Baring the iron hand : discipline in the Union Army / Steven J. Ramold.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ramold, Steven J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Army--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

United States.

United States. Army.

History.

Military discipline--United States--History--19th century.

Military discipline.

Military offenses.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Social aspects.

Social aspects.

United States. Army--Military life--History--19th century.

Military offenses--United States--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

xii, 493 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press, [2010]

Summary:

During antebellum wars the Regular Army preserved the peace, suppressed the Indians, and bore the brunt of the fighting. The Civil War, however, brought an influx of volunteers who overwhelmed the number of army Regulars, forcing a clash between traditional military discipline and the expectations of citizens. Baring the Iron Hand provides an extraordinarily in-depth examination of this internal conflict and the issue of discipline in the Union Army. Ramold tells the story of the volunteers, who, unaccustomed to such military necessities as obeying officers, accepting punishment, and suppressing individuality, rebelled at the traditional discipline expected by the standing army. Unwilling to fully surrender their perceived rights as American citizens, soldiers both openly and covertly defied the rules. They challenged the right of their officers to lead them and established their own policies on military offenses, proper conduct, and battlefield behavior. Citizen soldiers also denied the army the right to punish them for offenses like desertion, insubordination, and mutiny that had no counterpart in civilian life. Ramold demonstrates that the clash between Regulars and volunteers caused a reinterpretation of the traditional expectations of discipline. The officers of the Regular Army had to contend with independent-minded soldiers who resisted the spit-and-polish discipline that made the army so efficient, but also alienated the volunteers' sense of individuality and manhood. Unable to prosecute the vast number of soldiers who committed offenses, professional officers reached a form of populist accommodation with their volunteer soldiers. Unable to eradicate or prevent certain offenses, the army tried simply to manage them or to just ignore them. Instead of applying traditionally harsh punishments for specific crimes as they had done in the antebellum period, the army instead mollified its men by extending amnesty, modifying sentences, and granting liberal leniency to many soldiers who otherwise deserved the harshest of penalties. Ramold's fascinating look into the lives of these misbehaving soldiers will interest both Civil War historians and enthusiasts.

Contents:

1 "Ancient un-American articles": American Military Justice to 1861 8

2 "Damn Fool!": The Uneasy Relationship between Officers and Enlisted Men 43

3 "Fields of Satan": The Impulse of Indiscipline 79

4 "Brawls, riots, and midnight orgies": Alcohol and the Union Army 123

5 "There were threats to shoot the officers": Insubordination in Various Forms 180

6 "The Pernicious Practice of Treasonable Persons": Desertion in the Union Army 219

7 "Descend to the level of the barbarians": Theft, Property, and Violent Crimes 264

8 "No punishment can be too severe": The Process of Courts-martial 302

9 "We have no right to shoot them": The Application of Punishment 344.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [461]-486) and index.

ISBN:

9780875804088

087580408X

OCLC:

406164795