Military Justice, Part 2

General Orders No. 19.
War Department
Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, January 12, 1864.


I. Before a General Court Martial, which convened at the Headquarters, Cavalry Reserve Brigade, near Culpeper Court-house, Virginia, November 25, 1863, pursuant to Special Orders, No. 66, dated October 31, 1863, and Special Orders, No. 70, dated November 5, 1863, Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division, and of which Major H.C. Whelan, 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, is President, was arraigned and tried ---

2. Private Walter Sheets, Company “B,” 2nd U.S. Cavalry

Charge – “Desertion.”

Specification – “In this; that the said Private Walter Sheets, of Company ‘B,’ 6th U.S. Cavalry, did, on or about the 10th day of July, 1863, at or near Funkstown, Maryland, willfully desert the service of the United States, with his horse, arms, and accoutrements. All this at or near Funkstown, Maryland, and remained absent until apprehended at Lewistown, Maryland, October 27, 1863, by Captain Smith. For his apprehension was paid thirty dollars ($30).”

To which charge and specification the prisoner, Private Walter Sheets, Company “B,” 2nd U.S. Cavalry, pleaded “Not Guilty.”

Finding.

The Court, after mature consideration on the evidence adduced, finds the prisoner, Private Walter Sheets, Company “B,” 2nd U.S. Cavalry, as follows:

Of the Specification, “Guilty, except the words ‘at Lewistown, Maryland, October 27, 1863, by Captain Smith. For his apprehension was paid ($30) thirty dollars.’”
Of the Charge, “Guilty.”

Sentence.

And the Court does therefore sentence him, Private Walter Sheets, Company “B,” 2nd U.S. Cavalry, “To forfeit all pay and allowances that are now or may come due him; to be indelibly branded on the left hip with the letter D, one and a half inches long, in presence of his Regiment; and to be confined at hard labor, with a ball and chain attached to one of his legs, for the period of (10) ten years. The place of confinement to be designated by the Secretary of War.”


The disparity between the two sentences is interesting. Two years of desertion is worth five years of hard labor, but three months of desertion with all equipment is worth branding and ten years of hard labor.

So who was this fellow?

Walter Sheets was born in Salem County, New Jersey in 1843. He worked as a blacksmith before the war. He initially enlisted into Company F, 5th New Jersey Infantry on August 22, 1861 at the age of 18. This regiment was commanded during the Peninsula campaign by Samuel H. “Paddy” Starr, on detached service as a colonel of volunteers while a captain in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. On October 26, 1862, Private Sheets was discharged to join the Regular Army.

On October 27th, Walter Sheets enlisted into Company B, 2nd U.S. Cavalry at Alexandria, Virginia. His enlistment documents confirm his age and birthplace, as well as describing him as 5’ 5 3/4” tall, with gray eyes, brown hair, and a dark complexion. The officer who enlisted him? Captain Samuel Starr, who had resigned his volunteer commission and was serving on recruiting duty for his regular army regiment.

Dragoon Base moves to new location

Dragoon Base, one of the websites for the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Association, has moved to a new web location. The address for the new site is http://dragoonbase.ning.com/. The word is still getting around, but many alumni seem to have found it already.

Volunteer Reinforcements, Part II

It appears that I mis-titled the first part of this series. Closer reading of JD's initial post brought the realization that he didn't say Starr's men went with him to the 6th Cavalry, he said they came back to service in the Regular Army with him.

I've had a lot of fun chasing this particular thread down. I was able to find a copy of the classic New Jersey in the Civil War online (misplaced the website, will post the link tomorrow), which contains the muster rolls for the 5th New Jersey. Starr was recalled to regular service in October 1862 (the entry, of course, doesn't say why. From Everglade to Canyon says he resigned, but also doesn't say why.). That same month, 90 members of his regiment were "discharged to join the Regular Army." The majority of them probably thought they were following Starr back to his old regiment, the 2nd Cavalry, as did he.

Of the 90, 50 enlisted in the 2nd Cavalry, in Companies A, B and D. Five enlisted in the 14th US Infantry, and two in the 2nd US Artillery. One each enlisted in the 1st and 6th Cavalry regiments, and three are listed for both the 2nd and the 6th US Cavalry in the CWSS. The remaining 27 names had no record or had names so common that they couldn't be reliably attributed to a unit without the gaining unit's muster rolls (lots of John Browns and William Smiths out there).

Companies A, B and D of the 2nd Cavalry were broken up in July 1862, their privates sent elsewhere in the regiment and the officers, noncommissioned officers and buglers detached for recruiting duty. Apparently some of them found a welcome home recruiting in Starr's regiment. I'll check in the morning, but I believe Starr was assigned to one of these companies before he came to the volunteers.

At least some of this had to be due to his popularity. A quick check of another regiment in his brigade, the 6th New Jersey, showed only four men leaving for regular service in October 1862, and seven over the course of the war. Three of the first four went to the 2nd Cavalry, and there was no record of the fourth person. One of the remaining three went to the 2nd Cavalry, one to the 16th Infantry, and one had no record. As time permits, I'll check the other two regiments in the brigade (7th and 8th NJ).

Starr was promoted and transferred to the 6th Cavalry in the spring of 1863. I haven't as yet had time to check the muster rolls of the regiment, but I'm willing to bet at least three of the men (John Murphy, George C. Curtis, and James Campbell) transferred from the 2nd to the 6th with him. Apparently strict disciplinarians are quite popular in some quarters during time of war, and the regiment had performed very well under his leadership.

Where, then, did the 6th Cavalry's reinforcements come from? I don't know yet, but at least I have an idea or two fo where to look.

Private Sidney Davis, of F Company, 6th Cavalry, had this to say of the War Department orders mentioned in the last post: "In consequence of this curious order there was a terrific rush from the volunteer infantry to the regular cavalry and artillery -- two branches of service then popularly believed to be a sort of sinecure, if there be such a thing as sinecure in a common soldier's life. [break[ The strength of the regiment was about doubled under this order, being reiforced by some five hundred and fifty men. However, no actual benefit was derived from them for several months afterward, as they had yet to be mounted and drilled. When the next campaign began they were sent to Washington by rail, where they went into camp." (Common Soldier, Uncommon War, pg 235)

I'll just keep pulling on this thread and see where it goes. If time permits, I'll print the October and November 1862 returns this week, but free time's a bit short with the movers coming on Thursday.

Another Trip to Iraq for the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry

Received this through the association this afternoon. Since the 2nd and 3rd are two of the Army's remaining three cavalry regiments, I thought it still relevant to the theme of the blog. Both are still on continuous active service since before the Civil War, though they look a great deal differently today. The 2nd Cavalry has been relatively fortunate thus far, this is only their second trip to Iraq vice the third for the 3rd Cavalry. Godspeed and best of luck to the troopers of both regiments.

2nd Cavalry, Vilseck, Germany, Alerted for Deployment to Iraq From the New York Times (Electronic) 9 May 2007

WASHINGTON, May 8 - The Pentagon said Tuesday that it had informed an additional 35,000 soldiers that they were likely to be heading to Iraq by December, a move that would allow the Army to maintain heightened American troop levels into next year.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the decision to alert the 10 Army brigades scheduled to deploy between August and December did not mean that the Bush administration had decided to extend the current reinforcement, a buildup of about 30,000 troops that is expected to be completed in June. A decision on that issue will be made in September, officials said.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and other officials have made clear that reversing the American troop buildup was among the steps that could be taken by the end of the summer if Iraq's government failed to make progress on legislation aimed at achieving reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Arabs.

At the same time, some military officials have argued privately that it will be necessary to prolong the higher troop levels into next year in order to have any permanent effect on security.
Overall American force levels in Iraq will reach close to 160,000 when all the additional units ordered to Iraq by President Bush arrive this summer. Only three of the five additional Army brigades ordered to Iraq are now in place, with the final two scheduled to arrive over the next two months.

Mr. Whitman said a reduction of that force later this year remained a possibility. The Pentagon "has been very clear that a decision about the duration of the surge will depend on conditions on the ground," he said.

The replacement troops announced Tuesday would go to Iraq under the new Pentagon policy of sending units for 15 months at a time, though Mr. Whitman added that shorter tours were also possible if security conditions improved.

The 10 brigades identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday for deployment are the Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment from Vilseck, Germany; the Fourth Brigade, Third Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Ga.; the First, Second and Third Brigades of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky.; the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Tex.; the Second Brigade, First Armored Division, from Baumholder, Germany; the Fourth Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, from Fort Polk, La.; the Second Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; and the First Brigade, Fourth Infantry Division, from Fort Hood, Tex.

A brigade has about 3,500 soldiers.

President Bush earlier this month vetoed an effort by the Democrat-controlled Congress to force the beginning of a phased withdrawal of American forces beginning as early as Oct. 1. But his new strategy of sending more troops has intensified the strain on the Army, leaving few combat-ready units in reserve and forcing the Army to turn increasingly to National Guard forces.

If the higher troop levels continue into 2008, the next combat units sent to Iraq are likely to be from the National Guard, officials have said.

The Army also said that close to 1,000 more support troops from the U.S. Army Reserves would deploy in August.


2nd Cavalry Association Wishes Our Brethen Godspeed and Come Home Safe! To all the men and women of the 2d Stryker Regiment your association stands behind you and your families with support and encouragement in the difficult days ahead. Do not hesitate to call on us at any time. Godspeed to you all,

The Members of the 2d Cavalry Association