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 [House Bill No. O.j 
 
 HOUSE OB^ REPRESENTATIVES, May 3, 1864.— Read first 
 and second times, referrci to the Committee on Military Affairs, and 
 ordered to ho printed. 
 
 [By Mr. PiiKKiNS.] 
 
 Is. BILL 
 
 To organize a corpu of scouts and signal guards, to facilitate commu- 
 nication with the trans-Mississippi department, 
 
 1 Skc'iion I . The Congress of the Confcde.rnte States of America do 
 
 2 enact, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized, by 
 
 3 and with the advice of the Senate, to appoint one colonel, one 
 
 4 lieutenant colonel, one major, and ten captains, to do service as 
 
 5 " scouts and signal guards," in the valley of the Mississippi 
 
 6 river. 
 
 1 Sec. 2. The officers thus commissioned shall have authority to 
 
 2 raise, out of those not liable to conscription, ten companies, to 
 
 3 be officered by the President, to be composed of such members 
 
 4 and such persons as he may approve, whose duty it shall be to 
 6 do scout and guard duty for Government transportation across 
 
 6 the Mississippi river, under such rules and regulations as may 
 
 7 be prescribed by the War Department. 
 
Sec. 3, The I'resident ma^ detail such officers and mou from 
 2 the army as he may deem peculiarly qualified for the service. 
 
 1 . Sec. 4. Such " scouts and signal guards" shall be composed 
 
 2 either of infantry or cavalry, or in part of hoth, at the discretion 
 
 3 of the President, and furnished and equipped in such manner as 
 
 4 will make them most effective, and shall be entitled to the same 
 
 5 pay and allowances, and be subject to the same regulations, as 
 
 6 other soldiers.