Family Stories: Thriller Thursday: Who's the Ass Now?

Bad Decisions

Humans have been making bad decisions since the beginning of time. We've all made them. No one gets a pass on bad decision-making, not even our ancestors. Some poor decisions have been quite spectacular, especially when alcohol was involved. On about 20 March 1865, my Great Grandfather Harrison Blacketer made one such bad decision, and, thankfully for us, it was recorded.😅

Drunkeness

During the Civil War, Harrison served as a private in Company H of the 12th Missouri Cavalry Volunteers. Captain Collar ordered ten men and one sergeant from Company H to escort a forage train from Eastport, Mississippi, to a specific spot on Bear Creek. And Harrison was one of those ten privates. The only problem was Harrison was stinkin' drunk.

All prosecutorial witnesses stated he had been drunk. Pvt. John D. Shelton testified, "He acted very much like he was drunk." Pvt. James J. Thibedeaux simply stated, "Blacketer was light," but then later elaborated that he "...saw him drink and he was making a noise and laughing." When the Judge Advocate asked about any remarkable behavior, Pvt. Thibedeaux replied, "Yes it was remarkable. Sometimes he talked loud." Sergeant William G. Wallace shared Harrison was "...whooping and making a noise and acted differently from what he was when sober."

Virginia. Mule team crossing brook. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Civil War Photographs, LC-GIG-cwpb-03869.

Destruction

But Harrison wasn't just charged with "Drunkeness while on duty," they also charged him with "Destruction of Government Property."

Sgt. Wallace explained he had gone to the landing for the wagons and when he returned, he had found some of the ten men had been drinking. He thought Harrison '...was so drunk he did not know what he was about." So he kept Harrison and the other inebriated soldiers in the train's rear with him. Pvt. William H. Grover passed them by to move further ahead on his mule when Harrison pulled out his revolver and it went off shooting the mule Pvt. Grover was riding. The mule died the next day.

Pvt. Thibedeaux further explained that as they were traveling, "Blacketer Said [sic] if he saw a citizen Rebel he would shoot him and pulled out his revolver and it went off." Sgt. Wallace agreed as he thought the shooting of the mule was unintentional because he "...never heard him make any threats."

Here's Your Sign

Though Harrison pled not guilty to the charges, he refused counsel. The Court found him guilty on both charges, but ruled it accidental, not criminal. The Court sentenced him to hard labor for twenty days wearing a ten-pound ball-and-chain on his leg and a board on his back that read, "This is the result of drunkeness on duty."

I wonder what Harrison felt about it? Any regrets?

Source:

Harrison Blacketer (Pvt., Co. H, 12 Mo. Cav., Civil War), court martial case file no. MM-3053, March 1865–March 1865; National Archives ID no. 1848679; Court Martial Case Files, December 1800-October 1894; Record Group 153: Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army); National Archives, Washington, D.C.