The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-03

Tragic indeed is every incident connected
with the battlefield, but more so are some
! of the mysterious occurrences which have
| oft-times taken place during campaign
and which might be put down as cold
blooded murders. 1t seems very unlikely
| thing that in the heat Of a hard-fought con-
/ flict the origin Of a man deaths can be de-
termined-that is to say, whether he died
by the hands Of one of his comrades or by
those Of the enemy; consequently, men
with grievance against their officers have
often made use of such opportunities to
wipe off old scores. and have gone undis-
covered.
A notable instance Of this occurred just
before the battle OF Woerth, in the Franco
Prussian war. A certain officer of consid-
cradle repute had got himself generally
disliked by his perseverance in bullying
those under him. A few days before this
the first great battle of the war, when the
French, were nearing the border in their
hopeless endeavor to reach Berlin, rumor
the Prussians were advancing and would
shortly be up. Instantly pandemonium
reigned, and scouting parties were sent out
in all directions. One Of these was under
the officer in question, and when some way
from the camp was fired upon, the bullet
bringing him down. The Frenchmen, think
Ing they had got into an ambush, retired,
firing at an invisible foe as they did so,
but as no countershots were received they
grew courageous again, and, after being re-
enforced advanced to the fatal spot. The
body of the officer was found, but not so
that of his assailant, who had evidently es-
capped unscathed.
On returning to the camp 1t was found
that no trace of the enemy had been
discovered; in fact, at that time the Prus-
slams were far away from the spot on the
other side of Woerth. Accordingly
post-mortem examination was held on the
officers body and a French service bullet
was extracted therefrom, but the muir
derer was never detected, although he
was doubtless in the camp and had slipped
out unawares to commit the crime.
But this is only one Of many tragedies
which took place during the war. and 1t is
said that at least 2 per cent of the French
officers killed fell by the hands of their
own men, and little over half that num-
Der in the Prussian army. In the former
instance the crimes were due for the
most part to the national feeling of never
forgetting a grievance, and in the latter
to the rightly of discipline. which some
times amounts to bullying.
Even Marshal Bazaine was nearly MUIR
dered before he capitulated at Metz. He
was by no means popular man, and on
this account always stood in dread of the
assassin, and his fears were not lessened
when plot was discovered to put poison
in his food, the scheme being Matched by
his own men. The offenders, or some Of
them, were promptly tried and shot be-
rather sad case Is forwarded in con-
necion with the italian disaster at Adowa
OF few years ago. During the melee a
man was seen to shoot in the direction of
HIS caIeain, who at the same time fell
moieally wounded. When the battle was
over the man was charged with the crime
and after sSant trial shot by his COM
rades. despite his protests of innocence;
one OF the chief reasons for his condemna-
ticn being that he was known to have a
grievance agains; the officer Nevertheless.
the affair was soon forgotten till some
nine months afterward, when a soldier
came forward from the came regiment.
self-charged with the crime. He related
the facts In detail, giving mis- motive as
petty tyranny on the part Of the officer
some years previously when he. the MUIR
derer was a recruit, and stated that he
would never have given himself up had
not another man died in his stead. Need
less to say, this did not excuse him, and
he persisted in the prison yard at Naples.
Not many months ago three Spanish SOL
diers were executed at Madrid for the al
legged murder OF an officer during the hos
Utilities in Cuba, although the evidence
against them was very meagre. Sufficient
was il that subsequent to the battle Of
st. Juan the officer was found dead some
way from the battlefield with a Mauser
bullet in his brain, and the three men
referred to were seen in the vicinity at
place.
OF course. they may have been justly
condemned, as tragedies OF this nature
were especially frequently in the Spanish
army throughout the war: but at the
same time the authorities failed to take
into account that there were many So
called loyal" Cubans attached to the
Spanish forces, and also present at San
Juan, who had been given Mauser rifles
and ammunition by their Oppressors, but
whose dislike to Spanish officers was pro-
verbal.
Although such crimes are more common
in the majority of Continental armies than
in our own, we must not imagine that SIM
liar cases have never taken place in which
Tommy Atkins has participated. In the
Zulu war, just prior to the battle OF Ulun-
di, young lieutenant in one Of the line
re giments was found shot some way from
camp, and after the campaign soldier on
his deathbed at Davenport confessed to
having been his murderer.
Similarly, too. during the hostilities in the
Soudan in 1885. an officer of some repute
was found to have been mysteriously kill
ed by an English bullet. and, although the
affair was hushed up and put down to the
Dervishes. who were said TO have obtained
some British rifles, by inexplicable means,
it was subsequently disclosed that where
as they actually did gain possession of
some OF our rifles, they obtained no ammu
milton with them. Despite this significant
fact, however. the perpetrator OF the crime
was never arrested.-LondOn Tit-Bits.
THE ARMY OF sPELLBINDERS.