Civil War Mutinies.

[major bill]

In the Uniforms & Relics forum I started a thread Uniforms of the Mutineers from Kleindeutschland. This got me thinking about mutinies of the Civil War. One of the normal signs of wars that seem to drag on and on is that some units will mutiny. When units of one's army start to mutiny it is often a sign of trouble.

So how many mutinies did each side have and when? What was the major cause of these mutinies?

 

[Copperhead-mi]

William Walker was charged with inciting mutiny and insubordination as the leader of a group of Black soldiers whose "protest" was the stacking of arms in his Commanding officer's tent and refusal to work or obey orders:
"On the morning of Nov. 19, 1863, when a portion of the command was in a state of mutiny, I noticed the accused, with others of his company and regiment stack his arms, take off his accouterments and hang them on the stack. I inquired what all this meant, and received no reply, and again repeated the question, when the accused answered by saying, that they "would nor do duty any longer for seven dollars per month." I then told the men the consequences of a mutiny, and what they might expect. I told them if they did not take their arms and return to duty, I should report the case to the Post Commander and they would be shot down. While saying this, I heard the accused tell the men not to retake their arms, but leave them and go to their street, which command of his they obeyed. Again, later in the day, in the evening, I ordered the accused in arrest, and told him not to leave his tent without my permission, if he did, I should confine him to the Provost Guard. The next morning, Nov. 20 1863, I received information he had broken his arrest, by leaving his tent and going into another tent & company street. I then ordered him to the Provost Guard House."

Walker was found guilty of the charges and executed before the trial transcripts and sentence were submitted to Lincoln for mandatory review. Lincoln didn't know about it until after Walker had been buried!

 

[archieclement]

According to the US articles of war, mutiny was punishable by death, article seven

from the Sons of Union Veterans http://suvcw.org/education/documents/articles.htm

 

[1SGDan]

Some of the volunteer engineer units mutineed when the governemnt refused to pay them the promised engineer pay rate. For the most part these were short lived affairs and the leaders punished.

 

[civilken]

usually when a company is in rebound it usually has more to do with the commanding officer then the man.

 

[amweiner]

The 79th NY refused to turn out in the fall of 1861 after accumulating a pile of what they thought were legitimate grievances. McClellan did not take kindly to this and actually had their camp surrounded by infantry and artillery. Bruce Catton says it perfectly by stating that they "were invited to stop being mutinous". They agreed, losing their colors until Mac decided they had redeemed themselves by holding up well in a skirmish a few weeks later.

 

[General Casey]

Length of enlistment had a lot to do with mutinies. The most famous is the 2nd Maine which signed two year enlistments except for 120 men which signed on for three years.

Just before Chancellorsville, the men of the 20th New York mutinied. They were unsure about when their enlistments ended after two years. The regiment had mustered into New York service on April 29, 1861 and US service on May 6, 1861 and on April 29, 1863, around 200 men refused to cross the Rappahannock citing their enlistments were up. The men were tried and convicted and sentenced to hard labor.