Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/412



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any commissioned or non-commissioned officer, musician, soldier, marine or seaman, disabled in the actual service of the United States, while in the line of his duty, by known wounds received during the revolutionary war, and who did not desert the service; or who, in consequence of disability as aforesaid, resigned his commission or took a discharge; or who, after incurring disability as aforesaid, was taken captive by the enemy, and remained either in captivity or on parole, until the close of said revolutionary war; or who, in consequence of known wounds received as aforesaid, has at any period since, become and continued disabled in such manner as to render him unable to procure a subsistence by manual labour; whether such officer, musician, soldier, marine or seaman, served as a volunteer, in any proper service against the common enemy, or belonged to a detachment of the militia, which served against the common enemy, or to the regular forces of the United States, or of any particular state, he shall, upon substantiating his claim, in the manner herein after described, be placed on the pension list of the United States, during life, or the continuance of such disability, and be entitled, under the regulations herein after mentioned, to receive such sum as shall be found just and proper, by the testimony adduced.

. And be it further enacted, That in substantiating such claim, the following rules and regulations shall be complied with, that is to say: All evidence shall be taken on oath or affirmation, before the judge of the district, or one of the judges of the territory in which such claimant resides, or before some person specially authorized by commission from said judge.

Decisive disability, the effect of a known wound or wounds, received while in actual service and line of duty against the common enemy, during the revolutionary war, must be proved by the affidavit of the commanding officer of the regiment, corps, company, ship, vessel, or craft, in which such claimant served; or of two other credible witnesses to the same effect, setting forth the time when, and place where, such known wound or wounds were received; and particularly describing the same.

The nature of such disability, and in what degree it prevents the claimant from obtaining his subsistence, must be proved by the affidavit of some reputable physician or surgeon, stating his opinion either from his own knowledge and acquaintance with the claimant, or from an examination of such claimant on oath or affirmation; which when necessary for that purpose, shall be administered to said claimant by said judge or commissioner. And the said physician or surgeon, in his affidavit, shall particularly describe the wound or wounds from whence the disability appears to be derived.

Every claimant must prove, by at least one credible witness, that he continued in service during the whole time for which he was detached, or for which he engaged, unless he was discharged, or left the service in consequence of some derangement of the army, or in consequence of his disability resigned his commission; or was after his disability in captivity or on parole, until the close of the revolutionary war. And in the same manner must prove his mode of life and employment since he left the service, and the place or places where he has since resided, and his place of residence, at the time of taking such testimony.

Every claimant shall, by his affidavit, give satisfactory reasons why he did not make application for a pension before, and that he is not on the pension list of any state; and the judge or commissioner shall certify in writing, his opinion of the credibility of the witnesses, whose affidavits