*A note on the transcription: I have followed the capitalization and spelling of the facsimile edition upon which this transcription is based, with one exception. When the original uses an f in place of an s, I have without exception transcribed it as an s so as to be the more easily read and understanded of the publick.
Section III. Inlisting Soldiers
Section VII. Quarrels and sending Challenges
Section XI. Crimes punishable by Law
Section XII. Redressing Wrongs
Section XIII. Stores, Ammunition, &c.
Section XIV. Duties in Quarters, in Garrison, or in the Field
Section XVI. Administration of Justice
Section XVIII. Entry of Commissions, and Leaves of Absence
Section XIX. Effects and Credits of deceased Officers and Soldiers, and of Deserters
Section XXI. Troops raised or serving in the Colonies
Section XXII. Troops in the East Indies
Section XXIII. Troops on board Ships of War
Section XXIV. Relating to the foregoing Articles
Rules and Articles for the Better Government of All His Majesty's Forces : from the 24th Day of March, 1807.
Published by His Majesty's command
London : Printed by George Eyre and Andrew Straman, Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty, 1807.
George R.
Rules and Articles for the better government of all our forces.
All Officers and Soldiers, not having just Impediment, shall diligently frequent Divine Service and Sermon, in the Places appointed for the assembling of the Regiment, Troop, or Company, to which they belong; such as wilfully absent themselves, or being present, behave indecently or irreverently, shall, if Commissioned Officers, be brought before a Court-martial, there to be publickly and severely reprimanded by the President; if Non-commissioned Officers, or Soldiers, every Person so offending shall, for his First Offence, forfeit Twelvepence, to be deducted out of his next Pay; for the Second Offence, he shall not only forfeit Twelvepence, but be laid in irons for Twelve Hours; and for every like Offence, shall suffer and pay in like Manner. Which Money, so forfeited, shall be applied to the Use of the sick Soldiers of the Troop or Company to which the Offender belongs.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall use any unlawful Oath or Execration, shall incur the Penalties expressed in the First Article.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall presume to speak against any known Article of the Christian Faith, shall be delivered over to the Civil Magistrate, to be proceeded against according to Law.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall profane any Place dedicated to Divine Worship, or shall offer Violence to a Chaplain of the Army, or to any other Minister of God's Word, shall be liable to such Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
No Chaplain, who is commissioned to a Regiment, or Garrison, shall absent himself from the said Regiment, or Garrison, (excepting in case of Sickness, or Leave of Absence), upon Pain of being brought to a Court-martial, and punished as, in their Judgement, the Circumstances of his Offence may require.
Whatsoever Chaplain to a Regiment, or Garrison, shall be guilty of Drunkenness, or of other scandalous or vicious Behaviour, derogating from the Sacred Character with which he is invested, shall upon due Proof before a Court-martial, be discharged from his Office.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall presume to use traiterous or disrespectful Words against Our Royal Person, or any of Our Royal Family, if a Commissioned Officer, shall, upon Conviction thereof before a General Court-martial be cashiered; if a Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, he shall suffer such Punishment as by the Sentence of a General or Regimental Court-martial shall be awarded.
Any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, who shall behave himself with Contempt or Disrespect towards the General, or other Commander in Chief of Our Forces, or shall speak Words tending to his Hurt or Dishonour, shall be punished according to the Nature of his Offence, by the Judgement of a General Court-martial.
Any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, who shall begin, excite, cause, or join in, any Mutiny or Sedition, in the Regiment, Troop, or Company, to which he belongs, or in any other Regiment, Troop, or Company, either of Our Land or Marine Forces, or in any Party, Post, Detachment, or Guard, on any Pretence whatsoever, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, who, being present at any Mutiny or Sedition, shall not use his utmost Endeavour to suppress the same, or coming to the Knowledge of any Mutiny or intended Mutiny, shall not without Delay give Information thereof to his Commanding Officer, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, who shall strike his superior Officer, or shall draw or offer to draw, or lift up any Weapon, or offer any Violence against him, being in the Execution of his Office, on any Pretence whatsoever, or shall disobey any lawful Command of his superior Officer, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Every Soldier, who shall be inlisted in Our Service, shall, at the time of Inlisting, or within Four Days afterwards, have the Second and Sixth Sections of these Articles, which respect Mutiny and Desertion, read to him, and shall, by the Officer who inlisted him, or by the Commanding Officer of the Troop or Company into which he was inlisted, be taken, within Four Days, but not sooner than Twenty-four Hours after such Inlisting, before some Justice of the Peace, or Chief Magistrate of any City or Town Corporate, residing or being next to, or in the Vicinity of the Place where such Person or Persons shall have been inlisted, and not being an Officer of the Army, or in Foreign Parts, where recourse cannot be had to the Civil Magistrate, before the Judge Advocate, and, in his Presence, take the following Oath:
I swear to be true to our Sovereign Lord King GEORGE, and to serve him honestly and faithfully, in Defence of His Person, Crown, and Dignity, against all His Enemies or Opposers whatsoever. And to observe and obey His Majesty's Orders and the Orders of the Generals and Officers set over me by His Majesty.
Which Justice or Magistrate is to give the Officer a Certificate, signifying that the Man inlisted did take the said Oath, and that the Second and Sixth Sections of the Articles of War were read to him, as prescribed by the Act of Parliament for punishing Mutiny and Desertion.
Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers, having been duly inlisted, and sworn, shall not be dismissed Our Service without a discharge in Writing signed by a Field Officer of the Corps to which they belong; or if no Field Officer be with the Corps, by the Commanding Officer thereof; or in respect to Regiments serving abroad, the Colonels of which are absent from Great Britain, by the Adjutant General of Our Forces or by the Inspector General of Our Recruiting Service.
Musters shall be taken of Our Regiments of Life Guards, Horse Guards, and Foot Guards, Twice at the least in every Year, at such Times as shall have been or may be appointed, and agreeably to the Forms heretofore used therein, until Our further Pleasure be declared.
The Musters of every Regiment, Troop, or Company in Our Service, other than our Corps of Life Guards, Horse Guards, and Foot Guards, shall be taken at such Times, and in such Manner, as We have been pleased to direct, by Our late Regulations touching Regimental and District Paymaster, and the Mode of mustering, paying, and settling the Accompts of Our Army; or according to such Regulations as We may further think fit to establish in relation thereto. And all Commanding Officers, and others concerned in the mustering as well of Our Regiments of Life Guards, Horse Guards, and Foot Guards, as of Our other Forces, are hereby required to give the utmost Care and Attention to the making up of the Muster Rolls, with strict Exactness and Accuracy, as they shall be answerable to Us for their Neglect.
Every Officer who shall be convicted before a General Court-martial of having signed a false Certificate, relating to the Absence of either Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or private Soldier, shall be cashiered.
Every Officer who shall knowingly make a false Muster of Man or Horse, and every Officer and Commissary or Muster Master who shall wittingly sign, direct, or allow the signing of the Muster-rolls, wherein such false Muster is contained, shall, upon Proof made thereof by Two Witnesses before a General Court-martial, be cashiered, and suffer such other Penalty as he is liable to by the Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion.
Any commissary or Muster-Master, who shall be convicted before a General Court-martial of having taken Money by way of Gratification on the mustering any Regiment, Troop, or Company, or on the signing the Muster-rolls, shall be displaced from his Office, and suffer such other Penalty as he is liable to by the said Act.
Every Colonel or other Field Officer commanding a Regiment, Troop, or Company, and actually residing with it, may give Furloughs to Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers, in such Numbers and for so long a Time, as he shall judge to be most consistent with the Good of our Service; but no Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier shall, by Leave of his Captain, or inferior Officer, commanding the Troop or Company, (his Field Officer not being present), be absent above Twenty Days in Six Months; not shall more than Two private Men be absent at the same Time from their Troop or Company, unless some extraordinary Occasion shall require it, of which Occasion the Field Officer present with and commanding the Regiment is to be the Judge.
Every Officer who shall knowingly make a false Return to Us, to the Commander in Chief of Our Forces, or to any his superior Officer authorised to call for such Returns, of the State of the Regiment, Troop, or Company, or Garrison, under his Command, or of Arms, Ammunition, Clothing, or other Stores thereunto belonging, shall, upon being convicted thereof before a General Court-martial, be cashiered.
The Commanding Officer of every Regiment, Troop, or Independent Company, or Garrison, in South-Britain, shall, in the Beginning of every Month transmit to the Commander in Chief of Our Forces, and to Our Secretary at War, an exact Return of the State of the Regiment, Troop, Independent Company, or Garrison, under his Command, specifying the Names of the Officers not then residing at their Posts, and the Reason for, and Time of, their Absence: Whoever shall be convicted of having, designedly or through Neglect, omitted the sending such Returns, shall be punished according to the Nature of his Offence by the Judgement of a General Court-martial.
Returns shall be made in like Manner of the State of our Forces in Ireland to the Lord Lieutenant or Chief Governor of Governors thereof, and to the Commander of the Forces in that Part of Our United Kingdom; and of Our Forces in North Britain to the Officer there commanding in Chief; which Returns shall, from Time to Time, be transmitted to Us, as it shall be best for Our Service.
It is Our Pleasure, That exact Returns of the State of Our Garrison at Gibraltar, and of Our Regiments, Garrisons, and Independent Companies, stationed abroad, be, by their respective Governors or Commanders there residing, by all convenient Opportunities, transmitted to Our Secretary at War, for their being laid before Us.
All Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Soldiers, in Our Service, who, shall be convicted of having deserted the same, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded; and every Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier who shall inlist himself in any other Regiment, Troop, or Company, without a regular Discharge from the Regiment, Troop, or Company, in which he last served, shall be reputed a Deserter, and suffer accordingly.
In case any Officer shall knowingly receive and entertain such Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, belonging to another Corps, or shall not, after his being discovered to be a Deserter, immediately confine him, and give Notice thereof to the Corps in which he last served, if in Great Britain or Ireland; or, if abroad, to our Secretary at War, he the said Officer so offending shall, on being convicted thereof, before a General Court-martial, be cashiered.
Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers who shall desert any Regiment, Troop, or Company, in which they shall have inlisted or received Pay, although of Right belonging to and liable to be claimed by another Corps, in which they may have before inlisted or received Pay, or who shall, whilst serving in such Regiment, Troop, or Company, commit any Offence against the Rules of Military Discipline, may be tried by a Court-martial, and punished for such Desertion, or other Offence, in like Manner as if they had originally and rightfully inlisted in such Regiment, Troop, or Company; Or, if any such Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier shall be claimed by the Corps in which he first inlisted, and be proceeded against as a Deserter therefrom, his subsequent Desertion from any one or more Corps, in which he shall unwarrantably have inlisted, may (unless he shall already have been tried for the same) be given in Evidence, as an Aggravation of his Crime, previous Notice being always given to such Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier of the Fact or Facts intended to be produced in Evidence against him.
Any Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, who shall, without Leave from his Commanding Officer, absent himself from his Troop or Company, or from any Detachment with which he shall be commanded shall, upon being convicted thereof, be punished according to the Nature of his Offence, at the Discretion of a General or Regimental Court-martial.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall be convicted of having advised or persuaded any other Officer or Soldier to Desert Our Service, shall suffer such Punishment as by the Sentence of a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
No Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall use any reproachful or provoking Speeches or Gestures to another, upon Pain, if an Officer of being put in Arrest, (or if a Non-commissioned Officer, or a Soldier, imprisoned), and of asking Pardon of the Party offended, in the Presence of his Commanding Officer.
No Officer, Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, shall presume to give or send a Challenge to any other Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, to fight a Duel, upon Pain, if a Commissioned Officer, of being cashiered; if a Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, of suffering corporal Punishment at the Discretion of a Court-martial.
If any Commissioned or Non-commissioned Officer commanding a Guard shall knowingly and willingly suffer any Person whatsoever to go forth to fight a Duel, he shall be punished as a Challenger : And likewise all Seconds, Promoters, and Carriers of Challenges, in order to Duels, shall be deemed as Principals, and be punished accordingly.
All Officers, of what Condition soever, have Power to quell all Quarrels, Frays, and Disorders, though the Persons concerned should belong to another Regiment, Troop, or Company, and either to order Officers into Arrest, or Non-commissioned Officers or Soldiers to Prison, until their proper superior Officers shall be acquainted therewith; and whoever shall be acquainted therewith; and whoever shall refuse to obey such Officer, (though of an inferior Rank), or shall draw his Sword upon him, shall be punished at the Discretion of a General Court-martial.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall upbraid another for refusing a Challenge, shall himself be punished as a Challenger; and We hereby acquit and discharge all Officers and Soldiers of any Disgrace, or Opinion of Disadvantage, which might arise from their having refused to accept of challenges, as they will only have acted in Obedience to Our Orders, and done their Duty as good Soldiers, who subject themselves to Discipline.
No Suttler shall be permitted to sell any Kind of Liquors or Victuals, or to keep their Houses or Shops open, for the Entertainment of Soldiers, after Nine at Night,or before the Beating of the Reveilles, or upon Sundays during Divine Service or Sermon, on the Penalty of being dismissed from all future Suttling.
All Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Soldiers, and Suttlers, shall have full Liberty to bring into any of Our Forts or Garrisons, any Quantity or Species of Provisions, eatable or drinkable, except where any Contract or Contracts are or shall be entered into by Us, or by Our Order, for furnishing such Provisions, and with respect only to the Species of Provisions so contracted for.
All Governors, Lieutenant Governors, and Officers commanding in our Forts, Barracks, or Garrisons, are hereby required to see that the Persons permitted to suttle, supply the Soldiers with good and wholesome Provisions, at the Market Price, as they shall be answerable to Us for their Neglect.
No Governors, or Officers commanding in any of Our Garrisons, Forts, or Barracks, shall either themselves exact exorbitant Prices for Houses or Stalls let out to Suttlers, or shall connive at the like Exactions in others; nor by their own Authority, and for their private Advantage, shall they lay any Duty or Imposition upon, or be interested in, the Sale of any Victuals, Liquors, or other Necessaries of Life, or Merchandizes, brought into the Garrison, Fort, or Barracks, under their Command, for the Use of the Soldiers, on Pain (upon Conviction thereof by a General Court-martial) of being dismissed from Our Service; and suffering, besides, such Penalty as they may be liable to by Law.
And if any Governor, or Officer commanding in any of Our Garrisons, Forts, or Barracks, shall connive at any other Officer or Person selling such Victuals, Liquors, or other Necessaries of Life, or Merchandizes, to the Soldiers under hs Command, at exorbitant Rates; he shall, on Conviction thereof by a General Court-martial, be cashiered, and shall besides suffer such Penalty as he may be liable to by Law.
No Officer, or Non-commissioned Officer, shall demand Billets for quartering more than his effective Men; nor shall he quarter any Wives, Children, Men or Maid Servants, in the Houses assigned for the quartering of Officers or Soldiers, without the Consent of the Owners; nor shall he take Money for the freeing of Landlords from the quartering of Officers or Soldiers, upon Pain, if a Commissioned Officer, of being cashiered; if a Non-commissioned Officer, of being reduced to a private Centinel, and suffering such corporal Punishment as by the Sentence of a General or Regimental Court-martial shall be awarded.
Every Officer commanding a Regiment, Troop, Company, or Detachment, whether in settled Quarters, or upon a March, shall take Care that his own Quarters, as also the Quarters of every Officer and Soldier under his Command, be regularly cleared at the End of every Week; but in case any such Regiment, Troop, Company, or Party, be ordered to march before Money may be come to the Hands of the Commanding Officer aforesaid, he is hereby required to see that the Accounts with all Persons who shall have Money due to them for the quartering of Officers and Soldiers be exactly stated; and he is to sign a Certificate for each Landlord, specifying what Sum is then justly due to him, as likewise the Regiment, Troop, or Company, to which the Officers and Soldiers so indebted to him belong; and is, by the first Opportunity, to transmit Duplicates of the said Certificates to Our Paymaster General: Any Commanding Officer who shall refuse or neglect to make up such Accounts, and to certify the same, as is above directed, shall, upon being convicted thereof before a General Court martial, be cashiered.
The Commanding Officer of every Regiment, Troop, Company, or Detachment, shall, upon their first coming to any City, Town, or Village, where they are to remain in Quarters, cause publick Proclamation to be made, signifying, That, if the Landlords or other Inhabitants suffer the Non-commissioned Officers, or Soldiers, to contract Debts beyond what their daily Subsistence will answer, such Debts will not be discharged; the said Commanding Officer refusing or neglecting so to do, shall be suspended for Three Months; during which Time his whole Pay shall be applied to the discharging of such Debts as shall have been contracted by the Non-commissioned Officers or Soldiers under his Command, beyond the Amount of their daily Subsistence: If there be any Overplus remaining, it may be returned to him.
If, after publick Proclamation made as above directed, the Inhabitants shall notwithstanding suffer the Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers to contract Debts beyond what the Money issued out, or to be issued out, for their daily Subsistence will answer, if will be at their own Peril, the Officers not being obliged to discharge such Debts.
Every Officer commanding in Quarters, Garrisons, or on a March, shall keep good Order, and to the utmost of his Power redress all such Abuses or Disorders as may be committed by any Officer or Soldier under his Command: If, upon Complaint made to him of Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, or Soldiers, beating or otherwise ill-treating their Landlords, or extorting more from them than they are obliged to furnish by Law; or disturbing Fairs or Markets, or committing any Kind of Riots, to the disquieting of Our People, such Commanding Officer shall refuse or omit to see Justice done on the Offender or Offenders, and Reparation made to the Party or Parties injured, as far as Part of the Offender's Pay (not exceeding the Half thereof) shall enable him to make such Reparation; he shall, upon due Proof thereof before a General Court-martial be deemed culpable in the same Degree as if he himself had committed the Crimes or Disorders complained of , and shall be punished accordingly, at the Discretion of such Court-martial.
The Commanding Officer of every Regiment, Troop, Company or Detachment, which shall be ordered to march, is to apply to the proper Magistrates for the necessary Carriages, and is to pay for them as is directed by the Mutiny Act; taking Care not himself to beat or abuse, nor to suffer any Person under his Command to beat or abuse the Waggoners, or other Persons attending such Carriages; nor to suffer more than Thirty Hundred Weight to be loaded on any Wain or Waggon so furnished, or in proportion on Carts or Cars; nor to permit Soldiers (except such as are sick or lame), or Women, to ride upon the said Carriages, unless in the Cases of Emergency, specified in the Mutiny Act: Whatsoever Officer shall offend herein, or in case of Failure of Money, shall refuse to grant Certificates, specifying the Sums due for the Use of such Carriages, and the Name of the Regiment, Troop, or Company, in whose Service they were employed, shall be cashiered, or be otherwise punished according to the Degree of his Offence, by a General Court-martial.
Whenever any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall be accused of a Capital Crime, or of having used Violence, or committed any Offence against the Persons or Property of Our Subjects, such as is punishable by the known Laws of the Land, the Commanding Officer and Officers of every Regiment, Troop, Company, or Detachment, to which the Person or Persons so accused shall belong, are hereby required, upon Application duly made by or in Behalf of the Party or Parties injured, to use his and their utmost Endeavours to deliver over such accused Person or Persons to the Civil Magistrate; and likewise to be aiding and assisting to the Officers of Justice in apprehending and securing the Person or Persons so accused, in order that he or they may be brought to a Trial. If any Commanding Officer or Officers shall wilfully neglect, or shall refuse, upon the Application aforesaid, to deliver over such accused Person or Persons to the Civil Magistrates, or to be aiding and assisting to the Officers of Justice in apprehending such Person or Persons, the Officer or Officers so offending shall, upon being convicted thereof before a General Court-martial, be cashiered.
No Officer shall protect any Person from his Creditors on the Pretence of his being a Soldier, nor any Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier who does not actually do all Duties as such, and no farther than is allowed by The Act of Parliament for punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and according to the true Intent and Meaning of the said Act: Any Officer offending herein, being convicted thereof before a General Court-martial, shall be cashiered.
If any Officer shall think himself to be wronged by his Colonel, or the Commanding Officer of the Regiment, and shall, upon due Application made to him, be refused to be redressed, he may complain to the General commanding in Chief Our Forces, in order to obtain Justice; who is hereby required to examine into such Complaint; and either by himself, or by Our Secretary at War, to make his Report to Us thereupon, in order to receive Our further Directions.
If any inferior Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall think himself wronged by his Captain, or other Officer commanding the Troop or Company to which he belongs, he is to complain thereof to the Commanding Officer of the Regiment, who is hereby required to summon a Regimental Court-martial, for the doing Justice to the Complainant; from which Regimental Court-martial either Party may, if he thinks himself still aggrieved, appeal to a General Court-martial: But if, upon a Second Hearing, the Appeal shall appear to be vexatious and groundless, the Person so appealing shall be punished at the Discretion of the said General Court-martial.
Whatsoever Commissioned Officer, Storekeeper, or Commissary, shall be convicted at a General Court-martial of having sold, (without a proper Order for that Purpose), embezzled, misapplied, or wilfully, or through Neglect, suffered any of our Provision, Forage, Arms, Clothing, Ammunition, or other Military Stores, to be spoiled or damaged, shall, at his own Charge, make good the Loss or Damage, and be dismissed from Our Service, and shall also suffer such other Penalty as he is liable to by the Mutiny Act.
Whatsoever Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier shall be convicted at a General or Regimental Court-martial of having sold, or designedly, or through Neglect, wasted the Ammunition delivered out to him to be employed in Our Service, shall suffer corporal Punishment, at the Discretion of such Court-martial: A Non-commissioned Officer, so offending, shall also be reduced to a private Centinel.
Every Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, who shall be convicted at a General or Regimental Court-martial of having sold, lost, or designedly or through Neglect spoiled, his Horse, Arms, Clothes, Accoutrements, or Regimental Necessaries, shall undergo such Weekly Stoppages (not exceeding the Half of his Pay) as such Court-martial shall judge sufficient for repairing the Loss or Damage; and shall besides suffer Imprisonment, or other corporal Punishment at the Discretion of the said Court-martial.
If any Commissioned Officer shall embezzle or misapply any Monies, with which he may have been entrusted for the Payment of the Soldiers under his Command, or for inlisting Men into Our Service, or for any Regimental Purpose, and shall be thereof convicted by a General Court-martial, he shall be dismissed Our Service, and shall forfeit the Arrears due to him upon Account of his Pay, or so much thereof as may be sufficient to make good the Deficiency occasioned by such Embezzlement or Misapplication: And if any Warrant Officer shall be convicted of such Offence, either by a General Court-martial or by a Detachment Court-martial to be constituted in the Manner hereinafter prescribed for the Trial of Warrant Officers, he shall in like Manner be dismissed Our Service, and forfeit the Arrears due to him on account of his Pay, or so much thereof as shall be sufficient to make good the Deficiency occasioned by such Embezzlement or Misapplication: But, in case he shall have been originally inlisted as a Private Soldier, and shall have continued in the Service until his Appointment to be an Officer by Warrant, he shall be liable at the Discretion of such General or Detachment Court-martial, to be dismissed Our Service as aforesaid, or to be reduced to serve either in the Capacity of a Non-commissioned Officer or Private Soldier, and to be put under Stoppages until the Money embezzled or misapplied by him shall have been made good.
Every Non-commissioned Officer who shall be convicted, at a General or Regimental Court-martial, of having embezzled or misapplied any Money with which he may have been intrusted for the Payment of the Men under his Command, or for inlisting Men into Our Service, or for any Regimental Purpose, shall be reduced to serve in the Ranks as a Private Soldier, be put under Stoppages until the Money be made good, and suffer such corporal Punishment as the Court-martial shall think fit.
Every Captain of a Troop or Company is charged with the Arms, Accoutrements, Ammunition, Clothing, or other warlike Stores belonging to the Troop or Company under his Command, for which he is to be accountable to his Colonel, in case of their being lost, spoiled, or damaged, not by unavoidable Accident, or on actual Service.
All Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Soldiers are to behave themselves orderly in Quarters, and on their March; and whoever shall commit any Waste or Spoil, either in Walks of Trees, Parks, Warrens, Fishponds, Houses, or Gardens, Cornfields, Inclosures, or Meadows, or shall maliciously destroy any Property whatsoever belonging to any of Our Subjects, unless by Order of the then Commander in Chief of Our Forces, to annoy Rebels, or other Enemies in Arms against Us, he or they that shall be found guilty of offending herein, shall (besides such Penalties as they are liable to by Law) be punished according to the Nature and Degree of the Offence, by the Judgement of a General or Regimental Court-martial.
All Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers, who shall be found One Mile from the Camp, without Leave, in Writing, from their Commanding Officer, shall suffer such Punishment as by the Sentence of a General or regimental Court-martial, shall be awarded.
No Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall lie out of his Quarters, Garrison or Camp, without Leave from his superior Officer, upon Pain of being punished, according to the Circumstances and Degree of his Offence, by the Sentence of a General or Regimental Court-martial.
Every Non-commissioned Officer and Soldier shall retire to his Quarters or Tent at the Beating of the Retreat; in Default of which he shall in like Manner be punished according to the Circumstances and Degree of his Offence.
No Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall fail to repair, at the Time fixed, to the Place of Parade of Exercise, or other Rendezvous appointed by the Commanding Officer, if not prevented by Sickness, or some other evident Necessity; or shall go from the said Place of Rendezvous, or from his Guard, without Leave from his Commanding officer, before he shall be regularly dismissed or relieved, on the Penalty of being punished, according to the Circumstances and Degree of his Offence, by the Judgement of a General or Regimental Court-martial.
No soldier belonging to any of Our Regiments of Life Guards, Horse Guards, or Foot Guards, or to any other Regiment of Horse, Foot, or Dragoons, in Our Service, shall hire another to do his Duty for him or be excused from Duty, but in case of Sickness, Disability, or Leave of Absence; and every such Soldier found guilty of hiring his Duty, as also the Party so hired to do another's Duty, shall be punished at the Discretion of a Regimental Court-martial.
And every Non-commissioned Officer conniving at such Hiring of Duty, as aforesaid shall be reduced for it; and every Commissioned Officer, knowing and allowing of such ill Practices in Our Service, shall be punished by the Judgement of a General Court-martial.
Any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, who shall, without urgent Necessity, or without Leave of his superior Officer, quit his Platoon or Division, shall be punished according to the Circumstances and Degree of his Offence, by the Judgement of a General or Regimental Court-martial.
Whatsoever Commissioned Officer, shall be found drunk on his Guard, Party, or other Duty, under Arms, shall upon being convicted thereof before a General Court-martial, be cashiered for it; any Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, so offending, shall suffer such corporal Punishment as by a General or Regimental Court-martial shall be awarded.
Whatever Centinel shall be found sleeping upon his Post, or shall leave it before he shall be regularly relieved, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall do Violence to any Person who brings Provisions, or other Necessaries, to the Camp, Garrison, or Quarters, of Our Forces employed in Foreign Parts, and shall be convicted thereof by a General Court-martial, shall suffer Death.
Whosoever of Our Forces employed in Foreign Parts shall force a Safeguard, and shall be convicted thereof by a General Court-martial, shall suffer Death.
Any Person Belonging to Our Forces employed in Foreign Parts, who shall make known the Watch-word to any Person who is not intitled to receive it according to the Rules and Discipline of War, or shall presume to give a Parole or Watch-word different from what he received, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded:
And whosoever shall be found guilty of such Offence in Great Britain, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, shall be punished at the Discretion of a General Court-martial.
Any Person belonging to Our Forces employed in any of Our Dominions beyond the Seas, or in Foreign Parts, who, by discharging Fire Arms, drawing of Swords, beating of Drums, or by any other Means whatever, shall occasion false Alarms, in Camp, Garrison, or Quarters, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded:
And whosoever shall be found guilty of the said Offence in Great Britain, or Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, shall be punished at the Discretion of a General Court-martial.
Whosoever shall be convicted of holding Correspondence with, or giving Intelligence to the Enemy, either directly or indirectly, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Whosoever shall relieve the Enemy with Money, Victuals, or Ammunition, or shall knowingly harbour or protect an Enemy, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
All publick Stores taken in the Enemy's Camp, Towns, Forts, or Magazines, whether of Artillery, Ammunition, Clothing, Forage, or Provisions, shall be secured for Our Service; for the Neglect of which Our Commanders in Chief are to be answerable.
If any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall leave his Commanding Officer, or his Post or Colours to go in search of Plunder, he shall, upon being convicted thereof, suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial, shall be awarded.
Any Person belonging to Our Forces employed in Foreign Parts, who shall cast away his Arms or Ammunition, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded:
And whosoever shall be found guilty of such Offence in Great Britain, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, shall be punished at the Discretion of a General Court-martial.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier shall misbehave himself before the Enemy, or shall shamefully abandon or deliver up any Garrison, Fortress, Post, or Guard, committed to his charge, or which he shall be commanded to defend; shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Whatsoever Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier shall compel the Governor or Commanding Officer of any Garrison, Fortress, Post, or Guard, to deliver up to the Enemy, or to abandon the same, or shall speak Words, or use any other Means to induce such Governor, Commanding Officer, or others, to misbehave before the Enemy, or shamefully to abandon or deliver up any Garrison Fortress, Post, or Guard, committed to their respective Charge, or which he or they shall be commanded to defend; shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a General Court-martial shall be awarded.
Officers having Brevets, or Commissions of a prior Date to those of the Regiment in which they now serve may take place in Courts-martial, and on Detachments, when composed of different Corps, according to the Rank given them in their Brevets, or Dates of their former Commissions, but in the Regiment, Troop, or Company, to which such Brevet Officers, and those who have Commissions of a prior Date, do belong, they shall do Duty, and take Rank, both in Courts-martial and on Detachments which shall be composed only of their own Corps, according to the Commissions by which they are mustered in the said Corps.
If upon Marches, Guards, or in Quarters any of Our Regiments of Life Guards, or Regiment of Horse Guards, shall happen to join or do Duty together, the eldest Officer by Commission there, on Duty or in Quarters, shall command the Whole, and give out Orders for what is needful to Our Service; Regard being always had to the respective Ranks of those Corps, and the Posts they usually occupy.
And in like Manner also, if any Regiments, Troops, or Detachments of Our Life Guards, Horse Guards, or Foot Guards, shall happen to march with or be encamped or quartered with any Bodies or Detachments of Our other Troops, the eldest Officer, without respect to Corps, shall take upon him the Command of the Whole, and give the necessary Orders to Our Service.
Whenever Our Regiments of Life Guards, or Detachments from the same, shall do Duty together, unmixed with other Corps, they are to be considered as One Corps, and the Officers are to take Rank and do Duty according to the Commissions by which they shall be mustered.
And when Our Regiments of Foot Guards, or Detachments from Our said Regiments, shall do Duty together unmixed with other Corps, they shall be considered as One Corps, and the Officers shall take Rank and do Duty according to the Commissions by which they are mustered.
Officers of Our Regular Forces, with whom the officers of Our Militia Forces take Rank, by a special Provision made by Parliament in that Behalf, as the youngest of their Degree, shall in like Manner have Precedence of, and command the Officers of equal Degree, serving in Our Fencible Forces, Our Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Corps; and the Officers of Our Fencible Forces, Militia, Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Corps, shall rank together according to the Dates of their respective Commissions.
But, notwithstanding the Regulation contained in the preceding Article, such Officers of Our Fencibles as have Commissions dated on or before the 25th Day of July 1798, shall continue to rank with the Officers of Our Regular Forces of equal Degree, according to the Dates of their respective Commissions; except when acting in conjunction also with the Officers of Our Militia; in which Case, if the Commission of the Fencible Officer be of a junior Date to that of the Militia Officer of the same Degree, the Regular Officer of equal Rank, although his Commission be of a junior Date to that of the Fencible Officer, shall have Precedence of, and command both.
A General Court-martial in Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, shall not consist of less than Nine Commissioned Officers; and the President of such Court-martial shall not be the Commander in Chief, or Governor of the Garrison, where the Offender shall be tried, nor be under the Degree of a Field Officer.
A General Court-martial held in Our Garrison of Gibraltar, or in any other Place beyond the Seas, shall not consist of less that Nine Commissioned Officers, except the same shall be holden in Africa, or in New South Wales, in which Places a General Court-martial may consist of any Number of Commissioned Officers not less than Five; and the President shall not be under the Degree of a Field Officer, unless where a Field Officer cannot be had; nor shall in any Case whatever be the Commander in Chief, or Governor of the Garrison, where the Offender shall be tried, nor under the Degree of a Captain.
Whereas these Our Rules and Articles are to be observed by, and do in all Respects regard Our Regiments of Life Guards, Horse Guards, and Foot Guards, as well as Our other Forces: Now, for preventing Disputes which may arise between Officers of Our Life Guards and Horse Guards, and Officers of Our Foot Guards, in relation to their holding of Courts-martial, and upon other Points of Duty; it is hereby declared to be Our Will and Pleasure, That when it shall be found necessary to bring any Officer or Soldier belonging to Our said Regiments of Life Guards or Regiment of Horse Guards, before a General Court-martial for Differences arising purely among themselves, or for Crimes relating to Discipline, or Breach of Orders, such Courts-martial shall be composed of Officers serving in any or all of those Corps of Life Guards and Horse Guards, (as they may then happen to lie for their being most conveniently assembled) wherein the Officers are to take post according to the Dates and Degrees of Rank granted them in their respective Commissions, without Regard to the Seniority of Corps, or other formerly pretended Privileges.
In like Manner also the Officers of Our Three Regiments of Foot Guards, for Differences arising purely among themselves, or for Crimes relating to Discipline or Breach of Orders, shall of themselves, compose Courts-martial, and take Rank according to their Commissions; but for all Disputes or Differences which may happen between Officers or Soldiers belonging to Our said Corps of Life Guards or Horse Guards, and Officers or Soldiers belonging to Our Regiments of Foot Guards, or between any Officers or Soldiers belonging to either of those Corps of Life Guards, Horse Guards, or Foot Guards, and Officers or Soldiers of any other of Our Forces, or among Officers or Soldiers of Our other Troops, but belonging to different Corps, the Courts-martial to be appointed in such Cases shall be equally composed of Officers belonging to the Corps in which the Parties complaining and complained of do then serve, and the President shall be taken by Turns as nearly as Our Service will, with convenience, admit, beginning first by an Officer of One of Our Regiments of Life Guards; and so on in Course out of the other Corps, according to the Seniority in Rank of such Corps respectively.
No Officer serving in the Militia shall sit in any Court-martial, upon the Trial of any Officer or Soldier, serving in any of Our other Forces; nor shall any Officer in Our other Forces sit in any Court-martial upon the Trial of any Officer or Soldier serving in the Militia.
The Members both of General and Regimental Courts-martial shall, when belonging to different Corps, take the same Rank which they hold in the Army; but when Courts-martial shall be composed of Officers of one Corps, they shall take their Ranks according to the Dates of the Commissions by which they are mustered in the said Corps.
The Judge-advocate General, or some Person deputed by him, shall prosecute in Our Name; and in all Trials of Offenders by General Courts-martial, administer to each Member the following Oaths:
You shall well and truly try and determine, according to your Evidence, the Matter now before you. So help you GOD.
I A.B. do swear, That I will duly administer Justice, according to the Rules and Articles for the better Government of His Majesty's Forces, and according to an Act of Parliament now in Force for the Punishment of Mutiny and Desertion, and of other Crimes therein mentioned, without Partiality, Favour, or Affection; and if any Doubt shall arise, which is not explained by the said Articles or Act of Parliament, according to my Conscience, the best of my Understanding and the Custom of War in the like Cases: And I do further swear, That I will not divulge the Sentence of the Court, until it shall be approved of by His Majesty, or by some Person duly authorised by him; neither will I, upon any Account, at any Time whatsoever, disclose or discover the Vote or Opinion of any particular member of the Court-martial, unless required to give Evidence thereof, as a Witness, by a Court of Justice, or a Court-martial, in a due Course of Law. So help me GOD.
And as soon as the said Oaths shall have been administered to the respective Members, the President of the Court shall administer to the Judge-advocate, or Person officiating as such, an Oath, in the following Words:
I A.B. do swear, That I will not, upon any Account, at any Time whatsoever, disclose or discover the Vote or Opinion of any particular Member of the Court-martial, unless required to give Evidence thereof, as a Witness, by a Court of Justice, or a Court-martial in a due Course of Law. So help me GOD.
All the Members of a Court-martial are to behave with Decency; and in the giving of their Votes, are to begin with the youngest.
No Sentence of Death shall be given against any Offender by any General Court-martial, consisting of less then Thirteen members (except the same shall be holden in Africa, or in New South Wales), nor unless Nine Officers present shall concur therein; nor shall such Sentence be given in any Case, where a Court-martial shall consist of more Officers than Thirteen, nor in Africa or New South Wales, when a Court-martial shall consist of a less Number of Officers, without the Concurrence of Two Thirds at the least of the Officers present.
No Field Officer shall be tried by any Person under the Degree of a Captain; nor shall any Proceedings or Trials be carried on excepting between the Hours of Eight in the Morning and Three in the Afternoon, except in Cases which require an immediate Example.
No Sentence of a General court-martial shall be put in Execution till after a Report shall have been made of the whole Proceedings to Us, or to the Officer commanding in Chief, or some other Person duly authorised by Us under Our Sign Manual to confirm the same, and Our or his Directions shall have been signified thereupon.
The Commissioned Officers of every Regiment may, by the Appointment of their Colonel or Commanding Officer, without any special Warrant from Us, or other Authority than these Our Rules and Articles of War, hold Regimental Courts-martial for enquiring into such Disputes or Criminal Matters, as may come before them, and for the inflicting corporal or other Punishments for small Offences, and shall give Judgement by the Majority of Voices; but no Sentence shall be executed until the Commanding Officer (not being a Member of the Court-Martial), or the Governor of the Garrison, shall have confirmed the same.
No Regimental Court-martial shall consist of less than Five Officers, excepting in Cases where that Number cannot be conveniently assembled, when Three may be sufficient; who are likewise to determine upon the Sentence by the Majority of Voices; which Sentence is to be confirmed by the Commanding Officer, not being a Member of the Court-martial, before it be carried into Execution.
Every Governor or Commander of a Garrison, Fort, Castle, or Barrack, when he shall judge it to be most conducive to the Good of Our Service; and the Commanding Officer in any Town or Place where the Forces under his Command shall consist of Detachments from different Regiments, or Independent Companies, and where there shall not be a sufficient Number of Officers of the corps to which the Person to be tried shall belong, or in which the Dispute or Criminal Matter in question shall have happened, to form a Regimental Court-martial; also every Officer commanding any Number of Troops or Companies detached from different Corps, and formed into a separate Regiment, or Battalion, may assemble Courts-martial composed of the Officers under their respective Command, although of distinct Corps; and such Courts-martial shall have the like Powers, and proceed in the like Manner, as Regimental Courts-martial; and their Sentence shall not be executed until it shall be confirmed by such Governor or Commanding Officer.
And whereas the Situation of Officers, not commissioned by Us, or by any of Our General Officers having Authority from Us to grant Commissions, but appointed by Warrant under the Signature of the Colonels or Commandants of the corps to which they belong, has not been hitherto defined, in regard to their being liable to be tried other wise than by a General Court-martial; and it appearing to be highly necessary that Our Royal Pleasure should be declared and made known, touching the Mode of Trial for such Officers; We do accordingly direct, that in all Cases where the Offence charged against any Warrant Officer may not be of so heinous a Nature as to require Investigation by a General Court-martial, such Officer may, and shall be tried by a Detachment Court-martial, to be appointed by the General Officer commanding Our Forces in the district where the Corps shall be situated, if in Great Britain, Ireland Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark or Man, and, if in any of Our Dominions beyond the Seas, or in Foreign Parts, by the General commanding in Chief on the Station; which Detachment Courts-martial are to be held, and to proceed, in the Nature of Regimental courts-martial.
Provided that such detachment Court-martial shall not in any Case consist of less than Five Commissioned Officers, of whom not more than Two shall be taken from the Regiment, in which the Warrant Officer to be tried is serving; that the President of such Court-martial shall not be under the Degree of a Field Officer; that not more than Two of the other Members shall be under the Degree of a Captain; and that no Sentence of such Court-martial shall be put in Execution, if the Trial shall have taken place in Great Britain, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, until after a Report shall have been made to Us, and Our Directions shall have been signified thereupon, through the Commander in chief of Our Forces, or (in his Absence) through Our Secretary at War; or, in Ireland, or in any of Our Dominions beyond the Seas, or in Foreign Parts, until such Sentence shall have been confirmed by the General Officer commanding in chief on the Station; who is hereby authorized to cause such Sentence to be put in Execution, or to suspend, mitigate, or remit the same, as he shall judge best and most conducive to the good of Our Service, without waiting for Our further Orders.
Provided also, that no Court-martial shall have Authority by their Sentence to award corporal Punishment, in any Case of a Warrant Officer; nor shall a Warrant Officer be liable to be reduced, by the Sentence of either a General or Detachment Court-martial, to serve in an inferior Situation, unless he shall have been originally enlisted as a Private Soldier, and shall have continued in the Service, until his Appointment to be an Officer by Warrant.
In all Trials by any Courts-martial (other than General Courts-martial) the Person appointed to be the President thereof shall administer to each of the other Members thereof the following Oaths:
You shall well and truly try and determine, according to your Evidence, the Matter now before you: So help you GOD.
I A.B. do swear, That I will duly administer Justice, according to the Rules and Articles for the better Government of His Majesty's Forces, and according to an Act of Parliament now in Force for the Punishment of Mutiny and Desertion and of other Crimes therein mentioned, without Partiality, Favour, or Affection; and if any Doubt shall arise, which is not explained by the said Articles or Act of Parliament, according to my Conscience, the best of my Understanding, and the Custom of War in the like Cases. So help me GOD.
And as soon as the said Oaths shall have been administered by the President to the other Members, any One of the said Members shall administer the said Oaths to the President: and the President of every Court-martial, other than a General Court-martial (not being under the Rank of a Captain), shall be appointed by the Commanding Officer of the Regiment, Detachment, or Brigade, or the Governor or Commander of the Garrison, Fort, Castle, or Barrack, directing such Court-martial.
All Persons who give Evidence before any General or other Court-martial are to be examined upon Oath.
No Commissioned Officer shall be cashiered or dismissed from Our Service, excepting by an Order from Us, or by the Sentence of a General Court-martial, approved by Us, or by some Person having Authority from Us, under Our Sign Manual; but Non-commissioned Officers may be discharged as private Soldiers, and, by the Order of the Colonel of the Regiment, or by the Sentence of a Regimental Court-martial be reduced to private Centinels.
No Person whatsoever shall use menacing Words, Signs or Gestures, in the Presence of a Court-martial then sitting, or shall cause any disorder or Riot, so as to disturb their Proceedings, on the Penalty of being punished at the Discretion of the said Court-martial.
To the End that Offenders may be brought to Justice, We herby direct, That whenever any Officer or Soldier shall commit a Crime deserving Punishment, he shall, by his Commanding Officer, be put in Arrest, if an Officer; or a Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, be imprisoned, until he shall be either tried by a Court-martial, or shall be lawfully discharged by a proper Authority.
No Officer or Soldier, who shall be put in Arrest or Imprisonment, shall continue in his Confinement more than Eight Days, or until such Time as a Court-martial can be conveniently assembled.
No Officer commanding a Guard, or Provost-martial, shall refuse to receive, or keep, any Prisoner committed to his Charge by any Officer belonging to Our Forces; which Officer shall, at the same Time, deliver an Account in Writing, signed by himself, of the Crime with which the said Prisoner is charged.
No Officer commanding a Guard, or Provost-martial, shall presume to release any Prisoner committed to his Charge, without proper Authority for so doing; nor shall he suffer any Prisoner to escape, on the Penalty of being punished for it by the Sentence of a Court-martial.
Every Officer or Provost-martial, to whose Charge Prisoners shall be committed, is hereby required, within Twenty-four Hours after such Commitment, or as soon as he shall be relieved from his Guard, to give in Writing to the Colonel or Commanding Officer of the Regiment to which the Prisoner belongs, (where the Prisoner is confined upon the Guard belonging to the said regiment, and his Offence only relates to the Neglect of Duty in his own Corps), or to the Commander in Chief, their Names, their Crimes, and the Names of the Officers who committed them, on the Penalty of being punished for his Disobedience or Neglect at the Discretion of a Court-martial.
And if any Officer under Arrest shall leave his Confinement before he is set at Liberty by the Officer who confined him, or by a superior Power, he shall, upon being convicted thereof before a General Court-martial, be cashiered.
Whatsoever Commissioned Officer shall be convicted before a General Court-martial of behaving in a scandalous infamous Manner, such as is unbecoming the Character of an Officer and a Gentleman, shall be discharged from Our Service. Provided, however, that in every Charge preferred against an Officer for such scandalous or unbecoming Behaviour, the Fact or Facts whereon the same is grounded, shall be clearly specified.
The Accounts of all Regiments, Troops, or Companies in our Service, other than Our Corps of Life Guards, Horse Guards, and Foot Guards, shall be made up and transmitted at such Times and in such Manner as We have been pleased to direct by Our late Regulations touching Regimental and District Pay Masters, and the Mode of mustering, paying, and settling the Accompts of Our Army; or according to such Regulations as We may think fit to establish in relation thereto.
All Commissions and Leaves of Absence granted by Us, or by any of Our Generals having Authority from Us, shall be entered in the Books of Our Secretary at War, and Commissary-general, otherwise they will not be allowed of at the Musters.
When any Commissioned Officer shall happen to die, or be killed in Our Service, the Major of the Regiment, or the Officer doing the Major's Duty in his Absence, shall immediately secure all his Effects or Equipage then in Camp or Quarters; and shall before the next Regimental Court-martial make an Inventory thereof, and forthwith transmit the same to the Office of Our Secretary at War, to the End that, after Payment of such Officer's Regimental Debts and Quarters, and Interment, the Overplus, if any be, may be paid over to his legal Representative.
When any Non-commissioned Officer or private Soldier shall happen to die or be killed in Our Service, the then Commanding Officer of the Troop or Company shall, in the Presence of Two other Commissioned Officers, take an Account of whatever Effects he dies possessed of, besides his Regimental Clothing, Arms, and Accoutrements, and of his Credits, and shall take Care that the same be applied in the first Instance to the Liquidation of his Regimental Debts; the Remainder, of Balance, shall then be placed in the Hands of the Regimental Paymaster, and shall be duly paid over by him to the Representative of such Non-commissioned Officer or Private, if claimed within the Periods limited by Our Regulation on this Head: If not claimed within such limited Period, the same shall be paid on Application to the Regimental Agent.
The Effects and Credits of Deserters shall be applied in like Manner to the Liquidation of their Regimental Debts; and the Remainder, if any, shall be brought to the Credit of the Publick.
All Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Gunners, Conductors, Drivers, or any other Persons whatsoever receiving Pay or being hired in the Service of Our Artillery, shall be governed by these Our Rules and Articles, and shall be subject to be tried by Courts-martial, in like Manner with the Officers and Soldiers of Our other Troops.
For Differences arising amongst themselves, or in Matters relating solely to their own Corps, the Courts-martial may be composed of their own Officers; but where a sufficient Number of such Officers cannot be assembled, or in Matters wherein other Corps are interested, the Officers of Artillery shall sit in Courts-martial with the Officers of Our other Corps, taking Rank according to the Dates of their respective Commissions, and no otherwise.
In like Manner also all Officers serving in the Corps of Royal Engineers, and all Officers and Persons serving in the Corps of Royal Military Surveyors and Draftsmen, or in the Corps of Royal Military Artificers and Labourers, and all Master Gunners and Gunners under the Ordnance, are to be governed by these Our Rules and Articles; and equally subject to Trial by Courts-martial, as Officers and Soldiers of Our other Troops.
The Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Soldiers, of any Troops which are or shall be raised or serving in Governments, Colonies, or Dominions, or in Countries or Places in Possession of or occupied by Our Subjects, or any of Our forces, being mustered and in Pay, shall, at all Times, and in all Places, when joined, or acting in Conjunction with Our British forces, or under the Command of any Officer having a Commission immediately from Us, be governed by these Rules and Articles of War, and shall be subject to be tried by Courts-martial, in like Manner as the Officers and Soldiers of Our British Troops.
Whereas, notwithstanding the Regulations which We were pleased to make for settling the Rank of Provincial General and Field Officers in North America, Difficulties have arisen with regard to the Rank of the said Officers when acting in Conjunction with Our Regular Forces; and We being willing to give due Encouragement to Officers serving in Our Provincial Troops, it is Our Will and Pleasure, That for the future, all General Officers and Colonels serving by Commission from any of the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors, or Presidents of the Council for the Time being, of Our Provinces and Colonies in North America, shall, on all Detachments, Courts-martial, or other Duty, wherein they may be employed in Conjunction with Our Regular Forces take Rank next after all Colonels serving by Commissions signed by Us, or by Our General commanding in Chief in North America, although the Commissions of such Provincial Generals and Colonels should be of elder Date: And that, in like Manner, Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains, and other inferior Officers, serving by Commission from the Governors, Lieutenant or Deputy Governors, or Presidents of the Council for the Time being of Our said Provinces and Colonies in North America, shall, on all Detachments, Courts-martial, or other Duty, wherein they may be employed in Conjunction with Our Regular Forces, have Rank next after all Officers of the like Rank serving by Commissions signed by Us, or by Our General commanding in Chief in North America, although the Commissions of such Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains, and other inferior Officers, should be of elder Date to those of the like Rank signed by Us, or by Our said General.
Whenever any of Our Forces shall be employed in the East Indies, the Officers of Our Forces so employed may, as often as it shall be judged necessary, be associated with Officers in the Service of the United Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies, to sit in Conjunction at Courts-martial; and may proceed to the Trial of any Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, in like Manner as if such Courts-martial were composed of Officers of Our Forces, or of Officers in the Service of the said United Company, only: With this Distinction, that, upon the Trial of any Officer or Soldier of our Forces, regard shall be had to the regulations and Provisions contained in the Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion and the Rules and Articles of War made by Us for the Government of all Our Forces; and the Oaths administered to the several Members of the Court-martial shall be in the Terms therein prescribed: And upon the Trail of any Officer or Soldier in the service of the said United Company, regard shall be had to the Regulations and Provisions made by or in pursuance of an Act passed in the Twenty-seventh Year of the Reign of Our late Royal Grandfather, intituled, An Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion of Officers and Soldiers in the Service of the United Company of Merchants trading to the East-Indies, and for the Punishments of Offences committed in the East Indies, or at the Island of Saint Helena; and the Oaths administered to the several Members of the Court-martial shall be in the Terms prescribed by the same Act.
Whenever any of Our forces shall be employed in the East Indies, the Officers of Our Forces so employed are, upon all Detachments, at Courts-martial, and upon any other Duty, wherein they may be joined with Officers in the service of the United Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies, to command and have Precedence of Officers of equal Rank in the Service of the said United Company, although the Commissions of the said United Company's Officers should be of elder Date.
Whenever any of Our Forces shall be embarked on Board Our Ships of War, or any other Ships which may have been regularly commissioned by Us, and which may be employed in the Transportation of Our Troops; Our Will and PLeasure is, That the Officers and Soldiers of such Forces, from the Time of Embarkation on board any Ship as above described, shall strictly conform themselves to the Laws and Regulations established for the Government and Discipline of the said Ship, and shall consider themselves, for these necessary Purposes, as under the Command of the Senior Officer of the particular Ship, as well as of the Superior Officer of the Fleet (if any), to which such Ship belongs.
No Officer, Non-commissioned Officer, or Soldier, shall be adjudged to suffer any Punishment extending to Life or Limb by virtue of these Our Rules and Articles, within Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and the islands thereunto belonging , except for such Crimes as are herein expressly declared to be so punishable within the same:
But all Crimes not capital, and all Disorders and Neglects, which Officers and Soldiers may be guilty of to the Prejudice of good Order and Military Discipline, though not specified in the said Rules and Articles, are to be taken Cognizance of by a General or Regimental Court-martial, according to the Nature and Degree of the Offence, and to be punished at their DIscretion.
All Serjeants and Non-commissioned Officers, and Persons employed on the recruiting Service, receiving any regular Pay in respect of such Service, and all Sutlers and Retainers to a Camp, and all Persons whatsoever serving with Our Armies in the Field, though no inlisted Soldiers, are to be subject to Orders, according to the Rules and Discipline of War.
Notwithstanding its being directed, in the Eleventh Section of these Our Rules and Articles, that every Commanding Officer shall deliver up to the Civil Magistrate all Persons under his Command who shall be accused of any Crimes which are punishable by the known Laws of the Land; yet in Our Garrison of Gibraltar, and the Island of Malta, or in any Place beyond the Seas, where Our Forces now are or may be employed, where there is no Form of Our Civil Judicature in Force, the General, Governor, or other Officer commanding in Chief for the Time being is to appoint General Courts-martial as Occasion may require, for the Trial of any such Persons under his Command, accused of wilful Murder, Theft, Robbery, Rape, Coining or Clipping the Coin of Great Britain, or any Foreign Coin current in the Garrison or Place under his Command or of having used Violence or committed any Offence against the Persons or Property of any of Our Subjects, or of any other s entitled to Our Protections: And the Persons so accused, if found guilty, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment, according to the Nature and Degree of their respective Offences, as by the Sentence of any such General Court-martial shall be awarded.
All these Our Rules and Articles are to be read and published Once in every Two Months, at the Head of every Regiment, Troop, or Company, mustered, or to be mustered, in our Service; and are to be duly observed and exactly obeyed by all Officers and Soldiers who are or shall be in Our Service; excepting in what relates to the Payment of Soldiers Quarters, and to Carriages; which is, in Ireland, to be regulated by the Lord Lieutenant or Chief Governor or Governors of that Part of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and in Our Islands, Provinces, and Garrisons beyond the Seas, by the respective Governors of the same, according as the different Circumstances of the said Part of Our United Kingdom, and of Our said Islands, Provinces, or Garrisons, may require.
G.R.