Diary of Betty Herndon Maury - February 9, 1862

Sunday 9th [February 1862]

We hear no more of the Burnside fleet.

Will stopped here Tuesday on his way up to Fredericksburg from Richmond and stayed until yesterday.

He tells me that Gen’ Early has preferred charges against my dear Dick, that he is to be court-martialed and is now under arrest.

It seems that about three weeks ago Dick was on a Court Martial of which General Bonham was the President. The Court rose one Saturday morning to sit again on Monday and D obtained a verbal leave from Gen Bonham to absent himself for that time. As I understand it when an officer is on a Court Martial he is for the time under the command of his superiors on the Court and not under the officers of his Brigade.

Dick started to come to Fredericksburg and be married. When he got to Dumfries he found he could not go and return in that time. He was on horseback. So he spent the night there and returned to his post, near Union Mills, next day. This is the sum total of his offense. Papa says the charges against him are most frivolous and wicked. He wants Dick to employ council but D says he intends to plead his own cause, wants the first case he wins to be his own. Bless his heart. I hope he may gain it. There seems to be a sort of fatality attending his marriage.

Papa has got Bob an appointment as master in the Navy at a salary of a thousand dollars! He is acting as Papa’s Clerk now. Mr. Corbin has been promoted to the same rank and sent to New Orleans on some temporary duty. They will both be ordered to the steam Launches when they are done.

Johnny has gone to join Capt Lynch on the North Carolina coast. He is Capt’s Clerk.

Tom’s wife experts to have a baby next month. She is with her mother in Washington and he is in our army near Manassas.