Atrocities or Legitimate Tactics

[cash]

Originally Posted by larry_cockerham

I don't have much belief that there was very strong communication of Confederate 'policy' to the men in the field, one way or the other.

You're desperately grasping at straws, Larry.

General Orders 111, dealing with black troops and their officers under Ben Butler, was promulgated throughout the CS armies. General Orders were read to the troops when they were issued.

For the text, see OR Series 2, Volume 5, pp. 795-797. It includes the following:

[begin quote]
Now therefore I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America and acting by their authority, appealing to the Divine Judge in attestation that their conduct is not guided by the passion of revenge but that they reluctantly yield to the solemn duty of repressing by necessary severity crimes of which their citizens are the victims, do issue this my proclamation, and by virtue of my authority as Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States do order—

1. That all commissioned officers in the command of said Benjamin F. Butler be declared not entitled to be considered as soldiers engaged in honorable warfare but as robbers and criminals deserving death, and that they and each of them be whenever captured reserved for execution.

2. That the private soldiers and non-commissioned officers in the army of said Butler be considered as only the instruments used for the commission of the crimes perpetrated by his orders and not as free agents; that they therefore be treated when capture as prisoners of war with kindness and humanity and be sent home on the usual parole that they will in no manner aid or serve the United States in any capacity during the continuance of this war unless duly exchanged.

3. That all negro slaves captured in arms be at once delivered over to the executive authorities of the respective States to which they belong to be dealt with according to the laws of said States.

4. That the like orders be executed in all cases with respect to all commissioned officers of the United States when found serving in company with armed slaves in insurrection against the authorities of the different States of this Confederacy.

In testimony whereof I have signed these presents and caused the seal of the Confederate States of America to be affixed thereto at the city of Richmond on this 23d day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
[end quote] [p. 797]

Kirby Smith wrote to Dick Taylor in 1863:

[begin quote]
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT TRANS-MISSISSIPPI,
Shreveport, La., June 13, 1863.
Maj. Gen. R. TAYLOR, Commanding District of Louisiana:
GENERAL: I have been unofficially informed that some of your troops have captured negroes in arms. I hope this may not be so, and that your subordinates who may have been in command of capturing parties may have recognized the propriety of giving no quarter to armed negroes and their officers. In this way we may be relieved from a disagreeable dilemma. If they are taken, however, you will turn them over to the State authorities to be tried for crimes against the State, and you will afford such facilities in obtaining witnesses as the interests of the public service will permit. I am told that negroes found in a state of insurrection may be tried by a court of the parish in which the crime is committed, composed of two justices of the peace and a certain number of slave-holders. Governor Moore has called on me and stated that if the report is true that any armed negroes have been captured he will send the attorney-general to conduct the prosecution as soon as you notify him of the capture.
I have the honor to be, general, your obedient servant,
E. KIRBY SMITH,
[end quote] [OR Series 2, Vol 6, pp. 21-22]

In 1864, Col W. P. Shingler wrote:
[begin quote]
HDQRS. CAVALRY, HOLCOMBE LEGION, March 6, 1864.
Brigadier-General HUNTON :
GENERAL: I send up four negro soldiers captured by Lieutenant Hume on the advance of the enemy from Williamsburg. In a conversation with General Elzey's assistant adjutant-general some months since in the presence of General E., I think, it was suggested and sanctioned by General E. that the best disposition of such soldiers was to sell them and give the proceeds to the command capturing them. If such a proceeding is admissible you will allow the guard with the prisoners to proceed with them to Richmond, as they are instructed what to do with them, or you can let the guard go with them to General E. in case you do not feel authorized to act in the matter. I have directed Lieutenant Hume not to report any more such captures to me. I wrote you some days since that I had two men sentenced to hard labor on the public works, and asking you if you had any use for them at Chaffin's farm, or where I should send them. Please answer me on this subject.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. PINKNEY SHINGLER,
Colonel, &c.
[end quote] [OR Series 2, Vol 6, pp. 1022-1023]

Originally Posted by larry_cockerham

What transpired at Fort Pillow was more a result of accepted military practice on both sides from the professional soldiers and from the character (better or worse) of the officers in command. I still have some faith in Forrest in that regard because of his repeated actions throughout the war.

There was no accepted practice of standing up men who were unarmed on their knees and begging for their lives and murdering them.

Regards,
Cash

[Battalion]

Originally Posted by matthew mckeon

It is interesting to note that Lincoln stepped back from reprisal killings as a policy when faced with Mosby's partisan rangers. He correctly realized that reprisals would have led to a downward spiral of further reprisals.

?

The Confederate Partisan Ranger organizations were not recognized by Federal authorities. If any member of these units was captured they were subject to execution- drum-head court martial and hung on the spot.

...sometimes no drum used-

"The families of most of Mosby's men are known, and can be collected. I think they should be taken and kept at Fort McHenry, or some secure place, as hostages for the good conduct of Mosby and his men. Where any of Mosby's men are caught hang them without trial."

Grant to Sheridan, 16 August 1864

[trice]

Originally Posted by Battalion

?

The Confederate Partisan Ranger organizations were not recognized by Federal authorities. If any member of these units was captured they were subject to execution- drum-head court martial and hung on the spot.

The Confederate Partisan Ranger organizations were always controversial, even (or maybe especially) in the Confederate Army. Many Confederate citizens seem to have considered them as no better than outlaws and bandits, for the most part.

In general, the behavior and abuses of these organizations, their lack of discipline and control, led to the Confederate Congress passing a bill to abolish them in early 1864. Mosby's battalion was one of the few exceptions made.

The behavior you are describing -- no protection as POWs when captured -- is true even today under the Geneva Convention for troops that fight without recognizable uniforms or badges. At that time there was no Geneva Convention, nor any other recognized standard of conduct treaty for land warfare. Under the traditions of the time, men who fought as these "partisan rangers" did were not entitled to protection of any kind as soldiers.

However, very few were treated that way. Many of Mosby's men were captured and later released, for example.

Tim