Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century US Army

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Article Title: Were They Really Rogues? Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U S Army

Full Citation: John D McDermott, “Were They Really Rogues? Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U S Army,” Nebraska History 78 (1997): 165-174

URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1997Desertion.pdf Date: 7/21/2010

Article Summary: During the nineteenth century one of the most discussed and written about problems in the United States Army was that of desertion. Considered a crime in all armies, desertion was an act punishable by death. During the nation’s wars, the army did generally did exact the most severe of punishments; however, attitudes toward desertion varied substantially during the century, and a history of these changes is included in this article.

Cataloging Information:

Names: Frank Woodward, Abraham Lincoln, Fred T Wilson, Benjamin Samuel Wever, Ernest Von Dieselski, Ernest Shanfauser, John Kennedy, Andrew H Hannaford, Private Southerland, George Stokes, Luther P Bradley, Archibald A Cabaniss, Thomas M Anderson, Charles A Murray, Charles Lester, William A Campbell, Charles J Latrobe, Christopher Zigler, William H Bisbee, John Hamilton, John Pope, Alfred L Hough

Place Names: Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; Cherubusco; Dry Tortugas, Florida; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Vancouver Barracks, Washington Territory; Portland, Oregon; Fort C F Smith, Montana Territory; Camp Grant, Arizona Territory; Fort Pembina, Dakota Territory; Fort Bridger, Wyoming

Keywords: Fourth US Cavalry; Dogs of War; military code; court-martial; War of 1812; Mexican War; Civil War; imprisonment; solitary confinement; hard labor; reprimand; discharge from service; reduction to rank; prison; corporal punishment; flogging; ritual humiliation; Indian war; Laws, Rulings, and Decision Governing the Military Crime of Desertion; mass desertion; Indian outbreak; First Michigan Cavalry; bounty; clemency; Johnson Administration; Grant Administration; Police Gazette; Desertion Division; Crow; Army and Navy Register; Omaha Herald; Alcatraz; Soldier Desertion Act; The Public Service Review; First Nebraska Veteran Volunteer Cavalry

Photographs / Images: Ritual humiliation of wearing a wooden barrel; Fort Bridger, Wyoming, soldier riding wooden horse about 1866; soldiers chopping firewood at Fort Grant, Arizona Territory, 1885; 1866 document listing equipment carried away by four deserters from the First Nebraska Veteran Volunteer Cavalry; Reward poster, 1909, for Christopher Zigler deserter; Disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

For permission to re-use materials or for photo ordering information, please see: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/magazine/permission.htm

Article Title: Were They Really Rogues? Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U S Army

Full Citation: John D McDermott, “Really Rogues? Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U S Army,” Nebraska History 78 (1997): 165-174

URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1997Desertion.pdf Date: 7/21/2010

Cataloging Information:

By John D. McDermott

During the nineteenth century one of tions were set forth in the Articles of Army of the Potomac brought before a the most discussed and written about War, the army's military code. Adopted drumhead court-martial and, if found problems in the United States Army was in 1806, the pertinent section read that guilty, executed.6 that of desertion. The army generally de "all officers and soldiers who have re Other punishments authorized for de fined the practice as "the willful aban ceived payor have been duly enlisted in sertion in the nineteenth century in donment of military service by a soldier the service of the United States and shall cluded imprisonment, imprisonment on or officer duly enlisted or commis be convicted of having deserted the bread and water, solitary confinement, sioned, or in the pay of the government same, shall suffer death, or such other hard labor, forfeiture of pay and allow without leave and without an intention punishment as by sentence of a court ances, discharge from the service, repri to return."! Military newspapers and pe martial shall be inflicted.» The act of mands, and, in the case of noncommis riodicals, such as the Army and Navy May 29, 1830, limited the death penalty sioned officers, reduction to the ranks. 7 Journal, the Army and Navy Register, to times of war, and the army later quali As time passed, prison sentences for de United Service magazine, the Journal of fied its execution in a variety of ways, re sertion decreased in length. For example, the Military Service Institution, and The quiring, for example, a two-thirds vote of in the second decade of the nineteenth Public Service Review, addressed the the members of a general court-martial century, deserters Gideon Ellis, Bowden problem in letters, articles, and editori before it could be carried out.3 Eldrigde, and Russell HaITington were als. Soldiers all the way from the com During the nation's wars the army sentenced to hard labor with ball and manding general down to privates ex did exercise its prerogative. During the chain for ten years.B By mid-century only pressed their opinions, and even desert War of 1812 the army executed 205 for· a few men received prison terms as long ers wrote in to tell why they had given desertion.4 In the Mexican/War a num as five years, and the average was from the army "the grand bounce.» In the ber of deserters fought as a group one to two years. A rule of thumb was to 1880s interest in the phenomenon against U. S. troops at Cherubusco, and make the prison term equal to the time of heightened as general orders made it when captured were summarily hanged. the enlistment left unfilled by desertion. mandatory for officers to interrogate During the Civil War the question of Throughout, however, the courts-martial captured deserters. Newspaper reporter making an example to quell desertion acted with inconsistency.9 Frank Woodward of the St. Louis Post was seriously debated at a cabinet Corporal punishments were also per Dispatch served in the Fourth U.S. Cav meeting on February 3, 1863, and there mitted. These varied from decade to alry at Jefferson Barracks from June 8 to after commanders began to take action. decade, and in the early years were August 19, 1889, in order to investigate Scarcely a week passed during the win especially harsh, painful, and sometimes stories of mistreatment that had caused ter of 1863-64 without the execution of disabling. Principal among them was many recruits to desert, and his expose, a least one offender. In February 1864 flogging, which could cause death.1O On The Dogs of War, led to a court of in President Abraham Lincoln opted for April 10, 1806, to curtail abuse Congress quiry that recommended reforms.2 clemency, changing the sentence of limited punishment to no more than fifty Considered a crime in all armies, de those deserters condemned to death to lashes, to be administered only as a sen sertion was an act punishable by death imprisonment for the duration of the tence of a court-martial, and on May 16, under certain circumstances. The condi- war at Dry Tortugas, Florida. He also 1812, prohibited the practice altogether. gave commanding generals power "to However, on March 22, 1833, Congress John D. McDennott ofSheridan, Wyoming, is a return to duty deserters whose restora reinstituted flogging as a penalty for an fonner director ofpolicy, President's Advisory tion would, in their judgment, benefit enlisted man found guilty of desertion. Council on Historic Preservation. His book The 5 Warrior Trail: Handbook on the Indian Wars of the service. The climax came in May Finally, on August 5, 1861, the Congress the West is forthcoming from the University of 1864, when Secretary of War Edwin M. acted again to prohibit the punishment, Nebraska Press. Stanton ordered all deserters from the this time abolishing it for good. 11

165 Nebraska History - Winter 1997

Standard army punishment of deserters and others included ritual humiliations, in this case, wearing a wooden barrel. Courtesy of Stanley J. Morrow Collection, W. H. Over State Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota

Other corporal punishments in the Drums and fifes played the "Rogue's The army usually presented its figures

early nineteenth century included being March, n the words to which were: as percentages of the aggregate. Thus, in tied to a tree for a day, carrying a knap Fred T. Wilson's Laws, Rulings, and Deci Poor old soldier, poor old soldier, sack filled with shot, standing on a stump Tarred and leathered and sent to hell, sions Governing the Military Crime ofDe for long periods, riding a fence post with Because he would not soldier well. sertion, during the Mexican War of the a musket swinging from each foot, strad 47,150 troops engaged, 6,375, or 14 per dling a wooden horse, "cobbling" (pad Troops then escorted the unfortunate cent, deserted. Later during the Civil dling with a board or strip), wearing a to the edge of the military reservation, War the army estimated that 508,494 ball and chain, ducking, and shaving the where he was free to depart. IS men out of more than two million de eyebrows and head. Even more brutal Most treatment of desertion in the serted, or more than 25 percent. 16 For . were picketing (being forced to stand on U.S. Army in Indian war histories deal the later period, 1865-91, theAnny and a sharpened stick), cutting or cropping of with the rate or frequency. The rate is of Navy Journal reported the desertion rate the ears, and branding on the cheek, ten presented in different ways, which as 14 percent.17 Contemporary historians forehead, or hip with the letter "D." From serve to confuse the novice. The first is tend to report the third method of com 1865 to 1870 tattooing was a legal substi to compare the number of desertions to puting. For example, in Gregory J. W. tute. 12 By a congressional act of June 6, the aggregate strength of the army, the Urwin, The United States Cavalry: An Il 1872, branding and indelibly marking second is to compare it to the number lustrated History, "of the 255,712 men were prohibited. 13 of enlisted men in the service, and the who enlisted between 1867 and 1891, Sometimes the court-martial simply third is to compare it to the number of 88,475-practicallya third-deserted."IB sentenced the deserter to be drummed enlistments during the period. The first None of these methods takes into ac or bugled out of the service, which ac method will yield the lowest percentage count the fact that one man may have cording to one observer, "amounts to and the third the highest. The second enlisted and deserted more than once, gratifying his desire to leave, and he is computation is probably the fairest which was often the case. During the tendered in addition the gratuitous ova and most indicative, since the first Civil War generous bounties given to tion of a parting serenade." 14 To begin, counts officers, who had much better volunteer troops provided powerful in the whole command gathered at pa ways of leaving the service than de ducements to desert and reenlist. At the rade. Guards brought the prisoner front sertion, and the third does not take beginning of the war the government of and center, where all his buttons and in into account many nonrecruits who fered a bounty of $100, payable upon signia were cut off and the order read. remained steadfast. honorable discharge. But by July 1862 it

166 Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U. S. Army

veterans; twelve had served on the Union side during the Civil War, and all had been promoted for gallant or meri torious service. The reasons for the ac tions of the twenty-one are not known in every case, but one 'can surmise that anonymity was important and haste es sential. First Lt. Benjamin Samuel Wever, First U.S. Infantry, the last of the desert ers, left the army to elope with a woman from his post. Another officer fled to es cape "a rasping domestic infelicity." Sev eral were gamblers. One of the deserters was the chief clerk at army headquarters in Washington. His debts caused him to leave the army without ceremony. He later became the manager of a New York theater. Another officer, a son of a clergyman, obtained money under false pretences and left suddenly. Another cashed his pay accounts several times over and fled to England.23 Desertions sometimes occurred in groups, guards even leading their pris oners.24 One mass exodus occurred on August 29, 1864, when three to four hun dred men left forts investing Washing ton. They continued in a body under arms until they had obtained civilian clothing, after which they scattered in every direction.25 There was also one case of mass desertion following the end of the Civil War that amounted to A soldier at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, grimly rides the wooden horse as his punishment, the decimation of a regiment. In June about 1866. NSHS-R539:4-B 1865 the fear of an Indian outbreak re sulted in an order sending the First had modified the agreement to pay one comes the sentinel of to-morrow. "21 Michigan Cavalry, a unit with an exem fourth of the amount in advance. After Desertion also often meant loss of plary fighting record, to New Mexico. May 1, 1864, the army offered $300 in equipment and the expense of recruit Upon reaching Fort Leavenworth, Kan centives to enlist, with an additional pay ing a replacement. One commentator sas, two hundred enlisted men deserted ment of $100 to veterans. Cities and estimated that in 1883 it cost the govern in a body and went-home, stating that counties also paid bounties, New York ment $214 to replace a deserter, and in the war was over and that the govern County leading the way with $300 in 1889 Commanding Gen. John M. ment had no right to send them against cash. Consequently those who wished to Schofield estimated the losses due to Indians. In 1879 when a bill for their re take the chance of deserting and reenlist desertions reached several million dol lief was introduced in the U.S. Senate, ing could make a great deal of money, lars per year.22 the attorney general ruled that New and there were significant numbers who The one least likely to desert was the Mexico had been a legal assignment, were willing to take the risk. 19 Among fu officer, simply because if he wanted to that purpose had been valid, and that gitives finally brought to justice was one leave the service, all he had to do was the men were still deserters.26 who had deserted seventeen times and resign his commission. It is not surpris From almost the beginning the army another who admitted to thirteen deser ing then to learn that between 1870 and offered cash payments to those who ap tions.2o As one disgusted observer put it, 1891 only twenty-one officers deserted. prehended defectors. A general order "The thief and deserter of to-day be Among them were some distinguished issued in August 1818 promised are

167 Nebraska History - Winter 1997

ward of $30 for capture of a deserter. In on or before May 10, 1865. In this case ments to soldiers who stopped men at September 1861 apparently believing offenders had to serve the remainder of tempting to desert, including furloughs that those enlisting to fight in the Civil their enlistments, plus the time equal to with expenses defrayed and recommen War would do their duty, authorities re that lost by desertion. The number of dations for promotion. The new empha duced the amount of the reward to $5. men who returned under this proclama sis on capturing deserters bore fruit. The By July 16, 1863, they had determined tion was 1,755. On July 13,1866, the number of deserters arrested and re themselves mistaken and raised the Johnson Administration offered to re turned to the army from April 1, 1863, amount to $10. Two months later they store deserters from the regular army to until the end of the war was 75,909. Au restored the original stipend of $30. The duty without trial or punishment if they thorities estimated the total number of army also paid $25 for the recovery of a reported by August 15. No statistics are arrests and returns for the duration of deserter's horse.27 available on how many troops took ad the war at 81,000. 31 In 1866-67, a Deser Clemency was another way of ap vantage of the offer. Grant followed suit, tion Division in the office of adjutant proaching the problem, and presidents allowing a pardon to all deserters who general conducted correspondence Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses "joined their colors" before January 1, with the field, informing post command S. Grant issued blanket pardons for 1874. The number of men who returned ers that particular deserters might be in troops during their administrations. On under this proclamation was 2,007.28 their area and giving descriptions and March 10, 1863, pursuant to an act of One of the incentives for desertion other pertinent information.32 Congress of the week preceding, Presi was that apprehension was difficult. A few case studies in apprehension dent Lincoln issued a proclamation per Scattered over a vast country the army are illuminating. On the evening of his mitting soldiers absent from their regi had a Herculean task, and it did not al intended marriage on March 13, 1887, ments without leave to return to duty ways vigorously pursue defectors.29 In Ernest Von Dieselski, alias Ernest before April 1 without punishment. the early years efforts centered in the of Shanfauser, was arrested for desertion However, they did have to forfeit pay fice of the adjutant general. In 1857 the on information provided by his mother. and allowances that had accrued dur army ran descriptive information in the It seemed that she opposed his proposed ing their absences. Authorities esti Police Gazette. 3D On September 24, 1862, postnuptial employment as a bartender. mated that between 12,000 and 15,000 general orders created the office of pro In 1884 deserter John Kennedy's wife took advantage of amnesty. On March vost marshall, charging it with arresting turned him in for the reward, which she 11, 1865, Lincoln issued a second proc all deserters as one of its seven duties. spent in high living in Boston; he later lamation, requiring deserters to report The army also offered special induce murdered her. During the same year

168

I I. Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U. S. Army

-One of the great quests of the period was to search for the causes of desertion. Most agreed with Lt. Archibald A. Cabaniss that" [i] t is useless to attempt to assign a cause for desertion for it is not due to one, two or three causes, but a combination of many."35 Some ascribed its persistence to human nature. Accord ing to Col. Thomas M. Anderson, "So long as boys play hookey and young men are subject to feminine fascinations, so long as men drink, gamble, and make debts, so long will soldiers and sailors desert."36 Some simply said that Americans did not make good soldiers because of the na tional independent temperament. In the opinion of Englishman Charles A. Murray, [T] he American peasant, though a brave and hardy man, and expert in the use of the rifle and musket, is naturally the worst soldier in the world, as regards obedience and discipline. He has been brought up to believe himself equal to the officers who commands him, and never forgets that when his three years of enlistment are over he will again be his equal.37 Some saw desertion common where en listment was voluntary.38 Others pointed to general life in the service. One ex-soldier described the enlisted man's life as a "hang-ciog, de moralizing life, unfitting a man for any respectable civil position, destroying all self-respect, sinking all that makes a man a man. "39 Many felt like Pvt. Charles Lester of Company H, Fourth U.S. Infan try, who wrote his sister in April 1867: "I Desertion often meant the loss of government property as well as the soldier himself. have sixteen months to serve yet and This 1866 document lists equipment carried away by four deserters from the First Ne when it is up they can go to the devil; braska Veteran Volunteer Cavalry. NSHS-RG18 they wont get this chile again. "40 Most who wrote about the subject Andrew H. Hannaford, who had de demonstrating a high degree of accul pointed to work as common laborers as serted from Company K of the Second turation, a large party of Crow Indians the greatest cause of discontent.41 In U.S. Cavalry in 1873, unsuccessfully at arrived at Fort C. F. Smith, Montana 1879 a correspondent of the Omaha Her tempted to take custody of his three Territory, with four deserters in tow. ald succinctly described the situation: year-old child from his estranged wife; Commanding officer Luther P. Bradley The regular soldier on the frontiers is no his brother-in-law turned him in. In 1880 paid them the reward, which amounted more nor less than a beast of burden, and a man who had been his friend for to $120.33 In 1889 the Anny and Navy what is still worse, he is treated as such. many years turned in a former Private Register reported that of the 40,391 He is exposed to continual hardships and who deserted between 1873 and the fatigue, he has to work in the sun and in Southerland after an argument at the of the rain. From sunrise to sunset it is work, fice. In 1881 deserter George Stokes of present, 8,050, or 20 percent, had sur building houses, stables, etc. The finishing Vancouver Barracks, Washington Terri rendered or been arrested, probably a of one building here is the beginning of tory, was recaptured by a Portland, Or respectable figure in view of all the another. Strangers and visitors from the 42 egon, detective. On September 23, 1867, inherent difficulties.34 East, often take them for convicts.

169 Nebraska History - Winter 1997

One observer believed that soldiers than an Indian, a man has nothing to magnets, drew the dross from the army. please his eye and make him wish to be at For example, in 1848-49 soldiers sta on the frontier were doing the work of home, because the first windy day covers three times their number.43 What was so tioned in northern California deserted in him with dust in his quarters, just as well 57 frustrating to many was the fact that as on the road, or the first rainy day wets droves to search for precious metal. they were not learning any new skills him just as well in his quarters as if he For those who wanted to leave, location that would equip them to make a future were in the saddle, and drives him out of was definitely a factor. Fort Pembina, 44 his so-called mess-room, if he is lucky . Dakota Territory, had a high desertion success of themselves. enough to possess such an institution.51 Another source of displeasure was rate because it stood a few miles from the army ration both in terms of its Clothing was another source of dis the Canadian border. A court of inquiry quantity and quality. In 1872 an officer satisfaction. Garments seldom if ever fit, looking into conditions at Jefferson Bar and recruits had to pay company tailors racks in 1889 reported that the location who interviewed over a hundred in 52 mates at Alcatraz Island heard that the to have them altered. of the depot near the city of St. Louis primary cause for their desertion was More of a problem was the army made it easy for deserters to hide them the want of sufficient food. The litera pay system. Recruits in particular suf selves in the large populace.58 ture of the period is filled with com fered because payment for clothing and Many enlisted men named abusive plaints about skimpy rations and the alterations came out of their first year's treatment from superiors as the cause of lack of vegetables in the army diet.45 stipend, leaving them very little to pur desertion. In an 1867 letter to the Anny The monotony of the daily fare chase any other goods or soldier com and Navy Journal a deserter from the prompted this jingle, much repeated in forts, such as tobacco or liquor.53 Nor Corps of Engineers blamed ignorant, the mess-halls of the day: did many soldiers receive their pay on low-bred, and degraded noncommis time due to frontier conditions. Troops Of hash that's young, of hash that's old, sioned officers for abusive and degrad Of hash that's hot, of hash that's cold at Montana posts in 1867 were not paid ing treatment of privates. One corre Of hash that's tender, of hash that's tough, for ten months. When troops did receive spondent, calling himself "Old Soldier," I swear to God, I've had enough.46 their pay, they might receive a great surmised that half of all desertions were Furthermore, the food was some deal, enough to tempt them to find the result of the petty tyranny of ser times of inferior quality and poorly pre other means of livelihood. In fact, most geants. Most of the one hundred prison pared. Lt. William A. Campbell declared desertions occurred just after payday.54 ers interviewed at Alcatraz in 1872 that he had "seen men go into the mess The pay itself could be a reason for claimed cruelty at the hands of their hall at meal-time, and, upon, seeing desertion, depending on economic con overseers.59 what was placed before them, tum ditions. In the 1850s army pay for en Conversely officers and noncommis away and leave the room in disgust. n47 listed men varied from five to ten dollars sioned officers defended their actions, One recruit at Jefferson Barracks, Mis per month. In 1861 the amount rose to citing the necessity of harsh discipline souri, in 1887 declared that the decayed eleven dollars. During and after the Civil due to the presence in the ranks of ha salt pork he had received for dinner was War the rate of pay was sixteen dollars bitual drunkards, imbeciles, discharged so vile it would have nauseated a hun per month. From 1871 to 1891 compen convicts, and ignorant emigrants. For gry dog.48 Two years later another re sation was set at thirteen dollars for eign observers also found American re cruit at Jefferson Barracks stated that he thirty days' service. This was sufficient cruits lacking. In the early 1840s English gave the meat from his plate to a hungry pay during some periods and poor pay traveler Charles J. Latrobe described the dog, who chewed it a little but declined during others. Ultimately the desertion army's enlisted men as "either of the to swallow.49 rate was a barometer for measuring the scum of the population of the older The quarters at some posts were the employment market. As one soldier put States, n or "worthless German, English, or subject of complaint. Some mentioned it, "If desertions are low, army pay is . Irish emigrants." As one observer put it, the dIscomfort of twenty to forty men in good; if the rate is high, it is not compet "Military service ... is too frequently the a single room and from two to four in ing."55 It was not competitive in 1889, for dernier ressort of the impoverished, the one bunk.50 One soldier at Camp Grant, example, when a private made sixty discontented, and the vicious." Because Arizona Territory, described his quarters seven cents per day, while a laborer in of the bad example of some of these in 1871 as, civilian life made between $1.50 and $2 men the populace generally considered for the same work.56 60 poor, very poor; the roofs (dirt) are leak enlisted men to be of low social c1ass. ing; the cracks in the walls (uprights of Regional variations were also impor Enlisted men often were caught in timber) so large that one walking outside tant. At western posts the high prices problems of their own making. Observ in the evening notices by candlelight all paid by citizens to teamsters, farm labor ers cited consumption of alcohol and that is going on inside. After all one's ers, and steamboat hands were difficult gambling debts as factors. Desertions scouting, escorting, saddling up of a sud to resist. And, of course, gold strikes, like den, coming home, and looking worse were common before the commence

170 - Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U. S. Army

recording bodily marks. such as scars, blemishes, or "finger marks. n Some ad vocated stiffer penalties. Some pro $50.00 REWARD posed to train recruits better, keeping FOR THE ARREST AND DELIVERY OF them in depots for longer periods where they might learn military skills before CHRISTOPHER ZIGLER, being sent to regiments. Some suggested paying enlisted men additional wages for their time as laborers or recruiting a special soldier class to do the work. Also recommended were more frequent paydays and higher pay for enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. Better food. professional cooks, better clothing, better quarters, and more rec reational opportunities had their propo nents. Many favored reducing the term of enlistment from five to three years or

CHARGED WITH BEING A permitting a man to purchase his dis charge. Also championed were recruit DESERTER FROM THE ARMY. ing by regiment, development of a bet C"IIItISTUJlIIEU l.UiUm, printe, Compao! D,15th Inrantrr, who was enlisted Oetober 16. 1908, is reI1urh·t! til hue deserted at f'ort Dougla.'i, Satt Lake City, lJtab, ]lareh 19,1909• .At enlistment be gate his ter system of presenting grievances, and rr.. idt'II('" u..: Falls eUr. Xebr., and the Dame aDd address of person to be notiOed In his behalf (0 case of emer veteran's preference for government !!t'IIf'.." n~ .lIr". Surah l.h;ler (mother), Whitehall, ][ont. Ire designated George Zigler (brother), Whitehall. 52 .'''mt .• It-.. his benenciar1 in rase of death. jobs after discharge. Many of these sug IJI-:stHIPl'IO:\ cowardice in battle tion identified by soldiers and observ had some deep-seated underpinnings. were other reasons for desertion. What ers. Often mentioned was the develop First was the repugnance of a republic ever the reason, cavalrymen were more ment of a personal identification system to military measures that dated from co likely to desert than those in other so that deserters could not reenlist. Pro lonial times. Citizens opposed a large branches of the service. In 1880, for ex posals varied from reinstituting brand standing army as a threat to freedom ample, the Sixth U.S. Cavalry and Sec- ing and tattooing to photographing or and kept a wary eye on the military's

171 Nebraska History - Winter 1997 between-war activities. Strange as it may Notes Army," JMSI37 (Jan.-Febr., 1906):125. For the seem, public sentiment rested more sheet music to the Rogue's March, see Alice with those who left the service than I Fred T. Wilson, Laws, Rulings, and Decisions Blackwood Baldwin, Memoirs ofthe Late Frank D. Governing the Military Crime ofDesertion (Wash Baldwin, Major General, U.S.A., ed. Brig. Gen. W. 54 those who enforced discipline. Ac ington: Government Printing Office, 1882), 15. C. Brown, Col. C. C. Smith, and E. A. Brinninstool cording to Col. John Hamilton writing in (Los Angeles: Wetzel Publishing Co., Inc., 1929), 2 Capt. O. W. Polluck, "Desertion," United Service 155. Alice Baldwin reports of witnessing two de the Anny and Navy Register in 1888, 10 (Apr. 1884):383; Anny and Navy Journal (here serters being drummed out of Fort Wingate, Ari some citizens even looked upon deser inafterANi), May 26, 1883,3; Frank R. E. zona. When they reached the boundaries of the Woodward, The Dogs of War (St. Louis: A. F. tion as "a laudable, spirited action to military reservation, one of the men doffed his Nelson Publishing Company, 1890), excerpts in cast off grinding military tyranny."65 In a cap, turning the shaved side of his head toward Ellwood Bergey, Why Soldiers Desert from the the spectators and gave a mocking salute and a strange inversion Brig. Gen. John Pope United States Anny (philadelphia: Wm. F. Fell & bow, shouting out that he "hoped we would all gave his stamp of appproval to deserters Company, 1903),35-42; "The 'Desertion' Court of meet again" (p.155). when he wrote in 1872 that these men Inquiry," ANJ, Oct. 26, 1889, 374; "The Jefferson did have some value for society; they Barracks Desertions Court of Inquiry," Anny and 16 Wilson, Laws, Rulings, and Decisions, 8, 46. Navy Register (hereinafter ANKJ, Nov. 6, 1889,623. usually stayed in the far reaches where 17 "Desertions from the Army," ANR, June 26, 1891, 2.ln a slightly different time frame, Maj. Will they had deserted and became useful 3 Letter from "P.," Sept. 7, 1868, in "A Plea for iam R. King computed an even lower percentage: pioneers. In the end, Pope surmised, the the Service," ANJ, Sept. 12, 1868,54; many of the authors, such as "Po who wrote letters for publica "The yearly percentage of deserters to the whole government lost perhaps nothing by tion about desertion used pseUdonyms. Bvt. Brig army since 1868 has varied between 7.1 and 21.8, bringing active, industrious men to the Gen. H. L. Abbot, "Recruiting and Desertion," Jour with an average of 10.84 per cent." See Maj. Will frontier country.66 nal ofthe Military Service Institution (hereinafter iam R. King, "The Military Necessities of the United States, and the Best Provisions for Meeting Them," Nor was the oath of enlistment held in JMSI) 14 (Sept. 1893):922; Wilson, Laws, Rulings, and Decisions, 39. JMSI5 (Sept. 1884):377. high regard by the public. Lt. Col. Alfred 18 Gregory J. W. Urwin, The United States Cavalry: L. Hough noted in the September 1887 is 4 John S. Hare, "Military Punishments in the War of 1812," Journal ofthe American Military Institu An /llustrated History (poole, England: Blandford sue of The Public Service Review, "Men tion 4 (Winter 1940):238; Wilson, Laws, Rulings, Press, 1983), 146. assume their uniforms of their own ac and Decisions, 9. 19 Lonn, Desertion During the Civil War, 139-42. cord, and feel free to leave as they 5 The penalty was later amended to include, in 20 ANR, Jan. 22, 1887,49; Maj. Charles R. come." Saddled with a rooted aversion to addition to imprisonment for the period of the Greenleaf, "Personal Identity in the Recognition of strict discipline and constraint, the war, discharge from the service of the United Deserters," JMSI 10 (Nov. 1889):563. States together with forfeiture of pay and allow American soldier often saw obedience as 21 "Offenses, Punishments, and Morals of Enlisted ances. See Ella Lonn, Desertion During the Civil a distasteful restriction of personal free Men," (June 1883): 626; Capt. William F. Hoffman, War (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1966), 170. dom. The subjugation of self was con "Why Do Our Soldiers Desert? Who Is Responsible trary to the American Way. As one soldier 6 Ibid., 181-82. for Our Desertions? What Is the Remedy for Our Desertions?" ANR, Apr. 27, 1889,260. declared, even "[t]he best of them grow 7 Wilson, Laws, Rulings, and Decisions, 39; John weary of a life of entire submission to the D. McDermott, "Crime and Punishment in the 22 "Ronrevog," "The Treatment of Deserters," United States Army: A Phase of Fort Laramie His ANJ, Jan. 30, 1869, 374. will of another." According to another tory," Journal ofthe West 7 (Apr. 1968):246-55. English observer, the truth was that "men 23 Correspondent from the New York Sun, "De 8 Hare, "Military Punishments," 23. serters from the Army," ANJ, Aug. 22, 1891,891; accustomed to democracy can never be "Military News," Field and Stream 1 (Aug. 14, 9 Ibid., 228-34; Abbot, "Recruiting and Deser brought to submit patiently to the rigours 1873):13. tion," 922. of military discipline."67 24 "The Morale of Our Army," ANJ, 434; A Corre 10 Flogging stopped for two years, 1812-14. See Never severe enough to threaten na spondent of the New York Tribune in Washington, Hare, "Military Punishments," 230. tional security, the practice of desertion "Desertion from the Army," ANJ, Mar. 16, 1872, during peacetime was an embarrassment II Abbot, "Recruiting and Desertion," 922. 499; "Queer Case: Desertion of Soldier Guard and Two Convicts," Sidney Telegraph, July 18, 1885, 1; 12 "Offenses, Punishments, and Morals of Enlisted to the United States Army, but little else. Keith R. Widder, Reveille Till Taps: Soldier Life at Men: Their Causes of Complaint, and Measures of In the period after the Civil War, when Fort Mackinac, 1780-1895 (Mackinac Island, Correction," United Service 8 (June 1883):630. Congress repeatedly reduced the strength Mich.: Mackinac Island State Park Commission, of the military, desertion was perhaps an 13 Letter from "P.," ANJ, Sept. 12, 1868, 54; 1972),43; Rocky Mountain News (Denver), Apr. 6, "Alaska," "The Sentences of Deserters," ANJ, Dec. 1866; E. S. Godfrey, "Some Reminiscences, Includ efficacious way of getting rid of that part 21, 1872,298; "Enlisted Men Sentenced to Confine ing an Account of General Sully's Expedition of the army which could most easily be ment," ANJ, Dec. 23, 1877; "Courts Martial of En Against the Southern Plains, 1868," Cavalry Journal done without-the criminal, the inept, listed Men," ANJ, June 24, 1871,717. (July 1927):417; Capt. Robert GoIthwaite Carter, On the Trail ofDeserters: A Phenomenal Capture the abused, and the idealistic. In fact, the 14 A Washington Correspondent, "The Morale of Our Army," ANJ, Jan. 17, 1872, 434. (Washington: Gibson Bros., Printers, 1920),6-7; government tolerated this phenomenon John A. Brooks, "Hunting Deserters," National Tri .because it was not crucial in the conduct 15 Hugh Lenox Scott, Some Memoirs ofa Soldier bune (Washington, D.C.), May 29, 1902, 5; Bvt. Col. of military affairs. While irksome, it did (New York: The Century Company, 1928), 6; Maj. Alfred L. Hough, "Desertion from the Army," The not threaten the republic. Gen. Zenas R. Bliss, "Type and Tradition of the Old Public Service Review I (Sept. I, 1887):277.

172 - Desertion in the Nineteenth-Century U. S. Army

25 Lonn, Desertion During the Civil War, 153. sertion and Other Matters of Interest," ANi, Dec. 6, in Proceedings ofthe Annual Meeting and Dinner 1884,4; Polluck, "Desertion," 385; K. M. L, "More ofthe Order ofthe Indian Wars ofthe United 26 Wilson, Laws, Rulings, and Decisions, 48. About Desertions," ANR, Dec. 8, 1883, 10; "Jus States, Held ianuary 19, 1928 (n.p., 1928),763; 27 Widder, Reveille Till Taps, 43; Lonn, Desertion tice," "Cause and Cure of Desertion," ANi, Dec. 2, "Ex-Officer," "Cause of Desertions," 42; "Milita!}' During the Civil War, 166, 172; William Redwood 1871,251; "Fifteen," "A Few More Thoughts by an News," Forest and Stream 1 (Oct. 9, 1873):141; Price, "The U. S. Caval!}' Service," ANi, Nov. 10, Officer About Desertion," ANR, Sept. 20, 1884, 5; Brooks, "Hunting Deserters," 5; Offenses, Punish 1877,214-15. "Montana," "Suggestions About Enlistments," ANi, ments, and Morals of Enlisted Men," (June Oct. 10, 1868, 118; "Desertions," ANi, Nov. 12, 1883):626; "Veritas," "The Cause of Desertion," 2B Lonn, Desertion During the Civil War, 170, 198; 122; "A Fort Robinson Officer," "Desertion in the Wilson, Laws, Rulings, and Decisions, 26--27; "An 1869, 173; Widder, Reveille Till Taps, 44; uP. H.," Army," 5. Old Soldier," "A Hint for President Grant," ANi, "Desertion in the Army," ANi, Aug. 20, 1870, 11; "Infant!}'," Fort Robinson, Jan. 1884, in "Deser Nov. I, 1873, 186; "S.," "The Subject of Desertions," 5, 55 Hough, "Desertion from the Army," 276. ANi, Mar. 30, 1878, 542. tions in the Army," Omaha Daily Bee, ibid, 8. 56 Hoffman, "Why Do Our Soldiers Desert?" 260. 42 From a correspondent of the Omaha Herald 29 "Offenses, Punishments, and Morals of Enlisted See also "Desertions in the Army," ANi, July 7, 1866, Men," United Service 8 (May, June, 1883):552, 627. writing from Fort McKinney, Wyo. Terr:, ANi, Aug. 729; "Justice," "Cause and Cure of Desertion," 251. 30, 1879,63. 30 Letter from Police Gazette, Oct. 23, 1857, let 57 Polluck, "Desertion," 384-85; 1. C. McD., "De ters Received, 1822-1860, Records of the Adjutant 43 Letter from "Four Years in the First," ANi, Jan. sertions in the Army," ANi, June 16, 1866,681; General's Office, Record Group (RG) 94, National 14, 1871,347. Holabird, "Some Considerations Respecting Deser Archives, Washington, D.C. M "Veritas," "The Cause of Desertion," ANi, Oct. tion," 1,7; Godfrey, "Some Reminiscences," 417; 18, 1870, 122; Lt. William D. McAnaney, Ninth Cav "Old Soldier," "Desertion," ANi, Febr. 29, 1868, 31 Lonn, Desertion During the Civil War, 163, 173, 442; "Sermonicus," in "Desertion from the Army;" 178-79. al!}" "Desertion in the United States Army," iMSI 10 (Sept. 1889):451; Brig. Gen. M. D. Hardin, "De Hoffman, "Why Do Our Soldiers Desert?" 260; 32 See Entl}' 395, Letters Received, 1866--67, De sertion in the United States Army," iMS/lO (Nov. ANR, Aug. 6, 1881,8; "A Subscriber," "A Few sertion Division, RG 94, National Archives. 1889):764. Hints," 4; "The Jefferson Barracks Desertions Court of Inqui!}'," ANR, 623; Letter from "P.," ANi, Sept. 33 "A Lively Deserter," ANR, Mar. 29, 1887, 199; 45 "Causes and Cures of Desertion," ANi, July 26, 12, 1868,54. "Why a Soldier Killed His Wife," ANR, July 12, 1879, 934. See also "Nicodemus," "Desertion in the 1884; ANR, Aug. 30, 1884, 7; A Deserter in the Sev Army," ANi, Aug. 29, 1868,23; ANR, July 30, 1887, 58 "Fort Pembina," ANR, June 23, 1888,389; "The enth Caval!}'," ANR, July 31, 1880,8; ANR, Febr. 26, 487;" Lance Jack," "Desertions in the Army," ANi, Jefferson Barracks Desertions Court of Inqui!}'," 1881, 1; Notes, Box I, Luther P. Bradley Papers, June 23, 1866, 697; "Ex-Officer," "Cause of Deser ANR,623. United States Milita!}, Histo!}, Institute, Carlisle Bar tions," ANi, Sept. 7, 1867,42; Polluck, "Desertion," 59 "Once a Member of Company-, ""A Letter racks, Penn. 383; "Pardons to Deserters," 308; "Offenses, Pun From a Deserter," ANi, July 27, 1967, 778; letter '" "Pardons to Deserters," ANR, May 18, 1889, 308. ishments, and Morals of Enlisted Men," United Ser from "Old Soldier," Helena, Ark., Nov. 12, 1866, in vice 8 (July 1883):42; "Fifteen," "A Few More "Non-Commissioned Officers," ANi, Nov. 24, 1866, 35 Lt. A. A. Cabaniss, "Desertion in the United Thoughts by an Officer About Desertion," 5; Lt. M. 218. See also "Milita!}' News," Forest and Stream, States Army," iMS/lO (Nov. 1889):767. Gray Zalinski, "Desertion in the United States 141; Polluck, "Desertion," 383, 385; Letterfrom "A 36 Col. T. M. Anderson, Fourteenth U. S. Infant!}', Army," iMS/lO (Nov. 1889):769-70; Lt. M. M. Private, Company E, 7th Infant!}'," Fort Fred Steele, "Recruiting and Desertion," iMS/14 (Nov. McNamee, "Desertion in the United States Army," Wyo. Terr., Jan. 5, 1884, in "Desertions in the 1893):1247-48; "Fort Douglas," ANR, May 21, 1887, iMS/lO (Nov. 1889):768. Army," Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 8, 1884, 5; "Causes 324; Widder, Reveille Till Taps, 45. 46 Zalinski, "Desertion in the United States of Desertion," 42; letter from "Fandango," Fort Reynolds, Colo. Terr., Oct. 20, 1870, in "The Cause 37 Charles A. Murray, Travels in North America Army," 768. During the Years 1834, 1835, & 18362 (New York: of Desertion," ANi, Nov. 12, 1870,202; "Pardon for 47 Lt. W. A. Campbell, "Desertion in the United Harper & Brothers, 1839):68. Deserters," ANR, May 18, 1889, 308. "Causes and States Army," iMS/lO (Nov. 1889):766. See also "F. Cures of Desertion," ANi, July 26, 1879, 934. See 38 Bvt. Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Holabird, "Some G.," The Cause of Desertions in the Army," ANi, also "Fandango," "The Cause of Desertion," 202; Considerations Respecting Desertion in the Army," Febr.23, 1867,427. Bergey, Why Soldiers Desert, 3, 10,37,40-41,88, Ordnance Notes, No. 232 (Washington: Govern 4B "Old Soldier," in Bergey, Why Soldiers Desert, 143, 152; "Fort Wadsworth," ANR, June 15, 1889, ment Printing Office, Nov. 20, 1882): 1. 27,31-32. 372; "Bureau of Milita!}, Justice," ANi, Oct. 25, 39 "Squibon," "Scraps from an Old Knapsack De 1879, 226; "The Jefferson Barracks Desertions 49 Woodward, The Dogs of War, 39. ciphered," ANi, Mar. 6, 1867,455. Court of Inqui!}'," ANR, 623. 50 "Nicodemus," "Desertion in the Army," 23. 60 "Nicodemus," "Desertion in the Army," 23; 40 Letter from Charles Lester to his sister, Apr. Francis Paul Prucha, "The United States Army As 1867, MS-FOLA-MP-73, Fort Laramie National His 5\ Letter from "Four Years in the First," ANi, Jan. Viewed by British Travelers, 1825-1860," Military toric Site Archives, Fort Laramie, Wyo. 14, 1871,347. Affairs 16 (Winter 1952):115; Wilson, Laws, Rul 41 ANi, Oct. 26, 1867, 157; Letter from "Four Years 52 "Offenses, Punishments, and Morals of Enlisted ings, and Decisions, 7. See also J. C. McD., "Deser in the First," Camp Grant, Ariz. Terr., in "Causes of Men," (June 1883):628, and (July 1883):48-50; tions in the Army," 681. Desertion, ANi, Jan. 14, 1871,347; Letter from "Nicodemus," "Desertion in the Army," 23; "Veritas," "Suggestions About Desertions," 12; "Jus McAnaney, "Desertion in the United States "Sermonicus," in "Desertion from the Army," ANi, Army," 451; Cabaniss, "Desertion in the United Febr. 10, 1883; "A Fort Robinson Officer," "Deser tice," "Cause and Cure of Desertion," 251; "Fif teen," uA Few More Thoughts by an Officer About States Army," 764-67; Hardin, "Desertion in the tions in the Army," Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 9, 1884, United States Army," 764; Bvt. Maj. Gen. James B. ANR, Desertion," 5; Widder, Reveille Till Taps, 44. 5; "Sierra Blanca," "From Fort Apache," Jan. F!}" "Desertion in the United States Army," iMSI 7, 1882; "Volunteer and Regular," "Desertion," 53 Widder, Reveille Till Taps, 44. 10 (Nov. 1889):761-63. ANR, Dec. 14, 1889; "F. G.," "The Cause of Deser tions in the Army," ANi, Febr. 23, 1867,427; "A 54 "S.," "The Subject of Desertions," 542; Brig. 6\ "Fort Wadsworth," 372; Widder, Reveille Till Subscriber," "A Few Hints by an Officer About De Gen. William H. Bisbee, "Items of Indian Service," Taps, 43, 45; Letter from John R. Myers, Co. F.

173 Nebraska History - Winter 1997

Disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas_ On this 1907 postcard, the sender has marked an "x" and scribbled, "Waiting to be admitted into the Prison at 4 p.m." Courtesy ofThomas R. Buecker

Fourth Inf., Fort Niobrara, Nebr., Dec. 30, 1883, in sertions in the Army," ANi, Febr. 23, 1867, 427. Bergey. Why Soldiers Desert, 10. "Offenses, Punish "Desertion from the Army," Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. For paying enlisted men for their work as labor ments, and Morals of Enlisted Men," (July 1883): I, 1884,5; letter from "Private," Fourth Inf., Fort ers or hiring a laboring class, see "Sermonicus," in 44--45; "Fifteen," "A Few More Thoughts by an Of Omaha, Dec. 26, 1883, in "Desertions in the Army," "Desertion from the Army;" Polluck, "Desertion," ficer About Desertion," 5. Omaha Daily Bee, Dec. 27, 1883,5; "Bureau of Mili 386; K. M. L, "More About Desertions," 10; "Mon For better clothing, see "Offenses, Punishments, tary Justice," 226; Polluck, "Desertion," 384; tana, "Suggestions About Enlistments," 118. and Morals of Enlisted Men," (July 1883):48; "Fif Bisbee, "Items of Indian Service," 78; Price, "The For more frequent paydays, see "Alaska," "Deser teen," "A Few More Thoughts by an Officer About U. S. Cavalry Service," 214-15; ANi, Nov. 27, 1880, tions in the Army," 362; "Offenses, Punishments, Desertion," 5; "Montana," "Suggestions About En 330; Holabird, "Some Considerations Respecting and Morals of Enlisted Men," (June 1883) 626. listments," 118. Desertion," 11. For increasing the pay of enlisted men, see "De For better recreational opportunities and leisure sertion from the Army," United Service iournal, pursuits, see Holabird, "Some Considerations Re 62 For recommendations concerning personal June 29, 1850, 13; Bergey, Why Soldiers Desert, specting Desertion," 17; Hardin, "Desertion in the identification, see ANR, Jan. 22, 1887, 49; Polluck, 155; Hoffman, "Why Do Our Soldiers Desert?" 260; United States Army," 764; Cabaniss, "Desertion in "Desertion," 383; "B.," "The Letter '0'," ANi, Mar. 3, "Offenses, Punishments, and Morals of Enlisted the United States Army," 767. 1866, 442; "Ronrevog," "The Punishment of Desert Men," (June 1883):628; "Justice," "Cause and Cure For recruiting by regiment, see "Fifteen," "A Few ers," ANi, Oct. 5, 1869, 106; "Offenses, Punish of Desertion," 251; "Montana," "Suggestions About More Thoughts by an Officer About Desertion," 5; ments, and Morals of Enlisted Men," (June 1883): Enlistments," 118. ANi, Aug. 29, 1868, 25. 626-27, 630; "Colonel Hamilton on Desertions," For increasing the pay of noncommissioned offic For developing a better way of presenting ANR, Dec. 22,1888,804; "A Fort Robinson Officer," ers, see Cabaniss, "Desertion in the United States grievances, see Holabird, "Some Considerations "Desertion in the Army," 5; J. L Powell, "Deser Army," 767; Holabird, "Some Considerations Re Respecting Desertion," 2; Abbot, "Recruiting and tion-Its Causes and Prevention," ANR, Oct. 19, specting Desertion," 17; "The Desertion Question," Desertion," 924. 1889,560; "Decrease in Desertion," ANi, Apr. II, ANR, Sept. 28, 1889,509; "Vidi," "Desertion and En 63 "The Soldiers' Desertion Act," ANR, Mar. 23, 1891,564; Greenleaf, "Personal Identity in the Rec listment," 298; Polluck, "Desertion," 388; "Montana," ognition of Deserters," 562, 564-65, 568-72; "Iden 1889, 180; Abbot, "Recruiting and Desertion," 922; "Suggestions About Enlistments," 118; McNamee, "Decrease in Desertion," ANi, Apr. II, 1891,564. tification of Deserters, ANR, Oct. 12, 1889, 542; "Desertion in the United States Army," 768. "The Photograph As a Preventer of Desertion," For reducing enlistment to three years, see 64 "II,~ "Desertions from the Army," ANR, Nov. 3, ANi, Febr. 23, 1878, 488. Cabaniss, "Desertion in the United States Army," 1883,13. For stiffer penalties, see Letter from "P.," ANi, 767; uP. H.," "Desertion in the Army," ANi, Aug. 20, 65 "Colonel Hamilton on Desertions," 804. Sept. 12, 1868, 54; "Sermonicus," in "Desertion 1870,11; "Soldier," "Desertions and Three-Year En 66 A Correspondent of the New York Tribune in from the Army;" Cabaniss, "Desertion in the Iistments," ANR, Oct. I, 1883, 11; "Offenses, Pun Washington, "Desertion from the Army," ANi, Mar. United States Army," 765; "Discipline," "Desertions ishments, and Morals of Enlisted Men," (May An unnamed secretary of war also in the Army," ANi, June 2, 1866, 650; "Vidi," "De 1883):555, and (July 1883) 45-46; "The President's 16,1872, 499: expressed this idea. See Hough, "Desertion from sertion and Enlistment," ANi, Dec. 21, 1872,298; Message," ANR, Dec. 12, 1885, 276. the Army," Letter from George Custer, Fort Riley, Kans., Mar. For allowing purchase of discharge, see 277. 3, 1867, to Bvt. Maj. Henry E. Noyes, acting ass!. Cabaniss, "Desertion in the United States Army," 67 Hough, "Desertion from the Army," 276-78. See adj. gen., District of Upper Arkansas, Letters Re 767; Hoffman, "Why Do Our Soldiers Desert?" 260; also "II," "Desertions from the Army," ANR, Nov. 3, ceived, 1861-1867, Records of the Department of "S.," "A Preventive for Desertion," ANi, Mar. 9, 1883, 13; "Offenses, Punishments, and Morals of En the Missouri, RG 393, National Archives. 1878,490; "Colonel Hamilton on Desertions," 804; listed Men," (June 1883):626; King, "Military Neces For better training for recruits, see "Fifteen," "Montana," "Suggestions About Enlistments," 118. sities of the United States," 376; James S. "A Few More Thoughts by an Officer About Deser For suggestions to improve rations and provide Buckingham, The Eastern and Western States of tion," 5; "Desertions from the Army," ANR, Nov. 25, for better preparation of food, see Holabird, America 3 (London: n.p., 1842):447; "Sermonicus," 1882; "Montana," "Suggestions About Enlistments," "Some Considerations Respecting Desertion," 17; in "Desertion from the Army;" Thomas Hamilton, ANi, Oct. 10, 1868, 118; "F. G.," "The Cause of De "Montana, "Suggestions About Enlistments," 118; Men and Manners 2 (Edinburgh: n.p., 1833):268-69.

Ii!i,,!\ I: :,;1 i ,I i:1 174 I,

I: " 11