As the tumult of World War I raged on, the United States Army was not exempt from its harsh realities. The specter of the death penalty loomed over the American soldiers, an extreme form of punishment reserved for certain severe infractions.
This article, dating back to 1918, delves into the eleven offenses within the United States Army that could warrant such a severe consequence. Among them are spying, murder, rape, and various forms of insubordination, each carrying their unique ramifications.
Eleven Offenses Punishable by Death in United States Army
Four American soldiers, sentenced to death for sleeping on sentry duty in the front-line trenches in France, may be saved from the law’s extreme penalty by General Pershing’s action in sending the records of their cases to Washington for review.
General Pershing has authority to carry out the sentence of the court martial, but it is only on foreign soil that such power lies in the commanding general’s hands, for by an order of December 29 the war department, at the suggestion of the president, ruled that no death sentence in the army forces in this country could be executed before review of the case by the department.
So far as is known here, the only execution of an American soldier in France up to the present time has been that of Private F. Cadue, hanged in November for assault and murder of a French girl.
Punishable by Death
Under the laws of the American military organization, 11 offenses are punishable by death, although these are variously subdivided.
Spies must suffer the death penalty, and theirs is the only offense for which the death sentence is mandatory. For murder and rape, punishment must, according to the ruling, be either death or life imprisonment; if the death sentence is imposed it is by hanging.
Spies are usually hanged, also, because, to quote the manual of regulations, “death by hanging is considered more ignominious than death by shooting.”
Hanging, the rule continues, “is the usual method of execution designated in the case of spies, of persons guilty of murder in connection with mutiny, or sometimes for desertion in the face of the enemy; but in the case of a purely military offense, such as sleeping on post, such sentence, when imposed, is usually ‘to be shot to death with musketry.’ For the sake of example, and to deter others from committing like offenses, the death sentence may, when deemed advisable, be executed ‘in the presence of the troops of the command.'”
At Discretion of Court Martial
The other eight offenses, or groups of offenses, listed as punishable by death leave the penalty to the discretion of the court martial.
“Death or such other punishment as the court martial may direct” is the usual wording of the army regulation.
The offenses are cowardice, in any of a variety of ways; sleep or drunkenness on sentry post; desertion or the incitement to or assistance in desertion; attack upon a superior officer or insubordination; mutiny or sedition; making known the countersign; forcing safeguard; relieving the enemy with ammunition “or any other thing,” or harboring or giving intelligence to the enemy.
In the offense of “neglect of sentry duty,” which is a betrayal of responsibility whose seriousness has made it an almost unforgivable crime against military law, the letter of the regulation recognizes no difference between being asleep and being intoxicated.
The ruling reads: “Any sentinel who is found drunk or sleeping upon his post, or who leaves it before he is regularly relieved, shall, if the offense be committed in time of war, suffer death or such other punishment, as a court martial may decree.”
It is further provided that “the fact that the accused had been previously overtaxed by excessive guard duty is not a defense, although evidence to that effect may be received as extenuation of the offense.”
The point is distinctly made that the sentry who neglects his duty has jeopardized no one knows how many thousands of his fellows, and it may be a crucial position to his country’s cause. Whether he was intoxicated or merely asleep is, in the letter of the law, a minor matter.
Insubordination
The rule regarding insubordination is very strict. It reads:
“Any person subject to military law who, on any pretense whatever, strikes his superior officer or draws or lifts up any weapon against him, being in the execution of his office, or willfully disobeys any lawful command of his superior officers, shall suffer death or such other punishment as a court martial may direct.”
It is explained, however, that this does not apply to the striking of an officer “in legitimate self-defense,” and, of course, an officer who strikes a man under him is liable to severe punishment.
Rules regarding punishment for mutiny or sedition are inclusive. The death penalty may be imposed at the discretion of the court martial upon anyone who “attempts to create, begins, causes, excites, or joins in” mutiny or sedition, but the liability to the extreme punishment does not stop there.
Anyone who, being present at a mutiny or seditious outbreak, does not “do his utmost to suppress it,” may be punished by the execution of the death sentence, as if he had been an organizer of the sedition himself.
Also, anyone who has reason to believe that a mutiny is about to occur or that sedition is being stirred up must report the matter in full to his superior officer on pain of incurring the same punishment as an actual mutineer.
“Making known the countersign” and “forcing safeguard” are purely military offenses for which the death penalty may be imposed. “Relieving the enemy” may cover a number of military crimes against one’s country, and “harboring the enemy” or “directly or indirectly” giving him any sort of intelligence is punishable by death at the discretion of the court martial.
Many Touching Stories
The tragedy of sleeping on post has furnished some of the most famous and touching stories in the history of our own and other lands. Everyone has heard the story of Lincoln’s forgiveness of the country boy who, tired by a long campaign, slept at his sentry post. An English soldier, writing of his experiences in this war, tells how he found a young sentry asleep in an important point of watch, and of the agony of mind that preceded his decision that he must report the youth whose neglect of duty might have had terrible consequences for his comrades and the army’s position.
Apropos of the war department’s order that death sentences passed upon soldiers in this country be referred to it for review, it is recalled that Lincoln in 1861 ruled that no army death sentence should be executed until he had personally examined all the circumstances and facts in the case.
Source: Audubon County Journal. (Exira, Iowa), 28 March 1918.
