Freedom and Subordination: Disciplinary Problems in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812

This essay examines the general court martial case files for enlisted men in the War of 1812. The defendants were a reasonably representative cross section of the enlisted men, desertion was the most frequent offense, and mistreatment by officers was the most common motive for deserting. Most defendants proclaimed their innocence, but guilt and conviction were invariably the outcome in their trials. Officers struggled to find effective punishments. The abolition of corporal punishment by the lash in 1812 reduced the army’s disciplinary options, resulting in an increasing recourse to the death penalty. The army, however, shrank from executing all the condemned.