Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-06-10
s,pnossd danger to which he was unwilling


said Brsvet Major Wyse on the said eighteenth
of April, few hours after the sailing of the
said companies on board the said steamer, did
officially declare to Lieut.. Colonel Thomas,
Assistant Adjutant General, attached to the
General d-Quarters of the army, on being
officially Intercepted on the subject by the
said Thomas, that he, the said Brevet Major
Wyse, had transferred or turned over substan-
TALLY, but fully, to the said Brevet Majors
next in rank First Lieutenant) in the said
command the instructions which he, the said
Brevet Major had received for his own govern
ment in conducting the said command to its i,
destiAation-whichs said decl aration was false.''
Specification 3d.-"In this: That he, the
said Breyet Major Wyse, did falsely state, in
an official communication addressed to Colonel
Cooper, Adjutant General, dated April Is,
1854, that on his, the said Brevet Majors re-
urn from a seven days leave of absence, on
or about the 18th of the said month, he then
learned. for the first time, that he was to COM
mand the four companies of his regiment under
orders for the Department Of the Pacific;
whereas about the 5th of said month when
the said Brevet Major applied in person, at the
General Head Quarters of the army, for the
said leave of absence, he was informed by
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas, Assistant Ad-
jutant General, that he, the said Brevet Major,
was to conduct the four companies to their des-
tination.'' a
To which charges and specifications the ac-
cused pleaded mot uil.y"
FINDINGS AND SENTENCE OF THE Court.
After mature d eli beration on all the evidence
adduced, the Court finds the accused, Brevet
Major Francis o. Wyse, Captain Sd Artillery,
as follows:
Cu.RGEI
Specification, nGailty," and aGuilty" of
the charge. 5 ,tE
CHARGE II.
Ist Specification, Not Guilty"
ID Specification, Not Guilty"
Sd Specification, mot Guilty." and "Not
Guilty" Of the charge.
SENTENCE.
And the Court does sentence him, Brevet
NJ jor Francis 0 Wyse, Captain Sd Artillery,
= To be dismissed the service"
1.-The foregoing proceedings of the Gen
eral Court Martial having been laid before the
President of the United States and by him
| duly examined and considered, the following
are his orders in the case;
WAR DEPARTMENT, June 3, 1854.
The President has approved and confirmed
the proceedings and sentence of the General
| Court Martial in the case of Brevet Major
Francis .. Wyse, Captain of the 3D. regiment
of artillery, whereby he is sentenced to be
dismissed the service for a contumacious DISC
bedience Of orders But in consideration OF
the unanimous recommendation to Executive
clemency Of the officers composing the court
| martial, and Of the reasons on which their re-
| commentator is founded, the President is
| pleased to mitigate the sentence TO suspension
from rank and c mmand and pay, for the Pc
| Rod Of six calendar months.
The Department regrets to find in these pro.
| ceedings reason to Apprehend that due care and
| judgment have not in all cases been exercised
in the selection of transports for troops, and in
this particular case, it does not appear that the
board of officers appointed by the General
er, made the thorough examination and inq vi
/ ~, which the circumstances and importance o.
the case suggested and demanded.
| Officers of The Quartermaster' Department
entrusted with the selection of army transports
| and military commanders charged with the
embarkation of troops, are enjoined to use il
| every case, all practicable means to secur,
vessels entirely sea-worihy and proper for suct
service. Extreme CAGES may occur fer whict
it is not possible to provide. A public ext
gency may require the exposure OF troops t,
| the hazard of unsafe transport, and then
the JUSTIFICATION would pe found in the neces
10. of the occasion. But the public service
requires from officers not only the exercise o
due care and diligence, but also Of sufficien
| skill and jUd gment to protect troops from al
unnecessary exposure to such hazard, thi
| a subordinate to meet the danger when or
dered to do so by competent authority.
These observations, though elected by tn,
| developments in this case, are not Intended T.
justify or extenuatc the conduct OF Major " Us
in assuming to oppose his judgment to that o
his commander, AMI TO disobey positive ant
reiterated order by refusing to embark witt
troops, t. the command of whom he had beef
assigned, and whose fate it was his duty t
share.
i JEFFERSON DAVIS, Secretary Of War.
i III.-The sentence awarded Brevet Majo
Francis o. Wyse, Captain Sd artillery, will b
duly executed, and at the termination Of tn
} | period fol which he is suspended, he wall pre-
ce,d to join his company wherever itmay the
be serving.
lV.-fhe General Court Martial, of whic
Brevet Brigadier General Henry Stanton
} President, is dissolved.
V.-The Court Of Inquiry instituted
especial Orders" No II, Of January %, 1876.
, from the War Department, whereof MsjC
t General Winfield Scott is President, and whic
convened in the City Of New York on the 81
day Of February, 1854 "to examine into al
the circumstances attending the EN- barkatior
s in December last: of the troops under the con
mand Of Colonel William Gates, 81 artillery
on board the steamer San Francisco, destine
l expedition. and of the disorganization of tn
f command at sea; and all other facts and eli
cumstauces which may concern the conduct
the commander, and Of the officers and NE
t of the command" has submitted the follow
ing
, REPORT:
Il s'The Court on full review Of all the CIV
dence taken in the cases before it, is of opiniO
THAT the officers arged with the selectio
of vessel for the transportation of the Unite
States Sd regiment # Artillery from the pc
Of New York, to ports in California, had evel
ground of a reasonable assurance that IL
steamer San Francisco, selected by them, We
, good and sufficient transport for that purpos
That the embarkation Of the regiment u
board the same steamer was as orderly
0 practicable, considering the necessary int
Il | mediate agency Of small steam-tug betwee
: | Governors Island and the transport;
That the troops seem to have been reason
! ably distributed, for quarters or lodging
among the different parts of the transport, a
though, unler a combination of most une
q pected events, four officers and about one hui
IA dred and seventy fye hon-commissioned of
/, | GERS and men from those assigned to the upp
deck, were washed overheard and lost at Il
a time Of the wreck;
o "That the failure of the expedition,
,r wreck Of the transport when bat few da
a. sea, was caused by storm of extraordina
&c violence, and tho breaking of the piston-r
Id of the air-pump "a new cOnstructiOn) at Il
10 height of that storm;
THAT, in respect to tile dfSOrg0ntzation
lie cl mi IT fhere tn hive he