The age-herald., 1900-08-28
THE INCIDENT CLOSED
With Severe Reprimand Colonel Wi- ley Dismisses Charges Against the Captain and Orders
 His Men Released


 diplomacy the incident is now closed. Captain Jeptha P. Marchant of Company L of Phenix City, whose conduct on Sum day afternoon caused himself and the lar ger part of his company to be placed under arrest and confined in the guard house, yes terday morning wrote out an apology which l he handed to Colonel Wiley and the latter l after severely reprimandng him, released | him from arrest, and upon the promise of | good behavior for the remainder of the en- campment, he was restored to the command | of his company.
 l As soon as breakfast was served yester- l day morning, the men of Company l., who I had followed their captain to the city Sun | day night were put to work cleaning up | the camp, duty usually imposed upon | prisoners. and they were engaged at this 1 when Colonel Wiley received Captain Mar | chants apology. The captain was called be- | fore the commander of the camp and repri- | manded, and would have been released then I but for the fact that his men were at work,
 and the colonel did not want to release him I while his men were still held in custody. | As soon as the men were called In from | work Captain Marchant was released, and | immediately went to his quarters and as- sumed command of his company. l Captain Marchant's .etter | Captain Merchants letter of apology was | as follows:
 | HEADQUARTERS East Lake, Ala August 27, 19O0 "Lieutenant Colonel A. A. Wiley, Com manding Second Infantry, Alabama I National Guards, East Lake, Ala: | 'Sir-I desire to present my apologies for the unfortunate occurrences of yes terday I was laboring under misap- | prehension of facts, and I trust that you will overlook the matter this time 'I have been connected with the Ala bama National Guard for the past ten | years During that time I also served | an enlistment in the volunteer army. I have always conducted myself prop erly, as inquiry will prove, except upon | the unfortunate occasion referred to. l "I would thank you to dismiss the | matter and allow me to return to the | command of my company.
 1 Very respectfully, your obedient ser l want, "J P MERCHANT, | Captain Second Infantry, A N. G. When Captain Marchant had come before Colonel Wiley, the latter rebulxed his con-
 duct of the evening before when he ordered
 his company from the field while the reg iment was being drilled by the colonel The | colonel said:
 Colonel Wiley's ReprImand ''So far as I am personally concerned, l and as commanding officer of this reg l iment, am willing to accept your apolo- | gy. The entire matter has been very un- | pleasant to me. You, as an officer, know l that discipline must be maintained and that insubordination cannot for a mo- | ment be tolerated. l T could not have preserved my own self-respect If I had not dealt with you l vigorously and summarily, in the light of your fragrant misconduct You will | be permitted to resume command of | your company, Company l., but as an evidence of my displeasure and for pur- l poses of further discipline. you will not be allowed to command the Third Bat talion, to which you were assigned on | yesterday. Restoration to the command of your company is upon condition that your conduct, during this encampment, must be in strict accord with military regulations, and that you will, at all times, and under all circum stances, de- mean yourself, as officer and gen. tleman Your company, inspired by yourself as captain, has been guilty of gross violation of military law and | discipline. You charged with the re- sponsibility of seeing that nothing of this character hereafter occurs. Your men will accordingly be released from prison.
 | to forget and forgive your inexcusable misbehavior and will recommend that the incident end here. of course, cannot speak for the mill l itary authorities of the State. Over their conduct and judgment, I have no con- l trol; but I hope and believe that no | court-martial, under the circumstances | and in the light of your apology will l now be ordered by the Governor" l Adjutant-Generai Brandon's Views 1 Adjutant-General Brandon stated yester- l day afternoon that he did not believe l charges would be preferred against Cap
 | tain Marchant, though, he said he could not speak for the Governor. He said he would recommend following out the recom- mendations of Colonel Wiley.
 | It is only in the rarest instances that | army officers are confined in prison pend- l ing investigation or trial Army regula- l tions provide that an officer under arrest l shall remain in his quarters and hold | communication with no one except by per l mission of the commander of the camp. Captain Marchant would not have been | confined in the guard house had he not broken arrest and left camp. The Second Regiment has more men in camp than the Third had last week and most of the companies are fairly we'll drilled. They have greater percentage of old members than have the companies in the Third.
 The Second Regiment The Second Regiment has only eleven companies, or one less than the full num- Der allowed to a regiment. Several men came up from Tuscaloosa