Military Rules, Regulations and the Code of War by Richard Shelly Hartigan

Author:Richard Shelly Hartigan [Hartigan, Richard Shelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, General, Law, International, Political Science, Reference
ISBN: 9781412814768
Google: kJcgnwEACAAJ
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: 2011-01-15T04:58:25+00:00

Halleck, Washington, to Lieber, New York, 20 August, 1862 [HL].

My dear Dr.

I have hastily read your essay and highly approve it. I return it herewith, with an order for 5,000 copies.

I recommend you to Van Nostrand, Publisher, No. 172 Broadway. He has facilities for giving sale to books etc. on military subjects and probably could sell a thousand or two additional copies.

Your son G. N. has been appointed Aide de Camp.

Yours in haste. . .

Lieber, New York, to Halleck, Washington, 13 November, 1862 [HL].

My dear General,

Please reflect on the accompanying letter and decide whether anything of the kind proposed in it, can be ... of importance. . . .

I trust to Heaven that the idea of an armistice, which is making its appearance in the party, which has carried, of late, the elections, is not entertained in high quarters. It would be the certain precursor of separation; and separation would be the precursor of ruin—the survival of a Medieval state of things, an unavoidable downward course.

But I must not detain you. Of course the accompanying letter can be shown, if you think fit, to whomever you choose.

Lieber, New York, to Halleck, Washington, 13 November, 1862 [HL].

My dear General,

Ever since the beginning of our present War, it has appeared clearer and clearer to me, that the President ought to issue a set of rules and definitions providing for the most urgent issues occurring under the Law and usages of War, and on which our Articles of War are silent. The last phases of our war, and the things which have come to light by the recent inquiries into the conduct of certain officers, have at length induced me to write to you on the subject. I address you as the jurist, no less than as the soldier.

My idea is—I give it as a suggestion to you—that the President as Commander in Chief, through the Secretary of War, ought to appoint a committee, say of three, to draw up a code, if you choose to call it so, in which certain acts and offences (under the Law of War) ought to be defined and, where necessary, the punishment be stated.

For instance:

The Spy—Who is a spy? How is the spy to be punished?

Paroling—What is it? Who paroles? What punishment for breaking the parole?

Who shall be treated as prisoner of war? etc, etc, etc.

I do not know that any such thing as I design exists in any other country, and in all other countries the Law of War is much more reduced to naked Force or Might, than we are willing to do it, especially now, perhaps, in this Civil War, and there exists much more thorough organization in those countries; nor do single wars extend there over such distances as here.

If the President believes that he has not the authority to proclaim such a set of rules, then it ought to be done by the help of Congress.

I should propose that you, both as General-in-Chief and as a prominent writer on the Law

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.