GLR July-August 2022

a shocking scene. John Thompson was a young man (their age estimates ranged from fifteen to twenty) who had been seized (tied) to one of the guns (whether by both hands or one hand they could not agree; perhaps his feet also, but perhaps not). The sailor had been stripped of his clothing, and forced by a rogue captain to expose his “seat of honor” (a common expres sion in the 19th century for a man’s rear end). Questioned by the Court concerning the amount of tar applied, responses ranged from “a small quantity” to “the general surface of the boy’s pos teriors were rubbed over.”

“they would have apprized him also, that I have a habit of spanking the boys instead of lashing their backs with a cat or a colt.” It was customary on ships to have the boatswain inflict corporal punishment. Levy had adopted a practice of having the boys spank one another while he watched. After a brief deliberation, the court-martial panel found Levy not guilty of forgery or cowardice, but guilty of scandalous and cruel conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and he was dismissed from the Navy. As required, the verdict was sent

to the President of the United States for his review, but after reading the testimony closely, John Tyler felt that the punishment was too severe, and ordered the court-mar tial to reassemble, this time focusing solely on the issue of Thompson’s backside. Many of the witnesses who testified in the first hearing were recalled, but they were now pressed for more specific details. The

Levy chose to call no witnesses in his defense but relied instead on a long written statement to present his case. He easily countered the charges of forgery and cow ardice, and then turned his attention to the incident with Thompson, pointing out that he had merely followed the Navy’s own circular to substitute “badges of disgrace”

Levy’s 1842 trial concerned homosexual liaisons among members of his crew and the role of shame in the exposure of the male body.

Baltimore courtroom was no doubt a scene of great solemnity, with five stern judges in epaulettes and the court reporter with his steel nib scratching, but at times the verbatim transcript of the proceedings reads like middle-aged incels (involuntary celi bates) having phone sex. Question: Describe, if you please, how far Thompson’s pan taloons were down? What part of his person was exposed? Answer: They were down as far as his hip bones, as near as I can recollect. I think about three fourths of his backside was exposed, as near as I can recollect.

wherever possible, and that the punishment, far from being unusually cruel, was actually milder than regulations permit ted. “I admit my aversion to the free and constant use of the cat [o’ nine tails], much less lacerating the backs of boys of tender age, covering them with stripes and blood, and pun ishing them as hardened felons,” and so he took the kinder course. Levy accused Lieutenant Hooe of recruiting spies to report on his activities, and in the process he made a surprising ad mission. Had the spies done their duty properly, Levy asserted,

The G & LR

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