The Saga of Lieutenant Lancaster – Part Two

The Saga of Lieutenant Lancaster

Part Two

In our previous post we read about the terrible news that the men of the Second Wisconsin Veteran Volunteer Cavalry received in April of 1865. Rather than going home they were being forced to remain in the US Army. Since officers could resign their commissions without regards to an enlistment contract many of the officers resigned their commissions and went home. As a result these newly vacated positions had to be filled, and Sergeant Leonard Lancaster was selected as a newly commissioned lieutenant in the regiment. His story continues:

Life in and around Memphis during the months of May and June was rather enjoyable for the men of Squadron “L”.  Lieutenant Lancaster was learning his responsibilities, and he and his troopers were enjoying the fruits of the Union victory.  Their previously arduous and dangerous patrols in the countryside became missions of peace and restoration.

At one point Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan B. Forrest was assigned to work with the Squadron with a mission of convincing the local partisans that the war was over and that they should surrender, turn over their military equipment and go home.

Lieutenant Lancaster was in awe of “the Wizard of the Saddle” as Forrest was called .  He rode with him throughout the countryside. Forrest was highly respected, and it was through his auspices that Confederate soldiers, bushwhackers and partisan rangers were convinced to lay down their arms and surrender. Forrest told them to go home and plant food crops, the war was over.

In early July the regiment received it’s orders to move to Alexandria, Louisiana to join General Custer’s command. They boarded river steamers and loaded their serviceable animals in barges and headed down river, past Vicksburg, to Natchez. Here they unloaded and marched overland to Alexandria arriving there on July 6, 1865.

Alexandria was a hellhole. Their camp was set up in an area that was nothing but a huge sand pile. Sand fleas, scorpions, and snakes were found throughout the encampment. The heat was oppressive, and the water that came from one of the bayous was tainted. Supplies were short, and men who were caught ‘liberally foraging’ off the countryside were arrested, and court martialed.

One soldier from the regiment, Trooper Bob Kennedy, was caught stealing apples from a farm and was court martialed based upon General Custer’s orders. The men of his Squadron were formed in a U-shaped formation. In the center of the formation was a pole and poor Bob was attached to the pole and flogged eleven times. This was the first time that any of the men of the regiment had had one of their members flogged, the army had officially ended the punishment a few years earlier. They watched in horror as Bob was taken down from the pole bloody and beaten, looking to the surgeon to have his injuries cared for.

Watching one of their own being flogged infuriated the men of the Squadron. It was the beginning of a general mutiny against their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dale. How could he let one of his own men be flogged in front of the unit! This punishment had been eliminated for years yet Dale had proscribed it as a way of setting a precedent!

Many of the horses that they had had in Memphis were listed as unserviceable. About one-third of the cavalry was without a horse. They still had all of their saddles and equipment, but no mount to ride. It seems that the minute the war ended the army decided to sell off all of the wagons and horses that they had in the large corrals that were supposed to be issued to the men.

Food was short as well. Troopers quickly tired of boiled beef and army beans. The commissary department had fallen apart completely as all of the equipment, food, and forage had been sold or distributed. Morale was falling rapidly as the men continuously complained about their treatment, their lack of mounts, and the poor food.

Morale was terrible. Lieutenant Lancaster hadn’t seen morale this bad since they had left Helena, Arkansas, for the vicinity of Vicksburg. One reason for low morale in Helena was the fact that so many of their men, almost 400, had died from disease while they waited in that rotten camp. Lancaster and his partners had been lucky; they had been assigned to guard duty along the Mississippi River at one of the landings. They drew all of their water from the muddy Mississippi River and ran it through cheesecloth, then boiled it and used it for drinking and making their coffee. The men in the main camp were drinking water straight out of a contaminated spring that looked clear, and bubbled right out of the earth. Little did they know that the Confederates had stabled all of their horses around that spring before they evacuated the town. All of the offal from the animals had drained into the seemingly clear and pure spring water where the troops drew their water for cooking, drinking and cleaning.

The morale for the entire command in Alexandria, Louisiana was terrible. There was a general feeling of mutiny throughout General Custer’s division. The harsh punishment, the lack of good food and water, the fact that cavalry men no longer had horses to ride, was devastating to morale. These were men who knew horses, who rode everywhere they went, who treated their mounts like members of their own family. All of the sudden  a third of the men were without that family.

Food was terrible. Discipline was rigid, and punishments were harsh. A soldier had to have written permission from his Squadron commander in order to go to the bathroom. Every night more and more men deserted.

It was so bad that Brigadier General Forsythe, the Inspector General of the Division of the Gulf, reported that robbery, plundering and murdering was of daily occurrence, and nearly the entire division was in mutiny.

In the case of mutiny within the Second Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, the mutiny was an action directed immediately towards its commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas H. Dale. Dale’s court martial in Memphis, his acquittal of all but one technical charge and specification, his reported anti-Lincoln statements and his tarnished reputation earned at the Battle of Yazoo City, where he had reportedly shot himself in the toe,  impacted upon his abilities to command. The men hated him.

“That SOB just wanted to be a glory hound,” an angry trooper exploded. “He didn’t have anything or anyone to go home to, so he just wanted to continue this soldiering, and we’re stuck with the bastard as our commander. We just wanted to go home, and he pulls this reenlistment shit on us so that he can play tin soldier!”

Mutiny had been brewing for a number of days prior to the arrival of the rest of the regiment. When the whole regiment was reassembled, the ringleaders felt that it was time to act since the mutineers had sufficient numbers to attempt to oust their commanding officer.

The matter was brought up concerning their lieutenant colonel. There was great dissatisfaction, and they, one and all, wanted him to leave the regiment. In the meantime, they had gotten up petitions and were having them circulated among the boys for their signatures.

      Lieutenant Lancaster signed his name, as did also six or seven hundred of the boys, and some fifteen commissioned officers.

One evening the men gathered in a mob. About six-hundreds of them set off to the tent of their regimental commander, with a petition in hand. Most of the men were drunk! They had discovered a still that was run by a local merchant and had raided his store and relieved him of his contraband. They made sure that every drop was consumed before the provost marshal could intervene.

When they arrived at Lieutenant Colonel Dale’s tent, they sent the Officer of the Day to rouse him and have him appear before the regiment assembled.

“What goes here?” demanded Captain Davis, the Officer of the Day.

“We demand an audience with the commander, we’ve got grievances, and we demand to see him!”  demanded one of the ringleaders.

“What are your grievances!” demanded Captain Davis.

“You get that bastard out of his tent to talk to the boys and you’ll find out!”

The colonel came out and wanted to know what the big commotion was all about.

“Colonel we’ve got grievances and it’s time for you to go! You couldn’t lead a thirsty horse to water, yet you think that you can command these men! We just want you out of our regiment! NOW! Git your arse on a boat and get out of here immediately, or else!”

“Well boys,” stated Dale, “if you want me out, that if there was any such feeling in the regiment, it must come through the proper channels, — that would be by petition!

According to the official report by the Inspector General:

“The men of the Second Wisconsin attempted to drive off their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dale. They ordered him to take a boat, then at the levee and leave the command, and that they would give him a certain amount of time to leave.”

 Forsyth also indicates that the same men who had threatened Lieutenant Colonel Dale also intended to march on Custer’s headquarters and demand his resignation, or they would throw him in the river.

Instead of resigning, Lieutenant Colonel Dale went directly to General Custer and reported the incident. Custer’s orders were to arrest all of the commissioned officers that had signed the petition and to immediately reduce all of the non-commissioned officers who had put their names on the petition to the ranks.

Eventually all the non-commissioned officers and all but one of the commissioned officers that had signed the petition retracted their statements. The only commissioned officer that felt honor bound to maintain his objection to Lieutenant Colonel Dale’s command of the regiment was Lieutenant Leonard L. Lancaster.

A drunken Lieutenant Lancaster was the officer who was chosen to deliver the petition to Lieutenant Colonel Dale. These officers must have also understood the severe consequences of this action because the  army regulations made it a capital offense for an officer to insult his superior, an offense as heinous as treason itself.

Lieutenant Lancaster was asked to retract his part in the mutiny, but he refused.

“As an officer and a gentleman how can I truthfully say that what I agreed to last evening isn’t my true feelings? To do so would indicate cowardice on my part. This man isn’t fit to command a corporals guard, and he must be dismissed!”

Lancaster was tried by court-martial on the charges of mutiny, conspiracy, insubordination, and inciting mutiny against his commanding officer; found guilty and sentenced to be executed. Major General Custer approved of the sentence and signed the death warrant. The execution was to be carried out on July 28, 1865, at 6:00 p.m. A private from Company “A”, Fifth Illinois Cavalry by the name of Private William A. Wilson was also ordered to be shot at that time for desertion.

Both men were consigned to the Alexandria jail, which was described by some as a dungeon. It was extremely hot and overcrowded.

Lancaster wrote home to his wife explaining his situation:

“My dearest Rebecca,

This may be my last. I’ve been unjustly convicted of mutiny and the sentence for such an action in the army is death. My dear, I will be departing this life in a few days without regret. I’ve made arrangements for my remains to be sent home to you for burial with Ma and the rest of the family.

My dear I couldn’t, as an honorable man, retract the statements I made against Lieutenant Colonel Dale, our regimental commander. He is a villain and does not deserve to wear the shoulder straps of a commissioned officer. Avenge me in the local press if you can. Our senior commander, George Custer is just as much of a culprit in this affair, and I only regret that he will outlive me.

My dearest. Do not weep for your fallen soldier. I die as an honorable man and a patriot. Please kiss the children for me and tell them that I’ll see them in heaven at their time of passing. I’ll be waiting there for you my dearest with open arms in the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

With all my love,

your Lenny

Wednesday, I’ll post the next segment, If you missed the first part it was posted on last Friday’s blog.

Regards!

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