United States v. Cottingham
Supreme Court of Virginia
In October 1841, George Cottingham presented a petition to the judge of the first circuit, setting forth that he was bora in the city of Dublin in the united- kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: that he migrated to this country in or about the year 1836, and shortly after, to wit, on the 16lb of May 1837, enlisted in the army of the United States for three years, and served as a private in captain E. S. Hawkins’s company (H.) of the seventh regiment of infantry of the said…
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In October 1841, George Cottingham presented a petition to the judge of the first circuit, setting forth that he was bora in the city of Dublin in the united- kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: that he migrated to this country in or about the year 1836, and shortly after, to wit, on the 16lb of May 1837, enlisted in the army of the United States for three years, and served as a private in captain E. S. Hawkins’s company (H.) of the seventh regiment of infantry of the said army of the United States: that he became entitled to and received an honourable discharge on the 16th of May 1840 :…
1Opinion of the CourtBaldwin, J.
The error in the argument of the appellee’s counsel consists in treating the enlistment in question merely as a contract, and as subject exclusively to the principles affecting the validity of contracts. A *630contract it undoubtedly is in a certain sense, inasmuch . . , . as it is an engagement between the parties, tor a service to be rendered by one of them, in consideration of a compensation to be yielded therefor by the other. Bat wants one the usual requisites of contracts, a reciprocal obligation in regard to the subject matter. On the one hand, the recruit is bound to serve during the full…
2Cited by5 opinions
- Moon v. HinesSupreme Court of Alabama · 1921
- Ex parte DostalDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio · 1917
- Reid v. United StatesDistrict Court, S.D. New York · 1908
- Ex parte BlackingtonDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts · 1917
- Moon v. HinesSupreme Court of Alabama · 1921