GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 43. 
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Adjutant General’s Office, 
Washington, April 19, 1862. 
The following act of Congress is published for the information of 
all concerned : 
AN ACT to reorganize and increase the efficiency of the medical 
department of the Army. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be added to the present 
medical corps of the army ten surgeons and ten assistant surgeons, to 
be promoted and appointed under existing laws ; twenty medical cadets, 
and as many hospital stewards as the surgeon general may consider 
necessary for the public service, and that their pay and that of all 
hospital stewards in the volunteer as well as the regular service shall 
be thirty dollars per month, to be computed from the passage of this 
act. And all medical cadets in the service shall, in addition to their 
pay, receive one ration per day, either in kind or commutation. 
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the surgeon general to be 
appointed under this act shall have the rank, pay, and emoluments of 
a brigadier general. There shall be one assistant surgeon general and 
one medical inspector general of hospitals, each Avith the rank, pay, 
and emoluments of a colonel of cavalry, and the medical inspector 
general shall have, under the direction of the surgeon general, the 
supervision of all that relates to the sanitary condition of the army, 
whether in transports, quarters, or camps, and of the hygiene, police, 
discipline, and efficiency of field and general hospitals, under such 
regulations as may hereafter be established. 
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be eight medical 
inspectors, with the rank, pay, and emoluments each of a lieutenant 
colonel of cavalry, and Avho shall be charged Avith the duty of 
inspecting the sanitary condition of transports, quarters, and camps, 
of field and general hospitals, and who shall report to the medical 2 
inspector general, under such regulations as may be hereafter estab- 
lished, all circumstances relating to the sanitary condition and wants 
of troops and of hospitals, and to the skill, efficiency, and good 
conduct of the officers and attendants connected with the medical 
department. 
Sec. 4. And be it f urther enacted, That the surgeon general, the assist- 
ant surgeon general, medical inspector general, and medical inspectors, 
shall, immediately after the passage of this act, be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, by 
selection from the medical corps of the army, or from the surgeons in 
the volunteer service, without regard to their rank when so selected, 
but with sole regard to qualifications. 
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That medical purveyors shall be 
charged, under the direction of the surgeon general, with the selection 
and purchase of all medical supplies, including new standard prepara- 
tions, and of all books, instruments, hospital stores, furniture, and 
other articles required for the sick and wounded of the army. In all 
cases of emergency they may provide such additional accommodations 
for the sick and wounded of the army, and may transport such medical 
supplies as circumstances may render necessary, under such regulations 
as may hereafter be established, and shall make prompt and immediate 
issues upon all special requisitions made upon them under such circum- 
stances by medical officers; and the special requisitions shall consist 
simply of a list of the articles required, the qualities required, dated, 
and signed by the medical officers requiring them. 
Sec. 6. And he it further enacted, That whenever the inspector general, 
or any one of the medical inspectors, shall report an officer of the 
medical corps as disqualified, by age or otherwise, for promotion to a 
higher grade, or unfitted for the performance of his professional duties, 
he shall be reported by the surgeon general, for examination, to a 
medical board, as provided by the seventeenth section of the act 
approved August third, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. 
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of this act shall 
continue and be in force during the existence of the present rebellion 
and no longer : Provided, however, That, when this act shall expire, all 3 
officers who shall have been promoted from the medical staff of the 
army under this act shall retain their respective rank in the army, 
with such promotion as they would have been entitled to. 
Approved April 16, 1862. 
Bv ORDER OF TUB SECRETARY OF WAR : 
L. THOMAS, 
Adjutant General. 
Official : 
Assistant Adjutant General.