Saturday, February 25, 2012

February 24 - Tennessee Civil War Notes

24, Major-General Rosecrans cracks down on desertions from the Army of the Cumberland
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 31. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Murfreesborough, Tenn., February 24, 1863.
I. No adequate punishment has been heretofore inflicted upon conviction of the military offense of desertion. This calls for a determined effort on the part of the commanding general for its suppression. He therefore wishes it to be distinctly understood, by the officers and soldiers of this department, that he expects a rigid adherence, upon the part of courts-martial, to the letter of the law; that its extreme penalty will be enforced in every case of desertion, as provided by the following Article of War:
XX. All officers and soldiers who have received pay, or have been duly enlisted in the service of the United States, and shall be convicted of having deserted the same, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as, by a sentence of a court-martial, shall be inflicted.
II. The general commanding will arrange and announce a system by which a limited number of annual furloughs will be granted in each company, in rotation, to those non-commissioned officers and privates who, by meritorious conduct and soldierly bearing, deserve this special favor. Company and regimental commanders are charged to strictly examine every application for leave, and recommend none but those worthy of this privilege.
* * * * 
By command of Maj.-Gen. Rosecrans:
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, pt. II, p. 84. 

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