HE DEMANDS A COURT-MARTIAL.

Finding himself unable to stem the tide of popular prejudice, which flowed against him with irresistible impetuosity, he might have retired in quiet and safety, and left it to ebb at leisure. This would have been generally deemed a prudential step, by all those who consider the unfavourable medium through which every particular of his conduct must have been viewed at that juncture, even by men who cherished the most candid intentions; when they reflected upon the power, influence, and popularity of his accuser, the clanger of aggravating the resentment of the sovereign, already too conspicuous, and the risk of hazarding his life on the honour and integrity of witnesses, who might think their fortunes depended upon the nature of the evidence they should give. Notwithstanding those suggestions, lord George, seemingly impatient of the imputation under which his character laboured, insisted upon the privilege of a legal trial, which was granted accordingly, after the judges had given it as their opinion that he might be tried by a court-martial, though he no longer retained any commission in the service. A court of general officers being appointed and assembled to inquire into his conduct, the judge-advocate gave him to understand that he was charged with having disobeyed the orders of prince Ferdinand, relative to the battle of Minden. That the reader may have the more distinct idea of the charge, it is necessary to remind him, that lord George Sackville commanded the cavalry of the right wing, consisting of Hanoverian and British horse, disposed in two lines, the British being at the extremity of the right, extending to the village of Hartum; the Hanoverian cavalry forming the left, that reached almost to an open wood or grove, which divided the horse from the line of infantry, particularly from that part of the line of infantry consisting of two brigades of British foot, the Hanoverian guards, and Hardenberg’s regiment. This was the body of troops which sustained the brunt of the battle with the most incredible courage and perseverance. They of their own accord advanced to attack the left of the enemy’s cavalry, through a most dreadful fire of artillery and small arms, to which they were exposed in front and flank; they withstood the repeated attacks of the whole French gendarmerie, whom at length they totally routed, together with a body of Saxon troops on their left, and to their valour the victory was chiefly owing. The ground from which these troops advanced was a kind of heath or plain, which opened a considerable way to the left, where the rest of the army was formed in order of battle; but on the right it was bounded by the wood, on the other side of which the cavalry of the right wing was posted, having in front the village of Halen, from whence the French had been driven by the piquets in the army there posted, and in front of them a windmill, situated in the middle space between them and a battery placed on the left of the enemy.

Early in the morning captain Malhorti had, by order of prince Ferdinand, posted the cavalry of the right wing in the situation we have just described; the village of Hartum with enclosures on the right, a narrow wood on the left, the village of Halen in their front, and a windmill in the middle of an open plain, which led directly to the enemy. In this position lord George Sackville was directed to remain, until he should receive further orders; and here it was those orders were given which he was said to have disobeyed. Indeed he was previously charged with having neglected the orders of the preceding evening, which imported that the horses should be saddled at one in the morning, though the tents were not to be struck, nor the troops under arms, until they should receive further orders. He was accused of having disobeyed these orders, and of having come late into the field, after the cavalry was formed. Captain Winchingrode, aidecamp to prince Ferdinand, declared upon oath, that while the infantry of the right wing were advancing towards the enemy for the second time, he was sent with orders to lord George Sackville to advance with the cavalry of the right wing, and sustain the infantry, which was going to engage, by forming the horse under his command, upon the heath, in a third line behind the regiments; that he delivered these orders to lord George Sackville, giving him to understand, that he should march the cavalry through the woods or trees on his left to the heath, where they were to be formed; that on his return to the heath, he met colonel Fitzroy riding at full gallop towards lord George; and that he (Winchingrode) followed him back, in order to hasten the march of the cavalry. Colonel Ligonier, another of the prince’s aidsdecamp, deposed, that he carried orders from the general to lord George to advance with the cavalry, in order to profit from the disorder which appeared in the enemy’s cavalry; that lord George made no answer to these orders, but turning to the troops, commanded them to draw their swords, and march; that the colonel seeing them advance a few paces on the right forwards, told his lordship he must march to the left; that in the meantime colonel Fitzroy arriving with orders for the British cavalry only to advance, lord George said the orders were contradictory; and colonel Ligonier replied, they differed only in numbers, but the destination of his march was the same, to the left. Colonel Fitzroy, the third aidecamp to prince Ferdinand, gave evidence that when he told lord George it was the prince’s order for the British cavalry to advance towards the left, his lordship observed that it was different from the order brought by colonel Ligonier, and he could not think the prince intended to break the line; that he asked which way the cavalry was to march, and who was to be their guide; that when he (the aidecamp) offered to lead the column through the wood on the left, his lordship seemed still dissatisfied with the order, saying, it did not agree with the order brought by colonel Ligonier, and desired to be conducted in person to the prince, that he might have an explanation from his own mouth; a resolution which was immediately executed. The next evidence, an officer of rank in the army, made oath that, in his opinion, when the orders were delivered to lord George, his lordship was alarmed to a very great degree, and seemed to be in the utmost confusion. A certain nobleman, of high rank and unblemished reputation, declared, that captain Winchingrode having told him it was absolutely necessary that the cavalry should march, and form a line to support the foot, he had given orders to the second line to march, and form a line to support the foot; that as soon as they arrived at the place where the action began, he was met by colonel Fitzroy, with an order for the cavalry to advance as fast as possible; that in marching to this place, an order came to halt, until they could be joined by the first line of cavalry; that afterwards, in advancing, they were again halted by lord George Sackville; that, in his opinion, they might have marched with more expedition, and even come up in time enough to act against the enemy: some other officers who were examined on this subject, agreed with the marquis in these sentiments.

Lord George, in his defence, proved, by undeniable evidence, that he never received the orders issued on the eve of the battle, nor any sort of intimation or plan of action, although he was certainly entitled to some such communication, as commander-in-chief of the British forces; that, nevertheless, the orders concerning the horses were obeyed by those who received them; that lord George, instead of loitering or losing time while the troops were forming, prepared to put himself at the head of the cavalry on the first notice that they were in motion; that he was so eager to perform his duty, as to set out from his quarters without even waiting for an aidecamp to attend him, and was in the field before any general officer of his division. He declared that, when captain Winchingrode delivered the order to form the cavalry in one line, making a third, to advance and sustain the infantry, he neither heard him say he was to march by the left, nor saw him point with his sword to the wood through which he was to pass. Neither of these directions were observed by any of the aids-de-camp or officers then present, except one gentleman, the person who bore witness to the confusion in the looks and deportment of his lordship. It was proved that the nearest and most practicable way of advancing against the enemy was by the way of the windmill, to the left of the village of Halen. It appeared that lord George imagined this was the only way by which he should be ordered to advance; that, in this persuasion, he had sent an officer to reconnoitre the village of Halen, as an object of importance, as it would have been upon the flank of the cavalry in advancing forwards; that when he received the order from Winchingrode to form the line, and advance, he still imagined this was his route, and on this supposition immediately detached an aidecamp to remove a regiment of Saxe-Gotha which was in the front; that he sent a second to observe the place where the infantry were, and a third to reconnoitre the enemy; that in a few minutes colonel Ligonier coming up with an order from prince Ferdinand to advance the cavalry, his lordship immediately drew his sword, and ordered them to march forward by the windmill. The colonel declared that when he delivered the order, he added, “by the left;” but lord George affirmed that he heard no such direction, nor did it reach the ears of any other person then present, except of that officer who witnessed to the same direction given by Winchingrode. It was proved that immediately after the troops were put in motion, colonel Fitzroy arrived with an order from prince Ferdinand, importing that the British cavalry only should advance by the left; that lord George declared their orders were contradictory, and seemed the more puzzled, as he understood that both these gentlemen came off nearly at the same time from the prince, and were probably directed to communicate the same order. It was therefore natural to suppose there was a mistake, as there might be danger in breaking the line, as the route by the wood appeared more difficult and tedious than that by the windmill, which led directly through open ground to the enemy: and as he could not think that if a body of horse was immediately wanted, the general would send for the British, that were at the farthest extremity of the wing, rather than for the Hanoverian cavalry who formed the left of the line, and consequently were much nearer the scene of action. It was proved that lord George, in this uncertainty, resolved to apply for an explanation to the prince in person, who he understood was at a small distance; that with this view he set out with all possible expedition; that having entered the wood, and perceived that the country beyond it opened sooner to the left than he had imagined, and captain Smith, his aidecamp advising, that the British cavalry should be put in motion he sent back that gentleman, with orders for them to advance by the left with all possible despatch; that he rode up to the general, who received him without any marks of displeasure, and ordered him to bring up the whole cavalry of the right wing in a line upon the heath; an order, as the reader will perceive, quite different from that which was so warmly espoused by the aidecamp; that as the marquis of Granby had already put the second line in motion, according to a separate order which he had received, and the head of his column was already in view, coming out of the wood, lord George thought it necessary to halt the troops on the left until the right should come into the line; and afterwards sent them orders to march slower, that two regiments, which had been thrown out of the line, might have an opportunity to replace themselves in their proper stations.

With respect to the confusion which one officer affirmed was perceivable in the countenance and deportment of this commander, a considerable number of other officers then present being interrogated by his lordship, unanimously declared that they saw no such marks of confusion, but that he delivered his orders with all the marks of coolness and deliberation. The candid reader will of himself determine, whether a man’s heart is to be judged by any change of his complexion, granting such a change to have happened; whether the evidence of one witness, in such a case, will weigh against the concurrent testimony of all the officers whose immediate business it was to attend and observe the commander: whether it was likely that an officer, who had been more than once in actual service, and behaved without reproach so as to attain such an eminent rank in the army, should exhibit symptons of fear and confusion, when there was in reality no appearance of danger; for none of the orders imported that he should attack the enemy, but only advance to sustain the infantry. The time which elapsed from the first order he received by captain Winchingrode, to the arrival of colonel Ligonier, did not exceed eight minutes, during which his aide-camp, captain Hugo, was employed in removing the Saxe-Gotha regiment from the front, by which he proposed to advance. From that period till the cavalry actually marched in consequence of an order from lord George, the length of time was differently estimated in the opinion of different witnesses, but at a medium computed by the judge-advocate at fifteen minutes, during which the following circumstances were transacted: The troops were first ordered to advance forwards, then halted; the contradictory orders arrived and were disputed; the commander desired the two aidsdecamp to agree about which was the precise order, and he would obey it immediately: each insisting upon that which he had delivered, lord George hastened to the general for an explanation; and, as he passed the wood, sent back captain Smith to the right of the cavalry, which was at a considerable distance, to put the British horse in motion. We shall not pretend to determine whether the commander of such an important body may be excusable for hesitating, when he received contradictory orders at the same time, especially when both orders run counter to his own judgment, whether in that case it is allowable for him to suspend the operation for a few minutes, in order to consult in person the commander-in-chief about a step of such consequence to the preservation of the whole army. Neither will we venture to decide dogmatically on the merits of the march, after the cavalry were put in motion; whether they marched too slow, or were unnecessarily halted in their way to the heath. It was proved, indeed, that lord George was always remarkably slow in his movements of cavalry, on the supposition that if horses are blown they must be unfit for service, and that the least hurry is apt to disorder the line of horse to such a degree, as would rob them of their proper effect, and render all their efforts abortive. This being the system of lord George Sackville, it may deserve consideration, whether he could deviate from it on this delicate occasion, without renouncing the dictates of his own judgment and discretion; and whether he was at liberty to use his own judgment, after having received the order to advance. After all, whether he was intentionally guilty; and what were the motives by which he was really actuated, are questions which his own conscience alone can solve. Even granting him to have hesitated from perplexity, to have lingered from vexation, to have failed through error of judgment, he will probably find favour with the candid and humane part of his fellow-subjects, when they reflect upon the nature of his situation, placed at the head of such a body of cavalry, uninstructed and uninformed of plan or circumstance, divided from the rest of the army, unacquainted with the operations of the day, chagrined with doubt and disappointment, and perplexed by contradictory orders, neither of which he could execute without offering violence to his own judgment; when they consider the endeavours he used to manifest his obedience; the last distinct order which he in person received and executed; that mankind are liable to mistakes; that the cavalry were not originally intended to act, as appears in the account of the battle published at the Hague, by the authority of prince Ferdinand, expressly declaring that the cavalry on the right did not act, because it was destined to sustain the infantry in a third line; that if it had really been designed for action, it ought either to have been posted in another place, or permitted to advance straight forwards by the windmill, according to the idea of its commander; finally, when they recall to view the general confusion that seems to have prevailed through the manouvres of that morning, and remember some particulars of the action; that the brigades of British artillery had no orders until they applied to lord George Sackville, who directed them to the spot where they acquitted themselves with so much honour and effect, in contributing to the success of the day; that the glory and advantage acquired by the few brigades of infantry, who may be said to have defeated the whole French army, was in no respect owing to any general or particular orders or instructions, but entirely flowing from the native valour of the troops, and the spirited conduct of their immediate commanders; and that a great number of officers in the allied army, even of those who remained on the open heath, never saw the face of the enemy, or saw them at such a distance that they could not distinguish more than the hats and the arms of the British regiments with which they were engaged. With respect to the imputation of cowardice levelled at lord George by the unthinking multitude, and circulated with such industry and clamour, we ought to consider it as a mob accusation which the bravest of men, even the great duke of Marlborough, could not escape; we ought to receive it as a dangerous suspicion, which strikes at the root of character, and may blast that honour in a moment which the soldier has acquired in a long course of painful service, at the continual hazard of his life; we ought to distrust it as a malignant charge, altogether inconsistent with the former conduct of the person accused, as well as with his subsequent impatience and perseverance in demanding a trial, to which he never would have been called; a trial which, though his life was at stake, and his cause out of countenance, he sustained with such courage, fortitude, and presence of mind, as even his enemies themselves could not help admiring. Thus have we given a succinct detail of this remarkable affair, with that spirit of impartiality, that sacred regard to truth, which the importance of history demands. To the best of our recollection, we have forgot no essential article of the accusation, nor suppressed any material circumstance urged in defence of lord George Sackville. Unknown to his person, unconnected with his friends, unmoved by fear, unbiassed by interest, we have candidly obeyed the dictates of justice, and the calls of humanity, in our endeavours to dissipate the clouds of prejudice and misapprehension; warmed, perhaps, with an honest disdain at the ungenerous, and in our opinion, unjust persecution, which previous to his trial, an officer of rank, service, and character, the descendant of an illustrious family, the son of a nobleman universally respected, a Briton, a fellow-subject, had undergone.

GEORGE II. 1727-1760