May 16
On this day in 1862, Private John W. Looper (1831-1864) of the 7th North Carolina Infantry deserted from a Confederate hospital in Kinston, North Carolina, frustrated with inadequate medical care for his persistent illnesses. A farm laborer from Alexander County, Looper married Nancy Shoemaker in 1858 and they had two children by the start of the Civil War. Motivated by the patriotic enthusiasm of his community, the sickly Looper enlisted in August 1861 in Taylorsville. Looper’s brief military service was plagued by unremitting diseases–the first being a serious bout with typhoid fever–which kept him hospitalized for much of the next nine months. Left behind sick in Kinston in May when his brigade was ordered to Virginia, Looper abandoned the hospital and returned to his home. Over the next 22 months, Looper remained with his family, fathered a third child, and helped Nancy with domestic tasks, including carding wool, spinning, and weaving. He wove 50 yards of cloth for a neighbor in exchange “for bread and meat for his family.” Looper considered returning to the army under one of several Amnesty Proclamations for deserters, but he doubted his fragile health could withstand the rigors of renewed service. On March 24, 1864, his company’s 1st Lieutenant, Robert Teague, charged with apprehending regimental deserters, arrived at Looper’s front door and arrested him. Nancy wrote to Governor Vance for mercy, testifying to Looper’s character and averring, “I could /get/ every Neighbour I have to sighn this petition if I had time.” Her pleas did not succeed. Looper was court-martialed and shot to death for desertion on Saturday, April 30, 1864.
Photo: The execution of a deserter (Harper's Weekly, Dec. 28, 1861)
Sources:
Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr., comp., North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster, 4:509; Nancy Looper to Zebulon B. Vance, March 27, 1864, Governors Papers, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC; John W. Looper, Compiled Military Service Record; 1860 U.S. Census: Alexander County, NC; Aldo S. Perry, Civil War Courts-Martial of North Carolina Troops (2012), 37.
