The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 4, Volume 2. Page: 469

                                
CONFEDERATE AUTHORITIES.

niter, the actual traveling expenses of officers of the niter corps on
duty, under orders, in lieu of any commutation for the time of rations
and forage.
By order:
S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector General.
GENERAL ORDERS,             ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE,
No. 37.                              Richmond, April 6, 1863.
I. The following act of Congress, concerning "impressments," and
the instructions of the War Department respecting it, are published
for the information and direction of all concerned:
AN ACT to regulate impressments.
The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That whenever the
exigencies of any army in the field are such as to make impressments of forage,
articles of subsistence, or other property absolutely necessary, then such impress-
ments may be made by the officer or officers whose duty it is to furnish such
forage, articles of subsistence, or other property for such army. In cases where
the owner of such property and the impressing officer cannot agree upon the
value thereof, it shall be the duty of such impressing officer, upon an affidavit in
writing of the owner of such property, or his agent, that such property was
grown, raised, or produced by said owner, or is held or has been purchased by him,
not for sale or speculation, but for his own use or consumption, to cause the same
to be ascertained and determined by the judgment of two loyal and disinterested
citizens of the city, county, or parish in which such impressments may be made,
one to be selected by the owner, one by the impressing officer, and in the event
of their disagreement these two shall choose an umpire of like qualifications,
whose decision shall be final. The persons thus selected, after taking an oath
to appraise the property impressed fairly and impartially (which oath, as well
as the affidavit provided for in this section, the impressing officer is hereby author-
ized to administer and certify), shall proceed to assess just compensation for the
property so impressed, whether the absolute ownership, or the temporary use
thereof, only is required.
SEC. 2. That the officer or person impressing property, as aforesaid, shall, at the
time of said taking, pay to the owner, his agent or attorney the compensation
fixed by said appraisers; and shall also give to the owner, or person controlling
said property, a certificate, over his official signature, specifying the battalion,
regiment, brigade, division, or corps to which he belongs; that said property is
essential for the use of the Army, could not be otherwise procured, and was taken
through absolute necessity, setting forth the time and place, when and where
taken, the amount of compensation fixed by said appraisers, and the sum, if any,
paid for the same. Said certificate shall be evidence for the owner, as well of the
taking of said property for the public use, as the right of the owner to the amount
of compensation fixed as aforesaid. And in case said officer or person taking said
property shall have failed to pay the owner or his agent, said compensation as
hereinbefore required, then said owner shall be entitled to the speedy payment of
the same by the proper disbursing officer; which, when so paid, shall be in full
satisfaction of all claim against the Government of the Confederate States.
SEC. 3. Whenever the appraisement provided for in the first section of this act
shall, for any reason, be impracticable at the time of said impressment, then and
in that case the value of the property impressed shall be assessed as soon as possi-
ble by two loyal and disinterested citizens of the city, county, or parish wherein
the property was taken, chosen as follows: One by the owner and one by the
Commissary or Quartermaster General, or his agent, who, in case of disagree-
ment, shall choose a third citizen of like qualifications as an umpire to decide the
matters in dispute, who shall be sworn as aforesaid, who shall hear the proofs
adduced by the parties as to the value of said property, and assess a just compen-
sation therefor, according to the testimony.
SEC. 4. That whenever the Secretary of War shall be of opinion that it is nec-
essary to take private property for public use, by reason of the impracticability
of procuring the same by purchase, so as to accumulate necessary supplies for

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