New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-06
SHOOTING DESERrERS
r,,aro INCIDENTS OF THE CIVIL WAR
sow ONE MAN WAS SAVED FROM MILITARY IN
WV JUSTICE.

JUSTICE.
r..sr.ions were frequent in the Union army poih
~, frat But many of these were only partiai'
where a man, displeased with nis onico'S .,
orndings took Z" French fnrloueh anu
sms,.d again with another regiment thaO he
..1 could snit him better But even from the
.,,ra were desertions to the enemy. AmOngthe
-. fron one company that the writer KNOWS
~ ~ least five UP TO the end of 1852 have Always
- snDposed to have gone over 10 Ine Conleuol
20. two of them very likely were spleS-ono oei-
.ainlv was. Very soon after the army began 70 o0
.rDoed bv consumption deserton increased Iapuiy'
Nb,,s in the lines at Cold Harbor Ill june oof' INC
tier was sent back to receive detachmehC Oh
,.rri,s for his regiment. Their muster-ron haineu
o1o men. but the officer temporarily III cnaiee VI
,,en had but ninety TO show the resV ndu ois"P
oaared The officer to whom these men nau AiS'
p'@,N oo,,mitted had also disappeared. But though
he WAS soon found and his story Oh h"'inS Ooo-
.ttocked. oyerpowered and robbed by guerilas was
Ied and he WAS sent to States prison. moth
,,s WAS ever again of the missing ~
A. tha time of his mysterious disappearance the
a. h al in his possession several thousand doiIals
hoIonoing TO the recruits he was bringing non
Warrington. THIS was never recovered IL seeihS'
Thar was an extraordinary case. But lhough
man did not usually desert at the rate Oh I@o "
o1o. the desertious became enormous ny 1no
middle of 1868, ana General Meade lnsiSteu Oh tn0
enforcement Of the extreme penalty which INC
oood.natured President Lincoln had Oeeh eouiilu'
oftsn as he could The great bounties.
varsoina 800 apiece, were the cause oA Vno
s.,nhis But looking back at the matter now
one wonld say that those substitute brokers VINO
orasr,zed the system of professional ceserton In
80. 20 divide the fraudulently obtained advance
Ian,tIcs with the deserteTs ought to have been
ali at least as harshly with the deserters them
selves. r,, Mill. -. .ho
! In September, 1868, the Third Division Oh the
Second Corps III camp near the kapldtn River had
;ts first execution There were two condemned
hoth u bounty-iumpers" who had enlisted in a
regiment of this division and mad escaped after re-
ceivine the advance bounty, hoping probably to
,enaat the game W It'll some other regiment. Early
ana fine afternoon the division marched out to the
chosen around and formed three sides of hollow
sonare. the fourth side being little ridge. AT the
foot of the ridge tw open graves about twelve
feet apart The division, consisting of about 5000
men rested in place until the notes OF the dead
march were heard Attention. was sounded oy
thc bnpes and all was rigid silence as a procession,
composed Of the proyost-Guard surrounding two
onbnlances in each of which of the culprits sat
ON rough coffin, entered the square at one of the
angle, and halted neal the graves colin was
nl,ced ut the end Of each grave and the two
deserters were made to stand up IN front OF the
proyost-guard, facing the long lines Of attentive
counteuances OF the division, while the innings OF
the courtmartial and the orders for the execution
were read. After religious services the two were
arranged sitting on their collins, thelI eyes band
aged and their arms piniOncd behind. In front oil
each firing party of the provost-guard took posi-
tion and tue word Of command from the provost
,norbaI was given. One of the deserters tell baCk
lol Co.. h. amin
The other, who was not hit, jumped - his feet.
burst his pinions. and snatched away the white
handkerchief from his eyes. There was
rurmur of disapproval Throughout the division
st the awkHardness of the provost-guard,
which was now adding unnecessary delay ana
torture TO the penalty Of the unfortunate men,
The wounded man placed again and his party
dispatched him with its next voley. He lay
motloness on his coffin But the other seemed
almost invuuerable for tho second yOIley IRON MS
party though it may Lave scratched him. let Inn
still struggling vigorously 10 free himself
brilliant idea then entered the provost marshaPs
mind He brought up his men one by one close To
the condemned to have them shoot him sue
cessively. But for some reason. the muskets would
NOT ca on merely the caps flashed. Il had ralned
hard the day before yet that was no excuse Tor
thc nrovost-gnard who had known for some days
what they had TO do and ought to have had their
nuskets clean by this time, rain OF no rain seven
or elght men went up one after the other ana
presented their muskets within foot or two OF the
deserters head; but only to snap caps. A 10"
prowl of indignation ran along the ranks or the
division and became fierce when one OF the provost
mems gins went OFT finally only TO wound the poor
fellow who sat there on his coffin squrming about
under the slow murder. The general OF the division
was in rage and sent his staff one after the other
he A
disagreeable duty promptly and properly. Minutes
went by and still the repeated eiiorts Of twelve
seteran soldiers TO kill this sitting, blindfolded,
binloned, helpless man were ali in vain. super
sitious feeling spread through the division that he
would not be killed. because he could not be
Nearly half an hour of volleys and file firing had
passed when the proyost-marshal, placing the
muzzle of his long barrclled scven-shcOter to the
unfortunate mans head, discharged all the loads
The victim fell back and at last all was over.
In the second line of battle near Spottsylvania
Court House. in May, 1864, division Of the Second
Corps stood TO arms at in the morning to witness
On execution. The culprit had dropped ont Of the
ranks during charge two days before and rejoined
his regiment at dark, supposing tnat no notice
wonld be taken of his action. But he was arrested
az once and the next morning drum-head court
martial sentenced HIM to death for DESERVING the
rolors in presence Of the enemy This execution,
within sound of the battle that still going on,
passed off without any delay or blunder, though no
Rreat preparations had been made for 1t, and no
square was formed.
But military justice is queer thing sometimes.
Late In May, 1863 lieutenant. who had been
seriously wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg,
and. after some weeks spent in hospital and at
home, had returned to his regiment in camp near
Falmouth was warm day swimming IN the
Rappahannock. The Union and Confederate picket
lines OH the opposite banks of the river had foi
weeks been observing a tacit truce Friendly
conversation went On between TIE two anC
svchsngps were made of coffee, tobacco whiskey
and newspapers by means of little craft with sails
trimmed IN such way as TO carry them to and frC
across the river. As the warm season drew on mel
on both sides undressed and SWAN and toaied an