The daily bulletin. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn) 1862-1863, 1862-10-15
From the Richmond Dispatch, 9th inst.
Military Execution.

les OF Patrick McGoWan, OF company l, l4th
Virginia regimentnand John Kelleher, COM
pany F, same regiment. Truly the way Of the
transgressor is hard. These men had been il
several battles, in which they exhibited q sut-
ficient degree of GOODNESS and courage to enti-
tie them to the name of good soldiers, and
command the respect which such qualities,
even when associated with moral depravity,
never fail to excite. Unfortunately, inditfer-
ence to danger was not combined with moral
rectitude, and their insensibility to fear, degen-
Grated into recklessness of honor and inditier-
ence to the opinion and esteem ofthe commu-
nifty. On the 10th of September, q general
court martial convened in the city OF Rich
mond, condemned to death for desertion, pri-
Yates ID. w. Rogers, company G., LIST regiment;
Pat MCGOWAN, company l, l4th, and John
Kellehcr, company + same regiment. On the
18th of July, the same court had sentenced
Owen McGuir1, Of company Ii, list Virginia
regiment, to receive one hundred lashes on his
bare back for descrtion. This was committed
to half the number by order of Gen. Winder.
On the morning appointed for the execution
Of the several sentences the four prisoners were
started from Castle Thunder at q quarter to
10 o'clock, in the large omnibus OF the Ex-
change hotel, surrounded by an escort, compo-
sed of Capt. Wrenn's Henrico Cavalry. At
ten minutes of eleven o'clock the procession
entered Camp Lee, Central Fair Grounds. J
where over two thousand soldiers had been
drawn up in a hollow square to witness the
spectacle. Proceeding directly to the spot,
the dragons were halted on the outer edge of
the square nearest Richmond, while the vehi-
Gle containing the criminals, officers and their
spiritual adviser, drove quite to the spot where
the tragedy was to be enacted. Hero some
time was spent, the minutes seeming to length
en- into hours, the only occupants of the omni-
bus being the condemned and the priest, when
a wagon drove up near by, and two pine coffin
were deposited, Shortly the solid tramp Of
armed men broke the almost deathless silence
that prevailed, and then was heard the voice
of the man in the last office for the dying
This concluded, an officer stepped n silence to
the vehicle and its occupants descended, and
followed him to the front of the men appoint
ed to carry the sentence into eXecution-a
portion OF Captain Cyrus Bossieux's COM
pany.
The clear voice of a sistant Provost Marshal
Alexander then broke with painful distinctness
on the ears Of hundreds, as he read General
Orders" condcmning MCGOWAN and Kelleherto
be shot to death with musketry, and Mcclure
to be whipped for desertion. The respite Of
Rogers for fourteen days as also announced.
A painful pause ensucd, while all awaited in
breathless expectation the enactment of the
dreadful scene. The condemned commenced
taking off their coats and hats. They were
each calm and collected. The firing squads
were divided, twelve to each man, and placed
q little apart. The men took their places in
front, and the minister Of Godapproached them
for the last time. lie seemed to whisper of
hope and consolation, for they show no signs
Of fear. AT their request. for they said they
could die like soldiers, their arms are not pin
Toned. They wish the musNets presented to
their breasts. In answcrto thequestion wheth-
err they have anything to say, Kelleher re-
mains silent. MCGOWAN says nothing and
adds with emphasis, looking at his execution
ers, ''good bye, boys" A white bandage is
tied over their faces; they kneel down, and in
a moment the sharp crack of mus.etry tells
that all is over, The men fall to the ground
on their faces and turn over. Kelleher was in
stantly killed: his companion fingered for a mo-
ment when his pulse ceased to beat. Both had
satisfied the majesty ofan offended law. Their
bodies were placed in the collins provided for
the purpose and taken away by the undertaken.
Nothing but quantities of clottcd blood, which
had exuded from their backs and fell on the
ground, denoted the scene Of the tragedy
preparations were then made Tor carrying into
execution the sentence OF whipping Owen Nc
Guire. A stout dragon from Captain Wren's
company volunteered t. perform the duty
Mcclure was tied up to a tree by the hands
and feet, and received the punishment with
much ~wriggling and twisting. 1t scemed aw-
full; it was honestly laid on with a double
leather strap, broad and long. When let down
he looked quite exhausted. Mcclure isl mid
die aged, thick set, low man, with a serious
cast of countenance. He first belonged tc
i Capt. II. B. Dickinson S Company, was taker
prisoner and paroled at Roanoke Island. Ir
May last, while a paroled prisoner, he solo
, himself as a substitute as Patrick Mcdonald
in company II, LIST Va. Regiment, fought a
Williamsburg, and directly thereafter rar
) away. One of the Lieutenants caught him
) and his trial and punishment ensued as above
: recorded,
N(-Eu T-o Nz-- V--1- WI