done only when required by the accounting officers. The bounty being no part of the estate of the deceased, but a gratuity to the heirs, will in no case be paid to an administrator.

DISCHARGED SOLDIERS.-When a soldier (or volunteer) is discharged, he is (or should be) furnished with a regular "Discharge" and two (duplicate) "Pay Certificates," and one or more disability certificates, if discharged on account of disability. Upon these papers he can be paid by a paymaster of the army upon their presentation. Should he fail to present them for payment to a paymaster, or, having presented them, and payment being refused, they are sent to this office, the applicant must state the reasons for such refusal, accompanied by proof of identity and authentication, as in the case of deceased soldiers. In no case should the "oath of identity," on the back of the "Discharge," be filled up, as the "Discharge" is returned to the soldier after his claim has been acted upon. Where "Pay Certificates" and certificates of disability have been withheld, he must send all other papers given to him at the time of his discharge, together with the certificate of his captain that no such certificates were given to him, and the reasons for withholding them. In case the certificates are claimed to have been lost, an affidavit of such loss must be furnished, stating the circumstances under which it occurred; that he had diligently searched for them without success, and that he has not received pay thereon, nor assigned them to any person.

No soldier, discharged under any circumstances, can receive the bounty provided by the act of July

22, 1861, unless "he shall have served for a period of two years, or during the war, if sooner ended."

PENSIONS. Applications for pensions, on account of "disability" received in the service, or for widows and children under the act of July 14, 1862, should be made to the Commissioner of Pensions, and not to this office.

MODE OF PAYMENT.-Payments will be made by an order from the accounting officers on any paymaster of the army. Such order will require the signature of the claimant on its face, written by himself, or herself, and duly witnessed.

MODE OF PRESENTING CLAIMS.-All claims for arrears' of pay and bounty may be sent directly to this office. When received they are entered upon the register; as soon as practicable they will be examined, and if found correct in form, they are placed upon the files for settlement and their receipt acknowledged. If incorrect, the party sending it is immediately notified. No "special cases" will be made at the solicitation of attorneys, but when evidence can be obtained, cases will be audited in the order in which they are received. The only exception to this rule is when, in settling a case in its order, evidence is found upon the same rolls by which to settle other claims of soldiers deceased in the same company. Letters of inquiry in relation to a claim, should cify the name of the deceased and the company, regiment, and State to which he belonged, and in all cases, to secure an answer, the name, post-office, and State of the writer should be distinctly written.

spe

FORMS. The form accompanying this circular is intended only as a guide, and must be varied to suit

special cases. No claim is rejected on account of the form in which it is presented, if it substantially complies with the instructions.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.-Letters of inquiry, relating to the pay of soldiers in hospital or on furlough, should be addressed to the Paymaster General. Inquiries relating to the pay of deceased teamsters or other employees of the Quartermaster's Department, or for the pay of horses killed or lost in the service, to the Third Auditor, and relating to the pay and bounty of persons in the marine or naval service, to the Fourth Auditor.

POSTAGE. The Government pays all postages on such business communications, whether received or transmitted by this office.

EZRA B. FRENCH, Second Auditor of the Treasury Department, Washington City, D. C.

[If the soldier died unmarried, leaving no child, it should be here stated. If the application is by the mother, she should also state the name of the father of the deceased, his death, or abandonment of the support of his family, giving the date and all facts necessary to a proper understanding of the case. If the application is by the widow of the deceased, she should here state her maiden name, when, where,

and by whom she was married to hun, and whether or not there is record evidence of such marriage.]

I make this application to recover all arrears of pay or other allowances due to the deceased from the United States, and the bounty provided by the sixth section of the act of July 22, 1861.

and subscribed and made oath to the foregoing statement on this

We, and State of

and

the said

of the

on oath, say that we are and have been for

years well acquainted with —

the applicant, and with

in company

and know

to be the

deceased, who was a regiment

of the said deceased; [if he died unmarried, leaving no child, it should be here stated; and if the application is by the mother, the fact of her widowhood, or the abandonment of her husband should be stated as in the application;] and that we have no interest whatever in this application.

(Signature.)

(Signature.)

[Certificate of the Magistrate the same as above.]

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

THIRD AUDITOR'S OFFICE, October 10, 1861. SIR: I append hereto a copy of the RULES, prepared by the Secretary of War, and approved by the President, agreeably to the provisions of an act of Congress, approved March 3d, 1849, governing the preparation and adjustment of claims for horses and other property lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States.

Claimants should carefully examine the various classes of cases provided for, and assure themselves that their losses have occurred in one of the modes. pointed out by the statute; as it is only for such losses as come clearly within the specified cases that indemnity can be made. For losses occurring otherwise than as specified, indemnity can only be obtained through a special act of Congress

Each claimant, in transmitting his claim, should give the name of the paymaster, or other disbursing officer, by whom he was paid for his services, or for those of his horse, wagon, &c., &c.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. J. ATKINSON,

Third Auditor.

WAR DEPARTMENT, March 26, 1849.

Rules in relation to claims provided for by an act of Congress, approved 3d March, 1849, entitled "An act to provide for the payment of horses and other property lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States."

All claims under the provisions of this act must be