Crime and Punishment on an Army Post

Crime and Punishment on an Army Post. Fort Union National Monument.

We cannot sit down and have such a set of [horse] thieves run off with our stock with impunity. The Civil authorities seem to be powerless to cope with them. , , James H. Carleton, lieutenant colonel commanding Fort Union, March 1867

, For over 20 years, two buildings on the right side of this company street helped military , and civilian , authorities uphold law and order in New Mexico Territory. Inside the guard house that once stood on the corner just ahead, and inside the prison you see here, deserters, drunkards, burglars, brawlers, assassins, rustlers, horse thieves, and Comancheros were punished for their crimes. A frontier Army post like Fort Union, with its hundreds of soldiers, military families, and civilian employees was , in effect , a small town under martial law. The provost marshal and the daily guard patrols kept the peace and handled problems in this volatile community, like a town marshal with deputies might do elsewhere., This thing of standing Guard every other night is not very pleasant. , , William Matthews, private, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1870, Most enlisted men did not like to hear their names called for guard duty. During their entire 24-hour shift, they had to stay fully clothed. These men paraded before the Post, escorted prisoners to empty trash barrels, guarded the stables and wagon corrals, and "took charge of all Government property in sight." There was little time to get any rest at the guard house., Guard House , Men guilty of minor offenses served their time “in the mill” , the adobe guard house., Prison , Dangerous felons were kept locked down in the more secure stone cells of Fort Union’s prison.