 In June 1869 Edward M. Yerger stabbed to death Maj. Joseph G. Crane, who was the acting mayor of Jackson, Mississippi.Military authorities arrested Yerger and placed him on trial before a military commission.During the trial Yerger sought a writ of habeas corpus from the circuit court under the Judiciary Act of 1789, but the circuit court upheld the military tribunal's jurisdiction over the proceeding under the First Reconstruction Act of 1867.