# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/27th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 186

Chap. CLXXXVI.—An Act respecting the organization of the army, and for other purposes.
Act of March 30, 1814, ch. 37, vol. 3, 113. Dragoons to be reduced. Repealed by act of April 4, 1844, ch. 11. 2d regm’t dragoons converted into riflemen. Artillery to be reduced. Infantry to be reduced. No enlistments to be made till after the reduction. Proviso.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter, and so soon as the reduction can be effected as herein provided, each company of dragoons shall consist of the commissioned officers as now provided by law, and of four sergeants, four corporals, two buglers, one farrier and blacksmith, and fifty privates; and the second regiment of dragoons now in service shall be converted, after the fourth day of March next, into a regiment of riflemen; and each company of artillery shall consist of the commissioned officers as now provided by law, and of four sergeants, four corporals, two artificers, two musicians, and forty-two privates; and each company of infantry shall consist of the same number of commissioned officers as now provided, and of four sergeants, four corporals, two musicians, and forty-two privates; and that no recruits shall be enlisted for the dragoons, artillery, or infantry, until the numbers in the several companies shall be reduced by the expiration of the term of service, by discharge, or other causes, below the number herein fixed for the said companies respectively: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the re-enlistment of non-commissioned officers whose terms of service may expire before the army shall be reduced to the number heretofore established.
Offices of superintendents of armories at Springfield and Harper’s Ferry abolished. Relative to master armorers, inspectors, clerks, &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the offices of the superintendents of the armories at Springfield and at Harper’s Ferry shall be, and the same are hereby abolished, and the duties thereof shall be performed by such officers of the ordnance corps as shall be designated by the President; and that from and after the first day of October next, the master armorers, at the national armories, shall receive, each, twelve hundred dollars, annually, payable quarter yearly; and the inspectors and clerks, each, eight hundred dollars per annum; and the paymasters and military storekeepers, at the armories, and at the arsenals of construction at Pittsburg, Watervliet, and Washington city, shall receive, each, twelve hundred and fifty dollars annually, payable in like manner, and the said paymasters and military storekeepers, shall give security for the faithful discharge of their duties, in such sum as the Secretary of War shall prescribe. And the two military storekeepers, authorized by the1821, ch. 13. act of second of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, shall receive, each, twelve hundred and fifty dollars per annum. And no military storekeeper, at arsenals, shall, after the first day of October next, receive, as pay, or emoluments, beyond eight hundred dollars per annum, besides quarters actually provided and occupied as such, and the number authorized to be thus employed is hereby limited to ten; and all other offices of military storekeepers are hereby abolished, and discontinued, on and after the first day of October, and the officers hereby dismissed, shall be allowed three months’ pay in addition to the pay and emoluments to which they may be entitled on that day. And none of the above-named officers, and no officers at the armories, of any grade whatever, shall hereafter receive emoluments of any kind, or any compensation or commutation beyond their stipulated ​pay, in money, except quarters actually provided for and occupied by such officers.
Office of Com. Gen. of Purchases abolished. Duties to be performed by whom, &c.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the office of Commissary General of Purchases, sometimes called Commissary of Purchases, shall be, and the same is hereby abolished, and the duties thereof shall hereafter be performed by the officers of the Quartermaster’s department, with such of the officers and clerks now attached to the Purchasing department as shall be authorized by the Secretary of War, and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the said Secretary, under the sanction of the President of the United States.
Offices of Inspector General, 3 paymasters, &c. abolished. 1846, ch. 3.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That, within one month after the passage of this act, the offices of one inspector general, of three paymasters, two surgeons, and ten assistant surgeons of the army shall be abolished, and that number of paymasters, surgeons, and assistant surgeons, shall be discharged by the President, and they shall be allowed three months’ pay, in addition to the pay and emoluments to which they may be entitled at the time of their discharge.
Employment of a person to superintend the manufacture of iron canon authorized.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That a competent person may be employed by the Ordnance bureau, under the direction of the Secretary of War, for such time as may be necessary, to superintend the manufacture of iron cannon at the several foundries where such cannon may be made under contracts with the United States, whose pay and emoluments shall not exceed those of a major of ordnance during the time he shall be so employed, to be paid out of the appropriations for armament of fortifications; and for the services rendered in such superintendence since the first day of March, eighteen hundred and forty-one, under the authority of the War Department, the same compensation shall be allowed as herein provided.
Rations allowed to certain officers by acts of the 3d March 1797, ch. 16, and 16th March 1802, ch. 9, hereafter to be allowed to the following officers only, &c. 1847, ch. 61, § 20.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the rations authorized to be allowed to a brigadier while commander-in-chief, and to each officer while commanding a separate post, by the act of March third, seventeen hundred and ninety-seven, and to the commanding officers of each separate post, by the act of March sixteen, eighteen hundred and two, shall hereafter be allowed to the following officers and no others: to the major general commanding the army, and to every officer commanding in chief a separate army, actually in the field; to the generals commanding the eastern and western geographical divisions; to the colonels or other officers commanding military geographical departments; to the commandant of each permanent or fixed post, garrisoned with troops, including the superintendent of the military academy at West Point, who is regarded as the commandant of that post.
Approved, August 23, 1842.