The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-09-18

! that the prejudice against him among
| the members of his profession was ex.
| tremely strong, he demanded that as a
member of the senate and as a knight
Grand Cross Of the Order of st. Maurice
and St. Lazarus, he should be tried not
| by a courtmartial composed Of admirals
burt by the senate. All the great digni-
taries Of the kingdom have right to
demand this. and his request, which
merely served to increase the ill-feel-
ing against him among naval men, was
| granted.
| The senate assembled as a high court
| for his trial acquitted him of the charge
of cowardice but pronounced him guilty
of disobedience. incapacity and negl-
| gence at the battle of LISA. and sen-
| fenced him to be degraded from his
| rank of admiral and to be disnisse
| from the naval service in disgrace.
Among the foreign naval men free
from prejudice against the unfortunate
admiral. there has al~ays prevailed an
impression that he was badly treated
and used as a scapegoat. For If he was
defeated at the battle of LISA it was
largely due to the disobedience and to
the misconduct of his captains. to the
fact that the art of handling armored
ships was then in its infancy, and like
wise to the negligence and corrupt On
in the Italian naval arsenals and dock
yards. thanks to which the shells would
not explode or tit the guns. while the
powder would not so off.
Admiral de Villeneuve was courtmac
tailed and disgraced by order of Napo.
leon l for allowing himself to be de-
feated at the battle of Trafalgar He,
too, was charged most unjustly with
personal cowardce. whereas his worst
fault was lack of judgment and of
strategy.
The Neapoltan admiral. Prince Carac>
cioo, was courtmartialed by orders of
Lord Nelson in 1895, and condemned to
death. on charges of cowardice. treach
cry and disotedience. He was hung
from the yardarm of his own flagship.
and two days later almost scared King
Ferdinand to death by suddenly appear
ing floating in a perpendicular position.
with his body half out of the water. just
under the galley windows of the great
man. of-war on which the royal family
had taken up their abode for reasons of
safety The prince had been a corpu
lent man. and the weight attached to his
feet. after his execution. to sink the
body, proved inadequate for that pur-
pose and merely sufficient to make him
float in an upright position.
Subsequent inquiry brought to light
the fact that the unfortunate prince had
been the victim of most cruel injustice
and OF false testimony, and that if he
had been condemned off-hand. without
being given a fair trial. it was because
it was known that he was an object of
particular aversion to Lord Nelson
whose mind had been poisoned against
him by the infamous Lady Hamilton, to
whom he had declined to pay court. and
whose Influence with the reigning family
he Geplored.
The communicating and hanging OF
Admiral Prince Caracciolo. who was a
most gallant, chivalrous and popular Of
ficer of approved courage, and who on
certain occasions had shown himself 20
be possessed of real heroism, has always
been regarded as one of the most somher
stains upon the fair name of Lord Nell
son, one for which even his most en-
thusiastic biographers ale unable to on
plain or to excuse save on the ground
that he had allowed himself to be intlu-
enced in the matter by an evil genius,
that Emma. Lady Hamilton, who was al
the time the British ambassadress az
Naples.
Finally there is the case of the British
admiral, the Hon. John Byng. son of
Lord Torrington, who. after his fai.n
to relieve Ninorca, which was being be-
sieged by the French fleet. was brought
home under arrest and tried by court
martial. The court, which was compose II
of flag officers, acquitted him of the
charges OF cOWardice which had been
brought against him. but issued a ver-
dict to the effect that he had not don,
his utmost to relieve Minorca or to lie,
!, Feat the French fleet. According to the
! then articles CT war. the court had no
alternative but to sentence the admira!
to death an this count, but strongly rec
commended him to mercy on the ground
j that he had been sent to sea with /,
SQUADRON poorly manned and in shame