Page 307
To George G. Meade1Jump to section
This case is submitted to Gen. Meade to be disposed of by him, under the recent order2Jump to section upon the subject. A. LINCOLN
April 21. 1864
If Gen. Warren has recommended the discharge of this man, let him be discharged. A. LINCOLN
Aug. 20. 1864
Annotation
[1] AES, ENA WR RG 153, Judge Advocate General, MM 1343. Lincoln's endorsements are written on the court-martial record of Private William T. Evers (alias William J. Evans), Fourteenth New York State Militia, sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for desertion. General Meade had recommended mitigation on General [Gouverneur K.] Warren's recommendation, but for unknown reasons Lincoln's first endorsement was not acted upon. Lincoln reviewed seventy-two court-martial cases on April 21, his other endorsements of this date being routine approvals, mitigations, or remissions of sentence.
[2] AGO Special Orders No.154, April 21, 1864, authorized General Meade ``to commute the sentence of death to imprisonment, (with forfeiture of all pay due,) in the Dry Tortugas Fort, during the present war, or to make such other commutation of sentence . . . as in each case justice, and the benefit of the service, may, in his judgment, require.''