The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1885-08-24
THE LATE MILITARY EN-.
CAMPMENT.
General ORDER NUMBER 7.
Coz. Scales coastructisW Of The Same.


Coz. Scales CoaStructitqT of The Same.
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
ExECUTIvE Dept, RALEIGH, Aug %.
General Orders No. 8.
l. General Orders No. z, published on
July 10Th, contained this paragraph
1t having been reported to the Com
mander-in-Chief that Companies A, E
and K, of the Third Regiment, struck
camp and returned home on yesterday,
without leave from competent authority,
it is now ordered that Capt. q. F. Young,
of Company A, Captain w. A. Bobbitt, of
Company e, and Captain Max Lowen'
stein, of Company K, make immediate
report to the Adjutant- General stating by
what authority their companies left
camp. Should they fail to make this
report within. five days from the receipt
of this orders or should the same be un-
satisfactory the commissions of the of
fcers will be revoked and thetompanies
II. The following report from the Ad-
iutant General contains the responses of
the officers involved and such additional
facts and circumstances bearing upon the
case as are necessary to be known:
Office of the Adjutant General,
Asheville, Aug. 10th, 1885. {
Special Report No. 2.
10 HIS ErcelEency Gou. A. M. Scales:
ri have the honor to submit here
with the several responses to General
Order No. Z, made by Captains Bobbitt,
Young and Lowenstein, and also a letter
from Col. Glenn upon the same subject,
and the application for leave of absence
for companies A. E and K, made to n,e
by Col. Glenn on the 2Sth day of July,
said papers being marked respectively
exhibits A, B, G, d and E.
The application for leave for these
companies was filed by Col. Glenn at my
headquarters at Camp Scales about noon
on Tuesday the 28th day of July. I re-
ceived and read the application about
O'Clock that day, being absent from camp
on duty at the hour it was filed. 1 i'm
me diately reported the matter to your
Excellency in company with Col. Glenn
and Maj. Smith. You declined to grant
the application for leave, except as to
Col. Glenn and Maj. Smith, whom you
permitted to 60 home on the afternoon
of that day.
At the time this application for leave
was filed, companies A p and K had al
ready commenced breaking camp, were
packing up, and moving off. In reply
to the explanation offered by Capt. Bob
bitt, I beg leave to say that the instruc.
tions to which he refers were special,
written directions to the several regi
mental commanders, giving them in
Structions with respect to the care and
preservation and return of public and
hired property in their possession, to-
wit: the tents, stoves, cooking utensils,
&c, and also with respect to striking the
tents and marching to the depot. All
this, of course, had reference to the de-
parture of the troops at the close of the
1t was simply preparatory;
and am at loss e. Understand how
any On6 could nave Be6n 8n1sf1u by sGcn
instructions, or could have construed
them into permission for any company
or egiment to leave camp. Plainer Ian
gage could not have been used.
Capt. Young's assertion that before
going to Camp I was advised that his
could not remain in camp dur
ing the ten days, is not strictly true. l
was only advised that some of his men
would be obliged to return before the
ten days were out. Capt. Young wrote
me ON July 10th as follows: "Would
like to know something about my men
leaving camp before the ten days are out.
Some of them cannot remain the whole
ten days, and 1 have promised to let
them return"
In regard to the explanations offered
by Col. Glenn. It is true ! told him that
l would grant leaves of absence to men
of his regiment whom he should say
were compelled to go back home before
the encampment closed; but this referred
to individuals only, and 1 expected, of
course, that the applications would be
made in the usual way according to the
with which I presumed all
officers were acquainted; and that no
man would leave camp until his appli-
cation was acted upon by the officer
commanding the camp. Previous to the
2Sth Of July had granted leaves of ab-
sence to detachment eff men belonging
to Company A, and several members of
Company K, upon Col. Glenn's written
That Col. Glenn should have construed
my instructions to reginental command
ers about breaking camp into permission
for his regiment to leave camp before
July 80, passes my comprehension. The
instructions were written, and were
couched in language certainly plain
enough to be understood by any one.
No word or act of mine authorized Col.
Glenn to grant permission to companies
A, E and K to go home before his appli-
cation for leave of absence for them was
acted upon, but it is clear that the Of
ficers and men of these several compa-
nies departed from camp under the be-
lief that leave from proper authority had
been obtained, and they must be &C
vuitted of any charge of insubordination
or intentional disobedience of orders.
The responsibility for their unauthor-
lied departure rests solely with the
commanding officer of the Regiment.
who explains his conduct In letter to
me dated August 4th hereto appended
marked Exhibit D.
have the honor to be your obedient
servant, TOMBSTONE JONES,
Adj't General North Carolina.
Exhibit Il.