Battlefield Dispatches No. 335: 'Shot to death'

Friday, September 21, 2012

To suggest that the longevity or life expectancy of a Missouri guerrilla, or leader of a detachment of guerrillas, during the Civil War could be very long would be a gross overstatement. The reality was that the longevity, or life span, of a guerrilla could be and was often very short, which in essence meant that a guerrilla, or "bushwhacker," who had a run of bad luck ended up dead. Such was the fate of a Bushwhacker captain by the name of Nevins whose career ended when he was captured, tried by a drum head court martial, convicted and shot to death in late September of 1862. The following after-action report describes the capture and execution of Capt. Nevins and is located in Series I, Vol. 13 of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion on Pages 281 -282.

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