments for executive usurpation. In this connection another serious difficulty in filling vacancies v»'ill be mentioned. It is generally supposed that the rule prescribed in the 10th section of the Conscript Act applies only to corps organized under that act; that the rule prescribed in the act approved December nth, 1861, applies only to re-organizations of re-enlisted corps, very very few of which re-organizations actually took place, and that the act approved January 22d, 1862, applies only to troops raised under an act approved May 8th, 1861. But troops were authorized to be raised by acts approved May 11th, 1861, and August 8th, 1861, and questions arise as to what act troops come under, and what rule of promotion is provided for corps which come in under the act last men- tioned. It is said that troops mustered directly into the Confederate States service receive their laws of promotion from Congress, and that those raised by the Governors of States, under requisition on them by the President, are governed by the laws of their respective States. It is maintained that the latter class are militia, and that, under the Constitution, Congress cannot provide for filling vacancies occurring in the militia. Great confusion, uncertainty and inequality result from this state of things, and it is very important that a uniform rule should be applied to all. I know of no better rule than that already adopted, providing the power of appointment be given as recommended, and there be no constitutional impediments to its general application. A difficulty arises from the act authorizing the appointment of general officers which should be removed. The 6th section of the act approved March 6th, 1861, authorizes the President to organize Brigades and Divisions and to appoint commanding officers for them, who are to hold office only while such Brigades and Divisions are in service. If the casualties of service destroy a Brigade or a Division the commis- sion of the General expires, and if separated from his command by 20 » ill health, wounds, or detached service, it is left without a head, there being no authority to appoint a successor -without vacating the com- mission of the first appointee. The army moreover requires the service of Generals not attached to Brigades and Divisions. There are certain duties which can be better performed by general officers than by officers of lower grade, but the merit requisite for the discharge of these duties secures promotion in the line, and officers of the line are therefore unwilling to surrender their positions for staff appointments. Brigades and Divisions are sometimes temporarily deprived of their commanders by the casualties of service, and it is desirable to assign general officers to such com- mands. It will be well, therefore, to increase the number of general officers to a definite excess above the whole number, not exceeding 8 or 10 per cent for the purposes above mentioned. Congress, at its last session, authorized the appointment of eighty artillery officers for ordnance duties, the addition of fifty engineers to the provisional corps, and the organization of a signal corps, and a nitre corps. All of these acts have been carried into execution. Eighty artil- lery^ officers for ordnance duty have been appointed and their duties prescribed and systematized. General Orders No. 24 and 46, here- with returned, require that every army corps shall have an ordnance officer with the rank of major, every division one with the rank of captain, every brigade one with the rank of first lieutenant, and every regiment an ordnance sergeant. These form a corps under the Chief of Ordnance at Richmond, to whom they are required to report. Their services are important for the proper distribution and preservation of arms. Ordnance officers are also required for arsenals. For the pro- per- discharge of ordnance duties at arsenals, and in the field it will require a corps of at least one hundred and fifty. I recommend, therefore, that application be made for the enlarge- ment of the corps to that number, and that a limited number be au- thorized with the grade of major for service with army corps. Most of the additional engineers have been appointed and the corps has done good service. The present law permits no higher grade than that of captain, while the other corps of the provisional army are organized in conformity with corresponding corps in the Confed- erate States army. This discrimination is unjust and impolitic. If men of talent and acquirement are needed in this corps, promotion should be offered equal to that attainable in other branches of the service. Engineering talent is of a high order of endowment, and should be stimulated by proper rewards. I recommend, therefore, that th« grade of the Provisional Engineer Corps should be made to conform to those of the same corps in the Confederate States army. A Signal Corps has been organized by General Order No. 40, a copy of which is herewith returned. For the purpose of systematic instruction, a confidential pamphlet has been prepared by a member of the corps and printed with due precautions to avoid publicity. Should it, however, fall into the enemj-'s hands, no great harm would 21 be done, as it contains the principles of the art merely, and does not disclose the key to any signal or cipher. A Nitre Bureau has also been organized, and under its able and in- defatigable head Major J. M. St. John, is doing good service. General Order No. 41, herewith communicated, was issued to facilitate the operations of the Bureau. The production of Nitre is already one thousand pounds a day, and there is good reason to think that it will reach three thousand pounds a day and supply our consumption, A map of a reconnoisance, and Major St. John's report, are here- with returned. The Bureau has been directed to turn its attention to the mining of such materials as are required for the army, and will do much to develop their production. The Act authorizing bands of Partizan Rangers has been carried into execution. Apprehending that the novelty of the organization, and the supposed freedom from control, would attract great numbers into the Partizan Corps, the department adopted a rule requiring a re- commendation from a General commanding a department, before granting authority to raise partizans. Notwithstanding this re- striction, there is reason to fear that the number of Partizan Corps greatly exceed the requirements of the service, and that they serious- ly impede recruiting for regiments of the line. The precaution has been taken to require their organization to con- form in all respects to that of other troops, and it will be only neces- sary to brigade such of them as are not needed for partizan service, to make them in fact, troops of the line, although nominally partizans. I recommend that this be authorized. Since the adjournment of Congress, our stock of arms has been largely increased by importation and capture. Our small arms alone, have increased from these sources not less than eighty thousand. Our supply of ammunition has also been increased by importation and manufacture, and as already stated, we may expect at no distant day that the active and methodical operations of the Nitre Corps will sup- ply our demand and make us independent of foreign importation. I deem it unnecessary to say anything of the operations of the army since the adjournment of Congress. The time has not arrived for their complete disclosure, but enough has appeared to show the ability of our Generals and the courage and patience of our troops. It is to be regretted that we cannot reward such services as the army has rendered, they are infinitely above all compensation, but something may be done to show our appreciation of them. Courage and skill cannot always command promotion. Happily for us, they far exceed our means of reward, if confined to mere material benefits. It would, however, be doing our high-toned soldiers great injustice to suppose that rank and pay are their only incentives to exertion. I think that medals conferred as rewards for good conduct in the field, cultivate the spirit which distinguishes the patriot soldier from the mercenary, and afford means of reward without injuring tee army by excessive promotion. I recommend, therefore, that application be made for authority to confer medals upon such officers and men as distinguish themselves in battle. 9*? A right to control the operations of our Railroads to some extent^ is necessary to insure quick and safe transportation, and to maintain the roads in a proper state of efficiency. The regular transportation of the roads is so much deranged by the movements of troops and munitions of war, that a common head during the war is indispensable. I recommend that application be for authority to exercise such control as may be necessary to harmonize the operations of the roads, and to maintain their efficiency, and to appoint a Superintendent, who shall be charged with the supervision of Hailroad transportation. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, GEO. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War. WAR DEPARTMENT, Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, Richmond, April 28, 1862. GENERAL ORDERS, > No. 30. I I. The following acts having passed both Houses of Congress, were duly approved by the President, and are now published for the infor- mation of the army : An Act to Organize Bands of Partizan Rangers. Sec. 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enacts That the President be and he is hereby authorized to commission such officers as he may deem proper, with authority to form bands of Par- tizan Rangers, in companies, battalions or regiments, either as infantry or cavalry, the companies, battalions or regiments to be composed, each, of such numbers as the President may approve. Sec 2, Be it further enacted. That sucli Partizan Rangers, after being regularly received into the service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations and quarters, during their term of service, and be subject to the same regulations as other soldiers. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That for any arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy by any body of Partizan Rangers, and delivered to any quartermaster at such place or places as may be designated by a Commanding General, the Rangers shall be paid their full value, in such manner as the Secretary of War may prescribe.. Approved April 21, 1862. An Act to further provide for the Public Defence. In view of the exigencies of the country, and the absolute necessity of keeping in the service our gallant army, and of placing in the field a large additional force to meet the advancing columns of the enemy now invading our soil : Therefore, Sec 1. IVie Congress of the Confederate Stat:s of America do enact, That the President be and he is hereby authorized to call out and place in the military service of the Confederate States, for three years, unless the war shall have been sooner ended, all white men who are residents of the Confederate States, between the ages of eighteen and thirty-live years at the time the call or calls may be made, who are legally exempted from military service. All of the persons aforesaid who are now in the armies of the Confederacy, and whose term of service will expire before the end of the war, shall be continued in the service for three years from the date of their original enlistment,. 24 unless the war shall have been sooner ended : Provided, hdwever, That all such companies, squadrons, battalions and regiments, whose term of original enlistment was for twelve months, shall have the right, within forty days, on a day to be fixed by the commander of the bri- gade, to reorganize said companies, battalions and regiments, by electing r.ll their officers which they had a right heretofore to elect, who shall be commissioned by the President: Provided further, That furloughs not exceeding sixty days, with transportation home and back, shall be granted to all those retained in the service by the pro- visions of this act, beyond the period of their original enlistment, and who have not heretofore received furloughs under the provisions of an act entitled " An Act providing for the granting of bounty and fur- loughs to privates and non-commissioned officers in the Provisional Army," approved 11th December, eighteen hundred and sixty one ; said furloughs to be granted at such times and in such numbers as the Secretary of War may deem most compatible with the public interest : And provided further. That in lieu of a furlough, the commutation value in money of the transportation herein above granted, shall be paid to each private, musician or non-commissioned officer who may elect to receive it, at such time as the furlough would otherwise be t -!r\ * granted : Provided further. That all persons under the age of eighteen years or over the age of thirty-five years, who are now enrolled in the military service of the Confederate States, in the regiments, squad- rons, battalions and companies hereafter to be reorganized, shall be required to remain in their respective companies, squadrons, battalions and regiments for ninety days, unless their places can be sooner sup- plied by other recruits not now in the service, Avho are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years : and all laws and parts of laws providing for the re-enlistment of volunteers and the organization thereof into companies, squadrons, battalions or regiments, shall be and the same are hereby repealed. Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That such companies, squadrons, bat- talions or regiments organized, or in process of organization by authority from the Secretary of War, as may be within thirty days from the passage of this act, so far completed as to have the whole number of men requisite for organization actually enrolled, not em- bracing in said organization any persons now in service, shall be mustered into the service of the Confederate States as part of the land forces of the same ; to be received in that arm of the service in which they are authorized to organize; and shall elect their company, 'battalion and regimental officers. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That for the enrollment of all persons •comprehended within the provisions of this act, who are not already in service in the armies of the Confederate States, it shall be lawful for the President, with the consent of the governors of the respective States, to employ State officers ; and on failure to obtain such consent, .he shall employ Confederate officers, charged with the duty of making Buch enrollment in accordance with rules and regulations to be pres- cribed by him. Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That persons enrolled under the pro- 25 visions of the preceding section, shall be assigned by the Secretary of War to the difterent companies now in service, until each company is filled to its maximum number, and the persons so enrolled shall be assigned to companies from the States from Avhich they respectively come. Sec. 5. Be it further enacted. That all seamen and ordinary seamen in the land forces of the Confederate States, enrolled under the pro- visions of this act, may, on application of the Secretary of the Navy, be transferred from the land forces to the naval service. Sec 6. Be it further enacted, That in all cases where a State may not have in the army a number of regiments, battalions, squadrons or companies suflficient to absorb the number of persons subject to mili- tary service under this act, belonging to such State, then the residue or excess thereof shall be kept as a reserve, under such regulations as may be established by the Secretary of War, and that at stated periods of not greater than three months, details, determined by lot, shall be made from said reserve, so that each company shall, as nearly as practicable, be kept full : Provided, That the persons held in reserve may remain at home until called into service by the President : Pro- vided also. That during their stay at home, they shall not receive pay : Provided further. That the persons comprehended in this act shall not be subject to the Eules and Articles of War until mustered into the actual service of the Confederate States ; except that said persons, when enrolled and liable to duty, if they shall wilfully refuse to obey said call, each of them shall be held to be a deserter, and punished as such, under said articles : Provided further. That whenever, in the opinion of the President, the exigencies of the public service may require it, he shall be authorized to call into actual service the entire reserve, or so much as may be necessary, not previously assigned to difierent companies in service under provision of section four of this act. Said reserve shall be organized under such rules as the Secre- tary of War may adopt : Provided, The company, battalion and regi- mental officers shall be elected by the troops composing the same : Prcvidcd, The troops raised in any one State shall not be combined in regimental, battalion, squadron or company organization with troops raised in any other States. Sf.c. 7. Be it further enacted. That all soldiers now serving in the army or mustered in the military service of the Confederate States, or enrolled in said service under the authorizations heretofore issued by the Secretary of War, and who are continued in the service by virtue of this act, who have not received the bounty of fifty dollars allowed by existing laws, shall be entitled to receive said bounty. Sec. 8. Be it further enacted. That each man who may hereafter be mustered into the service, and who shall arm himself with a musket, shot-gun, rifle or carbine, accepted as an efficient weapon, shall be paid the value thereof, to be ascertained by the mustering officer, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War, if he is willing to sell the same ; and if he is not, then he shall be entitled to receive one dollar a month for the use of said received and approved musket, rifle, shot-gun or carbine. Sec. 9. Be it further enacted, That persons not liable for duty may be received as substitutes for those who are, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War. Sec. 10. Be it further enacted, That all vacancies shall be filled by the President from the company, battalion, squadron or regiment in which such vacancies shall occur, by promotion according to seniority, except in cases of disability or other incompetency : provided, however, that the President may, wdien in his opinion it may be proper, fill such vacancy or vacancies by the promotion of any ofiicer or officers, or private or privates from such company, battalion, squadron or regi- ment who shall have been distinguished in the service by exhibition of valor and skill, and that whenever a vacancy shall occur in the lowest grade of the commissioned officers of a company, said vacancy shall be filled by election : provided, that all appointments made by-the President shall be by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sec. \\. Be it further enacted, That the provisions of the first section of this act relating to the election of officers, shall apply to those reg- iments, battalions, and squadrons which are composed of twelvemonths and war companies combined in the same organization, without regard to the manner in which the officers thereof were originally appointed. Sec. 12. Be it further enacted. That each company of infantry shall consist of one hundred and twenty-five, rank and 'file ; each company of field artillery of one hundred and fifty, rank and file ; and each of cavalry, of eighty, rank and file. Sec. 13. Be it further enacted. That all persons subject to enroll- ment, who are not now in the service, under the provisions of this act, shall be permitted, previous to such enrollment, to volunteer in companies now in the service. [Approved April 16th, 1862.] II. Enrollment and Disposition of Recruits. 1. An officer not below the rank of Major, will be detailed for each State, to take charge of the enrollment, mustering in, subsistence, transportation a,nd disposition of the Recruits raised under the above act. 2. Application will be made immediately to the Governors of the several States, for permission to employ State officers for said enroll- ment ; and in case such permission be not granted, officers of the army will be selected by the Department to perform that duty, under such regulations as may be prescribed. Where State officers are employed, the regulations of the respective States in regard to military enroll- ment, will be observed as far as applicable. 3. The enrolled men in each State will be collected in camps of in- struction, by the officers in command of the Recruits, the said camps to be selected with reference to health, and the facilities for obtaining subsistence and transportation. The number of these camps shall not exceed two in each State, without authority from the Department ; and to each will be allowed a Quartermaster and a Commissary. 4. The commandants of the camps of instruction in the several States will call upon the Generals commanding the military depart- 27 ments in which their camps may be situated, for competent drill officers to instruct the recruits, and will prepare them for the field as rapidly as possible. They will cause them to be promptly vaccinated ; and in ordering them to the field, will, as far as practicable, prefer those who have passed through the usual camp diseases. They will establish hospitals in connection with their camps, and make requisition for such medical attendance and stores as may be required. 5. The commandants of regiments, battalions, squadrons and unat- tached companies in service on the 16th instant, will send copies of their muster rolls to the commandant of the proper camp of instruction in their respective States, Avith officers to take charge of such recruits as may be furnished to said corps. The said commandants will appor- tion the recruits among such corps, in proportion to tbo deficiency of each, except when otherwise specially directed by the Department, allotting as far as practicable to each such corps the men from the regions of country in which it has been raised. They will from time to time send off such bodies of recruits as are ready for the field, and will report on the first Monday of every month to the Department, the number of recruits in camp, their condition, the number sent off during the month, and the regiments and corps to which they were sent. 6. The commandants of regiments and corps will distribute the re- cruits among their "several companies; and in such as have not the number of companies allowed by law to a regiment, the said command- ants may organize the required number of new companies, after first filling up the existing companies to the minimum numbers re*[uiredby law ; that is to say, for each company of infantry, 64 privates ; of cavalry, 60 privates; of artillery, 70 privates. 7. The recruits will be apportioned among the several arms of ser- vice, according to their respective wants, consulting as far as practica- ble, the preference of the men. "Where a gi-eater number offer for a particular arm than can be assigned to it, the distribution will be determined by lot ; but recruits for the cavalry will only be taken from those who furnish their own horses. III. Volunteers for Existing Corps. 8. Persons liable to military service under the above act, not in service on the 16th of April, and wishing to volunteer in any partic- ular company in tne Confederate service on the 16th day of April, may report themselves prior to their enrollment, at a camp of instruc- tion within their respective States, where they will be enrolled, pre- pared for the field, and sent to the said company, until the s: me shall be filled up. 9. Recruiting officers may be detailed, with the permission of the Generals commanding military departments, by the commandants of regiments and corps, and sent to their respective States for the purpose of receiving for such regiments and corps, in conformity with recruiting regulations heretofore adopted (General Orders, No. 6), all volunteers desiring to join them. Such volunteers may be assembled at the camps of instruction in their respective States, prepared for the field, and sent 28 to their respective regiments and corps, until the same shall be filled up ; or, if ready for the field, may be ordered directly to their corps by the officer so recruiting them.' IV. — Volunteer Coups heretofore authorized. 10. Persons liable to military service under this act, and not in ser- vice on the 1 6th day of April, may, until the I7th d