Richard Busteed Richard Busteed ( February 16 , 1822 – September 14 , 1898 ) was an attorney and soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He was a lawyer before and after the war , and also served as the U . S . District Judge of Alabama from 1863 – 1874 . He became highly controversial in that position , and resigned to avoid likely impeachment by the U . S . House of Representatives . Early life . Busteed was born in Cavan , Ireland . His family relocated to London , Ontario , sometime after his father , George Washington Busteed , was removed as chief secretary of Saint Lucia in 1829 . After moving to Canada , the elder Busteed began publishing " The True Patriot " on which Richard worked as a type - setter . He accompanied his father to Cincinnati , Ohio ; Hartford , Connecticut ; and finally settled in New York City where he worked on the " Commercial Advertiser " . Along with working as a journalist , Busteed was licensed as a Methodist preacher . He visited Ireland for health reasons in 1840 . Upon returning to New York he began to study the law and was admitted to the bar in 1846 , thereafter engaging in private practice . He was elected corporation counsel of New York City in 1856 and held that office until 1859 . In the presidential election of 1860 he was a strong supporter of Stephen A . Douglas , and a bitter opponent of Abraham Lincoln . Civil War . Once the war erupted , Busteed became a strong Union man . He was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers on August 7 , 1862 , by President Lincoln and assigned duty first in New York and then in Washington , D . C . . On December 15 , 1862 , he was given command of an independent brigade detached from the VII Corps . The brigade was assigned to the peninsula near Yorktown , Virginia . Even though the five colonel s in his brigade sent a joint letter to the Senate urging his confirmation , the Senate did not confirm the appointment . Busteed not only had enemies from the election of 1860 , he had made new ones for his strong support of the administration and his stance on the slavery question . His appointment expired on March 4 , 1863 , and , relieved of his command , he resigned less than a week later on the 10th , ending his military career . On November 17 , 1863 , Busteed received a recess appointment from Lincoln as United States District Judge for the Alabama seats vacated by the death of George W . Lane . Although Alabama comprised three judicial districts at the time , Northern , Middle , and Southern , they shared a single judgeship . Formally nominated on January 5 , 1864 , this time his enemies in the Senate did not fight his confirmation and the appointment was confirmed unanimously on January 20 , 1864 . The confirmation may have gone so smoothly because Alabama was still mostly controlled by the Confederacy . Post Civil War . It was only after the war ended that Busteed was able to take his seat on the bench . He immediately came into disfavor with those pushing for harsh Reconstruction when he decided that the test - oath prescribed by Congress was unconstitutional , so far as it applied to attorneys practising before United States courts . Judges in other states and eventually the United States Supreme Court would deliver similar opinions . In November 1865 Busteed clashed with the U . S . military authorities in Alabama over the suspension of habeas corpus . Despite these opinions , Alabamans generally considered him corrupt and pro - Northern . In December 1867 , he was shot on the street in Mobile by U . S . District Attorney Lucien V . B . Martin , who fired two more shots into him after he fell . Martin went to Texas and was never prosecuted , while Judge Busteed recovered rapidly . In 1873 , President Grant nominated Busteed to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia . At the same time , Grant nominated Judge David Campbell Humphreys , an Alabama native serving on the District of Columbia court , to assume Busteed ' s seat , each nomination made contingent on the other ' s resignation . The Senate , however , viewed these nominations as improper and refused to act on them . Also in 1873 , Busteed was the subject of an impeachment inquiry by the House Judiciary Committee . The Committee recommended his impeachment on charges of failing to maintain a residence in his judicial district , failing to hold scheduled terms of court , and using his official position to promote his personal interests ( specifically , by remitting a fine due to the Federal government in order to obtain release from a personal judgment against him in a State court ) . Busteed resigned on October 20 , 1874 , before the full House could vote on the recommendation . He returned to New York City and the practice of law . He died there on September 14 , 1898 . This Richard Busteed is often confused with a Captain Richard Busteed of the Chicago Light Artillery due to a mix - up in pension records . Family . Richard Busteed ’ s daughter married Lieutenant Ellicot C . V . Blake who was serving on the USS Wabash and later served as clerk of the court for Busteed in Alabama .