In answer to the question of Firing Squads, I thought I'd share something from a book titled, Camp-Fire Chats of the Civil War, by Washington Davis, 1888. It is not an easy story to read, but gives emotion to the names of the past we research today. This story was told by Mr. H. P. Thompson, Orderly Sgt. of Co. H, 49th New York. In it he describes the execution of two deserters from a Vermont regiment. He states that while many trials for desertion took place, most were pardoned by President Lincoln or other officers. Sometimes, the sentence could be that the deserter had to serve out his remaining term of enlistment with no pay...regardless of how long. Some deserters were banished to Dry Tortugas, a group of islands near the Gulf of Mexico. Bruce Butgereit His story: "The court-martial then tried and sentenced them, and they were placed in tents by themselves in charge of the provost guard, which was chosen pro rata from the different regiments of a division. The guard in this instance was a detail of twenty men chosen from the regular provost guard. When a deserter was put under guard, two or three of these men would stand with loaded muskets around the tent of the deserter, being relieved every two hours. No soldier was ever made to stand guard over a deserter of his own company or regiment, for, of course, it was always painful for one comrade to be compelled to enforce a severe law upon a fellow comrade, and possibly a schoolmate, or even a brother, and then there was the danger of a plot to escape if an inimacy of this kind were allowed. So these two boys from Vermont were handed over to the 49th New York. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear, the sun shone brightly, the air was soft and still, and two ambulances, containing rough wooden coffins, were brought up to the tents where the prisoners were under guard. Each soldier was then placed in an ambulance, on his coffin, and the retinue proceeded to the place of execution, about a mile from the headquarters of the guard. The ambulances were drawn this distance by the soldiers who were to do the shooting. When they arrived at the chosen place. the division, composed of about ten thousand soldiers, was formed into a hollow square to winess the sad affair. A hollow square is a double line of soldiers on three sides of a square, fronting the fourth side, which is left open, as the objective point of operations. It was used on this occasion for an imposing display, and to intimidate and prevent other soldiers from committing a like crime. It was a scene of awe, never to be forgotten by those who took part. All who winessed it seemed to feel the solemn presence of death. When the coffins were placed in the open part of the square, John Tague [one of the prisoners] attempted to be jovial by rapping in the bottom of his coffin and asking some of the boys if they could not put shavings or something in it, as it would be a pretty hard nest; but no applause greeted his remark, and it reacted upon him with solemn force. The adjutant general then stepped out into a position a little forward from the center of the square, and in a clear, but tremulous voice, read the finding of the court-martial to the troops. The guns used by the provost guard on occasions like this were always loaded by a person appointed for the purpose. It would not do to let soldiers load their own guns, as they would probably put in blank cartridges. The feeling of responsibility for a death was too intense in such cases. However, one blank cartridge was always put into one of the guns, so that each of the men who did the shooting might suppose that he had the blank, and that his shot did not kill the prisoner. When the adjutant finished reading, the guard was ordered forward, divided into two platoons of ten men each, and the guns were handed to them. As I have said, I shall never forget this particular moment. I had charge of one of the platoons, and the orders were that the man having such charge should step up with a loaded musket and blow out the brains of the victim in case the volley discharged at him by the platoon failed to kill! I held my musket ready in my hand, and was to shoot John Tague. The other platoon was in charge of Sgt. Otis B. Hayes. He was a man of strong nerve and moral courage, but at this time he was as pale as death and as weak as a child; in fact, he could hardly stand. He was to end the life of George Blowers [the other prisoner], if the ten shots from his platoon failed. While the finding of the court-martial was being read by the adjutant, the doomed men stood up. But they were now ordered to kneel on their coffins. A quarter-sheet of ordinary note paper - called by the boys a 'paper heart' - was then pinned to the coat of each victim, over his heart. When this was done, there was an awful silence. The doomed boys had not been blindfolded, and each countenace, though brave to the last, betrayed the solemn consciousness that within a minute more they would be within the pale of death. All was suspense. Clapping his hands to his heart, John Tague said, 'Boys, shoot me here - make no mistake!' Then came the final order from the provost marshal: 'Ready! Aim! Fire!' Tague fell forward upon his face and never breathed again; but Blowers was horribly mangled and fell forward on his hands and knees, exclaiming: 'Oh! my God - my God!' Sgt. Hayes trembled like an aspen. He was to end the poor fellow's existence! He advanced toward the spot, ten thousand soldiers held their hushed breath. But, to the relief of all, Blowers died before the Sgt. reached him; and the troops formed company front, and marched in review past the coffins to view the bodies of their dead comrades." -----Original Message----- From: Edward Harding [mailto:eharding2@cox.net] Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 9:40 AM To: CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CIVIL-WAR] Firing Squads Paula, A firing squad can consist of different numbers of men, with the least amount usually being 5. Instead of only one weapon having a live round and the rest with blanks, it's done the other way around....all live rounds and one blank That way, the death of the condemned is insured, plus, by having the one weapon with a blank, all members of the firing squad have reason to believe they were the one who didn't fire a live round. Usually, only an experienced marksman could tell if he fired a live round or blank, due to the recoil of the rifle. Hope this bit of information helps. Edward ==== CIVIL-WAR Mailing List ==== To unsubscribe from list mode, email CIVIL-WAR-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com and in the text area of the message, type only the word unsubscribe

Thank you, Bruce and Edward. Reading Thompson's story, I felt as if I were there. Very emotional. I wonder if there are any records of members of firing squads? Sorry if I am getting gruesome here. I guess what I'm getting at is whether or not there is a record naming my 2nd-great grandfather as being a member of a firing squad, and whether it was for someone in his company (Co. F, 14th Va. Cavalry) or in another company. I have all of his records that I know of, and this is not mentioned. Perhaps this kind of information was not recorded. Paula Paula Kelley Ward San Antonio, Texas pward@stic.net "Live as though you will die tomorrow, Dream as though you will live forever!" -- Mahatma Gandhi