ARTICLES AND ORDINANCES OF WAR, By the COMMITTEE of ESTATES, And his EXCELLENCE, The Lord General Of the ARMY.  
EDINBURGH, Printed by Evan Tyler, Printer to the King● most Excellent Majesty, 1650.   

ARTICLES AND ORDINANCES OF WAR, etc.  
THat no man pretend ignorance, 
The publishing of the Articles & Ordinances of War.  and that every one may know the duty of his place, that he may do it; The Articles and Ordinances following, are to be published at the general Rendezvous in every Regiment apart, by the Majors of the several Regiments, and in the presence of all the Officers. The same shall afterward be openly read to every Company of Horse and Foot, and at such times as shall be thought most convenient by the Lord General: and in like manner shall be made known to so many as join themselves to be professed Soldiers in the Army. For this end, every Colonel and Captain shall provide one of those Books, that he may have it in readiness at all occasions, and every Soldier shall solemnly swear this following Oath.  
IN. 
The Soldier's Oath.  N. promise and swear to be true and faithful in this Service, according to the heads sworn by me in the Solemn League and Covenant of the three Kingdoms: To honour and obey my Lord General, and all my Superior Officers and Commanders, and by all means to hinder their dishonour and hurt: To observe carefully all the Articles of War and Camp Discipline: never to leave the defence of this Cause, nor flee from my Colours so long as I can follow them: To be ready to watching, warding, and working, so fare as I have strength: To endure and suffer all distresses, and to fight manfully to the uttermost, as I shall answer to GOD, and as GOD shall help me.  
I. 
Kirk Discipline.  Kirk Discipline shall be exercised, and the sick cared for in every Regiment, by the particular Eldership, or Kirk-Session to be appointed, even as useth to be done in every Parish in the time of Peace: And that there may be an uniformity throughout the whole Army in all matters Ecclesiastical, there shall be a general Eldership, or common Ecclesiastic Judicatory, made up of all the Ministers of the Camp, and of one Elder direct from every particular Regiment, who shall also judge of Appellations made unto them from the particular Sessions or Elderships.  
II. For deciding of all questions, 
Counsels of War.  debates and quarrelings that shall arise betwixt Captains and their Soldiers, or any others of the Army, and for the better observing of Camp-Discipline, two Courts of Justice, the one higher, and the other lower, are appointed, wherein all judges are sworn to do justice equally: The higher also to judge of Appellations to be made from the lower Court. And if any man shall by word or gesture show his contempt or misregard, or shall fall out in boasting or braving, while Courts are sitting, he shall be punished by death. And both these Judicatories, as well of the Kirk matters, as of War, shall be subject to the General Assembly, and Committee of Estates respectiuè.  
III. 
Duties to God.  Whosoever shall wilfully or carelessly absent himself from morning and evening Prayers, or from P●eaching before and afternoon on the Lord's Day, or other extraordinary times appointed for the worship of God, when the sign is given by found of Trumpet or Drum, he shall be censured and punished for his neglect or contempt, by penalty, imprisonment, or other punishment, as his fault deserveth.  
After the warning given, there shall be no Market, nor selling of Commodities whatsoever, till the Prayers or Preaching be ended, upon the pain of forfeiting the things so sold, and of the imprisoning of the offenders.  
IU. Common and ordinary swearing and cursing, open profaning of the Lords Day, wronging of his Ministers, and other Acts of that kind, shall not only be punished with loss of pay and imprisonment, but the transgressors shall make their public repentance in the midst of the Congregation, and if they will not be reclaimed, they shall with disgrace be openly cashiered and discharged, as unworthy of the meanest place in the Army.  
V 
Duties to the King, Country, and Gen●  If any shall speak irreverently against the King's Majesty and his Authority, or shall presume to offer violence to his Majesty's Person, he shall be punished as a Traitor. He that shall speak evil of the Cause which we defend, or of the Kingdoms, the Parliaments, Convention of Estates, or their Committees in the defence thereof, or shall use any words to the dishonour of the Lord General, he shall be punished with death.  
No man shall at his own hand, without warrant of the Committee, or of my Lord General, have, or keep intelligence with enemy b● speech, letters, signs, or any other way, under the pain to be pun shed as a Traitor. No man shall give over any Strength, Magazine, Victual, etc. Or make any such motion, but upon extremity, under the same pain. No man shall give supply, or furnish Money, Victual, or any Commodities to the enemy, upon pain of death.  
Whosoever shall be found to do violence against the Lord General, his Safeguard, or Safeconduct, shall die for it.  
Whosoever shall be found guilty of carelessness and negligence in his service, although he be free of treachery and double dealing, shall bear his own punishment.  
VI 
Duties of Superiors.  All Commanders & Officers shall be careful, both by their authority and example, that all under their charge, live in godliness, soberbernesse, and righteousness: and if they themselves shall be common swearers, cursers, drunkards, or any of them at any time shall come drunk to his Guard, or by quarrelling, or any otherway shall commit any notable disorder in his quarter, loss of place shall be his pun shment; And further according to the sentence of the Court of War.  
The Captains that shall be negligent in training their Companies, or that shall be found to withhold from their Soldiers any part of their pay, shall be discharged of their place, and further censured by the Court of War.  
No Commander or Officer shall conceal dangerous and discontentented humours, inclined to mutinies, or grudging at the orders given them, but shall make them known to the prime Leaders of the Army, upon the pain to be accounted guilty of mutiny.  
No Commander or Officer shall authorise, or wittingly permi● any Soldier to go forth to a singular Combat, under pain of death; But on the contrary, all Officers shall be careful by all means to part quarrelings amongst Soldiers, although they be of other Regiments or Companies, and shall have power to command them to prison, which if the Soldiers shall disobey or resist by using any Weapon, they shall die for it.  
No Captain shall presume at his own hand, without warrant of the Lord General, to cashier or give a Pass to any enroled Soldier or Officer, who hath appeared at the place of the General Rendezvous; nor shall any Commander, Officer, or Soldier departed without a Pass, or stay behind the time appointed him in his Pass; and whosoever transgresseth the one way or the other, shall be punished at the discretion of the Court of War. 
Duties of 〈◊〉.   
VII. All Soldiers shall remember that it is their part to honour and obey their Commanders, and therefore shall receive their commands with reverence, and shall make no noise, but be silent, when the Officers are commanding or giving their directions, that they may be heard by all, and the better obeyed: he that faileth against this, shall be imprisoned.  
No Soldier shall leave his Captain, nor servant foresake his Master, whether he abide in the Army or not, but upon licence granted, and in an orderly way.  
Whosoever shall presume to discredit any of the great officers of the Army, by writ, word, or any other way, and be not able to make it good, and whatsoever shall lift his Weapon against any of them, shall be punished by death; and whosoever shall lift his hand against any of them, shall lose his hand.  
No Soldier, nor inferior Officer, shall quarrel with, or offer any injury to his Superior, nor refuse any duty commanded him upon pain of casseering, and to be further censured by the Court of War, And if any shall presume to strike his Superior, he shall be punished with death. But if it shall happen, that any Officer shall command any thing to the evident and known prejudice of the public, then shall he who is commanded, modestly refuse to obey and presently give notice thereof to the Lord General.  
If any man shall use any words or ways, tending to mutiny or sedition, whether for demanding his pay, or upon any other cause; or if any man shall be privy to such mutinous speeches or ways, and shall conceal them; both shall be punished with death.  
All must show their valour against the Enemy, & not by revenging their private injuries, which upon their complaints to their superior Officers, shall be repaired to the full. And if any man presume to take his own satisfaction, or challenge a Combat, he shall be imprisoned, and have his punishment discerned by the Marshal Court,  
The Provest-Marshall must not be resisted or hindered, in apprehending or putting Deliquents in prison, and all Officers must assist him to this end, and if any man shall resist or break prison, he shall be censured by the Court of War, 
Duties to others.   
VIII. Murder is no less unlawful and intolerable in the time of War, then in the time of Peace, & is to be punished with death.  
Whosoever shall be found to have forced any woman, whether he be Commander or Soldier, shall die for it without mercy. And whosoever shall be found guilty of adultery o● fornication, shall be no less severely censured and punished then in the time of Peace.  
If any common whores shall be found following the Army, if they be married women, and run away from their husbands, they shall be put to death without mercy, and if they be un-married, they shall be first marked by the hangman, and thereafter by him scourged out of the Army.  
Thiefs and Robers shall be punished with the like severity. If any shall spoil, or take any part of th●ir goods that die in the Army, or are killed in service, he shall restore the double, and be further punished at discretion. It is provided, that all their goods be forthcoming, and be disposed of according to their Testament and Will, declared by word or writ before witnesses, or if they have made no Testament, to their Wives, Children, or nearest Kindred, according to the Laws of the Kingdom.  
All shall live together as friends and brethren, abstaining from words of disgrace, contempt, reproach, giving of lies, and all provocation by word or gesture: He that faileth, shall be imprisoned for the first fault, and if he be incorrigible, he shall be with shame punished and put out of the Army.  
IX. 
Concerning Arms.  All Soldiers shall come to their Colours, to watch, to be exercised, or to muster, with their own Arms & if any Soldier shall come with another man's Arms, he shall be punished with rigour, and the lender shall lose his Arms. All shall come also with complete & tied Arms in a decent manner, otherwise to be severely punished.  
If any man shall sell or give in pawn his horse, his Arms, or any part of the Ammunition committed to him, or any Instruments; as Spades, Shovels, Picks, used in the Field, he shall for the first and second time be beaten through the quarter, and for the third time be punished as for other theft: And he that buyeth them, or taketh them to pawn, be he Soldier or Victualler, shall pay the double of the Money, beside the want of the things bought or impawned, and be further punished at discretion.  
Whosoever in a debauched and lewd manner by Cards or Dice, or by sloth and unexcusable neglect, shall lose his horse & Arms, in whole, or in part, to the hindrance of the service; And whosoever shall wilfully spoil or break his Arms, or any instrument of War committed to him, by cutting down of Trees, or any other way, he shall serve as a Pioneer, till the loss be made up, and he furnished upon his own charges.  
X. 
Concerning marching.  No man on his march, or at his lodging, within or without the Country upon whatsoever pretext, shall take by violence either horse, cattles, goods, money, or any other thing less or more, but shall pay the usual prices for his meat and drink, or be furnished in an orderly way upon count, at the sight of the Commissar, according to the order given by the Committee upon pain of death, without mercy.  
If any man shall presume to pull down, or set on fire any dwelling house, though a Cottage, or hue down any fruit-trees, or to waste or deface any part of the beauty of the Country, he shall be punished most severely, according to the importance of the fault.  
In marching, no man shall stay behind without leave: No man shall straggle from his Troup or Company: No man shall march out of his rank, and put others out of order, under all highest pain.  
XI. 
Of musters.  If any Colonel of horse or foot shall keep back his Soldiers from the appointed musters, or shall lend his soldiers to make a false muster, upon trial in the Court Martial, he shall be punished as a deceiver. And if any Muster-master shall use any false rolls, shall have any hand in false Musters, or by connivance, or any other way be tried to be accessary to them, he shall suffer the like punishment. 
Victuallers   
XII. No man shall presume to do the smallest injury to any that bring necessaries to the Leaguer, whether by stealing from them or deceiving them, or by violence in taking their horse or goods, under the pain to be accounted and punished as enemies. No victuallres, shall sell rotten victuals upon pain of imprisonment and confiscation, & further as they shall be judged to deserve.  
No Soldier shall provide and sell Victuals, unless he be authorized, nor shall any that selleth Victuals, keep in his Tent or Hutte any Soldier at unseasonable hours, and forbidden times, under pain at discretion: Likeas, all the prices thereof shall be set down by the general Commissar and be given to the Quartermaster of the several Regiments.  
XIII. 
Duties in the Camp.  No man enroled professing himself or pretending to be a Soldier, shall abide in the Army, unless he enter in some Company, nor shall he that hath entered depart without licence, upon pain of death. No man having licence shall stay beyond the time appointed him, upon pain of the loss of his pay during the time of his absence, and further punishment at discretion. If any man in a mutinous way, show himself discontent with the quarter assigned him, he shall be punished as a mutineer. And if any man shall stay out of his quarter, or go without shot of Cannon being entrenched, but one night, without leave of his superior Officer, he shall be casseerd.  
All that shall be absent from the watch after the sign is given for the setting thereof shall be severely punished. He that revealeth or falsifieth the watch word given by the Officer, within the Trenches, or before the Colours: He that is taken sleeping or drunk upon his watch: He that cometh off the watch before the time every one of those shall be punished with death.  
Whosoever shall assemble themselves together for taking mutinous counsel upon whatsoever pretext; they all, whether Officers or Soldiers, shall suffer death.  
XIV. 
Duties in Battle.  Every man when the Alarm is given, shall rep●●r speedily to his Colours; no man shall forsake or flee from his Colours.  
No man in the Country shall reset them that flee.  
No man in the battle shall throw away his Musket, Pike, or Bandileir, all under the pain of death.  
Whatsoever Regiment of horse or foot, having charged the enemy, shall draw back or flee before they come to stroke of sword, shall answer for it before a Council of war; and whosoever Officer or Soldier shall be found to be in the default, they shall be punished by death, or some shameful punishment, as the Council of war shall find their cowardice to deserve. 
Duties after Battle.   
XV. If it shall come to pass, that the enemy shall give us battle, and the Lord shall give us victory, none shall kill a yielding enemy nor save him that still pursueth, upon pain of death. Neither shall there be any ransomeing of persons, spoiling, pillaging, par●ing of he prey, or disbanding from their charges, or Offices, but as the Lord General shall give order upon the same pain of death.  
XVI. 
Rewards for the well deserving.  Every man's carriage shall be diligently observed, and he according to his merit rewarded or punished: And whatsoever Officer or Soldier shall take Commanders, or the C●lours of the enemy, or in the siege of Towns shall first ●nter a breach, or scale the walls, & shall carry himself dutifully in his station, and doth his part valiantly, in skirmish or battle, shall after the laudable exemple of the wisest and worthiest Kingdoms and Estates, have his honour and reward according to his worth and deserving, whether hereafter we have peace or war.  
Matters that are clear by the light and law of nature are presupposed: Things unnecessary, are passed over in silence: and other things may be judged by the common customs and constitutions of war, or may upon new emergents, be expressed afterward.  
FINIS