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:70M TNI niDZKICK.T wy SilALB
; COLONEL jBUTLER'i'TRIAL. K
The weHjknoWn and' established reputa
- ticm'of the officer implicated the honora
ble interest m his behalf Uflconfined e ven by
. the limits of parry: dfstibctiorWand a varfc
etyhf independent circumstances, hate all
conspired to produce' in an 'uncommon de-"
'gree and to keep alive general attentiohx&
curiosity in .every part jof( the Union as to"
tnVcase, of which it is at last in our f
er to announce to the public a complete ajnd
authentic statementiByTrecuVring to pur
Journal for December last, it Will be found
-- that oh Monday the 2tst of November the1
General Court Martial, ordered for the tri
at of Col. Thomas Butler assembled in
this wnjththeburt, of which a cor
K ct list was then given, proceeded to busi
new on the 'Wednesday following j that on
Monday the'Sth of Pecejn!er . the testimo
ny haVingbeen gone through with and closi
ed on both sides, CoV Butler's defence
.wju fleliyej-ed ; to the court J and on the "
ncxtjday, Tuesday the 6th, the court con
cluded their determination. The long in
terval of suspense fbr more than three
jnonths which ejapsed since the court de-
5"cided,'t.J,with'put -the sentence having been
irtade known; or the proceedings returnee!
by Gen.' Wilkinson, ? the anresting officer,
and commancler in chief, to Whom they
were transmitted, Induced col. Butler, who
has' waited, the intermediate while at this
plicp'and at ; Washington,, to apply to the,
S&creUry of War on the subjest, from whom ,
he ' derived thc information on which we
re now permttec( to publish. Before
" presenting the defence and thesentence of
the court, it seems proper iiowever, and
more aeeaUerXvithbufregaring'fUer-'
derpf time, first to offer col Bailer letter
to the Secretary of war which led to .a know--lod
of sentence, and the correspond
ence that followed in i mmediate connection."
s .1 ffytiFngHn 2.23, 1804.
The lapse of time that has taken nlace
smce the close of nya trial, .'at the town of
Frederick, has laid me under the necessity
ef -addressing j ou once more on that un
1 pleasant subject, v " . ''''
Tin' your fayor of the 10th of December
; . Iask,i you' gave:nje;:to iinderstand rtfial I
" rtiht eipfccf a return of the proceedings of
niy trial in wentyor twehv-five days from
Vthadatef;. -vSixty-five days have passed off
r . witjhoutmy naving received any furAer in
formation whateyenx This ufiiexpected de.
; Uy in the promulgation 'of the proceedings,
, ' has added, much ' w my impatiehce. . 'Tis
- true sir, ray jtoation may excite no great
degree of. sympathy, yet : it certainly de-
' ?mands ateotion and justice,' which ii all I--tsVdf
fori Then, permit merto request of
you; to state mycase to the President of the
United- States'' as --cannot suppose,-- that
he can be in possession of the merits of my
trial, and suffer soch a loaH bfjjijuries as
have been heaped upon me, to remain so
long unremoyed. It isnow nine months
since ny arrest took place, at Fort Adams
on the Mississippi, from which post I was
. .ordered to-the suto of Maryland for trial,
and after having performed a journey of Up
wards of fifteen hundred iri'des in the heat
. of summer my trial was put off froth the
uku ot &eptem)er to the 20th of Nov
Htr, which delay' I bdrc" without compl
and now appeal,; not only-fo your
;wn feelings sir, biittd the feelings of cve
rjr man of sense, and hoiiapftp say, if the
treathient which I haycreceived since the
commencement Cfut business, has-not
beefl t uch aajthe principles ot bono.ur, r&
fcHloCrty country w;ll not Mnctioa.
THOMAS BUTLER,
r7 In conseqaence f the above letter; Maj.
iEdrcrBlwasjilirerteA bv the secretary uf
Thai
tooree be no impropriety in his Tthe secre
tary's) letting the col know the nature" of
the senteoceI . (We have been thus parti
cular, at the request of col. Butler who is
now in Frederick, as to the language used
by the secretary ; because in the colonel's
appeal to the President, which folbwstfw
ground on which the secretary of war deem
ed himself justifiable in making known the
sentence does not appear as accurately and
s fully as .he himseifinVght wish.) T he
cwrciary men reuuea tne aeci3ion oi ine
courtiuch V the reader will presently see
Whereupon coL Butler observed that
if the court had found him guiltr of diso-1
. .- ...,..7 X
ocaience unaer tue nrst specutcauon, tor
not cutting off his hairagreeatly to the ge
neral s order, they mast have judged Irom
the Jetter of the order, without taking into
view whether the order was legal or not,
that he could not submit to the dscision
without an appeal to the President of the
United : States, . and asked if he was at I i - J
berty to use tReinformation, which the se-
cretary had been pleased to communicate,
as the foundation of such an appeal.- This
Was granted. And the following note was
addressed to the secretary, accompanied by
the appeal, to be delivered in form to the
President. , v , .
. ' City efWashingtony March 8, 1804.
Sir,- r.' "
I have the honor of inclosing a letter ad-"
dressed to. the President of tlie Uoited
States, which, I will thank you to deliver
in that form, deemedjby you most respect
ful. -It 13 open, that you may have an op
portunity to examine the first part to see if
correctly stated. I am sir, with respect
Your humble sf.rvant,
l' . . -THOMAS BUTLEU,
Hon. H. Dearborne. Col. ZdRcg. InfC
His Excellency tfie Prcsidciiofthe-lJnit;d
. . ' : ySta:es. 7 ' -
Sib, ' ' ';. ' '.
Before' entering on a subject, to the merits
pf which I must beg. leave to solicit your
excellency's attention ; . it will be nectssary
to state as a data, that on the 4tb infant
the ticTnTTecfeiar)' of war, hdTTSunrh.e with
a conversation in his ornce, rcEptcung my
late trial". After his" having expressed
th
eessence ot a military com mtKU - And
had the court entered , into- an iovestiga
tion of the ' legal merits of - that .order,
they 'could I; not have held r it ; in any
higher point of vievr, than the expression,
of will from one individual to another,
which no dutyjre quired ,him to respect, & ?
no power compelled him to obey.; ; v ; ; !
; I would fondly hope, ' please your ' Excel
lency, that it will not be said,' s'uch tirinci-
plesas these areTsulvenive ot" military sub
ordination ' for ! flatter myself, that my
fchafacter as an officer is so well established,
as not to admit a doubt ot myvobcdieftce to
tberderof -sg ptr'
tirnes to have paid iihnlicit obedience to the
laws ot my country. -; -?
-Experiences 'please your Excellency, has
taught roe to believe, that the proper exer
cise of legal authority is sufficipndy cOm-.
prehensiye fvr every purpose, of tnilitary
duty, that the power given to superiors is
argV enough to embrace every possible
case th public service could require But
if it were not, still the power 6t a general
must be circumscribed by the laws, else the
consequence would be, that his will aion
would bound his authority, ' whether itdi-t
retted the execution jaf things moral or
immoral, treasonable or patriotic,' honora
ble or base.
I presume I am, correct, sir, in obsen--ing
that it is the indispensable duty of every
officer placed over others" in command, ne
ver to pass those litniis, iwhich the laws of
good sense, sound policy morality, religi
on nd of his tountry must gi ve to all dele
gated authority, i 1 hat the order of .the
SOth of April, i 801, surpassed these limits,
never was a question with me'i because the
frojer and- constitutional uthorityof the
7nited Sutcs, had made rules and regula
tions for the governmento! the army, which
I conceived were" as imperiilve to the com
manding general, as to the ccntinel at his
,uvo6r. These acts' as distinctly mark the
po wer of the oner as the '. duty of theother.
The bne lecoune8 criminal if he exceeds
his authority the other when he performs
tits It gat duty -should ha ve notmnjaptcf frarvi
peat to the Prestden tthe Secretary of war
returned. .CButler the Tollowing replyrT
; " "War JDelartmntf Jlufch i4,1804. " .
kThe memorial s accompanying yout letter
of the, 10th inst. wa4 in conformity with
, your request, presented to the President of
tn,e u iuteu oiaies, wno reierrea u lo iac
secretary pf war for his decision thereoni '
It has therefore become his duty to jnake .
. such "observations on the subject of the said
memorial, as the nature of the case requires.
Presuming Iti toJhave beea ycMLuiinteaticn
that your memorial: should, be considered
u-edyJllJiJeiretary
CoL Batler, and know, if -he" j ewry officer by his c
milch surprise why the epmmauding gene
rat had sO; long withheld the promulgation
of the - proctdings, . jhc' observed; ' that as
the penefal must have acted on those In jny
case betore that perioa, lie couia not con?
cei ve that there was any impropriety in his
imforming nie'i-ttiat-I Stock! acquitted by
the court, of all the charges exhibited by
the general except ihe first spoci ttcattoh, Via.
w disoWlienceto-' the-general order of the
30lh oT April, 1801, regiilatuig the uni
form of thclviiir." ' ' " "
li Taki tigJotv gr-mted, .sir, that this is the
state of the case j I haye reason to suppose
from the decisjon, that the court -decided
on the letter of th-Tof of without ttavihg
taken into view, ' whether the "order itself
was bf such a nature, and so supported by
legal authority, as to render obedicner in
dbpensabler .Presuming the court had not
taken into viewthe "latter position' I feel
myself impeljtfby self respect, to appeal
to your JecwlencyiT from the decision of
the corift, with a hope, thafc-you "wiil be
sed to , re-consider the merits of that
specification. ; , ' ' " ' "
' I feel sensible, sir, ' how delicate this
subject is, and I, with every military man
must intima'tety feel how unfortunate It is,
that any general order should render its
discussion indispensable. Tel 1 hdpeand:
trust, that it never will be conceded,,, that
any citizen entering into die military sendee
of his country, thereby puts himself out of
the protection of the laws,- that his honor,
his COasvtenCS, JUS mcru pniaipica,.
..:,..,t nA natural riphtsare na loncerun-
Lrhis own puardianship, but surrendered
- -. I. a fwu'.WWit lf lt1. J
up to Wliomsoever ui m j r- i
ixrior.v With defcrente, &r, Iye at all
the powtr given w
. war to wait on
- would (lispeese witH the Secretary's mak-
S .. . . r . ' . . A . t,l
j ixig a statement oi nis raseio me picaiurin
Until after the arrival of another mail from
New.Orleans, which was: assented: 1.t
..Another inail having arrived without bring
ing anv new intelligence "rclauvc to his' case
fronrGeiu WjlkinsonV Col. Buder Was irj
vjted to an interview with the secretary on
the 4th int"- who crated that as l-4 he had.
; before that received a letter- from the genr
-al,' Uted. the 24th lanuary, announcing
- that he had received and approved ofthe
Sentence of the general court martial rela
.tive to coh B tider. and that the aenteftte
TTVould b nnhliBhed in -orders within a day
PT two after the laid dateCt there couia-oi
ic thii nil
coramisMoo,
thority-of the laws ana ponsiuutioii uiu
counmv vested in Vim as the ligitinte or-,
" . ...i:i..'-;..l!.'t r ' iii'-"iflrtc ;
f)lfcCCrs Will, wnnsi (.oiiuuw v'rf-j-"-;
over whi-Jh the tawshaye givetf hiwvAuthov
ritv, is the. command of the law i:selt1:
Wl must be imnlicitly ard promptly o-
i beved. J JBut if directed io subjects over
which the laws nasgiven mm no auuiuruyf
but which on the. contrary, the laws and
"constitution" of the UnVtedSutes., ha ve se
cureda's inviolably to every citizen, -whet
ther in a civil or military capacity, then I
contend, please your excellency, that the
order" the 50th of April 1801, being un
supported by.leg-d authority, conuius not
V
O j jgf r
but receive the ample protection of 'ther laws:
tof his country. Has then congress by, lis
acts, given power to anytnilitary officer; to
compu an iulerior in rank to anyact of mu-r
tUationpto deprive Jiimself of any private
ox natural right ; -1 think, I tnay with safe-
tv answer no-i-there are no such acts ;
there hasT bcpti no such power delegated ;
and when any officeri by an order, attempts
to. legislate on sul jects oot submitted to his
audiority;" lie usurps that authority which
the cOnstituVidn vests in congress alone. '
1 hope your Excclkncy will pardon any
expressions that may appear too strong in'
this add re ss, aiid i mpu te the m to the i r t r ue
rause. namelv. to the fctlinp of" a-man
smarting under a'lofldoropprt-ssion j View J
him, sin as oTdeTert by hi commanding
H general from one of the piost extreme posts
o( the United ' States, to me state ot ma
rvland for trial, upwards of fifteen hundred
miles,, kept near ten months in a Mate of
'suspenccy and at an ex;;encc too neavy ior
anv othcer to bear ; ana all tnis-in direct
violation of the iarticle of the appendix
to the rules' and articles 5f yvar ; as there
was many intermediate posts. Pernvitnfe
to observe, sir, if a gental can assume such
authority as this, he has it .completely Jn
his power to ruin any officer in the army.
!Let me hope Sir, that you wiUtake ii
to coniideration". the merits of the ppeeifi-
cauen beFare alluded to, -and by turning IcV
my defence on that -pattjbf the charge, -?u
-will see my "reasons lor not conforming to
that order, "without trouhiingyour Excel
lency with any further details. -1
: I am l espectfiilly, your,.-;. : ,
.Excellcncv's humble "servant,"
. THOMAS BUTLER,
, . ' ' ; CoL.Rtg, Inft.
City of .Washington, iartti 8, 1804.
"' It may here be right to remark, that the
W23J article of the appendix to the" Rules Et
articles, reteted to in the pi eccecing letter,
as having -.been vidUted in the treatment
dealt to cok Butler, is inihese words
:-V '"Article '"2d.Th'rcommandingoffi-;;
cerof "any jpost ojr dctachment,--in which
thr re shall not he a number' of ojEcers'adc
quite to form a general court martial,, shall
in cases which require the cogaisancer of
such a coprt, , report to the, Commanding
Officer of the detachmentv- who shall order
a court to be assembled, at thc nearest post
or detachment and the pattyi accused, with
the necessary witnesses, to be transport:
id jothe place where the court shall fcfc as
sembled.'.! ..s ' '' ';
7r Inanswerrto liis repfesentationCof Ap-
of the;i?eneral court niartiar,', to the Presi
dent of the United States', which sentence
had been approved by the proper, officer--It
will only be necessary to observe, that
there exisu no law, custom or usage, with
in the knowledge or recpllection of the e
crctary of War, by which the Trt sidentts
'authorj&ed touke cognizance of such an
rappeal ; ' although the President of the Uni
ted Stages ha by law ultimately to decide
on proceedings of court martials in certain,
cases, it does not appear that h possesses
any legal controul over the sentence oi any
court martial duly approvtd, by the proper
officer, ' except by interposing-the constitu
tional power confided to him of pardoning
offences . , T". . . r
; ' . I am respectfully, . .. r "
. Your humble servant, -.
n dearborne:.
Col. T, Buder, , . . I
v ; The , President having thus, declined, an
lnterterence wulj the sentence ot the ccmrt .
martial, the sentence remains as it vas; such
as we are now enabled to extract it frotn(i
copy of tkerwnsf'tl"-crvi th
which Col. Butter was furnished ;a few
days since by the politeness ot the secre
tary bf war. It is unnecessary here.to in
sert the charges and specifications against
col. Butler, to which a sentence spplieSj be
causethey will be found precisely quoted in
the, opening of his defence. - Nor.isi ne-necessai-v
to report the evidence 'on which
rsetJteticerVar fodfdrbttaTiseithe'd1
dence was all wrttten, and is particubrly
detailed in the defence, and because on the
spefication for hot cutting off the hair; the
only-one jvhkh affects Coh Butler in the'o- ,
pinion pr tne court, tncre was ro-evidence
offered -and none required as to the
mere tact ot his not having coniormed to
the General pleasure in that particular.
u : tFrtderick-1 Wn, '&ec 6 1803;
The court after mature deliberation are
of an opinion that the prisoner is guilty of
disobedience ofthe general order of the
SOih 'ot April, 1801, and (taking into con-
sideration his lohg and 1aithful services'
and his general .character as aa ,cer-do -
sentence him, under the 5th artrcte ot the
2d section of the rules and articles ofTwar -to
f be repremanded in general tJrderfi.7: '.
'"Tiic51 court arev also' of opinion after
due investigation, that the prisoner is not "
guilty of. the' second and third specifica
tions, and that he didaccordihg to the true
intent and meaning of the orders of. the '.
9th of April. 23th May. and 8th of June,
18(, fa ithfully pcrforra -hisluty, t and
do therefore acquit him. ' -.t W- - - .
The court then adjourned to lfi odo'ck1
to-morrow; morning. " v : V '
r-r:JlLuizi-sldentl -
December 11, 1 803. ."' , :v ......
James House, Judge -Advocate. "
Such is the sentence of the court mar
tial, in the latter part of, which we. believe
there -will he; a general .sentiment of con
currence throughout the country in favour
of the party acquitted, ' In estimating ihe
tormer.part pi ine.6epienc.e, wnicnis a con
viction of disobedience to a certain alledg
ed order from the commander in chief, it
would perhaps be difficult to resort to any
better standard than the very cbu.se of the,
rules and articles of war, which-the court
haver referred to. By the Jth article- of
the 2d section of those rules, it is declared
that
-4-VAny officer f soldier who shall strike'
his superior ;offisfv&.r draw or shall lift up
anyfwe anonrdi i?dSrri.ahy' ioienfeatjamst
him being in the ' .execution of his office,
n any prtttnee, whatever, or shall disobey
any lawful coifnftiand,J5 his; superior' offi
cer, sJiaU suffer; ;dtath, or such other pu- .
tnshment'W.snattrciig' t thetiaiure
of his offence, he Xnllicted Aifion hifhVh
thefsentence.of-4 court mirtiaijr '.. ' ".
By this article it appears thst with res-
pect to the " commaBd. of a superioroffi-""
ccr," it inferior is punishable tinly'fof dis- ,
ohdience; to, aiy ; hlivi ujsiaaji k
i
Wi
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