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OFFICIAL RECORDS: Series 1, Vol 26, Part 1 (Port Hudson)
SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,
No. 309.
New Orleans, La., December 11, 1863.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
X. A military commission, to consist of Major General F. J. Herron, U. S. Volunteers; Colonel H. B. Sergeant, First Massachusetts Cavalry; Captain Stephen Hoyt, commissary of subsistence, and Major G. Norman Lieber, will assemble at Fort Jackson, La., to-morrow at 7 a.m., or as soon thereafter as practicable, to examine into and report upon the disturbance said to have occurred in the garrison of Fort Jackson on the 9th instant. The commission will investigate the cause, the course, and the termination of the disturbance, particularly the conduct of the commanding officer, officers and men of the garrison, and will sit without regard to days or hours, reporting to these headquarters by telegraph should it be deemed advisable. Major G. Norman Lieber, judge-advocate of the Department, will act as judge-advocate of the commission.
Commission’s examination of Colonel CHARLES W. DREW, Fourth Regiment Infantry, Corps d'Afrique.
Question: "What troops composed the garrison at Fort Saint Philip and Fort Jackson on the 9th instant?"
Answer. "The garrison at Fort Jackson was composed of the Fourth Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, 500 men. The garrison at Fort Saint Philip was composed of that portion of the Fourth Regiment Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, which had just been turned over to the Fifth Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, about 300 men, and Company A, First Regiment Artillery, Corp d'Afrique."
Commission’s examination of First Lieutenant GEORGE H. KIMBALL, regimental adjutant, Fourth Regiment Infantry.
Question: "Do you know what the cause of the disturbance was?"
Answer: "It was Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict's whipping two music boys. "
Question: "What offense had the two boys to whom you refer committed? "
Answer: "The immediate offense was going to a sentinel, and telling him the sergeant of the guard had permitted them to go out, and going out on that pretense. "
Commission’s examination of Quartermaster's Sergt. George McFaul
Question: "Did you ever see him (LTC Benedict) maltreat any man; if so, when and where?"
Answer: "I saw him whip Harry Williams, a drummer boy, on the evening of the 9th instant. I have never seen him whip anybody else, but I have seen him handle men very roughly at guard-mount; shaking them. He struck Harry Williams from fifteen to twenty times with an army wagoner's whip or an artillery driver's whip. The boy had his coat off. I do not know what offense the boy had committed. "
Commission’s examination of Captain JAMES MILLER, Fourth Infantry.
Question: "Please state what unusual transactions, if any, took place at Fort Jackson on that day. "
Answer: "Everything passed off very quietly until 5.30 p.m., when Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict did take two acting musicians and flog them. During the time that he was flogging them, there was a crowd of unarmed men assembled at the sally-port. After flogging the men, Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict dispersed the men, and they went to their quarters, and appeared to be very quiet; they went to their quarters, and plotted among themselves for a general insurrection. At 6.45 they rose up in arms, and went to the center of the parade, and commenced firing into the air. They were about half the regiment. During the time I went to fall in my guard, they would not take part against their comrades, and from 5 to 8 of the guard joined the insurrections. The insurrections then scattered over the parade, and discharged their guns into the air and at the officers' quarters, crying out, "We know what General Grant told us," meaning Adjutant-General Thomas. They then went to the guard-house and released the prisoners, 3 or 4 in number. Even those who did not join the insurrections would not obey orders. They then went outside the fort, and returned in greater force. Colonel Drew made his appearance upon the parade, and ordered the well-disposed to fall in, the company officers to march the companies on the parade in close column, then to form square…….They were brought back to duty to [by] coaxing. The reason that the men were displeased with Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict was because he whip[ped] two musicians on the 9th. He whipped them severely with what I took to be a rawhide. I was stationed at Fort Saint Philip when Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict was in command there, and there was a great deal of discontent among the men there on account of his severe treatment. The men were very much enraged on the 9th, and would undoubtedly have killed Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict if they had caught him. "
At the conclusion of their investigation the commission sentenced many of the mutinous men to death by musketry; others were sentenced to several years of hard labor. Some were returned to duty. Lieutenant Colonel Benedict lost his commission and was subsequently discharged from the army. The moral of the story…don’t mess with musicians…
SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,
No. 309.
New Orleans, La., December 11, 1863.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
X. A military commission, to consist of Major General F. J. Herron, U. S. Volunteers; Colonel H. B. Sergeant, First Massachusetts Cavalry; Captain Stephen Hoyt, commissary of subsistence, and Major G. Norman Lieber, will assemble at Fort Jackson, La., to-morrow at 7 a.m., or as soon thereafter as practicable, to examine into and report upon the disturbance said to have occurred in the garrison of Fort Jackson on the 9th instant. The commission will investigate the cause, the course, and the termination of the disturbance, particularly the conduct of the commanding officer, officers and men of the garrison, and will sit without regard to days or hours, reporting to these headquarters by telegraph should it be deemed advisable. Major G. Norman Lieber, judge-advocate of the Department, will act as judge-advocate of the commission.
Commission’s examination of Colonel CHARLES W. DREW, Fourth Regiment Infantry, Corps d'Afrique.
Question: "What troops composed the garrison at Fort Saint Philip and Fort Jackson on the 9th instant?"
Answer. "The garrison at Fort Jackson was composed of the Fourth Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, 500 men. The garrison at Fort Saint Philip was composed of that portion of the Fourth Regiment Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, which had just been turned over to the Fifth Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, about 300 men, and Company A, First Regiment Artillery, Corp d'Afrique."
Commission’s examination of First Lieutenant GEORGE H. KIMBALL, regimental adjutant, Fourth Regiment Infantry.
Question: "Do you know what the cause of the disturbance was?"
Answer: "It was Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict's whipping two music boys. "
Question: "What offense had the two boys to whom you refer committed? "
Answer: "The immediate offense was going to a sentinel, and telling him the sergeant of the guard had permitted them to go out, and going out on that pretense. "
Commission’s examination of Quartermaster's Sergt. George McFaul
Question: "Did you ever see him (LTC Benedict) maltreat any man; if so, when and where?"
Answer: "I saw him whip Harry Williams, a drummer boy, on the evening of the 9th instant. I have never seen him whip anybody else, but I have seen him handle men very roughly at guard-mount; shaking them. He struck Harry Williams from fifteen to twenty times with an army wagoner's whip or an artillery driver's whip. The boy had his coat off. I do not know what offense the boy had committed. "
Commission’s examination of Captain JAMES MILLER, Fourth Infantry.
Question: "Please state what unusual transactions, if any, took place at Fort Jackson on that day. "
Answer: "Everything passed off very quietly until 5.30 p.m., when Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict did take two acting musicians and flog them. During the time that he was flogging them, there was a crowd of unarmed men assembled at the sally-port. After flogging the men, Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict dispersed the men, and they went to their quarters, and appeared to be very quiet; they went to their quarters, and plotted among themselves for a general insurrection. At 6.45 they rose up in arms, and went to the center of the parade, and commenced firing into the air. They were about half the regiment. During the time I went to fall in my guard, they would not take part against their comrades, and from 5 to 8 of the guard joined the insurrections. The insurrections then scattered over the parade, and discharged their guns into the air and at the officers' quarters, crying out, "We know what General Grant told us," meaning Adjutant-General Thomas. They then went to the guard-house and released the prisoners, 3 or 4 in number. Even those who did not join the insurrections would not obey orders. They then went outside the fort, and returned in greater force. Colonel Drew made his appearance upon the parade, and ordered the well-disposed to fall in, the company officers to march the companies on the parade in close column, then to form square…….They were brought back to duty to [by] coaxing. The reason that the men were displeased with Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict was because he whip[ped] two musicians on the 9th. He whipped them severely with what I took to be a rawhide. I was stationed at Fort Saint Philip when Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict was in command there, and there was a great deal of discontent among the men there on account of his severe treatment. The men were very much enraged on the 9th, and would undoubtedly have killed Lieutenant-Colonel Benedict if they had caught him. "
At the conclusion of their investigation the commission sentenced many of the mutinous men to death by musketry; others were sentenced to several years of hard labor. Some were returned to duty. Lieutenant Colonel Benedict lost his commission and was subsequently discharged from the army. The moral of the story…don’t mess with musicians…
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