I actually know quite a bit about the potential charges. It all had to do with allegations of Kilpatrick government property for his own use and benefit.

The issue has been researched extensively by others.

Eric

This was the one and only time that they served together.

Eric

A lot depends upon the charges against the man. If they were fairly innocuous (being drunk or being insubordinate), Lincoln might have determined that he was more valuable at large. If the charges were SERIOUS, then it may well be that Lincoln (and others in the government) saw in Kilpatrick a useful pawn who would have no qualms about a ‘covert’ operation of the type in which he eventually participated.

I would be interested in knowing if Kilpatrick and Dahlgren ever served together (I know nothing of such matters). If they had previously done so, then their going on the raid together is fairly understandable. If they had NEVER served together, that would have to mean that both men were chosen for a particular reason and placed in tandem. Again, at least it would seem that way to me.

I think you make too much of the possibility that Kilpatrick was beholden to A. Lincoln and thus took on the Richmond raid as a payback. Before going down that road, I would think you would want to see what other documentation there is in the Lincoln papers and at the National Archives. Certainly you would want to know the charges against Kilpatrick and whether the President’s intervention was extra-ordinary or routine.

David

I should be able to finish the rest of the chapter for you this week.

J.D.