Today in History: A Lincoln Pardon (And, You Know, That Whole Surrender at Appomattox Thing)

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Major & Knapp Print, Library of Congress.

On April 12, 1865, Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met, and Lee formally accepted the surrender terms drawn up on April 9th, and disbanded the Army of Northern Virginia. Several small battles took place after Lee's surrender, but the war was effectively over. For thousands of troops, the fighting was now done.

George Maynard's Letter to His Uncle. From the Compiled Military Service Records, US National Archives

For one Union soldier, however, this date held even more significance.  Private George A. Maynard of the 46th New York Infantry was arrested September 18, 1864, as a deserter, only 15 days after enlisting, and taken to Fort Monroe. He was charged with the even more serious crime of deserting to join the opposition. At trial, Maynard was found guilty on February 14, 1865, and sentenced "to be hung by the neck until dead."  

Telegraph from Lincoln to Grant, Dated February 23, 1865. From the Compiled Military Service Records, US National Archives

The soldier sent a message to his uncle, Harrison Maynard, of St. Albans, VT, entreating for help.  Uncle Harrison must have been well connected, because less than ten days later on February 23rd, President Abraham Lincoln telegraphed General Grant, ordering him to suspend Maynard's sentence until his case could be further reviewed.  Lincoln, in spite of the Herculean burden of running a country at war with itself, reviewed the cases of hundreds of individual soldiers, converting sentences and pardoning many. Entreaties on behalf of soldiers came from those in high positions of power--governors, congressmen--and regular, everyday people, if they could get their request to him. The President treated each request, once received, the same. Lincoln's mercy became a sore subject with his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton,  who wished the President would remember that the Army needed harsh consequences at times to keep the troops in line.

 On April 12, 1865, Lincoln officially pardoned George A. Maynard, and ordered he be returned to his regiment.  Two days later, Lincoln would be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth; so Maynard was lucky in more ways than one. The official order pardoning Maynard was published on April 24th, and sent out to General George G. Meade and the Army of the Potomac. Meade in turn sent the order back, explaining that the 46th New York Infantry was no longer serving with his outfit. Maynard finally returned to his regiment on June 5, 1865, and was mustered out with the rest of the 46th at the end of July. We'd call his army tenure a short, but storied career.

"Abraham Lincoln said that."

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Everyone misquotes famous lines and speeches- to the point that we remember the paraphrase or error more than the original statement. Neither Ingrid Bergman nor Humphrey Bogart ever say "Play it again, Sam" in Casablanca. Marie Antoinette never uttered "let them eat cake"- a similar "let them eat brioche" was attributed to her falsely by Jean-Jacques Rousseau as anti-royal propaganda. But we repeat these lines all the time.

Even the great Bob Dylan has made these snafus- check out his Lincoln-Sandburg mix up with the Lincoln maxim:

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, 
and all of the people some of the time, 
but you can't fool ALL of time."

No matter how you say though, the sentiment is fantastic, and used not only by Dylan, but Bob Marley & the Wailers in "Get Up Stand Up."

Pimlico and Reconstruction

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Since the Preakness was this past weekend, here's a little bit of Pimlico Race Course history, courtesy of the Baltimore Provost Marshal files. Pimlico is widely known to have opened its doors in 1870- but there seems to have already been a race site nearby, called "Pimlico" or "Pemlico"- which in 1865, caused quite a stir. Following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson declared June 1, 1865 a "National Day of Mourning." But, a horse race had already been planned for that day, and several participants refused to cancel. The State Attorney for Baltimore County wrote to Lieutenant Colonel John Woolley of the 8th Army Corps for assistance in preventing the race.

"Many persons have applied to the authorities of Baltimore County, to stop a Horse Race, which has been fixed to take place at the 'Pemlico Race Track,' about two miles west of Baltimore,, in this County, on Thursday next.... It is in a neighborhood where persons wish to attend church and observe in proper manner the day set apart by the President of the United States for Thanksgiving, and do not wish to be annoyed by this Race and do not think that this mark of disrespect to the authorities should be tolerated."

The US Army agreed that this event needed stopped, and Lt. Col. Woolley was ordered to:

"[S]end a squad of cavalry (10 men) in [the] charge of a commissioned officer to the Race course on the Reistertown pike about four (4) miles from Baltimore known as the Pimlico course, at an early hour to-morrow morning June 1st 1865, with instructions to prevent any assemblage of persons on said Track for any purpose inconsistent with or inimical to the object for which the day has been set apart by his Excellency, the President of the United States, as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer for the calamity to the nation by the assassination of President Lincoln."

No record in the Provost Marshal's file indicated the reception Woolley's men were given, but there were likely any disappointed race fans that day.