At 10:49 AM 6/5/99 -0700, you wrote: Sleeping on duty was considered a very serious offense, especially if it was sentry duty or a guard post. The consequences could be severe if the enemy attacked and proper warning was not given, or some essential defense was not ready. The punishment would be much more severe than for the types of things we normally think of as "crimes" (stealing, fighting, etc). >I recently got the Civil War military record of Austin Hatch of Addison, >Steuben Co., NY, who was a brother of my g-g-grandfather. Austin Hatch was >court marshaled August 24, 1863 for "Sleeping on Post" and was sentenced "to >be confined at hard labor under the charges of a guard, at such place as the >commanding general may direct, for the period of six (6) months, with ball >and chain." > >Was this a common punishment?