Damned if you do, damned if you don't

[luzula]

Cross-posting this from cahn's salon, because FotH fans might find it interesting. So I was doing some research on court martials, as you do, and came across a case which really illustrates the contradictions under which 18th century army officers operated. Also it illustrates the terrible, no good aspects of the honor code.

Of course I already knew that duelling was prohibited in the British Articles of War (probably because the Crown did not want to lose officers), but that these prohibitions were almost never enforced, and that army officers were among the men who duelled the most, because they were so steeped in the honor code. The prohibition against duelling really illustrates the fact that just because there’s a rule against something, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not done--it might just mean that a lot of people do it and someone thinks it’s a problem.

But I did not know that it actually happened that army officers were court-martialed for NOT duelling, under the charge of ‘conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman’! Here’s an example written up in the article ‘Law and Honour among Eighteenth-Century British Army Officers’ by Arthur N. Gilbert (1976). It’s about a Captain Beilby in Minorca in 1766. Aside from the main topic, it’s also interesting because it shows the way insults were formulated.

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Quote from the article:
Beilby was accused of 'having repeatedly received from Captain Robinson language unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman without taking proper notice of it... '. Evidently Robinson had insulted Beilby on a number of occasions. Ensign Pierce Dalton testified that he heard Robinson say to Beilby on parade, 'Is that the way you march your guard, you shitten dirty fellow.' Another officer said that Captain Robinson also remarked '...is that the way you make your men slope their arms, you dirty dog... '. As a result, the subalterns of the 11th Foot refused to associate with Beilby. It is important to note that the sanctions imposed by the officer corps were not directed towards Robinson for starting a quarrel in violation of the Articles of War, but against Beilby for allowing himself to be insulted. The officers, among other things, refused to dine with Beilby until he cleared his name and on one occasion, when he attempted to join the officers for dinner, he was turned away. Once again Robinson insulted him by saying 'By God he shall not dine here, nor any poodle dog like him...’ The honour code called for a duel between Robinson and Beilby, but Beilby made no response. He was then visited by another officer in the regiment, Lieutenant Price, and the following conversation took place.

Captain Beilby said that he had sent a letter to Captain Robinson.
Mr Price said he knew it, but as he had not acted in consequence of that letter, the Regiment thought it not material.
Captain Beilby then said that he was sick.
Mr Price replied, Captain Beilby, the world in general thinks you are not sick, and that is my opinion in particular.
Captain Beilby said, Mr Baines knows that I am sick.
Mr Price replied, Mr Baines as a Physician may not chuse to give his opinion but in conformity to his Patient. As a man, I venture to say he is of mine.
Captain Beilby said, this is odd usage Mr Price.
Mr Price answered, not odder than your behaviour.

In his defence, Beilby claimed that he was sick, that he had not heard Robinson's insults, that he had demanded satisfaction from Robinson in a letter but that he (Robinson) had refused to receive it, and that Price had a grudge against him and was guilty of 'nursing cabals'. Beilby was found guilty of neglect in not demanding an explanation from Robinson and, as a result, was suspended from pay and duty for one year. The Lieutenant-Governor of Minorca approved the suspension, but left the length of time up to the king. In England, the Judge Advocate General, after reviewing the minutes of the case, recommended that the conviction be reversed. He argued that the particular charge was not covered in the Articles of War: 'I do not conceive that the sentence of a Court of Justice can at any rate be supported which awards a punishment for neglecting to seek a method of redress forbidden as well by the military as the common law.'

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I feel bad for Beilby; it seems to me like he was being bullied by his peers. What an example of victim-blaming! I am reminded yet again of that Duffy quote about 'the seething violence and insecurity of the upper classes'.

Comments

[ride_4ever]

This was quite educational about that era.

[luzula]

Yeah. I mean, there were good aspects about the honour code of that time (such as refusing orders when they're against your conscience), but there's also the part where "honour" meant that accidentally sitting in someone else's seat at the theater meant you could be challenged to a duel. /o\ Of course, all this is just for upper-class men.

[sovay]

Beilby was found guilty of neglect in not demanding an explanation from Robinson and, as a result, was suspended from pay and duty for one year.

That is interesting: I would have been prepared to expect social consequences for not calling a man out after repeated public insults (the ostracism by fellow officers), but not military-legal ones (court-martial and conviction, even if later reversed). Is it known what happened to Beilby afterward? I gather nothing bad ever happened to Robinson.

[luzula]

Yeah, I was surprised too! The article doesn't say what happened to Beilby later. It's striking that he never uses the law to justify his actions; i e says that actually Robinson is breaking the Articles of War, and he himself is keeping them. I guess he must be aware of what a paper product those particular articles are.

[nnozomi]

Oh dear, poor Beilby! Yeah, talk about bullying and victim-blaming, and Mr. Price's nasty little cleft stick re the physician. I'm glad the Advocate General at least was on his side. Isn't that fascinating, though. Sounds like they would get on well with the Prussians, in terms of dueling.

[luzula]

From what I've read, this sort of culture was Europe-wide among the upper classes. /o\ Although duelling declined in the early 19th century in England, while it remained much longer in French and German areas, at least.

I mean, duels can be a lot of fun to write in fic! But I wouldn't want to live in that sort of culture.

[regshoe]

Oh, wow! Yeah, that definitely seems like a case of ignoring the rules in order to bully someone, but it says a lot about the seriousness of the anti-duelling rule that they were able to do that. I am glad the Judge Advocate General was capable of applying logic to the situation.

And this article sounds pretty interesting as background for eighteenth-century fandoms in general—I'll see if I can read it...

[luzula]

Hee, your icon is fitting--this post is about the negative aspects of the honour code, but it did have positive aspects as well.

I am glad the Judge Advocate General was capable of applying logic to the situation.
Yes, I do wonder about the failure of anyone else to do so...