Brevet rank to be strictly honor ary. Sec. 3, ibid. signment. 64, s. 1, v. 3, p. 427; the particular heroic act for which the officer is promoted 1346. Brevet rank shall be considered strictly honorary, and shall confer no privilege of precedence or command not already provided for in the statutes which embody the rules and articles governing the Army of the United States. Sec. 3, ibid. Effect of as- 1347. Officers may be assigned to duty or command Apr. 16, 1818, c. according to their brevet rank by special assignment of the Mar.3, 1869.c. 124. President; and brevet rank shall not entitle an officer to Sec. 1211, R.S. precedence or command except when so assigned.' s. 7, v. 15, p. 318. duty, etc.; when made. Assignment to 1348. Officers of the Army shall only be assigned to duty Mar. 3, 1883, v. or command according to their brevet rank when actually engaged in hostilities. Act of March 3, 1883 (22 Stat. L., 457). 22, p. 457. Uniform of actual rank to pe worn. July 15, 1870, c. 2 1349. No officer shall be entitled, on account of having been brevetted, to wear, while on duty, any uniform other 294, s. 16, v. 16, p. than that of his actual rank. 319. Sec. 1212, R.S. To be addressed in orders 1350. No officer shall be addressed in orders or official by title of actual communications by any title other than that of his actual rank. Ibid. wear uniform of teer rank. rank. UNIFORM OF HIGHEST VOLUNTEER RANK. Officers may 1351. All officers who have served during the rebellion as highest volun- volunteers in the Army of the United States, and have been July 28, 1866, c. honorably mustered out of the volunteer service, shall be entitled to bear the official title, and, upon occasions of ceremony, to wear the uniform of the highest grade they have held, by brevet or other commissions, in the volunteer 299, s. 34, v. 14, p. 337. Sec. 1226, R.S. In view of the repeal by the act of March 1, 1869 (15 Stat. L., 318), of the old sixty-first article of war (which did away also with the portion of paragraph 10 of the Army Regulations of 1863 which was derived therefrom), an officer, except where specially assigned to duty according to his brevet rank by the President, is no longer entitled to precedence on courts-martial or otherwise by reason of his brevet rank. Dig. Opin. J. A. G., par. 609. See also XVII, Opin. Aft. Gen., 39. Under section 1211, Revised Statutes, an officer may legally be assigned to duty according to his brevet rank for a special command or duty, and in such case the assignment will not be effective generally, but only for the purposes of such command or duty and during its continuance. Thus held, that an officer assigned to duty according to his brevet rank "while in command of" a certain department, could legally exercise the authority and privileges of such rank only when holding such command, and for the purposes of the same. Ibid., par. 611. When an officer has been duly assigned to duty or command according to a certain brevet rank, that rank becomes his actual military rank for the period of the assignment. He is empowered to exercise the authority which belongs to such rank under the circumstances, to wear the uniform, and to be addressed by the title of such rank, etc. Held, however, that a colonel, assigned to command according to a brevet rank of general, was not entitled to the aids-de-camp of a general (major or brigadier), but, as indicated in paragraph 40, Army Regulations, 1901, could be “allowed" the same only "with the special sanction of the War Department”—in other words, by the authority of the Secretary of War. Ibid., par. 612. service. The highest volunteer rank which has been held by officers of the Regular Army shall be entered, with their names, respectively, upon the Army Register. But these privileges shall not entitle any officer to command, pay, or emoluments. Officers may wear uniform of rank. 29, p. 511. 1352. All officers who have served during the rebellion as officers of the Regular Army of the United States, and have highest regular been honorably discharged or resigned from the service, Feb. 4, 1897, v. shall be entitled to wear the official title, and, upon occasions of ceremony, to wear the uniform of the highest grade they have held, by brevet or other commission, as is now authorized for officers of volunteers by section twelve hundred and twenty-six, Revised Statutes. Act of February 4, 1897 (29 Stat. L., 511). 1353. All officers who have served during the war with Spain, or since, as officers of the Regular or Volunteer Army of the United States, and have been honorably discharged from the service, by resignation or otherwise, shall be entitled to bear the official title, and, upon occasions of ceremony, to wear the uniform of the highest grade they have held by brevet or other commission in the regular or volunteer service. Sec. 34, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., p. 757.) same. FOREIGN DECORATIONS. The same. War with Spain. Feb. 2, 1901, s. 34, v.31, p. 757. rations not to be Jan. 31, 1881, 8. 1354. That no decoration, or other thing the acceptance Foreign decoof which is authorized by this act, and no decoration here- worn. tofore accepted, or which may hereafter be accepted, by 2, v. 21, p. 80. consent of Congress, by any officer of the United States, from any foreign government, shall be publicly shown or exposed upon the person of the officer so receiving the Sec. 2, act of January 31, 1881 (21 Stat. L., 80). 1355. That hereafter any present, decoration, or other Decorations, thing which shall be conferred or presented by any foreign dered. government to any officer of the United States, civil, naval, or military, shall be tendered through the Department of State, and not to the individual in person, but such present, decoration, or other thing shall not be delivered by the Department of State unless so authorized by act of Congress. Sec. 3, ibid. etc.. how ten Sec. 3, ibid. MEDALS OF HONOR. 1356. That the President cause to be struck, from the dies recently prepared at the United States Mint for that purpose, "medals of honor" additional to those authorized by the act (resolution) of July 12, 1862, and present the same Rosette, or bon. * to such officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates as have most distinguished, or may hereafter most distinguish themselves in action.' Sec. 6, act of March 3, 1863. 1357. The Secretary of War * * is hereby authorized to issue to any person to whom a medal of honor has been awarded, or may hereafter be awarded, under the provisions of the joint resolution approved July twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the act approved March third, kod eighteen hundred and sixty-three, a rosette or knot to be worn in lieu of the medal, and a ribbon to be worn with the medal; said rosette, or knot, and ribbon to be each of a pattern to be prescribed and established by the President of the United States; and any appropriation that may hereafter be available for the contingent expenses of the War Department is hereby made available for the purposes of this act: Provided, That whenever a ribbon issued under the provisions of this act shall have been lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use, without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it is issued, the Secretary of War shall cause a new ribbon to be issued to such person without charge therefor. Joint Resolution No. 51, May 2, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 473). New ribbon. Certificate merit. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT. of 1358. When any enlisted man of the Army shall have distinguished himself in the service the President may, at the recommendation of the commanding officer of the 'This provision was not embraced in the Revised Statutes. Medals of honor will be awarded by the President to officers and men who most distinguish themselves in action. (Par. 177, A. R., 1895; see also G. O. 42, A. G. O., 1897, and G. O. 135, A. G. O., 1899.) The original enactments of 1862 and 1863, providing for the award of medals of honor, and appropriating moneys for the expenses of the same, evidently contemplated a personal presentation to the selected recipient. Such is also inferably the design of the present Army Regulations, wherein (Art. XXV) the medal of honor is assimilated to the certificate of merit, each being manifestly intended to honor and distinguish the recipient in person. Held therefore that (except by special authority of Congress) a medal of honor could not legally be awarded to the widow, or a member of the family, of a deceased officer, on account of distinguished service in action performed by the latter during his lifetime. (Dig. Opin. J. A. G., par. 1655.) Par. 175, A. R., 1901, like the provision upon which it is based, of the act of March 3, 1863, is deemed to contemplate, in a case of an award to an officer, that the person shall be a commissioned officer of the Army at the time of the award. A contract or acting assistant surgeon is not, and was not at any time, such a commissioned officer. Held therefore that a medal of honor could not legally be awarded to a person for alleged distinguished service rendered while serving in the field as an acting assistant surgeon in 1864, who moreover had had no connection with the Army since 1865. (Ibid., par. 1656; see also XX Opin. Att. Gen., 421.) Mar. 3, 1847, c. 61. s. 17, v. 9, p. Act of 186; Aug. 4, 1854, e. 217, s. 3, v. 10, p, 575; Feb. 9, 1891, regiment or the chief of the corps to which such enlisted v. 26, p. 737; Mar. 29, 1892, v. 27, p. 12. Sec. 1216, R.S. Sec. 1285, R.S. Sec. 2, act of Feb- Feb. 9, 1891, s. 2, v. 26, p. 737. CORPS BADGES AND INSIGNIA OF SOCIETIES. 1360. All persons who have served as officers, noncommissioned officers, privates, or other enlisted men in the Regular Army, volunteer or militia forces of the United States, during the war of the rebellion, and have been honorably discharged from the service or still remain in the same, shall be entitled to wear, on occasions of ceremony, the distinctive Army badge ordered for or adopted by the Army corps and division, respectively, in which they served. Military society badges may be worn by Army and Navy. 1361. That the distinctive badges adopted by military societies of men who served in the armies and navies of the United States in the war of the Revolution, the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, the Mexican war, and 26, p. 681. the war of the rebellion, respectively, may be worn upon J. R. No. 50, Sept. 25, 1890, v. 1 Held, under section 1216, Revised Statutes, as amended by the act of rebruary 9, 1891, as follows: 1. A certificate of merit may now be granted to "any enlisted man of the Army," noncommissioned officer as well as private. (a) 2. It may be granted for distinguished conduct prior to the date of the act of February 9, 1891, as well as since. (b) 3. The grantee must belong to a regiment. 4. While the recommendation of the regimental commander is necessary, this recommendation may be based upon any fact or facts deemed by him to justify it, such as the recommendation of the company commander or any other officer (whether of the regiment or not) cognizant of the circumstances of the case, or upon any other authentic information brought to his (the regimental commander's) knowledge. 5. That the declaration of paragraph 197, Army Regulations, 1901, that the recommendation "must originate with an eye witness," is an interpolation not autnorized nor called for by the original statute (sec. 1216, R. S.), or by the recent amendment of 1891, and an instance of quasi legislation unwarranted in an army regulation. Dig. Opin. J. A. G., par. 668. Held, under section 1216, construed in connection with section 1285, Revised Statutes, that the President was authorized to grant a certificate of merit only to a soldier belonging at the time of the grant to a regiment of the Army; that he was not empowered to grant such a certificate to a discharged soldier and civilian on account of services rendered while he was a soldier. (c) Ibid., par. 667. a In Bell v. U. S., 28 Ct. Cls., 462, it was held that a soldier to whom, when a member of an infantry regiment, had been granted a certificate of merit, was entitled to continue to receive the additional pay after reenlisting in the "general messenger service." b See McNamara v. U. S., 28 Ct. Cls., 416, where it is held that the act of February 9, 1891, is retroactive, and entitles the beneficiary to the additional pay from the date of the service for which the certificate was awarded. eSee, to a similar effect, the opinion of the Attorney-General in XVI Opins., 9; also the subsequent G. O. 28, Hdqrs. of Army, 1878. Badge of Regular Army and all occasions of ceremony by officers and enlisted men of the Army and Navy of the United States who are members of said organizations in their own right. Joint resolution No. 50, of September 25, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 681). 1362. That the distinctive badge adopted by the Regular Navy Union Army and Navy Union of the United States may be worn, J. R. No. 26, in their own right, upon all public occasions of ceremony 28, p. 583. by officers and enlisted men in the Army and Navy of the United States who are members of said organization. Joint resolution No. 26, of May 11, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 583). may be worn. May 11, 1894, v. The same. Spain. with 41, v. 31, p. 758. 1363. The distinctive badges adopted by military societies of men who served in the armies and navies of the Feb, 2, 1901, 8. United States during the Spanish-American war and the incident insurrection in the Philippines may be worn, upon all occasions of ceremony, by officers and men of the Army and Navy of the United States who are members of said organizations in their own right. Sec. 41, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 758). |