matters.’
The president looked at Aplin.
‘I am not aware of these matters, sir,’ replied the Connaught captain. ‘Neither that my family has any business with Mr Daly’s. I myself do not know him, but I am ready to stand down, of course, if Mr Daly believes I might be prejudiced.’
The accent was not dissimilar to Daly’s own, thought Hervey, but neither was it exactly the same.
The president turned back to Lieutenant Beale-Browne. ‘I myself would not consider there to be sufficient evidence of the likelihood of prejudice on the part of Captain Aplin, but the prerogative is the prisoner’s.’
There was another whispered consultation. Hervey thought Beale-Browne sounded agitated.
‘Mr Daly is still of the opinion that Captain Aplin be not a member, sir.’
The president stifled a sigh. ‘Very well. Captain Aplin, you are released. Court orderly, be so good as to summon the waiting member.’
Hervey imagined that Daly had not served himself well by insisting on Aplin’s replacement, and could not help being pleased by it; except that officers sitting in judgement were sometimes contrary and might take it as evidence that Daly was of a very ‘independent’ mind – which to any thinking officer could be no bad thing.
The waiting member was a lieutenant of the 29th (Worcestershire). He entered by a side door, stood at attention and saluted.
‘State your name, if you please, sir,’ said the president.
‘Hyacinth Hames, sir.’
Cornet Daly smirked noisily.
The president rounded on him. ‘Mr Daly! This is a court of law and you are in contempt of it.’
Hervey started. Character appeared to be outing: he almost felt sorry for Daly.
‘Well, sir? Have you nothing to say?’
‘I meant no offence to the court, sir,’ replied Daly boldly.
The president looked even blacker. ‘Do you have objection to this officer?’
‘No, sir.’
The president looked at Hervey.
‘None, sir.’
‘Very well then. Court orderly, be so good as to inform the judge martial that the court is assembled.’
‘Sir!’
The court orderly, a lantern-jawed serjeant of the 1st Guards, spun round and marched out. The members placed their swords on the long table before them, removed their hats and took their seats. The president nodded to the escorts, who in turn propelled their charges to chairs, one in front of the other, facing forward on the right- hand side of the court.
‘His honour, the judge martial!’ barked the court orderly.
The court rose as the bewigged representative of the judiciary entered. He and the president exchanged bows, and then both sat down, the judge martial to the president’s right.
Then the judge martial rose again, followed by all the members except the president. He bowed once more, and looked at each member in turn. ‘You shall well and truly try and determine according to your evidence in the matter now before you, between our Sovereign Lord the King’s Majesty, and the prisoner to be tried. So help you, God.’ He next gave a bible to the president, together with an ivory board the size of a cartridge case, on which was printed the oath. ‘I require, on His Majesty’s behalf, that each now swear upon the holy evangelists to this effect.’
The president, Granby-bald, and in consequence looking twice as severe as before, rose and growled his way through the solemn declaration: ‘I, Sir John Pattinson, do swear that I will duly administer justice, according to the Rules and Articles for the better Government of His Majesty’s Forces, and according to an Act of Parliament now in force for the punishment of Mutiny and Desertion, and other Crimes therein mentioned, without Partiality, Favour, or Affection; and if any doubt shall arise, which is not explained by the said Articles or Act of Parliament, according to my Conscience, the best of my Understanding, and the Custom of War in the like Cases. And I further swear, that I will not divulge the Sentence of the Court until it shall be approved by His Majesty, the General, or Commander-in- Chief; neither will I, upon any Account, at any time whatsoever, disclose or discover the Vote or Opinion of any particular Member of the Court martial, unless required to give Evidence thereof, as a Witness, by a Court of Justice in due course of Law. So help me, God.’
The president sat down, and the judge martial proceeded to swear the remainder. To Hervey it was interminable. He tried to assess, from the tone and stance of each member, what might be his attitude to the proceedings, but evidently the gravity of the law was amply conveyed by the process, for every officer spoke as if he were facing the Awful Day of Judgement. That was reassuring in one respect, but he found it disconcerting nevertheless.
At the conclusion, the president rose again and likewise swore the judge martial.
‘I, David Jenkyns, do swear that I will not, upon any Account, at any time whatsoever, disclose or discover the Vote or Opinion of any particular Member of the Court martial, unless required to give Evidence thereof, as a Witness, by a Court of Justice in due course of Law. So help me, God.’
They both sat, and the president turned at last to the prosecuting officer, nodding his assent to proceed.
Lieutenant & Adjutant Ezra Barrow rose to his feet solemnly. He was something of a veteran of courts martial, but this was his first time in a position of authority. ‘Mr President and gentlemen, there are before the court three charges. First, for that he, Cornet Frederick Keevil Daly, of His Majesty’s Sixth Light Dragoons, Princess Caroline’s Own, on the 24th July, 1809, in the field at Talavera de la Reina, did occasion injury by wilful neglect or commission resulting in death to a horse in His Majesty’s service. Second, that he did abuse a subordinate, namely Serjeant Treve, regimental orderly quartermaster that day, and attempt an assault upon him.’ The adjutant laid down the sheet and took up a second. ‘The third charge relates to the other prisoner: for conduct unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman in that he, Cornet Matthew Paulinus Hervey, also of the Sixth Light Dragoons, on the same day and in the same place did strike without cause Cornet Frederick Keevil Daly.’ The adjutant laid the second sheet on the table before him, bowed, and sat down.
The president turned to the table opposite the adjutant’s. ‘How do the prisoners plead in respect of each of these charges?’
The two defending officers rose. Lieutenant Beale-Browne spoke first. ‘In respect of Cornet Daly, sir, on both charges, not guilty.’
The president waited for the judge martial to make the formal entry in his ledger, then looked at Lieutenant Martyn.
‘In respect of Cornet Hervey, sir, not guilty.’
‘Very well, be seated, gentlemen. Mr Barrow, continue, if you please.’
The adjutant rose and took up a third sheet, this time of manuscript. ‘Mr President and gentlemen, it is with feelings of deep regret that I am compelled to appear before you this day as the prosecutor of two officers under the orders of the lieutenant-colonel commanding His Majesty’s Sixth Light Dragoons. But however unwilling he be, under all the circumstances of the case about to be submitted to your investigation, the lieutenant-colonel considers that he would not be conscientiously discharging the duties of command entrusted to him, or furthering the good of the service, were he, from considerations of protecting the good reputation of the regiment, to hesitate in coming forward and laying the whole of the conduct of two of his officers before you. And he trusts that calm and dispassionate consideration, which it is sure to meet with before a court composed of officers, will conclude in a right judgment in this extraordinary matter.’
Barrow paused, as his manuscript indicated he should, and looked at the president and members – as did every man in the room.
It did the trick: they each nodded gravely, publicly, at least, disowning any thoughts of frivolous prosecution or – as some of the tattle in the army had it – a trivial affair of dandies over a horse. Without doubt, however, Barrow’s Birmingham vowels had already persuaded some members that not
‘Mr President and gentlemen, the charges relate to an incident almost immediately before the general action
