Annotation
[1] ALS, IHi. Lincoln received the following telegram on August 26 at 4:45 P.M.: ``We the undersigned sentenced to suffer death for desertion on Saturday next, humbly beg that you exercise
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].
About this Item
- Title
- Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].
- Author
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
- Publication
- New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press
- 1953.
- Rights/Permissions
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The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
- Link to this Item
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http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln6
- Cite this Item
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"Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln6. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 18, 2024.
Pages
Page 415
your authority to commute our sentence, to imprisonment & hard labor, for any term of years, you may see fit, as we each have wives & children, depending upon us. Charles Walter, John Rainese, John Faline, Emile Lae & George Kuhne.'' (DLC-RTL).
At 9:30 A.M. on August 27, General Meade replied to Lincoln's telegram: ``Walter, Rionese, Faline, Lae and Kuhn were to have been executed yesterday. Their execution was postponed by my order till Saturday the 29th that time might be given to procure the services of a Roman Catholic Priest to assist them in preparing for death. They are substitute conscripts who enlisted for the purpose of deserting after receiving the bounty, and being the first of this class whose cases came before me, I believed that humanity the safety of this Army, and the most vital interests of the Country, required their prompt execution as an example. . . . In view of these circumstances I shall therefore inform them their appeal to you is denied.'' (DLC-RTL).
Charles Walter (alias C. Zene), John Rainese (alias George Rionese), John Falene (or ``Faline,'' ``Folaney'' as listed on the roster, and alias Geacinto Lerchize), Emile Lae (or ``Lai,'' alias E. Duffie), and George Kuhne (or ``Kuhn,'' alias G. Weik)---all recruits in the One Hundred Eighteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers---were executed on August 29, 1863.