GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 15. 
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, 
Adjutant General’s Office, 
Washington, February 15, 1862. 
1.. By direction of the President, Captain Harvey Tilden, 16th United 
States Infantry, is hereby dropped from the rolls of the Army. 
11.. Chapel tents, -when purchased by Regiments, will be transported 
by public conveyance in the same manner as tents furnished for the 
use of the soldiers by the Government. 
111.. The following Acts of Congress are published for the informa- 
tion of all concerned: 
1. AN ACT to amend an act entitled “ An act to regulate trade and intercourse with 
the Indian tribes, and to preset ve peace on the frontiers,” approved June thirtieth, 
eighteen hundred and thirty-four.—(See page 517, »2riny Regulations.) 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That the twentieth section of the “ Act 
to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to pre- 
serve peace on the frontiers,” approved June thirtieth, eighteen hun- 
dred and thirty-four, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to 
read as follows, to wit: 
Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall sell, ex- 
change, give, barter, or dispose of any spirituous liquor or wine to any 
Indian under the charge of any Indian superintendent or Indian agent 
appointed by the United States, or shall introduce or attempt to in- 
troduce any spirituous liquor or wine into the Indian country, such 
person, on conviction thereof before the proper district court of the 
United States, shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding two 
years, and shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars : Pro- 
vided, however, That it shall be a sufficient defence to any charge of in- 
troducing or attempting to introduce liquor into the Indian country if 
it be proved to be done by order of the War Department, or of any 
officer duly authorized thereto by the War Department. And if any 
superintendent-of Indian affairs, Indian agent, or sub-agent, or com- 
manding officer of a military post, has reason to suspect, or is informed, 
that any white person, or Indian, is about to introduce, or has intro- 
duced, any spirituous liquor or wine into the Indian country, in viola- 2 
tion of the provisions of this section, it shall be lawful for such super- 
intendent, agent, sub-agent, or commanding officer, to cause the boats, 
stores, packages, wagons, sleds, and places of deposit of such person 
to be searched; and if any such liquor is found therein, the same, 
together with the boats, teams, wagons, and sleds used in conveying 
the same, and also the goods, packages, and peltries of such person, 
shall be seized and delivered to the proper officer, and shall be pro- 
ceeded against by libel in the proper court, and forfeited, one half to 
the informer, and the other half to the use of the United States ; and 
if such person be a trader, his license shall be revoked and his bond 
put in suit. And it shall moreover be lawful for any person in the 
service of the United States, or for any Indian, to take and destroy 
any ardent spirits or wine found in the Indian country, except such as 
may be introduced therein by the War Department. And in all cases 
arising under this act Indians shall be competent witnesses. 
Approved February 13, 1862. 
2. AN ACT making an appropriation for completing the defences of Washington, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Slates 
of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any 
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for completing the 
defences of Washington : Provided, That all arrearages of debts already 
incurred for the objects of this act shall be first paid out of this sum : 
And provided, further, That no part of the sum hereby appropriated shall 
be expended in any work hereafter to be commenced. 
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the act of 
twenty-eighth September, eighteen hundred and fifty, providing for 
the discharge from the service of minors enlisted without the consent 
of their parents or guardians, be, and the same hereby is, repealed : 
Provided, That hereafter no person under the age of eighteen shall be 
mustered into the United States service, and the oath of enlistment 
taken by the recruit shall be conclusive as to his age. 
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That no volunteers or militia from 
any State or Territory shall be mustered into the service of the United 3 
States on any terms or conditions confining their service to the limits 
of said State or Territory, or their vicinities, beyond the number of 
ten thousand in the State of Missouri, and four thousand five hundred 
in the State of Maryland, heretofore authorized by the President of 
the United States, or Secretary of War, to be raised in said States. 
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the second section of the act of 
the tenth of April, eighteen hundred and six, shall be, and the same 
is hereby, so amended as to read as follows : {Seep. 516, Army Regu- 
lations.) 
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, in time of war or rebellion 
against the supreme authority of the United States, all persons who 
shall be found lurking as spies, or acting as such, in or about the for- 
tifications, encampments, posts, quarters, or headquarters of the armies 
of the United States, or any of them, within any part of the United 
States which has been or may be declared to be in a state of insurrec- 
tion by proclamation of the President of the United States, shall suffer 
death by sentence of a general court-martial. 
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the fifty-fifth article of the first 
section of act of tenth April, eighteen hundred and six, chapter twenty, 
be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to read as follows: {See 
55th Article of War.) 
Article fijty-five. Whoever, belonging to the armies of the United 
States in foreign parts, or at any place within the United States or 
their Territories, during rebellion against the supreme authority of 
the United States, shall force a safeguard, shall suffer death. 
Approved February 13, 1862. 
By command of Major General McClellan : 
L. THOMAS, 
Adjutant General. 
Official : 
Assistant Adjutant General.