March 21, 1864, a fight broke out in a mess tent in a Union camp
along the Rappahannock River in Virginia. During the scuffle, Moses Robinette
pulled a knife on John Alexander. When the dust settled, Robinette was charged
with attempted murder and incarcerated on a remote island near Key West. Three
officers who knew Moses Robinette petitioned President Abraham Lincoln to
overturn the conviction. They professed that Robinette wasn’t the one who’d
started the fight, and that he was only acting in self-defense. Lincoln agreed,
and Moses’ sentence was commuted. The veterinary surgeon returned to his wife,
his sons and daughters, and his farm. He passed at the age of 84 in 1903. One
of Moses’ sons was George Hamilton Robinette, whose daughter was Mary Elizabeth
Robinette Biden. Her son was Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr., and his son was
Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. So, the 16th president pardoned the great-great
grandfather of the 46th.
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