Buffum Documents in CWGK
Robert Buffum's arrest, conviction, and imprisonment in Kentucky was what first drew CWGK to his story.
After Buffum had been forced to resign from the army under threat of court martial in 1864, a spree in Louisville landed him in the Kentucky State Pentientiary in Frankfort. Under pressure from the Lincoln administration, Governor Bramlette pardoned Buffum after serving about three months of his three year sentence.
Each of the elements of Buffum's larger story is found in these documents: alcohol abuse, trouble with the law, easy access to weapons, a plea of "mental derangement" that fell on deaf ears, and a family trying desperately to pick up the pieces in their husband and father's self-destructive wake.
Buffum's comrade William Pittinger appeals to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to pressure Kentucky for Buffum's release from prison.
Sarah Buffum appeals to Secretary of War Stanton for her husband's release from prison in Kentucky.
Buffum's comrade Pittinger engages Ohio state officials to pressure the cabinet for Buffum's release.
Judge Advocate General and native Kentuckian Joseph Holt formally requests a recounting of Buffum's case from Commonwealth's Attorney James R. Dupuy
Dupuy, who prosecuted Buffum, recounts the case against Buffum as it was percieved by Kentucky authorities.
Holt forwards the Kentucky evidence to Secretary of War Stanton.
Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana forwards Buffum's pardon request from the War Department.
Governor Thomas E. Bramlette grudgingly signs Buffum's pardon under pressure from the Lincoln administration.