Military execution

19 February 2021

At the end of his life Henry Jerome, known as Pete, was “a man of mature years, short in stature, and of quiet demeanor.”

He was born and raised in Connecticut, but married a South Carolina woman, had three children with her, and lived in South Carolina before the war. He enlisted as a Private in Company A of the 17th South Carolina Infantry in November 1861 and was wounded at 2nd Manassas in August 1862. He was in action at Turner’s Gap on South Mountain, MD on 14 September, but was listed as a deserter on the 18th.

In December 1863 he returned to his Company from his second time being absent without leave and he was executed for desertion in May 1864. The clipping [pdf] above is from the Edgeville Advertiser of 11 May 1864, online from the Library of Congress.

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