George Washington's Enforcers: Policing the Continental Army

George Washington's Enforcers: Policing the Continental Army
ISBN-10
0809326884
ISBN-13
9780809326884
Category
History
Pages
268
Language
English
Published
2006-03-24
Publisher
SIU Press
Author
Harry M. Ward

Description

Ward relates how the enlisted men, who had a propensity for troublemaking and desertion, not only were victims of the double standard that existed between officers and regular troops but also lacked legal protection in the army. The enforcement of military justice afforded the accused with little due process support. Ward discusses the duties of the various personnel responsible for training and enforcing the standards of behavior, including duty officers, adjutants, brigade majors, inspectors, and sergeant majors. He includes the roles of life guards, camp guards, quarter guards, picket men, and safe guards, whose responsibilities ranged from escorting the commander in chief, intercepting spies and stragglers, and protecting farmers from marauding soldiers to searching for deserters, rounding up unauthorized personnel, and looking for delinquents in local towns and taverns.

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