Post by keogh on Aug 10, 2008 13:37:02 GMT -5
Author, Historian and LBHA member Jeff Broome sent in this request for information about a 7th Cavalry enlisted man:
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I have been very interested in the story of 7th Cavalry enlisted man John Kile, who deserted from Custer's summer expedition 1867 under the alias John Kelley. In 1869 he was awarded the Medal of Honor for action in the 5th Cavalry in the Republican River Expedition. He then re-enlisted in the 7th Cavalry in June, 1870, and 5 weeks later was killed in a drunken brawl by Wild Bill Hickok in Hays Kansas. That's the basic story of Kile, but I have been uncovering an interesting and deeper story, that includes two desertions in the 5th Cavalry and the 1st Infantry, and a 3 year prison sentence after a dishonorable discharge from the 37th Infantry in early 1868. When Kile deserted as Kelley from Custer in 1867 he soon joined the 37th Infantry as John Kile. His Medal of Honor was given under his mis-spelled name Kyle. I have verified all olf this from original records at the National Archives in DC. My research question is this: does anyone know how to access the U.S. prison files for 1868 in Jefferson City, Missouri, where Kile was ordered to be brought to serve his 3 year sentence? Within 4 months of that order he resurfaces, voluntarily turning himself in to the 5th Cavalry for an 1866 desertion (three days after that 1866 desertion he joined the 7th Cavalry as Kelley). Either Kile escaped from prison at Jefferson City [or en-route] or there was some sort of sentence exoneration and subsequent new trail for his 1866 desertion in the 5th Cavalry, of which he served 8 months of hard labor and then was soon awarded the Medal of Honor in the summer of 1869.
If anybody can help me, please understand that I have spent days seeking this answer at the National Archives, both in Kansas City, Denver and DC. From assistance at those agencies, there apparently is no understanding of where the correspondence records of the Jefferson City Prison might repose. If I could look at those records for April through July 1868, maybe I could learn the answer to this mystery. Does anyone have any idea where to look? Much appreciated.
jeff broome
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I have been very interested in the story of 7th Cavalry enlisted man John Kile, who deserted from Custer's summer expedition 1867 under the alias John Kelley. In 1869 he was awarded the Medal of Honor for action in the 5th Cavalry in the Republican River Expedition. He then re-enlisted in the 7th Cavalry in June, 1870, and 5 weeks later was killed in a drunken brawl by Wild Bill Hickok in Hays Kansas. That's the basic story of Kile, but I have been uncovering an interesting and deeper story, that includes two desertions in the 5th Cavalry and the 1st Infantry, and a 3 year prison sentence after a dishonorable discharge from the 37th Infantry in early 1868. When Kile deserted as Kelley from Custer in 1867 he soon joined the 37th Infantry as John Kile. His Medal of Honor was given under his mis-spelled name Kyle. I have verified all olf this from original records at the National Archives in DC. My research question is this: does anyone know how to access the U.S. prison files for 1868 in Jefferson City, Missouri, where Kile was ordered to be brought to serve his 3 year sentence? Within 4 months of that order he resurfaces, voluntarily turning himself in to the 5th Cavalry for an 1866 desertion (three days after that 1866 desertion he joined the 7th Cavalry as Kelley). Either Kile escaped from prison at Jefferson City [or en-route] or there was some sort of sentence exoneration and subsequent new trail for his 1866 desertion in the 5th Cavalry, of which he served 8 months of hard labor and then was soon awarded the Medal of Honor in the summer of 1869.
If anybody can help me, please understand that I have spent days seeking this answer at the National Archives, both in Kansas City, Denver and DC. From assistance at those agencies, there apparently is no understanding of where the correspondence records of the Jefferson City Prison might repose. If I could look at those records for April through July 1868, maybe I could learn the answer to this mystery. Does anyone have any idea where to look? Much appreciated.
jeff broome