Quick questions about courtroom and charge

[L Verge]

(09-28-2017 12:52 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  In American Brutus, Mike Kauffman writes, "Andrew Johnson's order convening a military commission did not go into specifics, so when General E.D. Townsend returned from Springfield, he selected the nine officers who would serve on the panel." (p. 337)

I saw that too, but chose not to post it since it has no citation. I know that Townsend was high on the list of military involved in this, but it just seems that the choosing of the commission in such an important case would need THE higher-ups making the decision.