·Regulations regarding the Discharging of Soldiers from the Regular Service.

No Non-commissioned Officer or Private Soldier, belonging to any of the Regular Regiments serving in Great Britain, is to be permitted to receive his Discharge from the Service without the previous Approbation of the Commander in Chief, except in instances where Men, who were enlisted only for a limited period, shall have completed their Terms of Service.

In Regiments serving in Ireland the Authority of the Commander of the Forces in that part of the Kingdom must be obtained previous to any Noncommissioned Officer or Soldier being discharged, except in instances where Men who were enlisted only for a limited period shall have completed their Terms of Service.

In cases wherein General Officers Commanding Districts or Brigades, or Commanding Officers of Regiments, in Great Britain or Ireland, have occasion to report the Unfitness of any Men for Active Service, they are required to transmit to the Adjutant-General a specific Return, shewing the Names, Ages, and Descriptions of the Men; the period of their Services, the Chirurgical Cause of their being deemed unfit for Active Service, and whether the Men so reported are equal to Garrison Duty, or totally unfit for further Service.

The Form of Return prescribed in Page 192 is to be made use of on these occasions, and must be signed by the Commanding Officer and Surgeon of the Regiment,

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ment, and by the General Officer Commanding the Brigade, or District, in which the Regiment is serving.

The Commandant at the Military Depôt in the Isle of Wight, and the Military Superintendant at the York Hospital at Chelsea, are authorized to confirm the Discharges of such Men as are sent Home from Regiments on Foreign Stations with Conditional Discharges, and prove unfit for further Service.

The annexed Forms of Discharges, which apply as well to the Royal Veteran Battalions as to Regiments of the Line, are to be adopted throughout the Army, viz.

No. 1. Form to be used by Regiments either at Home or abroad, in the case of Men discharged on having completed any of the periods of Service.

No. 2. Form to be used by Regiments at Home, in the case of Men discharged in consequence of unfitness for further Service, from whatever cause proceeding.

No. 3. Form to be used by Regiments abroad in the case of Men proposed to be discharged in consequence of unfitness for further Service.

No. 4. Form to be used in the case of Men discharged, serving under the Reserve or Defence Acts.

The Forms No. 2 and 3 apply as well to such Men as have enlisted for an unlimited period, and are discharged in consequence of Unfitness for further Service, as to those who have enlisted for a limited Period, and are discharged from the same cause.

It being extremely necessary to ascertain with correctness the exact period of a Soldier's Service, for the purpose of enabling the Commissioners of the Royal Hospitals of Chelsea and Kilmainham to determine with respect to the Pension proper to be granted, Commanding Officers of Regiments are enjoined to be extremely particular on this head when discharging Men, not merely with respect to stating the service of Individuals in Regiments from which they are about to be discharged (which can be attended with no difficulty), but in ascertaining the justice and extent of their Claims of Service in other Corps, of which Commanding Officers must endeavour to obtain satisfactory Testimony by every' means in their power, either from the Discharge or Certificate of Service which the Individual may be in possession of, or by writing to the Regiment, or such other mode be most likely to answer the purpose.

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In stating the Services of Men in their Discharges, Care must be taken to express the precise time the Individuals have served in the East or West Indies, which is to be calculated from the date of their landing in either, to the time of their return to, and arrival in, the United Kingdom, or in some Garrison, Island, or Colony in Europe or North America, leaving the Computation of Service to be made by the Commissioners of the Royal Hospitals of Chelsea or Kilmainham.

The Period of Service of Men conditionally discharged from Regiments on Foreign Stations, with a view to the Pension to which they will be entitled, will be calculated by the Commissioners to the time of the Discharge being confirmed by the Commandant at the Army Depôt, or at the Yerk Hospital, Chelsea.

Officers

Officers Commanding Regiments from which Men shall be discharged from Disability or Unfitness for further Service, according to Forms Nos. 2 and 3, are required to pay the utmost Attention to what is pointed out in the Memorandum on the back of the Discharge, it being essentially necessary that they should state with precision the Cause thereof, when a Soldier has been wounded, disabled, or lost an Eye or Limb in the Service, as whether it occurred while on Duty, from Accident, or in Action with the Enemy; or if the Disability or Unfitness has arisen from Vice or Misconduct.

The particulars of what is contained in the former part of the aforegoing paragraph are to be stated in the body of the Discharge; and the Surgeon, as directed in the memorandum, is to sign his name in the margin, as a professional certificate of the fact : the latter part is inserted in the Commanding Officer's Certificate on the back of the Discharge, which is to be countersigned by the Surgeon, his opinion on that point being deemed essential.

When any Man shall be discharged who shall have distinguished himself in any particular manner, either by his Gallantry in the Field, or uniform Zeal and Fidelity during the course of his Service, the Officer commanding the Regiment is to certify the same in his own hand-writing on the back, or at the bottom of the Discharge; and it is expected that Officers will bear in mind the purpose for which these Certificates are intended, and not grant them on slight grounds, or to any Man who has not a just claim to so honourable a Testimonial.

All

All Soldiers, whether belonging to the Regular or Militia Forces, who may, from time to time, become entitled to their Discharge, in consequence of their Terms of Service being expired, shall receive an Allowance to carry them home, according to the Rule contained in the Mutiny Act.

No Non-commissioned Officer or Private Soldier is to be discharged from the Royal Veteran Battalions, who is not, from Age, Infirmity, or Accident, rendered totally incapable of further Service.

Soldiers who are proposed to be discharged, and are sent to Chelsea by direction of the Commander in Chief, are to be placed under the Command of the Commandant of the York Hospital, until their Cases are decided. This Officer is responsible that such of these Men as are considered unfit for further Service appear before the Right Hon. the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital, on the earliest Day on which the Board assembles after their Cases are decided upon :Their Discharges are to be carefully filled up, the Date only excepted, by the Commanding Officers of their respective Regiments, and are to be forwarded to the Commandant of York Hospital, Chelsea, under Cover to the Adjutant-General. As soon as their Cases are decided upon, the Commandant at York Hospital will insert the Date of their Discharge, and until this period they are to be accounted for, in the Regimental Returns, as Invalids at York Hospital, and will receive their Pay from the Regimental Agents, who are enjoined to make the earliest Communication to the Commanding Officers, of the Dates of such Men's Discharges, in order that they may be discontinued upon the Regimental Returns.

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