My gr-grandfather, Harrison Hatzell (Hartzell) was discharged from the re-organized 4th Ohio Infantry near Appomattox CH. The discharge was originally made out for April 14, 1865, but was altered in 2 places on the document to read August 24, 1865. Can I assume that a lot of discharges were similarly delayed when word reached the troops about Lincoln's death?

That is an excellent question. I have never heard of a change in orders issued because of the assassination, which, of course, doesn't mean it didn't happen especially at a regimental level. I will offer conjecture instead of facts: If your ancestor was scheduled for discharge on April 14th 1865 it would be odd that a date change would be made for reason of the assassination which took place at 10:15 PM in the evening of that same day and I would imagine, though I am not sure, that the actual news of his death which occurred the next morning would not have gotten to an Army in the field until the evening of April 15th. The officers would have to be prepared to give explanations of what would happen, and a bureaucratic organization doesn't move very quickly. On the other hand the soldiers were bound to find out soon and it would have been important to address them, my guess the evening of April 15th. You indicated it was a discharge rather than a leave of absence so it could well have been an order to the Ohio troop countermanding a previous discharge, but probably not because of the assassination, since the men would all be gone if the change was made on the 15th. In my opinion, from a military point of view the discharge of any Union forces made just 5 days after of the surrender (April 9th) in the field of Lee's army while CSA General Johnston still in the field in front of Sherman, would be unlikely. I would estimate there is another reason for the change of the discharge date and that the change would have had to have taken place before April 14th if it was to keep the men from disappearing. I re-emphasize that this is just a guess on my part. It would be interesting to see the papers of other men in the unit. Perhaps a regimental history would shed some light on the change. If anyone else knows more jump in. And it would still be interesting to find out if there were any General Orders issued to change discharge plans based on the assassination. Mike S. J. Hartzell wrote: > My gr-grandfather, Harrison Hatzell (Hartzell) was discharged from the > re-organized 4th Ohio Infantry near Appomattox CH. The discharge was > originally made out for April 14, 1865, but was altered in 2 places on the > document to read August 24, 1865. Can I assume that a lot of discharges were > similarly delayed when word reached the troops about Lincoln's death?