Lincoln Fires a Union Officer for Disloyalty

When Major John J. Key became the only Union officer to be court- martialed and discharged for “uttering disloyal sentiments,” the final appeal came to Lincoln. Having reviewed the arguments on both sides, Lincoln used his legal expertise to distill his response into a few words. Such disloyalty was “wholly inadmissible,” and Key was to be summarily “dismissed from the Military service of the United States.”