St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-28
The ARMY OUTRAGES
Can Only be Unearthed by a
General Court Of In
quiry.
The Particularly Outrageous
Case Of Capt. Fechet at
Fort Yates.
A Private Smashed With q
Musket For Failing to
Salute.
Even Army Officers Feel
Called on to Denounce
the Outrage.


of inquiry that will cover the entire de-
partment of Dakota will alone show up
the frightful condition of abuse. The
case of Steele is but one among the
many, and is the least of several. The
subject is being agitated very vigorously
by other papers than the GLOBE, not
ably the Chicago Herald. and the COM
bined effort will eventually produce re-
suits. The Herald has taken up the
case of Capt. Edward q. Fechet, of
Fort Yates, who was president of
the court martial that convicted Wild.
The disclosures thus far, it says, are
but the beginning of series, which
will probably result in freeing the
United States army of some officers who
disgrace their uniform. 1t is not only
in the treatment of the men under their
command that many of the officers
offend, but in their private life their
diSSOlute and licenti0uS habits are Such
as to render them unfit companions for
any decent man or woman. 1t is to this
class that Lieut.. Steele and Capt. e.
q. Fechet of the Eighth Cavalry be-
long. Capt. Fechet's conduct in his
treatment of Private Dugan, brutal as
itappeared from the published accounts,
was even worse than was reported.
Not only are the officers brutal in the
extreme, but to cover up their tyran-
| nous conduct and frequent wrong-do-
ing they seem to have entered into
secret clique. by which when one man
gets into trouble the others combine to
help him and he IN turn does the same
by them when afforded the opportunity.
An example OF this is shown in the cases
of Capt. Fechet and Lieut.. Steele.
WHEN FECHET WAS IN TROUBLE
for the brutal assault upon Private Du-
gan, Lieut.. Steele did everything in his
power TO help him and succeeded in at
least temporarily embarrassing Fechet.
Then when Lieut. Steele was in trouble
| on account OF Private Wild. Capt.
Fechet secured the appointment as pres
| ident of the court martial that tried
Wild, and by imprisoning the private
| put, as he supposed, very artistic COW
ering over Lieut.. Steele's misdeeds.
Capt. <. &. Fechet's brutal treatment
of Private Dugan, of Company q,
| Twelfth infantry. took place in July
last at Bismarck, n. ID. Dugan was
drunk at the time, and meeting Capt.
Fechet refused to salute him. Fechet,
| it Is SAID by reliable witnesses, was in
no better condition, as far as sObriety
was concerned, than the private. Du-
gan's refusal TO salute was certainly de-
serving Of punishment, but sinStead of
ordering the man to the guard house
Capt. Fechet seized u gun from soldier
| who was standing near by and struck
| Dugan terrific blow on the head with
| the butt. The private's scalp was cut,
| while his ear was Snlit. and he fell to the
| ground unconscious. The assault was
| witnessed by a number of civilians,
| who were only prevented from attack
"a. h. Il
| FechetS friends hurried him away and
| the matter was hushed up. Dugan re-
| manned unconscious for some time. but,
| after being cared for by the surgeon.
| and spending some time in the hospital,
returned to duty. Capt. Fechet at the
time was commanding battalion of
| troops from Fort Yates attending the
| exercises incident to the meeting of the
| constitutional convention of North Da-
kota. The matter was ventilated in the
| Bismarck Tribune and the st. Paul
| papers. and much indignation was ex-
| pressed over the conduct of Capt.
| Fechet, who allowed his violent temper
to make him
| FORGET HIS RANK
| and the dignity of his position, and
strike to the earth defenSeless soldier,
whose punishment should not have been
adjudged by the officer offended, but
should have been fixed by a court mar
| tial. The citizens of Bismarck and
many of the soldiers VIII were present
stated that the condition of Capt. Fechet
| as to Sobriety at the time the assault
| took place was on a par with the condi-
ton of the soldier, who was afterward
court martialed for INSTRUMENTATION.
The affair was as quickly hushed up as
possible, but was widely teiegraphed.
Even the Pioneer Press, of this city,
which now, as 1t missed the first news.
| attempts to pose as the organ of the
| West Point snQb0cracy, published a
special on July 9th last detailing the
assault. There was but one officer
| Capt. David j. Craigie-WhO took eXcep-
ton to the outrageous conduct of Capt.
| Fechet, and he did so vigorously. But
the inWardness of the close clique at
Fort Yates was made apparent when a
paper was sent TO Capt. Charles B. Hall,
recruiting officer at this city, endeavor-
ing to gloss over the affair. This was
signed by five officers, all friends or
Capt. Fechet, and among them appears
the name of Lieut.. Steele, the hero of
the Wild affair. Capt CraigIe saw this
letter. and Indignantly wrote the Army
and Navy Journal, exposing the whole
affair.
FULL EXPOSURE.
This letter TO Capt Hall, he says, appears
TO me to be slur, an indi entity and some
v'''"t slandernuS in its nature on the fail
name of a singularly loyal and truthful set OF
ln>n. Inc ''IialtTeaIed soldier referred to is
a member OF Company G, Twelfth infantry.
| The trough discipline" consisted of the Off
| Ger in command of a battalion Of Companies
| q and H, Twelfth infantry, not member OF
| the regiment, seiZing from the hands of a
soldier of the command q rifle. knocking
down the man in question, while slightly in.
fny nd and md 6nfn lngc Nv
! striking him on the head with the butt of the
| piece, splitting his ear and stunning him into
| lnsensibility, necessitating immediate aid
and conveyance to hospital. Experience,
as well as duty, teaches that the officer of the
| day or guard Of all we'll regulated commands,
| assisted by his non commissioned officers and
guard. can take charge of and, if need be,
discipline all obstreperous soldiers while on
the march or journeyipg in railroad cars, etc.
1t has been my privilege 10 have served in
my regiment through the different commits
stoned grades Gncluding regimeptal staff APP
pointments), up to that of company COM
mandeT, covering period of over twenty
| three years. and In all that time have never,
in any way, observed the slightest spirit of
INSTRUMENTATION, much less a spirit of ''mu-
tiny in the rank and file of the regiment
but, to the contrary, il is within my personal
and absolute knowledge, that the Twelfth
| infantry travelled from the vicinity of Wash
ington, D. c., to the Pacific coast in the
spring OF 1869, returned 10 garrison certain
ana again returning West to Dakota in 1887,
travelling these many thousands of miles by
rail. ocean, lake, and river steamers. tnclud-
ing long marches, at times under very trying
and adverse circumstances. these loug jour
neys being made cheerfully. without COM
plant or accident or rough discipline be-
ing resorted to to "preserve order,'' or to
prevent open mutiny,'' thus showing high
state of discipline, and thoroughly loyal
| command, imbued with great regimental
pride. This regiment has never been sub.
jected to the trough discipline system; fur.
theTmore, II has never been tolerated in it.
deem it unwise 10 permit this indignity 10
pass unchalleneed. as indicated in the letter
referred TO- BY giving these few remarks a
place in the next issue of your valuable pa
per. You viii confer great favor on YOU
humble servant and many Others of my regi
ment. Very respectfully, your obedient ser
want, DAVID j. CRAIGIE
David J. CragIe, the writer Of this let
ter. is an
OLD AND EXPERIENCED ARMY OFFICER
J with the present rank of captain. /.