The last presentation by the prosecutor was the introduction of Wake’s own statements, which Wayne characterized as a confession. Each member of the board was given a copy, and the board recessed while the officers read through the report Wake had sent the secretary of the navy from Panama in June, and the report he sent upon his return to Key West in August.
Two hours later, as a rainstorm beat against the panes of glass, the board reentered the room and sat at the table, each man looking at Wake. Feeling their scrutiny, he tried to not to show the fear inside him.
Finally, as the shadows were lengthening at the end of an agonizingly long day, Commander Wayne declared his presentation of the prosecutorial evidence of this shocking lack of the discipline necessary aboard a man-o-war was complete, and Admiral Munroe announced the proceedings adjourned until the following morning.
After everyone else had departed the room, Wake remained for a moment, then rose slowly from his chair. Shaken by the hard looks from the board after they read his statements, he steeled himself to face Linda. When he walked out into the corridor and saw her waiting there, however, he almost lost his composure. She was his life. As she had been during those darkest days of the war, Linda was his anchor.
They held each other for a long time before the two of them walked hand in hand out of the building. Without a word between them they sauntered down the pebble walkway to the front gate of the Naval Yard. The rain had stopped and the air turned cooler, as if the rain had washed away the pain of the day.
The Marine sentry at the gate turned and faced another direction to give them privacy, for the word had gone out about the young lieutenant’s trial—a lieutenant who cared more about the lives of his men and the mission of the ship than he did about his career. Around the naval yard enlisted men, both sailor and Marine, were following the case, their hopes on his side. Linda took advantage of the relative seclusion and kissed her husband as they held each other again.
Wake straightened and smiled, whispering the first words he’d uttered since leaving the room, “Tomorrow is the day I get to tell them what really happened.”
Then, so she couldn’t sense his mounting anxiety, he turned and walked quickly away, back to his desolate quarters. Linda walked down the block to her hotel, made her way past the noise of naval officers and their wives in the bar, and up to her room on the third floor. She lay on the bed, trying to think of a way to get her husband to resign from this ruthless organization, in the remote chance that they found him not guilty.
She was tired of it all, of the years of tension and heartache, and wanted him out of the navy and as far away from these horrid people as possible.
44
Mindless Slavery
The day of the defense presentation dawned sunny, with the first cool crispness of autumn nipping the air. It was Linda’s first experience of northern climes and she thought it wonderful, hoping it was a good omen. They met, as they had every day for the last month, with a kiss at the front gate, she trying to hide her anger and he trying to hide his fear. Commander Stockton and Lieutenant Hostetler arrived a few minutes later and the four of them walked to the building by the river.
“You’ll get to meet some very interesting people today, Linda,” said Hostetler as they passed under a massive oak tree.
“Oh, Charles—you were actually able to get them here?” she exclaimed. She had been privy to every aspect of the plan, but there had been some doubt whether certain parts would come to fruition. Hostetler was in charge of the crucial task of getting their witnesses to the court-martial, which was no easy task when some had to come all the way from the Caribbean.
“Why, Peter Wake,” quipped Hostetler, “I do believe I heard some doubt in your lady’s voice about my abilities. You need to get her morale under control, son.”
“Charles, my friend, I promise you that when this thing is successfully concluded, that will be absolutely the second thing of Linda’s that I’ll get under control.” Wake winked at Linda, prompting a jab in the ribs by her.
“Charles, I can’t wait until you and Barbara get married,” Linda added, speaking of Hostetler’s fiancée. “I want to see how you’ll control that lady!”
“Aye to that, Mrs. Wake. I think that Lieutenant Hostetler has met his match with that particular lady,” said Stockton as they approached the building. “But seriously, Lieutenant Hostetler has done a very good job of assembling these witnesses. The court will be impressed by their variety and credibility.”
And then they were there. Hostetler departed to arrange the witnesses’ arrival as Wake kissed Linda one last time and disappeared with Commander Stockton behind the heavy paneled door with the stone-faced Marine guard in front. Then she took her chair and waited, but soon she was no longer alone.
Hostetler appeared shortly afterward with several men, including Sean Rork, whom Linda ran up to and hugged. She was introduced to the others, officers and petty officers from the Canton, including the two she had seen the day before. Hostetler explained that none of them could discuss the case or their testimony with her or each other, but that normal conversation would certainly be in order. She enjoyed seeing faces to put with the names she had learned from her husband’s letters and the planning sessions for his defense. She told them that they all were as she had expected and that she greatly appreciated their helping her husband.
Then she sat down with Rork and they talked. Mainly about her children, but also about the old days in Key West and how Sean’s family was getting along in Ireland. She asked if he was closer to finding a girl of his own to make a home, to which he smiled and said his home was the navy and that on a bosun’s pay a wife would be destitute.
As they talked she felt her courage being lifted by the men around her, and she understood even better her husband’s devotion to them that was reflected in his letters. These men were the navy that Peter loved so much, not the petty career tyrants who put politics before honor.
Connery was the first called to the court room. As he entered he saw that the members of the court were leaning forward in their chairs in anticipation of hearing the defense’s case.
“Lieutenant Connery, as acting executive officer from January to April of eighteen sixty-nine, did you ever see Captain Terrington under the effects of laudanum aboard the Canton? If yes, when and where?”
“Yes, sir, I did. Especially from April, when we were here in Washington, he seemed to stay below a lot. When I met with him in his cabin, his speech was slurred and he appeared groggy. I saw the blue bottle on his desk once and guessed then the origin of his behavior. He slept a lot of the time.”
“Did you ever see him under the effects of rum?”
“Yes, sir. I could smell it on him. Mostly in his cabin. After April it got to the point where it was common.”
“From April, you say? What exactly happened here in Washington in April?”
“The only thing I know that happened is that we got orders to go down into the Caribbean after the renegade American who had turned pirate, sir.”
Connery had discussed his testimony with Stockton and knew not to describe or allude in any way to Terrington’s relationship with Symons. The members of the board had read of all that in Wake’s reports, but Stockton wanted to keep it out of all testimony. It was part of his plan.
“You testified yesterday that you saw Captain Terrington on the main deck of the Canton only nine or ten times from early April to mid June of eighteen sixty-nine, or approximately four months. Were these appearances becoming more frequent or less frequent during those four months?”
“Far less frequent, sir. In the last month we saw him only once.”
Stockton ended his questioning and looked at Commander Wayne, who hesitated, then shook his head. But Commodore Baldwin of the board had a question.
“Was Captain Terrington a competent ship command
er?”
“While I was aboard, he never demonstrated by personal action any competence in leadership or seamanship, sir,” Connery answered.
Custen was called and asked the same questions, with equivalent answers. Wayne elected not to cross-examine, but Admiral Munroe himself asked a question, pointing a finger at the witness.
“Did you like Captain Terrington, Lieutenant?”
“Sir, it isn’t my place to like or dislike a captain.”
“And do you like Lieutenant Wake? He’s not a captain.”
“He is not a personal friend, but I respect his professional abilities, sir. Greatly.”
Chief Engineer Winter was called and asked the same questions by Stockton, but there were no other inquiries by the prosecution or court. Then came Rork’s turn. After Stockton’s questions were answered, then Munroe again pointed his finger and gruffly asked, “Do you like Lieutenant Wake?”
“Aye, that I do, sir.”
“Oh? Really? Did you like the other officers, including Captain Terrington?”
“I don’t really know them others, sir. But I do know Lieutenant Peter Wake. We served together in gunboats during the war. I got ta know him well then.”
“And why exactly do you like him, Bosun?”
“Because he is what I call a believer, sir. He believes in honor an’ in the U.S. Navy an’ doin’ the right thing for the right reasons. Even when it ain’t easy, or might bring him ta harm. I wish to Saint Patrick there were more like him, sir.”
“So you consider him a pal, do you? Would you help him out?”
Rork sensed the course of the question. “Admiral, sir, I’d not do even a wee thing that’d bring dishonor ta Peter Wake, nor would that man even ask for such a thing as that. An’ that, sir, is why I like him.”
Munroe nodded his head thoughtfully and called for the next witness.
Other petty officers were called as confirmation of what had already been said, with little serious cross-examination. After the midday break, Stockton began to call in his special witnesses, the likes of which no officer serving on the board had ever seen testify in a court-martial. Stockton knew that these men would give information, both pertinent and credible, and that none was afraid of speaking the truth to senior naval officers.
The first was John Kramer. He testified that he thought Terrington was a timid incompetent fool and that he had no hopes that a naval effort against the pirates would be successful until Wake finally took over. When Wayne tried to mitigate his testimony by asking his naval credentials, Kramer bluntly said he had none, and if Terrington was representative of the U.S. Navy, then he’d be embarrassed to have any. Kramer ended by saying that if the Navy didn’t want a man like Wake, then the American Transit Company certainly would—they needed men of action.
The next was a tall, distinguished black man, who was introduced as Ebeneezer Don Charles Basset, the United States Minister to Haiti since 1864, when Abraham Lincoln recognized the country officially. Basset testified as to the very good will and impression in that region that Wake had made, increasing the respect for the American flag there by his action against the pirates that had not resulted in any Haitian deaths, though the battle took place right among the people. The American naval victory there had also already dampened some of the maritime thievery and thus encouraged foreign investment in the island.
Stockton subsequently called Blaine Wilson, United States Consul General to Her Majesty’s Crown Colony of Jamaica. He testified that the British government on the island was very impressed by Wake’s actions and was inquiring as to whether he would be rewarded officially in some way, as they wanted to participate in that ceremony to show their appreciation.
Then came Eduardo Cervantes de Alba, the Chargé d’Affaires from the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington. He expressed his country’s appreciation for the United States Navy’s obliteration of the pirate scourge on the Moskito coast.
He was followed by Don Pablo Monteblanco, who had come up from Venezuela to testify for his friend. Monteblanco explained the opinion of the United States in the region prior to the Canton’s arrival and the remarkable change in that opinion since Wake’s actions in Colombia, Nicaragua, and Haiti. Now the United States was seen as a power and ally that could be relied upon.
The final witness for the defense was Captain Rodney Russell of the Royal Navy. Russell gave his opinion of Wake’s seamanship as superb and his operational planning ability as outstanding. Lieutenant Wake, he said, was an excellent representative of the American Navy. The Briton did not mince words regarding Terrington.
“The plan and leadership was Lieutenant Wake’s from the start. By observing Captain Terrington’s behavior in the few meetings he attended, I was apprehensive of going into action with that man trying to make decisions. I was greatly encouraged when notified that Wake had relieved him due to illness. It was obvious to the officers of the Royal Navy who met him that Lieutenant Wake was not the type of chap that would sacrifice the success of his mission for the mindless slavery of subordination.”
The board was clearly impressed by the parade of witnesses. Afterward, Stockton submitted the statements of all of them into evidence, adding Captain Toledo’s as well.
The afternoon light was waning when Munroe called for the court to adjourn for the evening. The next day, he said, would be the last for both sides, then the board would go into its deliberations, which would be secret. He looked at the members of the board and added that those deliberations would also be swift and that the sooner they got this disagreeable duty done, the better.
45
Repercussions of Perceptions
Secretary Robeson, how very kind of you to come over, especially at this unfortunately late hour,” greeted Secretary of State Hamilton Fish as one of his aides escorted the secretary of the navy into the grand corner office whose windows overlooked the bustling streets of Washington four floors below. It was already getting dark and the gas lamplight reflected warmly off the paneled walls.
Robeson settled into the large upholstered chair in front of Fish’s massive cherry wood desk. He had things to do and did not want to be there—but this damned Seward was forever meddling with the navy.
“Thank you so much for the invitation, Hamilton. My man said you wanted to talk about the situation with that renegade American pirate down in the Caribbean.”
“Quite right, George. Since it’s late, I’ll get right to the point. There is a trial going on for the officer who took control of the navy ship and went after the pirates, I believe?”
“Yes, there is. It’s a serious one involving naval discipline. The charge is mutiny. It’ll be wrapped up tomorrow.”
“Mutiny? Really? How very distressing that an American naval officer should do such a thing.”
“I agree, Hamilton. It is embarrassing. We simply can’t allow our ships’ officers to depose their captains—even when they are not the best kind of captains, which this one wasn’t.”
Fish nodded pensively, then said, “My friend, have you heard of the reaction to this officer’s actions in the Caribbean?”
Robeson’s interest perked up. This must be why he was asked to come. Everyone knew that Fish was very interested in the Caribbean and had many contacts there, and also that he wanted to obtain more American territory in the region. Robeson was not against that at all, the navy could use some more coaling depots.
“Well, there were some witnesses from that area testifying today in the trial,” replied Robeson. “I’m told they appreciated the navy’s success against the pirates.”
“Ah . . . I think it was a bit more that that,” said Fish. “My sources, who are very well informed, advise me that the governments of the area are exceedingly grateful for what your lieutenant did—and impressed by the U.S. actions. In fact, I heard that they originally thought this man’s decisiv
e achievement was a result of a direct order by President Grant himself.”
Fish paused to accentuate his point, which annoyed Robeson.
“Because of that,” Fish continued, “they have diminished their appeals to the European powers for maritime protection and are coming back to the table, so to speak, to talk with us about various issues—issues that are of some importance to our hemispheric national interests, and to the President personally, and politically.”
Robeson didn’t understand where the secretary of state was going with his monologue, but it sounded dangerous. Fish always had some Machiavellian scheme going, but the navy secretary couldn’t decipher this one.
“All right, but that’s all good for us then. What exactly is your point, Hamilton? I’ve got an important gathering tonight, a delegation of railroad men from Trenton are meeting me at the Willard at eight-thirty.”
Fish shook his head. “My point, Mr. Secretary, is that this trial is changing certain viewpoints, and that is not good. The Caribbean nations, including those who have the potential for a canal across the isthmus, have heard of this trial. They now are starting to believe that their original understanding was wrong—that the decisive naval success was in spite of the navy, and not of the government’s wishes.”
Fish regarded Robeson with a cunning smile. “They are even hearing the ridiculous notion that the navy actually sent a man who was a close relative of the pirate to make only a show out of getting him. Rumor has it that it was his brother, but of course, I find that quite hard to believe.”
Robeson moaned inwardly. “You have my attention, Mr. Secretary. Please continue.”
“Yes, well, I thought all of this might be of interest to you. That’s why I asked for you to stop by so late. The result of all this attention to this trial is that those governments may not take us seriously, may even doubt our resolve.”
A Dishonorable Few (The Honor Series) Page 32