Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/405

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Arrest of officers.
Confinement of offenders.
shall be arrested and confined in his barracks, quarters, or tent, and deprived of his sword, by the commanding officer. And any officer who shall eave his confinement before he shall be set at liberty by his commanding officer, or by a superior officer, shall be cashiered.

Confinement of persons charged with crimes.Article 78. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers, charged with crimes, shall be confined, until tried by a court martial, or released by proper authority.

No officer to be confined more than eight days before trial.Article 79. No officer or soldier who shall be put in arrest, shall continue in confinement more than eight days, or until such time as a court martial can be assembled.

Officers refusing to keep prisoners.Article 80. No officer commanding a guard, or provost marshal, shall refuse to receive or keep any prisoner committed to his charge, by an officer belonging to the forces of the United States; provided the officer committing, shall, at the same time, deliver an account in writing, signed by himself, of the crime with which the said prisoner is charged.

Releasing prisoners suffering them to escape.Article 81. No officer commanding a guard, or provost marshal, shall presume to release any person committed to his charge, without proper authority for so doing, nor shall he suffer any person to escape, on the penalty of being punished for it by the sentence of a court martial.

Report to be made of prisoners.Article 82. Every officer or provost marshal, to whose charge prisoners shall be committed, shall, within twenty-four hours after such commitment, shall, within twenty-four hours after such commitment, or as soon as he shall be relieved from his guard, make report in writing, to the commanding officer, of their names, their crimes, and the names of the officers who committed them, on the penalty of being punished for disobedience or neglect, at the discretion of a court martial.

Behaviour before courts martial.Article 83. Any commissioned officer convicted before a general court martial of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, shall be dismissed the service.

Sentences of courts martial.Article 84. In cases where a court martial may think it proper to sentence a commissioned officer to be suspended from command, they shall have power also to suspend his pay and emoluments for the same time, according to the nature and heinousness of the offence.

Punishment for cowardice or fraud.Article 85. In all cases where a commissioned officer is cashiered for cowardice or fraud, it shall be added in the sentence, that the crime, name, and place of abode and punishment of the delinquent, be published in the newspapers in and about the camp, and of the particular state from which the offender came, or where he usually resides, after which it shall be deemed scandalous for an officer to associate with him.

Courts martial where the officers adequate to form a court martial are not in sufficient number at the post.Article 86. The commanding officer of any post or detachment, in which there shall not be a number of officers adequate to form a general court martial, shall, in cases which require the cognizance of such a court, report to the commanding officer of the department, who shall order a court to be assembled at the nearest post or detachment, and the party accused, with necessary witnesses, to be transported to the place where the said court shall be assembled.

Sentence of a court martial shall be by the concurrence of two thirds.Article 87. No person shall be sentenced to suffer death, but by the concurrence of two thirds of the members of a general court martial, nor except in the cases herein expressly mentioned; nor shall more than fifty lashes be inflicted on any offender, at the discretion of a court martial; and no officer, non-commissioned officer, soldier, or follower of the army, shall be tried a second time for the same offence.

Limitation of trials.Article 88. No person shall be liable to be tried and punished by a general court martial for any offence which shall appear to have been committed more than two years before the issuing of the order for such trial, unless the person, by reason of having absented himself or some other manifest impediment, shall not have been amenable to justice within that period.

Power of pardon, or mitigating sentences.Article 89. Every officer authorized to order a general court martial, shall have power to pardon or mitigate any punishment ordered by such