GENERAL NONFICTION

“Ungentlemanly Acts: The Army’s Notorious Incest Trial” by Louise Barnett

This is a fascinating account of the court marshal of Army Captain Andrew J. Geddes for ‘Conduct Unbecoming and Officer’. He accused another officer, Lieutenant Louis H. Orleman, of incest with his daughter Lillie. Orleman preempted the charges of Geddes by filing his own complaint that Geddes tried to seduce and abduct his daughter. The act of incest was so unspeakable at the time (1879), the Army chose to court martial Geddes instead Orleman for ‘Conduct Unbecoming’ with specifications ‘not fit to be specified’. The Army was out to get Geddes (for other improprieties) and the trial was a sham with Geddes found guilty and cashiered from the Army. He was reinstated due to the diligence of Inspector General Dunn, but higher powers, General Sherman in particular, wanted Geddes out of the Army as unfit. Geddes was tried a few years later on trumped up charges of being drunk on duty and again cashiered.

The main events of this book took place at Fort Stockton in Western Texas. The author masterfully paints a picture of the bleak frontier and the problems inherent with isolated outposts: drunkenness, adultery, seduction, gossip, and petty feuds that blossomed into hatred. The book also contains a wealth of interesting information about the Army legal system, the moral mindset of the time, Army units and personnel, literature of the time, and many other facts and observations. I read this book cover-to-cover and highly recommend it to any fan of American History.

Reviewed by Kenneth S. Smith 22 March 2000

Hill and Wang
A Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West
New York, NY  10003

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