Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia, 1864–1865 419
August V. Kautz’s 1st Division of the XXV Corps received an order that adjured
company commanders to make sure that “every man appears at Guard-mounting
Inspections and Parades in the best possible condition, clean hands and face, shoes
blacked, accoutrements properly adjusted, clothing brushed clean, caps on, coats
buttoned, pants turned down, guns and equipments clean, and every thing pertaining
to a good soldier strictly adhered to.” On 5 April, Weitzel assigned an officer
to supervise repair and maintenance of the municipal gasworks. The next day, the
medical inspector warned that a “low estimate” credited Richmond with “a hundred
houses of prostitution, and probably a thousand prostitutes, many of them
foully diseased.” He called for licensed brothels and medical inspections paid for
by license fees. 93
The order to Kautz’s division about daily routine, dress, and deportment also
tried to restrict the number of absences by issuing passes to one officer in each
regiment and two enlisted men in each company. Soldiers who had been under fire
only a few days before tended to ignore the rule. As the chaplain of the 29th USCI
observed, “forced marches and short rations” encouraged “a decided tendency to
recklessness and profanity.” 94
On the night of 11 April, an event occurred that helped to set the course of
the XXV Corps for Texas. The troops’ after-hours jaunts had already caused complaints
at divisional headquarters, where General Kautz warned two of his brigade
commanders about “soldiers . . . going beyond our lines committing depredations
upon private property and . . . other disorderly conduct,” and urged “prompt measures
to prevent such irregularities.” Union soldiers, black and white, were apt to
stray from camp during spells of inactivity throughout the war and in all parts of
the South. While the XXIV Corps division in Richmond also issued orders about
clean clothing and passes to visit the city and warned its soldiers against despoiling
nearby civilians, General Weitzel felt obliged on 11 April, after one week of occupation,
to tell Colonel Draper of his “regrets that so many complaints are being
made in regard to the colored troops of his command.” 95
Some time after 10:00 that night, two sergeants, a corporal, and five privates
of the 38th USCI talked their way past regimental sentries and made their way to a
nearby house. Along the way, four of the privates left the party. The other four men
entered the house and took some food and clothing. While the remaining private
made off with the loot, the three noncommissioned officers raped the two white
93 OR, ser. 1, vol. 46, pt. 3, p. 567; 36th USCI, General Orders (GO) 43, 4 Apr 1865, 36th USCI,
Regimental Books, RG 94, NA; Detachment Army of the James, SO 92, 5 Apr 1865, Entry 522,
XXV Corps, Special Orders, pt. 2, RG 393, NA; 1st Div, XXV Corps, GO 29, 5 Apr 1865, Entry
533, pt. 2, RG 393, NA; Surgeon N. Folsom to Lt Col W. A. Conover, 6 Apr 1865 (F–96–DV–1865),
Entry 5063, Dept of Virginia and Army of the James, LR, pt. 1, RG 393, NA.
94 Chaplain G. S. Barnes to Adj Gen USA, 30 Apr 1865, 29th USCI, Entry 57C, RG 94, NA. A
week after General Orders 43 ordered cleanliness in arms, uniform, and person, 36th USCI, GO 44,
11 Apr 1865, noted that “several non-commissioned officers of the regiment have been absent from
camp without permission.” 36th USCI, Regimental Books, RG 94, NA.
95 Capt W. von Doehn to Commanding Officers, 1st and 2d Brigades, 9 Apr 1865 (“soldiers . . .
going”), Entry 549, pt. 2, RG 393, NA; Maj D. D. Wheeler to Col A. G. Draper, 11 Apr 1865 (“regrets
that”), Entry 512, XXV Corps, LS, pt. 2, RG 393, NA; Wiley, Life of Billy Yank, pp. 197–98. For
examples of XXIV Corps orders, see Circular, 5 Apr 1865, Entry 7026, XXIV Corps, 3d Bde, 3d
Div, General Orders, pt. 2, RG 393, NA; 2d Bde, 3d Div, XXIV Corps, GO 17, 14 Apr 1865, Entry
6946, 2d Bde, 3d Div, XXIV Corps, General Orders, pt. 2, RG 393, NA.