On Saturday, May 6, 1865 the Union War Department issued orders, establishing the military commission to try the alleged Lincoln assassination conspirators. General David Hunter was placed in charge of the commission, with General Joseph Holt appointed as judge advocate. In that role, Holt would serve as the chief prosecutor in the trial of the accused. The other commission members were Generals Lew Wallace, Robert S. Foster, Thomas M. Harris, Albion P. Howe, and August Kautz, Colonels James A. Ekin and Charles H. Tompkins, and Lieutenant Colonel David R. Clendenin. The trial convened on Tuesday, May 9, the same day that President Andrew Johnson recognized Francis H. Pierpoint as the Virginia state governor; during the war Pierpoint had governed those parts of Virginia held by Federal troops.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.