Union officers sentenced to be executed.

[major bill]

At least 20 Union officers were sentenced to be executed by Union Court Marshals. It appears that none were actually shot. Why would the Union execute enlisted men but spare Union officers?

 

[huskerblitz]

Not sure. But relatively few were actually executed. The regiment I research never sentence soldiers to death, rather they make them forfeit their pay and allowances for the time they were gone from the regiment and to make up the time missed. Generally that meant they had to veteranize until the end of the war.

 

[major bill]

The Confederate Army did execute at least on Confederate officer. Captain Jabez R. Rhodes the commander of Co.
C, 1st Confederate Regiment, Georgia Volunteers, was executed at Chattanooga in September of 1863.

 

[huskerblitz]

I imagine moral reasons?

BTW...you ask some of the most interesting questions on here. Certainly a good way to learn about some of the more obscure areas of the era one generally never considers.

 

[jgoodguy]

The Papers of Jefferson Davis: January--September 1863
By Jefferson Davis

 

[huskerblitz]

Were men more likely to be executed in the CSA rather than USA?

 

[major bill]

Were men more likely to be executed in the CSA rather than USA?

Lincoln did seem to be a bit of a softy when it came to executing soldiers.

 

[mofederal]

The Crater is a battle whose outcome should have resulted in several general officers being shot. They should have shot Ledlie, who was drunk behind the lines, instead of leading the charge. Ferrero should have been shot too. They got that right in the Cold Mountain movie. It was terrible and pathetic. The best outcome was that Burnside, who had risen in his incompetence to corps command was sacked. The rest of the Army might have immediately straightened up. Such was not to be and people were merely forced to resign.

 

[huskerblitz]

Lincoln did seem to be a bit of a softy when it came to executing soldiers.

Justifiably I think. A lot of charges of desertion and/or AWOL were overturned by the Pension Act of July 1884, allowing those men to receive pensions. Not all desertion/AWOLs were created equal.

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

At least 20 Union officers were sentenced to be executed by Union Court Marshals. It appears that none were actually shot.

Would you be able to name your source for this assertion? The literature contains very few references to this particular topic. Being avidly interested in the history of American military justice, I am avid to learn more.

 

[major bill]

I was looking through older issues of the Journal of the Company of Military Historians and read the article. I will have to go through them and see if I can find it.

I don't know about American military justice. I use to asks one of our JAG officers a simple question and in answer I would get a typed 10 to 15 page answer. After several readings of 10 to 15 pages of legal terms, I was always sure the JAG officer had no idea what the real answer was. The down side of JAG officers is, it took them 15 minutes to explain what the want for a drink at the Officer Club. The upside of JAG officers was that they always seem to have a high quality extra cigar or two when ever we were in the field.

The other advantage of being friends with JAG officers was I never once had to sit on a court martial because the defense JAG officer, who ever it was, always asked to have me excused from the court martial. Most of the JAG officers had had to deal with me being on the drug review board (kind of like a court martial but use to see if a solder was retained or discharged and what kind of discharge to give them), and did not want me anywhere near a regular court martial of their client. To be nicknamed "the hanging judge" one should have to been a judge and have actually hung someone, right? Kick a couple of soldiers out to the National Guard with a dishonorable discharge, make them repay their enlistment bonuses and make them repay their student aid money, and then some how your a villain. Way too funny.

 

[unionblue]

Might want to read the book, Don't Shoot That Boy!: Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice, by Thomas P. Lowry.

 

[General Casey]

In reply to Unionblue - I have pretty much dismissed anything by Lowry. That book has been several discredited because he makes the claim that he discovered a pardon issued on April 14, 1865 by Lincoln that had been lost in the National Archives. It was a major story but a few years ago it came out that Lowry had actually forged the pardon. The pardon was actually issued in 1864 and Lowry forged it to appear that it was issued in 1865. Since then I've been fairly reluctant to use anything from Lowry unless I can independently verify it.

 

[jgoodguy]

In reply to Unionblue - I have pretty much dismissed anything by Lowry. That book has been several discredited because he makes the claim that he discovered a pardon issued on April 14, 1865 by Lincoln that had been lost in the National Archives. It was a major story but a few years ago it came out that Lowry had actually forged the pardon. The pardon was actually issued in 1864 and Lowry forged it to appear that it was issued in 1865. Since then I've been fairly reluctant to use anything from Lowry unless I can independently verify it.

National Archives Discovers Date Change on Lincoln Record
https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2011/nr11-57.html
Jan 24, 2011 - Thomas Lowry Confesses to Altering Lincoln Pardon to April 14, 1865 ... is 'archival recovery,' and while the Murphy pardon was neither lost or ...