The Provost Marshal Goes to War

This is the first of a series of articles on the provost marshals of the Union Army, prepared by Wilton P. Moore. The author received his master's degree from Arizona State College and is now working on his doctorate at the University of California at Los Angeles. The Provost Marshal Goes to War WILTON P. MOORE presidentLincoln's callfor troops afterthe firing on Fort Sumter sent many state militia and volunteer regiments hastening to the defense of Washington. By midsummer, 1861, seventy-eight regiments of volunteers were bivouacked in and around the capital city. Trouble was inevitable, since no effective brigade or division organization existed to keep order. Affrays involving volunteer soldiers reached such proportions that the military authorities detailed regular troops to patrol the city and arrest disorderly soldiers. Late in June the regiments received their first pay, and drunken pandemonium broke out in Washington. Members of the "Pet Lambs" raced up and down Pennsylvania Avenue, brandishing pistols and snatching hats from astonished pedestrians. Some volunteers broke up bars and restaurants. Others wrecked a bawdy house, carrying off ornaments and decorations. Still others, refused admission to JuHa Deane's brothel, fired pistols at one of the girls.1 Washington was a combination of New Year's Eve, Mardi Gras, and Halloween. General Irvin McDowell's initial advance into Virginia in mid-July relieved the disciplinary problem in Washington and transferred it to the Union field commands. Henry J. Raymond, publisher of the Neu; York Times, who accompanied the advance through Fairfax Court House toward Centreville and Manassas, vividly described what happened when the soldiers occupied abandoned Confederate camps. He told how they proceeded to plunder them, and added: ? "Pet Lambs" was the nickname of the New York Fire Zouaves. For an excellent description of conditions in Washington at this time, see Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington, 1860-1865 (New York: Harper & Bros., «1941), pp. 85-86. 62 Iamsorry to say thatthey did notlimittheirpredatory exploits to these camps, which might, perhaps, be considered fair objects for plunder. The appetite once excited became ungovernable,—and from camps they proceeded to houses, andfrom plunder to wanton destruction. Five or six houses were set on fire, others were completely sacked—the furniture stolen, the windows smashed, and books and papers scattered to the winds. Presently in came soldiers bringing in chickens, turkeys, pigs, &c., swung on their bayonets, proud of their exploits, and exultant over the luxurious and unwonted feast in the immediate prospect. Discipline among the troops was certainly nothing to boast about. McDowell had issued orders against plunder, but the soldiers had taken the bit in their teeth. This was "secesh" country and "secesh" property, and theyfeltit was their right, not to saytheir duty, to destroy it. McDowell did not see things that way, however, and issued a strong order condemning the actions of the marauders. He lectured the men, pointing out that they had come "to protect the oppressed and free the countryfromthe domination of a hated party." He directed the troops to behave themselves "with as much forbearance and propriety as if they were at their own homes." He told them that they were in Virginia "to fight the enemies of the country, not to judge and punish the unarmed and helpless, however guilty they may be." He reinforced his lecture by directing the commander of each regiment to select a commissioned officer as regimental provost marshal, in command of ten enlisted men, who were to be a permanent police force. The provost marshal's sole duty was the preservation and protection of citizens' property along the line of march. Troops could not enter houses or arrest citizens without express permission from headquarters. Here was thefirst real extension ofthe provost marshal system involving troops in the field and civilians. Prior to this there had been no agency for controlling the men and enforcing discipline except regimental officers, most of whom were as inexperienced and as irresponsible as the enlisted volunteers. The creation of the regimental provost marshalwas a step toward a more centralized control of the problem. Almost before thenewly appointed regimental provost marshals could familiarize themselves with their new duties, the First Battle of Bull Run routed the Union...