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MoH recipient became successful Army lawyer

Asa Bird Gardiner received the Medal of Honor for heroism as an infantry officer at Gettysburg in 1863, and later served as an Army judge advocate in high-profile court cases.

Born in New York City in September 1839, Gardiner graduated from the College of the City of New York as a teenager, earned a law degree from the University of the City of New York (today’s NYU) and was a lawyer at 21 years of age.

Historian Roger D. Cunningham wrote in “Always a Storm Centre: The Trials and Tribulations of Lt. Col. Asa Bird Gardiner” (Journal of America’s Past, Fall 2006), that Gardiner “left his legal practice when the Civil War broke out.” Commissioned a first lieutenant in H Company, 31st New York Volunteer Infantry, in May 1861, Gardiner fought “in northern Virginia near Fairfax Court House” and in the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.

Ill health and family problems caused him to resign his commission and return to New York, but in June 1863, Gardiner was back in active service in response to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania. Gardiner’s “conspicuous bravery and distinguished conduct” during the Gettysburg campaign resulted in him being awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872.

Gardiner remained in the Army after the war, but it was not until 1873, when President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him a major in the Judge Advocate General’s Department, that Gardiner was able to put his legal skills to work. As the New York Times would later write in his obituary, Gardiner’s talents as a lawyer in high-profile Army cases brought him fame and made him “always a storm centre.”

In 1878, Gardiner represented the government in the re-trial of Maj. Gen. Fitz-John Porter, who had been charged with disloyalty, disobedience and misconduct in the face of the enemy at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Porter, who had been court-martialed on these same charges in 1863 and dismissed from the Army, hoped this re-trial would clear his name. Gardiner was convinced that Porter was guilty, but the other members of the board disagreed, andPorter was restored to the Army list as a colonel in 1886.

In 1881, Gardiner served as judge advocate in the court-martial of West Point cadet Johnson C. Whittaker. Born into slavery in South Carolina, Whittaker had been admitted to the U.S. Military Academy in 1876 and suffered hazing and mistreatment from his classmates. In April 1880, Whittaker was found unconscious on the floor of his room. He alleged that three masked men had assaulted him. The commandant of cadets did not believe the story and Whittaker was court-martialed for allegedly faking the assault. Gardiner won this case, though President Chester Arthur would later set aside the verdict and sentence, and President William J. Clinton posthumously awarded Whittaker a commission in 1995.

Gardiner’s biggest case involved the court-martial of his immediate superior, Brig. Gen. David G. Swaim, the Judge Advocate General. Some dubious financial transactions caused Swaim to be charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and, in January 1885, Swaim was convicted at a court-martial. It was another publicized victory for Gardiner.

Gardiner’s Army career ended when he went into politics and was elected district attorney of New York City in 1897. Gardiner served as DA until 1900, when he resumed his private practice. Gardiner died in May 1919.

Fred L. Borch retired from the Army after 25 years and is the regimental historian for the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. His e-mail address is borchfj@aol.com. Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.