The age-herald., 1900-08-27
Deliberately Marched His Men Off the Field During Drill Regardless of Orders.

patched his ad1utant to Company Us head quarters and ordered the captain "to report under arrest" Captain Marchant made point blank refusal and stated that if the colonel wanted to see him he could come to his headquarters.
 Upon receiving Adjutant Aliens report Colonel Wiley caused the officers call to be sounded, in response to which all the officers in camp assembled at his head quarters, Captain Marchant among the number. As Captain Marchant walked up Colonel Wiley said to him:
 ''You sir. have been ordered under ar- rest. You will repair to your quarters and remain there. This call is not intended for you"
 Captain Marchant replied, Excuse me, Colonel. I beg pardon, sir" and imme- diately went away in the direction of his quarters.
 Lieutnant Coulter was reprimanded by Colonel Wiley for leaving the field in dis obedience of Captain Andersons orders He apoligized, saying that he did not in- tend to be disobedient or insubordinate, but thought he was doing his duty when he obeyed his captain.
 Instead of going to his quarters Captain Marchant went to the mess hall, got his supper and then came to the city, accom- panied by about thirty of his men. The guard tried to stop the men at the guard house but could not do so.
 Colonel Wiley ordered a detachment con- sisting of ninety-three men under the com mand of Captains Anderson, Williamson and Miller to come to the city and arrest of fc
 Captain Marchant commanded Company L in the Second Alabama Volunteer In- fantry during the Spanish-American war and was with his regiment at Mobile, Mi ami and Jacksonville. He was a brave officer and stood well with his superior of ficers and with the men of his company who were at all times ready to do his bid- ding.
 CaptainM erchants' Statement
 Soon after his arrest Captain Marchant said
 q feel perfectly Justified in doing as l did, and under similar circumstances l would have no hesitancy in repeating the act. My men were being drilled to death. From the edge of the field, where l was standing I could see that they were suf- fering, and I felt 1t my duty to protect them by ordering them off the field. They had been up a greater part of the previous night and had been travelling all day. Be- fore issued the order for them to leave the field several of them had already be- come exhausted and left ranks Under such circumstances as this felt that my first duty was to my men," Continuing Captain Marchant said: "As f< ybot x.,ilJ ha hot inc tO be seen. When I reached my quarters soon after the occurrence I was ordered to report to the Colonel under arrest. I did not regard such orders at the time and do not intend to. I wish to state further that will not allow my men to go out on drill again until the charges against me are removed. Several members of other companies have told me they indorsed my action and would take similar course" " Affair Greatly Regretted Yesterdays remarkable occurance Is greatly regretted by the entire regiment. Company was one of the best drilled companies in the regiment, and is oonsid- erably the largest in numbers. It was the
 only company which had sufficient men to drill in double ranks during yesterdays manouvres. They attracted considerable attention by the excellent manner in which they marched and handled their arms. The company served in the Second Ala bama Voluntee Infantry Regiment during the Spanish-American war and many of the present members of the company are veterans.
 No one regrets the incident more than Colonel Wiley. He stated last night that he was acting in accordance with his idea of maintaining discipline and there was nc other course to pursue