Petty officer

“ Pitt took his officers by accident he encouraged them going out, supported them while on service, but was the first to desert them on the least failure and to shift the blame from off his own shoulders, even when there was no foundation for any crime, and a false cry raised from jealousy, or he would readily sacrifice the officer as the shortest way of getting it over. I am confident from what I have seen that there is no possible situation which can justify despair in war. The events are so uncertain, that a single moment changes the fate of kingdoms. ”

“ What a man is to-day is my guide; and those who have been astray have now an opportunity of taking their place, without reproach, with those men who have behaved well. You who are petty officers will, I know, for the sake of your manhood, cease to use those foolish, meaningless oaths and childishly absurd expressions,—cease from this hour, not to please me alone, but out of respect for yourselves. ”

“ Will petty officers, bravely despising all thoughts of preferment, disregarding the opinion of owners and agents, and nobly resolving to pass their lives in labour, wretchedness, and servile dependance—will they disclose the horrid scenes they have been witnesses to—the barbarities they have seen practised, and the cruelties, of which, they themselves have been, perhaps, the unwilling instruments? ”

“ As I approached the table at which he was seated, he gazed at me with a steady, but yet a feeling glance, and pointed to a seat:--"I am sorry, sir," he said, "that one so young, so noble in appearance, and especially a stranger to this country, should be accused before me of a great and dreadful crime, by an officer who, having in all relations of life conducted himself well, leaves no reason to suppose he acts on culpable motives. The duty of my office is a strict one; and whatever prepossession I may feel in your favour, all I can do is to receive the accuser's evidence before you ”

“ Lieutenant Cantor did not hold his tone low. It is the privilege of an officer to rebuke an enlisted man publicly, and as severely as the offense warrants, and it is the further privilege of an officer to make his rebuke to a subordinate commissioned officer as sharp and stinging as he chooses. ”

“ If you can prove to me the truth of what you say, and can show me that you really are an officer of police, I can have no objection to your doing what you conceive to be your duty, though, I declare to you, as there is a God above us, that in arresting me you are making a grievous mistake. ”

“ I find four “six-mule teams,” and one “spike team of five mules.” In the column “officers absent without leave” I find the entry “all gone off on a drunk.” This, sir, is the most incongruous report that has ever been received at these head-quarters, from a reputably sober officer. Can this affair be satisfactorily explained, at once, or would you prefer to explain it to a court-martial?”
“Captain,” said the adjutant in distress, and perspiring freely, “my clerk has made a mistake, and placed a piece of waste paper that has been scribbled on, in the envelope, instead of the regular report. ”

“ Exeunt Pat and Donkey, followed by the mess-waiter.
Major. I see how it is, Mr. Simple; there has been a trick played off at your expense. I am very sorry that folly should lead officers to such excesses, but I fear we can never remedy the evil. I am an old officer, gentlemen—I have been thirty years in the service, and as long as I can remember a depot-mess, it has been the same—all disjointed—one scene of disagreement constantly presents itself. ”

“ But occasionally a non-commissioned officer will so disgrace himself. Either the officer or non-commissioned officer who swears at or strikes an enlisted man may be court-martialed, and, if it is found that he is guilty, he is dismissed from the service."
"We've had an awful lot to put up with from Corporal Shrimp, Sergeant," announced one of the uniformed recruits.
"I'm afraid you have, men. But I don't want you to carry tales to me. Tale-bearing is never worth while, nor encouraged, in the Army. Corporal Shrimp's case is now before the commanding officer. ”

“ Submitting to a certain portion of ennui and contempt, this mode of life for an officer was formerly practicable—but now cannot be submitted to without utter, irremediable disgrace. Officers are now, in general, men of education and information; want of knowledge, sense, manners, must consequently be immediately detected, ridiculed, and despised in a military man. ”

“ Hal, we are commissioned officers in the United States Army. If that means anything, it means that the United States government certifies us to the world to be gentlemen as well as officers. You know the legal phrase, 'officer and gentleman.' If we lie down tamely, and submit to such libelous attacks as the Sphere made on us this morning, then we do a wrong to the whole body of officers and gentlemen in the Army. The officers of our service have always had to stand a lot of abuse from a certain kind of so-called newspapers. It's time to stop it by hitting any nail that shows its head. ”

“ It is the greatest disgrace that can possibly befall an officer; and so much so in the General's opinion, that any officer, or non-commissioned officer, who shall suffer himself to be surprised, must not expect to be forgiven.—All out-posts to fortify themselves as well as they can, to prevent any insult from parties of the enemy. ”

“ The General, turning to the Lieutenant-Colonel and his party, said that he entirely agreed in sentiment with his Assistant Adjutant-General; that there was no reason, not the slightest, for the arrest of this minister; that every officer engaged in the arrest had made himself liable to be put in arrest, and tried by court-martial, for doing that which he had no right to do as a military man; and that the minister, upon complaint to the Provost-Judge, might have every one of them arrested and tried by the Provost-Court for assault and for a disturbance of public services. ”

“ You may be right, or you may be wrong. Speaking for myself, I am inclined to fancy that the men are making a mistake; but you can't always consider yourself omniscient."
"Sergeant," returned the officer, harshly; "it is not the business of men to argue, but to obey."
"Pardon me again, Sir, but isn't that slightly old-fashioned? I know that theoretically you have reason on your side; but then in these days of the latter end of the nineteenth century, we must not he bound too tightly to precedent." ”

“ In endeavouring to reach this he ran into the arms of a policeman.
“Unhand me, fellow,” he ejaculated. “If you don’t it will be the worse for you. Leave go, I say.”
“You are my prisoner,” said the constable.
“Prisoner be hanged! What for? I haven’t done anything. Nobody has charged me. You are exceeding your duty.”
“And I will, I’ll take my chance of that.”
Peace made a desperate effort to slip from the constable’s grasp, and a struggle ensued, in which both fell.
But the officer, who was bent upon doing his duty, still retained hold of the robber, who kicked and fought like a madman. ”

“ He shrank in tension of shame.
“Put up your head—eyes front,” shouted the enraged sergeant, and mechanically the soldier obeyed the command, forced to look into the eyes of the sergeant. The brutal, hanging face of the officer violated the youth. He hardened himself with all his might from seeing it. The tearing noise of the sergeant’s voice continued to lacerate his body. ”

“ Take no notice whatever of any warnings in the newspapers not to buy largely. Think of yourselves. It is only you who matter. Buy now; buy quantities.
From the regulations governing special constables:—
"A special constable guilty of misconduct may be suspended from duty, and, if so suspended, shall forthwith give up his warrant card, truncheon, armlet, and whistle to the police officer suspending him." ”

“ It is the same with both officers and men. If a Captain have a grudge against a Lieutenant, or a Lieutenant against a midshipman, how easy to torture him by official treatment, which shall not lay open the superior officer to legal rebuke. ”

“ In some companies, when it was thought that several were absent without a permit, a roll-call was ordered simply to catch the culprits. Disrespect to a superior officer was shown in many ways. Some of the more common ways were to “talk back,” in strong unmilitary language, and to refuse to salute him or recognize him on duty, which military etiquette requires to be done. The other offences named explain themselves.
CARRYING A LOG.
The methods of punishment were as diverse as the dispositions of the officers who sat in judgment on the cases of the offenders. ”

“ Human nature is not infallible, and some people would try the patience of a saint. Further I have seen officers going up for their certificates dressed so untidily and badly that if they created a prejudice they had only themselves to thank for it. One case in particular recalls itself to me as an illustration.... The man in question had been a brother officer of mine, and I liked him. He was also a gentleman, but he went up looking as though he had been rolled in a hayloft, and came back failed and cursing his examiner—instead of his own folly. ”

“ Brightly folded his arms, and looked coolly at his antagonist.
“I do not,” he replied, “explain my conduct as an officer to a private in the ranks.”
“Your conduct as a bully!” exclaimed Belcher. “An officer who is a gentleman wouldn’t be guilty of doing what you did to-day. You were given the office of adjutant because it was a place where you could do the least mischief, and you wouldn’t have got that if your mother hadn’t come here and begged it for you. ”

“ He knew that it was his duty to file charges with Captain Murray against the first sergeant, and he knew what those charges should be. “Behaving himself with disrespect toward his commanding officer, in violation of the 20th Article of War.” “Disobeying a lawful command of his superior officer, in violation of the 21st Article of War.” It was simple enough; his duty was plain. Yet, day after day went by and he took no action. He, himself, had been too near the verge of disloyalty and insubordination to make the task of preparing and presenting charges against a comrade an easy one. ”

“ To this his officer replied: “If you don’t get up behind me, I’ll get off and give you such a licking as you’ve never had in your life.” The man was more afraid of fists than of assagais, and the good horse pulled them both out of the scrape. Now by our Regulations an officer who insults or “threatens with violence” a subordinate in the Service is liable to lose his commission and to be declared “incapable of serving the King in any capacity,” but for some reason or other the trooper never reported his superior.
The humour and the honour of fighting are by no means all on one side. ”

“ A superior officer was guilty of an act of injustice towards my friend Ramon—one of those cases of abuse of authority which spoil the most honourable careers—in short, an arbitrary act so offended the lieutenant as to cause him to leave the army, to separate from me, his friend, and go over to the opposite party. ”

“ There is no time for a regular guard mount, but you assume the duties and, as you are having some considerable trouble with that drunken man, my sergeant will report to you and take care of the disorderly." The sergeant tied his hands, and trussed his knees with a stick, gagged him with a bayonet and sat him in a state room, satisfied he would stop swearing and abusing the officers! The man soon begged for relief, but was tried by court martial and sentenced to be shot for striking an officer, which sentence was later commuted by General Thomas. ”

“ Now, while an officer in arrest may not quit his quarters under seven days, and may not even thereafter visit his commanding officer unless ordered, or his brother officers unless authorized by that magnate, there is no regulation prohibiting other officers or their households visiting him. Nevertheless, they who publicly do so lay themselves liable to the imputation of sympathizing with the accused at the expense of the accuser, and some commanding officers are so sensitive that they look upon such demonstrations as utterly subversive of discipline, and aimed directly at them. ”

“ If after such investigation the Chief Executive is of the opinion that the officer has been guilty of misconduct, he may inflict such punishment, other than dismissal or compulsory retirement, upon the officer as may seem to him to be just. ”

“ The result of this is sullenness and bad working on the part of the men; the short-sightedness of officers leads them to press their demands while men are in the bad temper caused by too much being put upon them, and the final result is what is known technically in the Army as an excess of “crime.” A string of men far in excess of the usual number is wheeled up in front of the company or commanding officer to be “weighed off,” and the number of men on defaulters’ parade, or undergoing punishment fatigues, steadily increases. ”

“ But the officer who trembles and fears for his future will naturally say to himself, 'I am by no means too secure in my position, and if it gets known that my subordinate officers ill-treat the men I may as well get into civilian's attire at once.' And who will blame a poor captain or major if he tries to avoid reporting a complaint, or warns a non-commissioned officer instead of punishing him when he has struck a man? ”

“ Hazing is abolished there, so people say. At any rate, there are stringent measures taken to prevent it. A cadet is forbidden in any way to lay hands upon the plebe; he is forbidden to give any degrading command or exact any menial service; and the penalty for breaking these rules is dismissal. The plebe [Pg 52] is called up daily before the tactical officer in charge of his company, and asked if he has any complaint to make.
Such are the methods. The results are supposed to be a complete stopping of "deviling" in all its forms. ”