The Washington union., 1858-03-14
ARMY INTELLIGENCE COURT MARTIAL OF COL
ONEL SUMNER.


The sublolned j. fuller account Of Fridays proceed
ngs of the court martial Carlisle The eeurt, it viii
be seen, has adjourned:
The court met at nine o'clock The first witness ex
ainned Col John Harris Of the marine corps who
testified thathe OF the correspondence between
Coloe auinti aid ue.gra Harriet on of about the 18th
of February last was consulted by Sumner .c the
tenor Of that coresncnence knew his views in regard
to his note Of the 18th Of February witness did not
strue that bc challenge nor did Colonel Sum
ner TO the best Of his knowledge did not think IT was
a challenge Understood that Sumner had selected no
friend to bear challenge for him, moi airy oe 70 act
his friend if such an emergency to arise The wit
ness was not cross-exa,nined
The evidence closed on both sides.
Colonel Sumner allowed two hours to prepare his
defence and the court took till twelve O'Clock
Oh, reassembling Colonel Summers defence wasread by
Judge Watts The actpsed said be wished to impress
thg t5uft +h tho tdea that the ais srhcfe1 consti
tuting his offence against the articles o aaT SAth not
the product OF sudden emergency expression Of
uasson but the result of a deliberate consideration,
and the conviction OF absolute necessity He proceeded
to meet the charge in detail He denied that he had
made personal affair with General flrncy out OF an OH
oal matter on the ground that the presence of
court martial Hid not protect individual from the
sequences OF his fisoids Of that the Inquiries of
court-maral addressed TO indiy idla cou it-e- an
expression of malignant ignorant passion he de-
MED that the place in which individual stood could
him with official protection and argued that In
dydua called to account fo slsnder thus uttccd could
not successfully plead that court the witness OF his
offence, question nut by the court 10 Gen Harney was
whether he entertained prejudice bias against the ac-
cused to disqualify him member of the court The
question simple, and could be fully answered by yes
Harney seDl the OCCASION TO abuse the minds of
the court and insult the accused by declaring that lac
had before charged the accused with ungen'lemanie aud
r'fpfirctke cor,luct and that he had little
spect Tor him soitr arid that the accused would
have been tried for the offence imptofer atd untrue
statements had not been made to the Secretary OF War
isrr. Ia, lyt ths tn
licye him the ccug.ion OF lsehcod wrapped him
self up in the silence Of insinuation Coz sumner then
appealed every member OF the court whether he did
himself his family, his friends, and the army
the of prupoundng TO Gen HaIney the questions con-
tanned his letter Of the 18th of January He denied
that that letter contained matter for charge trial, aud
conviction, the ground that Gen Haey sdccafaiions
neither official proper and that this letter afford
ed him opportunity 10 do what it belonged to every
honorable gentleman and soldier to do To the second
charge the accused denied that the note of the 18th OF
February intended a challenge TO Gen. Harney. but
invitation to Gen srney to leave the District OF
Columbia 10 the correspondence, and examine
the cause of their difficulty and afford General Harvey
an opportunity Of rcpatatiou. The note not cai
Ienge first because it would not bear that Interpretation;
second because it would bear more reasonable one
third. previous preparation made for snch an
event fourth because it is proved that such is not its
character intention The accused condemned in his
own Judgment the practice of dueng, but held that
circumstances might 10 render it necessary at
the expense OF the loss of commission. To the third
charge. Of upbrading officer for refusing to accept
challenge he said if accused did not send challenge,
General aney did not refuse one, and could not be up
braided.
sion which very short The result cannot he known
tli Is promulgated from Washington the oath OF the
members OF the court requiring nvioabe secrecy The
majority OF the LEFT town in the afternoon
Colonel Sumner remains till Monday The Judge aivo-
cate proceeds Immediately TO Washington with the pa
pers.