A Call to Arms

The problem was that Peto’s voice was cast permanently to overcome the roar of the waves, the shrill of the wind, the groaning of canvas and the creaking of timber. He lowered it in company such as this, naturally, but from so high a volume that he never quite judged the decrescendo aptly. More heads turned towards their table, but Peto was still wholly oblivious to them — by design or not Hervey was unable to say. All he could do was pipe his own voice down still lower in an effort to have Peto follow him. ‘Wine?’

‘Barolo!’

The whole room turned.

Peto at last noticed. He nodded in turn to each table with an indulgent smile. ‘They love a blue coat,’ he said, turning back to Hervey, his voice now lowered to below the level of the wind and waves and canvas, as if he were at table in his own steerage, indeed — and at anchor. ‘Now, the court martial: I want to know all of it.’

‘Where should I begin?’ replied Hervey, raising an eyebrow. ‘It was a sorry business.’

‘Where was it held? Who were the members?’

‘At the Royal Hospital. It seems that the commander-in-chief wished to have it within London District, but not too close to the Horse Guards.’

‘I would suppose it afforded the pensioners good sport.’

Hervey raised both eyebrows. ‘They packed one of the galleries. Some of them had been in Holland when his lordship had first taken French leave. They tut-tutted throughout, and jeered terribly when it was revealed.’

‘Good! In circumstances such as this an officer should be left in no doubt as to what his inferiors think of him. What did the president do? Who was it?’

‘The Earl of Rotheram, the senior major-general. It was extraordinary: he merely asked them, very politely, if they would not make comment until after the proceedings were finished.’

‘Wise move making one earl the president of another’s court martial. Who were the others?’

‘General Sir Horace Shawcross, a very choleric man indeed, from Lancashire I think, with one arm. He glowered at Towcester so ill throughout the trial that I could almost feel sorry for him.’

‘The others?’

‘Three colonels, none of whom I’d set eyes on, as I suppose was right.’

‘And so how was he charged?’

Hervey took a large gulp of the Barolo, as if to fortify himself. ‘I remember the words as if they were only just spoken: “Lieutenant-Colonel the Earl of Towcester is charged with the unnecessary hazarding of his command in the Americas, and for conduct unbecoming an officer, contrary to the Articles of War.” ’

Peto looked puzzled. ‘The conduct unbecoming being that in Holland?’

‘No. The Holland business was not revealed until the end.’

Hervey said it rather flatly, prompting Peto to another quizzical look.

‘It seems the Judge Advocate General took the view that sending Henrietta away from the fort was ungallant beyond sufferance.’

‘There wouldn’t be many that could gainsay that. I wonder that he did not bring a charge of cowardice.’

Hervey tried hard to stick with the facts of the case. ‘It seems he did not believe such a charge had sufficient evidence. And Towcester’s counsel were very active beforehand, threatening proceedings on vexatious grounds.’

Peto knew as much about military law as the next man. ‘What? He would try suing the Crown?’

‘He would try suing me.’

‘Infamous devil! Why did you not call him out?’

Hervey huffed. ‘How might one settle so with a dishonourable man? He would have found a way to prevail.’

‘Shot at you in the back, I don’t doubt! And how did he plead? Not guilty, for sure.’

‘Just so. The case against him was then put in summary to the court by one of the Judge Advocate General’s staff, and then the witnesses were called.’

‘Who gave evidence? You, of course. You were, I presume, the principal witness?’

‘Yes. And great play did Towcester’s counsel make of supposed disloyalty and therefore unreliability. But in the material facts there were corroborating witnesses.’

‘Your serjeant, principally?’

Hervey sighed. ‘Regrettably not. He was still insufficiently well to give evidence, though he came to London for the purpose. The poor devil lost his senses a day or so beforehand. I even thought he had died, he fell so still in the hospital. No, the corroboration came from my lieutenant, Seton Canning, and Private Johnson, both of whom said far more than was strictly required to answer the questions. Towcester’s counsel protested frequently, but so much did they reveal of his character that any predisposition to sympathy on the part of the court must have been wholly worn away.’

‘Very satisfying,’ said Peto, taking up the last of his marrow flowers and pulling apart another piece of bread. ‘What else?’

‘I believe the most damning evidence came from the strangest place of all. There were two Indian guides who were with us the time when Towcester lost his head in the forest, when he thought we might be attacked. They made depositions to the officer in charge of the Indian department, and these were admitted in evidence. Towcester’s counsel protested vigorously that the testimony of savages against a peer of the realm could not be borne. Curiously, this appeared to vex both Lord Rotheram and Sir Horace Shawcross equally.’

‘No doubt, too, they felt affront that an Englishman could display such recreancy in that company.’

‘No doubt,’ agreed Hervey, shaking his head with the pity of it.

‘How long were the proceedings?’

‘Three days. At the end of the second morning the members retired, but the court reassembled in little more than a half-hour and pronounced his lordship guilty. Lord Rotheram then adjourned the proceedings until the following morning so that Lord Towcester’s counsel could prepare a plea in mitigation of punishment. This was heard on the third morning, along with evidence as to character — which was given by the prosecution, of course. All the business in Holland came out, and it was then that the gallery roared its disapproval. Lord John Howard — you remember him, the ADC? — told me later that the Duke of York himself had ordered that the facts be revealed in open court.’

Peto nodded approvingly. ‘The old fool’s not in want of sense at all times.’

‘And with the gallery still jeering, the members then retired to consider sentence.’

The cameriere brought two large plates of veal to the table, to Peto’s obvious delight and to Hervey’s relief. The commodore sprinkled black pepper over his in prodigious quantities and set about it lustily. ‘How long were they out?’ he managed between the first and second mouthful.

‘It seemed no more than a dozen minutes, a quarter of an hour at most.’

‘Always a sign they’d made their mind up even before the plea.’

‘And then the president announced the sentence. “To be dismissed from His Majesty’s service with disgrace.” ’

Peto remained silent for the moment, weighing the words. ‘That must have given you satisfaction. More so than calling him out.’

Hervey looked pensive again. ‘I confess I was astonished how in so very few words was the Earl of Towcester’s destruction so utterly completed.’

‘Indeed,’ said Peto, laying down knife and fork, so profound was the notion. ‘I cannot think that a capital sentence could have dealt him a greater blow at that instant.’

‘The president then had to say the findings and sentence were subject to confirmation, of course, which drew the sting somewhat, but no one other than his lordship could have had any thought but that both would be confirmed.’

‘Who was the reviewing officer?’

‘In the normal course of things it should have been the general officer commanding the London District, but the commander-inchief had reserved the appointment for himself, apparently.’

‘And how long did it take?’

Hervey now smiled a little, evidence at last of his satisfaction in the proceedings. ‘That is the extraordinary thing. It was said seven days. But the next evening there came confirmation of both findings and sentence from the Horse Guards, and with it the order that the judgment be read out before every regiment,