9. Secret Miliary History

1865-0615, Adultery, MG Shot by Lover’s Husband.
MG Earl Van Dorn, Confederate commander of all Soldiers in Arkansas and Mississippi began an affair with the wife of a doctor in his command. The spurned Doc shot and killed Van Dorn. The Doctor fled behind Union lines, where he was welcomed as a hero. Van Dorn had an interesting nickname, “The terror of ugly husbands.”

1877-0715, Adultery, Wife Seduced.
At Camp Bowie, Arizona Territory, on a hot July afternoon, the post surgeon who remains anonymous attacked LT, Duane M. Greene on the croquet ground and accused him of seducing his wife. LT Greene had five years’ service and had been a CPT, in the Civil War. He resigned within hours rather than face a general court martial on the charge of conduct unbecoming an officer.

1880-0615, UCMJ, 1LT Flipper Court-Marshaled.
1LT Henry O. Flipper was sent to Texas and later to Fort Sill in the Indian Territory, where he served as an engineer, supervising the drainage of malaria-Infested ponds and the construction of roads and telegraph lines.
1880-0615, While serving as quartermaster at Fort Davis, Texas, money went missing from the post commissary. 1LT Flipper attempted to hide the discrepancy. He was charged with embezzlement, he was acquitted of stealing, but found guilty of "conduct unbecoming an officer," and was dishonorably discharged.
For the rest of his life, Flipper contested the charges and fought to regain his commission. After his dismissal, Flipper remained in Texas, working as a civil engineer.
1898-0615, He volunteered to serve in the Spanish-American War, but requests to restore his commission was denied.
1976-0615, Descendants and supporters applied to the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records on behalf of Mr. Flipper. The Board, after stating that it did not have the authority to overturn his court-martial convictions, concluded the conviction and punishment were "unduly harsh and unjust" and recommended that Flipper’s dismissal commuted to a good conduct discharge. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and the Adjutant General approved the Board's findings, conclusions and recommendations and directed that the Department of the Army issue Flipper a Certificate of Honorable Discharge, dated 30 June 1882, in lieu of his dismissal on the same date.
1997-1021, A private law firm filed an application of pardon with the Secretary of the Army on 1LT Flipper's behalf. Seven months later, the application was forwarded by the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) to the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice with a recommendation that the pardon be approved. Many pardon applications had been rejected in the past - as a matter of policy - because the intended recipients were deceased.
1999-0219, President Bill Clinton pardoned 1LT Henry O. Flipper.

1881-0615, Race, Blacks at West Point.
Between 1870 and 1889, only three blacks graduated from West Point. GEN John M. Schofield, superintendent of the academy said, “To send to West Point for four years’ competition a young man who was born in slavery is to assume that half a generation has been sufficient to raise a colored man to the social, moral and intellectual level which the average white man has reached in several hundred years. As well might the common farm horse be entered in four-mile race against the best blood inherited from a long line of English racers.
On April 5, 1880, a black cadet at West Point, Johnson Chestnut Whittaker, was found bruised and beaten in his cot. He claimed that he had been attacked by fellow cadets, but the administration claimed he had fabricated his story to win sympathy. Cadet Whittaker was court-martialed and expelled for faking an assault on himself staged by his fellow cadets. A Congressional investigation into the incident resulted in Schofield's removal from his post as superintendent in 1881

1884-0615, Leadership, Stonewall Jackson’s 10 Eccentricities, Link.
1. He would bathe only in cold water, even in winter.
2. Refused to read by artificial light.
3. Would not let his back touch the back of a chair.
4. He thought his spine was out of alignment, causing his internal organs to be out of balance.
5. Believed one leg was shorter than the other was.
6. Believed he did not sweat on one side of his body
7. He would sit in silence and stare at a wall for an hour or more each evening.
8. Consumed large quantities of water at one time to cleanse his body
9. He liked to suck on lemons.
10. Believed that holding his arm aloft helped keep his internal organs in balance and his blood circulating properly.