War crimes

[Sam Grant]

Most books will tell you that only one man was executed for war crimes commited in the American Civil War, the German immigrant Henry Wirz, who had become the Confederate overseer of the infamous Ft. Sumter prison camp. The Confederate guerilla Champ Ferguson was also executed for his brutal treatement of Union prisoners, though I'm not sure whether he was formally charged with war crimes like Wirz.

Excesses were definitely commited on both sides, as is inevitable in any war. Soldiers of the USCT were slaughtered by Rebels, sometimes after surrendering (as at the Petersburg Crater and likely Ft. Pillow). Guerillas on both sides savagely murdered their opponents, even destroying the male population of towns. I've read of several cases of Federal troops using Confederate prisoners as human shields, and Sherman once forced a couple of POW's to walk ahead of his army to prevent any landmines from claiming more of his men.

Then we have one of the most controversial aspects of the entire War, the total war policy initiated by Grant and zealously enforced by Sherman and Sheridan. I find no fault in their actions - really, they were lenient compared to what they could have done, plus, their policy won the war - but there are those to this day who would make the March to the Sea and the devastation of the Shenandoah Valley sound like American holocausts.

How do you feel about some of the incidents mentioned above? Do you believe there were others who should have been charged with war crimes, and if so, who?

 

[JohnnyRebCSA]

Without question Lincoln, America's Stalin, was responsible for over 600,000 deaths. He would have to be number one in that regard.....all to put down the largest taxpayer/citizen revolt in our history.

 

[Red Harvest]

There were a lot of things that would quality as war crimes today, and some that were considered as such at the time.

The land mines part was most likely not a war crime at the time. As a new weapon the rules weren't well established and the mines were considered a dishonorable weapon by some regular officers. Even in modern times there has been some gray area: despite restrictions on using POW's to clear minefields this was still done in France after WWII with an horrendous casualty rate. The case in France, Denmark, etc. wasn't "march them through a minefield" but was intended to be organized search and clearing of the field. It was very dangerous work especially when the men were not trained.

The one I found interesting was Sherman's response to the mines killing men after the battle at Fort McAllister. These mines had been very effective in the battle, producing the majority of the Union casualties. Sherman forced the garrison that planted the mines to disarm/remove them. This was seen as a breech by the CSA officers. I don't know if there were any casualties from the clearing--I've not read of any.

The CSA had some broad definitions of what they considered war crimes and threatened to execute a number of Union generals/commanders if captured. Because Hunter was emancipating and arming slaves in his dept. well before the Emancipation Proclamation, Jefferson Davis declared Hunter an outlaw and threatened to have him put to death if captured. Thomas Ewing was under a similar decree because of Order No. 11 in Missouri (expelling citizens from their homes.) Butler in New Orleans was the target of another of Davis' death sentences, because of a notorious/outrageous order in response to incidents involving ladies acting decidedly unladylike toward Union occupiers. It would be interesting to see if there is a tally of all these death sentence decrees somewhere...

 

[PartywithArty]

All is fair in love and war,and almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

 

[DixieRifles]

After the defeat at Brice's Crossroads on June 10, 1864, the Union forces were on full retreat back to the safety of Memphis. Just outside of Collierville, TN, (about 20 miles east of Memphis) 7 or 8 Union soldiers were caught by a guerilla known as "Dick Davis" and a band under his leadership. Dick Davis took his prisoners south of the M&CRR to one of his many hideouts along the Noncanah River. After holding a meeting with his men, he executed the Union soldiers who were mainly from Illinois regiments. They were robbed and left for dead but one soldier survived.
Later, Union cavalry patrol found the dead and they began a search for Dick Davis. Eventually he was captured an placed in Irving Block Prison in Memphis. A trail was held with the judge being the commander of the Indiana cavalry regiment who captured him. He was found guilty and executed at Fort Pickering sometime in December.
I have more details in my files. Some people have reported the real name of Dick Davis and gave his background as being a member of a Confederate cavalry unit before "resigning". I have may doubts about some of this information as I can not find records. I have also written to Carlisle Barracks in hopes they would find records of the court martial. The only records is in a unit history of the Indiana regiment. I did find two articles that mentioned Dick Davis in the Memphis newspaper; one that covered his capture.
At one point during the war, the Confederates and the guerillas carried out an effective campaign against the M&CRR that it was said the Federals placed civilians by the windows of the train to keep the guerillas from firing into the cars.

 

[unionblue]

Without question Lincoln, America's Stalin, was responsible for over 600,000 deaths. He would have to be number one in that regard.....all to put down the largest taxpayer/citizen revolt in our history.

(YAWN.)

Poor Lincoln.

The man gets blamed for everything from starting the Civil War to Alien abductions to supposedly "the largest taxypayer/citizen revolt in our history."

Too bad that the historical paper trail is too long and too detailed to support such nonsense.

Unionblue

 

[Red Harvest]

Unionblue,

I wouldn't bother quoting that one as it has a tendency to troll with accuracy-free, random drive-by postings then disappear to another thread for more of the same. Quoting it just wastes everyone's attention for a few seconds.

 

[unionblue]

We have played in this sandbox before at this forum.

Going to the search function at the upper right of the page and by typing in the words, "War Crimes" and checking the box for a "Titles Only search" produces the following past threads on the topic.

Crimes During the Civil War, by Donald Elder.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/crimes-during-the-civil-war-donald-elder.72366/

War Crimes.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/war-crimes.72259/

War Crimes.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/war-crimes.42713/

Lincoln's Crimes and Violations of the Constitution.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/lincolns-crimes-and-violations-of-the-constitution.19763/

War Crimes Against Southern Civilians.
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/war-crimes-against-southern-civilians.8501/

War Crimes Against Southern Civilians (Another thread with the same title).
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/war-crimes-against-southern-civilians.7608/

There are, on other sections of this forum, mainly under the Secession and Politics heading, more threads relating to this topic, especially the charges of Lincoln violating the Constitution.

Just for FYI purposes.

Unionblue

 

[unionblue]

Unionblue,

I wouldn't bother quoting that one as it has a tendency to troll with accuracy-free, random drive-by postings then disappear to another thread for more of the same. Quoting it just wastes everyone's attention for a few seconds.

Red Harvest,

Thank you for your concern, but I am a firm believer in the sentiment, "Silence gives consent."
And I will not consent by being silent in the face of such silly posts.

The poster is who he is. I am who I am.

My advice.

Duck.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

 

[wilber6150]

Without question Lincoln, America's Stalin, was responsible for over 600,000 deaths. He would have to be number one in that regard.....all to put down the largest taxpayer/citizen revolt in our history.

Oh what the heck.......So these tax payers who were lobbing shells at federal troops,or stealing government poperty, gathering up military forces he was supposed to ignore? I guess they had no blame in any of this, and hmmmm and lastly just how much were taxes mentioned in the declartions of secession?