J 
 
 12™ 
 #33 
 c. / 
 
 D03209672T 
 
:uu 
 
 [House Bill, No. 7.] 
 
 HOUSE, September 27, 1862. — Read first and second times, made 
 special order for Monday, and continuing until disposed of, and or- 
 dered to be printed. 
 
 [By Mr. Miles, from Military Committee.] 
 
 .A. BILL 
 
 To be entitled An Act to purge the Army of ignorant and 
 and incompetent officers. 
 
 1 Whereas, The efficiency of our army and the health 
 
 2 and comfort of our soldiers in the field depend upon the 
 
 3 skill, competence, and attention to duty of the officer is 
 
 4 the service ; and whereas, it is well known that many of 
 
 5 the officers of the army are ignorant of their duties, in- 
 
 6 efficient in their discharge, and utterly careless of the 
 
 7 health and comfort of their men : Therefore, 
 
 1 The Congress of the Confederate States of America 
 
 2 enact, That whenever, m the judgment of the General 
 
 3 commanding a department, the good of the service and 
 
 4 the efficiency of his command require it, he is authorized 
 
2 
 
 5 and it is hereby made his duty, to appoint an Examining 
 
 6 Board, to be composed of officers of a rank at least as 
 
 7 high as that of the officers whose qualifications it is pro- 
 
 8 posed to inquire into, which Board shall immediately 
 
 9 proceed to examine into the cases of such officers as may 
 
 10 be brought to their attention, for the purpose of deter- 
 
 11 mining their qualifications for the discharge of the duties 
 
 12 properly appertaining to their several positions. 
 
 1 Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever such Ex- 
 
 2 amining Board shall determine that any officer is clearly 
 
 3 unfit to perform his legitimate and proper duties, or care- 
 
 4 less and inattentive in their discharge, then the said 
 
 5 Board shall communicate their decision, together with a 
 
 6 full report of their proceedings in the case, to the Gen- 
 
 7 eral commanding the department in which the examina- 
 
 8 tion shall have been held, who shall, if he approve the 
 
 9 finding of the Board, be authorized to suspend the officer 
 
 10 who has been pronounced unfit for his position, and shall 
 
 11 immediately transmit to the Secretary of War, the de- 
 
 12 cision and proceedings of the Examining Board, with its 
 
 13 own action and opinion endorsed thereon. 
 
 1 Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the Secretary of 
 
3 * 
 
 2 War. if he approve the finding of the Board and the 
 
 3 action of the General commanding the departmenVshall 
 
 4 lay the same before the President, who is authorized to 
 
 5 retire .honorably or to drop from the army, as the cir- 
 
 6 cumstances-. of the case may wan-ant, and the good of 
 
 7 the service require, the officer who has been found unfit 
 
 8 for his position. 
 
 1 Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That in order to .secure 
 
 2 reliable information of the efficiency and competence of 
 
 3 officers, it is hereby made the duty of each officer com- 
 
 4 manding a regiment, separate batallion, company, bat- 
 
 5 tery, or squadron, to make to his immediate command- 
 
 6 ing officer, whp shall transmit the same to the Brigadier- 
 
 7 General commanding, a monthly report, in tabular form, 
 
 8 containing a list of all commissioned officers of such 
 
 9 regiment, separate battallion, company, battery, or 
 
 10 squadron, in which shall be stated the number of days 
 
 11 each officer has been absent from his command, with or 
 
 12 without, or on sick leave ; the number of times each 
 
 13 officer has been observed to have been absent from his 
 
 14 command when on march or in action ; when and where 
 
 15 each officer has been observed to have performed signal 
 
16 acts of service ; when and where negligent in the per- 
 
 17 formal ice of duty, and inattentive to the security and 
 
 18 economy of public property. 
 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5