This is a printed thirteen-page official order dated May 29, 1863 with a handwritten period ink notation at the top showing it was received on June 30, 1863, the day before the battle of Gettysburg.

The General Order, which is numbered 159, lays out the case against Colonel Frederick George d’Utassy of the 39^th New York Infantry also known as the Garibaldi Guard. The Colonel is charged with:

1.)    Advising and persuading a soldier to desert with three specifications listed.

2.)    Unlawfully selling and disposing of Government horses for his own benefit with three specifications listed.

3.)    Conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline with nineteen specifications. These specifications included opening the mail of other officers, selling postings on the regimental staff and collecting money under fraudulent circumstances.

In the end the Colonel was found not guilty of charge 1 and guilty of two of the three specifications in charge 2. In charge 3 he was found guilty of nine of the specifications.

The Colonel was sentenced to forfeit of all pay and allowances due him and to be cashiered from the army. In addition, he was sentenced to one year of hard labor, bared from holding any office of trust in the Government and notice of his deed had to be published in at least three New York newspapers. The sentence was approved by Secretary Stanton and by President Lincoln. It was later decided that d’Utassy would be sent to the prison at Sing Sing, New York for his year of hard labor.

With the order is a REPRINT 8x 10 photograph of d’Utassy in uniform holding the flag of the 39^th New York.

As a side note, an interesting story of the Colonel’s time in prison is found in d’Utassy’s findagrave entry and reads as follows:

“His arrival at the prison was greeted with more fuss and fanfare. The colonel requested that he not be forced to march in file with the other prisoners. He pointed out that he was an educated man who had served in the armed forces and unlike the common criminals he was forced to mingle with. He told a guard “I speak twelve languages!” the guard dryly replied, “Here in Sing-Sing we only speak one and we want very little of that.” After his prison sentence was served d’Utassy entered civilian life and made a respectable living in the Insurance trade. After many years and many colorful stories later, d’Utassy was found dead in a gas filled hotel room in Wilmington, Delaware. Whether or not suicide was the cause of his death has never been fully determined.”  [ad] [ph:L]

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