"he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

[jarednichols]

In an excercise in futility i have been helping my father with geneological research. Of course i have taken great intrest in our Civil War ancestors, and i ran across an interesting quote from my great-grandmother in reference to her father John Bransford Nichols.

"While Olta May Tyler Nichols (g-g mother) was recollecting family information in 1957 "He (John Bransford Nichols) was a Confederate Soldier taken prisoner soon after joining and was caught escaping by tunneling out through a fireplace and was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

This is the only reference in family records i could find, all i have found in the Soldier and Sailor database is a John B. Nichols serving in the Missouri State Guard. I know the MSG does not have the best records but I am trying to determine the following

1) What unit he served in (MSG? Which Division? Partisan/Guerilla?)
2) If there are any incidents in reference to missouri confederates being "strung up by the thumbs" for attempting to escape? Was this a common punishment for POWs? I think it was common corporal punishment, any thoughts on this?
3) If he was captured soon after joining, could this be the "Camp Jackson Affair"?

If anyone has any ideas or theories i would appreciate it.

Some background:
J.B. Nichols was born in 1842 in Smith, TN, moved to Franklin County, MO (town of St Clair) with his family in 1850 and from what i can tell was "out of the war" by 1863 when records show he married Harriet Funk and they had children in 1863 and 1864. Records in TN indicate they were a slaveholding family while in TN, but nothing to show they had slaves while in Missouri. Following the war (1876) they moved to Arkansas where they finally passed away.

[Auld Pelty]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

From To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65

November 18, 1863

(Col. Charles) DeLand decided that he had to take extreme measures to prevent escapes. He promptly hanged three men by their thumbs for allegedly threatening an informer. They endured the punishment for over half an hour in silence and then began groaning and crying out.

"It made me almost sick to hear them", William Burke (prisoner) wrote. "Several times the Yankee officers asked them if they were ready to tell what they knew, and they answered that they knew nothing to tell. A Yankee surgeon examined them to see how much they could stand. There were some citizens there and they tried to get Col. DeLand to take the men down. The men were taken down after having been tied up so they had to partly tip toe for an hour. One of the boys fainted, and another threw up all over himself. Their names were James Allen, John Sweeney, and Wm. Wasson" (Sweeney was of the 14th KY Cavalry; Wasson of the 2nd KY Cavalry---Morgan's Raiders).

Most soldiers considered hanging men by their wrists or thumbs to be inhuman. Sometimes comrades released the victims and risked the same punishment.

DeLand lectured the prisoners about threatening informers and hanged two more by the thumbs.

[jarednichols]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

Appreciate the response,

I thought it was an interesting comment from my g-g-mother. Your reply makes me wonder if this was a common punishment (possibly "torture") used on POWs. Was "stringing up by the thumbs" an "approved form of punishment/torture"? was it in any sort of manual?

Any incidents of those captured in the Camp Jackon Affair being "strung up" in this manner?

..........hmm, wonder if this would make a good living history vingette?

[Shantyman]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

What you described sounds allot like the practice known as "tricing".

It was a very popular method of corporal punishment abord the CSS Shendoah as stated in The Last Flag Down by Powers and Scott as a matter of fact, it was the ONLY method of corporal punishment that was regailed in the ships log.

I suspect it was very widely used in both the Army and Navy opposed to flogging due to the fact there was little chance of scarring or permanent damage.

[swankgreg]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

From "A Yankee Private's Civil War" by Robert Hale Strong:

Speaking of Gen. John W. Geary and his discipline of his troops. 2nd Division, 20th Corps.

"Geary frequently used to threaten to arrest us when he came across us away from our commanders, foraging, and did often take our forage. Consequently, no one liked him. He was cruel, too, in exacting full discipline of his men. I have many times on the march passed his camp and seen men with a cord tied around their thumbs, standing on tiptoe with their arms stretched above their heads and their thumbs tied to the limb of a tree. It was an ugly sight, and more than once our boys cut the men down."

He goes on to say that these men and those of the first division as well, were also subjected frequently to being bucked and gagged as punishment. Apparently while an accepted corporal punishment, it was still considered cruel at the time. Strong goes on to say that Eastern troops would put up with more of this type of punishment than the westerners would.

"I never saw a Western man used that way, and I honestly believe that if one of our officers had used this men that way, he would have been killed during the first battle thereafter. I have no doubt that many officers were so killed by their own men."

[riverratmess]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

I did a quick search on civilwardata.com.

I found only one John Nichols that served in the Missouri State Guard.

It doesn't give any details to where he's from, when he enlisted or where he was captured. But it does say that he enlisted as a Private and served in Co. G, 2nd Missouri Cavalry. He was a POW but it doesn't say where he was kept. It does say he was executed in retaliation for murder of 6 men of the 3rd Missouri Cavalry, US.

This probably gives you more questions then answers.

[McKim]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

A couple books I can think of that mention being tied up by the thumbs are "Camp Morton" and "Gone for a Soldier", by Alfred Bellard (last name sp?). Gone to Soldier would be a real good book to have because first of all it is a memoir written by a vet of the war, and he talks about such things as being tied up by the thumbs and several other punishments.

You will also see that handing out such punishment could backfire badly...it has always been wise to use disipline to correct offenders and not create victims.

[nick19thind]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

The same punishment was used by British soldiers against Irish rebels. The prisoner was hung up by his thumb and made to stand on a sharpened stake

[jarednichols]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

Appreciate the responses. Thought that this was an interesting topic and has led me to some more interesting readings. On the note of my ancestor John Nichols. Our family is tracking that his only service was in the MSG and that he survived the war. We know that he married in 1863/64 and survived the war and moved to Arkansas in the 1876 where the family settled down.

His period of service was short probably only 1861-63/63.

[McKim]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

Ah.. found it. In "Four Years In The Stonewall Brigade" John O. Casler mentions a prisoner being hanged by the thumbs for 3 days at Ft. McHenry. Now that is hard stuff!

[jarednichols]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

Talk about cruel and unusual.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

Cruel, but not unusual. Can you imagine the outcry today if someone was hung by the thumbs, bucked and gagged, flogged...? (Yes, flogging was supposed to be illegal through most of the war years, but I've seen one report that it did happen; I'm following up to make sure it wasn't a third-hand report.) Some punishments, especially pre-period, were a fair approximation of a death sentence, while others were undoubtedly painful and/or humiliating enough (barreling, for instace) to make a miscreant think more than twice about repeated offenses.

[McKim]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

Becky,

In Alfred Bellard's "Gone For A Soldier" he writes about being witness to a flogging (page 39). The offender had sold liquor to soldiers, which was forbidden...not exactly the crime of the century. He writes "Although the whipping post had been abolished for soldiers, it would seem that for a citizen it was a matter of taste".

Two men were punished at that time and after set adrift on the Potomac after.

[MarylandLine]

Re: "he was hanged by the thumbs by the Yankees."

I own a book titled "Branded as Rebels" by Eakin and Hale. It lists known Confederate soldiers, sympathizers, buschwackers, guerillas and Partisan Rangers from Missouri. Page 324 lists a John Nichols who was "a bushwacker that was executed in Jefferson City. He was born in Mercer County, Kentucky on August 23, 1841. His parents moved to Pettis County, Missouri the same year. Ref: California(Missouri) Weekly News, Novemeber 7 & 21, 1863."