Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-06-01

vas not brought forward as a pretense, aud In
order 70 serve as . cover and cloak for abased
powers and the malicious perverson OF legitiraae
authority; II. in point OF fact. there did exist
l outiny In the garrison which il required the
strong arm Of power 10 suppress; If il vas nu-
.iny 90 enormous IN its size. dangerous IL its
/ probable and immediate consequences, as 20 su-
| Dercede the ordinary forms Of trial for that or
| such like Offenses-he did not desire that the
prisoner should Do looked lpoR other than an
/ innocent man, even a meritorious man. Who
uses the effective powers with which bis situation
arms him, or which be has il within his reack 20
command and use for the discharge OF the trust
md the protection Of the interests committed to
him"
In defining the Law provided to meet cases of
military trsnsgresson. the Attorny General said:
There are two species Of trial which the law
has appointed for the punishment OF military of
| lenses. There IS trial by general court usar-
| iial. aud q trial by regimentsl court martial.
| The crime in which this man Armstrong vas
charged, is, appTehend, peculiarly aud solely
appropriated TO the cognizance of general court
| martial. IL do not misspprehend the prCvi-
| siOns and proper construction of the mutiny act,
| mutny specifically a. offence OF that name
| and description Is not cognizsble by regimental
| court marital. A regmental court-martial il to
| take cogDIzance Of. and inquire into such dis
| putes or criminal matters as may come before
| them and require the infection OF corporal pun
| shments for small Offences now, that certainly
| does not include mutiny, for mutiDy i punished
with death, De then described the different
modes Of procedure in general aud regimentsl
! courts martial aud added that IN sudden emer-
| gences, a case might arise where it neces-
sary for a military officer 10 iDhict immediate and
| severe punishment without having recourse TO
court martial OF any kind: but that such a csse
would carry It's own Justification with il he
charged the jury. that 10 the inquiry upon which
| they we're then engaged they had TO consider;
frst. whether Armstrong; death was occasioned
| by the act order OF the prisoner-of which
there was no doubt; and, secondly. that it was
incumben on the accused "to show the existence
Of crime in the prisoner, Armstrong; aud the
| mpossibility Of regular trial for the same and
| the reasonable fitness of the means substituted
and resorted 10 10 the place OF trial. In fact,
that death having resulted from punish ment
| originated from Governor Walls command, it
was necessery for that gentlemen to show chat
there a trial such the law requires in the
case Of general courts martial, or regmental
courts martial" or that the immediate urgency
| Of the justified the punishment for the ne
cessary preservation Of the settlement, the int
rests OF which he'had peculiarly and i'm mediately
! under his charge IL necessary for him
| prove that a mu,iny actually did exist. and then
| that the ordinary modes OF trial could not be re-
| sorted to, ana that there was no WanJOn aOuSe
of power in the infection Of punishment
On the part Of the prosecution il shown
that no mutinous proceedings took place, though
il was admitted that there existed in the garrison
! degree of uneasness and discomfort &C
| count OF the apprehension among the soldiers
that the arrears due TO them for short allowance
would not be paid and that the Governor and
Commssary would slip away from the colony
| without making any settlement. Governor Wall
| k0u 81 II al Mi
tfy, that the soldiers had made their appearance
several times in a menacing and threatening at
! ttude, and that their gestures. manner, halOO
| ing-in fact, everything denoted mutiny. Also
| thst in one instance the Governor went down To
the parade and found that prisoner had escs ped,
and the sentinel whose duty it was TO take cafe
OF this prisoner. had put rs bayonet TO the Gov
ernor's breast-an act highly mutinous The
first of these statements was 4 ,tly contradcted
by the evidence for the Crown, which proved
that the fscts were a. We have already narrated
them. tue most important witness being the
Orderly Sergeant of the day, who III at
tendance on the Governor Aud with reference
to the second statement the same witness said
that when the Governor went 10 the barracks he
attended him at some distance, as was his duty
and that from the barracks Mr. Tall ran hastily
down. and began beating one of the men, who
appeared to be in liquor, and then taking the
bayonet from the sentry. beat him with that also,
and then had them both confined.
Governor Wall declared in his defense that
the officers, on being assembled at the govern
ment- house. had all agreed that i'm mediste pun
ishment was necessary, and that Armstrong was
duly tried by regimental court martial, mot
having power at that time to form any other. "
He further said that the offender was charged BY
him at this court martial with the mutiny, and
that he chose not 10 take his life and try him
before a general court martial, but to try him BY
a regimental court martial, which has the dis
creton TO infct inferior punishment Unfor
tunstey for Mr. Wall, the officers who he al
legged had taken part in these proceedings, and
who could have been brought forward at the
time when he was first arrested on the charge,
we're all numbered among the dead On the
other hand, however. several witnesses were
called to prove that they had seen nothing which
bore the appearance of a trial.
AS an excuse for the punishment not being in
fcted with the usual instruments-the cat o.
nine -tails-with which military punishments are
inhicted-it was stated that these had been de
stroy ed, and that the drummers, whose duty it
was TO inhict punishment, were in the mutiny
which latter accounted for the blacks having been
employed. The surgeon who was in attendance
at the time said that the reason he made no rep
resentation Of the inability of the man to bear
the punishment was that owing to the novelty of
the instrument used, he deceived as TO the
results The effect OF this he sfterward found
was to bruise instead of to cut. az is the case
when the cat is used. and mobilization was more
likely To ensue from bruises than cuts
The fact of Governor Wall having made no
report of the mutny in bis dispatch ansmitted
to the Government on his return to England and
the improbability that he would have left the
Colony the following dsy if any emeute OF the
nature he represented had occurred, were strong
" pressed on the part of the prosecution In re-
ply TO this, be said that his own state of health
and the rapid advance of the sckly season, rem
dered IL necessary that he should lose no time in
quitting that climate
The VERDICT
The jury, after an absence from the cour. OF
half an hour returned a verdict of guilty; aud a
fev days afterward. 1.-The Unfortunate bat guilty
Governor" suffered the extreme pc atty Of the
Law, amid the Kisses, groans aud shoutDgs of the
spectators.
This case. and the trial which lasted fourteen
hours, excited the public curiosity IN degree
perhaps hitherto urequaled in the annals of the
country The punishment vas considered as
exemplary. and a. evincng the wisdom purity
and imD-ruslty Of British justice
uerbatim report Of the case IS given in
"Howel's State Trials" volume IS. and con
densed account in the g" Annual Register" for
lsO2. and its study may prove instructive ard
suggestive TO sll who delegate to Others or them
/