Capital punishment by the United States military

For an overview of capital punishment by all jurisdictions of the United States, see Capital punishment in the United States. For capital punishment for civilians by the federal government, see Capital punishment by the United States federal government.
United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute houses the primary execution chamber for military executions.

The use of capital punishment by the United States military is a legal punishment in martial criminal justice. As of 2025, capital punishment has not been carried out by the U.S. military since 1961, when Private John A. Bennett was executed on charges of rape and attempted murder of a minor.

Reinstatement of the military death penalty

The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled in 1983 that the military death penalty was unconstitutional, and after new standards intended to rectify the Armed Forces Court of Appeals' objections, the military death penalty was reinstated by an executive order of President Ronald Reagan the following year.[1]

On July 28, 2008, President George W. Bush approved the execution of Former United States Army Private Ronald A. Gray, who had been convicted in April 1988 of multiple murders and rapes. A month later, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren set an execution date of December 10, 2008, and ordered that Gray be put to death by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute. The military publicly released Gray's execution date on November 20, 2008. On November 26, however, Gray was granted a stay of execution by U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers of Kansas.[2] In December 2016, a Kansas federal judge, U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten, lifted Gray's stay.[3]

Transfer cases containing the remains of soldiers murdered by Nidal Hasan in the shooting at Fort Hood Texas, November 2009

The U.S. military currently has four inmates on death row. The most recent added was Nidal Hasan, who murdered 13 people and injured 32 others during the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.[4]

Capital crimes

Currently, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 15 offenses are punishable by death. Under the following sections of the UCMJ, the death penalty can be imposed in both times of war and peace:

Another five provisions of the UCMJ carry a death sentence only if the crime is committed during times of war:

Under article 120, rape was once punishable by death, but the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Coker v. Georgia and Kennedy v. Louisiana that the capital punishment for rape is unconstitutional.

United States Disciplinary Barracks houses men on military death row.
All female prisoners in the DOD serve time at Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar (therefore female military service members under death sentence would await execution here).

Capital cases are tried in courts-martial before a panel of at least 12 military members. If the defendant is an enlisted service member, he or she may opt for at least one-third of the panel to also be of enlisted rank. All members of the panel must outrank the accused whenever logistically possible per 10 USC 825 (e)(1).[5] The defendant cannot plead guilty to a capital offense if the government is seeking the death penalty. Unanimity is required for a conviction and is required separately to issue a death sentence during the penalty phase of the proceeding.

All death sentences are automatically appealed, first to the Court of Criminal Appeals for the military service concerned, then to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The sentence must be personally confirmed by the President of the United States.

Military executions would be conducted under regulations issued on January 17, 2006,[6] and would ordinarily take place at the Special Housing Unit of the United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, although alternative locations are possible (such as the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal civilian death-row inmates are housed and executed). Of four convicted servicemen awaiting execution, three are confined at the USDB's Special Housing Unit and one at Camp Lejeune. All have been convicted of murder.

Prior to 1991, the methods of execution approved by Headquarters, Department of the Army were hanging, firing squad (musketry) or electrocution. Electrocution was added as an option in the 1950s but could only be used at a specific confinement facility designated by Headquarters, and only be performed by a professional civilian executioner. An electric chair was installed at the old United States Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, but was never used. The last military execution occurred in 1961 by hanging.[7] Currently, lethal injection is the only method.[8]

Separately, military commissions may be also established in the field in time of war to expeditiously try and sentence enemy military personnel under the UCMJ for certain offenses.[9]: 5 [10]: 16–18  Controversially, the Military Commissions Act of 2009 allows military commissions to try and sentence "'alien unprivileged enemy belligerent[s]'" accused of having "'engaged in'" or "'purposefully and materially support[ed] hostilities'" against the United States or its allies, without the benefit of some UCMJ protections.[9]: 7–9  In a military commission trial, the death penalty may only be imposed in case of a unanimous verdict and sentencing decision.[9]: 31 

Previous use

War of Independence

In the 18th Century, capital punishment was a common and accepted punishment in European armies for a range of offences. The Continental Army was no exception to this practice and General Washington was said to have "approved hundreds of death sentences by either hanging or firing squad".[11] Mutiny could be dealt with in a harsh manner, as occurred at Pompton New Jersey in January 1781, where three soldiers (one being reprieved at the last minute) were selected to be shot from among a large group of mutineers. The firing squad was ordered to be composed of their fellow mutineers.[12] Summary executions on the battlefield were also specifically authorized. Four days after the American defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, General Washington issued general orders which stated the following:

"Brigadiers and Officers commanding regiments are also to post some good officers in the rear, to keep the men in order, and if in time of action, any man, who is not wounded, whether he has arms or not, turns his back upon the enemy and attempts to run away, or retreats before orders are given for it, those officers are to instantly to put him to death. The man does not deserve to live who basely flies, breaks his solemn engagements, and betrays his country".[13]

Self-portrait drawn by Major John André on the day before his execution by the Continental Army, October 1780

In keeping with norms accepted in most militaries of the day, the death penalty was also applied in cases of espionage against American forces; perhaps the most notable case being the execution of British Major John André in October 1780.[14]

War of 1812/Creek War

During the War of 1812, the use of the death penalty in the US Army expanded as the war progressed. The American army performed poorly in the initial stages of the war, with General William Hull surrendering Detroit in 1812. Hull was sentenced to death for neglect of duty and bad conduct, though his sentence was commuted by President Madison.[15] In 1812, a total of four sentences of execution were pronounced with three being reprieved. However, in 1813 there were 43 executions authorised and only 11 reprieves. By 1814, 160 death sentences were pronounced but only 14 reprieved (including General Hull[16]). In 1815, as the war ended, 53 soldiers were sentenced to death while 29 were reprieved.[17]

In the Creek campaign of 1814, Private John Woods of the 39th United States Infantry was executed by a firing squad for assaulting a superior officer. Andrew Jackson was troubled by serious discipline problems with his militia and volunteers, particularly the militia from East Tennessee. So he prosecuted Private John Woods, only 18 years old, under allegedly false charges. Private Woods had spent his last month in the camp of the 39th. The night before his execution, the officers of the 39th signed and sent Jackson a petition asking for mercy. He not only failed to grant it, but made the 39th shoot him. The 39th was never happy with Jackson after that. Colonel John Williams, the commanding officer of the 39th United States Infantry, said in a campaign pamphlet in 1828 that Private Woods cried "bitterly and loudly"; the Jackson camp claimed he was belligerent and deserved to die.[18]

US-Mexican War

The hanging of San Patricios deserters at the Battle of Chapultepec, September 1847 (painting by Samuel Chamberlain)

The death penalty was enforced for varying crimes during the US-Mexican War from 1846 to 1848, including in cases of American soldiers or civilians committing crimes against the Mexican population. In 1847 Isaac Kirk, an African-American civilian working for the US Army, was hanged after being convicted by a military commission of rape and theft.[19] However, the death penalty was most actively used for the offence of desertion, which was a significant problem for the US Army during the war.[20] In the most infamous case, fifty former American soldiers who were serving with the Mexican Army's San Patricios Foreign Legion were executed for desertion. In what likely constituted the second largest mass execution in American history, thirty of these individuals were hanged at the Battle of Chapultepec in 1847 at the precise moment that the American flag replaced the Mexican flag atop the citadel.[21]

American Civil War

The Union Army executed at least 265 soldiers for military offences during the Civil War, including 147 for desertion.[22] Other sources suggest that the number of executions by the Union during the Civil War were more than 275.[23] Executions were not limited to Union military personnel but were also carried out as punishment for various wartime offences including for espionage and other crimes. According to the National Parks Service, there were nearly 1,000 military tribunals in which "Confederates, both regulars and guerrillas, were charged with various violations of the laws of war – mostly related to the treatment of prisoners of war".[24] One of the most famous offences committed during the Civil War, and tried under American military law, was the trial of the assassins of President Lincoln in 1865. Other military tribunals formed during, and after, the Civil War included:

William Johnson's execution during the Siege of Petersburg, June 1864

Union General William Rosecrans approved the courts-martial and hanging of two Confederate officers, Lawrence Orton Williams and Walter Peters, on June 9, 1863, at Franklin, Tennessee, after the duo had disguised themselves as Union officers for the purposes of spying.[25][26]

On June 21, 1864, William Johnson, an African-American soldier in the Union Army, was hanged at the Siege of Petersburg for the attempted rape of a woman whose husband was said to be away serving in the Confederate Army. A request was made to the Confederate forces for a ceasefire so that Williams could be executed in view of Confederate lines. The request was granted.[27][28]

On March 15, 1865, Confederate captain Marcellus Jerome Clarke, sometimes better known under the alias Sue Mundy, was convicted by a Union military commission of the multiple murder of prisoners and hanged in Kentucky.[29]

On March 25, 1865, Confederate captain Robert Cobb Kennedy was hanged in New York City for spying and for planting explosives around New York City, including at P.T. Barnum's Museum.[30]

In July 1865, four individuals, who had been tried in a military court for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, were executed in Washington D.C. by hanging.[31]

On September 6, 1865, two Union soldiers were hanged in Ohio for the murder of a military policeman.[32]

On October 20, 1865, Confederate war criminal Champ Ferguson was hanged in Tennessee on multiple murder charges, including the murder of a Union officer in a Confederate hospital in November 1864. While he had been held for court martial by Confederate authorities he was released in the chaos of the late stage of the war. Tried by Union authorities after capture, he was sentenced to death by a military commission.[33]

On October 29, 1865, Henry C. Magruder was hanged in Kentucky for guerrilla activities, including several murders of captured Union soldiers from the 5th United States Colored Cavalry Regiment.[34]

On November 10, 1865, Henry Wirz, Confederate commander of Camp Anderson (aka Andersonville POW camp) was tried and convicted of "conspiracy to kill or injure prisoners in violation of the laws of war". He was executed by hanging.[35]

Indian Wars

Execution of 38 Souix warriors by the US army at Mankato Minnesota, December 1862

The US Army Center of Military History lists 14 separate Indian campaigns fought by the US Army between 1790 to 1891 for which campaign streamers were awarded.[36] Nevertheless, dozens of separate campaigns were fought during the 19th century and a number involved US military courts enforcing US authority, including through the use of the death penalty applied to Indigenous combatants and populations. Tribunals were often hastily formed, trials were often short and defendants may have received no legal representation. During the Dakota War of 1862, hundreds of Sioux Indians were tried for offences of murder and rape and more than 300 were sentenced to death. While President Lincoln ultimately commuted most of the sentences, 38 individuals were hanged in the largest mass execution in American history.[37]

The death penalty was also applied during other conflicts, including during the Modoc War of 1872-73. In the aftermath of that conflict, four Modoc warriors, including Modoc Chief Kintpuash (also known as "Captain Jack"), were executed after being convicted by a military tribunal of the murder of Major General Edward Canby during peace negotiations. The death sentences of two others were commuted by President Grant.[38]

Philippine–American War

During the Philippine–American War, 1899-1913 the counter insurgency campaign conducted by the American military involved considerable brutality on both sides, including summary executions of both combatants and civilians.[39] In the course of the conflict, 17 American soldiers were sentenced to death for desertion. However, only two sentences, applied to African-American soldiers (Edmund DuBose and Lewis Russell) of the 9th Cavalry Regiment in 1902, were carried out; an action which critics have asserted amounted to a selective and unfair application of the death penalty. These were the last American soldiers to be executed for desertion until the execution of Private Eddie Slovik during the Second World War.[40]

First World War

The United States Army executed 35 soldiers during the First World War by hanging between November 5, 1917, and June 20, 1919, all for offenses relating to murder or rape. Eleven of these hangings were performed in France while the remaining 24 were carried out in the continental United States.[Note 1][41][42] While 24 American soldiers were reportedly sentenced to death for desertion, all such sentences were commuted by President Wilson.[43]

Second World War and up to 1961

The U.S. military is known to have executed 160 American servicemen between 1942 and 1961.[44] Of these executions, 157 were carried out by the United States Army (including members of the United States Army Air Forces prior to September 1947). After becoming independent of the U.S. Army on September 18, 1947, the United States Air Force conducted the three remaining executions, one in 1950 and two in 1954. Most of these 160 executions (a total of 141) took place between 1942 and January of 1946 (during and immediately after World War II).[45] The United States Navy has not executed any of its own sailors since 1849 (when sailors John and Peter Black were hanged at the yardarm for a mutiny committed on the USS Ewing),[46] nor has the United States Coast Guard executed any individuals since the enactment of the Coast Guard Act in 1915 and carrying out its only execution after that date in 1929.[47] Since its founding in 2019, the United States Space Force has not imposed death sentence on any of its Guardians or executed any.

Of the 160 known executions, 21 were executed for both rape and murder, 85 for murder, 53 for rape, and one (Private Eddie Slovik) for desertion.[48]

Execution of Lieutenant General Anton Dostler by US army firing squad for the murder of captured US soldiers, 1 December 1945

These figures do not include individuals executed by the US Army or Navy after being convicted by US military courts for violations of the laws of war, including about 18 German soldiers who were shot after being caught in American uniform as part of Operation Greif during the Battle of the Bulge, [49][50] persons caught engaging in acts of espionage against US forces,[51][52] or soldiers/civilians convicted by US military courts of having committed crimes against American military personnel, including as occurred at Rüsselsheim, Germany in 1944[53] and elsewhere.[54][55][56] The United States Navy hanged 14 Japanese soldiers/sailors for war crimes committed on Guam, Wake Island or elsewhere in the Pacific theater during World War II.[57] Evidence also suggests that other persons, both American military personnel or enemy combatants/civilians, may have been executed during the Second World War or during the occupation of Germany/Japan pursuant to verdicts by American military tribunals or decisions taken by senior commanders.[58][59][60]

In 1945, the US army executed fourteen German prisoners of war by hanging at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The 14 POWs, members of the German armed services, had been convicted by general court-martial for the murders of fellow Germans believed by their fellow inmates to be collaborating as confidential informants with the United States military authorities. While the murders had been committed in 1943 and 1944, the executions were delayed until after the end of hostilities in Europe due to fears of German retaliation against Allied POWs.[61]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ See Houston riot of 1917.

References

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Further reading

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