John R
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XIII [S# 19]
CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING SPECIALLY TO OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, KANSAS, THE INDIAN TERRITORY, AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NORTHWEST FROM APRIL 10 TO NOVEMBER 20, 1862.
UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. -- #13
HEADQUARTERS NORTHEAST MISSOURI DIVISION,
Macon City, Mo. September 23, 1862.
Maj. A. T. DENNY, Huntsville, Mo.:
MAJOR: Captain Burkhardt has been directed to take back to Huntsville the following prisoners: Charles King, Charles Tillotson, and D. S. Washburn.
With regard to these men you will observe the order herewith inclosed, which will be your warrant for the execution, and I hope that this example will have such a satisfactory effect that no further execution in your vicinity may be necessary.
I wish the execution of these men to be done with due form and ceremony, and thinking you may not be aware of the proper form give the following description of how it is to be done:
At the hour fixed for the execution your whole command will be paraded and marched to the execution ground, together with the condemned and the firing party; the firing party will be selected by lot from your men, six men for each prisoner. The march to the execution ground is in the following order: First. A company of your command. Second. The prisoners, each with the firing party in the rear of him. Third. The rest of your command.
Having reached the ground, the command will be formed on three sides of a square, facing inwards. On the open side the prisoners and firing party will be disposed as in the diagram.
Before going to the ground the muskets of the firing party will be loaded--not in the presence of the men who are to use them--and of each six one of them will be loaded with a blank cartridge, the others with ball. This is done in order that no individual of the firing party may know to a certainty that his piece contained a ball. The prisoners are then blindfolded and made to kneel before the firing parties, and the commanding officer gives the order, "Ready! Aim! fire!"
Six men must be detailed as a reserve, whose duty it will be to finish the execution of any one of the prisoners who may not be killed by the first discharge.
Instruct your firing party that they are simply discharging their duty, and however disagreeable it may be it is a duty, and they will show mercy to the prisoners by aiming true at the heart, that the first fire may kill them.
I hope, major, that this solemn execution of a sentence and vindication of violated law may be properly conducted, and that both yourself and your men will do their duty faithfully, however unpleasant it may be.
After the execution the whole command is marched by the dead bodies, and they are then taken up and decently interred.
I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
LEWIS MERRILL,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
[Inclosure.]
SPECIAL ORDERS No. 35.
HDQRS. NORTHEAST MISSOURI DIVISION
Macon City, Mo., September 23, 1862.
* * * * * * * * * *
II. Charles King, Charles Tillotson, and D. S. Washburn, having once been in arms in rebellion against their lawful Government, and having been pardoned for that offense and taken a solemn oath not again to take up arms against the United States, were afterward found in arms as members of a guerrilla band and taken prisoners, and, in accordance with the laws of war, will be shot at or near Huntsville, Mo., on Friday, the 26th instant, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., having incurred the just penalty of a violated parole and willful and intentional perjury. This sentence will be duly carried into execution by the commanding officer of the troops at Huntsville, for which this shall be his warrant.
III. The following-named prisoners, now in confinement at Macon City, having once been pardoned for the crime of taking up arms against their Government, and having taken a solemn oath not again to take up arms against the United States, have been taken in arms, in violation of said oath and their solemn parole, and are therefore ordered to be shot to death on Friday, the 26th of September, between the hours of 10 o'clock a.m. and 3 o'clock p.m.
The commander of the post at Macon City is charged with the execution of this order, and for their execution this shall be his warrant.
Names of prisoners to be executed: Frank E. Drake, Dr. A. C. Rowe, Elbert Hamilton, William H. Earhart, William Searcy, J. A. Wysong, G. H. Fox, Edward Riggs, David Bell, John H. Oldham, James H. Hall.
By order of Brigadier-General Merrill:
GEO. M. HOUSTON,
Major and Assistant Adjutant-General.