1861 Dec[embe]r 9 Centreville Va

[from the diary of Z Lee Gilmer, Sgt, Co. B, 19th Virginia, the Albemarle Rifles]

To day I witnessed the
most effecting sight
& heart rendering affair
that has transpired
during the campaign
It was the public exe
cution of enis Cochran
& Mik O'brien (2 of the
New Orleans Tigres). They
braught themselves to their
untimely end, by attack
ing the "officer of the
Guard" & endevouring
to release some of their
friends: for which the court
Martial resignedconsigned them to
the sad fate of being shot
before the army The
crowd was moving over the
hills from sun up to 12
O'clock (the hour of execution)
Every hill seemed to be a liv-
ing mass & presented
appearance of a swarm
of bees, most of the men
were marched with
(side arms on) their
respective Brigades
commanded by their
respective officers,
but 100's & 100's were as
straglers. the men wee
maneuvered & in commo-
tion up to a few minuts
of the coming horid sight.
The soldiers were formed
into a hollow square of
about 8 acres & on the low
est side were dug their
graves, side by side. The
stragling spectators crowded
the house tops & promi-
nent points, the trees
of the adjoining woods
were crowded as if by wild
Pigeons. Every one anx-
iously looking for the
sad moment. Presently
a covered cart was seen
winding it way through
the dense crowd of some
15,000 soldiers bearing
the poor doomed fellows
on their coffins from
the Guard house to receive their
soldiers death. they were
guarded by three squads
of armed men. The hour at length
arrived, they were blindfolded
on their knees with their
hands tied behind them
to a stake. Then there
were 24 men, 12 with
not blank cartridges &
12 with cartridges
placed 15 paces from
those to be shot. The
guns were put togeth
er so the men knew
not which was load
ed with ball. One of
the men made a slight
resistence to his eyes
being bound, when
the Old Preast went
& spoke to him & he
was quiet. The Capt.
of the Tigers then
gave the 24 armed
Tigres comand
Make Ready, aim fire
one fire of the Rifle
& they were no more.
They met their fate
without a sigh, with
out a murmmer. They
neither feared God, man
nor the devil. In
leaving the Guard house
they bid farewell to
a few men near & said
"Take care of yourselves"
The night previous
to their being shot 300
men guarded them.
when they were dead
thousands of me[n] rush
ed to the stakes to get
a chip as a memento
& in a little while the stake
was cut away
But a few minutes after
they were shot, they
were lowered to their
cold & narrow, but
rudely made resting
place, soon as they
fell the Preast ran to
them & sprinkled "Holy
water" &c upon them.
A clar & beautiful spring
like day witnessed their
last hours Poor fell-
ows, peace be to their
ashes. The Preast was
clad in a Black Gun
hanging to the ground
with a singular hat upon his head
with his beads around
his neck & with a face
representing the Virgin
Mary &c. This is the
saddest event I ever
witnessed & may God
forbid another such.
what a strange race we
are, how Barberous, as
if their hearts were of
stone. these two men
I think are the
first that have
been shot and
I hope the last. my
idear of this decision
is that the men are now
going into Winter quarters
& to prevent them sliping
off home, for they thaught
they would have to
make an example of
some one &c they
concluded this the
best time & it fell
to these poor Tigres
to share such an
unfortunate lot
Yet, perhaps they
deserved it for they
are the low3est
scrapings of the
Mississpee & New Orleans
& fear not even
death itself

Court Martials are
allways formed
entirely of officers
never have a single Private

MSS 4459