Mount Vernon signal. (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) 18??-current, 1899-01-20
EAGAN MAKES AN APOLOGY.
The. War Department Decides That He
Shall BE Court Martialed- Gen:
@ .pIerrirt win Preside.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1.-THE war de-
| parthent has decided to court-martial
Gen. Eagan. Gen. Merritt will be
president of the court, which will sit
lat Washington. Owing to the ilnpos-.
s}bilitg of getting enough general of.
fcers. to- make up the entire detail,
there will be some officers of junior
rank on the court.
1 WASHINGTON, Jan. 6.--The revised
Statement of Gen. Egan with all OBJ
liectionable matter eliminated, was
Submitted to the war investigating
commission Monday morning.
4 1t was accompanied by letter of
transmittal, in which Gen. Egan makes
\ a formal apology to the commission.
Both the statement and apology
were accepted by the commission in
Executive session.
The following is the letter of Ger
Eagan to the commission:
1 Gentlemen: 1 have tho honor to hand you
herewith my testimony, which is now result
mitted and revised in connection with the
views expressed by you in your letter to me OF
January 10. 1892
"The Objectionable features and what is con-
j sidered irrelevant matter by you in which
d opinion l entirely agree, are eliminated In
4 this connection desire to state that there was
. never a thought or intention on my part
1of any disrespect whatsoever to your
j commission, but in explanation and in extenu-
4 alton of the language used by me heretofore,
4 Ibeg to invite the attention of the commission
! 70 the fact that have been accused prac-
itiea3iy of feeding the soldiers with poisoned
dbeef which made them sick-'embalmed beef
$50 called; that have furnished meat to the
3afmy under the pretense of experiment
4 which charge in effect is corruption and worse
1Because it jeopardzed thelives of soldiers sent
no the front in tropical climates and who were
hdependent on such food as. was sent them;
THAT these statements have gone to the
iwhQle country .uncontradicted; that they have
have been pilloried IN the
tptsso of the country as q man who had fed the
army on poisoned meat and oorruptly so; that
lfor about three weeks time / have kept silent
l(orthe reason that Twas debarred after talk
'ling with the HONORABLE secretary of war from
.Iureferring charges because of the Immunity
GRANTED by the president TO witnesses
rsore your commission, notwtth-
Z ae.l'iap the. gravity !, aofs.- these
Iaccusatiofs. THAT IL Is unreasonable to believe
that such monstrous charges could have any
other effect than to work upon an honorable
man in such way as to goad him to a species
of desperation. and that II was but natural,
when the proper opportunity was given him, to
meet and refute the charges, that he should
characterize them in harsh language and in
terms that are deemed improper. no matter
what the provocI tion.
Il therefore withdraw the language and
matter so Objectionable, and resubmit to
you my sworn statement with the abiding
faith that your commission. having all the
facts before you, will decide the points at issue
justly. Very respectfully
CHARLES p. EAGAN
"Commissary General"
New YORK, Jan. 17.--The Herald, in
a Washington dispatch, says: IF Gen.
Eagan is court-martialed it will not be
the first time he has had to face fell
low-officers on charges. While hold
ing the rank of captain commissary of
subsistence he was tried in November,
1877, by court-martial of which Lieut..
Col. j. w. Wilkins was president. 1t
was charged that, although disburs-
ing officer, he 'habitually bet at cards
for large stakes In one of the specifi-
cations he was accused of losing 5000,
and had failed up to November 10, 1877,
to pay the same"