shall hereafter call on the executives of the several states, to hold in readiness their respective quotas of militia for service, he shall consider the corps of state troops raised in any state, as part of the quote of such state.
Corps accepted to be armed and equipped at the expense of the United States.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the corps as aforesaid, accepted under this act, shall be armed and equipped at the expense of the United States, and shall be entitled to the same pay, clothing, rations, forage, and emoluments of every kind, and (bounty excepted) to the same benefits and allowances, as the regular troops of the United States.
President may accept the services of volunteers.
Proviso.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized to receive into the service of the United States, any volunteers who may offer their services, to be organized in conformity to the laws respecting the organization of the military establishment of the United States: Provided, That the whole number of such volunteers, who may be in service at any one time, exclusive of officers, shall not exceed forty thousand men.
Officers of the said volunteers to be commissioned by the President.
Their pay and emoluments.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the officers of the said volunteers shall be commissioned by the President of the United States, and while in actual service the said volunteers shall be entitled to the same pay, rations, forage, and emoluments of every kind, and (bounty excepted) to the same benefits and allowances as the regular troops of the United States, and shall be subject to the rules and articles of war.
Volunteers may at their option be armed and equipped by the United States or at their own expense.
Proviso.
Proviso.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said volunteers may, at their option, be armed and equipped by the United States, or at their own expense; and in case they arm and equip themselves to the satisfaction of the President of the United States, they shall each be entitled to receive six and one quarter cents per day, while in actual service, for the use and risk of such arms and equipments: Provided, That the compensation thus allowed shall not in any case exceed twenty-four dollars: And provided also, That no rifle shall be received into service of the United States, whose calibre shall be formed to carry a ball of a smaller size than at the rate of seventy balls to a pound weight.
And clothed with the same.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said volunteers, if employed in service for a term of not less than twelve months, may, at their option, be clothed at their own expense or by the United States; and in case they furnish their own clothing, they shall be entitled to receive in money a sum equal to the cost of the clothing allowed to the regular troops of the United States.
Non-commissioned officers, privates, &c., in certain cases entitled to lands from the United States.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That whenever any non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, having served in any of the corps of state troops or volunteers, raised by virtue of this act, during two years, or who, having engaged to serve two years, shall have been discharged in consequence of the termination of the present war, shall have obtained from the commanding officer of his company, battalion, or regiment, a certificate that he had faithfully performed his duty whilst in service, he shall be allowed, in addition to the emolument allowed in this act, one hundred and sixty acres of land: and the widow and children, and if there be no widow or child, then the parents of such non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates, as may have engaged for a term of service not less than two years, and who may be killed in action or die in service, shall likewise be allowed the said quantity of one hundred and sixty acres of land, which shall be surveyed and granted in the manner provided by the act entitledAct of May 6, 1812, ch. 77. “An act to provide for the designating, surveying and granting the military bounty lands.”
Appointments of the officers of volunteers to be submitted to the Senate.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the appointment of the officers of the said volunteers, if received into the service of the United States for the term of twelve months, or for a longer term, shall be submitted to the Senate for their advice and consent, at their next session, after commissions for the same shall have been issued.
