‘The Source’ January 2019

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Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon This month, we close our review of the MOLLUS Papers with a look at Pennsylvania (volumes 58 and 59), plus California, and Oregon (volume 60). Many recollections of Abraham Lincoln populate Pennsylvania’s second volume. For researchers wishing to access previous installations of this article, which have covered the entire MOLLUS series, please visit https://issuu.com/mshaffe3.

As a reminder on the background of this series, the first two volumes of the Broadfoot 1990s reprint set, unnumbered, consist of ‘Biographical Sketches of Contributors,’ and ‘Companions.’

The second volume offers hundreds of photographs of the various members. The collected papers from the commanderies appear in the following order.

Ohio, volumes 1-9; Illinois, 1013D; Missouri, vol. 14; Kansas, 15; Maine, volumes 16-19; New York, 20-23; Indiana, 24; Nebraska, 25; Minnesota, 26-31; Rhode Island, 32-41; District of Columbia, 42-45; Wisconsin, 46-49; Michigan, 50-51; Massachusetts, 52-54; Iowa, 5556; Vermont, 57; Pennsylvania, 58-59; California and Oregon, volume 60; and a four-volume index completes the Broadfoot set for this series.

Civil War News

Digitized-versions of MOLLUS exist online at the organization’s website: http://suvcw.org/mollus/ warpapers/warpapers.htm (also check http://suvcw. org/mollus/molid.htm) and at the Internet Archives, http://bit.ly/2EVfpPC. Researchers wishing to purchase the printed set may do so at Broadfoot Publishing, http://www.broadfootpublishing.com.

Remember to check WorldCat http://www.worldcat. org/ for help in finding the Papers in a local library; search ISBN 1568370016. Continued good luck in researching the Civil War! Readers wishing to view all the articles in this series thus far can visit https:// issuu.com/mshaffe3.

Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian. net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/ michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.

January 2019

Pennsylvania Vol. 1 (1866-1903) Vol. 2 (1904-1933) Article/Author Article/Author America's First President - by Brevet The Battle of Stone's River - by Major General Joshua L. Lieutenant James A. Worden, D.D. Chamberlain

California (1896) Article/Author Pickett's Charge as Seen from the Front Line - By Companion Chaplain Winfield Scott, U.S. Army

Loyalty - by Brevet Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain

Recollections of General Grant During the Siege of Vicksburg - by Major and Surgeon William S. Forbes

Cavalry Fight on the Right Flank at Gettysburg - by Lieutenant Colonel William Brooke Rawle

The Maryland Campaign of 1862 by Captain Isaac W. Heysinger

Samuel Bradford Fales - Tribute by the Pennsylvania Commandery

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Meeting: February 13, 1907

Address Delivered at the Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Founding of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - by Brevet Major General Charles Devens President Lincoln at the State Capitol, February 22, 1861 - by Major William H. Engle

The Education of Abraham Lincoln - by Lieutenant James A. Worden, D.D.

The Kindred Organizations: The Society of the Cincinnati and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - By Companion Thomas Mitchell, Captain 198th Penn. Vol. Inf. The Petersburg Mine - By Companion Freeman S. Bowley, 1st. Lt. 30th USCT, Capt. Co. B. 1st Batt. Infantry, M.V.M. Californians in the Field.

Historical Sketch of the Organization and Services of the California "Hundred” and "Battalion," 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry - By Companion Samuel W. Backus, Late 2nd Lt., 2nd California Cavalry "Shiloh" as Seen by a Private Soldier - By Companion Warren Olney, Capt. 65th USCT Inf.

The Movement of the 11th and 12th Army Corps from the Potomac to the Tennessee - by Captain John P. Green

Lincoln Under Fire - by Brigadier General J.P.S. Gobin

The Movement of Pennsylvania's First Troops in 1861 for the Defence of the National Capitol - by Major James Wren Reminiscences of 1861 - by First Lieutenant Franklin D. Howell

When and Where I Saw Lincoln by Major Oliver C. Bosbyshell

The Campaign of 1861 in the Shenandoah Valley - by Brevet Brigadier General William W. H. Davis

With Lincoln to Gettysburg - by Brigadier General Henry C. Cochrane

Lincoln in Parable - by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel James W. Latta With Malice Toward None; With Charity for All - by Major Moses Veale

Personal Experiences of a Prisoner of War - by Captain Henry C. Potter

Lincoln and the People - by Brevet Brigadier General James A. Beaver

The United States During the Civil War - by Major Richard S. Collum Personal Experiences of a Cavalry Officer 1861-1866 - by Brevet Colonel William H. Harrison

The Second Cavalry Division of the Army of the Potomac in the Gettysburg Campaign - by Brevet Major General David McM. Gregg Personal Recollections of President Abraham Lincoln - by Major General Grenville M. Dodge

Reminiscences of the Mississippi Squadron in 1864-65 - by Acting Ensign Persifor Frazer

Gregg's Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign - by Lieutenant Colonel William Brooke Rawle

Field Operations - First Day at Gettysburg - by Brevet Brigadier General J. William Hofmann The First Day's Fight at Gettysburg Brevet Major Richard L. Ashhurst Personal Notes and Reminiscences of Lincoln - by Colonel Henry S. Huidekoper Major General George H. Thomas and the Battle of Nashville - by Brevet Brigadier General James F. Rusling Some Characteristics of Abraham Lincoln - by Chaplain Henry C. McCook, D.D. A Few Stray Leaves from Civil War Reminiscence Yet Uncut - by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel James W. Latta 12th-20th Army Corps in the War of the Rebellion - by Brevet Captain John O. Foering

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Meeting: February 3, 1909 Lincoln and His Veterans - by Chaplain Henry C. McCook, D.D. Lincoln Literature - by Brevet Major William H. Lambert Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Abraham Lincoln - Oration by Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain Was Secession Taught at West Point? - by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel James W. Latta An Episode of History - by Lieutenant Charles H. Jones The Making of Abraham Lincoln by Captain John Richards Boyle, D.D.

The Chattanooga Campaign - by First Lieutenant and Adjutant Leander W. Munhall

Lincoln and his Cabinet - by Captain John Pugh Green

The Kearsarge and the Alabama - by Pay Director Joseph A. Smith

One of Sheridan's Ways with Indians and What Came of It - by Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt President Lincoln, Commander-inChief of the Army and Navy of the United States - by Captain Isaac Winter Heysinger

Personal Recollections of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 - by Lieutenant Thomas McCamant

Seven Months in Confederate Military Prisons - By Companion Freeman S. Bowley, 1st Lt. 30th USCT, Capt. Co. B. 1st Batt.

Infantry M.V.M. Our Boys in the War of the Rebellion - By Companion Charles A. Woodruff, Capt.

Commissary of Subsistence U.S.A. California in the Rebellion - By Companion DeWitt C. Thompson, Commander California Cavalry Battalion Gen. A. D. McD. McCook at Stone[s] River - By Companion Lt. Col. James H. Woodward, 1st Tenn. Light Artillery.

The Last Campaign of the Potomac: From a "Mud-Crushers" Point of View - By Companion Henry T. Lee, Maj. 4th NY Heavy Artillery The Narrative of a Prisoner of War - By Companion Henry Hugh Todd, Capt. 8th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry.

The Loyal Californians of 1861 By Companion Hugh A. Gorley, Capt. 1st California Vol. Inf. The Work of the California Volunteers as Seen by an Eastern Volunteer, By Companion Charles A. Woodruff, Corp. 10th Vermont Vol. Inf., and Major, Com. Of Subsistence, U.S. Army.

Personal Experiences on a Monitor at the Battle of Mobile Bay - By Companion Harrie Webster, Chief Engineer, U.S.N. From Concord to Fredericksburg By Companion John Charles Currier, Late Capt. 11th New Hampshire Vol. Inf. The Battle of Shiloh - by Companion Edward Bouton, Col. 59th U.S. Colored Infantry. Bvt. Brigadier General USV Nagging the South - By Companion Warren Olney, Capt.

65th U.S.C.T. The Occupation of Fort Sumter and Hoisting the Old Flag- By Companion Franklin Jordon, Acting Ensign U.S.N Grant: A Study- By Companion William Henry Linow Barnes, The Completeness of “Reconstruction” - By Companion Benjamin Cummings Truman From Ordinary Seaman to Rear Admiral - By Commander Oscar Walter Farenholt, Rear Admiral U.S.N. The Monitor Catskill: A Year’s Reminiscences! 1863-1864 - By Ex Commander Oscar Walter Farenholt, Rear Admiral U.S.N. Gettysburg - By Brevet Brig.

General Edward S. Salomon, Lt. Col. 82nd IL Inf. U.S.V. Oregon

A Few Stray Leaves from Civil War Reminiscence Yet Uncut - by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel James W. Latta 12th-20th Army Corps in the War of the Rebellion - by Brevet Captain John O. Foering

An Episode of History - by Lieutenant Charles H. Jones

The Chattanooga Campaign - by First Lieutenant and Adjutant Leander W. Munhall

Lincoln and his Cabinet - by Captain John Pugh Green

The Kearsarge and the Alabama - by January 2019 Pay Director Joseph A. Smith Personal Recollections of the Maryland Campaign of 1862 - by Lieutenant Thomas McCamant

The Cavalry Raid to Richmond, May 1864 - by Captain Nobel D. Preston

The Making of Abraham Lincoln by Captain John Richards Boyle, D.D.

One of Sheridan's Ways with Indians and What Came of It - by Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt President Lincoln, Commander-inChief of the Army and Navy of the United States - by Captain Isaac Winter Heysinger Some Phases of the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln - by Captain George Randolph Snowden Abraham Lincoln and his Religious Faith - by Brevet Brigadier General James F. Rusling The Afterglow of Abraham Lincoln's Life - by Lieutenant James A. Worden, D.D.

How the Secessionists Secured the Election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States - by Chaplain Benjamin L. Agnew, D.D. Abraham Lincoln, The Exponent of Democracy - by Mr. Walter George Smith Abraham Lincoln - by Rev. Alexander Henry Leo Abraham Lincoln, The Man - by Brigadier General Samuel Warren Fountain Independence and Patriotism - by Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. KeySmith Cedar Creek - by Commander Joseph Leidy, Jr. The Battle Between the Alabama and the Kearsarge, Off Cherbourg, France - by William G. Littleton The Cumberland, the Monitor and the Virginia (Popularly Called the Merrimac) - by William G. Littleton

The Completeness of “Reconstruction” - By Companion Benjamin Cummings Truman From Ordinary Seaman to Rear Admiral - By Commander Oscar Walter Farenholt, Rear Admiral U.S.N. The Monitor Catskill: A Year’s Reminiscences! 1863-1864 - By Ex Commander Oscar Walter Farenholt, Rear Admiral U.S.N. Gettysburg - By Brevet Brig.

General Edward S. Salomon, Lt. Col. 82nd IL Inf. U.S.V.

Civil War News

Oregon

(1896) Article/Author Pensions - By Companion John Gibbon, Brig. Gen. U.S.A. and Maj. Gen. U.S.V. General George H. Thomas: His Place in History - By Companion Thomas M. Anderson, Col. 14th Inf., U.S.V. Campaign of General Lyon in Missouri: Its Value to the Union Cause - By Companion Randolph C. Brant, Chaplain 2nd Kansas Volunteer Infantry.

From Cold Harbor to Petersburg with the Second Army Corps - By Companion Gavin E. Caukin, Capt. 1st MN Inf.

Fort Garland.

“…dead, dead, dead.”

By Thomas P. Lowry When this author was an Air Force doctor, he received many patients from all over the world by “Air Evac.” This miracle of modern medical transport is in sharp contrast with the 1863 journey of convicted murderer Homobono Carrabajol, from the mountains of southern Colorado to Washington, D.C., by wagon, horseback, steamer, and railroad while in chains. Who was Carrabajol and why was he ordered to be “… hanged by the neck until he is dead, dead, dead?” Why was one “dead” insufficient?

Carrabajol was born in old Mexico, spoke no English, and

Fort Garland.

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during 1861 he enlisted, age 22, in the 1st New Mexico Infantry at Fort Craig, in the Godforsaken desert of south-west New Mexico. His regiment was soon consolidated with others, and he served mainly in Co. D, 1st New Mexico Cavalry, where he was assigned to routine patrol and escort assignments. In January 1863, under Lieut. John Lewis, a company of forty men was sent to Fort Garland on “detached service.”

This fort, in the verdant San Luis Valley of southern Colorado Territory, was established to keep the white settlers and the Muache band of Ute Indians from murdering each other.

Carrabajol’s role in history began the night of May 20, 1863.

He and comrade Francisco Lujan left the fort in search of whiskey. It was not hard to find. The little creek beds outside the fort boundaries had many Mexican whiskey peddlers. Both men got drunk. Very drunk. And much in disagreement over who owed money to whom. Back at the fort, Lujan struck Carrabajol with a stick. The corporal of the guard, thinking it unwise to put both men together in the guardhouse, where their quarrel would continue, put Lujan to bed, and locked up Carrabajol. The next morning, he was released, but he wasn’t done yet.

Lujan was asleep in his bunk.

His comrade tiptoed up close, placed the barrel of his cavalry revolver against the back of Lujan’s head and pulled the trigger. The ball exited above Lujan’s left eye, with a spray of brain tissue. The other men asleep in the same room “… didn’t hear a thing,” but the First Sergeant did. He disarmed the shooter, who readily confessed, and put him in “double irons, hand and foot.” The other soldiers wanted to lynch him on the spot but were prevented from doing so.

The court-martial was convened at Fort Garland June 6, 1863. There were no defense witnesses. Carrabajol submitted a written statement (through an interpreter) in which he admitted to the evil of his act and stated that if the court would show mercy, he would enlist for an additional

five years and would send all his pay to Lujan’s widow, “until such time as she may take another husband.”

The court then sentenced him “to be hanged by the neck until he is dead, dead, dead.” In the original manuscript, the final three words are underlined. A blizzard of memos, involving the District of Colorado and the Department of the Missouri, then commenced. There were a half dozen examinations by surgeons and even a board of surgeons; all pronounced him to be “crazy,” or “insane,” or “of unsound mind.”

Meanwhile, the wheels of justice ground on. A communication from Major General Dodge, dated April 5, 1865, ordered that on April 14, 1865, at 2 p.m.

Carrabajol would be executed at Denver City. “Should there be no gallows erected at this place for existing persons sentenced to be hung, you will erect a temporary one at some suitable place in the suburbs of Denver. You will make all the necessary arrangements for the interment of the body, previous to the hour of execution, such as providing the coffin, digging the grave, etc.” The suggested burial spot was one established by the city of Denver for executed criminals.

The tale is not yet over. A surgeon Hamilton, of the 1st Colorado Cavalry, submitted one more report, certifying Carrabajol’s insanity.

This was followed May 3, 1865, by an order from Major General Barnes, setting up a board of surgeons charged with determining his sanity and; “If found beyond a doubt to be crazy, send him to the Insane Asylum at Washington, D.C. [St. Elizabeth’s], under escort.” Two full years had passed since his crime.

It is the journey, not the crime, which now becomes of interest.

Carrabajol’s route, though not detailed in the record, was most likely northeast out of the San Luis Valley, along Sangre de

Cristo Creek, crossing Sangre de Cristo Pass, and then descending along an eastern branch of the Arkansas River to Old Colorado City, now Colorado Springs.

From there it ran along the north fork of the South Platte River to Denver. The first railroad did not reach Kansas City, Mo., until 1887, so the Denver to Kansas City route was most likely by wagon (still in hand and ankle chains?) along a branch of the Republican River. From Kansas City onward travel was a mixture of steamboat and railroad.

Our story ends, T. S. Eliot-like, “…not with a bang but with a whimper.” Homobono Carrabajol was admitted to St. Elizabeth’s in late September 1865 and released five months later as “cured.”

Many St. Elizabeth’s records are lost, so the secret of his amazing cure is unknown. The New Mexico census records of 1870 and 1880 show no sign of him.

In brief, Carrabajol mysteriously disappeared into the fabled “mists of history.”

Information based on original court-martial and service records in the National Archives.

NB With thanks to The Rev. Dr. A.H. Ledoux for a thorough search of the New Mexico census records.

Thomas Lowry graduated from Stanford Medical School in 1957 and has published two dozen Civil War history books and dozens of Civil War articles.

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