The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-09-11
AT THE YARD-ARM.
Recollection of a Witness of the Exem-
plary Execution on the Brig somers in

RecOIIections Of q Witness of the ExeEl-
plary Execution on the Brig Scmers in
1912.
From the Philadelphia Times.
81 was a boy in the United States
navy on the brig Somers, in AZ, when
those three men were hung that were
referred to in the Lookout column OF
the Times some time ago. said John
w. Davis, on Chestnut street, the 9th
er day. ''The sight of those three men
hanging at the yard-arm, and then
burial in the sea at night, has haunted
me all my life. 1t often comes up be-
fore me when I'm walking along the
street. can never forget it. / knew
Spencer, the midshipman, well. He
was a wild, daredevil sort of a fellow,
about 10 years old; butgoodnatured,
and not maliciously inclined. think
the execution of all the men was d
grave mistake; and in looking back at
it now | believe that it was a foul
murder.
"We sailed from New York on the
18th of September, AZ, for the coast
OF Africa, but first began cruising III the
West Indies. In the latter part of
November, before we preached st. Thorn
as, Midshipman Spencer, who was the
son Of the Secretary of War, was sud-
denly seized one day, put in double
irons, and kept a prisoner in close con
finement. Two other men, the boat
swain's mate, who was acting as boat
swain, and whose name was Cromwell,
and a seaman, named Small, were ar
rested a day or two afterward, follow
ed by tbs arrest of four others. All
were put In double irons. We had no
marine guard on board. The officers
appeared to be frightened to death
about something and the men of the
ships company were afraid to be seen
talking to each other. After Spencer's
arrest it was noised around decks that
he had formed a plot to sieze the ship,
along with a few ofthe ships crew, and
turn it into a piratical craft. Among
Others he communicated his plan to
the purser's steward, who got a list of
the conspirators and told the whole
story to Lieut.. Mcintosh, the execu-
tive officer.
"Two or three days after the arrests
a number of officers met in the ward
room and called in q number of the
ships crew and examined them. The
statements and even the opinions of
each witness was taken down, but the
accused men were not allowed to face
their accusers, were not told what the
charges were in detail and were not
granted any opportunity for explana-
ton or defense. On the LIST of Decem-
Der, four days after Spencer's arrest,
he, along with Cromwell and Small,
were toldto getready to die; thatthey
were going to swing at the yard-armat
once. Spencer and the captain of the
top acknowledged their guilt and were
willing to die. but the acting boat
swain protested his innocence to the
last, and Spencer declared, also, that
he, Cromwell, had nothing to do with
the plot. Cali all hands to witness
execution said the first lieutenant.
The ships company sullenly ranged
themselves on the quarterback and at
other points, while the officers of the
ship stood around with drawn and
sharpened swords to cut down any
one who faltered in inflicting the
awful penalty. When everything was
ready Spencer and his two compan-
ions were allowed to bid their friends
goodbye, then Capt. Mackenzie gave
the signal, q gun was fired, the colors
were hoisted and at the same time the
three men, with caps I'VE their faces,
were swung out on the main yard
arm. 1t was a horrible sight to look
at. All of the men died game. Com
mander Mackenzie then made speech
to us about the necessity of discipline
and the awful crime of mutiny. At
night funeral services were read by the
light OF the battle-lanterns and the
bodies were put on the fitting board
and dropped overheard into the sea.
1T was a solemn scene, | assure you,
and it made an impression on my
youthful mind that can never be
eradicated. In q day or two we ran
into st. Thomas and then set sail for
New York, arriving there on the 14th
of December.
There was a good deal of excitement
when the news of the mutiny and the
hanging got noised around and hun
dreds of people came down to the ship
to see us. All of the others arrested
were dismissed from custody. Com
mander Mackenzie was court-maftial-
ed about a month afterwards and the
court sat for forty days, but acquitted
him. 1t was composed of his brother
officers. Mackenzie was not lied by
the men. He was a brutal martinet,
anyhow. Flogging was allowed in the
navy in those DAYS and he was very
fond OF administering the 'cat'fortrivi-
al offenses. Thefriends ofthe executed
men tried to have Mackenzie indictedin