The Execution of Barney Gibbons: Proceedings of U. S. Army Courts-Martial and Military Commissions: Union Soldiers Executed by U.S. Military Authorities, 1861-1866.
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Barney Gibbon’s court-martial took place on July 13, 1864 in Colonel William Meyers office. Private Gibbons was accused as follows: *** Specifications: In this, that he, Barney Gibbons, a private of Company A, Seventh Regiment United States Infantry, duly enlisted in the service of the United States on or about the 27th day of July, A. D. 1861, at or near San Augustine Springs in the Territory of New Mexico, did absent himself from and desert said service and go over to and join with rebel forces in arms against the government of the United States.
According to witness Sergeant Richard C. Day, Private Gibbons joined the 7th Regiment at Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, with a batch of recruits from Newport, Campbell County, KY. When hostilities broke out, CO A, 7th Regiment, found itself isolated at San Augustine Springs, New Mexico Territory. The hapless Barney Gibbons made a statement to the Court defending his pleas of innocent:
"All I have got to say is the charges against me is false. I never belonged to the United States Infantry, but there was a man, my brother, who went by the name of Barney Gibbons, that did and he belonged to that company. I was in Texas at the time, and was in a light battery. My brother pretended to say that he was not treated well and left them and joined us. He resembled me very much and I suppose this man arrested me under that name for this reason. My name is Benjamin Gray. I never assumed the name of Barney Gibbons. My brother did. He joined under that name. He got into trouble and assumed that name to get out of it. I have a cut on my lip and so has he. I was born in Pennsylvania. I came up to Fillmore in Col. John Baylor’s command. I never was in the service of the United States. The rebel company, that I belonged to was broken up and I was assigned to a gun boat, the Sachem, but I was dissatisfied and at the first opportunity I left them. I never saw this man before that. I might have seen him at the time he stated, but I don’t recollect it. I was in the rebel service at the time this company of the 7th U.S. Infantry surrendered. I was in a battery when the regiment was taken."
The court deliberated and found Pvt. Gibbons guilty of desertion. The sentence was equally as terse.
"And the Court does therefore sentence him, the said Barney Gibbons, a private of Co. A, Seventh United States Infantry, to be shot to death with musketry, at such time and place as the commanding General may designate. Two-thirds of the members of the Court concurring in the above sentence."
The date was set for August 13, 1864. A unique aspect of Barney Gibbon’s execution was it was the first military execution of a Union soldier to take place in St. Louis. The military establishment wanted to make a spectacle of it and to impress the Union soldiers with the seriousness of deserting over to the enemy. The day before his execution, Gibbons provided a little more detail on his errant behavior. He admitted to deserting with eighteen other soldiers of the 7th Infantry as Sergeant Day had testified. He also admitted fighting with the CSA in the battles of Valverde, Apache Canyon, Johnson’s Ranch and Albuquerque. While serving in Texas, his artillery unit was transferred to the CSS Sachem (captured from the Union navy in late 1863). He did not like the duty and escaped on the captain’s gig (carriage) to the blockading Union navy cruiser, Princess Royal. He disembarked at New Orleans and drove a Quartermaster’s wagon until May 1864 when he deserted the Confederate army as well and turned up as a teamster in New Orleans, and eventually made his way to St. Louis. There, he joined workers on the Pacific Railroad and cut ties near Knob Noster and Warrensburg, Missouri and fatefully returned to St. Louis in June 1864. It as there that he was to come across Sergeant Day, whom he chanced to pass. And, the rest is history.
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer; August 23, 1864:
"Although there is not, at the post [Gratiot Street Prison] of St. Louis, an officer who ever witnessed an execution, the preliminaries were conducted in a skillful, orderly and decent manner. All the troops of the post were in attendance, and a hollow square having been formed with one side open toward the embankment of the fort where the condemned man, following Catholic baptism, was placed beside a post, with a seat attached; his common pine coffin lying on the ground beside him. After making a brief statement, in which he denied having deserted, but said that he straggled and was overtaken by the rebels, he pronounced his sentence most unjust. *** He was seated, and his arms tied behind the post, a white cap was drawn over his face and, with six musketeers drawn up within fifteen feet of his breast. [To a firing squad of Tenth Kansas Infantry,] The command was given: “Make Ready.” “Aim.” “Fire”. *** And now succeeded a few seconds in which transpired a scene which shook the stoutest heart, and made every human creature present shudder. From beneath the ghastly cap came a wail of agony which pierced every ear, and as the utterance “Oh! Oh! Too low,” escaped from the lips of the quivering form writhing in the throes of a horrible death, every one seemed paralyzed with horror. With a quick motion the officer of the squad waved the six muskets aside and four others took their place. “Make ready.” “Aim” — but mercifully before the third command was given, the four pieces were discharged; three leaden messengers of death entering the sternum, and a mighty convulsive shudder ended the being of the poor deserter.
What an eternity of woe in those intervening few seconds! What a crowding of events from infancy, hallowed by a mother’s love and prayers to the dreadful details of the present scene! Yet, all passed before the mind’s eye of the dying man, and the wonderful palimpsest of his brain touched by the consciousness of instant death, gave him to see in a second all that had been for years forgotten, ere he entered upon the unknown. The error in firing arose from the fact, discovered too late for remedy, that the sights of the muskets were set for long range.
************************************************************
Barney Gibbon’s court-martial took place on July 13, 1864 in Colonel William Meyers office. Private Gibbons was accused as follows: *** Specifications: In this, that he, Barney Gibbons, a private of Company A, Seventh Regiment United States Infantry, duly enlisted in the service of the United States on or about the 27th day of July, A. D. 1861, at or near San Augustine Springs in the Territory of New Mexico, did absent himself from and desert said service and go over to and join with rebel forces in arms against the government of the United States.
According to witness Sergeant Richard C. Day, Private Gibbons joined the 7th Regiment at Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, with a batch of recruits from Newport, Campbell County, KY. When hostilities broke out, CO A, 7th Regiment, found itself isolated at San Augustine Springs, New Mexico Territory. The hapless Barney Gibbons made a statement to the Court defending his pleas of innocent:
"All I have got to say is the charges against me is false. I never belonged to the United States Infantry, but there was a man, my brother, who went by the name of Barney Gibbons, that did and he belonged to that company. I was in Texas at the time, and was in a light battery. My brother pretended to say that he was not treated well and left them and joined us. He resembled me very much and I suppose this man arrested me under that name for this reason. My name is Benjamin Gray. I never assumed the name of Barney Gibbons. My brother did. He joined under that name. He got into trouble and assumed that name to get out of it. I have a cut on my lip and so has he. I was born in Pennsylvania. I came up to Fillmore in Col. John Baylor’s command. I never was in the service of the United States. The rebel company, that I belonged to was broken up and I was assigned to a gun boat, the Sachem, but I was dissatisfied and at the first opportunity I left them. I never saw this man before that. I might have seen him at the time he stated, but I don’t recollect it. I was in the rebel service at the time this company of the 7th U.S. Infantry surrendered. I was in a battery when the regiment was taken."
The court deliberated and found Pvt. Gibbons guilty of desertion. The sentence was equally as terse.
"And the Court does therefore sentence him, the said Barney Gibbons, a private of Co. A, Seventh United States Infantry, to be shot to death with musketry, at such time and place as the commanding General may designate. Two-thirds of the members of the Court concurring in the above sentence."
The date was set for August 13, 1864. A unique aspect of Barney Gibbon’s execution was it was the first military execution of a Union soldier to take place in St. Louis. The military establishment wanted to make a spectacle of it and to impress the Union soldiers with the seriousness of deserting over to the enemy. The day before his execution, Gibbons provided a little more detail on his errant behavior. He admitted to deserting with eighteen other soldiers of the 7th Infantry as Sergeant Day had testified. He also admitted fighting with the CSA in the battles of Valverde, Apache Canyon, Johnson’s Ranch and Albuquerque. While serving in Texas, his artillery unit was transferred to the CSS Sachem (captured from the Union navy in late 1863). He did not like the duty and escaped on the captain’s gig (carriage) to the blockading Union navy cruiser, Princess Royal. He disembarked at New Orleans and drove a Quartermaster’s wagon until May 1864 when he deserted the Confederate army as well and turned up as a teamster in New Orleans, and eventually made his way to St. Louis. There, he joined workers on the Pacific Railroad and cut ties near Knob Noster and Warrensburg, Missouri and fatefully returned to St. Louis in June 1864. It as there that he was to come across Sergeant Day, whom he chanced to pass. And, the rest is history.
************************************************************
The Cleveland Plain Dealer; August 23, 1864:
"Although there is not, at the post [Gratiot Street Prison] of St. Louis, an officer who ever witnessed an execution, the preliminaries were conducted in a skillful, orderly and decent manner. All the troops of the post were in attendance, and a hollow square having been formed with one side open toward the embankment of the fort where the condemned man, following Catholic baptism, was placed beside a post, with a seat attached; his common pine coffin lying on the ground beside him. After making a brief statement, in which he denied having deserted, but said that he straggled and was overtaken by the rebels, he pronounced his sentence most unjust. *** He was seated, and his arms tied behind the post, a white cap was drawn over his face and, with six musketeers drawn up within fifteen feet of his breast. [To a firing squad of Tenth Kansas Infantry,] The command was given: “Make Ready.” “Aim.” “Fire”. *** And now succeeded a few seconds in which transpired a scene which shook the stoutest heart, and made every human creature present shudder. From beneath the ghastly cap came a wail of agony which pierced every ear, and as the utterance “Oh! Oh! Too low,” escaped from the lips of the quivering form writhing in the throes of a horrible death, every one seemed paralyzed with horror. With a quick motion the officer of the squad waved the six muskets aside and four others took their place. “Make ready.” “Aim” — but mercifully before the third command was given, the four pieces were discharged; three leaden messengers of death entering the sternum, and a mighty convulsive shudder ended the being of the poor deserter.
What an eternity of woe in those intervening few seconds! What a crowding of events from infancy, hallowed by a mother’s love and prayers to the dreadful details of the present scene! Yet, all passed before the mind’s eye of the dying man, and the wonderful palimpsest of his brain touched by the consciousness of instant death, gave him to see in a second all that had been for years forgotten, ere he entered upon the unknown. The error in firing arose from the fact, discovered too late for remedy, that the sights of the muskets were set for long range.
The Execution of Barney Gibbons: Proceedings of U. S. Army Courts-Martial and Military Commissions: Union Soldiers Executed by U.S. Military Authorities, 1861-1866.
************************************************************
Barney Gibbon’s court-martial took place on July 13, 1864 in Colonel William Meyers office. Private Gibbons was accused as follows: *** Specifications: In this, that he, Barney Gibbons, a private of Company A, Seventh Regiment United States Infantry, duly enlisted in the service of the United States on or about the 27th day of July, A. D. 1861, at or near San Augustine Springs in the Territory of New Mexico, did absent himself from and desert said service and go over to and join with rebel forces in arms against the government of the United States.
According to witness Sergeant Richard C. Day, Private Gibbons joined the 7th Regiment at Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, with a batch of recruits from Newport, Campbell County, KY. When hostilities broke out, CO A, 7th Regiment, found itself isolated at San Augustine Springs, New Mexico Territory. The hapless Barney Gibbons made a statement to the Court defending his pleas of innocent:
"All I have got to say is the charges against me is false. I never belonged to the United States Infantry, but there was a man, my brother, who went by the name of Barney Gibbons, that did and he belonged to that company. I was in Texas at the time, and was in a light battery. My brother pretended to say that he was not treated well and left them and joined us. He resembled me very much and I suppose this man arrested me under that name for this reason. My name is Benjamin Gray. I never assumed the name of Barney Gibbons. My brother did. He joined under that name. He got into trouble and assumed that name to get out of it. I have a cut on my lip and so has he. I was born in Pennsylvania. I came up to Fillmore in Col. John Baylor’s command. I never was in the service of the United States. The rebel company, that I belonged to was broken up and I was assigned to a gun boat, the Sachem, but I was dissatisfied and at the first opportunity I left them. I never saw this man before that. I might have seen him at the time he stated, but I don’t recollect it. I was in the rebel service at the time this company of the 7th U.S. Infantry surrendered. I was in a battery when the regiment was taken."
The court deliberated and found Pvt. Gibbons guilty of desertion. The sentence was equally as terse.
"And the Court does therefore sentence him, the said Barney Gibbons, a private of Co. A, Seventh United States Infantry, to be shot to death with musketry, at such time and place as the commanding General may designate. Two-thirds of the members of the Court concurring in the above sentence."
The date was set for August 13, 1864. A unique aspect of Barney Gibbon’s execution was it was the first military execution of a Union soldier to take place in St. Louis. The military establishment wanted to make a spectacle of it and to impress the Union soldiers with the seriousness of deserting over to the enemy. The day before his execution, Gibbons provided a little more detail on his errant behavior. He admitted to deserting with eighteen other soldiers of the 7th Infantry as Sergeant Day had testified. He also admitted fighting with the CSA in the battles of Valverde, Apache Canyon, Johnson’s Ranch and Albuquerque. While serving in Texas, his artillery unit was transferred to the CSS Sachem (captured from the Union navy in late 1863). He did not like the duty and escaped on the captain’s gig (carriage) to the blockading Union navy cruiser, Princess Royal. He disembarked at New Orleans and drove a Quartermaster’s wagon until May 1864 when he deserted the Confederate army as well and turned up as a teamster in New Orleans, and eventually made his way to St. Louis. There, he joined workers on the Pacific Railroad and cut ties near Knob Noster and Warrensburg, Missouri and fatefully returned to St. Louis in June 1864. It as there that he was to come across Sergeant Day, whom he chanced to pass. And, the rest is history.
************************************************************
The Cleveland Plain Dealer; August 23, 1864:
"Although there is not, at the post [Gratiot Street Prison] of St. Louis, an officer who ever witnessed an execution, the preliminaries were conducted in a skillful, orderly and decent manner. All the troops of the post were in attendance, and a hollow square having been formed with one side open toward the embankment of the fort where the condemned man, following Catholic baptism, was placed beside a post, with a seat attached; his common pine coffin lying on the ground beside him. After making a brief statement, in which he denied having deserted, but said that he straggled and was overtaken by the rebels, he pronounced his sentence most unjust. *** He was seated, and his arms tied behind the post, a white cap was drawn over his face and, with six musketeers drawn up within fifteen feet of his breast. [To a firing squad of Tenth Kansas Infantry,] The command was given: “Make Ready.” “Aim.” “Fire”. *** And now succeeded a few seconds in which transpired a scene which shook the stoutest heart, and made every human creature present shudder. From beneath the ghastly cap came a wail of agony which pierced every ear, and as the utterance “Oh! Oh! Too low,” escaped from the lips of the quivering form writhing in the throes of a horrible death, every one seemed paralyzed with horror. With a quick motion the officer of the squad waved the six muskets aside and four others took their place. “Make ready.” “Aim” — but mercifully before the third command was given, the four pieces were discharged; three leaden messengers of death entering the sternum, and a mighty convulsive shudder ended the being of the poor deserter.
What an eternity of woe in those intervening few seconds! What a crowding of events from infancy, hallowed by a mother’s love and prayers to the dreadful details of the present scene! Yet, all passed before the mind’s eye of the dying man, and the wonderful palimpsest of his brain touched by the consciousness of instant death, gave him to see in a second all that had been for years forgotten, ere he entered upon the unknown. The error in firing arose from the fact, discovered too late for remedy, that the sights of the muskets were set for long range.
************************************************************
Barney Gibbon’s court-martial took place on July 13, 1864 in Colonel William Meyers office. Private Gibbons was accused as follows: *** Specifications: In this, that he, Barney Gibbons, a private of Company A, Seventh Regiment United States Infantry, duly enlisted in the service of the United States on or about the 27th day of July, A. D. 1861, at or near San Augustine Springs in the Territory of New Mexico, did absent himself from and desert said service and go over to and join with rebel forces in arms against the government of the United States.
According to witness Sergeant Richard C. Day, Private Gibbons joined the 7th Regiment at Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, with a batch of recruits from Newport, Campbell County, KY. When hostilities broke out, CO A, 7th Regiment, found itself isolated at San Augustine Springs, New Mexico Territory. The hapless Barney Gibbons made a statement to the Court defending his pleas of innocent:
"All I have got to say is the charges against me is false. I never belonged to the United States Infantry, but there was a man, my brother, who went by the name of Barney Gibbons, that did and he belonged to that company. I was in Texas at the time, and was in a light battery. My brother pretended to say that he was not treated well and left them and joined us. He resembled me very much and I suppose this man arrested me under that name for this reason. My name is Benjamin Gray. I never assumed the name of Barney Gibbons. My brother did. He joined under that name. He got into trouble and assumed that name to get out of it. I have a cut on my lip and so has he. I was born in Pennsylvania. I came up to Fillmore in Col. John Baylor’s command. I never was in the service of the United States. The rebel company, that I belonged to was broken up and I was assigned to a gun boat, the Sachem, but I was dissatisfied and at the first opportunity I left them. I never saw this man before that. I might have seen him at the time he stated, but I don’t recollect it. I was in the rebel service at the time this company of the 7th U.S. Infantry surrendered. I was in a battery when the regiment was taken."
The court deliberated and found Pvt. Gibbons guilty of desertion. The sentence was equally as terse.
"And the Court does therefore sentence him, the said Barney Gibbons, a private of Co. A, Seventh United States Infantry, to be shot to death with musketry, at such time and place as the commanding General may designate. Two-thirds of the members of the Court concurring in the above sentence."
The date was set for August 13, 1864. A unique aspect of Barney Gibbon’s execution was it was the first military execution of a Union soldier to take place in St. Louis. The military establishment wanted to make a spectacle of it and to impress the Union soldiers with the seriousness of deserting over to the enemy. The day before his execution, Gibbons provided a little more detail on his errant behavior. He admitted to deserting with eighteen other soldiers of the 7th Infantry as Sergeant Day had testified. He also admitted fighting with the CSA in the battles of Valverde, Apache Canyon, Johnson’s Ranch and Albuquerque. While serving in Texas, his artillery unit was transferred to the CSS Sachem (captured from the Union navy in late 1863). He did not like the duty and escaped on the captain’s gig (carriage) to the blockading Union navy cruiser, Princess Royal. He disembarked at New Orleans and drove a Quartermaster’s wagon until May 1864 when he deserted the Confederate army as well and turned up as a teamster in New Orleans, and eventually made his way to St. Louis. There, he joined workers on the Pacific Railroad and cut ties near Knob Noster and Warrensburg, Missouri and fatefully returned to St. Louis in June 1864. It as there that he was to come across Sergeant Day, whom he chanced to pass. And, the rest is history.
************************************************************
The Cleveland Plain Dealer; August 23, 1864:
"Although there is not, at the post [Gratiot Street Prison] of St. Louis, an officer who ever witnessed an execution, the preliminaries were conducted in a skillful, orderly and decent manner. All the troops of the post were in attendance, and a hollow square having been formed with one side open toward the embankment of the fort where the condemned man, following Catholic baptism, was placed beside a post, with a seat attached; his common pine coffin lying on the ground beside him. After making a brief statement, in which he denied having deserted, but said that he straggled and was overtaken by the rebels, he pronounced his sentence most unjust. *** He was seated, and his arms tied behind the post, a white cap was drawn over his face and, with six musketeers drawn up within fifteen feet of his breast. [To a firing squad of Tenth Kansas Infantry,] The command was given: “Make Ready.” “Aim.” “Fire”. *** And now succeeded a few seconds in which transpired a scene which shook the stoutest heart, and made every human creature present shudder. From beneath the ghastly cap came a wail of agony which pierced every ear, and as the utterance “Oh! Oh! Too low,” escaped from the lips of the quivering form writhing in the throes of a horrible death, every one seemed paralyzed with horror. With a quick motion the officer of the squad waved the six muskets aside and four others took their place. “Make ready.” “Aim” — but mercifully before the third command was given, the four pieces were discharged; three leaden messengers of death entering the sternum, and a mighty convulsive shudder ended the being of the poor deserter.
What an eternity of woe in those intervening few seconds! What a crowding of events from infancy, hallowed by a mother’s love and prayers to the dreadful details of the present scene! Yet, all passed before the mind’s eye of the dying man, and the wonderful palimpsest of his brain touched by the consciousness of instant death, gave him to see in a second all that had been for years forgotten, ere he entered upon the unknown. The error in firing arose from the fact, discovered too late for remedy, that the sights of the muskets were set for long range.
Gravesite Details
AKA: Gibbins
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