The Man Who Wasn't Mad: A Civil War Veteran’s Battle for Sanity
James A. Balch, a tall, soldierly old man in a faded uniform, was held at the King County Insane Asylum for five years despite being lucid. His family fought him through habeas corpus, and today, the superintendent admitted he had recovered his reason.
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James A. Balch, a patient at the King County Insane Asylum, was brought before the court on a writ of habeas corpus to have his insanity investigated.
Several witnesses were sworn in. Dr. Waughup, superintendent of the asylum, testified that he did not consider Mr. Balch insane. He was lost of his mind when he was taken to the asylum five years ago, but had recovered his reason.
The case was taken under advisement. Mr. Balch is a tall, tender, soldierly old man, dressed in a faded cavalry uniform, who has attracted the attention of all recent visitors to the asylum, by his commanding appearance.
In an era before modern psychiatric care or due process protections for the involuntarily committed, families often had to resort to dramatic legal interventions like habeas corpus to rescue loved ones from institutions that functioned more as prisons than hospitals. Balch’s story highlights the terrifying fragility of civil liberty in the 19th century, where a single doctor's diagnosis could erase a person's identity for years.
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