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Saturday, October 28, 1775.
The Congress met pursuant to adjournment.
The following engrossed Ordinance, for the further regulation of the Militia Forces of this Colony, was read, compared, and approved:
Whereas the Ordinances of the late Provincial Congress, for regulating the Militia of this Colony, have been found insufficient to answer the good purposes intended; and it appearing to be essentially necessary that some further regulations be adopted at this time of imminent danger:
1. It is therefore Resolved and Directed, That each and every Captain in this Colony, within ten days after the publication hereof, shall make out a list of all persons residing in his District capable of bearing arms, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, who, by the first military Ordinance of a former Congress, were advised or requested to enroll themselves by signing a Muster-Roll therein mentioned, such persons only excepted whose religious principles will not suffer them to bear arms, who are hereby particularly exempted therefrom; a copy of which list each Captain, respectively, within ten days after completing the same, shall deliver to the Colonel of the Regiment to which he shall belong, and such Colonel shall make return thereof to the Brigadier-General of the Division to which he shall belong; and also transmit a duplicate thereof to the Provincial Congress at their next sitting. And the respective Captains shall also make out exact lists of all such persons residing in their several Districts, capable of bearing arms, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, whose religious principles will not suffer them to bear arms; which lists the said Captains shall lay before the Committee of the County to which they belong.
2. And it is further Resolved, That every person above directed to enroll himself by signing the Muster-Roll,
3. And it is further Resolved, That every person directed to be enrolled as above, shall, at his place of abode, be also provided with one pound of Powder, and three pounds of Bullets of proper size to his Musket or Firelock.
4. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That each whole Company of Militia do assemble at least once every month, properly accoutred as aforesaid, at such place as the Captain or commanding officer of such Company shall direct, and shall spend the whole day in perfecting themselves in the military exercise; and that a general muster or review be had of each Regiment three times in every year, at such times and places as the Field-Officers of each Regiment shall think proper to appoint.
5. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That in case any person shall refuse or neglect to serve as a Sergeant or Corporal in any Company, being thereunto requested by the Captain or commanding officer, or shall refuse or neglect to warn the men to appear under arms when required by the Captain or commanding officer, such Sergeant or Corporal shall, for every such neglect or refusal, forfeit the sum of twelve Shillings.
6. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That all Officers, commissioned by this or the former Congress, do subscribe the following declaration, to wit:
"We, the subscribers, the Officers of one of the Regiments in the County of......and Colony of New-Jersey, do hereby promise and engage, under all the ties of religion, honour, and regard to our Country, that we will, respectively, duly observe and carry into execution, to the utmost of our power, all and every the orders, resolves, and recommendations, made or to be made, by the Provincial Congress of this Colony, for defending our Constitution, and preserving the same inviolate; and that we will also render due obedience to such Officers, who either by rank or superiority, are regularly placed above us."
Which declaration shall be laid before the next sitting of the Provincial Congress.
7. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That the following penalties be inflicted on those who do not attend and obey orders on the days appointed for general musters or reviews, to wit: a Colonel, six Pounds; a Lieutenant-Colonel, five Pounds; a Major four Pounds; a Captain, three Pounds; Lieutenants, Ensigns, and Adjutants, two Pounds each; Sergeants, Corporals, Drummers, Fifes, and Privates, directed to be enrolled as aforesaid, ten Shillings each, for each and every default. And that there shall be inflicted on those who do not attend properly accoutred as abovesaid, and obey orders, on the times to be appointed for the meeting of the Companies, at least once every month, to wit: a Captain, thirty Shillings; Lieutenants and Ensigns, twenty Shillings each; Sergeants, Corporals, Drummers, Fifes, and Privates, four Shillings each, for each and every default. Provided always, that reasonable excuses shall be admitted for delinquents' non-attendance, by those persons who are to issue the warrants of distress.
8. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That all fines, under the degree of a Captain, shall be levied on the goods and chattels of the offender, by warrant from the Captain, directed to a Sergeant of his Company; and those of Field-Officers and Captains, under the degree of Colonel, to be levied on the goods and chattels of the offender, by a warrant from the Colonel of the Regiment, directed to the Adjutant; and those of a Colonel, by a warrant from a Brigadier-General, directed to a Major of the Regiment to which such delinquent or delinquents belong.
9. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That the several Officers and persons to whom warrants of distress
10. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That if this Colony shall be alarmed or invaded by an armed force, then, and in such case, every Subaltern and Soldier so enrolled, or directed to be enrolled as aforesaid; and also each Minute-Man raised, or which may then be raised, is hereby requested immediately to repair, properly armed and accoutred, to his Captain' s residence, unless otherwise ordered; and the Captain or commanding officer of the Company nearest to the place where such alarm or invasion shall happen, shall immediately march his Company to oppose the enemy; and at the same time send an express to the commanding officer of the Regiment to which he belongs, who is to march with the whole or part of the forces under his command, as he, before receiving orders from one of the General Officers, shall judge necessary, in order to prevent the enemy from landing or penetrating into any part of the country; and at the same time shall send an express to some one of the General Officers nearest to him, informing him of the intelligence he hath received of such an alarm or invasion; and during the times of such invasion or alarm, the Officers and Soldiers abovesaid shall be subject to a Court-Martial, under the same rules and orders as directed and ordered by the Continental Congress of the Associated Colonies, held at Philadelphia on the tenth day of May last, for the better government of the Continental Troops.
11. Provided always, and it is further Resolved and Directed, That no pains and penalties, imposed by a Court-Martial, shall extend to the taking life or member of any delinquent or offender who shall be called out as aforesaid.
12. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That every person between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, capable of bearing arms as aforesaid, who shall come from any of the neighbouring Provinces into this Colony, shall, within two weeks after his arrival, enroll himself in the Company of the place where such person may chance to reside, and attend musters, as before directed for the Militia; and, in case of neglect or refusal, shall be subject to the same fines and forfeitures.
13. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That the Officers and Minute-Men, now formed into Companies or Battalions, or such as shall be so formed hereafter, shall observe the same rules, orders, and directions, as to attending musters, and learning the military discipline, and be subject to the same fines and penalties for non-attendance, as before directed for the Militia, and to be recovered in like manner.
14. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That the
15. And whereas several Companies of Light-Horse have been raised in this Colony, and as it is probable that more may be raised hereafter, It is therefore Resolved and Directed, That each Company of Light-Horse do not exceed forty Privates, and that one Company only be allowed to be raised in each County; and that each Regiment be commanded by a Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Major, who are to be subject to the command of the Brigadier-Generals of this Colony, the Provincial Congress, or Committee of Safety; and that such Regiments of Horse shall be under the same regulations, as to the times of muster, and learning the military discipline, as before directed for the Foot Militia by this Ordinance, and subject to the same fines and penalties for non-attendance; which fines and penalties are to be recovered in manner aforesaid; and that the Officers of each Regiment of Horse take equal rank with the Militia Officers of Foot, holding similar commissions of the same date.
16. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That each and every of the inhabitants of this Colony, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, whose religious principles will not suffer them to bear arms as above directed, shall, as an equivalent thereto, and also in lieu of all future voluntary contributions for publick and benevolent uses, as recommended by Congress, pay into the hands of the Chairman of the Committee of the County where they reside, the sum of four Shillings per month for such exemption; and in case they, or either of them, shall neglect or refuse to pay the same, that then, upon such neglect or refusal, such Committee, once every three months, shall and are hereby required and enjoined to issue a warrant of distress, under the hand of their Chairman or Deputy Chairman, directed to such person or persons as they shall appoint for that purpose, requiring distress to be made on the goods and chattels of every such delinquent; and that the same be sold at publick vendue, giving five days' notice thereof, by advertisement; and, out of the money arising by such sale, to pay to the Chairman of such Committee the money then due from every such delinquent, returning the overplus, if any, to the owner thereof, after detaining one Shilling and six Pence for every such distress and sale; and in case any person or persons aforesaid, underage, shall make default in paying their equivalent as aforesaid, the same, by order of such Committee, shall be demanded of the parent, master, or person whose care such delinquents are under; and, upon their refusal or neglect to pay, the same shall be recovered by distress and sale as aforesaid, of such delinquent' s parent, master, or other person whose care he or they are under; and the County Committees, respectively are also hereby enjoined and required, once every six months, to pay unto either of the Treasurers of this Colony for the time being, appointed by this Congress, all such sum and sums of money as they may receive as abovesaid, to be applied as a Provincial Fund to such uses and purposes as this or a future Congress shall judge the exigencies of the times may require.
17. Provided always, and it is further Resolved and Directed, That every person above directed and required to pay an equivalent for the above exemptions, shall be excused from paying such equivalent every time he shall make it appear to the Committee of the County where he resides, that he was sick or unable to attend musters at the time when the Company, in the District he lives in, shall attend their monthly exercises; or shall make it appear he was at that time out of the Province, or necessarily engaged in the publick business of the Colony.
18. And it is further Resolved, That in case any person or persons shall think him or themselves aggrieved by a distress made for their fines and forfeitures as aforesaid, such person or persons may, within two months thereafter, appeal to the Committee of the Township or Committee of the County in which he or they shall reside, which Committee shall take the same into consideration; and, in Case they find any such appellant aggrieved, shall order
Whereupon, the question being put, whether the aforesaid Ordinance do pass this Congress or not, it was carried in the affirmative.
On motion made, it is Ordered, That the Rules laid down by the Continental Congress, for the regulation of the Army of the United Colonies, be printed with the above Militia Ordinance.
Ordinance for the Further Regulating the Militia Forces of the Province
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shall bear arms, attend musters, and in all things be conformable to the Rules and Orders hereinafter mentioned; and shall, with all convenient speed, furnish himself with a good Musket or Firelock, and Bayonet, Sword or Tomahawk, a steel Ramrod, Worm, Priming Wire and Brush fitted thereto, a Cartouch-Box to contain twenty-three rounds of Cartridges, twelve Flints, and a Knapsack, agreeable to the direction of the Continental Congress, under the forfeitures of two Shillings for the want of a Musket or Firelock, and of one Shilling for the want of the other above enumerated articles.
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shall be directed, shall, upon receipt thereof, immediately levy the several fines and forfeitures therein mentioned, under the forfeiture of forty Shillings for every neglect in levying the same, to be recovered by a warrant, under the hand of the Chairman of the Committee of the County where such neglect shall happen, directed to such person or persons as such Committee shall appoint for that purpose; and every Sergeant shall levy upon each delinquent, in the warrant to him directed, the sum of one Shilling over and above the penalty laid in such warrant, which he is to keep and detain as a reward for his trouble; and each Major or Adjutant shall receive, for each distress by them made, the sum of five Shillings, which he is to levy as abovesaid. And the fines and forfeitures aforesaid, levied by a Sergeant, when recovered, shall be paid to the Captain issuing such warrant, to be by him laid out in supplying such of his Company with arms as are not able to furnish themselves therewith; and shall render to the Committee of the County, in which he resides, a true account of all such fines and forfeitures by him received, and his disbursements out of the same, agreeable to the above directions, when he shall be thereunto required by said Committee; and in case any of such fines and forfeitures shall remain in such Captain' s hands for the space of two months, not laid out as aforesaid, he shall then pay the same to such Committee, to be by them laid out as above directed; and all fines recovered from any officer or officers, above the degree of Lieutenant, shall be immediately paid into the hands of the County Committee, to be by them laid out in such manner as they shall judge most serviceable for the common defence of the Colony.
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Minute-Men, when called out to the assistance of a neighbouring Colony, shall be subject to the Articles of War established by the Continental Congress, and be under the direction of their own Officers, unless a Continental Officer of superior rank be present, to whom, in such case, they are to yield due subordination.
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suitable redress, by directing the money recovered of him or them, or such part thereof as they think proper, to be returned by the Captain or other officer who issued the warrant of distress, who is hereby required to return the same accordingly; or in case the goods distrained are not sold, the Committee then may give such order therein as to them may seem just and right, conforming themselves in such decisions, as near as may be, to the true intent and meaning of this Ordinance.