To His Excellency Thos. E Bramlette
Gov: of the commonwealth of Ky-

Your petitioners humbly represent unto your Excellency that H L Smith a young man of eighteen years of age joined the Rebel Army under Kirby Smith when he invaded Ky in 1862, and went out with Gen: Humphrey Marshall the same year, and that some time in the spring of 1863 was wounded in the hand by a musket shot, that made him a cripple for life_ and that while he was laid up from the effects of his wound, that Marshall's army moved off & left him somewhere in the mountains of Ky and that as soon as he was able to travel that he made his way back to his father's (an old Baptist preacher) in Trimble county Kentucky and remained there during the spring and summer months of 1863 and while at home, having effected the healing of his wound, that Capt: Cheesman of the Confederate army came into Kentucky gathering up the stragglers & and recruiting for the rebel army, and called on him

(Smith) to return to the service under pain of being read out as a deserter in his former command- and required him to report to his - Cheesmans private camp in Trimble county Ky- and that the said Smith being well enough to return although he was a cripple reported at said camp sometime in Aug: 1863, and that on or about the 19^th of Aug 1863 the said Cheesman mustered his little troupe together saying that he was going into Carrolton preparatory to his leaving for the south to obtain and capture arms; and that at night they set out for Carrolton and that the said Smith was left as a guard at the river to prevent surprise and that on Cheesman's return from Carrolton that he reported that he had captured a large amount of public or Government money at Carrolton and divided it among his men, and that Smith received a small share of the prize, and that Smiths share of the money was entrusted to one Lewis Ellis and by him afterwards surrendered every cent of it to the Bank officers= Your petitioners state that Smiths being a

regular confederate soldier beleived he was acting in good faith as such and within the line of his duty where he stood guard at the river and had in personal knowledge of what Capt Cheesman intended to do- knowing him to be a confederate captain he thought he was bound to obey now in as much as he was young and at the time of the affair, did not really know exactly what was on hand and has returned every cent of the money to the Bank and is the young son of an aged and worthy pair who have devoted their lives to the service of God- and who though very poor- desire the company of their cripple son in their last days We pray your excellency to pardon the offense of the Bank robbery of Aug: 1863 so far as he is concerned and restore him to his parents. There is no indictment pending against him - the said Smith, for the offense of robbing the Bank at Carrolton, but we his friends are advised that he is as much guilty of it as if he had been actually present at the robbery; Wherefore in view of the premises we pray his pardon - and we believe the Bank officers

(at least we have been so informed) are indisposed to prosecute him to a conviction for no good could come or result either to him or the public from his punishment under the circumstances as he acted as we believe not as a thief but as a misguided rebel soldier