Abraham Lincoln and Treason in the Civil War: The Trials of John Merryman. By Jonathan White. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2011.

            Jonathan White is a professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University, and he specializes in legal history within the American Civil War. He is also the author of “The Strangely Insignificant Role of the U.S. Supreme Court During the Civil War.” Overall, his work is a fun and enjoyable read, and it will be the authoritative work on Ex parte Merryman for years to come. White’s goal is “to understand more fully who John Merryman was, what he did to harm the Union, and how his actions impacted Lincoln’s war and reconstruction policies.” (4) Moreover, he wants to show how the legal process worked. White used many primary sources and tends to dig deeper than most historians did in the past on the subject. For instance, he examined the Merryman Family Papers along with several court records and dockets from Maryland.

            White opens the book by explaining the events of the Baltimore riot, which took place in April of 1861. The city was a central railroad hub that linked the northern states with the U.S. capital. A mob began to gather around the Union troops on the train, and they started to pelt the men with projectiles. The soldiers were forced to retaliate and a few even opened fire. Some made it down to Washington D.C. safely, but others were forced to fall back into northern Maryland and Pennsylvania. In the meantime, Lincoln pled with the Marylanders to stop their destruction, and he agreed to send the troops around Baltimore. However, the Baltimore County Horse Guards began to rip up railroads, cut telegraph wires, and destroy bridges (John Merryman was a part of this posse). Now Union authorities were faced with the question of how to get the Union troops from the north to the capital. Ultimately, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, Article 1, section 9 of the Constitution, and General Benjamin Butler seized Baltimore.

            John Merryman was arrested in his home in late May. In part, his unionist neighbors did not care for his Southern sympathies, and they turned on him. He was imprisoned in Fort McHenry but nobody told him what crime he was accused of committing. He quickly petitioned U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney, which he ironically also served as the U.S. circuit court judge in Baltimore. Taney rushed up to Baltimore and told the arresting general, George Cadwalader, that he had to “produce the body.” Cadwalader refused, and Taney sent a marshal to arrest him for contempt of court. However, the marshal was denied accesses to the fort and made no further attempts. Taney even contemplated on sending a posse but realized that it would have little impact. Taney replied and stated that Lincoln had committed an illegal act since only Congress could suspend the writ. Lincoln replied that he did not break any law. Furthermore, he reasoned that Article 1, section 9 did not specify as to whom or who could suspend the writ. There has also been much debate over whether Taney was acting as the Supreme Court justice or riding circuit. White argues that Taney was acting as the later, and therefore the case was a lower federal court decision.

            The following chapter analyzes the role of Lincoln’s administration to prosecute John Merryman and other Marylanders for treason. It was often very difficult because Southern sympathies were pervasive throughout Maryland. Lincoln used military commissions to try civilians, which many believed were illegal. Initially, Congress did not take a stand on the issue, but by the “midpoint of the war” they were forced to take a side. Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Act, and it was a dismal failure. The act gave Lincoln the right to suspend the writ “when public safety required it.” It also got rid of the military tribunals and tried the accused in civilian courts. Finally, the act sought to protect those who made the arrests against future lawsuits for wrongful arrests. White concludes with the failure of the Habeas Corpus Act and contends that there were consequences for some of the arresting officers. In fact, John Merryman’s wrongful arrest lawsuit would even impact Lincoln’s policy on “reconstruction of the Union.” (8)

Shawn Devaney