DEFENCE 
BEFORE A 
f 
®SSSI3!BMi @®IffIB'3Po32aiiIB^aAILs) 
HELP 
AT WEST-POINT, IN THE STATE OF NEW-YORK> 
1ST THE MONTH OF MAT, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED 
AND NINETEEN. 
THOMAS RAGLAND, CADET, 
NEWBURGH: 
PRINTED BT URIAH C. LEWIS- 
3819.  
MAY IT PLEASE THE HONORABLE COURT j 
I appear before you, neither to extenuate faults, nor con- 
ciliate favour 5 but to answer the accusations against me in the spirit of 
the Law 5—to inform the judgment by the light of reason, in the sim- 
plicity of truth : and, though inexperienced, trusting in the amplitude 
of my research, to expose the merits of my case, apart from abstract 
speculation, and free from the illusions of sophistry. 
Without fancy to captivate imagination, or a desire to excite the 
sympathies of the heart; my appeal is to the judgment. It shall lie my 
endeavour to display before the intellectual eye, justice in h< native 
simplicity of beauty, and irresistability of strength; and to excite that 
homage which is as well her due as my interest. 
When the judgment sanctions the feelings of the heart the decis- 
ion must afford rational delight; but when they do not accord, the im- 
partial judge, should be uninfluenced by the latter. As such, I address 
you—you, who should be free from interest, prejudice, or partiality ; 
and who should, in rectitude of examine my actions, not as 
the “ ebullitons of ardent and youthful feelings but as emanations of 
principle, without a feeling untempered with reflection. 
Should I be condemned, I shall, indeed, be stripped of the para- 
phernalia of rank, which you will still wear with complacency : but to 
me, it would be a grateful riddance from the chains of slavery—from 
an obligation to submit to injuries and indignities. I shall be free from 
a calling become uncongenial with the temperament of my moral con- 
stitution: but still retain a just pride, and a tenacious attachment, to 
what, in its essence, constitutes military glory; and, without which, the 4 
military life is mercenary. But no! you must be sensible, that in the 
profession of arms, independence and pride are indispensable military 
virtues, inseparable to the mind, suited to fill the high station of the 
soldier, and accomplish its important intentions. You will be eager, 
therefore, to convince the public mind, that it is your wish to cherish 
such sentiments in the school of the Military profession. 
Before proceeding to notice the charges and the conclusions re- 
sulting from the evidence; permit me to draw your attention to sever- 
al preliminary points, on which many have inculcated and still contin- 
ue to inculcate, from interested views, impressions baneful in their 
consequence, pervertive of justice, and suppressive of that noble and 
consistent independence in the Army, which is calculated to render it 
the pride of a polished and free people; who are too virtuous to par- 
ley with vice, to swerve from justice to partiality, to concede right to 
temporary expediency, or to be governed by a weak and illiberal poli- 
cy. A people who know legal authority is never so well bottomed, and 
so stable, as when grounded on the idea of justice, strongly and contin- 
ually enforced on all concerned. 
It is a rule with some men, to compromise the errors of especial 
military commanders, from the ostensible but not true apprehension, 
that their correction might lessen the respect due from the inferior to 
the superior ; and that insubordination would consequently result. 
Such policy may suit interested or contracted views; it may be 
the phantasm of the dark and unripened mind ; but it is not the plan 
of the intelligent commander or statesman. These acknowledge the 
fundamental principles of our Government, as rules of action, because 
they comprehend their vital importance, and foresee the danger of 
their slightest infraction ; but such as 1 have mentioned, who can con- 
template the happy condition of our country, arising out of a constitu- 
tion which dispenses liberty to all, as “ free as the liberal light of hea- 
ven;” and yet prostitute it to promote private views, may easily de- 
generate into making it subservient to the basest purposes. 
But you, Gentlemen, I trust, are not of this order. You will ad- 
here to the obligations of the social compact; not sanction an exercise 
of arbitrary authority, which would make the laws partial in their ap- 
plication, and bear particularly on those, who have the least allure- 5 
ments from the paths of rectitude, and from whom danger is not to be 
expected. « 
The experience of ages is in favour of the written polity of our 
country. If exceptions of any sort be admissible, the most rigid sever- 
ity of Law would seem to be required for the highest ranks. This is 
aptly illustrated by a reference to the well regulated, and pacific gov- 
ernment of China; where, when the Monarch receives intelligence of 
commotion in a province, the Mandarin thereof is thrown into prison, 
to await the investigation of the case; according to the merits of which* 
justice is promptly administered ; and though the subordinates, if guil- 
ty, may, for a time, have escaped the punishment due to their crimes • 
it is found to prevent the frequency of oppression ; to preserve order; 
and is, therefore, a rule grounded in wisdom. 
The remark of the Scythian philosopher is not inapplicable to the 
subject. In commenting on the Grecian laws, he regrets, that the wi- 
sest, and most guarded of them, and indeed, of laws in general, are at 
best but as cobwebs, capable cf restraining small flies, but through 
which wasps and hornets easily break. Notwithstanding, I trust, you 
will shew that ours are of a firmer texture; and that neither venality, 
nor ignorance is again to administer on them ;—that we are not called 
upon to witness the pollution of the seats of justice, by a court, consti- 
tuted, not with a view of being governed by the laws, but to give a de- 
cision according to the wish of their superiors, and their individual in- 
terests. 
The Court of Enquiry lately held at this place, has offered a spec- 
tacle as humiliating to the pride of the army, as obnoxious to the 
rights, priviledges, and honour, of the citizen. Subverting law, they 
have aimed at injuring reputations, which they could assail with impu- 
nity. They have even neglected the usual forms of justice, and admit- 
ted against the committee of Cadets, and that too, without confronting 
him, the evidence of a mau, who stood accused by them, of tyranny 
and oppression; whose crimes would have become apparent in a dif- 
ferent issue than their crimination. It is a novel—an unpreceden- 
ted case, unknown before in any country, unpractised even in 
the Inquisitorial courts, that persons should be tried without a hear- 
1N(b without permission to offer arguments, or evidence, in their ex- 
culpation from implicated offences. 6 
I trust that we shall shew, as we then could have shewn, that our 
conduct has been undeviatingly honourable—our aim unerringly for tlie 
public good. 
The most respectable testimony before this Court amply shews, 
that there is but little credit due to the evidence offered before the 
Court of Enquiry. The decision of that Court has been made upon 
ex parte, evidence, in a trial where the accused was not heard ; and con- 
sequently it has violated the constitution in two instances. 1 hope, 
therefore, you will avoid its baneful inlluence. 
Whilst I admit the propriety of paying due deference to the opin- 
ions of others, I would observe, that unless we be acquainted with the 
reasons for these opinions, they are no lioid for wisdom, and that as 
the opinions of public men may prove seriously detrimental, or truly 
useful, they should be exposed to the eye of scrutiny, without regard to 
private objection, or individual repugnance. I know— 
“ l’he flesh will quiver where the pincers tear, 
“ The blood will follow where the knife is driven.” 
But it is my right, in this instance, to draw forth occult depravity to the 
light of law and reason—not to indulge personal pique ; but to erect a 
beacon in the haven of justice;—to withdraw the mystic veil, and point 
to the ulcerated body. 
To facilitate the investigation of the charges, and partly, in an- 
swer to them: I shall now notice the order of the 27th of November 
last. 
Commencing with the astonishment into which the Major com- 
manding was thrown, by witnessing the “ combination of a number of 
young men, farming themselves, as it were, into a deliberative assem- 
bly,” and his sanguine anticipation that all men, whether civil or mil- 
itary, will participate in this astonishment. It is indeed, wonderful, 
and could have proceeded only from a view contrary to optical evi- 
dence, or the confused images of a feverish and disordered brain. The 
fact, that there was no assembly of the kind, or of any other denomina- 
tion, on the business adverted to in that order, is a reply sufficient for 
our case : this being shewn by the cross-examination of the witnesses 7 
on tlie part of the prosecution, and, for the matter of vindication, it 
might close the consideration of this specific part. Yet, to he more 
ample, and to dissipate every doubt, in this particular, against the Ca- 
dets, and their Committee, I will suppose for an instant, the existence 
of assemblies on the business. It is presumed none will controvert the 
right of meetings to effect legal ends, provided they do not interfere 
with duties. It cannot he required, or urged, that the citizen, on ta- 
king the character of the soldier, is restricted in any priviledge, or de- 
prived of any rights, when such restriction or deprivation is not neces- 
sary to effectuate the legal objects of the army; and it is, therefore, 
obligatory on those who deny the right of such meetings, to shew 
wherein, according to this position, they are unmilitary—and, hence, 
unlawful. 
If injuries are not to be complained of, those laws which guaran- 
tee rights, become null and void. Cannot many persons, in a collec- 
tive capacity, be injured by their superiors? or is a superior, in the 
eye of the law, incapable of abusing his authority ? If not, when hav- 
ing abused the collective body, may not that body complain to the next 
higher superior for a redress of wrongs; and is it not his duty to no- 
tice their complaints ? The clear and explicit statement of these ques- 
tions, presents the subject in so forcible, and so evident a light, as to 
flash conviction on the mind, of our correctness; and I cannot think, 
for a moment, that truths, so easily comprehended, will escape the ap- 
prehension of this intelligent Court. 
In Marshall’s life of Washington, may he found instances of otS- 
cers from the general to the subaltern, uniting to represent grievances 
and to state abuses. The meetings, on such occasions, were not on’y 
sanctioned by general Washington, but received from him eve[y facili- 
ty to accomplish their ends. 
During the Revolution, the Congress admitted a committee from 
qne Into their very bosorn. In the case of the cabal formed in favour 
of general Gates against general Washington, a great number of the 
officers of the Army assembled, and appointed a Committee to repre- 
sent their dissatisfaction to that body, on account of the influence it 
had obtained in the House ; and frankly declared, that if any steps un- 
favourable to commander in chief, were taken, they would simultane- 
ously retire from the service of their country. 8 
This has been the constant practice to the present period. The 
officers in the 12th Regiment, in the recent war, drew up and present- 
ed an objection to the promotion of their own colonel. The Midship- 
men, in like manner, remonstrated against one of their superiors; and 
yet in no instance, till the present, has it been condemned. Wherein 
it is now terrific in its nature, or dangerous in its consequences ? Have 
the rights it sought to protect ceased to exist? To place the case, if 
possible, in a still more urgent point of view. When the officers of 
the Mediterranean station sent their memorial to the Senate, touching 
a circumstance not dissimilar to the object of our complaint, it deter- 
mined that it was the mode prescribed by law, that communications of 
this nature should be first presented to the President; and if he should 
fail to give satisfactory relief, they then became a proper subject of 
reference to their consideration. The usages of foreign service up- 
hold the right of committee. But, Gentlemen, as the matter has not, 
perhaps, been positively determined by law, the opinion of judge Mar- 
shall may not be unprofitably consulted ; although as a point of com- 
mon law, it is as clear as any case whatever—their being no instance 
of any abrogation, by a counter legislative, or judicial act, of this cus- 
tom;—and it having universally obtained in our country, from the ear- 
liest period of government to the present day. The Judge in his rela- 
tion of combinations and meetings, as also committees in the Revolu- 
tionary Army, to effect legal ends, seems conclusively to acquiesce in 
the idea of their correctness; for it is illiberal to suppose, that 
a person of his knowledge in jurisprudence, and experience in Milita- 
ry affairs, would have failed to comment on their dangerous tendency ; 
if they were, in their aspect or nature, insubordinate or mutinous. 
To meet for the purpose of debating on orders in general, is prop- 
erly condemned. Many evil consequences that are apparent, might, 
and undoubtedly would, result therefrom. It may be that the Major 
commanding, without due examination, fell into the error of most 
copyists, and mistook the condemnation of this, by military men, for 
proscription of meetings and committees under any form, or for any 
purpose; or perhaps his error is excusable. In the investigation of 
the nature of piopositions, so general as this is, the mind is often led 
into error, by being drawn off to some particular case, which, seeming- 
ly, bears a strong affinity, but which is foreign to the particulars that 
are properly under the general head : and thence conclusions are 
drawn, erroneous, but satisfactory to the mind of the enquirer. Where- 
in does this specific case differ from those just recited ? or where is the 9 
just distinction between a complaint presented to the Chief Magistrate, 
and one presented to an officer of an inferior station ? 
To expatiate more freely. How shall a body of men seek re- 
dress ? and how may this be done in the most orderly and expedient 
manner ? The corps of Engineers, in their present compact, or com- 
bination against general Bernard, point out the propriety of even an- 
ticipating and warding off injury by collective action. Will it be said 
that this is a high and peculiar privilege permitted them ? If I be not 
mistaken, our laws and the genius of our government are opposed to 
privileged orders ; and, of consequence, what in that corps is lawful, 
is in the corps of Cadets a right; a right which they have partially ex- 
ercised, and will, fully, if needful. 
They feel sensibly the necessity of strict discipline, and will cheer- 
fully submit to the rigors of a military life. Yet they are able to dis- 
criminate between the obligations of an American Soldier, and the 
tame submission of the Russian peasant. Whilst a Paul would find 
them ungovernable, a Jackson or a Scott would easily command 
them. 
I know full well the ideas of many on the government necessary 
for this Academy. Superficial observers !—Unacquainted with those: 
lofty sentiments in which frivolity is lost, and out of which emerges 
manly sentiment, characterizing those whom they term “boys!” and 
whom they look on as requiring the correction of ordinary schools:— 
they seem not to know that the responsibility of our life, and that mili- 
tary pride animates in every breast, produces a radical change from 
puerile thoughts to manly re flections; that emulation here is po wer- 
ful, and glory is seen through the avenue of subordination, the in- 
fringement of which is deemed a disgrace, a blight to our dearest 
hopes. 
These are considerations on which the government of the Acade- 
my should be founded, or else the design of the Institution will more 
than fail; but on which, recently, it has not been conducted. They 
were of the first importance under the fostering hand of captain Part- 
ridge; a man who is dear to those who know him, and who appreciate 
virtue : Whose worth was once our boast—whose friendship is still our 
pride. It was not from fear that we obeyed him ; that was a plant for- 
eign to the soil of his culture. His commands seemed intuitively our wish. 10 
In the duties of the officer, was mingled the language of the friend; 
and to him, concession of error was as pleasing as reparation of wrongs. 
Pardon this slight digression. 
But to return. A deliberative assembly, carries, in the very idea 
of its existence, order; and a combination of persons thus meeting, 
presupposes the intention of acting in a manner the best suited to the 
objects of the body in compact; and gives no apprehension of inciden- 
tal errors, discordant with the main objects. The propriety, or impro- 
priety, then, of such a meeting, is determined by the design, and no 
censure can possibly be attached to the bare circumstance of such an 
one, abstractly considered. Instances in all their variety, exemplify- 
ing this truth, are indefinite; none are deemed necessary to be men- 
tioned, to induce the assent of the reflecting mind to this position. 
Since, then, it seems the object is the feature to which you are referred 
for criminality; this part of our imputed conduct must lose the hue 
of crime, and leads to a more minute notice of the organized Commit- 
tee; the existence of which is admitted, but its motives and objects are 
unkindly distorted. 
The paper (B) giving the Committee existence, is before you, and 
bears the conditions under which they were to act, not only in tenor, 
but in the very language restricting them to the limits of Martial Law. 
This, then, relieves the Cadets from the charge of participation in any 
error into which the Court may find the Committee to have fallen; 
and, at the same time, that it gives them the high satisfaction of being 
thus able to free from censure the great body, it evidently affords plau- 
sible reasons for the belief, that their motives were correct. But al- 
though the deep line between motives and actions w hen they agree not, 
must, on such a subject as this, enter into the consideration of those 
who are to administer the laws; yet I do not wish to be understood as 
presenting my case in this shape, being confident that mine are in 
strict accordance. 
It is unreasonable, however, to think, for a moment, that persons 
having so much to lose by incurring the displeasure of the head of the 
Academy, would do it intentionally; for, on the other hand, they were 
sure of meeting disapproval of their measures, with those they had been 
delegated to act for, in pursuing an insubordinate line of conduct; and 
when too, they apprehended they could, in a proper one, compromise 
the matter satisfactorily to either side, and unite their interest with 
commendation. 11 
If ambition urged them, they would have sought its gratification, 
either in the pleasure of major Thayer, or of the Cadets. By an un- 
tnilitary inode of conduct it then appeared, that the censure of both 
would be incurred. If interest, they would, in supposing the comman- 
ding officer true to his duty, have wished to meet his ideas of correct- 
ness. If pride, would they have courted the most degraded charac- 
ter the soldier can assume ? 
It could not have been personal enmity by which they were influ- 
enced ; for members of the Committee had received from the Superin- 
tendant the highest distinctions of the Academy, and were notoriously 
liis warmest friends. 
No, Gentlemen, there has been nothing selfish in our proceedings; 
no oblation to hatred, pride, interest, or ambition. 
The subjects of assembly and committee, amplified on, as they 
have been, can leave but little doubt on the mind; and the precedents 
of committees authorized and encouraged by captain Partridge, as is 
seen in his evidence, producing invariably beneficial effects, as also 
those sanctioned by general Swift, on all occasions by his respectful at- 
tention ; are conclusively in our favour. The prosecutor must be 
aware of many instances, and of some extending to redress of grievan- 
ces. 
Now, when a principle has existed with the silence of the com- 
mandant, it carries on its face the idea of his acquiescence in its cor- 
rectness ; and implies his permission for its being a rule of conduct. 
Are Military men, as I have before enquired, when wronged in 
their collective capacity, allowed to represent their grievances, and to 
seek redress ? Tiie subject is resolved into this form, and requires a 
double decision; the one applicable to the army, the other touching 
the committee of Cadets. Usage of long standing takes the force and 
authority of Law, whether it be particular or general; and it is proved 
that committees have heretofore been allowed, without a solitary oppo- 
sition, at this Institution. The joining in committee, then, is not here, 
if it were elsewhere, unlawful; a decision reprehending it, would be 
condemning what was allowed; and would be, in fact, passing what is 
in its nature, a law ex post facto ; which can be imposed in no form, 
according to our constitution. 12 
The Court will form a law by their decision, inasmuch as that de- 
cision will either confirm, or do away, a principle of long standing in 
the army. Custom or usage must arise out of what is, or seems to be, 
reasonable, and of public utility. When any usage is found by expe- 
rience not to be so; it follows, of course, that it should cease to exist; 
but no tribunal can act in retrospection, and award punishment for 
conforming to what was deemed correct generally, and in contraven- 
tion of no statute Law. Hence, if the mode adopted to redress our 
wrongs, is by this Court thought to be inexpedient; it seems proper 
that they should decide against it, so far as to prevent its recurrence, 
either at the Academy or in the Army; but that their decision should 
not extend to our crimination ; and, therefore, under this consider- 
ation, we should be honourably acquitted. I might here introduce the 
opinions of general Jackson, colonel Butler, and general Scott; officers 
who were particularly consulted on this matter; all of whom readily 
decided that we were supported by the most respectable precedents; 
and with the exception of general Scott, (who made the question of pro- 
priety a point of doubt,) that our mode of conducting the business 
was in every respect proper, and highly military. Every other officer 
spoken to, (except those immediately concerned,) and they were ma- 
ny, concurred in this opinion. Citizens, and particularly members of 
Congress, were warm and zealous in our cause. Many of the latter 
are anxious, if it should not terminate in our favour, to have the mat- 
ter brought before Congress; and indeed, there is an avenue already 
opened for ils entrance next session, if necessary. 
When we are so strongly supported by public sentiment, with the 
most intelligent, able, and experienced Generals and Statesmen on our 
side; we cannot but be confident of success; and you surely will hesi- 
tate to condemn us, as designedly guilty of acts that are mutinous or in- 
subordinate; for circumstances already enumerated, and opinions so 
respectable, argue strongly our correctness; and, if we were wrong, 
plainly and indisputably indicate, that our impropriety is obscure, and 
that it arose from an error of judgement, not from the deliberate in- 
tention of acting incorrectly. 
I pass over that part of the order, in which wc are charged with 
dictating to the Superintendant, what steps it would be proper for him 
to pursue; it being an object of especial consideration in the charges; 
and shall proceed to examine the premises, on which is hypothecated 
that part of the order referring to opposition to the constituted author- 13 
ities. How this is apparent is not conceivable. Testimony exhibits 
no powder plots; no martial array to storm the citadel, and redress 
our injuries, by the intimidating influence of the bayonet. No, Gen- 
tlemen, it appears that the utmost order prevailed in every department 
of the Academy: That the regular duties were as promptly attended 
to as usual, may be seen from the Report of the Superintendant, which 
says, “ I am happy to inform you, there has been no positive acts of 
mutiny or disorder, and that the good order of the Institution has not 
been interrupted for a moment!” 
Gentlemen, I will now give an instance analogous to the case un- 
der consideration. Col. Hindman, on the drill of subaltern’s commands 
twenty; at which time, to indulge some strange propensity, he canes 
each individual; they are unwilling to suffer this treatment, but do not 
at the time, feel disposed to give the colonel his quietus with the bayo- 
net. After some consideration, they each make out a separate com- 
plaint, and hand it to the colonel’s superior and commanding officer; 
and it so happens, that they all present them at the same time; it is pre- 
sumed the Rules and Articles of War would justify them in so doing. 
But now, suppose them all to sign the same paper, (their complaint be- 
ing identical,) is this less admissible ? Pursue the case; they prefer an- 
other mode, and appoint a committee of two, in order to avoid trouble, 
to state the matter in substance, just as they would have done in affix- 
ing their signatures to the same papers. It behoves those who are 
against our proceedings, to shew how the first, or the intermediate mode, 
is essentially different from the last. 
After all that has been said on the subject, it may be replied, that 
the injuries complained of did not exist; which I anticipate in the lan- 
guage of the law. It is only necessary that an aggrievance be felt, af- 
ter well reflecting on the nature of the received treatment, to institute 
prosecution. If major Thayer has failed in the support of his charges 
against me, and if it does appear that they were preferred under the con- 
viction of my guilt, he is by law and common sense justified. But on the 
contrary, if those charges were made out, without grounds for their be- 
lief and with a malicious intent, he is then subject to the severest pen- 
alties of law martial; and as I know such was the influence,(seeing 
that his screen is gauze,) I hope the accomplishment of general Jack- 
son’s desire. “ I trust the President of the United States has not so far 
forgotten the law, or the duty he owes to justice, as to pass such un- 
heard-of conduct in silence. I hope he has, or will order a prompt in- 14 
vestigation of the whole case; and if substantiated, as presented to my 
view by the vouchers you have forwarded me, there can be no doubt 
but captain Thayer will be reprimanded, if not dimissed.” 
Having thus premised, and in part anticipated, I shall now enter 
more minutely on the charges. 
Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Court; I am accused of the 
highest military crimes—of the most degrading vice; can I have re- 
ceived such corrupt impressions in that calling, to which I had been 
devoted ere the vigor of the body comported with the aspirations of the 
mind; when the soul, in thirst for glory, renounced friends, kindredj 
and home ? Oh ! I do feel that though my life has been but as “ a glitter- 
ing dew drop in the boundless ocean ;” it is as the fairest gem contras- 
ted with the foulest earth, when seen in the same field with my accuser’s. 
Sublimated in the crucible of trial, it is too pure to throw off its <l man- 
tle of light” to assume the habiliments of corruption. If I am doom- 
ed to struggle with misfortune, because I have been in these proceedings, 
inflexible in principle ; there is around my heart a balm of conscience, 
that will close the laceratings of disappointed hope. In the retirement 
of adversity, I shall cease to think on the appendages of rank ; and 
rather enjoy in obscurity, the sweetness of liberty, than mount to the 
most splendid seat of vassalage. 
The first charge is mutinous conduct; and I am told, that some- 
times, when mercy softens the heart, and duty enforces! the exercise of 
office, in bringing those who are guilty of mutiny to trial, it is thrown 
into this shape, to avoid inflicting on the accused the severest penalties 
of Law. It may, indeed, be praiseworthy in some ; but how to account 
for this lenity in our case, is extremely difficult. Why not charge us 
with mutiny ? Our understandings were clear, and we are above our asso- 
ciates in the scale of intellect. With the fascinating dissimulation of the 
hoary-head seducer, we beguiled simplicity ; placed the apple of crime fair 
and mellow to the eye. The corps of Cadets were but the material body, 
which we, the soul, could enter and animate to the tone of our caprice. In- 
deed those terms are complimentary, and more powerful in exciting 
disaffection than any feeble efforts with which we are able to move 
that intelligent and honorable body. 
I cannot here omit an extract from Sir Philip Sydney. 11 It is in- 
“ deed, a lamentable truth that misapprehended excellence is often an 15 
object of dislike. Many people do not always understand the motives 
u of sublime conduct, and when they are astonished, are apt to think 
“ tliey ought to be alarmed. 
Perhaps it has been so with this Major of ours. Unable to reduce 
the motives of the Cadets to his standard of correctness, he supposed 
that they were in error, in deviating from what would have been his 
course, if alike situated ; and as that deviation was to the greatest pos- 
sible latitude, their crime was one of the first order. 
The first Specification is, exciting disaffection in the Corps of Ca- 
dets ; and advising them into a system of measures, having in view dic- 
tation to, and coercion of, their commanding officer. The paper I now 
present you, will shew in what manner I am guilty; and the one already 
in your hands, according to which the Committee were appointed, 
throws on the subject a fullness of light that must place my conduct so 
far in a commendable view, as to free it at least from the attachment 
of error. That the measures the great body entered into were sponta- 
neous, I presume, on the evidence offered before this honorable court, 
cannot be doubted; nor does it appear that their objects were such as 
are stated in the specification. That they felt themselves injured, is 
certain ; and that they supposed they had a right to represent their in- 
juries, is as little to be doubted. The confidence in the Superinten- 
dant, expressed on all ocasions by those they had honored with the ex- 
cution of their business, must be convincing to the unprejudiced mind, 
that their reliance for redress was on his justice; not the expectation 
of operating by intimidation, on a dastard and cowardly spirit. It 
may remarked here, that the Specifications in general, indeed, on the 
whole, do not charge the Committee with promoting or effecting assem- 
blies as a crime ; but make the imputed objects the offences on which 
are predicated the charges; and it therefore must not only be made to 
appear, (and it has not yet been,) that we did effect meetings and com- 
binations among the Cadets, but, also if effected, they were with the 
intentions and views attributed to them in the charges; and that those 
views and intentions originated in, and were guided by, our influence. 
The Court will perceive there may be a striking difference between 
the nature and the objects of any system of measures. Proceedings 
maybe, in their effects, insubordinate or mutinous; and yet the ends 
of their institution perfectly consonant with military propriety; again, 
the measures may be consistent with strict military discipline, and vet 16 
their originating motives be censurable. In more familiar terms ; ac- 
tions and intentions are often widely dfferent. Persuaded that I have 
established the correctness of our conduct in the main ; inasmuch as it 
respects action ; and that, as I conceive, being the only evidence deve- 
loping our motives; the next step will be to show more fully what those 
motives were. 
If our mode was justifiable, or if it be even problematical; it is a 
favorable indication of our motives; it being the rule in all doubtful 
penal cases, to give a construction favourable to the accused. But if, 
in the eye of the court, it is so palpably wrong, as to have made it 
almost impossible to omit observing the error; then is there just rea- 
son to suppose that in its adoption, we designed what is attributed 
to us. Yet if the acts were right, when abstractly considered ; however 
the motives are to be reprehended, we are, by the Laws, exonerated; 
and if the deeds were wrong, however much so; if after mature reflec- 
tion, the motives were pure ; it is to be considered a misfortune to have 
fallen into them ; and still, by the Law, we must be acquitted. The 
intention must have accorded with the illegal proceedings, or the pro- 
ceedings must have arisen out of inexcusable inattention, before they 
become criminal, either in the letter or in the spirit of the Law. 
But it seems it may be understood, that those persons who com- 
posed the committee, were the ones who designed themselves to dictate 
to the commanding officer, and not the corps; and that they, under spe- 
cious pretexts, imposed on the credulity of the Cadets, in a manner 
that enabled them to gratify this propensity ; that they artfully sought 
to devise means to render the corps so subservient to their will and ca- 
price, as to make it an instrument to overawe their Superintendant. 
This appears to be the proper construction of the Specification, as illus- 
trated by the order of the 27th of November. 
« He [the Superintendant] would willingly, indulge the belief, that 
a great portion of those who have given them [the measures] their 
countenance and support, are not entirely aware of the danger to 
which they expose themselves in so doing. He cannot believe that 
they have deliberately and intentionally adopted a step ruinous as this 
would be in its consequences to themselves.” 
“With respect to the committee, however, the same excuse cannot 
be pleaded; they appear to have erred knowingly and willingly, and 17 
there is even reason to believe that their influence has been employed 
in seducing others from the path of duty.” 
Whilst this compliments our understandings, it does but little honor 
to the head of one who should be acquainted with, and is so shamefully 
deficient in a knowledge of, the proper judgment of the corps. 
I do not recollect, nor does it appear to the Court, that I advised 
a single individual to subscribe the paper to which my name was sign- 
ed. Any Cadet who, at that time, did not sufficiently feel the smart of 
injury, and whose judgement was not enlightened enough io know 
that in it, every intention was clearly correct, should he have asked 
iny advice on its propriety, would have been spurned from me. It 
would be madness to descend into the brothel to teach morality, or to 
resuscitate virtue. The heart that shrinks into nothingness, when the 
Gorgon face of tyranny is seen, is not the one in which can be cultiva- 
ted the delicate sentiments of laudable pride. It is too impure to be 
filtrated into the limpid fount that gives nourishment to honorable af- 
fections. 
When the first paper (A) had been written, and signed but by a few 
persons, it was thought the tenor of the language might leave room for 
misconstruction ; Mr. Fairfax, some others, and myself were of opin- 
ion, that as it would be best, that every intention should be strictly and 
unequivocally defined, another ought to be written, unexceptionable in 
its terms; which was accordingly done,(see B) and which concluded in 
these emphatic words : and to take such other measures as the necessity of 
our case, and military propriety may suggest.” Thus, to represent what 
we felt to be grievances, and to be governed by “ military propriety,” 
is the combination from whose womb, came into life, this Ilydra so 
monstrous in the imagination of the Superintendant. 
From this it does appear, that the Cadets were not induced by me 
into the measure of combination; and it is extremely preposterous 
therefore, to suppose, for a moment, the latter part of the specifica- 
tion true : 
(l The objects of which, were to dictate a course of conduct to his 
commanding officer, (Brevet major S. Thayer, of the United States* 
corps of Engineers,') and by the appearance of so general a combina- 
tion of the Cadets as he had effected, to overawe him, (Brevet major 18 
S. Thayer, of the United States’ corps of Engineers,) into a discharge 
of the measures dictated.” 
If I did not, as is so shewn by abundant testimony, use my influ- 
ence in that affair, further than to change what 1 feared might wear 
the appearance of insubordination, by a misconstruction, then the ob- 
jects, as just stated, are unsupported, if it were even granted, that the 
Committee ulteriorly assumed a dictatorial tone, and took means, with 
a view to prostrate the power of the Superintendant, and overawe the 
head of the Institution “ into a discharge of the measures dictated.” 
The ultimate objects, originally, must be referred to the individuals 
who appointed us members of the Committee; as every candid mind of 
this honorable Court must perceive, that it was a step taken from the 
dictates of their own unbiassed judgment, as far as I am concerned. 
Objects cannot have been in that which did not exist, namely, in my 
influence to effect the union or combination. The cause and ends of 
that combination are not attributable to me, more than to any other 
individual who signed the paper just referred to. It may possibly be, 
that my motives were sinister; perhaps ill will to major Thayer; a de- 
sire to vilify the character of captain Bliss, or an unholy league with 
captain Alden Partridge, as it is intimated in a Report of the Superin- 
tendant to the Secretary of War. Influenced by such motives, I should 
indeed be no noviciate in crime, and to God alone would be known 
this reach of political villainy. 
What has been premised partly is, that as a privilege, or rather a 
right acknowleged, in our service generally, a union to represent, and 
committees to state grievances, are admissible. Secondly, if they are 
not so in this extended latitude, particular circumstances heretofore 
have made them allowable at the Academy. 
But, gentlemen, truth is eternal; it moulders not in the lapse of 
time; it can receive no shade from the color of usage ; the artful wiles 
of malignity may cast within its tract, forms terrific in their aspect, but 
they are only the shadows of realities in that of vice or falsehood. It 
is intuitive in the mind that loves humanity, inseparably connected with 
self love, rightly understanding self interest; unvaried by the actions 
or opinions of men. Experience but serves to point out its course; 
it being in its nature unchangeable. The type of truth is among the 19 
first creations of God, natural light, emblematical of the light of reason, 
the most glorious of the Eternal’s works. 
On inductions of truth, therefore, ground your decision. Let then 
the obnoxious paper, as it is termed, (and I think in mockery of your 
judgment,) receive investigation, without reference to similar present- 
ments, which officers equally distinguished for judgment with my accu- 
ser, have received as proper, and in the spirit of our laws. In England* 
the subject boldly advances to the monarch’s throne, to offer his com- 
plaint. In Russia, under Peter, he could thus seek redress, by risking 
his head on the issue. We have neither the Briton’s right, nor the 
Russian’s privilege. 
Gentlemen, the skillful precision of the experienced surgeon is seen 
in the dissection of this document. The chosen parts are well suited to 
their end. This person is in the very leprosy of corruption, and there 
is none whose touch can purify him; he would prey, as the ungenerous 
vulture does, upon the livid corse. Whence arise those seeming con- 
tradictions of Holy Writ, but from dismembering particular passages, 
unexplained in their parts, and admitting of constructions horrible and 
disgusting, which, when seen in their proper connexion, appear impor- 
tant, clear, and in beautiful concordance ? Suffer me then to read the 
whole of this seditious, or mutinous paper, either of which appellations 
it has received. Hen paper (F) was read. 
It is said to have enlarged on the number who were engaged in 
the proceedings, and with the purpose of overawing the Superintend- 
ent of the Academy. Is this seen, prima facie? or does it appear from 
testimony? No, it was written under feelings too noble for the sympa- 
thy of those, who, like our major commanding, are out of covenant with 
any generous affection; whose distempered hearts pollute their under- 
standings. It is not surprising, that my conduct should be strange to 
the eyes of some men ; of those whose stations subserve the gratifica- 
tion of corruption, supported by power. The “ fools of false dominion,” 
once they seemed my friends. 
“Alas ! our young affections run to waste, 
Or water but the desert ” 
But, gentlemen, revenge is the feeling of my accuser. He has sound- 
ed the tocsin ; his troop stands obedient to his call. The course of his 
iniquity has been checked, and I am proud to say, by the joint efforts 
of the Committee. 20 
Where are now his Courts of Enquiry? his captain commandant 
Bliss? The first, novel and outrageous in their nature; the second, no 
less in nature, a novelty and an outrage. 
The paper, gentlemen. The number one hundred and eighty, is 
even less, (as may be seen on the document before you,) than the actu- 
al number who deputed us to present those charges, which, by right, 
and from sufficient cause, were entered against captain Bliss. The 
Sta ement of the number became particularly necessary, as the com- 
plaint was not universal, in order to shew under what authority we act- 
ed, and how far those injuries were felt to extend. Written with this 
intention, the natural construction is this, which is so clear and soi ob- 
vious as to baffle false criticism, to elude its meaning. 
The next sentence is, “ Should the officer, to whom they have ap- 
pealed, refuse them attention ; they owe him the candor to say, that 
although in his opinion, it may be an adherence to military propriety, 
yet the impending degradation, arising out of the impunity with which 
the officer complained of would insult and oppress them, must be 
avoided.” 
Investigate it. We felt injuries. It was doubtful whether there 
was sufficient justice in the commanding officer, to give them consider- 
ation ; his previous conduct had forfeited that confidence, which had 
been reposed in him. Notwithstanding “ they,” with confidence, “ hope 
that he will do them justice,” is the language of the paper; respectful, 
soliciting, and firm; declarative of their determination to avoid receiv- 
ing the repetition of such indignities. And how were they to avoid 
them ? The next sentence explains, in which the laws are appealed to, 
that are imperative. 
“ If we remain in our country’s service, let the military law pro- 
tect us; and if it be inexpedient that it should, we would enjoy the 
rights of private citizens.” 
In this is also frankly expressed their resolution to quit the service, 
if the laws are to continue partial in their application; corrective of 
their errors, but affording no protection of their acknowleged rights. 
This sentence, unconnected with the former, is wild and unmeaning; 
or if it admits any meaning distinct therefrom, it is in contradiction of 
that which the Superintendant supposed to exist in the preceediug one. 
To set at defiance law, and oppose constituted authority, and in the 21 
next breath, to appeal to the laws, and urge their application by that 
authority, argues a want of judgment, with which I am sure none can 
charge the most ordinary capacities. Yet it seems that it is bold spir- 
its, and enlightened minds, the artful and calculating, who fell into this 
egregious error. 
The witnesses have detailed the mode in which was to have been 
eoerced the administration of the law, and thereby the respect of our 
rights. Had that plan proved abortive, without shewing means of fur- 
ther pursuit for redress, every honorable member of the Seminary would 
have resigned, not from any pre-engagement, but under the determina- 
tion to live in a free counrry, with the rights and privileges of freemen. 
The instrument closes with these expressions, “Our conduct is not 
dictated by the effervescence of passion; it is founded on principle. We 
will proceed on that principle to the verge of right, supporting our 
views with all the influence attainable, and if necessary, sacrifice our 
individual interest in the cause we have undertaken.” This alone 
might have shewn, that our conduct was not the bubble of caprice, that 
of itself would soon burst, and therefore elicited not serious thought, 
but that in the spirit of tempered feelings, and on fixed principles, was 
conducted this business of the utmost moment, which involved the ho- 
nor of one hundred and eighty cadets; persons, who to maintain their 
rights, were determined to go to the utmost limit consistent with the 
law, (this being my notion of the verge of right,) to oppose this per- 
sonal violation ; and rather to sacrifice their individual interest, than to 
submit to a polity embracing principles and practices, the opiates of 
honor, and deadly caustics to whatever exalts, or dignifies humanity. 
T will here incidentally mention the means taken by the adjutant 
and inspector general Parker, to screen the Superintendant; for it is pro- 
per that the President of the United States should know, that an officer 
who unequivocally and decidedly expressed his opinion to that officer 
against our proceedings, condemning them as insubordinate and muti- 
nous, was afterwards detailed as one of my judges, and ordered here 
for mv trial. I mean lieut. Horace C. Story. And that another, lieut. 
George Blauy, who, perhaps not in so forcible a manner, yet in terms 
sufficiently strong, as you have very justly determined, had reprehen- 
ded our steps, was detailed at the same time, and in like manner atten- 
ded the court, by the order of brigadier general Parker. A minister en- 
trusted with the execution of the laws, to which are subject the honor, 22 
and the life of the citizen, should be free from such illegitimate practi- 
ces; however his conduct may be morally, in his individual relation to 
my accuser, it is an outrage of his official character. 
Gentlemen, I am no disciple of Zeno in the social relations of man 
to man. My heart is always warmly interested in the welfare, end 
poignantly afflicted at the misfortunes of a friend ; and while I parti- 
cipate in the affections of those I love, there is no restraint, no palsy of 
my efforts for their good, in the cold and calculating policy of self in- 
terest, or security; yet that friendship should not wanton into malevo- 
lence to the weak, who are in the conciousness of rectitude, nor 
originate the mal-administration of justice, to support rank in corrup- 
tion, against laudable exertions. 
Gentlemen, I have found it necessary, in the investigation of this 
case, to consider myself somewhat in the light of prosecutor, in order 
to develope completely the proceedings of the Cadets in November last. 
It does appear that the alleged disturbances were of so intricate, and 
singular a nature, that the prosecutor, aided by every resource which 
the brevet major and himself could possibly fall on, had obtained no 
positive information, before my cross examination of his witnesses on 
this occasion. Did you mark with what extreme avidity he endeavored 
to avail himself of the answer to a question from me to the witness, ca- 
det Malcolm? To him it seemed to indicate that disaffection had exis- 
ted in the corps. 
Disaffection, and excitement, gentlemen, do not, according to the 
lexicographers I have examined, appear to be synonimous terms. But 
I do acknowlege excitement was high in that body, about the twenty- 
third of November last; and when I tell you that I was involved in bu- 
siness which I am now closing, by a partiality creative of emotions more 
exquisitely delightful, than ever before agitated my breast, or that I 
can ever again anticipate; I do declare, if I had thought that indignities 
such as they had received, were received passively, without high excite- 
ment, I would sooner have seen them subjected to the lash, than have 
endeavored to remove or ward off a single oppression. It was natural 
that they should be; they were, and I am not the one to disguise it, 
highly wrought on by the conduct, and indignant at the measures of cap- 
tain Bliss. They felt sensibly their injuries, and were prepared to ad- 
vance boldly to the “verge of right” to redress them. 23 
Gentlemen, the regular pulse, on such occasions, neither indicates 
greatness, nor fortitude of soul. Do not level distinctions between the 
lofty spirit, that is warmed by a sense of wrong, and the dull, cold, leth- 
argic automaton being. The obedience of the one is grounded in a sense 
of right, and firmly supported by the principles of honor; the other is 
the mere machine, moving under the law, in which it is set. There 
are few instruments of this kind, in the corps of Cadets. 
I now present you a copy of the charge against captain Bliss, and 
the proceedings of the Court of Enquiry held thereon, in which it ap- 
pears, that the Court found the accused, (captain Bliss,; guilty of all 
the specifications, except the first. On this specification no evidence 
was taken, although certificates on honor had been furnished the Court, 
supporting the facts, and pointing out many witnesses, who were here 
present, and who were not called on. 
The witness, cadet Malcolm, has informed the Court, that the mea- 
sures of the Committee put down the excitement of the Corps. They 
fully relying on the ability of their Committee to obtain a salutary change 
in the course adopted by captain Bliss, and to effect a respect for their 
rights. They were therefore no longer in a state of agitation $ their 
feelings subsided, and they determined to await patiently the issue of 
such steps as we might deem proper to pursue. There does not appear 
now to be a single word of testimony supporting the first charge, not 
even on the doctrine of probabilities ; nothing on the second, except 
major Thayer’s on the third specification. Doctor Walsh was brought 
forward to prove that I did wrong in the committee business, cheer- 
fully, and intentionally. 
If 1 were in want of ideas in the preparation of this document, to 
make it voluminous, the Doctors testimony would afford ample matter 
for commentary. It is pointed, honorable, and satisfactory. It dis- 
covers what were my inducements; what 1 have continually avowed, 
and shall always acknowlege with pride and pleasure. And what will 
the Court think of the charges on the whole, when they are duly im-* 
pressed with the truth of that evidence? Will it be possible for them 
to believe me guilty of the fourth charge, ungentlemanlike conduct? 
guilty of deliberate falsehood ? 
The Court will closely examine the evidence of cadets Fairfax, 
and Lowndes, both disproving the third specification of the second 24 
Charge; the one circumstantially, the other positively. Cadet Fair- 
fax’s evidence goes to shew, that major Thayer has committed a breach 
of trust, inasmuch as he has kept papers, that were handed to him pri- 
ilately, for private purposes, and has acted officially on them, as if they 
had been officially presented and received. His proof, establishing the 
fact, that the papers referred to, in the third charge, were not present- 
ed to major Thayer, by the Committee, nor sent to him by the Com- 
mittee, nor received by him as coming from the Committee, goes to dis- 
prove that charge, under which it is said, that a second communication 
was handed him coming from the Committee, which he asserts to have 
been contrary to orders* It is unnecessary to sum up the evidence-of 
cadet Fairfax on the fourth charge; for it is short, clear, and explicit. 
Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Court, 
Having thus far proceeded in the investigation of the proceedings 
of the Committee of Cadets, (or rather of the Cadets as a body, acting 
by their Committee,) on the broad basis of general, acknowleged right; 
and but briefly touched on the evidence on the records of the Court, 
I shall now narrow my consideration to the particulars of this case, ab- 
stracted from the idea of a general principle; although I am persuad- 
ed, that I have established the position of our being supported by Lawt 
Precedent, and public Utility. 
If I am rightly informed of what constitutes mutiny, or mutinous 
conduct, by much attentive examination of the most approved authors 
on the subject, except in a very few cases, inapplicable to our country, 
it consists in some overt Act. 
“There must be,” says Judge Hawkins, in treating of crimes of 
this nature and magnitude, “ a certainty of the ofience committed; and 
nothing material shall be taken by intendment, or implication ; but the 
special matter of the whole fact ought to be set forth with certainty.” 
If this doctrine be admitted, thatu nothing material shall be taken 
by intendment, or implication,” and if we examine the whole tenor of 
the evidence adduced on the part of the prosecution, which by implica- 
tion, may distantly bear against me, and contrast it with the official Re- 
port of the Supcrintendant of the Academy, on this matter, to the Chief 
Engineer, (which Report, being official, should have all the avail of an 
oath,) whatever his oath may, in part, support unfavorable to my in- 
terest, will vanish, and leave him, not the pillar of his own fabric, but 
the thunderbolt which will shiver it into pieces. 25 
Again, attend to his language. “ Notwithstanding the proceedings 
which I have been compelled to describe in great haste, I am happy in 
being able to inform you, that there has been no positive act of mutiny 
or disorder; and that the good order of the Institution has not been 
interrupted for a moment.” 
These are the premises on which he grounds his charge of muti- 
nous conduct, “ No positive act of mutiny or disorderbut something 
formed in his own imagination, too vague for clear expression. 
Evidence on the paper (E.) has riot been taken; partly because 
it is an original certificate on honour, and partly to avoid tediousness. 
It is as follows ;— 
u It has been asserted in orders read this day before the Battalion, 
that the members of the Committee appointed by us, had probably 
used their influence in persuading us to take those steps which we have 
taken. We, the undersigned, do therefore affirm, upon our word of 
honour, that no influence was ever employed in persuading us to take 
those steps, and that in so doing we did not at all think it contrary to 
military discipline. 
(Signed by more than 140 Cadets.) 
“ West-Point, 27th Nov. 1818.” 
It is to be hoped for the honour of this court, and the reputation 
of the army, that their decision will shew that the spirit of liberty and 
independence as warmly animates the soldier as the citizen ; that the 
honest farmer and the venerable judge are not the only repositories of 
justice; that the profession of arms does not accommodate the judg- 
ment to the capricious will or ill-directed wishes of the superior;—and 
that self-interest “ which shakes the public with the same 
“ troublous storms that toss 
“ The private state, and renders life unsweet,” 
is not the leading principle. But, although the Chief Magistrate has 
passed on us an unqualified censure, they will, on those clear and ex- 
culpatory documents, give a decided verdict of acquittal. 
The Second Charge, of “Accessary to Mutinous Conduct,” may 
be answered more fully than it has been, by the following conside- 
rations : 26 
Firstly, A criminal cannot be accessary to himself; and, conse- 
quently, whatever holds him forth in this character, is, in Law, a mis- 
nomer. 
Secondly, The commission of a crime must be first established; 
and hence, the fact of Principal in that crime of which the Accessary 
is charged, before he can be convicted as such. 
And, Thirdly, That when the allegation against the Principal, or 
Principals, has been disproved, the law does not, and cannot, conceive 
of an Accessary to that crime. The crimes of Principal and Accessary 
are distinct, and cannot be blended together. 
Sir William Blaclcstone thus speaks on the subject. “ A man may 
be a Principal in an offence in two degrees. A Principal in the first 
degree is he who is the actor; and in the second degree, he who is pre- 
sent, aiding and abetting the fact to be done; which presence need not 
be an immediate, actual standing by, within sight or hearing of the 
fact; but there may also be a constructive presence; as when one com- 
mits a robbery or murder, and another keeps watch at some convenient 
distance. An Accessary is he who is not the chief actor in the offence, 
but is some way concerned therein, either before or after the fact com- 
mitted. An Accessary before the fact, is one who, being absent at the 
time of the crime committed, doth yet procure, counsel, or command 
another, to commit a crime. The procuring of a felony to be commit- 
ted, though it be through the intervention of a third person, is being 
an Accessary before the fact. An Accessary after the fact, may be 
when a person, knowing a felony to have been committed, receives, 
comforts, or assists, the felon; and geneially, any assistance whatever 
given to the felon to prevent his being apprehended, tried, or suffering 
punishment, makes the assister Accessary.” 
If we admit the learned Chief Justice’s explication of Principal 
and Accessary to be the true expression of the law ; the specifications 
in support of that charge against me, come not within the definition of 
an Accessary. The very acts as laid down in the Specifications of the 
first charge are tho.fe which are brought in support of the second; with 
with an additional one, which involves these inconsistences, viz: 
Firstly.—It presupposes that when the Principals are cleared, they 27 
may be convicted as Accessaries, when that very clearance shews, 
that the crime with which they are charged did not exist. 
Secondly.—That Accessary and Principal are convertible terms. 
Thirdly.—That a deed having no connexion with the accusatiens 
against the Principal, and no relation to him as such, can be brought 
in support of a charge of Accessary to that Principal; and 
Fourthly,—That the magnitude of an Accessary’s guilt can exceed 
that of his Principal. 
I shall now offer another quotation from Chief Justice Blackstonc. 
“ Formerly no man could be tried as Accessary till after the Principal 
was convicted; or at least, he must have been tried at the same time 
with him.” “ Though a man may be indicted as an Accessary and ac- 
quitted, he may afterwards be indicted as a Principal. For an acquit- 
tal of receiving or counselling a Felon, is no acquittal of the Felony it- 
self. But it is a matter of some doubt, whether, if a man be acquitted 
as Principal, he can afterwards be indicted as Accessary before the 
fact; since those offences are frequently very nearly allied, and there- 
fore an acquittal of the guilt of the one, may be an acquittal ot the 
guilt of the other also.” 
In the case under your consideration, the guilt of the Accessary is 
not a near approximation to the guilt of the Principal, but it comes up 
to, and exceeds it. I leave the conclusion for you to draw, and observe 
generally on all that has gone before, that if there is any doubt in 
your minds, engrafted there by the artful narrative of my accuser, the 
voice of the law is loud: if a doubt exists either as to the law or fact, 
it orders a construction favorable to the accused, or presumes in- 
nocence. 
From many of those considerations, I am led to conclude that the 
charges, in their very construction are unwise, incongruous and unlaw- 
ful. That they were generated in corruption, and conceived by a weak 
and depraved intellect. I am therefore not surprised at their deformi- 
ty ; at the absence of simplicity and comprehensiveness, nor at their 
want of legal form and legal basis. It is not to be expected, that one 
whose steps are continually on the prostrate laws of his country, has 
taken much pains to enquire into their modes, or their nature. 28 
A question wag put by the prosecutor to Mr. Fairfax, to know of 
him if I could not have disobeyed major Thayer’s order, as stated in 
the third Charge, without his knowledge ? I have only to say, that this 
question was one not calculated to expose facts, but to obscure them ; 
for the evidence of major Thayer, on that point, was, that the order, 
lie thought, was disobeyed at the time that Mr. Fairfax and myself 
waited on him; and at no other lime am I charged with having done 
so. There being but one witness, whose testimony bears the most dis- 
tantly against me, I shall offer a few extracts from several legal writers, 
on the force of a single individual’s testimony, 
Tytler, page 296. “ A single witness requires much corroboration 
from concurring circumstances; for when there is no presumption from 
circumstances fortifying his evidence, the credit of that person would 
need be very high, indeed, whose single and unsupported testimony 
should give faith to any criminal accusation.” 
Blaclcstone, page 366, vol. 4th. “In all cases of high treason, pet- 
ty treason, and misprision of treason, two lawful witnesses are requi- 
red to convict a prisoner; unless he shall willingly, and without vio- 
lence, confess the same. 
May it please the honorable Court, I have arrived at the close of 
my remarks, on the circumstances of my conduct, and the evidence 
which has been brought forward. It may well be supposed, that if 1 
felt the least compunction of conscience, if I believed any of my procee- 
dings, for which I have been brought before you, were susceptible of 
being construed into a violation of law, that I should terminate my de- 
fence with fear and trembling. 
But although my reputation, as a soldier, and a man, is now in 
your hands, I do feel, that your judgment, founded on impartiality and 
honor, will place it on a higher elevation, than that from which my ac- 
cuser presumptuously believed he could degrade it. You are the sol- 
dier’s tribunal, the judges of my reputation; you have seen the malig- 
nity exhibited by my opponents; you have viewed the attempts to blast 
the character of a young man, who has nothing but that character to 
elevate him in life. They have sought to divest me of all I possess, 
have endeavored to blacken me, by the imputation of the most vile and 
abominable crimes, of which a soldier can be guilty. The endeavor, 
1 trust, will prove abortive, for my shield is in the integrity of you, 29 
gentlemen of this honorable court, in your hatred of tyranny, maligni- 
ty, and falsehood. If there is any delight in thwarting the views of 
desperate maliciousness; if it can give the rational mind any pleasure 
to preserve the fair fame of an honest, humble individual; if those who 
are vested with the dispensation of justice, feel it their duty to act in 
strict accordance with equity, then I am sure, I shall be honorably ace 
quitted. 
It is impossible for me to close the vindication of my conduct, with- 
out expressing, as well as I am able, the high sense which I entertain 
of the gentleman like deportment, and attention of the special Jndge 
Advocate. It is not for his public duties alone, that I would acknow- 
ledge my obligation ; but I must say, that he is almost a solitary ex- 
ample of unchanged principle, amongst many that have changed at 
the first breeze of adversity. That breeze has cooled them; but it has 
only freshened his honor and his feelings. 
I am prepared, gentlemen, to receive your sentence 
THE END. MEMORIAL 
TO 
CONGRESS.  
MAY IT PLEASE THE HONOURABLE 
THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
THAT the undersigned, late Cadets in the service of 
the United States, in pursuance of original powers extended to the said 
undersigned by one hundred and eighty Cadets, in November 1818, to 
act in their behalf, and by all legal means, to relieve the corps of 
Cadets from certain tyraunies, which they hold to exist $ would respect* 
fully represent and declare : 
That a true statement of the situation of the Military Academy 
lias been withheld from the Congress of the United States. 
That in consequence, the said Military Academy has suffered un- 
der the abuses of an authority, which was and is unrestrained, by any 
fixed and certain laws. 
That although it has been officially asserted, that the said Military 
Academy has been governed by the Rules and Articles of War, yet 
those laws have frequently been infringed, in cases involving the repu- 
tation of individuals. 
That Courts of Enquiry have been ordered by the Superintendant 
of the Academy, for the purpose of trying Cadets, who did not request, 
and who did not desire the convention of such Cobrts; the Superinten- 
dant violating thereby the 92d article of war. (See Certificate, No. 1.) 
That unjust and unauthorized taxes have been levied on the Ca- 
dets, at different times, under the pretence of a charge for the injury 
of class books j that the said taxes were levied without the consent of 4 
the Cadets, and stopped from their pay, without their being able to pre- 
vent the imposition. (See Certificate No. 2.) 
That the Cadets have been, and are coerced to sign the pay-rolls 
of the Academy, acknowledging the receipt of their pay; when such ac- 
knowledgement has been, and is in effect false ; because they have not 
been, and are not permitted to dispose of any portion, or to have any 
concern in the disposition of the said pay. (See Certificate JYo. 3.) 
That insults, gross, personal, corporeal, and degrading, have been 
offered to Cadets, as individuals, and to the Corps, as a body, with im- 
punity; the officer offering such insults being abetted by his superior, 
the Superintendant, and permitted to join his regiment without a public 
punishment. (See pamphlet attached to this petition, marked A.) 
t 
That charges against the said officer were preferred by an indivi- 
dual, who had received a corporeal insult, and were not attended to by 
the Superintendant; that charges were preferred, by the undersigned 
petitioners, against the said officer, (See A.) and were not attended to j 
but, as if to punish the humility that would beg, w hen goaded past en- 
durance, they were punished for thus complaining, by an unheard-of 
arrest and persecution, for nearly twelve months. (See pamphlet, A.) 
That the present state of the Academy is the same, as at the time the 
aforesaid injuries took place, and that those injuries might now be re- 
peated WITH IMPUNITY. 
That there is now in force an illegal order, whereby Cadets are 
forbid to address the Department of War, or Engineers, on any occa- 
sion or emergency; this order being contrary to the genius of our laws, 
and in direct violation of the Rules and Articles of War. (See Certifi- 
cate No. 4, and article of war 34.) 
That Cadets have been forced to resign, bv a public order, under 
pretence that they were not proficient in their studies, when it was 
known, that the said Cadets were prevented from making a proper pro- 
gress in their studies, by disadvantages resulting from the organization 
of the Institution. (See Certificate No. 5.) 
l 
That Cadets have been forced, in effect, to give evidence against 
themselves, before a Court of Enquiry, which they did not request, by 
a high handed violation of common law. (See Certificate No. 6.) 5 
That, as an instance of the system of partiality and tyranny, which 
exists at the Academy, the Superintendant has taken from the weekly 
class-reports, the names of those Cadets, who were reported as the most 
meritorious, by their Professors, and substituted the names of other Ca 
dets, in their stead, for whom he had a private partiality. (See Certifi- 
cate No. 7.) 
That the present Superintendant of the Academy has been guilty 
of a gross dereliction from truth, in misrepresenting, to the War Depart- 
ment, the characters of four of the undersigned petitioners, terming them 
old offenders, and charging them with being the ringleaders of mu- 
tiny, the seducers of their fellow Cadets from duty, and the cause of 
those disturbances, which are said to have occurred, on the assumption 
of the superiuteudancy by captain Alden Partridge, in 1817. (Seepam- 
phlet, A, papers R T.) 
That although the Superintendant, the Secretary of War, and the 
President, have declared that Cadets are subject to Military Law, yet a 
Report from the Superintendant, received through the War Department, 
and approved by the Secretary and President, contained a counter as- 
sertion : that they were subject tothe penalties of Martial Law, but de- 
nying “ that they had rights, as a corps of the army.” 
That the Cadets are now forbidden to sign any paper, without per- 
mission from the Superintendant, under the vain idea, that their spirits 
will thus become broken, and that all their sensibility will he stifled or 
destroyed. (See pamphlet, A.) 
That it will be perceived, by the honourable Congress, from the 
foregoing statement, that a system has been, and is now, in operation, 
to suppress an honourable and virtuous pride among those, who are to 
be reared for the calling of arms; that the most undue and illegal means 
are taken, to cut off from the Congress, the Executive, and the Sove- 
reign People, all knowledge of the state of an Institution, which exists in 
the bosom of the Republic, tending to render it a very viper to the 
breast, by which it is suckled. It is bound round from all complaints 
against the most galling tyranny, by the icy bond of official interdict, 
backed by the army laws, while within those laws are applied, when it 
suits expediency,or perverted, whenever they may afford protection to 
the oppressed. 
That it has been attempted to place the Cadets in the state of those 6 
miserable soldiers, who, before their eyes, at this very Academy, have 
received between one and two hundred lashes, at a time, on the bare 
back, without even the form of trial, and in defiance of the American 
Law, which preserves sacred, both to the soldier and citizen, that great 
feature of liberty—a trial by Jury. 
That the undersigned petitioners most humbly hope, that the hon* 
orable Congress will enquire into the manifold abuses which are here 
complained of. They most humbly pray that an investigation may be 
had on this said Military Academy, which, if allowed to be governed 
according to the monarchical ideas of its present ruler, will, in a short 
time, be so advanced in depravity as to require nothing less than its 
utter extinction. 
That the undersigned Petitioners would most humbly set forth, 
that although this Petition may appear novel and unprecedented, yet 
it is the only resort for the Cadets of the Academy, who have failed in 
their efforts to gain partial or substantial redressj they want, and it is 
humbly hoped that the Congress will extend to them, the protection of 
the laws, in a fixed and certain code fur the Institution. 
That the undersigned Petitioners would most humbly represent, 
that as individuals, they are disinterested in the consequences of this 
Petition. They are now citizens. Their desires of becoming Soldiers 
of the Republic have been frustrated. A Court, to which was confided 
tiie sanctity of the law, has violated that sanctity in order to condemn 
them. They may, even now, be laboring under censure and obloquy.. 
They merely ask, in the name of, and for their constituents, that which 
they were appointed to obtain : a riddance from tyranny. 
All of which is most humbly submitted to the honorable Congress. 
NATHANIEL IIALL LORING, 
THOMAS RAGLAND, 
CHARLES RUTLEDGE HOLMES. 
CHARLES R. VINING, 
WILSON M. C. FAIRFAX. CERTIFICATES. 
No. 1. 
Concerning illegal Courts of Enquiry at West-Pointy on Cadets. 
Courts of Enquiry were frequently ordered for the trial of Cadets, 
without their requesting them, during the year 18lJ. Many Cadets 
who were tried by those Courts, were so tried, conrcary to their wish. 
The undersigned, was in the year 1818, the Post Adjutant at West- 
Point, and by order of the Superinten«ant, (major Thayer) often issu- 
ed orders for such trials. Some of the Cadets who were tried, were 
dismissed, some suspended, and their pay stopped, and others repri- 
manded. 
THOMAS RAGLAND. 
No. 2. 
Respecting stoppages of the Pay of Cadets of the United States, Militai'y 
Academy, in 1818, and 1819. 
1818. 
January, - - - $ 25 25 
March, - - - - 54 62| 
April, - - - - 84 121-2 
May and June, - 186 16 
June, (add’l.) - - 31 19 
July and August, - 9 98 
October, - - - - 30 77 
November & Dec’r. 6 25 
$428 35 
1819. 
January & Feb’y. $ 16 61 
March and April, 133 75 
May and June, 53 87 1.2 
March and April, 57 00 
May and June, 574 631.2 
July and August* 198 25 
1034 12 
1818, 428 34 
S 1462 46 
The above is taken from the accounts in the Pay and Quarter 
Masters’ office, and as far as it goes, exhibits a true statement of the 8 
deductions from the pay of Cadets for the injury of class books, and 
some small charges for the injury of arms, &c. It is uncertain wheth- 
er the full amount is stated, and very probably it 13 not, but a!S far as 
the accounts could be inspected this abstract is correct. 
NATHANIEL H. LORING, 
THOMAS RAGLAND, 
WILSON M. C. FAIRFAX. 
No. 3. 
Coercion to sign Pay-Rolls. 
Dec. 20lh, 1819. 
We certify, that from continual orders, and the constant practice 
of the post, we have been always obliged to sign the Pay Rolls, in to- 
ken of receipt of pay which we never have received, and which has 
been disposed of, without consulting us on the object, a mode of ap- 
propriation, whenever our expenditures exceeded our pay; excepting 
only the allowance of five dollars, when our debts were within certain 
limits. 
EDWARD G. W. BUTLER, 
A. J. DONELSON, 
WILSON M. C. FAIRFAX. 
No. 4. 
Prohibition of communication with the War Department. 
We certify that an order now exists in full force, prohibiting any 
communication from a Cadet to the War Department or Engineer of- 
fice, except through the Superintendant of the Academy, and there- 
fore subject to be stopped by him. 
WILSON M. C. FAIRFAX, 
EDWARD G. W. BUTLER, 
A. J. DONELSON. 
■West-Point, Dec. 20tb, 1819. 9 
No. 5. 
Unjust Dismission. 
1 certify on honour, that some of those Cadets who were forced to 
resign by an order issued by major Thayer, under the pretence that 
they had not made sufficient progress in their studies, had had but very- 
little opportunity of good instruction ; for a section to which they be- 
longed for a considerable time, was attended to by a higher class, each 
member in this class, instructing in turn ; and there ivere no less than 
twelve or fifteen of such instructors to this section. 
WILLIAM S. MAITLAND, Cadet. 
( No. 6. ) 
Coercion of Evidence. 
We certify on our honour, that a Court of Enquiry convened at 
th’13 Post, by command of the Superintendant major S. Thayer, to 
discover the individuals who flogged a teamster. It was not convened 
at the request of those implicated. Cadets Turnbull, Whetcroft, 
Van Wyck, Vanderburgh, and Karrick, all concerned conjointly, were 
brought before this Court and ordered to give evidence, each one of 
the other four; but not to speak of himself unless voluntarily. They 
were all found guilty. Mr. Van Wyck was dismissed ; the others 
were suspended. 
NATHANIEL H. CORING, 
THOMAS RAGLAND. 
( No. 7. ) 
Unjust alteration of Merit Report. 
West- Point, Dec. 20th, 1819. 
I certify that my No. in the weekly Class Report, has been 
changed by the Superintendant of the Academy, whereby my rank in 
my Class as given by my Professor, has been lowered arbitrarily and 
Unjustly. 
DAVID MONIAC.