AKMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



23 



approval of their respective governors, to raise com- 

 panies and regiments, within the period of sixty davs, 

 and, if the company or regiment authorized to be rais- 

 ed shall be filled up and mustered into service within 

 the said period of sixty days, the officers may be re- 

 commissioned at the date of their original commis- 

 sion, and, for the time engaged in recruiting, they 

 will be entitled to reueive the pay belonging to their 

 rank. 



Eighth : Volunteers or militia now in service, whose 

 term of service will expire within ninety days, and 

 who shall then have been in service at least nine 

 months, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and 

 premium of 8-102, provided they reenlist before the ex- 

 piration of their present term for three years, from 

 date of reenlistment or for the war, and said bounty 

 and premium shall be paid in the manner herein pro- 

 vided for other troops reiintering the service. 



Ninth: After the expiration of ninety days from 

 this date, volunteers serving in three years' organiza- 

 tions T?ho may reenlist for three years from the date 

 of such reenlistment or for the war, shall be entitled to 

 the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, to be paid 

 in the manner herein provided for other troops reenter- 

 ing the service. 



Tenth: Officers in service, whose regiments or com- 

 panies may reenlist in accordance with the provisions 

 of this order, before the expiration of their present 

 term, shall have their commissions continued so as to 

 preserve their date of rank as fixed by their original 

 muster into the United States service. 



Eleventh : As soon after the expiration of their 

 original term of enlistment as the exigencies of the 

 service will permit, a furlough of thirty days will be 

 granted to men who may reenlist in accordance with 

 the provisions of this order. 



Twelfth : Volunteers enlisted under this order will 

 be credited as three years' men in the quotas of their 

 respective States, Instructions for the appointment 

 of recruiting officers, and for enlisting veteran volun- 

 teers, will be immediately issued to the governors of 

 States. By order of the Secretary of War. 



E. D. TOWNSEND,"Asst. Adjt.-Gen. 



By an order issued Sept. llth, section 9 of the 

 above order was amended, so as to read as fol- 

 lows: 



9, After the expiration of ninety days from this 

 date_ (June 25th) volunteers serving in three years' or- 

 ganizations, who may reenlist for three years or the 

 war in the companies of regiments to which they now 

 belong, and who may have, at the date of reenlist- 

 ment, less than one year to serve, shall be entitled to 

 the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402 to be paid 

 in the manner provided for other troops reentering the 

 service. The new term will commence from the time 

 of reenlistment. 



Another order, dated in December, extended 

 the time for reenlisting veteran volunteers in 

 the respective States under General Orders 

 No. 191, current series, to Jan. 5th, 1864. 



A further order from the "War Department, 

 dated Nov. 21st, provided that volunteers then 

 in the service, reenlisting as veteran volunteers 

 under General Orders, No. 191, should have a 

 furlough of at least thirty days previous to the 

 expiration of their original enlistment; and 

 that when three fourths of a regiment or com- 

 pany should reenlist, the men so enlisted might 

 go home in a body with their officers; the 

 individuals of the regiments or companies not 

 reenlisting to be assigned, during the absence 

 of their comrades, to duty with other organiza- 

 tions. This modification of the original order, 

 together with the liberal bounty offered to vet- 

 eran volunteers, had the effect of inducing 



large numbers to reenlist, and, subsequent to 

 the middle of December, a steady stream of 

 furloughed regiments poured northward, af- 

 fording indications that the army, when re- 

 organized in the spring of 1864, would contain 

 a considerable nucleus of disciplined troops. 



The men raised by drafting were distributed, 

 from time to time, among the regiments or 

 companies of their States, and those volunteer- 

 ing under the October call, it was understood, 

 at the close of the year were to be similarly 

 disposed of. Few of the latter class of recruits, 

 however, had been forwarded to the seat of 

 war at that date. The great body of them were 

 in temporary State camps, and in many of 

 the States the number of these was still incon- 

 siderable. 



As an additional means of promoting the 

 efficiency of the army, a plan of consolida- 

 tion in depleted regiments was authorized by 

 the two following sections of the Enrolment 

 and Conscription Act : 



SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That whenever 

 a regiment of volunteers of the same arm from the 

 same State is reduced to one half the maximum num- 

 ber prescribed by law, the President may direct the 

 consolidation of the companies of such regiment ; Pro- 

 vided, That no company so formed shall exceed the 

 maximum number prescribed by law. When such 

 consolidation is made, the regimental officers shall be 

 reduced in proportion to the reduction of the numbers 

 of companies. 



SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That -whenever 

 a regiment is reduced "below the minimum number al- 

 lowed by law, no officer shall be appointed in such, 

 regiment beyond those necessary for the command of 

 such reduced number. 



In accordance with these provisions, some 

 regiments which had dwindled to insignificant 

 proportions were consolidated into five or a less 

 number of companies, where the interests of 

 the service seemed to demand it ; but, in the 

 majority of cases, they were allowed to remain 

 as originally organized, for reasons deemed 

 conclusive by those having discretion in the mat- 

 ter, and which can be best understood by refer- 

 ence to the following order providing for the 

 mustering out of supernumerary officers in such 

 consolidated regiments : 



General Orders, No. 86. 



WAE DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GEKERAL'S OFFICE, ) 

 WASHINGTON, April 2c?, 1S63. f 

 1. Under the authority contained in sections nine- 

 teen and twenty of the act for enrolling and calling out 

 the national forces, and for other purposes, approved 

 March 3d, 1863, it is ordered that, for each and every 

 regiment of the volunteer army now reduced, or that 

 may be reduced hereafter, as set forth in said sections, 

 consolidation shall be made in accordance with the fol- 

 lowing rules : 



Infantry. 



1. Each regiment will be consolidated into five or a 

 less number of companies, and the colonel, major, and 

 one assistant surgeon mustered out. 



Cavalry. 



2. Each regiment will be consolidated into six or a 

 less number of companies, and the colonel, two majors, 

 and one assistant surgeon mustered out. 



Artillery. 



3. Each regiment will be consolidated into six or a 



