Ken...

From what I've seen the Army of Northern Virginia rarely executed anyone for desertion. Gen. Lee usually commuted the sentences of the few who were sentenced. I think they drew the line between desertion to the enemy and desertion to leave the army and go home. The deserters from the 9th Alabama at Petersburg in late 1864 were simply brought back to the lines.

In the beginning of the war in the camps, executions were quite common- not for desertion, but for killing an officer (especially while drunk). Drunkeness and violence against officers had become a major problem and executions were used to establish control and make a point.

In Centreville, Virginia on December 10, 1861, two soldiers from CO B of Wheat's 1st Louisiana Battalion- Michael O'Brien and Dennis Corcoran were marched in front of 15,000 soldiers, tied to posts where they knelt, and were shot by 12 men of their own company. They had killed their lieutenant with bayonets while drunk. The army obviously made examples of them. As one observer reported, "It will have a good effect upon our army."

Most executions throughout the war seemed to be tied in to the element of crime and drunkness.

John