The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-02-20
Justice
Righted
How Abraham Lincoln Re-
versed the Decision of
a Court Martial.
By F. A. mitchell

Il By F. A. mitchell III
President Lincoln is admired and re-
spected for his handling of the ship
of state during that four years. storm
of war when he so often kept her
from going on the rocks To this adj
miration and respect is added an af-
lection begetten Of his tender heart,
especially as evinced in his sympathy
for those unfortunates who We're for
one cause or another condemned to die.
The following is one Of those many
instances wherein Mr. Lincoln inter-
fered to save the life Of a deserter,
and happily in this case it was he and
not court martial who did justice to
the delinquent The family name Of
the parties concerned in the narrative
Ia not at hand, therefore for conven-
fence an assumed name will be used.
But the story is none the less an
actual happening, nothing having been
added or taken away.
Shortly before the stirring days Of
1851 John Atwater and his wife were
living happily together, interested In
the education of their two sons, John
and Arthur The boys had arrived at
that age when they most needed IA
theirs guidance-that is, they were In
their teens and the parents we're look
ing forward for them to an honorable
career. Then the father died, leaving
his widow to shoulder all the respon-
sibility for the completion of their ed
ucation and giving them start In
life. They resided in the east.
It seemed impossible under the cir
cumstances to keep the family togeth-
er. An uncle in Missouri offered to
take one of the boys and do what he
could to pave the way for him to make
q living. 1t was deemed best to ac-
cept this offer, and the older son was
sent to Missouri Another uncle,
brother of Mrs. Atwater, offered to
take the younger son and release his
mother of the responsibility of finding
employment for him. 1t was sad
parting between the mother and her
two boys, especially since one of them
was to go so far away. But the plucky
woman, considering the interest of her
sons rather than her own desire to
have them with her, consented to the
separation.
r,,s st,<7,,<~ - +ha faroiiv ft1rnad
out very unfortunately. The war be-
tween the states came on not long
after John Atwater reached his new
home. Missouri was slave state and
had largely been settled by southern
people. The sympathies Of the inhab-
itants were largely with the south, and
a vigorous attempt was made to hold
the state to the Confederacy. Those
who were in favor of the north were
either compelled to leave for Federal
territory or take sides with the Con-
federates. This resulted In Atwater's
being forced, against his inclinations.
into the Confederate ranks.
There was big fight between Fed
erals and Confederates, the one en-
deavoring to carry the state out of the
Union, the other to retain possession
Of 1t. Both sides raised troops, and a
number Of battles were fought, result
ing finally in victory for the Unionists,
which was to have been expected, for
Missouri is geographically considered
a northern state. In one of the bat
ties John Atwater was severely wound
ed and was taken to the home Of his
uncle. His mother, being informed Of
his condition, went to him and nursed
him back to health and strength. Mrs.
Atwater's sympathies being with the
Union, she used her influence to per-
suade him to 20 to her brother in Bos-
ton, with whom Arthur had been be-
fore Joining the northern army. In
this she succeeded.
These efforts were too much for a
delicate woman, and Mrs. Atwater's
health broke down under them. Suf
fering from fever, she was delirious.
During this delirium she was constant
ly calling upon her younger son, Ar
thur, to come to her.
Arthur was at that time serving
with his regiment in the Federal army
at the front Mrs. Atwater's neigh
bors, plying the poor woman's dis
tress and thinking that her life might
depend upon seeing her son, sent word
to him to come to her at once.
When the message reached Arthur
! he applied to his captain for leave
to go.
"Leave of absence" sneered the
! captain. 'You ask for leave of alb
sence In face Of the enemy and on the
eve of battle? What you want is to
skulk away and avoid fight"
Stung to the quick, the boy replied:
Here is a letter saying that my
mother is dying and calling on me to
come to her"
your mother is scheming rebel
and is trying to get you away from
the post Of duty"
"You lie.''
"You gave me the lie! That's mu-
tiny. I'll attend to your case. Go to
the guard tent"
| The captain reported that Private At
water had been insolent to him, and
/ Arthur knew that he would be tried
for mutiny. Night came on, and while
under arrest he thought of his dying
mother, who was calling on him to
come to her. The strain was more
than he could bear. Stealing out, he
made his way through the camp with
out attracting attention and, lodging
the pickets, was making for home
when a foraging party coming In with
supplies met him and took him back to
camp.
What course the boy had been oblig-
ed to take to avoid being arrested by
Federal troops does not appear, but the
report of the officer in charge Of the
foraging party was that he was head
| ing for the Confederate lines. The
fact that he had had brother In the
Confederate army also told against
him. He was tried by court martial
for desertion and sentenced to be shot
One morning while Mr. Lincoln was
| talking with a visitor at the White
House an attendant entered and hand
ed the president card A panied ex-
preston crossed Mr.. Lincoln's face as
he recognized the name of Julia At
water The papers in the case Of her
sons court martial had been forward
ed to him, and his signature was neces-
sary before the death sentence could
be carried out The visitor offered to
give way to the newcomer, but Mr..
Lincoln urged him to remain where
he was, at the same time giving an
order that the woman was to be ad-