Washington writer Guy Breshears has always been interested in the military and social history of the state and the Pacific Northwest as a region. One of his particular interests is Major Granville Owen Haller, a York native who plays the antagonist role in my book, Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863. A couple of years ago, Breshears chronicled the court-martial proceedings of Major Haller, who was accused by another Civil War officer with York ties, Clark Wells, of making disloyal comments about the Federal government and President Lincoln at a late 1862 wine-tasting party at a military campsite near Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Letters flew back and forth between Wells and Haller at the start of 1863, and Haller apparently thought the matter was settled. He commanded the forces that tried to defend Adams and York counties during the Gettysburg Campaign, and then, after the emergency was over, found that he had been dismissed from the army for disloyalty. He was not reinstated for nearly two decades, during which time he amassed a fortune in Washington as a businessman. The army finally reinstated Haller and promoted him to colonel.
Guy Breshear's book, Major Granville Haller: Dismissed with Malice, was published by Heritage Books and is available from leading book dealers such as amazon.com. It is mostly a collection of Haller's official reports, statements made by him that are contained in his widely circulated rebuttal to the charges, and a transcript of the court proceedings that reinstated him to the service.
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