Civil War

This Week in the Civil War

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.

This Week in the Civil War - 558

Texas Public Radio | By Texas Public Radio

Published April 29, 2013 at 4:47 PM CDT

As granted by the Constitution, Presidents have the power to grant clemency in one or more of the following ways: granting a full pardon, commuting a sentence, or rescinding a fine.

Except for a single act of pardoning 264 Dakota Indians who attacked white settlers in the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862, Abraham Lincoln sparingly utilized his ability to issue pardons or grant clemency while in the White House.

Lincoln acted only 79 additional times relative to his pardoning power. One of these occasions occurred on April 28, 1863 when Lincoln commuted the death sentence of Union Sergeant John Chase convicted of threatening and striking an officer. Lincoln ordered Chase to be imprisoned at hard labor for the duration of the Civil War “with ball and chain attached to his leg.”