Major John Henry Gee was the commandant of the Confederate prison at Salisbury, North Carolina from 1864 until 1865. During his tenure, thousands of Union prisoners of war died of starvation and diseases or were shot when attempting to escape. Shortly after the end of hostilities, Major Gee was arrested, charged with two counts of violations of the laws of war and brought before a military commission to be tried. The trial of Major Gee is one of the first recorded trials for war crimes and a rare early example of domestic prosecution of an enemy fellow-national for what was effectively an international crime, in a war in which his side had been vanquished. Unlike the war crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville prison during the American Civil War, little attention has been paid to this important precedent.

Msr. Mettraux is described as:

Defence Counsel before international criminal tribunals, member of the Journal’s Editorial Committee and author most recently of The Law of Command Responsibility (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Cannon fire will permeate the air over the PARC museum campus this weekend as forces from the Union and Confederate armies collide on the open fields. The Clinton County Historical Association will host the third-annual Plattsburgh Civil War Encampment, with two battles between the Blue and Gray scheduled for today and another slated for Sunday. Another new feature this year will be the court-martial of a Union soldier between today’s battles. Hewson said he did not know how that trial may turn out, but soldiers were often executed for betraying their colors during battle.

Speedy trial anticipated, ending with a flash in a pan.

And here’s a report from The Fort Scott Tribune:

The death of Private John Summers, Co. E, 2nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry was the result of one of two public military executions in Fort Scott during the Civil War. Both of these executions were in May of 1863 and were very deliberately public in nature. Summer’s crime, for which he was convicted by a General Court Martial, was DESERTION! He didn’t desert from the Union army just once! He did it THREE times after which he was caught and brought to Fort Scott for his trial. How was this possible? Not only was Pvt. Summers a deserter he was also a “BOUNTY JUMPER!”

Note the timing:

Trial: 11 March 1863. CA action: 1 May 1863. Sentence carried out: 13 May 1863.