File No. 851.4054/22
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador ( Jusserand)
Excellency: Referring to your note of July 28 and to previous correspondence regarding the marriage of members of the American military forces in France to French women, in which you state that it is somewhat doubtful that an American soldier who complies with the formalities of French marriage laws and pretends to marry a French woman, although he is already married, could be punished under any existing State or Federal penal statutes of this country or could be punished for swearing falsely in the affidavits which the War Department has suggested can be required of American soldiers [Page 771] desiring to marry French women, I have the honor to inform you that the War Department states that the 96th Article of War provides for the punishment of soldiers committing bigamy or uttering false affidavits.
For your information the Department may state that the 96th Article of War above referred to provides as follows:
Art. 96. General Article.—Though not mentioned in these articles, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service, and all crimes or offenses not capital, of which persons subject to military law may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general or special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and punished at the discretion of such court.
As regards the prosecution of a soldier after his discharge from the military service and his return to the United States in case he has been guilty of perjury or bigamy in connection with the marriage ceremony in France, relative to which you suggest that a bill be introduced in Congress providing for the prosecution of such a soldier upon his return to this country, the War Department now informs me that a bill is being drawn up for submission to Congress that will cover the cases of soldiers who are discharged before they can be brought to trial for bigamy in France.1
Accept [etc.]