Researchers have discovered that President Biden’s great-great-grandfather, a civilian employee with the Union Army during the Civil War, was pardoned by President Lincoln.
On the night of March 21, 1864, an event unfolded that would create a historical bridge to today’s White House, The Washington Post reported in an article written by historian David J. Gerleman. As the Civil War raged, a confrontation took a violent turn in the encampment of the Army of the Potomac, stationed along the Rappahannock River in Virginia.
At the camp, Moses J. Robinette, Mr. Biden’s great-great-grandfather and a veterinary surgeon for the Union Army, found himself in a brawl with a man named John J. Alexander, a fellow Union Army employee. Alexander overheard Robinette saying something about him to a cook, and charged at him, according to the records.
Robinette, 42, pulled out a pocketknife, cutting Alexander several times before others intervened, according to the documents.
The 42-year-old Robinette claimed self-defense, but military judges convicted him and sentenced him to two years of hard labor. He was detained on a remote island, a place destined to become part of Florida’s territory.
But three Army officers petitioned Lincoln to overturn the sentence, saying the punishment was too severe. And so it was an unexpected act of clemency — a pardon from Lincoln — that not only liberated Robinette but also established an unanticipated connection between the two presidents.
Recent findings trace Mr. Biden’s lineage to western Maryland, with Robinette identified as a paternal ancestor. The president’s middle name is Robinette.
Limited records have previously obscured Robinette’s life and actions, but rediscovered court-martial documents within the National Archives in Washington, D.C., have shed new light on the interwoven stories of Mr. Biden’s forebear and Lincoln during a pivotal era for the nation.
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