NOVEMBER 10, 1863:
In what must rank as one of the most bizarre military tribunals in U.S. history,
Private James Reilly of the famous 54th Massachusetts U.S.C.T. was accused of having intercourse
with a mare, and was court-martialed. Although Reilly was exonerated and
returned to active duty, a unit medical officer, Dr. Charles Briggs, decided to
take matters into his own hands, and forcibly circumcised Reilly (without using
any anaesthetic) as a punishment. Briggs then cauterized Reilly’s penis with a
red-hot branding iron. Although Briggs was charged with a crime, he was never
prosecuted. Indeed, he was ultimately promoted to Unit Surgeon. His atrocity
went unpunished, a horrifying if forgotten testament to the different treatment
meted out to white soldiers and black in the Union Army.
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