In the June meeting we discussed the BookTV appearance of Edward Steer regarding his book suggesting Mudd was part of the Confederate spy network.

George McNamara is apparently emailing all the CWRT's he can find on the web the following article.

On Behalf of Doctor Samuel A. Mudd
by George McNamara

After two years of corresponding with Doctor Richard D. Mudd, I finally called his Saginaw residence in 1988 and asked if I could assist him in his near lifetime work on behalf of his grandfather Samuel A.Mudd.
Dr. Samuel Mudd was, of course, the physician who, on April 15,1865, answered an early morning knock on his door. He treated a disguised John Wilkes Booth and, as a result, was tried as a conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.
Dr. Richard Mudd put me to work immediately. My initial "job" was to have his grandfather honored by the Postal Service with a commemorative stamp. This was a daunting task however it gave me an opportunity to delve into the event of 1865, be creative and explore all possibilities.
In July, 1990, one of my many queries was answered by Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware. He had forwarded my letter, to him, to the Department of the Army. The Army notified the Senator that he was authorized to advise me that I could prepare a "Petition" on behalf of Dr. Samuel Mudd and submit it for review. Since Sam was tried by the
military in 1865 (Hunter Commission), the Department of the Army would submit the "Petition" to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. Once reviewed, a hearing might be authorized. It was explained further than normally cases heard by the ABCMR were current (three year statute of limitations) but an exception was possible when
the subject matter was of historical significance.
Doctor Richard was ecstatic. We met in September and spent an entire day preparing the "Petition". The final version was sent to Washington in October. We realized there was no guarantee of actions but we were hopeful.
In December, 1991, I received a letter from the Pentagon which stated: "A hearing will be held at the Pentagon on 22 January, 1992. Briefs and a list of witnesses may be submitted up to ten days prior." That was the gist of the letter.
This was amazing. We had thirty days to assemble a legal team, "witnesses" and prepare our case. We worked very hard and developed a strategy based not on guilt or innocence but on the jurisdictional authority of the Hunter Commission in 1865 to try a civilian who was a citizen of the United States and the loyal state of Maryland, in
Washington, when the civil courts were both open and functioning. As a note of interest, our lead counsel was Candida Ewing Steel, the great great granddaughter of Samuel Mudd's original counsel, General Thomas
Ewing.
Six months after our presentation, the ABCMR announced its unanimous conclusion. In short, Doctor Samuel Mudd should not have been tried by the military. His Constitutional rights were vioilated. The Archivist of the United States was instructed to "put Dr. Mudd's conviction aside."
Before we could celebrate, the then Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army, "denied" the conclusion of the Board. The primary reason was that in his opinion it was not the role of the ABCMR to be involved in historical disputes.
We immediately appealed. Four years later, in 1996, another Assistant Secretary of the Army supported the original "denial".
Eventually we were invited to bring the issue to court. Right now, our case is on the docket of the Court of Appeals in Washington. The hearing date is September 3, 2002. In is not simply an effort to rehabilitate the name and reputation of Dr. Samuel Mudd. It is a question that relates to "we the people" and our relationship with the military. The subject was reinforced after 9/11 when President Bush
issued a Presidential Order regarding the use of military tribunals for non-citizen terrorists. Our country has struggled with the subject of military tribunals since the Civil War. It is very possible that as a result of the effort for Samuel Mudd, a policy will, at last, be formalized.

(This is an extremely condensed version of the effort for Samuel A. Mudd. Anyone interested in more detail is welcome to contact me. I have available a copy of my current talk on the subject and would be happy to mail it to anyone who sends me their name, address and four
34cent stamps. My mailing address is:
George McNamara,
3428 Hess Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19136-2308.
Should you wish information via the internet, you are encouraged to go to the website:
www.ewing-steel.com
Once there, you can link to the site of Philip Gagner. There, specific documents related to the courts can be viewed.
Finally, a note of sadness. On May 21, 2002, Doctor Richard D. Mudd passed away. He was 101 years of age. We paused and celebrated his life but we will not, in any way, lessen the focus of our work for his grandfather)