Headquarters 18th Army Corps, In the Field, Va., September 20th, 1864. General Orders, No. 122. Printed bifolium of four pages, text on pages one through three, approximately 5 x 7 1/2 inches.

THE DOCUMENT

An original field printing issued from the headquarters of the 18th Army Corps, Army of the James, during the siege operations before Petersburg and Richmond. The order publishes the complete record of a general court-martial convened at corps headquarters on September 1st, 1864, pursuant to Special Orders No. 121, Paragraph XI, dated August 30th, 1864, with Lieut. Col. J. B. Murray, 148th New York Volunteers, sitting as President. Eight cases are set out in full, each with charge, finding and sentence, followed by the reviewing authority's action on each.

CONTENTS

The docket is a cross-section of the disciplinary life of a corps in the trenches. Private John Green, 7th New York Independent Battery, was convicted of sleeping on post and forfeited ten dollars of his monthly pay for three months, the Court noting leniency on account of his good character. Private Edward Spears, Co. C, 188th Pennsylvania Volunteers, drew three months at hard labor at Dutch Gap for absence without leave. Private Rowland Wade, Battery E, 3d New York Artillery, received thirty days for sleeping on post, the Court lenient in part because the accused had been sick at the time he was found asleep. Private Andrew Floyd, Co. G, 12th New Hampshire Volunteers, was tried for desertion, found guilty only of absence without leave, and sentenced to three months at Dutch Gap. First Lieut. Charles A. Locke, Co. E, 2d New Hampshire Volunteers, was acquitted of disobedience of orders and of conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. Private Isaac Brown, Battery I, 2d Pennsylvania Artillery, was likewise acquitted. Private Timothy Kidney, Battery L, 2d Pennsylvania Artillery, drew two years at hard labor and forfeiture of eight dollars monthly for sleeping on post.

The seventh case is the document's centerpiece. Private John Cole, Co. D, 55th Pennsylvania Volunteers, was convicted of desertion and sentenced to be shot to death with musketry, two-thirds of the members of the Court concurring. The reviewing authority disapproved the proceedings outright. Taking into consideration the darkness of the night, the order finds the evidence by no means clear that the accused intended to desert, and holds that the Court committed a very great error in refusing to allow the accused to summon a medical man to prove that he was subject to fits, which for the time rendered him an irresponsible being. In such a case, the order states, the accused should be allowed every possible opportunity, compatible with the administration of justice, to prove himself innocent. But for the fact that the Court had no power remaining to correct its error, the case would have been returned for revision; as it stood, the Commanding General could only disapprove and order the man returned to duty — which was accordingly done. A capital sentence overturned in print, on the ground that a soldier was denied a medical defense, is uncommon content in a field imprint of this class.

The repeated sentences to hard labor at Dutch Gap are of particular note. Dutch Gap was the canal Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler was cutting across the neck of the James in the late summer and autumn of 1864, a work carried on under regular Confederate artillery fire; assignment there as a punishment detail was well understood in the Army of the James for what it was.

SIGNATURES

Issued by command of Major-General John Gibbon, and signed in type by Theodore Read, Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. Gibbon's connection is a narrow one: after Reams' Station and before his transfer to the XXIV Corps, Gibbon held temporary command of the 18th Army Corps for a matter of weeks in September 1864, so orders issued over his name at this headquarters occupy a brief window. Theodore Read served as assistant adjutant-general and later chief of staff of the Army of the James; brevetted brigadier general, he was killed leading the raid on High Bridge near Farmville on April 6th, 1865, three days before the surrender at Appomattox, in the same fight that carried off Confederate officers Dearing and Boston.

The order is authenticated in period ink at the OFFICIAL line by Geo. W. Kelley, Lieut. and A.A.A.G. — a bold, well-formed signature in dark ink, entirely legible.

CONDITION

Light overall toning, original folds with a horizontal fold through the text and a vertical fold at the center, scattered small foxing spots including one in the upper right of the first page. No losses, no separations, no repairs. Text crisp and fully legible throughout. Ink signature strong.  [ss] [ph:L]

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