These sepia-colored photographs show the court martial of Colonel James White Frierson Hughes in the south corridor of the basement at the statehouse in Topeka, Kansas. As commander of the Kansas National Guard, Hughes was charged with disobeying orders issued by Governor Lorenzo D. Lewelling during the legislative war that erupted between Republicans and Populists for control of the House chambers. The trial lasted for twenty-four days with a verdict of guilty. Hughes was relieved of his command on September 25, 1893 as colonel of the Third regiment, Kansas National Guard. In 1895, Governor Edmund Morrill reinstated Hughes to the rank of Brigadier General and Major General of the Kansas National Guard.
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