Getting Back into Princeton, Post-Civil War

Returning to Princeton after the Civil War was perhaps more difficult than Allen Guelzo suggests (“What the Civil War Cost Princeton,” July/August issue). My great-grandfather, George Purnell 1862, came to Princeton from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and left to join the First Maryland Regiment to fight for the Confederacy. When the war ended, he sought to return to Princeton and was told he could only be re-admitted with a pardon signed by the president of the United States. He somehow obtained one, signed by Andrew Johnson, and duly returned, followed in later years by his nephew, his grandson, and his great-grandson (that would be me). The pardon hangs prominently among our Princeton memorabilia.