referred to the commission for trial
citizens charged with offences against the Union Army, such as
shooting soldiers from ambush, etc. The constitutionality of the
commission was questioned, yet it tried on only formal charges
citizens charged with murder, larceny, burglary, arson, and breaches
of the peace. Generally its findings and sentences were approved
by the War Department or the President, even when the accused was
sentenced to imprisonment in a Northern penitentiary. There were
one or two cases where the accused were sentenced to be shot, but
in no case did the President allow such a sentence to be carried
out. During the trial for murder of an old man by the name of
Buffenbarger, I learned that he had, at Sharpsburg, Maryland, been
a friend of my father when both were young men.( 4) It turned out
that Buffenbarger had killed a young and powerful man who had
assaulted him violently without good cause. A majority of the
commission found him guilty of manslaughter, and the commission
gave him the lightest sentence--one year in a penitentiary. His
early friendship for my father perhaps caused me to find grounds
on which to favor his acquittal. Counsel were allowed in all cases;
generally Philip Williams, Esq., an old and distinguished lawyer
of Winchester, represented the accused, and Captain Zebulon Baird,
Judge-Advocate on Milroy's staff (an able Indiana lawyer), appeared
for the prosecution.

( 1) For special mention of the officers of this regiment, see
Appendix B.

( 2) _War Records_, vol. xxi., p. 1054.

( 3) Ex. xxi., 6; Deut. xv., 17.

( 4) My father, Joseph Keifer, was born at Sharpsburg, February
28, 1784.

SLAVERY AND
FOUR YEARS OF WAR

A POLITICAL HISTORY OF SLAVERY
IN THE UNITED STATES

TOGETHER WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE CAMPAIGNS
AND BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR IN WHICH
THE AUTHOR TOOK PART: 1861-1865

BY
JOSEPH WARREN KEIFER
BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS; EX-SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, U. S. A.; AND MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS,
SPANISH WAR.

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME II.
1863-1865

G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1900

Copyright, 1900

BY
JOSEPH WARREN KEIFER

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
General Observations on Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville
--Battles at Winchester under General Milroy--His Defeat and Retreat
to Harper's Ferry--With Incidents

CHAPTER II
Invasio