Penalty of Desertion. All officers and soldiers, who having received pay, or having been duly enlisted in the U. S. service, shall be convicted of having deserted the same, shall suffer death or such other punishment as by a court-martial shall be inflicted. Art. War, § 20, 21, 22, 23.
Any non commissioned officer or soldier, who shall, without leave from his commanding officer, absent himself from his troop or company, or from any detachment with which he shall be commanded, shall, upon being convicted thereof, be punished according to the nature of the offence, at the discretion of a court-martial.
No non commissioned officer or soldier shall inlist himself in any other regiment, troop, or company, without a regular discharge from the regiment, troop, or company in which he last served, on the penalty of being reputed a deserter and suffering accordingly: and in case any officer shall knowingly receive and entertain such non commissioned officer or soldier, or shall not, after his being discovered to be a deserter, immediately confine him, and give notice thereof to the corpse in which he last served, he, the said officer so offending, shall by a court-martial be cashiered.
Whatsoever officer or soldier shall be convicted of having advised any other officer or soldier, to desert our service, shall suffer such punishment as shall be inflicted upon him by the sentence of the court-martial.
Penalty for concealing British Deserters, or buying their arms, clothes, &c. Provided always, that if any person shall harbor, conceal, or assist any deserter from his majesty’s service, knowing him to be such, the person so offending shall forfeit for every such offence, the sum of 5l. or if any person shall knowingly detain, buy, or exchange, or otherwise receive, any arms, clothes, caps, or other furniture belonging to the king, from any soldier or deserter, or any other person, upon any account or pretence whatsoever, or cause the color of such clothes to be changed; the person so offending, shall forfeit for every such offence the sum of 5l. and upon conviction by the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses, before any of his majesty’s justices of the peace, the said respective penalties of 5l. and 5l. shall be levied by warrant under the hands of the said justice or justices of the peace, by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the offender; one moiety of the said first mentioned penalty of 5l. to be paid to the informer, by whose means such deserter shall be apprehended; and one moiety of the said last mentioned penalty of 5l. to be paid to the informer; and the residue of the said respective penalties to be paid to the officer to whom any such deserter or soldier did belong: and in case any such offender, who shall be convicted, as aforesaid, of harboring or assisting any such deserter or deserters, or having knowingly received any arms, clothes, caps, or other furniture belonging to the king or having caused the color of such clothes to be changed, contrary to the intent of this act, shall not have sufficient goods and chattels, wherein distress may be made, to the value of the penalties recovered against him for such offence, or shall not pay such penalties within 4 days after such conviction; then, and in such case, such justice of the peace shall and may, by warrant under his hand and seal, either commit such offender to the common gaol, there to remain without bail or mainprise for the space of three months, or cause such offender to be publicly whipped at the discretion of such justice.
Deserteur, Fr. See [Deserter].
DESIGN, in a general sense, implies the plan, order, representation, or construction of any kind of military building, chart, map, or drawing, &c. In building, the term ichnography may be used, when by design is only meant the plan of a building or a flat figure drawn on paper: when some side or face of the building is raised from the ground, we may use the term orthography; and when both front and sides are seen in perspective, we may call it scenography.
DESIGNING, the art of delineating or drawing the appearance of natural objects, by lines on a plane.
DESORDRE, Fr. See Disorder.
DESTINATION, the place or purpose, to which any body of troops is appointed in order to do or attempt some military service.