For 130 years, there have been articles and editorials addressing these hangings, always taking the moral high ground and ignoring the less than heroic actions of the Military in the absence of law and order. Few accounts have really tried to understand feelings and situations of the people involved. Just as they were easy targets for Picket in 1864, the illiterate farmers continued through the years since to be easy targets for writers appealing to Southern emotion. For 130 years, there has been a need for an unvarnished look at the actions and incentives of all involved. There is an even greater need to remind all people of the horrors of any civil war and to remind those in the military of the need for ethics and compassion in the absence of law and order. The thought provoking approach of "Justice or Atrocity" fills a wide gap in the teaching of Southern History and provides a needed lesson in ethics and compassion.