(Circular No. 1.)

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                   Washington City, D. C,  January 14, 1*63.
  By order of the War Department,  the following instructions are pro-
mulgated in reference to discharges  from General Hospitals :
  I.  Under no circumstances has the Surgeon in charge of General
Hospitals, as commanding  officer   thereof, authority  to  discharge
soldiers.
  The final statements, and all the discharge papers, will be made out
under the supervision of the military commander, and signed by him.
(Vide paragraph 3 of General Orders, No. 36, of 1862.)
  To  prevent  confusion  and misunderstanding  hereafter,  Medical
Officers  in charge of General Hospitals  are enjoined to be strictly
guided by the above instructions.
  II. Surgeons in charge of General Hospitals will, as soon as possible
after the close of each month, transmit to  this  Office a copy of  the
"Statement of the  Hospital Fund."  (Vide paragraph  1264, General
Regulations.)
  Medical Directors will urge upon  the Surgeons under  their control
the importance of prompt obedience  to this regulation.
                               WILLIAM A.  HAMMOND
                                   Surgeon Genered V S. Army.