"The moment I appealed to him, he flew into a violent rage, and accused me of disobeying command. Irritated as I was, I yet suppressed my feelings, and respectfully, though firmly, represented the impossibility of obeying orders which had been in the same instant contradicted by others entirely opposite. He threw himself into a paroxysm of rage, and insulted me in a manner beyond all endurance: My indignation, hardly repressed, now burst forth—I defended my conduct, as became a man of spirit, and retorted upon him for his frivolous and indeterminate proceedings. In short, he bore hard upon me—threw me off my guard—and I vented some menacing expressions, which were instantly caught hold of. I was ordered into custody; shortly afterwards brought to a court-martial, and dismissed from the service for "disobedience of orders, and insulting my commanding officer."
"I heard the sentence with a disdainful silence. But as soon as I had obtained my liberty, I sent a challenge to my ungenerous
