Feb. 1864: That Time George Pickett Executed NC Soldiers in Blue

With the anniversary of the New Bern Expedition and the Kinston Hangings (both covered in detail in The Fight For the Old North State (Univ. Press of Kansas, 2019)), I wanted to re-post a little background on those little-known events.

The Fight For the Old North State 

On February 1, 1864, Confederate forces led by George Pickett attacked the Union base at New Bern. The plan originated with Robert E Lee, who proposed the operation to Jefferson Davis in early January.  Lee believed success would alleviate the supply crisis plaguing the Army of Northern Virginia and quell an emerging peace movement in North Carolina. As N. C. Supreme Court Justice Walter A. Montgomery later explained: "A great majority of the people . . . thought that the time had arrived when the question of peace with the United States government should be considered. It was thought that the contest was hopeless after the surrender of Vicksburg and the defeat . . . at Gettysburg, and that the further effusion of blood and destruction of property should cease." Understanding these concerns, Lee proposed operations in North Carolina hoping to open up the rich agricultural region for Confederate subsistence officers and to boost Confederate morale in the state.

New Bern, N.C.

Over several days, Pickett's forces sought to find a way to take the Federal base. The offensive generated pockets of fighting at Bachelor Creek, Newport Barracks, and Brice's Creek. During the expedition, Confederate forces nearly captured and boarded a train headed into the New Bern defenses and managed to seize a Union gunboat, the Underwriter, only to be forced to abandon the prize almost immediately. Ultimately, the Union forces at New Bern under Innis Palmer managed to fend off the rebels and maintain Union control over eastern North Carolina.

George Pickett

On the retreat from New Bern, Pickett's forces determined that several dozen Union prisoners captured during the expedition had previously served in Confederate units within the state. A court-martial quickly reviewed the cases and passed judgment. Some of the prisoners escaped the ordeal with their lives. One was transferred to civil authorities; another, described as mentally and physically impaired, received a year of hard labor; and three more were branded with a four-inch "D" (for deserter), shackled with a ball and chain, and confined to hard labor for the rest of the war. But most of the accused were not so lucky. The first men identified in the dragnet were hung almost immediately after Pickett’s return to the Confederate base at Kinston. The condemned struck one witness as illiterate, hardened men who expressed little concern for their own plight and “marched to the gallows with apparent indifference.” Several more executions followed, carried out on gallows constructed of "rude" material in a field behind the Kinston jail and all witnessed by troops in Pickett's command. 

The hangings triggered swift and widespread condemnation in the Northern press and produced protests from Union officers. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Henry Foster, commander of the 2nd North Carolina Union Volunteers (NCUV,) labeled the hangings an "inexcusable massacre." John Peck, in charge of Federal troops in North Carolina, protested and provided a list of his men captured a New Bern. A truculent Pickett taunted Peck, pointing out that the list "so kindly furnished . . . will enable me to bring to justice many who have up to this time escaped their just desserts."

The executions would follow Pickett after the war as the U.S. government conducted several inquiries into the circumstances behind the incident. Eventually, Pickett avoided prosecution in the wake of Andrew Johnson's general amnesty announced on Christmas Day in 1868. The larger impacts of the hangings in eastern North Carolina are remain murky even today. The executions appear to have dissuaded many local men from joining the Federal ranks, an important goal for Confederate military leaders. However, the Confederates also aimed to quell the growing unhappiness among North Carolinians, particularly those who were threatening to pull the state out of the Confederacy. Ultimately, Pickett’s decision to execute the deserters may not have advanced this political goal. Indeed, some North Carolina soldiers and citizens doubted the guilt of the condemned men, and even among those who found them culpable, there was a feeling that the punishment did not fit the crime. For those in North Carolina wavering between support of the Confederate war effort and withdrawal from the war on favorable terms, Pickett’s actions may not have had the impact Confederate officials desired.