Biography
Benjamin Gwinn Harris was a Maryland congressman from St. Mary’s County and an outspoken opponent of the Civil War, censured by the House on April 9, 1864 for treasonable utterances. Military authorities arrested him on April 27, 1865, alleging that he relieved and harbored two Confederate soldiers. He was held in Old Capitol Prison and tried by a general court-martial in Washington, where he challenged military jurisdiction over a civilian member of Congress. On May 12 the court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment and permanent disqualification from federal office. On May 31 President Andrew Johnson confirmed the findings but remitted the sentence in light of additional evidence and ordered his release. The order does not establish the date of actual discharge. He resumed his congressional seat and served through March 3, 1867.
The official court-martial record corrects the inherited May arrest month: Sergeant Reuben R. Stewart testified that he personally assisted in Harris’s arrest on April 27, 1865 (page 16). Affidavits describe his April 28 transport under arrest (page 51). Page 16 records counsel’s prison interview at Old Capitol Prison by May 5; it does not establish an exact intake date, so the existing May-precision prison admission is preserved. Harris pleaded not guilty to the charge and both specifications (page 3). On May 12 the court found him guilty of the charge and first specification, and guilty of the second specification except the words “and fed in a private house” (page 27). Major General J. G. Foster presided; Major W. W. Winthrop was the judge advocate prosecuting the case. The nominal sentence was three years in Albany penitentiary or another penitentiary designated by the Secretary of War, plus permanent disqualification from federal office. This is not evidence that he physically entered Albany. President Johnson’s May 31 remission and release directive (page 49) was forwarded for execution; no execution receipt establishes actual release. Neither the three-year sentence nor the interval to the order is counted as actual service.
