Evening star., 1912-07-13
CLEARED Of STAINS
House Purges Records of Two
Civil War Veterans.
GREAT WRONGS RIGHTED
John Treffeisen and John J. Troxell
Get Justice After Half
Century.

Century.
Two escutcheons were cleared of stains
in the House Of Representatives yes
terday, when the military records of
two civil war veterans were purged OF
charges which looked ugly enough on
paper, but which seem to have little
foundation after the two great armies
have been at peace tpr half century
and the mistakes of those early days
have begun to be rectified. The records
Of John Treffeisen and John J. Troxell
| were displayed on the floor of the
House. and after considerable discus
sion. were made pure white again.
John Treffeisen was captain of Com
pany, seth Pennsylvania Volunteers. He
raised the company himself He and
his men saw fighting. Treffeisen Is
now more than eighty years old, near
the end of the journey, as he expressed
it in a letter read before the House
yesterday. He was dishonorably dis
charged, because of desertion in the
face Of the enemy. after the retreat
from Culpeper. Now. after half CEN
| tury. his claim that he fell i'll and was
| being treated in a hospital has been
received with favor.
Early in the spring Of 1852 his regiment
| was ordered to Washington, and from
there became part Of Gen. McDowell.s
| gade: and later became part OF Gen.
Pope's command. In the retreat from
I'Culpeper the regiment had its NIL OF
fighting, and when Capt Treffeisen ar
all belongings had been seized by the
enemy and burned. The men had been
eating anything they could lay their
hands on, and subsequently the habit OF
| Of corn. eating 1t green without cooking.
| laid the captain low and caused his dis
| honorable discharge.
Forced to Walk to Washington.
The regiment was ten miles from
Washington when Capt. Treffeissn asked
for leave to go to the capital and buy
q few necessaries. The colonel OF his
regiment had been wounded, and Lieut.
Col. Hoffman was in command. This
officer promised Treffeisen a horse so
that he could get back in time, the pass
| out of the lines expiring that night. The
pass had to be countersigned by the bri-
gade commander, and 1t took Treffeisen
several hours to find him. Also the
| promised horse did not make its appear
| ance. and Treffeisen had to walk the
| ten miles.
He made his purchases, felt weak, went
to the old Prescott Hotel and went to
| bed. His pass had expired, and he was
| too sick to care. doctor from some
| ordered him to remain in bed, and fur
| nished him with certificate of his ILL
| ness. Three days later, when Capt.
Treneisen reported to Lieut.. Col. Hoff-
produced in the House yesterday. re-
fused to look at it. and told the young
officer he was charged with being alb
sent without leave. Other complications
were added. because Treffeisen, like
scores of other volunteer officers at that
time, knew little of military etiquette and
discipline. and failed to make some sort
OF written report or reply. When he
faced the court-martial he was so sur
prised he made little or no defense. and
the court ordered him discharged from
the company he had recruited
This wrong was righted yesterday with
out dissenting vote.
Troubles Of Lieut.. Troxell.
Army mules stuck in the mud of Elk
river. Tenn, were the primal causes of
the black stain upon the record of Lieut..
John j. Troxell. SD Regiment, Ohio Vol
unteers. Troxell was acting quartermas-
ter on or about September /, 1863, and as
such was in charge of wagon trains In
H.,
some Of the mules lost their sense of
loyalty to the Stars and Stripes and. re-
fusing to bulge, became hopelessly STALL
ed The road was narrow and the mules
blocked the progress of the entire army.
Just at the moment when men, officers
and mules We're In a frenzy Of lashing,
kicking. cursing and swearing, up rode
Cen. Gen Dan McCook OF the clan of Fight
ing McCooks. He took look at the
situation and mixed into it himself with
considerable heat. He and Lieut.. Troxell
became embroiled In a violent alteration
while the mules looked on. Gen. McCook
jumped into Troxell and called him a
large variety Of names, which had their
effect on the mules. for a few minutes
later the army was in motion TroxeIl
had nothing to do with the mules hard
headedness. but evidently Gen. McCook
he sent for Troxell and began giving him him
more OF the same treatment. Lieut.. Trox-
ell, says the record produced in the
House. protested. and said he would be
forced to send in his resignation to pre-
serve his self-respect.
Resignation Handed In.
The record shows that Cen Mccook
ordered the lieutenant to hand it in at
once. which was done, and Troxell left the
regiment. He had no written discharge.
and In attempting to pass beyond the
lines was stopped by Union officer and
abused Troxell again and said he'd
see who was the superior officer'' Trox-
ell eventually was passed through the
lines.
All Of this time the resignation which
he handed in to Gen. McCook had not
been accepted, and never was accepted
Troxell assumed that 1t had been ac-
cepted and never knew the difference
until 1896, when, in responce to an i'm
quiry at the War Department, he found
that McCook had preferred charges and
that he had been discharged on the
ground that he was drunk.
The House listened to considerable tes-
timouy on Shts case, and after Represent
ative Slayden OF TEXAS had volunteered
the remark that any man who tried to ret
mules out Of the mud was deserving Of .
pension the House cleared the stain from