Conditional dismissal from Union Army

[Suzanne A]

Hi. I'm researching a Union soldier , Gro. W Knapp, who served in the 59th Indiana Infantry and then the 68th US Colored Infantry as a Quartermaster Sergeant, then 2nd Lt. At that point he violated a General Order by visiting the Saint Charles theater in New Orleans which was off limits. He was arrested there and I see the charges in his service record. But I see no disposition of them. He was later promoted to 1st Lt. before being discharged with the rest in 1866. There is one card in the service record file before his promotion to 1st Lt. that says he has behaved appropriately as an officer for 6 months so his conditional discharge will be rescinded. Could that have been the punishment for his violation? Or was that something else? Is anyone familiar with conditional discharges? I would be grateful for your thoughts.

 

[E_just_E]

Think of Conditional Discharges as someone being in parole these days. There is a condition and a time frame, when if the condition is met, the discharge is dropped. Likely the condition was to behave appropriately (i.e. not get into trouble) and the time frame was 6 months. No punishment. It is conditional punishment. If he failed, then he would have been discharged.

 

[Suzanne A]

Thanks E for your clear and informative explanatuon, just what I needed.