Russian-born
John B. Turchin came home one day and joyfully informed his wife that he would
soon be made colonel of the Nineteenth Illinois Regiment. Eyes flashing, she
instantly responded, “I’m going with you, even to battlefields.”
Although
at that time most of the military nurses were men, Mrs. Turchin volunteered her
services and went along in an unofficial capacity. Less than a year later, now
commanding a brigade, Turchin permitted his men to loot indiscriminately in
Huntsville and Athens, Alabama.
Accused
of having encouraged his men to plunder and rob civilians, the Federal officer
went before a court-martial that recommended his dismissal from the service.
Oral tradition has it that his wife promptly set out for Washington, where she
managed to win an interview with Lincoln. Impressed with her account of what
had taken place, the president set aside the verdict of the court-martial. Soon
afterward the president submitted the name of Mrs. Turchin’s husband for
confirmation as a brigadier general.
Months
later, during a Tennessee campaign, the Federal general, whose baptismal name
was Ivan Vasilovitch Turchinoff, became so ill that he could not sit in the
saddle. Veterans who served under him vowed that for a period of ten days Mrs.
Turchin took command of his unit and once briefly led it in battle.
