The Louisiana in the Civil War Message Board

Re: William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry

In the ANV winter camp of 1864, just before the Spotsylvania Campaign, it seems Peck and other officers that arrived late to their commands (no matter the circumstances) were held under arrest with the charge of AWOL, Absent Without Leave. Lieutenant Prosper Landry of the Donaldsonville Artillery, in May 1864 arrived late to his command too (because of the trains) and noted to his wife in a letter: "At my return from Louisiana I found myself under arrest, by general orders, for having prolonged the time of my leave." Three officers of the Donaldsonville Artillery, including Landry, found themselves in the same situation as Peck. In the case of the Canonnier Lieutenant Landry, the AWOL charges were either dropped or forgotten, perhaps intentionally, as Landry was promoted to Captain in July 1864 while fighting and commanding four guns in the trenches of Petersburg. The two other Canonnier lieutenants had their charges dismissed or forgotten too as there is no, as I remember, official documentation of their arrest in the CSR. About the charges, Landry in that same letter to his wife (written in French) said, "A thought which made the hours drag still more heavily in the trenches," adding, "I still did not know what would become of me [because of the arrest] when out of the blue sky...I received the Special Order announcing I was promoted to Captain."

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William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry
Re: William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry
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Re: William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry
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Re: William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry
Re: William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry
Re: William R. Peck - Court of Inquiry