“August 21st. To-day a sad and painful duty was performed by the provost marshal guard, that of military execution. A deserter of the Seventy-first Pennsylvania regiment was shot at division headquarters. After the Gettysburg campaign there was a married increase in desertions, many regiments became badly disorganized, and in a new phrase of the war "demoralized." The sympathy with criminals in 1861 and 1862 had made those .of 1863 bold and audacious, and, combined with the special exigency created by the appearance of the ' bounty-jumper," or professional deserter, sufficed to bring the administration to the alternative of executing the full measure of the law on all deserters. The execution of a score of bad men in 1862 would have saved the lives of many good men in 1863 and 1864. The right section returned to camp having been relieved by a section of Battery G, First New York Artillery. General Warren and staff inspected the camp and quarters of the battery in the afternoon, and complimented us on the sanitary condition of the camp.” Excerpt From: Rhodes, John H. [from old catalog]. “The history of Battery B, First regiment Rhode Island light artillery, in the war to preserve the union, 1861-1865.” Providence, Snow & Farnham, printers, 1894. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 15:22:17 +0000
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