The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-11-14

mROIt0nt court moHSIoAs
wlrHJkAwAL OF CAPTAIN M'LANEs OFFENSIVE Ex- |
PREssTONs AGAINST GENERAL PIERCE
Tie court martial on Captain McLane. assembled per
adjournment Ut yesterday in the Quarter masters
Office State street
After the usual formal procesdipgs had besn gone
through. Mr. Barrol behalf Of Captain MsLane rose
to make the defence He commenced by assuring the
honorable Cour, that the necessity Of the investigation
In which is engssed cannot be regretted BY any
more then by his client. lie not there to deny
the general facts that called fer the detail Of the Court
for would be contrary to the self respect of Captain
McLane and contrary to his duty officer to act In
opposition 10 his Of truth but at the same
time he entertained firm and abiding conviction that
upon impartial consideration Of all the circuu,-
OF the he may be regarded having to some
extent violated the strict order Of the service there will
yet be found enough in them to exempt him from the
imputaon of conduc. rlotive consistont with the
character and feelings Of gentleman or derogatory to
the duty or fosbesraIce OF spirited or sensi
tive officer lie confidently trusts that IN bis
position as an officer. after the nsture Of his
past services and With army distinguished
for its high sensitive character he could os
suspected Of wanton uibehavionr and he begged to
The honorable Court that in all that forms the SUBJ
ject Of the present inyetg alton he acted from
cieptiooe conviction that the upgenerous and unmany
persecution Of which he the object, and the painful
and critical circumstances in which he placed
tbOYized him. gentleman AMI officer to seek some
protection fer h character aud 81 IL
that practicable from the general mass OF oboluy
directed against him eed the Influence OF certain officers
Of the army Who without any kuowledse Of the
facts and themselves forgetting what was due TO the
feelings Of gentleman contributed in great measure,
TO the propagation OF those injurious reports, Atra
few more Introductory remarks Mr. Bsrrol gave short
sketch Of the military life of Captain Mcfene He re
ceyed from President Pok commission to serve in the
Mexican and diligently recruited company for that
purpose He served throughout the campaign with Gen
Scott lie was at the bombardmsnt Of Vera Cruz aud
the taking OF Mexico and had received wound at Cero
G. rdo and in intercourse with the distn
eu,shed officers under Whon our army gained so many
glorious victories Any of them can afford testimony Of
bis behavior AZ gentleman aud his merits officer.
During peace be has been diligently engaged on 1aes
apptapipg 10 the service and the Off ,ers with whom
he conducted those duties also afford evidence Of his
general good conduct and he hoped that the Conrt would
allow those evidences TO count for nothing and would
consider such good conduct COUNTIES balanced by
| what only be considered hasty eoulon Of
anger. Before entering into on examination Of the
deiails CT that Gaze he would premise that he had
| entertained natural preference for his old com
mander, and in the late Presidential contest spoke
| both If him and General Pierce with the air Of
an independent citizen, and recounted an impress
zion he bad formed the night before the army Left
The city of Mexico that General Pierce had his face slap
ped by officer which indigny not resented as las
(Csp ain McLane considered 1t ought to have been lie
irsepsioie he probability of that impression
being erroneous :or two persons might give diereU
of the and there present
that particular occasion who IN atysats
gtous positions than he Captain Mclane) Vas and there
fore better able Judge of Whist did actually
Nevertheless he had felt himself perfect liberty to state
his impressions But without HE kno sedgr
sept and contrary to bis appreciation his observations
had been improperly dragged into the public papers for
patty purposes ard we're greatly exaggerated and he
fCupd-hMself singled cut objec5 OF attack In
recion with the Circumstances, Mr. Barro read the
tract from the Bal more Patriot Which have inserted
feicTc. Captain McLane felt IT bis duty to address that
letter to the editor Of that paper The objects which this
letter calculated to effect appear upon It's facethey
r.buKe d stop the of any
private the exaggerated and
authorized attack upon the distinguished person asaled,
spd By frank avo,al his recollection and
OF he currencs at the cy Of Mexico to afford to others
who might have been present the occasion osppru
pity by conferences or to correct any error
4 he mi Qye nj Ina Wpl
self TO d. clare TO tbe Court that he would have be
at al times Ia py coufer with any gentleman who
at tie occurrence alluded TO- who would have
cesd in frapk ans ancabe spirit any explanations he
night have made and he would have cheerfuy rctraced
any incorrect expression which he might have used IN
til recently, hoEevtr such explanation, and at
tempt whatever TO compare nis imprsso0s with others,
who present at the scene After the Disagree
able occurrences Il ut ensued and form the subject
returned from Nahng on that officer now IN Texas,
had written letter to the editor Of paper In xss.
Lane but II was notpDti he (Capt McLanel arrived in
New York 10 attend this court that hs ioarnt fom dis
tipguishsd officers of the army that his impressions
erroneous With one OF these officers he had had full
conferences N explanation anu finding not only that ne
had been present at tae bat in position afording
him better opporur ity Of judging OF its incidspts ana
feeling hat his knowledge and truth entitled to
every respect, Capt. McLane was bound to conclude
that he bad been in error Therefore from sense OF
sstrtsptct and regard for truth and honor loss
than OF what Is Que ~ the eminent gentleman OF whom he
spoke TO repair any wrong done him. Capt M,isne
cerfuy takes This earliest and public occasion 10 &C.
kfowedge that in the Impressions he had formed and pub
shed in regard to the In the city OF Mexico
be did General Pierce great Uustce and begs to express
his deep regret that he should have sced Passing
f,om these observations AIR Barrol entered into detail
with regard TO he circumstances under which the acts
set forth Ia the charges ana specifications sommt
ted. There wss enough on the record to show that
Captain hcLane bad been grossly denounced by the
press OF Baltimore and wsile smartiDg from that
courfe Of vupeIation he bad to believe that
both Colonel Roberts and Captain Hardcastle had
acted in manner still more prejudiclal t, him
and 1t Is nov in proof that Capt Hardcsstle had written
At least four letters the ,upject active
In Bslin ore which, a. IL would appear intended for
publican Ii is alo in proof that Col Roberts mad not
been ess jealous in tslsns and acting to his prejudice
Uoder these circumstances he could only regard Col
Roberts letters aud especially that written in Baltimore,
snd dated Sept l2thas offensive to his pride honor
Upon superficial view 1t would appear TO have been die
taftd BY ierdshp; but . careful examinA-
ton The accused felt confident that the Court would
gard In the same light BY him at the time Of
It's reception, as insulting and degrading. The letter
assumes that the statements made by the accused
false and then Ina ults him by warning him how he COM
mitted himself to such statement The letter assumes
the guilt Of tie accused and appeals his fears in
dnce hm to I.ract lie therefore felt his duty to take
the earliest opportunity it could be done in proper
manner to require Capt Hardcastle and Col Roberts to
90 him justice. He denied, however, that he went to
Washington on the 18th Oct for the purpose Of seeking
those officers for that auy other purpose although
ome evidence to that effect offered to the court
lie visited Wathington that day with the express
mittoD Of the Commander In Chief for the purpose Of
obtaining arevocstion Of the ORDER directing his removal
10 Texas Being in the city however he took the opp
tuny to call upon Col Roberts and Capt Hardcass on
the subject Of their interference But he denied that
he ,onsst either Tor the purpose Of creating An ARRAY
hstsed in the Specification His purpose merely to
bring them 10 aproper Of hsr duty obtain
nem them fome means Of counteracting the injury
which had zen done him With regard to his demo amor
on his Drst approach to them he could assure the
honorable Court that be behaved mild as the o.sa-
sion demanded Instead however Of recprocating this
gcntemapy spirit attempting to saify him that their
intentions had not been hostile they gave densls and
equvocs ana sulen Of rights which
bad not been questioned At this reception and treat
mept from officers he confessed he felt the deepest ndig
nation and greatly exaspersted ana smsrtng under
teries OF attacks upon his character he unable to
practice the forbearsnoe that under Other
he might have done, and committed the acts which form
the foundation Of the present charges Mr. Darro then
made great mapy quotations from De Hart aud
OBren military law works to show that the evidence
which had been adduced did not fully bear out the
strict Interpretation Of the articles Of but would
rather tend to chow that officers In an artid-
cisl and unfair position and rcndervd incapable Of
feeling and acting as becomes gen lemep. He fur
thermore commended that Captain McLane had done
nothing to render himself incapable Of asocating With