DESERTION. 1. As a bar to pension, generally. 2. Deserter at large has no pensionable status. (a) Under act of June 27, 1890. 3. Even though disability was incurred in prior service. 4. Where soldier returned and was restored to duty. (a) Contra, if injured while under arrest after capture from desertion. 5. Desertion from first, with discharge from second service. (a) Contra: such desertion bars pension. 6. Widow of deserter at large not pensionable. 7. Removal of charge of desertion. 1. As a bar to pension, generally. Desertion forfeits all claim to bounty land, pay, pension, and every gratuity whatever. Opinion by the Commissioner of Pensions (concurred in by Sec. Porter), Pension Laws, etc. (1849), 124. 2. Deserter at large has no pensionable status. It appears from the report of the Adjutant-General that after the alleged disability on account of which claim is made, this soldier deserted while on furlough. The rejection is evidently right and in accordance with the previous rulings of this Department in similar cases. Stephen D. Huling (Sec. Kirkwood), 6 L. B. P., 507. A soldier in the war of 1812, who deserted from service therein and was never discharged, is not pensionable as a survivor of said war. Daniel McAlpine (Sec. Delano), 2 P. D. (0. s.), 370. An honorable discharge is essential to entitle soldiers of the Mexican war to pension for disabilities; and a soldier whose final record was that of desertion is therefore not pensionable. John G. Kelly (Actg. Sec. Bell) 8 P. D. (0. s.), 229. The pension system requires a discharge from the service as a prerequisite to pension. A deserter is constructively in the service so long as the charge of desertion lingers against him. Said charge must be removed by operation of law or by the War Department, in order that the soldier may become a lawful claimant for pension; nor can a mother be pensioned on account of a son who died while a deserter. Elizabeth A. Gannon (mother) (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 3 P. D., 67. A discharge from the service is a prerequisite to pension, and a deserter can not be pensioned until formally discharged, 2. Deserter at large has no pensionable status-Continued. either honorably or dishonorably, as the character of discharge neither bars nor affects his or his widow's right to pension; nor can his widow be pensioned until the record of desertion, existing against him at the time of his death, be removed. Widow of John Ward (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 4 P. D., 350. Where the records of the War Department show a soldier deserted and was never discharged, and that Department refuses to remove such charge of desertion, such soldier has no pensionable status. Citing James H. Carpenter, 8 P. D. (o. s.), 452. Syprian Archambault (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 6 P. D., 240. A deserter at large with a charge of desertion unremoved is held to be constructively in the service and nonpensionable under the provisions of section 4724, Revised Statutes. William T. Coburn (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 182. See James W. Miller, subtitle following. Claim was filed October 9, 1889, while claimant was in desertion, and therefore had no status to apply. Claimant was finally discharged September 15, 1892; his pension was very properly made to commence at the date of filing a declaration after he was discharged. Charles T. Garrard (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 548. An honorable discharge from all service contracted to be performed during the war of the rebellion is a prerequisite to pension under the second section of the act of June 27, 1890, and appellant's desertion from the United States service in 1863 and failure to receive an honorable discharge bars his right to pension under said act. Isaac N. Babb, alias John Dunlap (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 8 P. D., 59. A claimant against whom there stands a charge of desertion under an enlistment for service in the war of the rebellion, which charge the War Department declines to remove, has no title to pension under any existing law on account of disability incurred in said war or service performed therein. George Lessor (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 8 P. D., 114, (a) Under the act of June 27, 1890. A soldier who is a deserter at large from the Regular Army is not pensionable under the act of June 27, 1890, so long as the charge of desertion stands against him in the War Department unremoved. Morris Burton (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 188. See James W. Miller, following. The act of June 27, 1890, makes a distinction between the pensionable rights of a soldier and those of his widow. Unlike former laws, the rights of the widow are not dependent upon 2. Deserter at large has no pensionable status-Continued. (a) Under the act of June 27, 1890—Continued. the pensionable status of her husband. Hence desertion from a subsequent service, while a bar to soldier's pension, is no bar to widows. Ibid. Appellant was not finally discharged from the service he contracted to render during the late war of the rebellion, and his claim for pension filed under the act of June 27, 1890, was properly rejected. Henry Davinney (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 233. Desertion of soldier from Regular Army, in which he enlisted subsequent to the close of the war of the rebellion, is not a bar to widow's claim for pension under the act of June 27, 1890. Catharine Tubah (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 8. P. D., 82. Desertion from the Regular Army under an enlistment subsequent to the war of the rebellion is not a bar to allowance of pension under the act of June 27, 1890. Cases overruled: C. W. Hatfield (5 P. D., 349), Susan Colgin (5 P. D., 127), Charles H. Eding (5 P. D., 234), Mary E. Gresham (6 P. D., 84), Morris Burton (7 P. D., 188), William T. Coburn (7 P. D., 182), and all other similar cases, in so far as they are in conflict with this case. James W. Miller (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 8 P. D., 316. 3. Even though disability was incurred in prior service. When a soldier incurs a disability in the service and has been discharged, but subsequently reenlists and deserts, there is no authority for withholding the pension granted on account of said disability prior to his reenlistment other than the provisions of law that a pensioner shall not, for the same period, receive his pension and the pay of his rank or station in the service. Benjamin Robbins (Sec. Schurz), 6 P. D. (0. s.), 486. A deserter from a second enlistment for service during the war of the rebellion is not pensionable even for a disability contracted under a prior enlistment from which he was honorably discharged. A final discharge from service in said war is required. Charles H. Eding (Asst. Sec. Bussey) 5 P. D., 234. See James W. Miller, ante. Soldier served from April 17, 1861, to August 18, 1861, when he was honorably discharged. He claimed, June 28, 1880, pension for disability incurred during this service. He subsequently enlisted, August 1, 1862, for three years, and deserted September 5, 1862, and never returned to the service. It is held that, as his application for pension was not filed nor prosecuted prior to his second enlistment, from which he deserted, his 13201-11 3. Even though disability was incurred in prior service-Cont'd. pension, if allowed, would commence from the date of his final discharge from the service, and, not having received such final discharge from said last enlistment, there was no date from which his pension could legally be made to commence. Henry Davinney (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 5 P. D., 288. Overruled: s. c. (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 233. Claimant was pensioned from discharge for gunshot wound of hip. November 28, 1867, he enlisted in the Regular Army and deserted November 27, 1870. His pension was restored in 1889, deducting the time from enlistment in the Regular Army to the date of his desertion. It is held that, as he was never finally discharged from his enlistment in the Regular Army, he was never entitled to pension subsequent to his second enlistment. George W. Freeman (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 5 P. D., 361. A "deserter at large" from a second enlistment in the service of either the Army or the Navy is not recognized by the law as entitled to pensionable status. A final discharge from the service is essential to a valid claim for pension. McFalls (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 5 P. D., 364. William J. Under the provisions of the act of January 29, 1887, the widow of a soldier entitled to a pension by reason of her hus band's service and honorable discharge in the Mexican war is not barred by reason of her husband's desertion from service in the war of the rebellion. Bridget Kelley (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 128. Applicant claims pension for disabilities contracted in the line of duty during a term of service from which he was honorably discharged. His claim was rejected on the ground that he was a deserter at large from the service under a subsequent contract of enlistment: Held, That on establishing the incurrence of the disability in said perfected service and in the line of duty he is pensionable for the period intervening between his discharge from said service and his subsequent enlistment, and the former decision of the Department in this case (5 P. D., 288) is overruled and set aside. Henry Davinney (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 233. A soldier who is a deserter from the military service of the United States and has never been discharged therefrom is not pensionable under any law for any period subsequent to his said enlistment and desertion, for the reason that there is no period of time during which he was legally released or separated from such service. Peter Kenney (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 588. 3. Even though disability was incurred in prior service-Cont'd. When a soldier was discharged to reenlist, and did then and there reenlist as a veteran volunteer, and thereafter deserted from the service and never returned to or was discharged from said service, he is not pensionable under any law for any disability contracted under the enlistment from which he was discharged or that from which he deserted, for the reason that there was no period of time during which he was regularly and legally released or separated from the service Ibid. 4. Where soldier returned and was restored to duty. Desertion is no bar to pension if soldier returned to service and was killed in line of duty while serving out his original enlistment, although sentenced by a court-martial to serve, after the expiration of said eulistment, an additional term on account of said desertion. Widow of Henry L. Burns (Sec. Browning), 6 L. B. P., 326. A deserter who returned and was restored to duty, was wounded in action, and honorably discharged may be pensioned though the charge of desertion was not removed. Salatha C. Arterberry (Asst. Sec. Hawkins), 1 P. D., 378. A mere record of desertion, where the soldier returned to the service, was readmitted, and thereafter formally discharged, is not a bar to pensionable status. Daniel C. Lewis (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 5. P. D., 63. (a) Contra, if injured while under arrest after capture from desertion. A soldier who deserted and was arrested therefor and returned to his command, and while en route to his company while so under arrest had his feet frozen, necessitating amputation of both legs, but was afterwards restored to duty without trial, is not entitled to pension for said disability, as it occurred during a period when he was regarded by the War Department as a deserter. Herman Lamprecht (Actg. Sec. Bell), 4 P. D. (o. s.), 320. 5. Desertion from first, with discharge from second, service. Desertion from a service prior to service during the war of 1812, from which the soldier was honorably discharged, is no bar to pension on account of the latter service. James Barnes (Actg. Sec. Cowen), 2 P. D. (o. s.), 442. Where party was pensioned for disability contracted in the service, and it was discovered that he was a deserter from a prior service, pension was suspended upon the ground that his injury was not contracted in the line of duty, he being a |