To-day I was admitted
as a witness to the arcana of a field Court Martial, and of all the ridiculous
farces in the name of justice, to excite mirth, indignation, pity, and disgust,
commend me to a field Court Martial. I will not spoil the ludicrous impression
left on my mind, by any attempt to describe the scenes I witnessed to-day. The
grey goose has yet to be hatched which can furnish the pen capable of even
approximating it. Oh, talent of Barnum! How does it happen that in all your
searches after the wonderful and the curious, you have overlooked that
nondescript of wonders, a field Court Martial? Strike quickly on this hint, and
there is a fortune ahead.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 80
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