Timothy Cavener was born in 1824, in Amelia County, Virginia. He was the son of Patrick and Keziah (Tucker) Cavener. He married Winnie Gold, and they were the parents of eight children. He volunteered to serve in the Army, when their youngest child was only one day old.
SUMMARY OF TIMOTHY CAVENER'S WAR RECORD
Company F, 24th Regiment of Missouri infantry Volunteers
Company F, 14th Regiment of Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers
August 20, 1861 Enlisted
October 14, 1861 Mustered in as a private in Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers at Rolla, Missouri, for a period of three (3) years.
August 20 --October 31, 1861 Present.
November and December 1861, Present
January 1, thru February 19, 1862, absent with leave.
February 20, 1862, Declared a Deserter.
March 20, 1862 Enlisted at Springfield as a Corporal in Captain Robertson's Company of the Missouri State Militia for the duration of the War in Missouri.
April 8, 1862, Reported for duty with Captain Robertson's Company, which later became Company F. of the 14th Regiment of the Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers.
June 30, 1862, Arrested and returned to Company F of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers.
July and August, 1862, Attached to Company "C".
September and October, 1862. Present.
November thru December 27, 1862, Present.
December 28, 1862, Taken prisoner by Confederate Forces at Van Buren, Missouri and transported to Little Rock, Arkansas.
January 30, 1863 Paroled by Confederate Forces.
February 12, 1863, Reported to Benton Barracks (Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri.
February, 1863, Absent (not returned to duty).
March & April, 1863, Present.
April 10, 1863, Present at special muster.
May & June, 1863, Present ( pay not drawn at his request).
July & August, 1863, Present.
September & October, 1863, Present.
November & December, 1863, Present.
January & February, 1863, Present.
March 12, 1864, Confined in Military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
April, May, June & July Confined in Military Prison or in Prison Hospital.
August 4, 1864, Died of Chronic Diarrhea while confined in the Military Prison at Little Rock, Arkansas, and buried 150 yards south of the east wall of the prison. The number of his grave was 08.
Due to the fact that the Arkansas State Capitol Building was built on the site of the "Old Prison" the Union soldiers buried there may have been moved to the Little Rock National Cemetery, But according to the Little Rock National Cemetery Director, Alvin L. Sanders, as of January 5, 1993 there is no burial record for Timothy Cavener. Mr Sanders further stated "There are over 3000 unknown Union Soldiers interred in the Cemetery and Timothy Cavener may be among them.
October 15, 1864, Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers muster-out roll at St. Louis, Missouri, shows that he was last paid to December 31, 1863, even though he was shown present during the period from January 1, through March 12, 1864, when he was sent to the Military Prison.
July 13, 1896 The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 against Timothy Cavender while a member of Company F, of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers was removed by the War Department and a discharge was issued from Company "F", 14th Missouri State Militia on August 5, 1896.
After a long and fruitful search of contacting State and Federal Agencies, reviewing all known contacts, we have been able to determine on what grounds or who ordered the confinement of Timothy Cavener in the Little Rock Military Prison on about March 12, 1864. If anyone has any additional information, please contact me.
History of the 24th infantry Regiment, Missouri Volunteers
THE DEMEMBER 31, 1865 ADJUTANT GENERAL, OF MISSOURI'S REPORT, STATES THAT THIS REGIMENT'S HISTORY IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE "RIGHT WING OF THE 16TH ARMY CORPS, GENERAL A. J. SMITH COMMANDING."
Organized in Missouri at large October 24 to December 28, 1861, Attached to the 1st Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to February, 1862. Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Department of Missouri to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Divison, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri, to March 1863. District of Southeast Missouri, to June 1863. District of Columbus, Kentucky, 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to January , 1864, 3nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16 Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to March, 1864, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of the Gulf, to June 1864 and Department of Tennessee, to October, 1864.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE
Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri until July, 1862.
February 2-11, 1862: Advance on Springfield, Missouri.
February 14,-29, 1862: Persuit of General Price into Arkansas.
March 6-8, 1862: Battles of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a.k.a. Sugar Creek, including engagements at Bentonville, Leetown and Elkshorn Tavern. Losses: U.S.A. 203 killed, 972 wounded, C.S.A. 800-1000 killed, and wounded.
April 5-May 13, 1862: March to Batesville, Arkansas.
May 25-July 13, 1862: March to Helena, Arkansas. After a stubbornly contested march across Arkansas, General Curtis and his Command arrived on the Mississippi River and began to fortify Helena.
DISTRICT OF EASTERN ARKANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL OCTOBER, 1862.
July 15-October 4, 1862: Duty and building of Fort Curtis at Helena, Arkansas.
2nd BRIGADE, 2ND DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI,
DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL FEBRUARY, 1863.
October 5-11, 1862: Moved to Sulphur Springs, Missouri.
October 27, 1862: 3 Companies moved to Pittsman's Ferry, Arkansas.
October 28-30 1862: March to Reeve's Station, Missouri.
December 18, 1862: Return to Patterson, Missouri.
December 22-24 1862: Moved to Van Buren, Missouri.
January 9-10 1863: Moved toward Doniphan, Missouri.
January 28- 1863: Moved to West Plains, Missouri, and then to Salem, Arkansas.
1ST BRIGADE, 2ND, DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, UNTIL MARCH, 1863.
February 2-27, 1863: Moved to Pilot Knob, Missouri, and then to Ironton, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI UNTIL JUNE, 1863.
March 8-12, 1863: Moved to St. Genevieve, Missouri and then to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
April 17-May 2, 1863: Company "G" operations against Major-General John S. Marmaduke's Calvary.
April 24, 1863: Mill Creek Bridge, Missouri and Detachment duty in Southeast Missouri till June, 1863.
May 19, 1863: Detachment duty in Richfield & Clay Counties, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, 6TH DIVISION, 16TH, ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL JANUARY, 1864.
June, 1863: Ordered to New Madrid, Missouri and duty in District of Columbus, Kentucky, till January, 1864.
August 7, 1863: Company Detachment to Union City, Tennessee.
September 1-10 Detachment Expedition ordered from Union City, Tennessee to Conyersville, Tennessee.
September 10, 1863: Conyersville, Tennessee Detachment.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, THE DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, UNTIL MARCH, 1864.
January, 1864: Ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Detached Companies "F" and "K" rejoin their Comrades in Arms of the 24th Infantry Regiment who they had not seen in two long years of war.
February 3,--March 5, 1864: Maridian, Mississippi Campaign. 2 Divisions of the 16th and 3 Divisions of the 17th Army Corps and other units, Expitition from Vicksburg to Meridian: Losses, U.S.A. 56 killed, 138 wounded; C.S.A. 505 killed and wounded.
February 14-15 1864: At Meridian, Mississippi.
February 15-17, 1864: At Marion, Mississippi.
February 28, 1864: At Canton, Mississippi.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF UNTIL JUNE, 1864.
March 10,-May 22, 1864: Red River Campaign.
March 14, 1864: Battle at Fort De Russy, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 7 killed, 41 wounded; C.S.A. 5 killed, 4 wounded, 260 prisoners.
March 16, 1864: Occupation of Alexandria, Louisiana.
March 21, 1864: Battle at Henderson's Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 1 wounded; C.S.A. 8 killed, 250 prisoners.
April 9, 1864; Battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 300 killed, 1600 wounded, 2100 missing; C.S.A. 600 killed, 2400 wounded, 500 missing.
April 22-24 1864; Monette's Ferry, Cloutiersville and Cane River Crossing, Louisiana. Losses: est. U.S.A. 350 killed and wounded. C.S.A., 400 killed and wounded.
May 13, 1864; Returned to Alexandria, Louisiana.
May 5-7, 1864: At Moore's Plantation, Louisiana.
May 7, 1864: At Bayou Boeuf, Louisiana.
May 12, 1864: Battle at Bayou LaMourie, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 10 killed, 31 wounded; C.S.A. not listed.
May 13,-20, 1864: Retreat to Morganza, Louisiana.
May 6, 1864; At Mansura, Louisiana.
May 18-19 1864 At Yellow Bayou, Louisiana.
2ND, BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS,
DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL DECEMBER, 1864
May 22--June 10, 1864: Moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then to Memphis, Tennessee.
June 5-7, 1864; Battle at Lake Chicot, a.k.a. Old River Lake, Arkansas, against General Marmaduke's Cavalry. Losses; U.S.A., 40 killed, 70 wounded; C.S.A. 100 killed and wounded.
July 5-21, 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition from La Grange to Tupelo, Mississippi. 16th Corp' 1st & 3rd Divisions, 1 Brigade of Colored Troops and Grierson's Cavalry against C.S.A.'s General Forrest's Cavalry. Losses U.S.A. 85 killed, 567 wounded; C.S.A. 210 killed, 1049 wounded.
July 11, 1864; At Ponotoc, Mississippi.
July 13, 1864; At Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg.
July 13--15, 1864; At Tupalo, Mississippi.
July 15, 1864; At Old Town Creek.
August 1-30 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Mississippi.
August 7-9, 1864; At the Tallahatchie River, Mississippi.
August 12, 1864; At Abbeville and Oxford, Mississippi.
14TH REGIMENT STATE MILITIA CAVALRY
ORGANIZED IN MISSOURI AT LARGE, MARCH TO MAY, 1862, ATTACHED TO DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI TO MARCH, 1863.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE May 31, 1862; Action at Neosho, Missouri.
July 15, 1862; Action near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
July 19-23 1862; Companies "B", "C", and "H" scouts in Polk and Dallas Counties, Missouri.
August 1-2, 1862; Companies; 'D', 'F', 'G' and 'H' at Ozark Missouri.
August 4, 1862, At White River near Forsythe, Missouri.
August 8-9 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
August 14-17 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
September 19, 1862; 1 Company scouting from Ozark to Mt. Vernon, Missouri.
October 12-16, 1862; Detachment expedition from Ozark, Missouri toward Yellville, Arkansas.
October 17, 1862; At Mountain Home, Arkansas.
November 17-18, 1862; Operations about Cassville, and Keetsville, Arkansas.
December 7, 1862; Battle at Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
December 9-15, 1862; Companies "D", "F", "G", and "H", expedition from Ozark, Missouri into Marion County, Arkansas.
December 27-29, 1862; Expedition over Boston Mountains to Van Buren, Arkansas.
December 31,--January 15, 1863; Operations against General Marmaduke in Missouri.
January 6, 1863; 2nd Battalion at Fort Lawrence and Beaver Station, Missouri.
January 8, 1863; Defense of Springfield, Missouri.
March 3, 1863; Regiment disbanded.
Record and Pension Office, War Department, July 23, 1896.
Case of Timothy Cavener
Company F, 24th Regiment Infantry Volunteers, and Company F, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry.
The official records show that this soldier was enrolled August 20, 1861, and was mustered into service, for three years, to date October 14, 1861, as a private of Co. F. 24th Mo. Infantry. He deserted from that organization February 20, 1862, and on March 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and by so doing came within the provisions of the 22nd (now 50th) Article of War. Some time during the month of June, 1862, while serving in the latter regiment, he was arrested as a deserter from the former regiment, the 24th Missouri Infantry, and was returned to it. The exact date when he rejoined the regiment in which he first enlisted is not ascertainable from the records, But the muster roll for the months of September and October, 1862 reports him as present with his company, and bears no further remarks concerning him.
On the subsequent record of this soldier nothing further need be said than that his name was borne on the records of the 24th Missouri Infantry, as of the date of his original enlistment therein, until August 4, 1864, when he died in hospital. It is well to note, however, that the records afford no evidence of the adjudication of the charge of desertion standing againt him by trial by court martial or by his formal restoration to duty by competant authority.
The Commission of Pensions now inquires "whether the enlistment in Company E, 14th S. M. Vol. Cav., which was made at the time when the soldier was a deserter from the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf., is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service; and further, if such second service be held to be valid, how and when the soldier was transferred from the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf."
Three other questions also arise in connection with the case, viz; (1) Is the charge of desertion removable under Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889; (2) If so, must an "honorable discharge be issued"?. (3) And if a discharge certificate must be issued, from what organization shall it be certified that the soldier stands discharged.
Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889, directs the removal of the charge of desertion from a prior enlistment when a subsequent enlistment was made within four months, was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that would not have accrued under the original enlistment, and the soldier served faithfully under his reinlistment.
Section 8 of the Act of March 2, 1889, requires that when the charge of desertion is removed under the provision of the act "an honorable discharge shall be issued in those cases where the soldier has received none."
It appears to be satisfactorily established by the official records that Cavener reenlisted within four months from the date of his desertion, that his reenlistment was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that he would not have been entitled to under his original term of enlistment, and that he served faithfully under his second enlistment until he was arrested by the military authorities and sent back to the organization in which he first enlisted. This being the case, is it not clear that the charge of desertion from the 24th Missouri Infantry must be removed under Section 3, of the act cited above.
If the charge of desertion be removed under the act, it becomes necessary under Section 8 to issue a discharge. It appears to have been the intention of the framers of the act that a discharge issued under it should be a discharge from the organiation from which the soldier deserted; and under a strict construction of Section 3 and 8, taken together, it might be held that the discharge in this case should be issued as of the 24th Missouri Infantry, because the desertion occured from the regiment and the soldier, having died while in service, never received a discharge from that or any other organization. But to place that construction upon the law in this case would lead to the necessity of issuing a discharge for Cavener from the 24th Missouri Infantry was of February 20, 1862, thus terminating, or certifying to the termination of his first enlistment contract on that date. and if this were done it would bcome necessary to assume that after his return ot the 24th Missouri Infantry from desertion he was serving under some other obligation than that under which he first became a member of that regiment. As a matter of fact, after his return from desertion, he was borne on the rolls of the 24th Missouri Infantry as serving under his original enlistment contract of August 20, 1862, and he was never either actually or constructively discharged from that regiment, but did while serving as a member of it. It is therefore evident that, while these two sections, strictly construed, are appliable to the great majority of 22d Articles of War cases in which there was no return to the first service, or if there was such a return it was followed by a discharge from that service, they are not appliable to the case now under consideration, which is a very unusual one and was probably not thought of by the framers of the act.
But Cavener entered into a second contract of enlistment when he enlisted in the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav., and he never received a discharge from this enlistment in the sense in which those words are used in the act. Can it not be held, then, that he was constructively discharged from this regiment at the time when he was forcibly taken there from by the military authorities and compelled to return to the 24th Missouri Infantry. And can it not be held with propriety in this exceptional case that "discharge" ( which undoubtedly means, or involves, the issue of a certificate of discharge) that should be issued under the terms of Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th M. S.M. Cavalry and as of the date on which the soldier was taken away from that regiment by the military authorities?.
The Commissioner of Pensions inquires whether Cavener,s enlistment in the 14th Mo. S.M? Cav. is deemed legal and valid. It is evident that the Commissioner uese the term "enlistment", as it is very commonly used, in the sense of the term service, because he inquires whether the "enlistment is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service. It is also evident that the Commissioner has confounded the evidence or termination of a contract for future service with evidence, invalidation or repudiation of service already rendered. Of course the United States could, and did, avoid as much of the second contract for servies on the part of this soldier as had not been completed and fulfilled at the time of his arrest and return to service under his first contract; but it is difficult to see how the United States could possibly avoid, invalidate or illegalite service that had been actually rendered under the second contract prior to the date of the soldier's arrest and return to his first service. Indeed it would seem that the rendition by the soldier, and acceptance by the United States, of a certain amount of military service under a second contract is a historical fact which it is impossible to avoid, obliterate, invalidate, or ignore. The question of the validity of service rendered under enlistments entered into in violation of the 22d (now 50th) Article of War has heretofore been exhaustively discussed by the Judge Advocate General, whose opinion relative theretofore have been fully accepted by the War Department, and there seems to be no occasion for further reference to that subject in this connection.
To dispose of the case now under consideration the following propositions are suggested;
(1) The charge of desertion standing against Cavener as a membe of the 24th Missouri Infantry is removable, and is required to be removed, under Section 3, of the Act approved March 23, 1889.
(2) No discharge should be issued for him as of that organization.
(3) The discharge (meaning certificate of discharge) which is required to be issued for him by Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, from which he was constructively discharged at the time he was taken away by the Military authorities, although he never received an actual discharge, or certificate of discharge, from the regiment within the meaning of Section 8 of the act.
(4) The soldier was under two contracts for military service, to either or each of which he could be held; but the Government decided to hold him to the first contract and not to hold him to the second.
(5) The Government, at the time it took the soldier away from his second regiment and returned him to his first regiment, terminated the second contract and avoided so much of it as had not been fulfilled; but it did not avoid so much of the as had been carried into effect, nor did to avoid, invalidate or illegalize any service time that had already been rendered under that contract.
(6) The 22d (now 50th) Article of War prohibits a person who is under contract and owes service as a soldier from entering into a second contract for such service; but the article does not provide any penalty for rendering service under a contract made in violation of it, nor does it render such service invalid or illegal. It simply provides that the person so serving shall be subject to trial and punishment for adandonment, by desertion, of his prior contract, and deprive him of the power to successfully plead, as he might otherwise do. that he has not abandoned the contract, and that he is not a deserter, because he is still serving th United States as a soldier.
(7) Although the service of Cavener in the 14th Missouri State Milita Cavalry was rendered under a contract that was entered into fraudulently and in violation of law, and although the United States had, and exercised, to option of canceling this contractwhen its character was discovered in fact remains, nevertheless, that Cavener actually did serve as a soldier in the 14th Missouri StateMilitia Cavalry, and that the service so rendered by him was, per so, as valid and legal as it would have been if the contract under which it was rendered had not been one that was entered in violation of law and was, consequently, subject to avoidance becaues of its fraudulency. The reality, validity and legality of the service itself cannot be denied or ignored, and are in no wise affected by the Illegality of the contract under which the service was rendered. The rendition and acceptance of the service in the regular and legal way are historical facts that cannot be obliterated simply because the contract was entered into in an irrigular and illegal way.
(8) Cavener was not "transferred" from the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry to the 24th Infantry in the sense in which the term "transferred: is ordinarily used. He was simply returned to the latter regiment to serve out his original term of enlistment therein.
F.C. Ainsworth
Col. & Chief R. & P. Office.
RECORD OF THE PENSION OFFICE
Timothy Cavener, Co. F. 24th Mo. Vol.
This charge of desertion of February 20, 1863, having been removed under section 3 of the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, He is hereby discharged to date, June 30, 1862, from Co. F. 14 Mo., S.M. Cav., under the provisions of section 8 of the same act . He having never received a discharge from the latter organization and his service therein having been terminated by is arrest and return to Co. F. 24th Mo. Inf. , on or about June 30, 1862.
Discharge Certificate approved and filed by the War Department August 5, 1896.
RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE
Book Mark-- R & P. 454121
War Dept. August 5, 1896
The notation of July 13, 1896 is canceled. This man while absent in desertion enlisted, March 2, 1862, under the name of Timothy Cavender, in Capt. Robinson's Co., Mo. State Militia ( subsequently, Co F., 14th Mo. S.M. Cav.) in violation of the 22 (now 50) Article of War, and served in that organization until arrested and returned to 24th, Mo. Inf., on or about June 30, 1862, in which regiment he was then held to service under his original enlistment, to August 4, 1864, when he died
while in confinement in military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 is removed under the provisions of Stection 3, of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1889 and under Section 8 of the same act he has been discharged from Co. F. 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to date June 30, 1862. He having never received a discharge from the latter organization, and his service therein having been terminated by his arrest
SUMMARY OF TIMOTHY CAVENER'S WAR RECORD
Company F, 24th Regiment of Missouri infantry Volunteers
Company F, 14th Regiment of Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers
August 20, 1861 Enlisted
October 14, 1861 Mustered in as a private in Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers at Rolla, Missouri, for a period of three (3) years.
August 20 --October 31, 1861 Present.
November and December 1861, Present
January 1, thru February 19, 1862, absent with leave.
February 20, 1862, Declared a Deserter.
March 20, 1862 Enlisted at Springfield as a Corporal in Captain Robertson's Company of the Missouri State Militia for the duration of the War in Missouri.
April 8, 1862, Reported for duty with Captain Robertson's Company, which later became Company F. of the 14th Regiment of the Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers.
June 30, 1862, Arrested and returned to Company F of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers.
July and August, 1862, Attached to Company "C".
September and October, 1862. Present.
November thru December 27, 1862, Present.
December 28, 1862, Taken prisoner by Confederate Forces at Van Buren, Missouri and transported to Little Rock, Arkansas.
January 30, 1863 Paroled by Confederate Forces.
February 12, 1863, Reported to Benton Barracks (Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri.
February, 1863, Absent (not returned to duty).
March & April, 1863, Present.
April 10, 1863, Present at special muster.
May & June, 1863, Present ( pay not drawn at his request).
July & August, 1863, Present.
September & October, 1863, Present.
November & December, 1863, Present.
January & February, 1863, Present.
March 12, 1864, Confined in Military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
April, May, June & July Confined in Military Prison or in Prison Hospital.
August 4, 1864, Died of Chronic Diarrhea while confined in the Military Prison at Little Rock, Arkansas, and buried 150 yards south of the east wall of the prison. The number of his grave was 08.
Due to the fact that the Arkansas State Capitol Building was built on the site of the "Old Prison" the Union soldiers buried there may have been moved to the Little Rock National Cemetery, But according to the Little Rock National Cemetery Director, Alvin L. Sanders, as of January 5, 1993 there is no burial record for Timothy Cavener. Mr Sanders further stated "There are over 3000 unknown Union Soldiers interred in the Cemetery and Timothy Cavener may be among them.
October 15, 1864, Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers muster-out roll at St. Louis, Missouri, shows that he was last paid to December 31, 1863, even though he was shown present during the period from January 1, through March 12, 1864, when he was sent to the Military Prison.
July 13, 1896 The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 against Timothy Cavender while a member of Company F, of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers was removed by the War Department and a discharge was issued from Company "F", 14th Missouri State Militia on August 5, 1896.
After a long and fruitful search of contacting State and Federal Agencies, reviewing all known contacts, we have been able to determine on what grounds or who ordered the confinement of Timothy Cavener in the Little Rock Military Prison on about March 12, 1864. If anyone has any additional information, please contact me.
History of the 24th infantry Regiment, Missouri Volunteers
THE DEMEMBER 31, 1865 ADJUTANT GENERAL, OF MISSOURI'S REPORT, STATES THAT THIS REGIMENT'S HISTORY IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE "RIGHT WING OF THE 16TH ARMY CORPS, GENERAL A. J. SMITH COMMANDING."
Organized in Missouri at large October 24 to December 28, 1861, Attached to the 1st Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to February, 1862. Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Department of Missouri to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Divison, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri, to March 1863. District of Southeast Missouri, to June 1863. District of Columbus, Kentucky, 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to January , 1864, 3nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16 Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to March, 1864, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of the Gulf, to June 1864 and Department of Tennessee, to October, 1864.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE
Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri until July, 1862.
February 2-11, 1862: Advance on Springfield, Missouri.
February 14,-29, 1862: Persuit of General Price into Arkansas.
March 6-8, 1862: Battles of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a.k.a. Sugar Creek, including engagements at Bentonville, Leetown and Elkshorn Tavern. Losses: U.S.A. 203 killed, 972 wounded, C.S.A. 800-1000 killed, and wounded.
April 5-May 13, 1862: March to Batesville, Arkansas.
May 25-July 13, 1862: March to Helena, Arkansas. After a stubbornly contested march across Arkansas, General Curtis and his Command arrived on the Mississippi River and began to fortify Helena.
DISTRICT OF EASTERN ARKANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL OCTOBER, 1862.
July 15-October 4, 1862: Duty and building of Fort Curtis at Helena, Arkansas.
2nd BRIGADE, 2ND DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI,
DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL FEBRUARY, 1863.
October 5-11, 1862: Moved to Sulphur Springs, Missouri.
October 27, 1862: 3 Companies moved to Pittsman's Ferry, Arkansas.
October 28-30 1862: March to Reeve's Station, Missouri.
December 18, 1862: Return to Patterson, Missouri.
December 22-24 1862: Moved to Van Buren, Missouri.
January 9-10 1863: Moved toward Doniphan, Missouri.
January 28- 1863: Moved to West Plains, Missouri, and then to Salem, Arkansas.
1ST BRIGADE, 2ND, DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, UNTIL MARCH, 1863.
February 2-27, 1863: Moved to Pilot Knob, Missouri, and then to Ironton, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI UNTIL JUNE, 1863.
March 8-12, 1863: Moved to St. Genevieve, Missouri and then to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
April 17-May 2, 1863: Company "G" operations against Major-General John S. Marmaduke's Calvary.
April 24, 1863: Mill Creek Bridge, Missouri and Detachment duty in Southeast Missouri till June, 1863.
May 19, 1863: Detachment duty in Richfield & Clay Counties, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, 6TH DIVISION, 16TH, ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL JANUARY, 1864.
June, 1863: Ordered to New Madrid, Missouri and duty in District of Columbus, Kentucky, till January, 1864.
August 7, 1863: Company Detachment to Union City, Tennessee.
September 1-10 Detachment Expedition ordered from Union City, Tennessee to Conyersville, Tennessee.
September 10, 1863: Conyersville, Tennessee Detachment.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, THE DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, UNTIL MARCH, 1864.
January, 1864: Ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Detached Companies "F" and "K" rejoin their Comrades in Arms of the 24th Infantry Regiment who they had not seen in two long years of war.
February 3,--March 5, 1864: Maridian, Mississippi Campaign. 2 Divisions of the 16th and 3 Divisions of the 17th Army Corps and other units, Expitition from Vicksburg to Meridian: Losses, U.S.A. 56 killed, 138 wounded; C.S.A. 505 killed and wounded.
February 14-15 1864: At Meridian, Mississippi.
February 15-17, 1864: At Marion, Mississippi.
February 28, 1864: At Canton, Mississippi.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF UNTIL JUNE, 1864.
March 10,-May 22, 1864: Red River Campaign.
March 14, 1864: Battle at Fort De Russy, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 7 killed, 41 wounded; C.S.A. 5 killed, 4 wounded, 260 prisoners.
March 16, 1864: Occupation of Alexandria, Louisiana.
March 21, 1864: Battle at Henderson's Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 1 wounded; C.S.A. 8 killed, 250 prisoners.
April 9, 1864; Battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 300 killed, 1600 wounded, 2100 missing; C.S.A. 600 killed, 2400 wounded, 500 missing.
April 22-24 1864; Monette's Ferry, Cloutiersville and Cane River Crossing, Louisiana. Losses: est. U.S.A. 350 killed and wounded. C.S.A., 400 killed and wounded.
May 13, 1864; Returned to Alexandria, Louisiana.
May 5-7, 1864: At Moore's Plantation, Louisiana.
May 7, 1864: At Bayou Boeuf, Louisiana.
May 12, 1864: Battle at Bayou LaMourie, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 10 killed, 31 wounded; C.S.A. not listed.
May 13,-20, 1864: Retreat to Morganza, Louisiana.
May 6, 1864; At Mansura, Louisiana.
May 18-19 1864 At Yellow Bayou, Louisiana.
2ND, BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS,
DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL DECEMBER, 1864
May 22--June 10, 1864: Moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then to Memphis, Tennessee.
June 5-7, 1864; Battle at Lake Chicot, a.k.a. Old River Lake, Arkansas, against General Marmaduke's Cavalry. Losses; U.S.A., 40 killed, 70 wounded; C.S.A. 100 killed and wounded.
July 5-21, 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition from La Grange to Tupelo, Mississippi. 16th Corp' 1st & 3rd Divisions, 1 Brigade of Colored Troops and Grierson's Cavalry against C.S.A.'s General Forrest's Cavalry. Losses U.S.A. 85 killed, 567 wounded; C.S.A. 210 killed, 1049 wounded.
July 11, 1864; At Ponotoc, Mississippi.
July 13, 1864; At Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg.
July 13--15, 1864; At Tupalo, Mississippi.
July 15, 1864; At Old Town Creek.
August 1-30 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Mississippi.
August 7-9, 1864; At the Tallahatchie River, Mississippi.
August 12, 1864; At Abbeville and Oxford, Mississippi.
14TH REGIMENT STATE MILITIA CAVALRY
ORGANIZED IN MISSOURI AT LARGE, MARCH TO MAY, 1862, ATTACHED TO DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI TO MARCH, 1863.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE May 31, 1862; Action at Neosho, Missouri.
July 15, 1862; Action near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
July 19-23 1862; Companies "B", "C", and "H" scouts in Polk and Dallas Counties, Missouri.
August 1-2, 1862; Companies; 'D', 'F', 'G' and 'H' at Ozark Missouri.
August 4, 1862, At White River near Forsythe, Missouri.
August 8-9 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
August 14-17 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
September 19, 1862; 1 Company scouting from Ozark to Mt. Vernon, Missouri.
October 12-16, 1862; Detachment expedition from Ozark, Missouri toward Yellville, Arkansas.
October 17, 1862; At Mountain Home, Arkansas.
November 17-18, 1862; Operations about Cassville, and Keetsville, Arkansas.
December 7, 1862; Battle at Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
December 9-15, 1862; Companies "D", "F", "G", and "H", expedition from Ozark, Missouri into Marion County, Arkansas.
December 27-29, 1862; Expedition over Boston Mountains to Van Buren, Arkansas.
December 31,--January 15, 1863; Operations against General Marmaduke in Missouri.
January 6, 1863; 2nd Battalion at Fort Lawrence and Beaver Station, Missouri.
January 8, 1863; Defense of Springfield, Missouri.
March 3, 1863; Regiment disbanded.
Record and Pension Office, War Department, July 23, 1896.
Case of Timothy Cavener
Company F, 24th Regiment Infantry Volunteers, and Company F, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry.
The official records show that this soldier was enrolled August 20, 1861, and was mustered into service, for three years, to date October 14, 1861, as a private of Co. F. 24th Mo. Infantry. He deserted from that organization February 20, 1862, and on March 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and by so doing came within the provisions of the 22nd (now 50th) Article of War. Some time during the month of June, 1862, while serving in the latter regiment, he was arrested as a deserter from the former regiment, the 24th Missouri Infantry, and was returned to it. The exact date when he rejoined the regiment in which he first enlisted is not ascertainable from the records, But the muster roll for the months of September and October, 1862 reports him as present with his company, and bears no further remarks concerning him.
On the subsequent record of this soldier nothing further need be said than that his name was borne on the records of the 24th Missouri Infantry, as of the date of his original enlistment therein, until August 4, 1864, when he died in hospital. It is well to note, however, that the records afford no evidence of the adjudication of the charge of desertion standing againt him by trial by court martial or by his formal restoration to duty by competant authority.
The Commission of Pensions now inquires "whether the enlistment in Company E, 14th S. M. Vol. Cav., which was made at the time when the soldier was a deserter from the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf., is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service; and further, if such second service be held to be valid, how and when the soldier was transferred from the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf."
Three other questions also arise in connection with the case, viz; (1) Is the charge of desertion removable under Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889; (2) If so, must an "honorable discharge be issued"?. (3) And if a discharge certificate must be issued, from what organization shall it be certified that the soldier stands discharged.
Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889, directs the removal of the charge of desertion from a prior enlistment when a subsequent enlistment was made within four months, was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that would not have accrued under the original enlistment, and the soldier served faithfully under his reinlistment.
Section 8 of the Act of March 2, 1889, requires that when the charge of desertion is removed under the provision of the act "an honorable discharge shall be issued in those cases where the soldier has received none."
It appears to be satisfactorily established by the official records that Cavener reenlisted within four months from the date of his desertion, that his reenlistment was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that he would not have been entitled to under his original term of enlistment, and that he served faithfully under his second enlistment until he was arrested by the military authorities and sent back to the organization in which he first enlisted. This being the case, is it not clear that the charge of desertion from the 24th Missouri Infantry must be removed under Section 3, of the act cited above.
If the charge of desertion be removed under the act, it becomes necessary under Section 8 to issue a discharge. It appears to have been the intention of the framers of the act that a discharge issued under it should be a discharge from the organiation from which the soldier deserted; and under a strict construction of Section 3 and 8, taken together, it might be held that the discharge in this case should be issued as of the 24th Missouri Infantry, because the desertion occured from the regiment and the soldier, having died while in service, never received a discharge from that or any other organization. But to place that construction upon the law in this case would lead to the necessity of issuing a discharge for Cavener from the 24th Missouri Infantry was of February 20, 1862, thus terminating, or certifying to the termination of his first enlistment contract on that date. and if this were done it would bcome necessary to assume that after his return ot the 24th Missouri Infantry from desertion he was serving under some other obligation than that under which he first became a member of that regiment. As a matter of fact, after his return from desertion, he was borne on the rolls of the 24th Missouri Infantry as serving under his original enlistment contract of August 20, 1862, and he was never either actually or constructively discharged from that regiment, but did while serving as a member of it. It is therefore evident that, while these two sections, strictly construed, are appliable to the great majority of 22d Articles of War cases in which there was no return to the first service, or if there was such a return it was followed by a discharge from that service, they are not appliable to the case now under consideration, which is a very unusual one and was probably not thought of by the framers of the act.
But Cavener entered into a second contract of enlistment when he enlisted in the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav., and he never received a discharge from this enlistment in the sense in which those words are used in the act. Can it not be held, then, that he was constructively discharged from this regiment at the time when he was forcibly taken there from by the military authorities and compelled to return to the 24th Missouri Infantry. And can it not be held with propriety in this exceptional case that "discharge" ( which undoubtedly means, or involves, the issue of a certificate of discharge) that should be issued under the terms of Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th M. S.M. Cavalry and as of the date on which the soldier was taken away from that regiment by the military authorities?.
The Commissioner of Pensions inquires whether Cavener,s enlistment in the 14th Mo. S.M? Cav. is deemed legal and valid. It is evident that the Commissioner uese the term "enlistment", as it is very commonly used, in the sense of the term service, because he inquires whether the "enlistment is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service. It is also evident that the Commissioner has confounded the evidence or termination of a contract for future service with evidence, invalidation or repudiation of service already rendered. Of course the United States could, and did, avoid as much of the second contract for servies on the part of this soldier as had not been completed and fulfilled at the time of his arrest and return to service under his first contract; but it is difficult to see how the United States could possibly avoid, invalidate or illegalite service that had been actually rendered under the second contract prior to the date of the soldier's arrest and return to his first service. Indeed it would seem that the rendition by the soldier, and acceptance by the United States, of a certain amount of military service under a second contract is a historical fact which it is impossible to avoid, obliterate, invalidate, or ignore. The question of the validity of service rendered under enlistments entered into in violation of the 22d (now 50th) Article of War has heretofore been exhaustively discussed by the Judge Advocate General, whose opinion relative theretofore have been fully accepted by the War Department, and there seems to be no occasion for further reference to that subject in this connection.
To dispose of the case now under consideration the following propositions are suggested;
(1) The charge of desertion standing against Cavener as a membe of the 24th Missouri Infantry is removable, and is required to be removed, under Section 3, of the Act approved March 23, 1889.
(2) No discharge should be issued for him as of that organization.
(3) The discharge (meaning certificate of discharge) which is required to be issued for him by Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, from which he was constructively discharged at the time he was taken away by the Military authorities, although he never received an actual discharge, or certificate of discharge, from the regiment within the meaning of Section 8 of the act.
(4) The soldier was under two contracts for military service, to either or each of which he could be held; but the Government decided to hold him to the first contract and not to hold him to the second.
(5) The Government, at the time it took the soldier away from his second regiment and returned him to his first regiment, terminated the second contract and avoided so much of it as had not been fulfilled; but it did not avoid so much of the as had been carried into effect, nor did to avoid, invalidate or illegalize any service time that had already been rendered under that contract.
(6) The 22d (now 50th) Article of War prohibits a person who is under contract and owes service as a soldier from entering into a second contract for such service; but the article does not provide any penalty for rendering service under a contract made in violation of it, nor does it render such service invalid or illegal. It simply provides that the person so serving shall be subject to trial and punishment for adandonment, by desertion, of his prior contract, and deprive him of the power to successfully plead, as he might otherwise do. that he has not abandoned the contract, and that he is not a deserter, because he is still serving th United States as a soldier.
(7) Although the service of Cavener in the 14th Missouri State Milita Cavalry was rendered under a contract that was entered into fraudulently and in violation of law, and although the United States had, and exercised, to option of canceling this contractwhen its character was discovered in fact remains, nevertheless, that Cavener actually did serve as a soldier in the 14th Missouri StateMilitia Cavalry, and that the service so rendered by him was, per so, as valid and legal as it would have been if the contract under which it was rendered had not been one that was entered in violation of law and was, consequently, subject to avoidance becaues of its fraudulency. The reality, validity and legality of the service itself cannot be denied or ignored, and are in no wise affected by the Illegality of the contract under which the service was rendered. The rendition and acceptance of the service in the regular and legal way are historical facts that cannot be obliterated simply because the contract was entered into in an irrigular and illegal way.
(8) Cavener was not "transferred" from the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry to the 24th Infantry in the sense in which the term "transferred: is ordinarily used. He was simply returned to the latter regiment to serve out his original term of enlistment therein.
F.C. Ainsworth
Col. & Chief R. & P. Office.
RECORD OF THE PENSION OFFICE
Timothy Cavener, Co. F. 24th Mo. Vol.
This charge of desertion of February 20, 1863, having been removed under section 3 of the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, He is hereby discharged to date, June 30, 1862, from Co. F. 14 Mo., S.M. Cav., under the provisions of section 8 of the same act . He having never received a discharge from the latter organization and his service therein having been terminated by is arrest and return to Co. F. 24th Mo. Inf. , on or about June 30, 1862.
Discharge Certificate approved and filed by the War Department August 5, 1896.
RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE
Book Mark-- R & P. 454121
War Dept. August 5, 1896
The notation of July 13, 1896 is canceled. This man while absent in desertion enlisted, March 2, 1862, under the name of Timothy Cavender, in Capt. Robinson's Co., Mo. State Militia ( subsequently, Co F., 14th Mo. S.M. Cav.) in violation of the 22 (now 50) Article of War, and served in that organization until arrested and returned to 24th, Mo. Inf., on or about June 30, 1862, in which regiment he was then held to service under his original enlistment, to August 4, 1864, when he died
while in confinement in military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 is removed under the provisions of Stection 3, of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1889 and under Section 8 of the same act he has been discharged from Co. F. 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to date June 30, 1862. He having never received a discharge from the latter organization, and his service therein having been terminated by his arrest
Timothy Cavener was born in 1824, in Amelia County, Virginia. He was the son of Patrick and Keziah (Tucker) Cavener. He married Winnie Gold, and they were the parents of eight children. He volunteered to serve in the Army, when their youngest child was only one day old.
SUMMARY OF TIMOTHY CAVENER'S WAR RECORD
Company F, 24th Regiment of Missouri infantry Volunteers
Company F, 14th Regiment of Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers
August 20, 1861 Enlisted
October 14, 1861 Mustered in as a private in Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers at Rolla, Missouri, for a period of three (3) years.
August 20 --October 31, 1861 Present.
November and December 1861, Present
January 1, thru February 19, 1862, absent with leave.
February 20, 1862, Declared a Deserter.
March 20, 1862 Enlisted at Springfield as a Corporal in Captain Robertson's Company of the Missouri State Militia for the duration of the War in Missouri.
April 8, 1862, Reported for duty with Captain Robertson's Company, which later became Company F. of the 14th Regiment of the Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers.
June 30, 1862, Arrested and returned to Company F of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers.
July and August, 1862, Attached to Company "C".
September and October, 1862. Present.
November thru December 27, 1862, Present.
December 28, 1862, Taken prisoner by Confederate Forces at Van Buren, Missouri and transported to Little Rock, Arkansas.
January 30, 1863 Paroled by Confederate Forces.
February 12, 1863, Reported to Benton Barracks (Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri.
February, 1863, Absent (not returned to duty).
March & April, 1863, Present.
April 10, 1863, Present at special muster.
May & June, 1863, Present ( pay not drawn at his request).
July & August, 1863, Present.
September & October, 1863, Present.
November & December, 1863, Present.
January & February, 1863, Present.
March 12, 1864, Confined in Military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
April, May, June & July Confined in Military Prison or in Prison Hospital.
August 4, 1864, Died of Chronic Diarrhea while confined in the Military Prison at Little Rock, Arkansas, and buried 150 yards south of the east wall of the prison. The number of his grave was 08.
Due to the fact that the Arkansas State Capitol Building was built on the site of the "Old Prison" the Union soldiers buried there may have been moved to the Little Rock National Cemetery, But according to the Little Rock National Cemetery Director, Alvin L. Sanders, as of January 5, 1993 there is no burial record for Timothy Cavener. Mr Sanders further stated "There are over 3000 unknown Union Soldiers interred in the Cemetery and Timothy Cavener may be among them.
October 15, 1864, Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers muster-out roll at St. Louis, Missouri, shows that he was last paid to December 31, 1863, even though he was shown present during the period from January 1, through March 12, 1864, when he was sent to the Military Prison.
July 13, 1896 The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 against Timothy Cavender while a member of Company F, of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers was removed by the War Department and a discharge was issued from Company "F", 14th Missouri State Militia on August 5, 1896.
After a long and fruitful search of contacting State and Federal Agencies, reviewing all known contacts, we have been able to determine on what grounds or who ordered the confinement of Timothy Cavener in the Little Rock Military Prison on about March 12, 1864. If anyone has any additional information, please contact me.
History of the 24th infantry Regiment, Missouri Volunteers
THE DEMEMBER 31, 1865 ADJUTANT GENERAL, OF MISSOURI'S REPORT, STATES THAT THIS REGIMENT'S HISTORY IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE "RIGHT WING OF THE 16TH ARMY CORPS, GENERAL A. J. SMITH COMMANDING."
Organized in Missouri at large October 24 to December 28, 1861, Attached to the 1st Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to February, 1862. Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Department of Missouri to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Divison, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri, to March 1863. District of Southeast Missouri, to June 1863. District of Columbus, Kentucky, 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to January , 1864, 3nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16 Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to March, 1864, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of the Gulf, to June 1864 and Department of Tennessee, to October, 1864.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE
Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri until July, 1862.
February 2-11, 1862: Advance on Springfield, Missouri.
February 14,-29, 1862: Persuit of General Price into Arkansas.
March 6-8, 1862: Battles of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a.k.a. Sugar Creek, including engagements at Bentonville, Leetown and Elkshorn Tavern. Losses: U.S.A. 203 killed, 972 wounded, C.S.A. 800-1000 killed, and wounded.
April 5-May 13, 1862: March to Batesville, Arkansas.
May 25-July 13, 1862: March to Helena, Arkansas. After a stubbornly contested march across Arkansas, General Curtis and his Command arrived on the Mississippi River and began to fortify Helena.
DISTRICT OF EASTERN ARKANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL OCTOBER, 1862.
July 15-October 4, 1862: Duty and building of Fort Curtis at Helena, Arkansas.
2nd BRIGADE, 2ND DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI,
DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL FEBRUARY, 1863.
October 5-11, 1862: Moved to Sulphur Springs, Missouri.
October 27, 1862: 3 Companies moved to Pittsman's Ferry, Arkansas.
October 28-30 1862: March to Reeve's Station, Missouri.
December 18, 1862: Return to Patterson, Missouri.
December 22-24 1862: Moved to Van Buren, Missouri.
January 9-10 1863: Moved toward Doniphan, Missouri.
January 28- 1863: Moved to West Plains, Missouri, and then to Salem, Arkansas.
1ST BRIGADE, 2ND, DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, UNTIL MARCH, 1863.
February 2-27, 1863: Moved to Pilot Knob, Missouri, and then to Ironton, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI UNTIL JUNE, 1863.
March 8-12, 1863: Moved to St. Genevieve, Missouri and then to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
April 17-May 2, 1863: Company "G" operations against Major-General John S. Marmaduke's Calvary.
April 24, 1863: Mill Creek Bridge, Missouri and Detachment duty in Southeast Missouri till June, 1863.
May 19, 1863: Detachment duty in Richfield & Clay Counties, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, 6TH DIVISION, 16TH, ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL JANUARY, 1864.
June, 1863: Ordered to New Madrid, Missouri and duty in District of Columbus, Kentucky, till January, 1864.
August 7, 1863: Company Detachment to Union City, Tennessee.
September 1-10 Detachment Expedition ordered from Union City, Tennessee to Conyersville, Tennessee.
September 10, 1863: Conyersville, Tennessee Detachment.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, THE DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, UNTIL MARCH, 1864.
January, 1864: Ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Detached Companies "F" and "K" rejoin their Comrades in Arms of the 24th Infantry Regiment who they had not seen in two long years of war.
February 3,--March 5, 1864: Maridian, Mississippi Campaign. 2 Divisions of the 16th and 3 Divisions of the 17th Army Corps and other units, Expitition from Vicksburg to Meridian: Losses, U.S.A. 56 killed, 138 wounded; C.S.A. 505 killed and wounded.
February 14-15 1864: At Meridian, Mississippi.
February 15-17, 1864: At Marion, Mississippi.
February 28, 1864: At Canton, Mississippi.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF UNTIL JUNE, 1864.
March 10,-May 22, 1864: Red River Campaign.
March 14, 1864: Battle at Fort De Russy, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 7 killed, 41 wounded; C.S.A. 5 killed, 4 wounded, 260 prisoners.
March 16, 1864: Occupation of Alexandria, Louisiana.
March 21, 1864: Battle at Henderson's Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 1 wounded; C.S.A. 8 killed, 250 prisoners.
April 9, 1864; Battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 300 killed, 1600 wounded, 2100 missing; C.S.A. 600 killed, 2400 wounded, 500 missing.
April 22-24 1864; Monette's Ferry, Cloutiersville and Cane River Crossing, Louisiana. Losses: est. U.S.A. 350 killed and wounded. C.S.A., 400 killed and wounded.
May 13, 1864; Returned to Alexandria, Louisiana.
May 5-7, 1864: At Moore's Plantation, Louisiana.
May 7, 1864: At Bayou Boeuf, Louisiana.
May 12, 1864: Battle at Bayou LaMourie, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 10 killed, 31 wounded; C.S.A. not listed.
May 13,-20, 1864: Retreat to Morganza, Louisiana.
May 6, 1864; At Mansura, Louisiana.
May 18-19 1864 At Yellow Bayou, Louisiana.
2ND, BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS,
DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL DECEMBER, 1864
May 22--June 10, 1864: Moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then to Memphis, Tennessee.
June 5-7, 1864; Battle at Lake Chicot, a.k.a. Old River Lake, Arkansas, against General Marmaduke's Cavalry. Losses; U.S.A., 40 killed, 70 wounded; C.S.A. 100 killed and wounded.
July 5-21, 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition from La Grange to Tupelo, Mississippi. 16th Corp' 1st & 3rd Divisions, 1 Brigade of Colored Troops and Grierson's Cavalry against C.S.A.'s General Forrest's Cavalry. Losses U.S.A. 85 killed, 567 wounded; C.S.A. 210 killed, 1049 wounded.
July 11, 1864; At Ponotoc, Mississippi.
July 13, 1864; At Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg.
July 13--15, 1864; At Tupalo, Mississippi.
July 15, 1864; At Old Town Creek.
August 1-30 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Mississippi.
August 7-9, 1864; At the Tallahatchie River, Mississippi.
August 12, 1864; At Abbeville and Oxford, Mississippi.
14TH REGIMENT STATE MILITIA CAVALRY
ORGANIZED IN MISSOURI AT LARGE, MARCH TO MAY, 1862, ATTACHED TO DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI TO MARCH, 1863.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE May 31, 1862; Action at Neosho, Missouri.
July 15, 1862; Action near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
July 19-23 1862; Companies "B", "C", and "H" scouts in Polk and Dallas Counties, Missouri.
August 1-2, 1862; Companies; 'D', 'F', 'G' and 'H' at Ozark Missouri.
August 4, 1862, At White River near Forsythe, Missouri.
August 8-9 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
August 14-17 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
September 19, 1862; 1 Company scouting from Ozark to Mt. Vernon, Missouri.
October 12-16, 1862; Detachment expedition from Ozark, Missouri toward Yellville, Arkansas.
October 17, 1862; At Mountain Home, Arkansas.
November 17-18, 1862; Operations about Cassville, and Keetsville, Arkansas.
December 7, 1862; Battle at Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
December 9-15, 1862; Companies "D", "F", "G", and "H", expedition from Ozark, Missouri into Marion County, Arkansas.
December 27-29, 1862; Expedition over Boston Mountains to Van Buren, Arkansas.
December 31,--January 15, 1863; Operations against General Marmaduke in Missouri.
January 6, 1863; 2nd Battalion at Fort Lawrence and Beaver Station, Missouri.
January 8, 1863; Defense of Springfield, Missouri.
March 3, 1863; Regiment disbanded.
Record and Pension Office, War Department, July 23, 1896.
Case of Timothy Cavener
Company F, 24th Regiment Infantry Volunteers, and Company F, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry.
The official records show that this soldier was enrolled August 20, 1861, and was mustered into service, for three years, to date October 14, 1861, as a private of Co. F. 24th Mo. Infantry. He deserted from that organization February 20, 1862, and on March 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and by so doing came within the provisions of the 22nd (now 50th) Article of War. Some time during the month of June, 1862, while serving in the latter regiment, he was arrested as a deserter from the former regiment, the 24th Missouri Infantry, and was returned to it. The exact date when he rejoined the regiment in which he first enlisted is not ascertainable from the records, But the muster roll for the months of September and October, 1862 reports him as present with his company, and bears no further remarks concerning him.
On the subsequent record of this soldier nothing further need be said than that his name was borne on the records of the 24th Missouri Infantry, as of the date of his original enlistment therein, until August 4, 1864, when he died in hospital. It is well to note, however, that the records afford no evidence of the adjudication of the charge of desertion standing againt him by trial by court martial or by his formal restoration to duty by competant authority.
The Commission of Pensions now inquires "whether the enlistment in Company E, 14th S. M. Vol. Cav., which was made at the time when the soldier was a deserter from the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf., is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service; and further, if such second service be held to be valid, how and when the soldier was transferred from the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf."
Three other questions also arise in connection with the case, viz; (1) Is the charge of desertion removable under Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889; (2) If so, must an "honorable discharge be issued"?. (3) And if a discharge certificate must be issued, from what organization shall it be certified that the soldier stands discharged.
Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889, directs the removal of the charge of desertion from a prior enlistment when a subsequent enlistment was made within four months, was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that would not have accrued under the original enlistment, and the soldier served faithfully under his reinlistment.
Section 8 of the Act of March 2, 1889, requires that when the charge of desertion is removed under the provision of the act "an honorable discharge shall be issued in those cases where the soldier has received none."
It appears to be satisfactorily established by the official records that Cavener reenlisted within four months from the date of his desertion, that his reenlistment was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that he would not have been entitled to under his original term of enlistment, and that he served faithfully under his second enlistment until he was arrested by the military authorities and sent back to the organization in which he first enlisted. This being the case, is it not clear that the charge of desertion from the 24th Missouri Infantry must be removed under Section 3, of the act cited above.
If the charge of desertion be removed under the act, it becomes necessary under Section 8 to issue a discharge. It appears to have been the intention of the framers of the act that a discharge issued under it should be a discharge from the organiation from which the soldier deserted; and under a strict construction of Section 3 and 8, taken together, it might be held that the discharge in this case should be issued as of the 24th Missouri Infantry, because the desertion occured from the regiment and the soldier, having died while in service, never received a discharge from that or any other organization. But to place that construction upon the law in this case would lead to the necessity of issuing a discharge for Cavener from the 24th Missouri Infantry was of February 20, 1862, thus terminating, or certifying to the termination of his first enlistment contract on that date. and if this were done it would bcome necessary to assume that after his return ot the 24th Missouri Infantry from desertion he was serving under some other obligation than that under which he first became a member of that regiment. As a matter of fact, after his return from desertion, he was borne on the rolls of the 24th Missouri Infantry as serving under his original enlistment contract of August 20, 1862, and he was never either actually or constructively discharged from that regiment, but did while serving as a member of it. It is therefore evident that, while these two sections, strictly construed, are appliable to the great majority of 22d Articles of War cases in which there was no return to the first service, or if there was such a return it was followed by a discharge from that service, they are not appliable to the case now under consideration, which is a very unusual one and was probably not thought of by the framers of the act.
But Cavener entered into a second contract of enlistment when he enlisted in the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav., and he never received a discharge from this enlistment in the sense in which those words are used in the act. Can it not be held, then, that he was constructively discharged from this regiment at the time when he was forcibly taken there from by the military authorities and compelled to return to the 24th Missouri Infantry. And can it not be held with propriety in this exceptional case that "discharge" ( which undoubtedly means, or involves, the issue of a certificate of discharge) that should be issued under the terms of Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th M. S.M. Cavalry and as of the date on which the soldier was taken away from that regiment by the military authorities?.
The Commissioner of Pensions inquires whether Cavener,s enlistment in the 14th Mo. S.M? Cav. is deemed legal and valid. It is evident that the Commissioner uese the term "enlistment", as it is very commonly used, in the sense of the term service, because he inquires whether the "enlistment is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service. It is also evident that the Commissioner has confounded the evidence or termination of a contract for future service with evidence, invalidation or repudiation of service already rendered. Of course the United States could, and did, avoid as much of the second contract for servies on the part of this soldier as had not been completed and fulfilled at the time of his arrest and return to service under his first contract; but it is difficult to see how the United States could possibly avoid, invalidate or illegalite service that had been actually rendered under the second contract prior to the date of the soldier's arrest and return to his first service. Indeed it would seem that the rendition by the soldier, and acceptance by the United States, of a certain amount of military service under a second contract is a historical fact which it is impossible to avoid, obliterate, invalidate, or ignore. The question of the validity of service rendered under enlistments entered into in violation of the 22d (now 50th) Article of War has heretofore been exhaustively discussed by the Judge Advocate General, whose opinion relative theretofore have been fully accepted by the War Department, and there seems to be no occasion for further reference to that subject in this connection.
To dispose of the case now under consideration the following propositions are suggested;
(1) The charge of desertion standing against Cavener as a membe of the 24th Missouri Infantry is removable, and is required to be removed, under Section 3, of the Act approved March 23, 1889.
(2) No discharge should be issued for him as of that organization.
(3) The discharge (meaning certificate of discharge) which is required to be issued for him by Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, from which he was constructively discharged at the time he was taken away by the Military authorities, although he never received an actual discharge, or certificate of discharge, from the regiment within the meaning of Section 8 of the act.
(4) The soldier was under two contracts for military service, to either or each of which he could be held; but the Government decided to hold him to the first contract and not to hold him to the second.
(5) The Government, at the time it took the soldier away from his second regiment and returned him to his first regiment, terminated the second contract and avoided so much of it as had not been fulfilled; but it did not avoid so much of the as had been carried into effect, nor did to avoid, invalidate or illegalize any service time that had already been rendered under that contract.
(6) The 22d (now 50th) Article of War prohibits a person who is under contract and owes service as a soldier from entering into a second contract for such service; but the article does not provide any penalty for rendering service under a contract made in violation of it, nor does it render such service invalid or illegal. It simply provides that the person so serving shall be subject to trial and punishment for adandonment, by desertion, of his prior contract, and deprive him of the power to successfully plead, as he might otherwise do. that he has not abandoned the contract, and that he is not a deserter, because he is still serving th United States as a soldier.
(7) Although the service of Cavener in the 14th Missouri State Milita Cavalry was rendered under a contract that was entered into fraudulently and in violation of law, and although the United States had, and exercised, to option of canceling this contractwhen its character was discovered in fact remains, nevertheless, that Cavener actually did serve as a soldier in the 14th Missouri StateMilitia Cavalry, and that the service so rendered by him was, per so, as valid and legal as it would have been if the contract under which it was rendered had not been one that was entered in violation of law and was, consequently, subject to avoidance becaues of its fraudulency. The reality, validity and legality of the service itself cannot be denied or ignored, and are in no wise affected by the Illegality of the contract under which the service was rendered. The rendition and acceptance of the service in the regular and legal way are historical facts that cannot be obliterated simply because the contract was entered into in an irrigular and illegal way.
(8) Cavener was not "transferred" from the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry to the 24th Infantry in the sense in which the term "transferred: is ordinarily used. He was simply returned to the latter regiment to serve out his original term of enlistment therein.
F.C. Ainsworth
Col. & Chief R. & P. Office.
RECORD OF THE PENSION OFFICE
Timothy Cavener, Co. F. 24th Mo. Vol.
This charge of desertion of February 20, 1863, having been removed under section 3 of the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, He is hereby discharged to date, June 30, 1862, from Co. F. 14 Mo., S.M. Cav., under the provisions of section 8 of the same act . He having never received a discharge from the latter organization and his service therein having been terminated by is arrest and return to Co. F. 24th Mo. Inf. , on or about June 30, 1862.
Discharge Certificate approved and filed by the War Department August 5, 1896.
RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE
Book Mark-- R & P. 454121
War Dept. August 5, 1896
The notation of July 13, 1896 is canceled. This man while absent in desertion enlisted, March 2, 1862, under the name of Timothy Cavender, in Capt. Robinson's Co., Mo. State Militia ( subsequently, Co F., 14th Mo. S.M. Cav.) in violation of the 22 (now 50) Article of War, and served in that organization until arrested and returned to 24th, Mo. Inf., on or about June 30, 1862, in which regiment he was then held to service under his original enlistment, to August 4, 1864, when he died
while in confinement in military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 is removed under the provisions of Stection 3, of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1889 and under Section 8 of the same act he has been discharged from Co. F. 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to date June 30, 1862. He having never received a discharge from the latter organization, and his service therein having been terminated by his arrest
SUMMARY OF TIMOTHY CAVENER'S WAR RECORD
Company F, 24th Regiment of Missouri infantry Volunteers
Company F, 14th Regiment of Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers
August 20, 1861 Enlisted
October 14, 1861 Mustered in as a private in Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers at Rolla, Missouri, for a period of three (3) years.
August 20 --October 31, 1861 Present.
November and December 1861, Present
January 1, thru February 19, 1862, absent with leave.
February 20, 1862, Declared a Deserter.
March 20, 1862 Enlisted at Springfield as a Corporal in Captain Robertson's Company of the Missouri State Militia for the duration of the War in Missouri.
April 8, 1862, Reported for duty with Captain Robertson's Company, which later became Company F. of the 14th Regiment of the Missouri State Militia Calvary Volunteers.
June 30, 1862, Arrested and returned to Company F of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers.
July and August, 1862, Attached to Company "C".
September and October, 1862. Present.
November thru December 27, 1862, Present.
December 28, 1862, Taken prisoner by Confederate Forces at Van Buren, Missouri and transported to Little Rock, Arkansas.
January 30, 1863 Paroled by Confederate Forces.
February 12, 1863, Reported to Benton Barracks (Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri.
February, 1863, Absent (not returned to duty).
March & April, 1863, Present.
April 10, 1863, Present at special muster.
May & June, 1863, Present ( pay not drawn at his request).
July & August, 1863, Present.
September & October, 1863, Present.
November & December, 1863, Present.
January & February, 1863, Present.
March 12, 1864, Confined in Military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
April, May, June & July Confined in Military Prison or in Prison Hospital.
August 4, 1864, Died of Chronic Diarrhea while confined in the Military Prison at Little Rock, Arkansas, and buried 150 yards south of the east wall of the prison. The number of his grave was 08.
Due to the fact that the Arkansas State Capitol Building was built on the site of the "Old Prison" the Union soldiers buried there may have been moved to the Little Rock National Cemetery, But according to the Little Rock National Cemetery Director, Alvin L. Sanders, as of January 5, 1993 there is no burial record for Timothy Cavener. Mr Sanders further stated "There are over 3000 unknown Union Soldiers interred in the Cemetery and Timothy Cavener may be among them.
October 15, 1864, Company F, of the 24th Regiment of Missouri Infantry Volunteers muster-out roll at St. Louis, Missouri, shows that he was last paid to December 31, 1863, even though he was shown present during the period from January 1, through March 12, 1864, when he was sent to the Military Prison.
July 13, 1896 The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 against Timothy Cavender while a member of Company F, of the 24th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry Volunteers was removed by the War Department and a discharge was issued from Company "F", 14th Missouri State Militia on August 5, 1896.
After a long and fruitful search of contacting State and Federal Agencies, reviewing all known contacts, we have been able to determine on what grounds or who ordered the confinement of Timothy Cavener in the Little Rock Military Prison on about March 12, 1864. If anyone has any additional information, please contact me.
History of the 24th infantry Regiment, Missouri Volunteers
THE DEMEMBER 31, 1865 ADJUTANT GENERAL, OF MISSOURI'S REPORT, STATES THAT THIS REGIMENT'S HISTORY IS IDENTIFIED WITH THE "RIGHT WING OF THE 16TH ARMY CORPS, GENERAL A. J. SMITH COMMANDING."
Organized in Missouri at large October 24 to December 28, 1861, Attached to the 1st Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to February, 1862. Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Department of Missouri to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Divison, Army of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri, to March 1863. District of Southeast Missouri, to June 1863. District of Columbus, Kentucky, 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to January , 1864, 3nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16 Army Corps, Department of Tennessee, to March, 1864, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, Department of the Gulf, to June 1864 and Department of Tennessee, to October, 1864.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE
Unassigned, Army of Southwest Missouri until July, 1862.
February 2-11, 1862: Advance on Springfield, Missouri.
February 14,-29, 1862: Persuit of General Price into Arkansas.
March 6-8, 1862: Battles of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a.k.a. Sugar Creek, including engagements at Bentonville, Leetown and Elkshorn Tavern. Losses: U.S.A. 203 killed, 972 wounded, C.S.A. 800-1000 killed, and wounded.
April 5-May 13, 1862: March to Batesville, Arkansas.
May 25-July 13, 1862: March to Helena, Arkansas. After a stubbornly contested march across Arkansas, General Curtis and his Command arrived on the Mississippi River and began to fortify Helena.
DISTRICT OF EASTERN ARKANSAS, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL OCTOBER, 1862.
July 15-October 4, 1862: Duty and building of Fort Curtis at Helena, Arkansas.
2nd BRIGADE, 2ND DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI,
DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI UNTIL FEBRUARY, 1863.
October 5-11, 1862: Moved to Sulphur Springs, Missouri.
October 27, 1862: 3 Companies moved to Pittsman's Ferry, Arkansas.
October 28-30 1862: March to Reeve's Station, Missouri.
December 18, 1862: Return to Patterson, Missouri.
December 22-24 1862: Moved to Van Buren, Missouri.
January 9-10 1863: Moved toward Doniphan, Missouri.
January 28- 1863: Moved to West Plains, Missouri, and then to Salem, Arkansas.
1ST BRIGADE, 2ND, DIVISION, ARMY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, UNTIL MARCH, 1863.
February 2-27, 1863: Moved to Pilot Knob, Missouri, and then to Ironton, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI UNTIL JUNE, 1863.
March 8-12, 1863: Moved to St. Genevieve, Missouri and then to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
April 17-May 2, 1863: Company "G" operations against Major-General John S. Marmaduke's Calvary.
April 24, 1863: Mill Creek Bridge, Missouri and Detachment duty in Southeast Missouri till June, 1863.
May 19, 1863: Detachment duty in Richfield & Clay Counties, Missouri.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, 6TH DIVISION, 16TH, ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL JANUARY, 1864.
June, 1863: Ordered to New Madrid, Missouri and duty in District of Columbus, Kentucky, till January, 1864.
August 7, 1863: Company Detachment to Union City, Tennessee.
September 1-10 Detachment Expedition ordered from Union City, Tennessee to Conyersville, Tennessee.
September 10, 1863: Conyersville, Tennessee Detachment.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, THE DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, UNTIL MARCH, 1864.
January, 1864: Ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Detached Companies "F" and "K" rejoin their Comrades in Arms of the 24th Infantry Regiment who they had not seen in two long years of war.
February 3,--March 5, 1864: Maridian, Mississippi Campaign. 2 Divisions of the 16th and 3 Divisions of the 17th Army Corps and other units, Expitition from Vicksburg to Meridian: Losses, U.S.A. 56 killed, 138 wounded; C.S.A. 505 killed and wounded.
February 14-15 1864: At Meridian, Mississippi.
February 15-17, 1864: At Marion, Mississippi.
February 28, 1864: At Canton, Mississippi.
2ND BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF UNTIL JUNE, 1864.
March 10,-May 22, 1864: Red River Campaign.
March 14, 1864: Battle at Fort De Russy, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 7 killed, 41 wounded; C.S.A. 5 killed, 4 wounded, 260 prisoners.
March 16, 1864: Occupation of Alexandria, Louisiana.
March 21, 1864: Battle at Henderson's Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 1 wounded; C.S.A. 8 killed, 250 prisoners.
April 9, 1864; Battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. Losses; U.S.A. 300 killed, 1600 wounded, 2100 missing; C.S.A. 600 killed, 2400 wounded, 500 missing.
April 22-24 1864; Monette's Ferry, Cloutiersville and Cane River Crossing, Louisiana. Losses: est. U.S.A. 350 killed and wounded. C.S.A., 400 killed and wounded.
May 13, 1864; Returned to Alexandria, Louisiana.
May 5-7, 1864: At Moore's Plantation, Louisiana.
May 7, 1864: At Bayou Boeuf, Louisiana.
May 12, 1864: Battle at Bayou LaMourie, Louisiana, Losses; U.S.A. 10 killed, 31 wounded; C.S.A. not listed.
May 13,-20, 1864: Retreat to Morganza, Louisiana.
May 6, 1864; At Mansura, Louisiana.
May 18-19 1864 At Yellow Bayou, Louisiana.
2ND, BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, 16TH ARMY CORPS,
DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE UNTIL DECEMBER, 1864
May 22--June 10, 1864: Moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then to Memphis, Tennessee.
June 5-7, 1864; Battle at Lake Chicot, a.k.a. Old River Lake, Arkansas, against General Marmaduke's Cavalry. Losses; U.S.A., 40 killed, 70 wounded; C.S.A. 100 killed and wounded.
July 5-21, 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition from La Grange to Tupelo, Mississippi. 16th Corp' 1st & 3rd Divisions, 1 Brigade of Colored Troops and Grierson's Cavalry against C.S.A.'s General Forrest's Cavalry. Losses U.S.A. 85 killed, 567 wounded; C.S.A. 210 killed, 1049 wounded.
July 11, 1864; At Ponotoc, Mississippi.
July 13, 1864; At Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg.
July 13--15, 1864; At Tupalo, Mississippi.
July 15, 1864; At Old Town Creek.
August 1-30 1864; Major-General Andrew Jackson Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Mississippi.
August 7-9, 1864; At the Tallahatchie River, Mississippi.
August 12, 1864; At Abbeville and Oxford, Mississippi.
14TH REGIMENT STATE MILITIA CAVALRY
ORGANIZED IN MISSOURI AT LARGE, MARCH TO MAY, 1862, ATTACHED TO DISTRICT OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI TO MARCH, 1863.
CAMPAIGNS AND SERVICE May 31, 1862; Action at Neosho, Missouri.
July 15, 1862; Action near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
July 19-23 1862; Companies "B", "C", and "H" scouts in Polk and Dallas Counties, Missouri.
August 1-2, 1862; Companies; 'D', 'F', 'G' and 'H' at Ozark Missouri.
August 4, 1862, At White River near Forsythe, Missouri.
August 8-9 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
August 14-17 1862; 2 Companies involved in scouting and skirmishs from Ozark to Forsythe, Missouri.
September 19, 1862; 1 Company scouting from Ozark to Mt. Vernon, Missouri.
October 12-16, 1862; Detachment expedition from Ozark, Missouri toward Yellville, Arkansas.
October 17, 1862; At Mountain Home, Arkansas.
November 17-18, 1862; Operations about Cassville, and Keetsville, Arkansas.
December 7, 1862; Battle at Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
December 9-15, 1862; Companies "D", "F", "G", and "H", expedition from Ozark, Missouri into Marion County, Arkansas.
December 27-29, 1862; Expedition over Boston Mountains to Van Buren, Arkansas.
December 31,--January 15, 1863; Operations against General Marmaduke in Missouri.
January 6, 1863; 2nd Battalion at Fort Lawrence and Beaver Station, Missouri.
January 8, 1863; Defense of Springfield, Missouri.
March 3, 1863; Regiment disbanded.
Record and Pension Office, War Department, July 23, 1896.
Case of Timothy Cavener
Company F, 24th Regiment Infantry Volunteers, and Company F, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry.
The official records show that this soldier was enrolled August 20, 1861, and was mustered into service, for three years, to date October 14, 1861, as a private of Co. F. 24th Mo. Infantry. He deserted from that organization February 20, 1862, and on March 20, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and by so doing came within the provisions of the 22nd (now 50th) Article of War. Some time during the month of June, 1862, while serving in the latter regiment, he was arrested as a deserter from the former regiment, the 24th Missouri Infantry, and was returned to it. The exact date when he rejoined the regiment in which he first enlisted is not ascertainable from the records, But the muster roll for the months of September and October, 1862 reports him as present with his company, and bears no further remarks concerning him.
On the subsequent record of this soldier nothing further need be said than that his name was borne on the records of the 24th Missouri Infantry, as of the date of his original enlistment therein, until August 4, 1864, when he died in hospital. It is well to note, however, that the records afford no evidence of the adjudication of the charge of desertion standing againt him by trial by court martial or by his formal restoration to duty by competant authority.
The Commission of Pensions now inquires "whether the enlistment in Company E, 14th S. M. Vol. Cav., which was made at the time when the soldier was a deserter from the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf., is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service; and further, if such second service be held to be valid, how and when the soldier was transferred from the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to the 24th Mo. Vol. Inf."
Three other questions also arise in connection with the case, viz; (1) Is the charge of desertion removable under Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889; (2) If so, must an "honorable discharge be issued"?. (3) And if a discharge certificate must be issued, from what organization shall it be certified that the soldier stands discharged.
Section 3 of the Act approved March 2, 1889, directs the removal of the charge of desertion from a prior enlistment when a subsequent enlistment was made within four months, was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that would not have accrued under the original enlistment, and the soldier served faithfully under his reinlistment.
Section 8 of the Act of March 2, 1889, requires that when the charge of desertion is removed under the provision of the act "an honorable discharge shall be issued in those cases where the soldier has received none."
It appears to be satisfactorily established by the official records that Cavener reenlisted within four months from the date of his desertion, that his reenlistment was not made for the purpose of securing bounty or other gratuity that he would not have been entitled to under his original term of enlistment, and that he served faithfully under his second enlistment until he was arrested by the military authorities and sent back to the organization in which he first enlisted. This being the case, is it not clear that the charge of desertion from the 24th Missouri Infantry must be removed under Section 3, of the act cited above.
If the charge of desertion be removed under the act, it becomes necessary under Section 8 to issue a discharge. It appears to have been the intention of the framers of the act that a discharge issued under it should be a discharge from the organiation from which the soldier deserted; and under a strict construction of Section 3 and 8, taken together, it might be held that the discharge in this case should be issued as of the 24th Missouri Infantry, because the desertion occured from the regiment and the soldier, having died while in service, never received a discharge from that or any other organization. But to place that construction upon the law in this case would lead to the necessity of issuing a discharge for Cavener from the 24th Missouri Infantry was of February 20, 1862, thus terminating, or certifying to the termination of his first enlistment contract on that date. and if this were done it would bcome necessary to assume that after his return ot the 24th Missouri Infantry from desertion he was serving under some other obligation than that under which he first became a member of that regiment. As a matter of fact, after his return from desertion, he was borne on the rolls of the 24th Missouri Infantry as serving under his original enlistment contract of August 20, 1862, and he was never either actually or constructively discharged from that regiment, but did while serving as a member of it. It is therefore evident that, while these two sections, strictly construed, are appliable to the great majority of 22d Articles of War cases in which there was no return to the first service, or if there was such a return it was followed by a discharge from that service, they are not appliable to the case now under consideration, which is a very unusual one and was probably not thought of by the framers of the act.
But Cavener entered into a second contract of enlistment when he enlisted in the 14th Mo. S.M. Cav., and he never received a discharge from this enlistment in the sense in which those words are used in the act. Can it not be held, then, that he was constructively discharged from this regiment at the time when he was forcibly taken there from by the military authorities and compelled to return to the 24th Missouri Infantry. And can it not be held with propriety in this exceptional case that "discharge" ( which undoubtedly means, or involves, the issue of a certificate of discharge) that should be issued under the terms of Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th M. S.M. Cavalry and as of the date on which the soldier was taken away from that regiment by the military authorities?.
The Commissioner of Pensions inquires whether Cavener,s enlistment in the 14th Mo. S.M? Cav. is deemed legal and valid. It is evident that the Commissioner uese the term "enlistment", as it is very commonly used, in the sense of the term service, because he inquires whether the "enlistment is deemed legal and valid in view of the fact that it would appear that such second service was avoided by the Government by arresting said soldier as a deserter from the first service. It is also evident that the Commissioner has confounded the evidence or termination of a contract for future service with evidence, invalidation or repudiation of service already rendered. Of course the United States could, and did, avoid as much of the second contract for servies on the part of this soldier as had not been completed and fulfilled at the time of his arrest and return to service under his first contract; but it is difficult to see how the United States could possibly avoid, invalidate or illegalite service that had been actually rendered under the second contract prior to the date of the soldier's arrest and return to his first service. Indeed it would seem that the rendition by the soldier, and acceptance by the United States, of a certain amount of military service under a second contract is a historical fact which it is impossible to avoid, obliterate, invalidate, or ignore. The question of the validity of service rendered under enlistments entered into in violation of the 22d (now 50th) Article of War has heretofore been exhaustively discussed by the Judge Advocate General, whose opinion relative theretofore have been fully accepted by the War Department, and there seems to be no occasion for further reference to that subject in this connection.
To dispose of the case now under consideration the following propositions are suggested;
(1) The charge of desertion standing against Cavener as a membe of the 24th Missouri Infantry is removable, and is required to be removed, under Section 3, of the Act approved March 23, 1889.
(2) No discharge should be issued for him as of that organization.
(3) The discharge (meaning certificate of discharge) which is required to be issued for him by Section 8 of the act should be issued as of the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, from which he was constructively discharged at the time he was taken away by the Military authorities, although he never received an actual discharge, or certificate of discharge, from the regiment within the meaning of Section 8 of the act.
(4) The soldier was under two contracts for military service, to either or each of which he could be held; but the Government decided to hold him to the first contract and not to hold him to the second.
(5) The Government, at the time it took the soldier away from his second regiment and returned him to his first regiment, terminated the second contract and avoided so much of it as had not been fulfilled; but it did not avoid so much of the as had been carried into effect, nor did to avoid, invalidate or illegalize any service time that had already been rendered under that contract.
(6) The 22d (now 50th) Article of War prohibits a person who is under contract and owes service as a soldier from entering into a second contract for such service; but the article does not provide any penalty for rendering service under a contract made in violation of it, nor does it render such service invalid or illegal. It simply provides that the person so serving shall be subject to trial and punishment for adandonment, by desertion, of his prior contract, and deprive him of the power to successfully plead, as he might otherwise do. that he has not abandoned the contract, and that he is not a deserter, because he is still serving th United States as a soldier.
(7) Although the service of Cavener in the 14th Missouri State Milita Cavalry was rendered under a contract that was entered into fraudulently and in violation of law, and although the United States had, and exercised, to option of canceling this contractwhen its character was discovered in fact remains, nevertheless, that Cavener actually did serve as a soldier in the 14th Missouri StateMilitia Cavalry, and that the service so rendered by him was, per so, as valid and legal as it would have been if the contract under which it was rendered had not been one that was entered in violation of law and was, consequently, subject to avoidance becaues of its fraudulency. The reality, validity and legality of the service itself cannot be denied or ignored, and are in no wise affected by the Illegality of the contract under which the service was rendered. The rendition and acceptance of the service in the regular and legal way are historical facts that cannot be obliterated simply because the contract was entered into in an irrigular and illegal way.
(8) Cavener was not "transferred" from the 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry to the 24th Infantry in the sense in which the term "transferred: is ordinarily used. He was simply returned to the latter regiment to serve out his original term of enlistment therein.
F.C. Ainsworth
Col. & Chief R. & P. Office.
RECORD OF THE PENSION OFFICE
Timothy Cavener, Co. F. 24th Mo. Vol.
This charge of desertion of February 20, 1863, having been removed under section 3 of the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, He is hereby discharged to date, June 30, 1862, from Co. F. 14 Mo., S.M. Cav., under the provisions of section 8 of the same act . He having never received a discharge from the latter organization and his service therein having been terminated by is arrest and return to Co. F. 24th Mo. Inf. , on or about June 30, 1862.
Discharge Certificate approved and filed by the War Department August 5, 1896.
RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE
Book Mark-- R & P. 454121
War Dept. August 5, 1896
The notation of July 13, 1896 is canceled. This man while absent in desertion enlisted, March 2, 1862, under the name of Timothy Cavender, in Capt. Robinson's Co., Mo. State Militia ( subsequently, Co F., 14th Mo. S.M. Cav.) in violation of the 22 (now 50) Article of War, and served in that organization until arrested and returned to 24th, Mo. Inf., on or about June 30, 1862, in which regiment he was then held to service under his original enlistment, to August 4, 1864, when he died
while in confinement in military prison at Little Rock, Arkansas.
The charge of desertion of February 20, 1862 is removed under the provisions of Stection 3, of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1889 and under Section 8 of the same act he has been discharged from Co. F. 14th Mo. S.M. Cav. to date June 30, 1862. He having never received a discharge from the latter organization, and his service therein having been terminated by his arrest
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