Watch your Language, Reb!

[John Hartwell]

[https://archive.org/stream/101644809.nlm.nih.gov/101644809#page/n0/mode/1up]​

Sort of leaves you wondering just what Pvt McIntyre said to his superior officer.
Or was it the gestures that did him in?

Joseph McIntyre enlisted in the 1st Regiment, Georgia Regulars, at Savannah on February 26, 1861, with rank of "3 Sgt." On August 1st, however, he was "reduced to ranks by order Comdg Officer." However, we next find him "Promoted to 1 Sgt Nov 7" (same year).

His CSR contains no further particulars of his offence or Court Martial. On May 1, 1862, we find him "Confined in Ogglethorp Barracks," later in Chatham County Jail, "awaiting sentence of G.C.M."

I find no confirmation of his execution.

 

[Waterloo50]

Honest question, when I think of improper gestures my mind springs to the gestures that people use today, would the 'improper gestures' have been different back then. I'm thinking of Churchill's reversed V for victory sign, at one time it had a completely different meaning to what it does now. If I was able to step back in time would those gestures be recognisable?

 

[Cavalry Charger]

Sort of leaves you wondering just what Pvt McIntyre said to his superior officer.
Or was it the gestures that did him in?

Sort of leaves me wondering if the sentence wasn't just a little too harsh in the circumstances?

I'm sure if he knew what his sentence was going to be, he might have taken it beyond words and gestures in the first place!

 

[Northern Light]

Sort explains why the Confederacy was short of men if they put them to death for such things. I understand that discipline had to prevail, but jail time might be more productive.

 

[Frea74]

A death sentence for "violent and improper language and gestures"? My, that sure seems a bit too much!

 

[Larryh86GT]

Difficult to judge without all the details. It does seem harsh though.

 

[Caswell Ranger]

Such temperate folks in Georgia, soft spoken and polite. What in the world, did he say? Maybe the CO really was a creature and the superiors knew it. So they strung along the sentence until the CO was axed. Possible.

 

[Eleanor Rose]

@John Hartwell, I'm guessing this guy pitched an actual Southern conniption. A Southerner in a true conniptive (I made that word up) state starts gesturing wildly with their hands (not the same as merely talking with your hands which all Southern belles do) or throwing things which may lead to things getting broken. Of course all this occurs simultaneously with an ongoing hissy fit. It's an extension of the hissy fit since the hissy fit didn't derive the reaction being sought. Sadly, sometimes all the victim of a conniption can do is laugh, cry or shoot em'.

 

[BlueNGrey]

Doesn't seem harsh to me. Why did Judge Roy Bean shoot a hole through Bad Bob the Albino? He talked trash about Lilly Langtree.

 

[Northern Light]

Honest question, when I think of improper gestures my mind springs to the gestures that people use today, would the 'improper gestures' have been different back then. I'm thinking of Churchill's reversed V for victory sign, at one time it had a completely different meaning to what it does now. If I was able to step back in time would those gestures be recognisable?

According to All That's Interesting:

The finger dates all the way back to ancient Greece when it was meant as an insult, suggesting that the​

recipient of the gesture would easily submit to anal intercourse. By the Roman era, the middle finger had garnered the superstitious trait of being indecent, and is seen in Roman literature as an act of ill-intention and tool of black magic.
http://allthatsinteresting.com/obscene-gestures

 

[Eleanor Rose]

@Waterloo50, check out the thread below. We had a lot of fun discussing hissy fits and conniptions.

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/you-may-be-southern-if-you-know.141344/

 

[BlueNGrey]

In all seriousness, the poor guy probably ran his mouth and made disparaging remarks about his superior which were probably true. The charge was really "Telling government secrets".

 

[John Hartwell]

'The Chivalry' are touchy about such things, I guess.

Then there's the "resisting his superior officers when in the discharge of their duty" -- which could be something serious.