Confederatevets.com

HEADQUARTERS FORT DELAWARE, DEL.,
December 21, 1864.
Brig. Gen. H. W. WESSELLS,
Commissary-General of Prisoners, Washington, D. C.:
GENERAL: I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of a court of inquiry appointed to investigate the fatal shooting of Private John H. Bibb, Charlottesville Artillery, Cutshaw's Virginia battalion, prisoner of war, by Private John Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, sentinel on post. Special Orders, No. 157, from these headquarters, a copy of which is inclosed, has been posted up in all the divisions of the prisoners' barracks, and as these orders are perfectly explicit, the prisoners have no excuse for violating them. It has been a very common and annoying custom with them to urinate in a tin cup or bucket and throw it out of their windows, creating a very offensive odor about their barracks. During the last two months two men were shot at, without fatal result, for urinating at their doors, and this has resulted in their using the cups and buckets within their barracks and throwing it out of the window.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. SCHOEPF,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.

SPECIAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS FORT DELAWARE, DEL.,
No. 443.
December 20, 1864.

A court of inquiry, to consist of the following-named officers, will immediately convene in the post library room to investigate and report to these headquarters the facts in the case and their opinion of the shooting of Private John H. Bibb, Charlottesville Artillery, prisoner of war, by Private John Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteer Infantry, at the prisoner-of-war barracks this morning. Members of board: Maj. William Y. Swiggett, Ninth Delaware Volunteers; Capt. John J. Young, Battery G, Pennsylvania Volunteers; Lient. Alfred Kerr, Battery G, Pennsylvania Volunteers; recorder, Lient. R. H. Lewis, Ahl's battery, Delaware Volunteers. By command of Brig. Gen. A. Schoepf:
GEO. W. AHL,
Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

The court met pursuant to the above order. Present, Maj. William Y. Swiggett, Ninth Delaware Volunteers; Capt. J. J. Young, Battery 1, Pennsylvania Volunteers Lieut. Alfred Kerr, Battery G, Pennsylvania Volunteers; Lieut. R. H. Lewis, Ahl's battery, Delaware Volunteers. The court then proceeded to business.
Capt. CHARLES H. STOCKLEY, on being duly sworn, testified as follows:
By the COURT:
Question. Do you know anything of the shooting of John H. Bibb, prisoner of war, on the morning of the 20th instant?
Answer. I was officer of the day, but know nothing of the case except what was reported to me officially.

Question. Do you know whether the officer of the guard read the proper instructions to the relief to which Private John Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, belonged?
Answer. I do not know.

Question. What were the instructions you gave to the officer of the guard at Guard-house No. 2?
Answer. I visited the guard-house and saw that he had the printed instructions for the guard. Did not specially call his attention to it.

Lieut. H. S. LONG, Company C, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, was duly sworn.
By the COURT:
Question. Were you officer of the day at Guard-house No. 2 on the 19th and 20th days of December, 1864?
Answer. I was.

Question. Was Private John Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, a member of your guard?
Answer. Yes.

Question. Where was he posted?
Answer. He was posted in the rebel inclosure.

Question. Do you know anything of the shooting of John H. Bibb, prisoner of war?
Answer. I was at breakfast, and when I returned to the guard-house I was told that a shot had been fired and that the sergeant of the guard had gone to ascertain the cause. In a few minutes the sergeant returned and reported to me that one of the guard had shot a rebel prisoner. I asked him why. He said that the sentry had told him that the prisoner was throwing water.

Question. What instructions did the inside sentinels receive?
Answer. To prevent the prisoners from committing nuisances or congregating in crowds on the parade grounds.

Question. Did you read Special Orders, No. 157, dated Headquarters Fort Delaware, Del., June 1, 1864, to each relief?
Answer. I did not have a copy of instructions contained in that order, but gave them to the best of my recollection.

Question. Did you hold any conversation with Private Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, after the prisoner was shot?
Answer. I did not.

Question. Do you know whether Special Orders No 157, is posted up inside the prisoners' inclosure?
Answer. I do not.

Question. Were the sentries properly instructed in regard to warning the prisoners before firing?
Answer. I think they were. Do not know whether Deakyne received them personally. Am not personally acquainted with Deakyne. I always instruct my sentries to turn over their orders to those who relieve them.

Sergt. C. W. COFFIN, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, on being duly sworn, testifies as follows:
By the COURT:

Question. Were you sergeant of the guard at Guard-house No. 2 on the 19th and 20th instant?
Answer. I was.

Question. Do you know Private John Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers?
Answer. I do.

Question. Was he on guard on the 19th and 20th instant?
Answer. He was, and was posted at post No. 60, inside the prisoners' inclosure. He did not go on guard until between 9 and 10 p. m. on the 19th, being detailed to relieve a sick sentry.

Question. Do you know anything of the circumstances connected with the shooting of John H. Bibb, a prisoner of war? Answer. I heard a gun fired and went to ascertain the cause. Deakyne told me that a prisoner was throwing urine out of a hole in the barracks and that he had called to him repeatedly to stop it. He said that it had occurred several times that morning and that he had warned them to stop. Seeing that they paid no attention to him, he then fired.

Question. How far was he from the place where the offense was committed when he fired?
Answer. Not more than forty yards.

Question. At what time did the firing take place?
Answer. Shortly after 7 a.m. It was blowing pretty hard at the time.

Question. What instructions did Deakyne receive?
Answer. I instructed him to warn the prisoners three or four times to desist from committing nuisances before firing.

THOMAS CARROW, private Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, was then duly sworn.
By the COURT:

Question. Were you on guard on the 19th and 20th instant?
Answer. I was.

Question. Was Private Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, on guard at the same time that you were?
Answer. Yes, and on the same relief.

Question. At what time did the third relief go on post on the morning of the 20th instant?
Answer. At 7 o'clock.

Question. What post were you stationed at?
Answer. No. 59. Deakyne was on No. 60.

Question. Where were those posts?
Answer. Inside the prisoners' inclosure.

Question. Did you see Private Deakyne shoot the plisoner, Bibb?
Answer. I did not, but heard him warn them to desist committing nuisances three times distinctly before he fired.

Question. What were the instructions you received on being posted?
Answer. To prevent the prisoners from gathering in crowds on the parade ground and to keep them from committing nuisances.

LEONIDAS TRIPLETT, on being duly sworn, saith:

I belong to Company A, Seventh Virginia Cavalry. Am a prisoner of war at this post. This morning at about 7 o'clock I aroused my bedfellow, John H. Bibb, also a prisoner, to go to breakfast. The men in the adjoining bunk were washing at the time. A man opened the window and threw out some water, against which we have had no orders.

Question. How far was Bibb from the window?
Answer. About nine feet. He had not been at the window.

Question. How many times do you know of water having been thrown from the window?
Answer. I know certainly of twice and it may have been three times. I did not hear the sentry give orders not to do so. Bibb was innocent of the whole affair.

R. M. RETHERFORD was then duly sworn and says:

I am a member of Nelson's Georgia Rangers and am a prisoner of war at this post.

COURT: State what you know of the shooting of John H. Bibb.
Answer. I came out of the Eighth Division of the barracks this morning. I saw the sentinel walking in the rear of the Third Division in the direction of the Eighth Division. I heard the report and saw the sentry taking the gun from his shoulder. I had only been out of the barracks long enough to take about thirty steps.

Question. How far were you from the sentry when he fired?
Answer. I think about thirty steps.

Question. Do you know of any orders against filth being thrown from the windows?
Answer. Yes; every man in the barracks knows that it is against orders to throw filth from the windows at night, but I think that the orders do not forbid it during the daytime.

Question. Did you see any one in the inclosure besides yourself and the sentry?
Answer. I do not remember to have seen but one other man.

WILLIAM KELSOE, on being sworn, says:
I belong to the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, and am a prisoner of war.

By the COURT:
Question. Do you know anything of the shooting affair this morning?
Answer. I was looking out of the door of the barracks and saw the sentry fire. He was forty or fifty yards from me when he fired. I saw something thrown from the window of the barracks, but did not hear the sentry forbid it. I know that it is against orders to throw anything from the windows after night. I think the sentry was about thirty feet from the window when he fired.

Statement of Private JOHN DEAKYNE, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers:
I was stationed on post No. 60, inside the prisoners' inclosure, on the morning of the 20th of December, 1864. I went on post at 7 a.m. The sergeant of the guard instructed me to go around the barracks and see that the prisoners committed no nuisance or did any damage to Government property, wasted the water at the sinks, or threw any filth out of the barracks windows. In case they did, I was to warn them three or four times to cease, and if they still disobeyed I was to fire. While walking my beat I saw filth thrown from several windows. I immediately ordered them to stop. All of them obeyed except two. They continued throwing filth from both windows, notwithstanding I warned them three or four times to stop or I would fire on them. As soon as my back was turned they would throw it out. I am sure they did it three or four times after I ordered them to stop. They could certainly hear me, as I was only about ten feet from the window, and one of them answered that it would be stopped. I turned to move away when the offense was repeated, when I again warned them to stop. After I warned them the fourth time and they disobeyed, I fired at the window. I afterward learned that a man was wounded by the shot.

The court, after mature deliberation, respectfully submits the above evidence and the statement of Private Deakyne. It is the opinion of the court that Private John H. Bibb, Charlottesville Artillery, was accidentally killed on the morning of the 20th instant by a shot fired by John Deakyne, Company F, Ninth Delaware Volunteers, in enforcing orders received from the sergeant of the guard, said orders being the same as contained in Special Orders, No. 157, headquarters Fort Delaware, Del., June 1, 1864, a copy of which is hereto attached; and further, that John H. Bibb was innocent of any breach of orders at the time he was shot.
There being no further business, the court adjourned sine die.
WM. Y. SWIGGETT,
Major Ninth Delaware Volunteers, President.
R. H. LEWIS, First Lieut., Ahl's Independent Battery Delaware Vols., Recorder.

Source: Official Records, Series 2, Volume 7