Union sol diers, sailors, and marines held as prison ers in rebel States, to be PRISONERS OF WAR, COMMUTATION OF RATIONS TO. ACTS OF CONGRESS RELATING TO. [14 Stat. L., p. 364.] JOINT RESOLUTION In regard to rations of Union soldiers held as prisoners of war. WHEREAS by general order of the war department of February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, rations to Union soldiers held as prisoners of war in the rebel States, were commuted at a cost price during the period of their imprisonment; and whereas a large number of the said prisoners have been paid under said order, but many equally worthy with them and who have suffered in rebel prisons, have not been so paid: Therefore, Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all United States soldiers, sailors and marines who were held as prisoners of war in the rebel States, shall be paid commutation of rations at cost prices during the period of their imprisonment: Provided, That tion of rations no person who has sold or transferred any interest in the at cost prices. claim for said commutation, nor any purchaser or assignee of such claim or interest, shall be benefited by this resolution; and the amount of such commutation shall be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. paid commuta Proviso. Approved, July 25, 1866. to commuta to apply to enlisted men who died as prisoners of release. to whom paid. [14 Stat. L., page 422.] [Extract from An Act to provide for a temporary increase of the pay of officers in the Army of the United States, and for other purposes.] SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the joint resolution approved July twenty-fifth, eightProvision as een hundred and sixty-six, entitled "A Joint Resolution tion of rations in regard to rations of Union soldiers held as prisoners of war," shall be extended so as to allow commutation of rations at cost prices in the settlement of the accounts of war, or after all enlisted men of the army, navy, and marine corps, who died while held as prisoners of war in the rebel States, or who, having been so held as prisoners of war, have died or may die subsequent to release; to be paid, however, only to the widow of such deceased person, if such widow remain unmarried, or in case there be no such widow then to the surviving children of the deceased; or if there be no such widow or children, then to the parent or parents of the deceased; or if there be no such widow, children, parent, or parents, then to the brothers and sisters of the deceased. Approved March 2, 1867. NURSES, FEMALE (IN ARMY). ACTS OF CONGRESS IN REFERENCE TO FEMALE NURSES. [12 Stat. L., p. 288.] [Extract from AN ACT Providing for the better organization of the military establishment. nurses may be pitals. pay, and du SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That in general or Female permanent hospitals female nurses may be substituted for substituted for soldiers, when, in the opinion of the surgeon-general or soldiers in hosmedical officer in charge, it is expedient to do so; the Number, number of female nurses to be indicated by the surgeon- ties' of. general or surgeon in charge of the hospital. The nurses so employed to receive forty cents a day and one ration in kind, or by commutation, in lieu of all emoluments except transportation in kind. Approved, August 3, 1861. [13 Stat. L., p. 416.] A RESOLUTION To increase the compensation of matrons in the hospitals. pital matrons Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Pay of hosfrom and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and increased. sixty-four, hospital matrons shall be entitled to and shall receive ten dollars per month and one ration. Approved, July 4, 1864. [27 Stat. L., p. 348.] AN ACT Granting pensions to army nurses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem To receive bled, That all women employed by the Surgeon General Army nurses. of the Army as nurses, under contract or otherwise, dur- pensions. ing the late war of the rebellion, or who were employed as nurses during such period by authority which is recognized by the War Department, and who rendered actual service as nurses in attendance upon the sick or wounded in any regimental, post, camp, or general hospital of the armies of the United States for a period of six months or more, and who were honorably relieved from such service, and who are now or may hereafter be unable to earn a support, shall, upon making due proof of the fact according to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may provide, be placed upon the list of pensioners of the United States and be entitled to receive a pension of twelve dollars per month, Rate. and such pension shall commence from the date of filing of the application in the Pension Office after the passage of this act: Provided, That no person shall receive more than one pension for the same period. Proviso. To receive only one pension. No fee to agent, etc. SEC. 2. That no fee, compensation, or allowance shall be paid to, received, or accepted by any agent, attorney, or other person instrumental in the prosecution of any claim for pension under this act; and any person who may make any claim upon any applicant for any fee, compensation, or allowance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding Penalty for five hundred dollars, or imprisonment at hard labor not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court; and it shall be the duty of the Interior and War Departments to render all proper aid to applicants under this act. claiming. Approved, August 5, 1892. NOTE. The act approved March 16, 1802 (Stat. L., vol. 2, p. 134), Hospital matrons and nurses may be employed in post or regimental hospitals in such numbers as may be necessary. And shall be entitled to receive one ration daily. PROCLAMATIONS. SCHEDULE OF PROCLAMATIONS OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND April 15, 1861.-Militia (75,000) called out, the laws of the United States having been opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed in the following States: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. April 19, 1861.-Whereas an insurrection has broken out in the following States, a blockade of the ports within the States is hereby declared: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. April 27, 1861.-Whereas, for reasons assigned in the proclamation of April 19, a blockade was established in States therein named; and whereas, since that date the collection of revenue has been obstructed in North Carolina and Virginia, a blockade of the ports of these States is proclaimed. May 19, 1861.-Whereas an insurrection exists in the State of Florida, the commander of the United States forces is allowed to suspend the writ of habeas corpus if necessary. August 16, 1861 (issued in compliance with an act of Congress prohibiting commercial intercourse)-Whereas on the 15th of April, 1861, the militia were called out, in view of an insurrection which had broken out in the following States: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas; And whereas such insurrection has since broken out, and yet exists, within the following-named States: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, in pursuance of act of Congress, July 13, 1861 (12 Stat. L., p. 255, sec. 5), do hereby declare the inhabitants of the following States to be in insurrection: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia (except the part of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains), North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. And except the inhabitants of such parts of the States hereinbefore named as may maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be, from time to time, occupied or controlled by forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents. May 12, 1862.-Relaxes the blockade of the followingnamed ports: Port Royal, S. C.; New Orleans, La.; Beaufort, N. C. July 1, 1862.-Whereas, by the act of Congress approved June 7, 1862, entitled "An act for the collection of direct taxes in insurrectionary districts," it is made the duty of the President to declare the following States in insurrection: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. January 1, 1863.-Emancipation proclamation declares the following States and parts of States to be in rebellion this day, the excepted parts to remain precisely the same as if this proclamation had not been issued: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana," Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas. April 2, 1863.-Whereas certain States, by proclamation of August 16, 1861, were declared in insurrection; and whereas experience has shown that the exceptions made embarrass the enforcement of the act of July 13, 1861, the exceptions are revoked, and the following States declared in rebellion: South Carolina (except Port Royal), Georgia, Alabama, Florida (except port of Key a Except the following counties: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Pleasants, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmore, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Webster, Fayette, and Raleigh; 39 counties. Except the parishes of Saint Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Saint John, Saint Charles, Saint James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, La Fourche, Saint Mary, Saint Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans. c Except forty-eight counties of West Virginia, as follows: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmore, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Mercer, McDowell, Webster, Pocahontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Monroe, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, and Morgan; and also the counties of Berkely, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. West, Mississippi), Louisiana (except port of New Orleans), Texas, Virginia (except forty-eight counties of West Virginia), North Carolina (except port of Beaufort), Tennessee, and Arkansas. September 24, 1863.-Releases blockade of Alexandria, Va. February 18, 1864.-Releases blockade of Brownsville, Tex. November 19, 1864.-Releases blockade of Fernandina and Pensacola, Fla., and Norfolk, Va. June 13, 1865.-The President declares the insurrection in the State of Tennessee to have been suppressed, and the authority of the United States therein to be undisturbed. April 5, 1866.-After reciting the various proclamations, the President states that whereas no armed resistance to the authority of the United States exists in the following States, it is declared that the insurrection which heretofore existed in those States is at an end, and is henceforth to be so regarded: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. August 20, 1866.-Declaring the insurrection at an end in Texas and throughout the Union. December 25, 1868.-Full pardon and amnesty granted to all persons engaged in the late rebellion. NOTE.-President Lincoln's proclamation of May 12, 1862, declared the ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans (which had been closed by blockade) open, subject to limitations and regulations (12 Stat. L., p. 1264). President Lincoln's proclamation of 1st January, 1863, excepted from the penalties of insurrectionary districts the following-described portion of the State of Louisiana : the parishes of Saint Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Saint John, Saint Charles, Saint James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, La Fourche, Saint Mary, Saint Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans (12 Stat. L., p. 1269). President Lincoln's proclamation, 1st July, 1862 (12 Stat. L., p. 1266), exempted from the penalties of insurrectionary districts a territory consisting of thirty-nine counties in Virginia, which subsequently became the larger part of the new State of West Virginia. The proclamation of April 20, 1863, contained nine other counties, and to these were subsequently two more, Berkeley and Jefferson, by the act of 10th March, 1866 (14 Stat. L., p. 350), and the joint resolution, 18th June, 1866 (ib., 360). See also West Virginia admission act, 31st December, 1862 (12 Stat. L., p. 633). The State of Tennessee was not included as one of the States in rebellion by President Lincoln in the emancipation proclamation, January 1, 1863. |