Item No. 1668304

This printed general order was issued by the War Department in Washington, DC, on August 4, 1863. It states the details of four courts martial:

1. Private George W. Hiner, 44th Ohio — Found guilty of desertion and bounty jumping. Sentenced to be shot to death, however the sentence was disapproved by President Abraham Lincoln, citing “irregularity in the proceedings.” Hiner was ordered released and returned to duty.

2. Private Henry P. Estep, 14th Kentucky — Found guilty of desertion and aiding the enemy. Estep had deserted on his regiment’s march to Cumberland Gap in April 1862 and was arrested in April 1863. In the interim, the document states he did “join the confederate forces under Captains Blevins and Henry, and did so remain with the enemy for six weeks or thereabouts, at the expiration of which time the regiment (5th Kentucky rebel) was disbanded, and he returned to his home, and remained there until arrested by federal forces, under William Sparks, the 3d day of April, 1863.” Estep was sentenced to be shot to death and, in this case, President Lincoln approved.

3. William S. Waller — Found guilty of spying and “aiding and abetting those in arms against the United States.” Evidently, Waller met “several persons for the purpose of joining with them to pass our lines to enter into the service of the enemy.” He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The president, upon review, directed that “the sentence be commuted to imprisonment during the war on Johnson’s Island.”

4. John T. Dial — Found guilty of “aiding and abetting the enemies of the government of the United States.” Dial had evidently participated in the capture and parole of Union soldiers. He was sentenced to be shot to death, but President Lincoln disapproved, directing that “the prisoner be turned over to the civil authorities, the Court-Martial having no jurisdiction in the case.”

The document is 6 pages and measures about 4 3/4” x 7 1/4”. Fine condition. Two holes in the left margin for placement in a binder. The order was among an archive of documents from the brigade staff of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac (archive of Col. Thomas H. Dunham, 11th Mass.). It is marked as having been received September 2, 1863.