2.  The applicant requests correction of the service records of his late grandfather, hereafter referred to as the former service member (FSM), by changing his dishonorable discharge (DD) to that of honorable (HD).

3.  According to existing records, the FSM was born in May 1843 and, as an illiterate 19 year old backwoodsman, enlisted in the Army of the United States on 14 August 1862 for a period of 3 years.  He was assigned to Company G, 21st Regiment, Michigan Infantry, and was officially mustered-in on 3 September 1862.

4.  In December 1862, the FSM’s unit was located in Tennessee and participated in the Battle of Murfreesboro.  The FSM apparently was captured by Confederate forces and promptly paroled.  Official correspondence from the War Department to the Honorable Edwin F. Sweet, Representative in Congress, dated 12 July 1912, reflects the following. After his capture and parole by Confederate forces, he was next received at Detroit Barracks, Michigan on 20 March 1863, and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, a camp for paroled prisoners of war, on 2 April 1863.  He was reported to have deserted Camp Chase on 10 June 1863 and was never seen again by the military, nor did he ever rejoin his unit which remained in service until 8 June 1865.  At that time, he was issued a DD for desertion.

5.  The FSM’s version of events, as described in various letters, affidavits and other official documents, indicates that he was captured and paroled by General Joseph Wheeler’s Confederate forces on 31 December 1862 near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  With his parole in hand, he returned home to Grand Haven where he met his former company commander who was home recovering from wounds. The company commander, after reviewing the FSM’s parole certificate, escorted him to Detroit, Michigan, where he was returned to military control at Detroit Barracks.  He was then transported to Camp Chase, Ohio, and interred with other Union soldiers who had been captured and paroled by the Confederacy and were awaiting official exchange.  He states that he was permitted to leave Camp Chase and return home to await notification of his official exchange for Confederate prisoners paroled by the Union forces.  He never received word of his exchange.

6.  On 14 May 1863, the War Department issued a General Order announcing the exchange of all Union Army parolees captured at Murfreesboro.  This order was widely publicized through the print media.  The FSM never returned to his unit following his exchange and the unit was mustered-out of service on 8 June 1865.  The regimental descriptive book listed the FSM as a prisoner/parolee located at Camp Chase until the final entry for the FSM, at which time he was listed as having deserted Camp Chase on 15 January 1863.

7.  From the early 1890’s until his death on 16 November 1916, the FSM made numerous attempts to have his DD changed to an HD.  Between 1894 and 1914, a total of 12 private bills were introduced in Congress on the FSM’s behalf.  None of the bills ever made it out of committee as all War Department reports on these bills were negative.

8.  Prisoner of war parole was a European military concept for dealing with large numbers of captured troops.  Basically, the terms of parole required that the parolee would not take up arms again until formally exchanged for an enemy captive of equal rank.  During the American Civil War, especially after a large battle, Union and Confederate prisoner of war parolees would wait near their commands until officially exchanged, at which time they would take up arms once again and participate in combat.  The system worked well initially, but as more and more soldiers were captured and paroled, huge parolee camps were established to hold the soldiers who were awaiting exchange.  This became very costly to both sides as exchanges were often held up for political and or tactical reasons [neither side wanting to release huge amounts of manpower which could, theoretically, be thrown against them during the next major campaign].  Also, many soldiers began to surrender on purpose in order to become a parolee, avoid combat and, perhaps, go home to await exchange.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  It is a fact that the FSM was a young, 19 year old illiterate when he volunteered for service with the 21st Michigan Infantry.  It is also a fact that he was captured by Confederate forces on 31 December 1862 near the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and became a prisoner of war parolee.

2.  Official unit records carry the FSM as a prisoner of war parolee and indicate that he deserted from Camp Chase, Ohio, on 15 January 1963.  This does not seem likely as it is improbable that he would have had enough time to travel a distance of approximately 335 miles [straight line] from Murfreesboro to Columbus, Ohio (and Camp Chase) in such a short period.

3.  The Board is inclined to agree with the FSM’s account in which he states that he returned to Grand Haven, Michigan, and, in March 1863, was eventually escorted to Detroit by his former commander and returned to military control.  This would account for his interment in Camp Chase during the April 1863 time frame as stated in the official War Department record to Congressman Sweet.  But it also raises an interesting question because, if the War Department’s official version of his desertion from Camp Chase on 10 June 1863 is to be believed, why wasn’t he returned to his unit on 14 May 1863 when the General Order announcing his exchange was published?  The Board speculates that the FSM had, most likely, already departed Camp Chase to return home by the time the General Order was announced.

4.  The Board believes the most probable explanation of events is that the FSM left Camp Chase shortly after arriving there in April 1863 and returned home to await his exchange.  Not being able to read or write, he never learned of the exchange order and, thus, never reported back to his unit.  When his unit returned to Grand Haven in 1865, he ultimately learned that he had been classified a deserter and given a DD.  He never left the Grand Haven area in an attempt to flee his past as one might expect of a deserter, and he tried mightily to have the discharge changed through the remainder of his life.

5.  Because of the confusion of that era, and because of the discrepancies in the official record as to his alleged desertion date, it is most probable that the FSM’s desertion was nothing more than a comedy of errors compounded by a lack of communication.  For this reason, it would be inequitable and unjust to continue to stain the memory of the FSM with the stigma of a DD.

6.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, and in the interest of justice and equity, it would be appropriate to correct the FSM’s records as indicated below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by removing the charge of desertion against the FSM and by voiding the DD originally issued to him and replacing it with an HD  for the period 14 August 1862 through 8 June 1865.

BOARD VOTE:  

                                GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

                                GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                                DENY APPLICATION




		                                             
		        CHAIRPERSON