The herald., 1898-06-12
Adjt.- Gen. Corbin's Court Martial


aid: In your journal of May "a there ap-
peared an article by "E" that was headed
"Our Mastery Inactivity" In which the
writer, after praising the stand taken by
The Herald in holding Secretary Alger In
part responsible for the half-heartcd
manner in which the campaign is being
fought. and asking The Herald to give
the facts about the court-hlartlal of Sec
retary Alger during the war, gives vent
to the following sentiments:
| In this same connection you may not
| know that Gen. Corbln, the present ad-
| jutant general of this army, was so
| averse to having his body stop a rebel
| bullet that he was tried for cowardce
| in the face. of the enemy and dismissed
| from the service, but was afterwards
| reinstated through political influence.
1t seems a strange thing that men Of
| acknowledged ability, like Gen. Mer-
| ritt and others, should be placed under
the command of such absolutely DEM
| orstrated incapacity.
! Now, If &c" were as distrustful Of his
knowledge of the facts concerning Ad-
| jutant-General Corbin's court martial as
| he is about the court-martial Of General
| Alger, and If he were as careful to seek
the true history Of one as of the other.
he never would have given expression to
the wildcat statements contained in the
above, and which defy him or anyone
else to prove from the official records Of
the war office in Washington, where all
such documents are kept.
General Corbin was court-martialed, 1t
is true, but the court instead of finding
him guilty cleared him OF thel charges
brought against him, but went beyond
the usual course pursued in such cases,
and inserted an extra clause in their flnd-
ings to show in what esteem they held
him.
| Here is a history Of the case. Corbin
at the time of his court-martial was lieu
tenant of the Fourteenth regim ent,
United States colored infantry. and the
one who preferred the charges against
him was the colonel of the regiment, T.
]. Morgan, at present Baptist minister,
and who was appointed Indian commits
sioner by President Harrison. Here are
the findings of the court-martial:
Headquarters First Separate Divis-
ion, Alabama, Chattanooga, Tenn.
March IA, 1865
General Order No. 6.
| Before a general courtmartial,
which convened at Chattanooga,
Tenn, pursuant to special order 20,
from headquarters First Separate Di-
vision Army of the Cumberland and
| of which Colonel L. johnson, Forty
fourth regiment, United States colored
infantry, is president. was arraigned
i and tried Lieutenant-Colonel Henry
c. Corbn. Fourteenth regiment. United
States .colored infantry, on the follow
charges:
Charge 1.-Cowardice.
Charge 2.-Misbehavior before the
enemy in violation of the fifty-second
article of war.
Charge 3.-Conduct unbecoming an
officer and a gentleman.
Charge 4-Conduct prejudicial to good
order and military discipline.
Finding Of the court: Not guilty. The
court does therefore most honorably
acquit him, the said Lieutenant Colonel
H. c. Corbin, Fourteenth United States
colOred infantry. The proceedings
and findings of the general court.
martial in the foregoing case of Lieut.
tenant-Colonel Henry G. Corbin are
approved and confirmed. Lieutenant
Colonel Corbin will accordingly be re-
leased from arrest and returned to
duty. BY command of
MAJOR-GENERAL STEEDMAN.
s. B. NAE, Major and A. A. @.
Morgan charged that at Decatur Cor
bin, being in action on the skirmish line,
had left it and retreated to point in the
rear of the line of battle, while it was
proved at the court-martial that Cor
bin had gone out from the skirmish line
under orders from Morgan himself to
observe the enemys position and return
and report it.
Corbin was charged with gross coward
ice at the battle of Nashville, while the
highest officers testified that Corbin di>-
tinguished himself for gallantry during
that battle. From the records of the
court take the following:
The court takes this occasion to
animadvert on the unchartable con-
| duct of Col T. ]. Morgan, Fourteenth
| United States colored infantry, toward
the accused. Lieutenant-Colonel H. c.
| Corbin, during the trial, and his un-
officer-,ike conduct while giving his tes-
timony for the prosecution, by attempt
| ing to take memoranda of the evidence
SO given until forbidden by the court
And the court said further that one of
| Morgans two chief witnesses was guilty
Of Misrepresentation and falsehood," and
of the other that he was guilty of false
| hood"
And now for the record of Morgan who
brought the charges against Corbin. On
July 10, 1865, he was tried by court mar
tial at Chattanooga, Tenn, on three
charges, viz: SignngI of false muster
rolls and forcing his officers to sign then<
in direct violation of the Fifteenth article
of war. This charge was divided into
six specifications.
| Charge second, conduct unbecoming an
officer and gentleman. This charge was
divided into five specifications, one of
which was opening letters addressed to
other officers of the regiment.
| Charge three, conduct prejudicial to-
good order and military discipline. This
charge was divided into three specifica-.
tions. The result Of the trial was that the
court-martial not only found Morgan
guilty of the three charges for which he
was tried, but declared him guilty of th..
fourteen specifications into. which the
main charges were subdivided, and SEN
ltenced him to- be dismissed from the ser
vice of the United States.
But General Steedman, in reviewing the
case, pointed out that the penalty for
Morgan's offense, as rigidly laid down in
army rules, was not simply dismissal
from the service, but cashiering. To be
cashiered is not only to be dismissed, but
to be forever debarred from holding Of
flee in the service of the United States,
opd bocoyca tho o0,1rt bo1 NOT odharo,5