On Friday all the troops at this station were assembled together and formed into square, for the purpose of witnessing the punishment of three men, belonging to the First Missouri regiment, convicted of desertion. It is not necessary to give their names, or the facts drawn out by the court-martial concerning their crime. They were branded on the left hip with the letter D, with a hot iron made in the shape of that letter, then their heads were closely shaved, and finally they were each hit fifty lashes on the bare back, in the presence of all their comrades, and drummed out of the service to the tune of the Rogue's March. Volunteers who often speak of quitting the service upon the slightest provocation, without the proper discharges, and who seem to regard the act lightly, should take warning from the fate of these poor unfortunate fellows.
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Deserters Branded and Whipped by the Rebels.--A letter in the Memphis (Tennessee) Appeal, dated “Camp Beauregard, near Feliciana, Ky., December 22d,” says:
Van Nostrand. New York, New York. 1862.
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