The following sections of the Revised Statutes further show the policy of Congress in regard to brevet ranks: SEC. 1211. Officers may be assigned to duty or command according to their brevet rank by special assignment of the President; and brevet rank shall not entitle an officer to precedence or command except when so assigned. SEC. 1212. No officer shall be entitled on account of having been brevetted to wear while on duty any uniform other than that of his actual rank; and no officer shall be addressed in orders or official communications by any title other than that of his actual rank. SEC. 1264. Brevets conferred upon commissioned officers shall not entitle them to any increase of pay. Section 1211 was enacted March 3, 1869, and section 1212 was enacted July 15, 1870, and section 1264 was enacted March 3, 1869. The question naturally arises, "What is the necessity for the passage of the present bill, and what will be its effect upon the officers of the Army?" Your committee referred this bill to the Secretary of War for informa tion upon the above questions, and other points, and, under date of December 30, 1879, received from him the following letter and accompany. ing documents, to wit: WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, December 30, 1879. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, inclosing Senate bill 219, relative to certain brevet appointments, and requesting ar tain information in regard to it, at the same time referring to a communication on the same subject addressed by you to the department on April 1st last. In reply, I respectfully invite your attention to the inclosed report of the AdjutantGeneral, dated April 30, 1879, prepared in compliance with your previous request, and completed to date, which furnishes, it is believed, the information desired by you. The bill is returned herewith. SIR: I have the honor to return herewith the communication of the Hon. F. M. Cockrell, of the Senate Military Committee, dated the 1st instant, asking certain information, and your views upon a bill-Senate 219-relating to certain brevet appoint ments. The first question is, "as to the probable number of officers who will be affected by the bill." The reply to this is: Officers now in the Regular Army (see list)..... Officers of the Regular Army now dead or out of service Officers formerly in the volunteer forces.... The inclosed lists will show "the names, rank, &c., of the officers who were com firmed by the Senate for brevet appointments, on the 3d day of March, 1869." Upott this the question is asked, "how the act of March 1, 1869, affected the officers cor firmed March 3, 1869." The act of March 1, 1869, section 2 [sections 1209 and 124 Revised Statutes], provided that, “from and after the passage of this act, commission by brevet shall only be conferred in time of war, and for distinguished conduct at public service in the presence of the enemy. And all brevet commissions shall be date from the particular action or service for which the officer was brevetted." the time this act was passed, a large number of nominations for brevet appointe ments were pending before the Senate, and some of the officers whose nominativ were so pending had received brevet appointments during the preceding recess, letter from the President, requiring confirmation by the Senate. A portion of thes nominations only were confirmed March 3, 1869, by the Senate. The question as tal whether commissions should issue to those whose nominations were thus confirmed→→ notwithstanding the act of prior date, March 1, 1869-was submitted to the Attorne General, who rendered an opinion April 24, 1869, [Opinions, vol. xiii, p. 31], that if the officers were not nominated by reason of "distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy" they could not be commissioned. Hence, such of the officers thus nominated and confirmed as were not excluded by the act of March 1-as construed by the Attorney-General-were duly commissioned; and those of the same class (nominated for distinguished conduct in battle, &c.), whose nominations were pending but not acted on March 3, 1869, were renominated the succeeding session, and were confirmed and commissioned (in April, 1869). Lists are inclosed showing all the nominations for brevets confirmed March 3, 1869, both for the regular Army and volunteers, and showing the cases in which commissions issued under the opinion of the Attorney-General. The next question asked is, "whether the act of March 1, 1869, affected other officers than those confirmed March 3, 1869." The answer to this is, that it did. The selections for brevet nominations appear to have been made without consulting the official records of the officers. Some who had been already several times breveted were nominated for additional brevets, without any apparent reason, based on additional meritorious services. At the same time there were many distinguished officers— both of the regular and volunteer service-who had at least equal claims with those selected for nomination, and in some cases far superior claims, whose names were omitted from any nomination list. The next question is, "Why the act of March 1, 1869, should be so construed as to affect only those confirmed March 3, 1869, and not other officers." The answer to this is that it has not been so construed, and no nominations have been made since the passage of the act that did not come within its provisions; and it may be added that the Senate has declined to act on all nominations for brevets which have been made since 1869, embracing nominations to confer brevet appointments on officers for service In the Modoc and other Indian campaigns and battles, submitted to the Senate in 1-74-1875. With reference to the views asked for as to the effect of this and similar legislation, The Adjutant-General abstains from making any remark as the question is addressed to the Secretary in person. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Official copy: E. D. TOWNSEND, SAM. BRECK, Assistant Adjutant-General. Name. List of officers confirmed by the Senate on March 3, 1869, for brevet appointments in the volunteer force. Commissions on which confirmation of March 3, 1869, is based. Brevet. Brevet rank as con- To date Present rank in United fromStates Army. Brigadier-general Major-general Colonel 2d Pennsylvania Artillery .do .do Lieutenant-colonel 2d Tennessee Cavalry Colonel Brigadier-general Henry A. Smalley. Colonel 5th Vermont. .do 7 John Scott Colonel 32d Iowa. do 8 John W. Beazell Additional paymaster. Colonel .do 9 James L. Bates.. Colonel 12th Massachusetts ..do .do Mar. 13, 1865 Mar. 13, 1865 Captain 8th Infantry. ..do .do Mar. 13, 1865 12 Eugene L. Townsend First lieutenant 71st New York. ....do .do Mar. 13, 1865 13 Richard Dillon. Captain 115th Pennsylvania.. .do do Mar. 13, 1865 Colonel 2d Pennsylvania Artillery Major, assistant adjutant-general Lieutenant-colonel 24 Tennessee Cavalry Captain, assistant quartermaster. First lieutenant 71st New York. See No. 5 See No. 12 20 See No. 10 22 See No. 12 23 Isaac R. Hawkins. Hugo Hildebrandt Eugene L. Anderson Calvin Goddard Eugene L. Townsend Lieutenant-colonel 5th New York. Additional paymaster. Lieutenant-colonel 4th Indiana Cavalry Surgeon 33d Wisconsin First lieutenant 71st New York. Captain 3d New Hampshire First lieutenant 71st New York Captain 25th Massachusetts Second lieutenant 2d Kentucky ...do Mar. 13, 1865 Mar. 13, 1865 Major. .do Mar. 13, 1865 .do Mar. 13, 1865 ..do Mar. 13, 1865 Major. Mar. 13, 1865 .do .do ..do .do Present lineal rank. List of officers confirmed by the Senate on March 3, 1869, for brevet appointments in the United States Army. NOPE.This list is corrected to date. Adjutant-General's Office, December 24, 1879. (Those to whose names this mark (*) is attached received commissions.] Commissions on which the confirmation of March 3, 1869, Brevet. 1 Thomas H. Ruger. 2 Thomas H. Neill 3 Horace Brooks. 4 Robert Avery 5 George A. H. Blake. 6 Franklin F. Flint De Lancey Floyd-Jones. Henry A. Morrow 9 James Biddle Colonel 33d Infantry Colonel 4th Artillery. First lieutenant 44th Infantry. ..... 10 John McL. Taylor. Major, commissary subsistence do do Mar. 13, 1865 11 Beekman Du Barry ..do ...do ....do Mar. 13, 1865 12 Robert Macfeely ...do .do do Mar. 13, 1865 |