The use of capital punishment by the United States military is a legal punishment in martial criminal justice. As of 2025, capital punishment has not been carried out by the U.S. military since 1961, when Private John A. Bennett was executed on charges of rape and attempted murder of a minor.[1] However, capital punishment has been utilized consistently by the US military in conflicts throughout American history.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled in 1983 that the military death penalty was unconstitutional, and after new standards intended to rectify the Armed Forces Court of Appeals' objections, the military death penalty was reinstated by an executive order of President Ronald Reagan the following year.[2]
On July 28, 2008, President George W. Bush approved the execution of Former United States Army Private Ronald A. Gray, who had been convicted in April 1988 of multiple murders and rapes. A month later, Secretary of the ArmyPete Geren set an execution date of December 10, 2008, and ordered that Gray be put to death by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute. The military publicly released Gray's execution date on November 20, 2008. On November 26, however, Gray was granted a stay of execution by U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers of Kansas.[3] In December 2016, a Kansas federal judge, U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten, lifted Gray's stay.[4]
Transfer cases containing the remains of soldiers murdered by Nidal Hasan in the shooting at Fort Hood Texas, November 2009
As of 2025, the U.S. military has four inmates on death row. The most recent added was Nidal Hasan, who murdered 13 people and injured 32 others during the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.[5]
Capital crimes
Currently, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 15 offenses are punishable by death. Under the following sections of the UCMJ, the death penalty can be imposed in both times of war and peace:
Capital cases are tried in courts-martial before a panel of at least 12 military members. If the defendant is an enlisted service member, he or she may opt for at least one-third of the panel to also be of enlisted rank. All members of the panel must outrank the accused whenever logistically possible per 10 USC 825 (e)(1).[6] The defendant cannot plead guilty to a capital offense if the government is seeking the death penalty. Unanimity is required for a conviction and is required separately to issue a death sentence during the penalty phase of the proceeding.
Military executions would be conducted under regulations issued on January 17, 2006,[7] and would ordinarily take place at the Special Housing Unit of the United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, although alternative locations are possible (such as the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal civilian death-row inmates are housed and executed). Of four convicted servicemen awaiting execution, three are confined at the USDB's Special Housing Unit and one at Camp Lejeune. All have been convicted of murder.[citation needed]
Prior to 1991, the methods of execution approved by Headquarters, Department of the Army were hanging, firing squad (musketry) or electrocution. Electrocution was added as an option in the 1950s but could only be used at a specific confinement facility designated by Headquarters, and only be performed by a professional civilian executioner. An electric chair was installed at the old United States Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, but was never used. The last military execution occurred in 1961 by hanging.[8] Currently, lethal injection is the only method.[9]
Military Commissions and the War on Terrorism
Under the Military Commissions Act of 2009, military commissions may be established in the field in time of war to expeditiously try and sentence enemy military personnel under the UCMJ for certain offenses.[10]:5[11]:16–18[12] Controversially, this Act permits military commissions to try and sentence "'alien unprivileged enemy belligerent[s]'" accused of having "'engaged in'" or "'purposefully and materially support[ed] hostilities'" against the United States or its allies, without the benefit of some UCMJ protections.[10]:7–9 In a military commission trial, the death penalty may be imposed, but only in case of a unanimous verdict and sentencing decision.[10]:31 The United States has sought to try several of the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, as well as other alleged terrorists, before military commissions. However, these prosecutions have been fraught with legal challenges and delay resulting from evidence obtained during so-called enhanced interrogations, and therefore, as of 2025, have not resulted in any convictions that have led to death sentences.[13]
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks against the United States in 2001, Congress also passed an Authorization for Use of Military Force Resolution authorizing the President to: "... use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons....".[14] The challenges associated with prosecutions by military commissions may have reinforced the American practice of relying on direct military action against terrorist leaders, including Osama bin Laden, rather than attempting their apprehension and prosecution.[15][16] In 2025, this approach was expanded by President Trump to also incorporate drug cartels in Latin America.[17][18][19][20]
Historical Usage
War of Independence
The application of military law by the Continental Army was governed under 69 Articles of War adopted by the Second Continental Congress on 30 June 1775.[21] In the 18th Century, capital punishment was a common and accepted punishment in European armies for a range of offences and the American Articles of War were no exception to this practice. General George Washington was said to have "approved hundreds of death sentences by either hanging or firing squad".[22]Mutiny could be dealt with in a harsh manner, as occurred at Pompton New Jersey in January 1781, where three soldiers (one being reprieved at the last minute) were selected to be shot from among a large group of mutineers. The firing squad was ordered to be composed of their fellow mutineers.[23] Nevertheless, reprieves were not uncommon and it was not out of the ordinary for such reprieves to arrive at the last minute.[24]Summary executions on the battlefield were also specifically authorized. Four days after the American defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, General Washington issued general orders which stated the following:
"Brigadiers and Officers commanding regiments are also to post some good officers in the rear, to keep the men in order, and if in time of action, any man, who is not wounded, whether he has arms or not, turns his back upon the enemy and attempts to run away, or retreats before orders are given for it, those officers are to instantly to put him to death. The man does not deserve to live who basely flies, breaks his solemn engagements, and betrays his country".[25]
Self-portrait drawn by Major John André on the day before his execution by the Continental Army, October 1780
In keeping with norms accepted in most militaries of the day, the death penalty was also applied in cases of espionage against American forces; perhaps the most notable case being the execution of British Major John André in October 1780.[26]
War of 1812/Creek War
Throughout the 19th Century, and into the 20th, military justice in the US Army, including the application of the death penalty, was governed under revised Articles of War adopted by Congress in 1806.[27] During the War of 1812, the use of the death penalty in the US Army expanded as the war progressed. The American army performed poorly in the initial stages of the war, with General William Hullsurrendering Detroit in 1812. Hull was sentenced to death for neglect of duty and bad conduct, though his sentence was remitted by President Madison.[28] In 1812, a total of four sentences of execution were pronounced with three being reprieved. However, in 1813 there were 43 executions authorised and only 11 reprieves. By 1814, 160 death sentences were pronounced but only 14 reprieved (including General Hull[29]). In 1815, as the war ended, 53 soldiers were sentenced to death while 29 were reprieved.[30]
In the Creek campaign of 1814, Private John Woods of the 39th United States Infantry was executed by a firing squad for assaulting a superior officer. Andrew Jackson was troubled by serious discipline problems with his militia and volunteers, particularly the militia from East Tennessee. so he prosecuted Private John Woods, only 18 years old, under allegedly false charges. Private Woods had spent his last month in the camp of the 39th. The night before his execution, the officers of the 39th signed and sent Jackson a petition asking for mercy. He not only failed to grant it, but made the 39th shoot him. The 39th was never happy with Jackson after that. Colonel John Williams, the commanding officer of the 39th United States Infantry, said in a campaign pamphlet in 1828 that Private Woods cried "bitterly and loudly"; the Jackson camp claimed he was belligerent and deserved to die.[31]
Mexican–American War
The hanging of San Patricios deserters at the Battle of Chapultepec, September 1847 (painting by Samuel Chamberlain)
The death penalty was enforced for varying crimes during the Mexican–American War from 1846 to 1848, including in cases of American soldiers or civilians committing crimes against the Mexican population. In 1847 Isaac Kirk, an African-American civilian working for the US Army, was hanged after being convicted by a military commission of rape and theft.[32] However, the death penalty was most actively used for the offence of desertion, which was a significant problem for the US Army during the war.[33] In the most infamous case, fifty former American soldiers who were serving with the Mexican Army's San Patricios Foreign Legion were executed for desertion. In what likely constitutes the second largest mass execution in American history, thirty of these individuals were hanged at the Battle of Chapultepec in 1847 at the precise moment that the American flag replaced the Mexican flag atop the citadel.[34]
American Civil War
The Union Army executed at least 267 soldiers for military offences during the Civil War, including 147 for desertion.[35] Other sources suggest that the number of executions by the Union during the Civil War were actually more than 275.[36] Nevertheless, most death sentences were not carried out since at least 1,883 death sentences for varying crimes were pronounced but the vast majority were reprieved, particularly in cases of desertion for which President Lincoln often granted pardons.[37][38][39]
Executions were not limited to Union military personnel but were also carried out as punishment for various wartime offences including for espionage and other crimes. According to the National Park Service, there were nearly 1,000 military tribunals in which "Confederates, both regulars and guerrillas, were charged with various violations of the laws of war – mostly related to the treatment of prisoners of war".[40] One of the most famous offences committed during the Civil War, and tried under American military law, was the trial of the assassins of President Lincoln in 1865. Other military tribunals formed during, and after, the Civil War included:
William Johnson's execution during the Siege of Petersburg, June 1864
On June 21, 1864, William Johnson, an African-American soldier in the Union Army, was hanged at the Siege of Petersburg for the attempted rape of a woman whose husband was said to be away serving in the Confederate Army. A request was made to the Confederate forces for a ceasefire so that Williams could be executed in view of Confederate lines. The request was granted.[43][44]
On March 15, 1865, Confederate captain Marcellus Jerome Clarke, sometimes better known under the alias Sue Mundy, was convicted by a Union military commission of the multiple murder of prisoners and hanged in Kentucky.[45]
On March 25, 1865, Confederate captain Robert Cobb Kennedy was hanged in New York City for spying and for planting explosives around New York City, including at P.T. Barnum's Museum.[46]
In July 1865, four individuals, who had been tried in a military court for the assassination of President Lincoln, were executed by hanging in Washington D.C.[47]
On September 6, 1865, two Union soldiers were hanged in Ohio for the murder of a military policeman.[48]
On October 20, 1865, Confederate war criminal Champ Ferguson was hanged in Tennessee on multiple murder charges, including the murder of a Union officer in a Confederate hospital in November 1864. While he had been held for court martial by Confederate authorities he was released in the chaos of the late stage of the war. Tried by Union authorities after capture, he was sentenced to death by a military commission.[49]
On November 10, 1865, Henry Wirz, Confederate commander of Camp Anderson (aka Andersonville POW camp) was tried and convicted of "conspiracy to kill or injure prisoners in violation of the laws of war". He was executed by hanging.[51]
Indian Wars
Execution of 38 Souix warriors by the US army at Mankato Minnesota, December 1862
The US Army Center of Military History lists 14 separate Indian campaigns fought by the US Army between 1790 to 1891 for which campaign streamers were awarded.[52] Nevertheless, dozens of separate campaigns were fought during the 19th century and a number involved US military courts enforcing US authority, including through the use of the death penalty applied to Indigenous combatants and populations. Tribunals were often hastily formed, trials were often short and defendants may have received no legal representation. During the Dakota War of 1862, hundreds of Sioux Indians were tried for offences of murder and rape and more than 300 were sentenced to death. While President Lincoln ultimately commuted most of the sentences, 38 individuals were hanged in the largest mass execution in American history.[53]
The death penalty was also applied during the Modoc War of 1872-73. In the aftermath of that conflict, four Modoc warriors, including Modoc Chief Kintpuash (also known as "Captain Jack"), were executed after being convicted by a military tribunal of the murder of Major General Edward Canby during peace negotiations. The death sentences of two others were commuted by President Grant.[54]
Philippine–American War
During the Philippine–American War, 1899-1913 the counter insurgency campaign conducted by the American military involved considerable brutality on both sides, including summary executions of both combatants and civilians.[55] In the course of the conflict, 17 American soldiers were sentenced to death for desertion. However, only two sentences, applied to African-American soldiers (Edmund DuBose and Lewis Russell) of the 9th Cavalry Regiment, who had been convicted of far more serious charges of desertion to the enemy in 1902, were carried out; an action which critics have asserted amounted to a selective and unfair application of the death penalty. These were the last American soldiers to be executed for desertion until the execution of Private Eddie Slovik during the Second World War.[56]
First World War
The United States Army executed 35 soldiers during the First World War by hanging between November 5, 1917, and June 20, 1919, all for offenses relating to murder or rape. Eleven of these hangings were performed in France while the remaining 24 were carried out in the continental United States, of which 19 were conducted in the aftermath of the Houston riot of 1917.[57][58] While 24 American soldiers were reportedly sentenced to death for desertion, all such sentences were commuted by President Wilson.[59]
Second World War and up to 1961
US military justice during World War II was governed under the Articles of War enacted on June 4, 1920. These Articles were in effect through World War II and up until the Uniform Code of Military Justice came into effect in 1951.[60] The U.S. military is known to have executed 160 American servicemen between 1942 and 1961.[61] Of these executions, 157 were carried out by the United States Army (including members of the United States Army Air Forces prior to September 1947). After becoming independent of the U.S. Army on September 18, 1947, the United States Air Force conducted the three remaining executions, one in 1950 and two in 1954. Most of these 160 executions (a total of 141) took place between 1942 and January of 1946 (during and immediately after World War II).[62] The United States Navy has not executed any of its own sailors since 1849 (when sailors John and Peter Black were hanged at the yardarm for a mutiny committed on the USS Ewing),[63] nor has the United States Coast Guard executed any individuals since the enactment of the Coast Guard Act in 1915 and carrying out its only execution after that date in 1929.[64]
Of the 160 known executions, 21 were executed for both rape and murder, 85 for murder, 53 for rape, and one (Private Eddie Slovik) for desertion.[65] While more than 21,000 soldiers were convicted of desertion during World War II, only 49 were sentenced to death and one was executed.[66]
Execution of Lieutenant General Anton Dostler by US army firing squad for the murder of captured US soldiers, 1 December 1945
These figures for total known executions do not include individuals executed by the US Army or Navy after being convicted by US military courts for violations of the laws of war, including about 18 German soldiers who were shot after being caught in American uniform as part of Operation Greif during the Battle of the Bulge, [67][68] persons caught engaging in acts of espionage against US forces,[69][70] or soldiers/civilians convicted by US military courts of having committed crimes against American military personnel, including as occurred at Rüsselsheim, Germany in 1944[71] and elsewhere.[72][73][74] The United States Navy hanged 14 Japanese soldiers/sailors for war crimes committed on Guam, Wake Island or elsewhere in the Pacific theater during World War II.[75] Evidence also suggests that other persons, both American military personnel or enemy combatants/civilians, may have been executed during the Second World War or during the occupation of Germany/Japan pursuant to verdicts by American military tribunals or decisions taken by senior commanders.[76][77][78]
In 1945, the US army executed fourteen German prisoners of war by hanging at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The 14 POWs, members of the German armed services, had been convicted by general court-martial for the murders of fellow Germans believed by their fellow inmates to be collaborating as confidential informants with the United States military authorities. While the murders had been committed in 1943 and 1944, the executions were delayed until after the end of hostilities in Europe due to fears of German retaliation against Allied POWs.[79]
↑ Establishment of Military Justice – Proposed Amendment of the Articles of War, Thursday September 25, 1919. United States Senate, Subcommittee on Military Affairs, Washington, D. C. (loc.gov/)
↑ Robert Fantina (April 2, 2006). Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776-2006. Algora Publishing. pp.111–112. ISBN0-8758-6452-X.
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