American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-02-17


RE-ENLIsTED VETERANs.-Soldiers
in the service, who re-enlisted for three
years, cannot Immediately be credited
to any particular district, for the
reason that their muster-in rolls are
not accessible; but the matter will be
made all right by and by, when the
returns ofall such men shall be return
ed to the headquarters of the respec-
tive districts.
Committees of sub-districts which
are paying bounties may safely make
contingent arrangements with the men
now at home on furlough to pay the
local bounties as soon as the proper
returns are received, with their names
credited to such sub-districts. The
acknowledgment of the enlisted man
that he has received a local bounty
from any particular sub-district Sc
cures his credit to such sub-district.
Very properly the people of the
sub-districts are anxious to pay local
bounties to their own brave men who
have been battling for the country for
nearly three years, and are willing to
continue to do so; and they can do it,
if they only will have little patience.
The authorities at Washington are
not to blame for this delay.
The above, from the Pittsburgh Ga
zette, is the first assurance that credit
can be had to sub-district for the yete-
rams belonging to it, on their receipt of a
local bounty. Indeed up to this date, the
contrary has been the general belief.
In this county there are'quite num-
Der of veterans from the various depart
ments The township to which we more
particularly owe allegiance, PENN, has
eight veterans from the 102d reg't., we
were anxious to pay them local bounty
and have credit for them; they too,
were anxious to represent us. Indeed,
most Of them declared that they would
not represent any other township. 1t was
frequently intimated however, that unless
their mastering in papers placed them to
the credit of our township, they could
not avail themselves of our bounty, nor
be credit to our quota. This we tho't
was unjust, for, be the blame, where it
may, we were satisfied it was not with
them. There had been an order read to
their regiment informing them that they
could avail themselves of local bounty ;
and, relying on the justice and liberality
of their respective town ships, they rest
ed easy, believing that they would, as a
matter of course, be credit to their town
ship and receive whatever bounty its lib
erality allowed On seeing intimations
from official quarters that this was uncer-
tain, inquiry was at once made of the
Provost Marshal, who informed us that as
his instructions then stood he could not
give a credit for veterans-that they
HOuiu udNC " po CeitIheu W ullnNlOIn
the Provost Marshal Generals Office, and
that their mustering-in, papers would be
the guide in the matter of credits-that
unless those papers specified the township
to which they belonged, they could only
be credit to the county at large. In
other words, that local districts which
had not made their arrangements before
the veterans were mustered in, could not
afterwards avail themselves of them, un-
less some order not yet promulgated should
so order it,
The whole quota of Penn township
will be twelve, fass Csc were put in
some time 50, leaving just room for the
eight cfapsalready mentioned, but af-
ter exhaIisting every means to obtain some
solution of the matter favorable to these
brave soldiers, (for their mastering pa
pers show them to belong to Butler co.,
the committee, on Monday last, finished
her quota by new recruits, few hours af-
ter we find the above in the Gazette. Ma
ny districts cannot now provide for their
veterans, the only order therefore in ref
erence to them, that would enable them
all to get local bounties, would be an Or
der giving them leave to amend their
mustering-in papers so as to represent
whatever district would make satisfactory
arrangements with them. This, we tho't
was the intention of the Government at
frst--at any rate let the Provost Marshal
General, issue an order al once settling
this whole matter.