Most Unusual Source – Court Martial

 

While researching my great grandfather, Charles S. Moore, I went to the New Egypt, New Jersey city clerk’s office. I asked if they had any wills or deeds for him or his father. They were busy but said they would get back to me after tax season. A few weeks later they called saying someone else was looking for the same person. They gave me that person’s name and phone number. It turned out that the person, Fran Born was also a great granddaughter of Charles. We got together and had a nice visit that started collaboration of our research. They had Charles’ original discharge papers from his service in the 4^th NJ Infantry during the Civil War. They also had a transcript of his court martial for disobeying an order. The order was “ stop shooting the mules with dry corn kernels”, which he was doing for fun. As soon as the sergeant turned his back he shot them again. Thus, his court martial. The transcript was like being there and listening to him speak. Another fact that came out was that he was late for a battle due to bad feet. That explains why my dad and I had feet as flat as pancakes and bunions. The punishment he received was being docked $10 of his $13 a month pay. Another revelation was that he had left his company in Virginia without leave to return to NJ when his father died. Several siblings had died too, and the house was being repossessed. On his return to Virginia, he was arrested as a deserter. But since Abraham Lincoln had made a proclamation that said any deserter who was returning of his own volition would not be prosecuted. All of this told me so much about my great grandfather who died almost eighty years before I was born.

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