The Washington Post reported in an article that the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, issued a pardon 160 years ago for one of the current U.S. president Joe Biden's ancestors. The article, citing archival documents, detailed that a man named Moses Robinet, Biden's great-grandfather, instigated a knife fight within the army during the American Civil War and was charged with attempted murder and violating military discipline.
According to the archival documents, on March 21, 1864, at the peak of the American Civil War, the Beverly Ford military camp in Virginia became a battleground between civil service officials in the Northern army, specifically between Moses Robinet and another individual named John Alexander. The archive noted that Robinet served in the reserve artillery, where his duties included caring for the horses and mules that supplied ammunition wagons.
The documents indicated that the fight was sparked by a comment Robinet directed at Alexander, which led to a knife brawl during which Alexander was stabbed. Ultimately, Robinet was charged with attempted murder and relocated to a prison on an island near Florida. In addition to the attempted murder charge, Robinet was also tried for violating military discipline. During the trial, Robinet characterized his actions as self-defense, but he was convicted of all charges and sentenced to two years of hard labor.
The archives mentioned that three officers later testified in favor of Robinet after he submitted a petition to Lincoln's office, which ultimately granted him a pardon.
