LOUIS M. STARRING. JANUARY 29, 1901-Ordered to be printed. Mr. GALLINGER (for Mr. PRITCHARD), from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 9370.] The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9370) granting a pension to Louis M. Starring, have examined the same and report: The report of the Committee on Invalid Pensions of the House of Representatives, hereto appended, is adopted and the passage of the bill is recommended. HOUSE REPORT. Rosell M. Starring, the soldier named in this bill, is shown by the records of the War Department to have served as a private in Company H, Forty-fourth New York Volunteers, from September 15, 1861, to October 11, 1864, when he was honorably discharged, and these records do not show that he was in hospital or was treated for any disability while in the service. No claim for pension has ever been filed in the Pension Bureau, either by the soldier or by anyone else, on account of his services and death. From testimony and papers filed with your committee it appears that the soldier was drowned in Lake Erie while suffering from fits, alleged to have been caused by an injury received while on a raid tearing up railroad tracks; that his widow remarried; that the beneficiary is the son of the soldier; that he was born in August, 1871, with imperfect eyesight, and that he had become nearly blind when a very small boy, and was practically blind when he arrived at the age of 14 years; that he is an upright and respected young man, without any means of support, and unable to earn a support by reason of his affliction. Medical testimony filed shows that the beneficiary is suffering from cataract, producing loss of sight of right eye and but very imperfect vision in the other eye. The beneficiary having been shown to have been practically blind for all purposes prior to his arrival at the age of 14 years and having been born with imperfect sight, your committee, following precedent, believes that his name should be placed on the pension roll at the rate provided for such class of cases, namely, $12 per month, and reports the bill back with the recommendation that it pass. О 2d Session. No. 2063. ANNA F. JOHNSON. JANUARY 29, 1901.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. GALLINGER (for Mr. PRITCHARD) from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 9874.] The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9874) granting an increase of pension to Anna F. Johnson, have examined the same and report: The report of the Committee on Pensions of the House of Representatives, hereto appended, is adopted and the passage of the bill is recommended. HOUSE REPORT. The claimant is the widow of Amory K. Johnson, who served from June 16, 1846, to May 26, 1847, as a private in Company F, Fourth Illinois Volunteers, in the war with Mexico, and she is now receiving the pension of $8 per month provided by law for the widows of veterans of that war. The soldier and the claimant were married July 19, 1873, and he died from accidental drowning May 18, 1876. She is now well advanced in years, in extremely feeble health, and is without property or means of support aside from her pension. There are numerous precedents for an increased allowance in this case, and in view of the fact set forth above and the additional circumstance that the soldier rendered distinguished service as an officer in the civil war, as will be seen from the appended report from the War Department, the passage of the bill is respectfully recommended. Statement of the military service of Amory K. Johnson, late lieutenant-colonel of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry Volunteers, and colonel of the Twenty-eighth Illinois Infantry Volunteers. The records show that Amory K. Johnson was mustered into service May 25, 1861, as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry Volunteers, to serve three years, and that he was mustered out and honorably discharged the service of the United States, to date from September 28, 1861, while holding the grade of lieutenantcolonel. The records also show that he was mustered into service on September 28, 1861, as colonel of the Twenty-eighth Illinois Infantry Volunteers, to serve three years. He appears to have been present with his command until on or about June 28, 1862, when a leave of absence was granted to him. He returned to his command some time in the month of July or August, 1862, and appears to have been present therewith until November 2, 1862, when he was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division, which was also designated the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps; the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, and the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps. He appears to have been in command of said brigade until February 5, 1863, when he was relieved from duty on account of severe indisposition. On February 20, 1863, a leave of absence was granted to him for the purpose of visiting and remaining in Memphis, Tenn., for medical treatment, where he appears to have been stationed until March 11, 1863, when he was detailed as aid-de-camp to General Sherman, commanding the Fifteenth Army Corps. In accordance with the provisions of Special Orders, No. 76, from the headquarters of the Fifteenth Army Corps, dated March 30, 1863, he was relieved from duty on the staff of Major-General Sherman, in which capacity he had been serving as volunteer aid-de-camp, and was ordered to rejoin his brigade at Memphis, Tenn., General Sherman stating, in the order mentioned, as follows: * "The major-general commanding takes this opportunity to applaud the zeal of Colonel Johnson in volunteering to serve at this position, and to express his earnest desire that one common service will soon bring us together again. * * * He assumed command of the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, on April 5, 1863, and appears to have been in command thereof until May 5, 1863, when he was ordered to proceed to Memphis, Tenn., and deliver dispatches to General Hurlbut and assist in forwarding troops. From May 23, 1863, to June 8, 1863, he was on detached service commanding cavalry, and on the latter date he was relieved from such duty and directed to rejoin and assume command of the brigade to which he belonged. From June 9 to July 5, 1863, he was on duty commanding the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, being relieved from such command on the latter date because of ill health. On July 28, 1863, the Fourth Division was transferred to the Thirteenth Army Corps, and Colonel Johnson commanded the Third Brigade of said division from that date until August 7, 1863, when the division was transferred to the Seventeenth Army Corps. In accordance with the provisions of Special Orders, No. 237, from the Department of the Tennessee, dated August 30, 1863, Colonel Johnson was given permission to proceed to Cairo, Ill., and he appears to have been on a leave of absence until about October 20, 1863. He was detached as commander of the military post at Natchez, Miss., on November 24, 1863, and, with the exception of a leave of absence of twenty days from March 29, 1864, appears to have been in the performance of special duties at Natchez, Miss., until June 17, 1864, when he was honorably discharged the service of the United States upon tender of resignation. It further appears from the records on file in this Department that the organization with which Colonel Johnson served participated in the following-named engagements: February 6, 1862, Fort Henry, Tenn.; April 6 and 7, 1862, Shiloh, Tenn.; April 30 to May 30, 1862, Corinth, Miss.; October 5, 1862, Hatchie River; May 19 to July 4, 1863, Vicksburg, Miss.; July 10 to 16, 1863, Jackson, Miss.; September 8, 1863, Fort Beauregard, La., and March 27 to April 9, 1865, Spanish Fort, Ala. An extract from the report of Brigadier General-Hurlbut relative to the part taken by his division in the battle at Shiloh, Tenn., on April 6 and 7, 1862, is as follows: * * * "Col. A. K. Johnson, of Twenty-eighth Illinois, was under my own eye during both days. I bear willing testimony to his perfect coolness and thorough handling of his regiment throughout the whole time, and to the fact that his regiment halted as a rear guard on Sunday afternoon during the retreat by his personal order, and reported to me for orders before he closed into line." * * * An indorsement by Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman appearing upon the report of Colonel Johnson, relative to the part taken by the Twenty-eighth Illinois Infantry Volunteers in the operations before Corinth, Miss., is as follows: "It affords me great pleasure to bear testimony to the earnestness and zeal manifested by Col. A. K. Johnson and the officers and soldiers who composed his command on the morning of May 30, while following the retreating enemy out of Corinth on the Ripley road. Colonel Johnson's command was close on the heels of Morgan L. Smith's brigade, and acted with it up to the time of the order of recall and to resume our former camps." * * An extract from the report of Brigadier-General Lauman relative to the participation of his brigade in the engagement at Hatchie Bridge, on October 5, 1862, is as follows: * * "To Colonel Johnson, of the Twenty-eighth Illinois, * * and, in short, to all the officers, I tender my highest meed of approbation. Never did officers do better; never were men placed under more trying circumstances." Official statement furnished to Hon. Adolph Myer. By authority of the Secretary of War: RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE, * * * F. C. AINSWORTH, Chief Record and Pension Office. War Department, March 10, 1899. 2d Session. 1 No. 2064. DANIEL SMITH. JANUARY 29, 1901.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. GALLINGER (for Mr. PRITCHARD), from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 5224.] The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5224) granting an increase of pension to Daniel Smith, have examined the same and report: The report of the Committee on Invalid Pensions of the House of Representatives, hereto appended, is adopted and the passage of the bill is recommended. HOUSE REPORT. The records of the War Department show that Daniel Smith, the beneficiary named in this bill, and now 67 years of age, was enrolled and mustered into service as a private in Company C, Seventh Tennessee Volunteers, on August 6, 1862; that he was captured by the enemy September 7, 1862, delivered on parole at Aikens Landing, Va., October 6, 1862, and sent to his regiment from Camp Parole December 11, 1862; that his company was broken up and part of it transferred to the Eleventh Tennessee Cavalry, and when he reported to that regiment the commanding officer refused to receive him because of some defect in his vision, from which he was suffering while in the hands of the enemy, and subsequently he was honorably discharged November 2, 1870, to take effect from the 1st of July, 1863 (the date of the transfer of his company)." He is now, and has been since August 6, 1890, a pensioner under the act of June 27, 1890, at $12 per month, on account of total inability to earn a support by manual labor by reason of total blindness. He filed a claim to pension under the general law on February 3, 1869, alleging that while a prisoner of war in September, 1862, he contracted measles; that during such sickness he caught cold, which settled in his eyes, ultimately resulting in total blindness. This claim was rejected November 14, 1888, upon the ground that the evidence on file, including that taken on special examination, failed to show that his blindness was in any way due to his military service. While proof was filed and obtained upon special examination that the soldier's eyes were not affected with defective or impaired vision at the time of his enlistment, that he incurred measles and resulting affection of eyes while a prisoner of war, and that he came home from the service blind in one eye and with vision of the other eye greatly |