I'm wondering how often this happened. I understand it was not very common, in either the CS or the US army. But, I ran across two men, both in the 28th AL, that were shot for desertion, Edward P. Norman and Zachariah Phillips, in Co. "C" and "B", respectively. I also recall that men of the 4th AL were ordered to watch an execution once (although I don't remember who was executed). The above examples were fairly early in the war, 1861-1862, but by the end of the war, desertion became relatively common. Execution did not.

Anyone familiar with the number of executions for desertion? Or the circumstances that would earn someone a death sentence (whether for desertion or some other offense)?