July 4, 1862 (Friday): A Union General In Prison on the 4th of July Writes the President

General Charles P. Stone

FORT HAMILTON, N. Y., July 4, 1862.
The PRESIDENT, Commander-in-Chief of the Army:
    On this day the anniversary of the Nation's Independence I find myself a prisoner under the folds of the flag of the Union, the same flag under which I have passed my life in the service of the country. Last year on this anniversary my face was fanned by the rush of rebel bullets, and the brave troops under my command drove rebellion from ten miles of the length of the Potomac, freeing thousands of loyal citizens from the yoke of that rebellion. I am utterly unconscious of any act, word or design of mine which should make me to-day less eligible to an honorable place among the soldiers of the Union that I was on that day, or any other day of my past life, and I deem it my duty to state this now when the country seems to need the services of its every willing soldier.
    Very respectfully, I am, Your Excellency's most obedient servant,


CHAS. P. STONE,
Brigadier-General.

Series II., Vol. 4, Part 1, Page 124.

After Ball's Bluff rumors were started that Stone was responsible for the Union defeat at Ball's Bluff.  Radical Republicans on the Committee on the Conduct of the War prevailed upon the administration to confine Stone without charges, contrary to military law and regulations.  Stone spent the winter in New York harbor at Fort Hamilton, which greatly impacted his health.  While it was widely acknowledged there was no substantive evidence against him, he was aligned with McClellan, had angered abolitionists by allowed captured slaves to be returned to their masters, and had expressed opposition to the administration.  As Stanton is said to have put it, Stone was worth a division in confinement by the example his treatment made to other Union officers.  Lincoln had himself approved of Stone's confinement, and after Congress passed a law restating Stone must be charged or released within 90 days according to military law, the administration started the clock from the point of the legislation passing and held him an additional 90 days for no legal and logical reason.  Stone is the closest American equivalent to the France's Emile Zola, and an example of the dangerous of unfettered power by the executive branch during wartime.