1st Session. War Dept. PENSION LAWS NOW IN FORCE. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, TRANSMITTING The information required by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th of October last, in relation to the several pension laws now in force, &c. JANUARY 19, 1838. Read, and laid upon the table. On motion of Mr. HAND, 5,000 copies of this document were ordered to be printed for the use of the members. DEPARTMENT OF WAR, January 18, 1838. SIR: I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a report of the Commissioner of Pensions, with accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th of October last. Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, Hon. JAMES K. POLK, Speaker of the House of Representatives. J. R. POINSETT. WAR DEPARTMENT, Pension Office, January 18, 1838. SIR: In compliance with your instructions, given in conformity with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th of October last, directing the Secretary of War "to cause to be compiled an abstract of the several pension laws now in force for invalid, revolutionary, or other pensions, together with the constructions which have been placed upon such laws by the War Department or Attorney General, and the forms necessary to be followed by the applicants for pensions under the several laws, and report the same to the next session of Congress," I have the honor to inform you that the compilation has been completed, and it is herewith transmitted. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, J. L. EDWARDS, Commissioner of Pensions. Blair & Rives, printers. ORDER OF THE PAPERS. I. PENSION LAWS. II. OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. III. EXECUTIVE REGULATIONS. PENSION LAWS. CHAPTER I. Pensions to invalids of the military establishment of April, 1790. All officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, whether of the regular forces, militia, volunteers, rangers, or sea-fencibles, if disabled by wounds or otherwise, while in the service of the United States. since the close of the revolutionary war, may be placed on the invalid pension-list, at such rate of pay and under such regulations as shall be directed by the President of the United States for the time being: Provided, always, That the rate of compensation for such wounds or disabilities shall never exceed, for the highest disability, half the monthly pay received by any commissioned officer at the time of being so wounded or disabled; and that the rate of compensation to non-commissioned officers, privates, and musicians, shall never exceed eight dollars per month. CHAPTER II. Pensions to invalids of the troops raised in 1792. All the commissioned and non-commissioned officers,† privates, and musicians, of the said three regiments, shall take the same oaths, shall be governed by the same rules and regulations, and, in cases of disabilities, shall receive the same compensations, as are described in the beforementioned act, entitled, "An act for regulating the military establishment of the United States." CHAPTER III. Pensions to invalids of the military establishment of 1796. If any officer, non-commissioned officer, private, or musician, aforesaid, shall be wounded or disabled while in the line of his duty in public service, he shall be placed on the list of the invalids of the United States, at such rate of pay and under such regulations as shall be directed by the Act 30th April, 1790, sec. 11. + Act 5th March, 1792, sec. 11. + Act 30th May, 1796, sec. 19. President of the United States for the time being: Provided, always, That the rate of compensation to be allowed for such wounds or disabilities to a commissioned officer shall never exceed, for the highest disability, half the monthly pay of such officer at the time of his being so disabled or wounded; and that the rate of compensation to non-commissioned offi cers, privates, and musicians, shall never exceed five dollars per month: And provided, also, That all inferior disabilities shall entitle the person so disabled to receive an allowance proportionate to the highest disability. CHAPTER IV. Pensions to invalids of the provisional army of 1798. The President is hereby authorized to organize, with a suitable num ber of major generals, and conformably to the military establishment of the United States, the said troops into corps of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, as the exigencies of the service may require; in the recess of the Senate alone to appoint the commissioned officers. The appointment of the field officers to be submitted to the advice and consent of the Senate at their next subsequent meeting. The commissioned and non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, raised in pursuance of this act, shall be subject to the rules and articles of war, and regulations for the government of the army, and be entitled to the same pay, clothing, rations, forage, and all other emoluments, bounty excepted; in case of wounds or disability received in service, to the same compensation as the troops of the United States are by law entitled. CHAPTER V. Pensions to invalids of the additional army of 1799. The officers, non-commissioned officers,† and privates, of the troops which may be organized and raised pursuant to this act, shall be entitled to the like pay, clothing, rations, forage, and other emoluments, and to the like compensation, in case of disability, by wounds or otherwise incurred in the service, as the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, of other troops of correspondent denominations composing the army of the United States, and with them shall be subject to the rules and articles of war, and to all other regulations for the discipline and government of the army: Provided, That no officer, except captains and subalterns, who may be employed in the recruiting service, shall be entitled to any pay or other emolument until he shall be called into actual service. Act 28th May, 1798, sec: 2. + Act 2d March, 1799, sec. 3. CHAPTER VI. Pensions to invalids of the military establishment of 1802. If any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, in the corps composing the peace establishment, shall be disabled by wounds, or otherwise, while in the line of his duty in public service, he shall be placed on the list of invalids of the United States, at such rate of pay, and under such regulations, as may be directed by the President of the United States for the time being: Provided, always, That the compensation to be allowed for such wounds or disabilities to a commissioned officer shall not exceed, for the highest rate of disability, half the monthly pay of such officer at the time of his being disabled or wounded; and that no officer shall receive more than the half-pay of a lieutenant colonel; and that the rate of compensation to non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, shall not exceed five dollars per month: And provided, also, That all inferior disabilities shall entitle the person so disabled to receive an allowance proportionate to the highest disability. CHAPTER VII. Pensioners of South Carolina directed to be paid by the United States. The persons to whom military pensions have been heretofore granted and paid by the State of South Carolina, in pursuance of the resolve of the United States in Congress assembled, for the payment of pensions to the invalids who were wounded and disabled during the late war with Great Britain, and who have not been placed on the books in the office of the Secretary for the Department of War, shall be, and the same hereby are, directed to be placed on said books; and their said pensions shall be hereafter paid by the United States, in the same manner as to other pensioners of the United States, out of the funds already appropriated for that purpose. In placing the names of pensioners on the books, pursuant to the decision contained in the foregoing section, the Secretary of War shall be guided by a certificate from the State of South Carolina when the same shall be delivered to him, under the proper authentications; which certificate shall specify the names of pensioners and sums of pension, and likewise that they have not been paid since March the fourth, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, by said State: which certificate shall be recorded in the books of the Department of War, and the original kept on file. And each officer, non commissioned officer, and soldier, whose name shall be placed on the said list as a pensioner, in conformity to the provisions of this act, or in case of the death of any such officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, his heirs or legal representatives shall receive a sum equal to the arrears of his pension which shall have accrued from and after the fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, until the passage of this act, or until the death of such pensioner as aforesaid, as the case may be; which arrear. Act 16th March, 1802, sec. 14. + Act 3d March, 1804. |