BY

illiam

LIEUTENANT COLONEL W. WINTIIROP,

DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, U. S. ARMY,

AUTHOR OF THE ANNOTATED DIGEST OF OPINIONS OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATES GENERAL.

IN TWO VOLUMES-VOL. I.

W. H. MORRISON,

LAW BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

War 9558.86

Bright Fund

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by

WILLIAM WINTHROP,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

Press of Thomas McGill & Co..

Washington, D. C.

91

ΤΟ

BVT. MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH HOLT, U. S. A.,

SECRETARY OF WAR IN 1860-1861,

WHO, LATER, AS THE

FIRST JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL OF THE ARMY,

AT THE MOST CRITICAL PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY,

FOUNDED OUR MILITARY JURISPRUDENCE,

THIS WORK IS,

WITH RESPECT AND AFFECTION,

DEDICATED,

BY HIS FORMER ASSISTANT.

PREFACE.

In view of the absence and want of a comprehensive treatise on the science of Military Law, it has been for some years the purpose of the author-a member of the bar in the practice of his profession when, in April, 1861, he entered the military service to attempt to supply such want with a work, which, by reason of its extended plan and full presentation of principles and precedents, should constitute, not merely a text book for the army, but a law book adapted to the use of lawyers and judges. The present treatise was substantially completed in 1880, when the author was called upon to publish his "Digest of Opinions of the Judge Advocates General," and some of the references embraced in the original work were inserted in the notes of that publication. Since its date certain unusually important military trials and investigations have been had, sundry valuable opinions upon questions of military law have been pronounced by the courts and other legal authorities, and our written military law-especially the Army Regulations-has been materially modified. Meanwhile also, in England, the time-honored Mutiny Act and Articles of War have wholly passed away and been succeeded by the new "Army Act" and "Rules of Procedure," a reform of great interest to the military student, and this legislation, &c., has been copiously illustrated by the excellent official "Manual of Military Law" and a series of minor commentaries.

In view of these changes, the present work has been revised, and in great part re-written, and the references have been brought down to the end of the year 1885. Apart from the views and conclusions of the author, the precedents, now first collected and considered, will, it is believed, be found to be valuable both as law and history. A complete history, for ex