Townsend D Adjutant General (3 results)

Single sheet of lined paper, 9.5 x 7.5 in., 2 pp., approx. 220 words. A manuscript copy, in a clerical hand, signed [secretarial] by E.D. Townsend. Blind embossed stamp of the Capitol building and "Congress P & P" in upper left corner, docketed on the second page. Old fold lines, short separation along one fold. General Order No. 171 consisted of five parts, regulating the care and disposition of officer's horses. The first section requires that a departing officer turn in his horse for remuneration for not more than he paid for it. The second section states that he cannot sell a horse provided for him and the third and fourth refer to orders to transport horses at the public expense. Finally, officers who apply for transfers can not transport their horse from one department to another. The published versions of the General Orders were nearly all issued by Assistant A.G. Townsend, Adjutant Generals Office of the War Dept. in Washington, DC. Edward Davis Townsend (1817-1893) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from West Point in 1837. He served in the artillery during the Seminole War, and then on the northern frontier. Townsend joined the Adjutant General's Department in 1852, serving first on the Pacific coast, then in Washington DC during the Civil War. Townsend was charged with gathering and organizing many of the government documents into an official record of the war, a project that lasted well beyond his lifetime, taking some forty years to complete. [see his obituary in the New York Times, May 12, 1893, and Alan & Barbara Aimone's book "A User's Guide to the Official Records of the American Civil War," (Shippensburg, PA: 1993)].

First edition. First Edition. 12mo. Original Three-quarter Leather with marbled Boards. No General Pagination, each case individually paginated. A record of 62 court-martial orders for the year 1873, with a 2-page Index, and a brief synopses of each case. Most noteworthy is General Court-Martial Orders No. 32 records the case against a group of Modoc Indian captives, including Captain Jack, Schonchis, Black Jim, Boston Charley, Barncho, alias One Eyed Jim, and Sloluck, alias Cok, for "Murder, in violation of the laws of war." The charges were that when the Modoc met with the Peace Commission, under flag of truce, "and treacherously disregarding the obligations imposed by said truce under the laws of war, willfully, feloniously, and of malice aforethought, kill and murder said Brigadier General Canby. All this at or near the Lava Beds, so-called, situated near Tule Lake, in the State of California, on or about the 11th day of April, 1873." the same charges were also made for the killing of Eleazur Thomas. Additionally, separate charges were made for the attempted murder of Commissioner A. B. Meacham, as well as the arttempted murder of L. S. Dyer. All were found guilty and were sentenced "To be hanged by the neck until dead, at such time and place as the proper authority shall direct.". Subsequently, and contained herein, General Court-Martial Orders No. 34. states that President U. S. Grant has modified the sentences of Barncho, alias One Eyed Jim, Sloluck, alias Cok, changing their sentence to life in prison, in Alcatraz, instead of death by hanging. Captain Jack, Schonchis, Black Jim, and Boston Charley were all hung at Fort Klamath on October 3, 1873. The other 60 cases involve theft, embezzlement, assault, desertion, intoxication, and various violations of the standards of military conduct. An interesting look at military discipline in the decade following the Civil War. General Canby was the highest-ranking officer ever killed in the Indian Wars. Moderate general rubbing to edges, corners, and boards. Very good.

Disbound. Condition: Very Good. CIVIL WAR - General Orders No. 116, March 23, 1864, 18pp. Non-commissioned officers & privates, declared unfit for duty. Gives name, rank & company. Signed in print. Disbound. VG.