GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 36. 
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Adjutant General’s Office, 
Washington, April 7, 1862, 
1.. General Hospitals are under the direction of the Surgeon 
General. Orders not involving expense of transportation may he 
given by him to transfer Medical Officers or Hospital Stewards from 
one General Hospital to another, as he may deem best for the service. 
2.. The Chief Medical Officer, to whom the charge of all the General 
Hospitals in a city may be entrusted, will cause certificates of disability 
to be made out for such men as, in his judgment, should be discharged, 
He will be responsible that the certificates are given for good cause, 
and that they are made in proper form, giving such medical descrip- 
tion of the cases, with the degree of disability, as may enable the 
Tension Office to decide on any claim to pension which may be based 
upon them, The certificates of disability will be signed by the Chief 
Medical Officer, and forwarded by him to the Military Commander in 
the city, wlro shall have authority to order the discharge and dispose 
of the case according to existing regulations. 
3.. The final statements, and all the discharge papers, will be made 
out under the supervision of the Military Commander, and signed by 
him. Where the men are provided with their descriptive rolls, there 
will be no delay in discharging them after their certificates of disability 
arc acted on. But if they have no descriptive rolls, application will 
be m&de to the Company Commander for the proper discharge papers, 
and the men may be maintained at the hospital a reasonable time 
while awaiting them, to avoid their being turned off without means of 
support. The discharge will, in all cases, bear the date when the 
papers are actually furnished the soldier. (See note.) 
4.. W hen a man is received in any hospital without his descriptive 
roll, the lact will be immediately reported by the Medical Officer in 
charge to the Military Commander, who will at once call on the Com- 
pany Commander, in the name of the Secretary of War, promptly to 
furnish the military history of the man, and his clothing, money, and 
other accounts with the Government. 
5.. When too long a delay would arise in discharging the man 
because of the remote station of his company, application will be made 2 
by the Medical Officer to the Adjutant General for such account of the 
man as his records will furnish. To this partial descriptive roll the 
Medical Officer will add the period for which pay is due the man since 
his entry into the hospital. The man will then be discharged, and 
receive the pay and traveling allowances thus shown to he due him, 
leaving the balance due him on account of clothing, retained pay, &c., 
for settlement in such manner as may hereafter be determined. (See 
notes.) 
6.. The Military Commander’s duties, in reference to all troops and 
enlisted men who happen to come within the limits of his command, 
will be precisely those of a commanding officer of a military post. 
7.. 1. is made the duty of each Military Commander to correct, as 
far as may be in his power, the evils and irregularities arising from the 
peculiar state of the service at this time, by collecting stragglers and 
sending them forward to their proper stations, or discharging them on 
certificates of disability, if, on examination by the Chief Medical 
Officer, they be found unfit for the service. 
8.. The Military Commander in each city will have control of such 
guards as may be furnished to preserve discipline and good order at 
the several military hospitals. He will advise the Adjutant General 
of the Army what number of companies will be required for such 
guards. He will cause them to be properly posted, relieved, aud 
instructed. 
9.. Whenever the Chief Medical Officer shall report a number of 
patients as fit to join their Regiments, the Military Commander will 
give the necessary orders to have them forwarded in good order and 
under suitable conduct. 
10.. The Chief Medical Officer in each city is authorized to employ 
as cooks, nurses, and attendants, any convalescent, wounded, or feeble 
men, who can perform such duties, instead of giving them discharges. 
11.. All officers and enlisted men of volunteers who are on parole 
not to serve against the rebels, will be considered on leave of absence, 
until notified of their exchange or discharge. They will immediately 
report their address to the Governors of their States, who will be duly 
informed from this office as to their exchange or discharge. 
12.. The duties of Military Commander, as above defined, will 
devolve, in the District of Columbia, on the Military Governor; in the 3 
city of Baltimore, on the Commander of the Middle Department; in the 
city of Philadelphia, on Lieutenant Colonel H. Brooks, 2d Artillery , 
hereby assigned to that station; in the city of New York, and the mili- 
tary posts in that vicinity, on Brevet Brigadier General H. Browm 
Colonel 5th United States Artillery. 
By order of the Secretary of War: 
L. THOMAS, 
Adjutant General 
Note to Par. 3: 
The first sentence of this paragraph is modified to read as follows: 
The final statements, and all the discharge papers, wrill be made out 
under the supervision of the Military Commander, and signed by him 
when the soldier is not in a United States hospital, or under the charge 
of a United States surgeon. But if he is under a United States sur- 
geon or in a United States hospital, the surgeon will, in either case, 
make out and sign the discharge and final statements, after the Mili- 
tary Commander has endorsed the authority to discharge the soldier 
upon the usual discharge and certificates of disability. 
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, 
August 26, 1862. 
Note to Par. 5: 
“ In cases where too long a delay would arise in discharging a man 
because of the remote station of his company,” and when no descrip- 
tive list, or partial descriptive list, can he obtained from this office, the 
men referred to will he discharged under this order, and an order given 
them on the Quartermaster’s Department for transportation to their 
homes. This order will be signed by the same officer who signs the 
discharge. The Quartermaster’s Department will furnish transporta- 
tion to such men, upon the presentation of this order, requiring them 
also to show their discharge. 
By order of Major General Hai.leck: 
E. D. TOWNSEND, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 4 
Note 2d to Par. 5: 
The sentence “ To this partial descriptive roll the Medical Ofticef 
will add the period for which pay is due the man since his entry into 
the hospital,” will be understood to give him pay on this final state- 
ment from the muster next preceding his entry into the hospital until 
the date of his discharge. 
Official: 
Assistant Adjutant General