At 11 o'clock the whole army at Mount Washington met on the grand parade in order to see a man shot, who had left his post in the battle of 16th inst.— but he was reprieved by his Excellency Gen. Washington.
SOURCE: “Diary of Lieutenant James McMichael,” William H. Egle, Editor, Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. XV: Journals and Diaries of the War of the Revolution with Lists of Officers and Soldiers, 1775-1783, pp. 199-200
A Soldier in Colo Marshals Regt. set on ye Gallows ½ an Hour & receivd 100 Stripes for enlisting twice & deserting. Colo Hays dined with us upon Venison Soop &c fair & pleasant—Report of ye Capture of ye Milford.
SOURCE: Amos Perry, The Town Records of Rhode Island, Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, New Series, Vol. 7 (1899), p. 111
About nine o'clock
this morning a soldier was shot for desertion in front of the Jews'
burial-ground wall.
SOURCE: Jacob Cox
Parsons, Editor, Extracts from the Diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer, of
Philadelphia, 1765-1798, p. 15
This day a soldier
of the Virginia Eighteen Months' Men was executed for entering the tent of
Capt. Kirkpatrick, of 3d Regiment, and shooting him in the left eye.
This day I sent the
following letters by Lieut. Crawford: One to Lieut. Johnson, one to Capt. Busk,
of our Regiment, one to my mother, (No. 3,) one to my brother App. (No. 1.)
SOURCE: Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, Publisher, Journal of Lieut. William Feltman,
of the First Pennsylvania Regiment, 1781-82, p. 9
This day a soldier of our regiment was hanged for marauding.
SOURCE: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Publisher, Journal of Lieut. William Feltman, of the First Pennsylvania Regiment, 1781-82, p. 8
CARLISLE. — The Pennsylvania Line, after the revolt and discharge of the men, last winter, were reduced to six regiments; the officers ordered to different towns within the State to recruit. An appointment of ensign in the 7th had been obtained for me in August last; the 7th and 4th were incorporated, and under command of Lt. Col. Comt. William Butler, rendezvoused at this place companies now about half full. The effective men were formed into four companies, and marched to Little York; I was arranged to one of the marching companies, Samuel Montgomery, captain, and George Bluer, lieutenant. All the recruits fit for service, from the different stations, were brought to York, formed into two regiments of eight companies each, destined for the State of Virginia. A few days spent in equipping, &c., and for the trial of soldiers charged with mutiny, General Anthony Wayne, the commanding officer, influenced, no doubt, by experience of the revolt last winter, expresses a determination to punish, with the utmost rigor, every case of mutiny or disobedience. A general court martial continued sitting several days; twenty odd prisoners brought before them; seven were sentenced to die. The regiments paraded in the evening earlier than usual; orders passed to the officers along the line to put to death instantly any man who stirred from his rank. In front of the parade the ground rose and descended again, and at the distance of about three hundred yards over this rising ground, the prisoners were escorted by a captain's guard; heard the fire of one platoon and immediately a smaller one, when the regiments wheeled by companies and marched round by the place of execution. This was an awful exhibition. The seven objects were seen by the troops just as they had sunk or fell under the fire. The sight must have made an impression on the men; it was designed with that view.
SOURCE: J. B. Lippincott & Co., Publisher, The Record of the Court at Upland, in Pennsylvania. 1676 to 1681. And a Military Journal Kept by Major E. Denny, 1781 to 1795, pp. 237-8
