Re: Tom Beaudoin's query
David Hedrick (David.T.Hedrick@cc.gettysburg.edu)
Wed, 6 Oct 1993 22:03:18 ECT
Discipline or punishment that today would be considered "cruel and
unusual" was commonly accepted in the 1860's. Take the following example
from a chaplain's diary of 8 September 1863: "There has been gambling and
stealing and drunkenness in the regiment for the last eight days, more I
believe than for the whole year we were out before. It does not seem like
the same regiment; it being completely changed by the subs or conscripts
(or convicts as some call them) for the worse. Our guard house use to be
vacant - now it is full; men were seldom tied - now it is a common
occurrence; a wooden 'horse' for delinquents to ride was unknown in the
regiment till the present - now it stands near headquarters."
If this was common in White regiments, it surely was worse in Black regiments.
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David Hedrick
Special Collections Librarian
Gettysburg College
717-337-7011
hedrick@gettysburg.edu
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