GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 193. 
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Adjutant General’s Office, 
Washington, May 7, 1864. 
Acting Ordnance Officers of Divisions, Brigades, S\;c. 
For the purpose of more perfectly organizing the service of the 
Ordnance Department, as connected with Armies in the field and the 
Military Departments, and at the same time securing for that Depart- 
ment the services of a body of efficient officers, trained to its special 
duties, it is ordered— 
1. That there shall be attached to the General Staff of every Division 
in the Army of the United States, and to that of each Brigade or Mili- 
tary District where no Division organization exists, an Acting Ordnance 
Officer, who shall be held directly responsible to the Chief Ordnance 
Officer at the General Headquarters of the Army or Department in which 
he maybe serving, for the manner in which he shall perform the special 
duties of his office. 
2. These officers shall be Captains aud Lieutenants in the line of the 
Regular or Volunteer Service, selected for the position on account of 
their peculiar fitness for it, and, if possible, from those who have already 
had some experience in Ordnance duty. They shall be appointed and 
assigned to duty by the Commander of the Army or Department, and by 
him alone, upon the recommendation of the senior Ordnance Officer on 
duty at General Headquarters; and all removals or changes of station of 
these officers are to be made by the same authority, and on the recom- 
mendation of the senior Ordnance Officer. 
3. It shall be the duty of such officers to keep themselves thoroughly 
acquainted with the armament of each Regiment and Battery in the 
Division, Brigade, or District with or in which they serve; to see that 
all arms, accoutrements, and equipments are kept in a serviceable 
condition by timely repairs, aud to promptly report to the Chief Ordnance 
Officer of the Army or Department all injuries to, or losses of, Ordnance 
property, which may be due to the neglect or carelessness of regimental 
or company commanders. 
4. They will have charge of the ammunition supply trains attached 
to the Division or Brigade, and will be held responsible that ample 
supplies of ammunition are, at all times, in the hands of the troops, 
and that there is a full reserve supply in the train or the District depot. 5. Immediately after aa engagement, iu case our forces hold the 
field, they will take charge of all Ordnance and Ordnance stores found 
on that portion of it occupied by the Division or Brigade in which they 
are attached; they will see that regimental and company commanders 
collect and secure all arms, accoutrements, and ammunition belonging 
to soldiers of their companies or regiments, who have been killed or 
wounded, or who have abandoned such supplies; they will give receipts 
for all such Ordnance stores as are no longer needed by the regiment, 
and will cause them to be sent, together with all captured Ordnance 
stores, of whatever description, to the nearest Ordnance depot or Arse- 
nal, for deposit and repair. All defects in arms, ammunition, or any 
other Ordnance stores, coming under their observation, will at once 
be reported to the Chief Ordnance Officer of the Army or Department, 
together with all the information to be obtained, which may aid the 
Ordnance Department to correct the evil. 
6. It shall be their duty to ascertain, at the close of every official 
quarter, whether the Ordnance and Ordnance stores in hands of the 
troops have been duly accounted for by the officers responsible for them, 
for the whole time they are so responsible, and to report all delinquent 
officers to senior Ordnance Officers at General Headquarters, to be, by 
him, reported to the Chief of Ordnance, at Washington. 
7. All requisitions for Ordnance and Ordnance stores for the use of 
any troops in the Division, Brigade, or District, must be duly approved 
by them before being transmitted to General Headquarters, and they 
will be held respons;ble that all requisitions, so transmitted, are made 
in strict compliance with the regulations of the Ordnance Department. 
8. In addition to these duties, they will promptly execute all special 
orders which may, from time to time, be given them by the Chief Ord- 
nance Officer to whom they report. 
9. In order that the Ordnance Department may be kept fully advised 
of the names of all officers who are thus temporarily attached to it, a 
report of the Acting Ordnance Officers in every Army or Department, 
designating the Division, Brigade, or District to which they are attached,' 
shall be made, on the last day of every month, to the Chief of Ordnance, 
at Washington, D. C., by the senior Ordnance Officer of each Army or 
Department. 
10. Hereafter, whenever it may become necessary to establish tem- 
porary Ordnance depots for the service of an Army in the field, it shall be done only by the order of the officer commanding the Army or 
Department, on the recommendation of his Chief Ordnance Officer. 
The officers to take charge of such depots shall all be selected by the 
Chief Ordnance Officer, and assigned to duty, or transferred from one 
depot to another, by the officer commanding the Army or Department, 
and by him alone. The names of all such depots, and those of the 
officers in charge of them, will at once be forwarded to the Chief of 
Ordnance, at Washington, D. C., and their names will be included in 
the monthly report of Acting Ordnance Officers of Divisions, prescribed 
in the preceding paragraph. 
Bf order of the Secretary of War: 
E. D. TOWNSEND, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 
Official: 
Assistant Adjutant General.