United States Statutes at Large/Volume 4/22nd Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 68

United States Statutes at Large, Volume 4
United States Congress
Public Acts of the Twenty-Second Congress, Second Session, Chapter 68
3109475United States Statutes at Large, Volume 4 — Public Acts of the Twenty-Second Congress, Second Session, Chapter 68United States Congress


March 2, 1833.

Chap. LXVIII.An Act to improve the condition of the non-commissioned officers and privates of the army and marine corps of the United States, and to prevent desertion.[1]

Term of enlistment in the army, and pay.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, from and after the passage of this act, all enlistments in the army of the United States shall be for three years; and that the monthly pay of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers shall be as follows, viz: to each sergeant major, quartermaster sergeant, and chief musician, sixteen dollars; to the first sergeant of a company, fifteen dollars; to all other sergeants, twelve dollars each; to each artificer, ten dollars; to each corporal, eight dollars, and to each musician and private soldier, six dollars:Term of enlistment in the marine corps, and pay. and that all enlistments in the marine corps shall be for four years; and that the monthly pay of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers in said corps, shall be as follows, viz: to each sergeant major and quartermaster sergeant, seventeen dollars; to the drum major, fife major, the orderly sergeants of posts, and first sergeants of guards at sea, sixteen dollars each; to all other sergeants, thirteen dollars; to each corporal, nine dollars; to each musician, eight dollars; and to each private, seven dollars.

One dollar of monthly pay to be retained, &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That one dollar of the monthly pay of every musician and private soldier, shall be retained until the expiration of the two first years of their enlistment, when each shall receive the twenty-four dollars retained pay, which shall have so accrued: Provided, He shall have served honestly and faithfully that portion of the term of his enlistment.

Bounty for re-enlistment.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That every able-bodied musician or private soldier, who may re-enlist into his company or regiment, within two months before, or one month after, the expiration of his term of service, shall receive two months’ extra pay, besides the pay and other allowances which may be due to him on account of the unexpired period of any enlistment.

Pay of re-enlisted men.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That every able-bodied musician or soldier, who shall re-enlist into his company or regiment, as specified in the third section of this act, shall receive his full pay, at the rate of six dollars per month, without any temporary deduction therefrom.

Premiums and bounties not to be allowed.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That no premium to offices, for enlisting recruits, nor bounties to recruits for enlisting, shall be allowed after the passage of this act.

No convict to be enlisted.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That no person who has been convicted of any criminal offence, shall be enlisted into the army of the United States.

Seventh section of act of May 16, 1812, ch. 86, repealed.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the seventh section of the act, entitled, “An act making further provision for the army of the United States,” passed on the sixteenth May, one thousand eight hundred and twelve, be, and the same is hereby, repealed, so far as it applies to any enlisted soldier, who shall be convicted by a general court martial of the crime of desertion.[2]

Approved, March 2, 1833.


  1. See notes of acts relating to the marine corps, vol. i. p. 594.
  2. “No person in the army, navy, or marine corps shall be allowed to draw both a pension as an invalid and the pay of his rank or station in the service, unless the alleged disability for which the pension was granted be such as to have occassioned his employment in a lower grade, or in some civil branch of the service.” Act of April 30, 1844, ch. 15.