SEDDON-TAYLOR SLANDER CASE

Otago Witness, Issue 2650, 28 December 1904, Page 13

SEDDON-TAYLOR SLANDER CASE

THE JURY DISAGREE. THE DEFENDANT'S CASE. CHRISTCHUROH, December 17. Mr Taylor, in opening for the defence, eaid that he did not propose to take up the time of the jury at the present stage of the case, because he thought it was. proper that he should call the witnesses whom foe proposed to bring before the jury, and. let the jury hear their statements, and leave any extended reference that he might have to make until the evidence for the defence had" been placed- alongside of what had already been given, He proposed to 'call a number of men who were in different parts of the engagement, and he should bring men who were in- the main body. He would bring men who did some of the fighting on that day, who- knew, where they were, and who. knew what they did, and who would tell to the best o£ their ability what happened in the course .of the day's proceedings- He had not- got the statements of some of the men". He knew what others had freely stated ever since they had returned from. South Africa. » Dr Findlay: That is not allowed. His Honor: Clearly not. You can only prove what is sworn to by the witnesses in the box. Mr Taylor (continuing) said that his task had been somewhat lightened by tlie fact that the plaintiff himself had admitted some of the facts thart he should have otherwise been-, compelled to pTOve. For instance, it had- been affirmed that Lieutenant Difion at least sent in three appeals for assistance. He believed he sent in one, but the jury had it on oath that .he had sent in three appeals. The first appeal was apparently an ambiguous one. If the memory of the plaintiff was to be relied upon it was an appeal for supports because he had come into touoh.with cattle. Later on there was a second appeal from Dillon, in which he aske3 for supports because he was in touch with the Boers, and was in- a tigM corner. Then some little time elapsed, and a third appeal " came in to telT the captain ■who was in charge of his supports that he was still in touch with the Boers, that he wanted support, and that he was surrounded. They bad it upon oath that the officer commanding the main body did not believe in one of those mesages, and did not take any effective steps to verify them. Tli® officer did 1 not talk: to the messengers. He saict-that he would' not talk fo a messenger, and inai struck him ,the previous day as' being, a most,, startling statement in view of the fact that' at the time the messengers came he was not aware of the exact position of the scouts. He proposed to follow the action from the time the men left camp iii tjj^, morning until they reacfid camp at mgnt. The jury mustr realise the enormous difficulty, he had been face ; d with in collecting evidence from all parts of the colony after nearly four years- had lapsed since the engagement took place. Quintal got thocoktmn ordera on the 31st of May, the night before the expedtion, and he said that Captain Seddon did not go for the orders. The next morning 'the- scouts, under Lieutenant Dillon, started to carry out those instructions. It -would appear from the evidence already given that the scouts were a very considerable distance from the supports during the trek out to the farm, but it was not quite clear from, the evidence up to the present what happened at that farm. A message camevin from the scouts, andS the plaintiff moved his men on in the same cKr-eetion for about a mils'. Then another messenger came in, and his. men moved on further. Then a third messenger came in, and a consultation was held. The last witness, who was present at that eonfe'renca, said that he was not- told that Lieutenant Dillon had sent in an urgent appeal for assistance or that" he had. told - Captain Seddon that ]&c was surrounded. At the conference it was decided that it was better to be siire than sorry, and immediatels' afterwards the- main body started to retire towards the spruit. He confessed he had found the greatest difficulty in analysing the evidence already given, and on the vital points not two witnesses agreed with each other. They had all agreed to a few things. He was quite sure that the jury knew that" alt the troop coming back to the spruit walked. He was- perfectly sure that they would remember as long as they lived that it was a smart walk. Then he was equally sure the jury would remember that the troop took half an hour or thereabouts, according to the statement of the plaintiff himself ,' to cover the distance <oi four miles to the spruit. Dr Findlay : Three miles. , Mr Taylor, continuing, said that whatever the- distance was; whether three or four miles, it took half an hour to traverse it at a walk, with a number of halts between. One halt occupied anything between four and ten minutes, and then there was the time occupied by the others, and so he had come to the conclusion that the three or four males covered by the main body mounted at a walk in 15 minutes. The horses were a good breed, and would have fetched a high price in New Zealand. Nearly^ every witness who was in the main body said that the body walked the whole way. Some of them declared that they walked down to the spruit, but that morning Lieutenant Whitely had said that the Boer guide galloped his horse across the spruit, and the witness did the same, and his men followed. There was some galloping done there. Then the jury would notice that all the witnesses were perfectly sure that there were from 200 to 300 Boers. They had counted those Boers with mechanical accuracy. They had seen them all, and they knew all about the- Boers, but he could not help being impressed by the fact that, whilst they had exact knowledge of the Boers, they knew very little of what was happening in their own vicinity. He was going to bring witnesses who carried some of the despatches that day, and he was going to bring men who not only fought over the ground that day, but who had been over the ground thre© different times. He would bring witnesses whom he was perfectly sure counsel for the plaintiff would have to regard as being men of marked impartiality, and they would tell their story. John Graham Shera, clerk in the New Zealand Insurance Department, stated that he was a member of the Fourth Contingent, and subsequently of the Seventh. He was over 12 months with the Fouith, and was through a number of engagements. He

\ had been mentioned in despatches, and had got his commission as lieutenant. Captain Johnson, adjutant of the Seventh Contingent, had got him to pick seven men' from the Fourth to train 20 scouts, and he had picked the men. The 20 men were sent ove^r, and fcrined a complote body of men. Lieutenant Dillon was in charge, and he knew him personally. He was a popular officer and a brave man. He was an Irishman, of about 20 or 23 years of age. Witness was second in command of the scouts. He remembered the Bleasbok Spruit incident. The orders for the day were that the scouts i were to go out under "Lieutenant Dillon and bring in some cattle that had been captured overnight, and Captain Sad'doa was to fro out with 100 men to support Dillon. I Quintal- copied the orders. He took them to I mean that Dillon, on finding the cattle, was to report to Captain SedSon, and get what support was required'froni him. They started away about 7 a.m. There was some delay owing to Captain' Seddbn's party being- composed of men from two squadrons. On the way out tliey were never very far from the supports, on an average not more than 1500 yards. Lieutenant Dillon never left thescouts on the way out. He had never seen any farm in the place where the farm was marked on the- • map in evidence. The scouts moved 1 out to "look for the cattle-, - and the supports could see them all the time. They sighted the cattle about an hour or an hour and a-ha'f after leaving camp. There was .some discussion as to whether, the cattle being left was a trap or not. The scouts halted, and four men were seat out in the open to draw fire. The movement succeeded in drawing* fire*, and Lieutenant Dillon at once wrote a mes--sage in his despatch book to Captain Seddon to sa,y he waa in touch with the enemy, and the cattle were th&re. Ec did not know the messenger who took the message. If 'Captain Seddon /got a message to say that ( the scouts were in touch with the cattle it would be a verbal message. Witness did not think Mich a message was sent. The Boers galloped towards them, and Dilloa sent his menage. The scouts held, the position till they got word back from Captain Seddon. The message sent back was written ,on Dillon's despatch, the corner being turned up. Dillon said that the "-message was from Captain Seddon, and was to the effect i. " Cannot send supports - r retire at once." Dilion- swore quietly when he received it. They hold on to the position- for a time, considering how they were to get out of the tight corner" they were in. They were fighting^ all the time. Th&re was not much- distance between, the men, as five or six had been sect cut to hold a point near them. Tbey ultimately started to retire-, .but to- do so had to split up into- two parties - of, 10 «achy One; 10 held the position whila the* otter 10 retired, and then the retirers took up a fresh position, and covered' the retreat of "the second 10. At this time they had: come into' touch with only about 20 Boers. After retiring forborne distance, they picked up with a portion of Captain Seddon's- party. He remembered seeing liockett and Gannon. witJi them. This was about as mile from where- they came into touch with the Boers. When they came "into touch with Lockett's troop there would be about. 20 at them, but not more. They continued to fight a rearguard action. The supports were- moving off about 1000 yards of J5OQ[ yards away. They were moving at a hand canter. They expected them to hold the next ridge. ' They did not know where the spruit was^ but they had a Dutch guide with thani. The guide- was s e en by Dillon to be galloping- away, and Dillon sent witness to get him. back. He was told to stay with Dillon's party, and not to leare. Some time afterwards- he was missing, and was understood to ha-ve galloped away. That guide was never again employed with a British column ; ho was sacked at Standerton. Dr Findlay; How do you know? Do you know it of your own knowledge? Witness: Yes; I know it. Continuing, Witness said that the scouts, with the portion of Seddon's men they had picked up-, continued to retire, and had to fight their own retirement in the same way as they had when out with the cattle. They receive<l' no support from the main body except from- the first; line of supports. No other detachment joined them ; but, after the men had dribbled in, Saxby's men never- came back to their support. They could see the naain body galloping away. The main body never walked. He made a written reoord" of what- occurred three days afterwards in a letter to his mother. He estimated that there were never more than 80 ' Boers engaged during the day. They never got a chance to attack the main body. The force of the Boors was on the front. In fighting a rearguard action it was always customary to gallop from point to point, and never to walk. He was sent back next day to bury three men who had been left dead on the field. They went under a flag of truce. There were some Boer men, some wounded Boers, and some Boer women at the farm they went fco. Dr Gfabites had attended to the wounded Boers, and they knew they were there. The field cornet of the Boers' commando held a meeting while he was there, and he counted 75 Boers all told. This, with the wounded, mad© his estimate about 80. They found the bodies of Dwyer and Pepper. They each had more than 30 jwnpty cartridge cases beside them, and had died game. They could have retired if they had wished. It had been said in the court that those two young fellows died through their own fault. His Honor: I have no such record. It is recorded that they got too far out. Witness, continuing, said that the bodies were in a direct line at the end of the range on which Lieutenant Dillon was shot. He had been over the ground five times. The scouts were not in a position to retire easily and safely when first they sighted the Boers. They had to retire in two parties, one to protect the retirement of the others. After he came into tovich with the Boers it took half an hour to get to the spruit. Mr Taylor: Did it take the supports half an- hour to get to the spruit? — Witness: At the pace they were going, I should think it would take about 10 minutes. Gannon referred to some kopjes. Was there anything to cause you to lose sight cf the main body as it I'etired to the spruit? — If Gannon sa^d that, he had a very indistinct recollection of the country. There were no kopjes near there. Before we reached the spruit several messengers had gone to the supports for ammunition, but they did not get any. We had used up a good deal of our ammunition, and thought they could let us have some. These mes- j sengers returned without ammunition, saying that the supports would not give any, as they "might want it." I was one of the mssgeno-ers. I did uq| see. jS^jf ojficejrs. J,

could not find any. I saw some men having to gallop 10 catch them, but they would not give any. Mr Taylor: Did you ice Gannon that day? — Witness: I saw Gannon once galloping along our line, telling us to retire and gallop for our lives. We told him where to go. What did you tell him?— Wo told him to go to . j What was the position when you got near ' the spruit? — The supports were galloping . up the other side over a patch of burned ground. Dillon made his la«t stand at a position about 200 yards from the spruit. ! We sent to tho supports, who were gallop- ! ing away, and told 'them to come back and j cover our retirement, but those messengers j did not return. . I sent one messenger, but j he die) not report to inc. By the time they i could have g-ot back to us we had left the j position we • held, because there was no ' movement in the main body to indicate j its return. We could still see them galloping. I took my men across the spruit, and o-ccu- ' pied some kraals about 200 or 300 yards From the spruit. They did not cover the , drift near "the farmhousa the main drift, j as there was a little rise between. The > kraals were directly behind the position held by Dillon. He told me to go across, and proceeded to commence the retirement. It was then that he was wounded. I was ', across the drift then. He occupied the j krdal he was told to occupy, with Lockett j and others. They had -very little ammuni- , tion, and witness went off to see if he could. j got the doctor for Dillon, leaving Lockett i in charge. He found the doctor, who was j returning to Dillon's assistance, and witness directed him about where he would find ; him. Quintal had by this time retired j across the spruit, and there was no chance of the doctor getting back without being bit. He suggested that as the doctor could Dot go back to Dillon he should go for ' ammunition and supports. Just then they j met the first officer of the supports that he bad seen that day. Witness asked him "if ; lie would cover the retirement of the party ! tvhere Loekett and Quintal were." The i 3tscer said " No ; it's too hot." Witness , ivent back and told the men to retire, as they had been left. They went up the slope it a gallop. After they' had galloped some time they found the supports on the top 3f a black slope over a mile from the spruit. He had, during the lunch adjournment, reread a letter he had written on the sub- J ject, which eaid iir was a mile from the spruit. When" he rpde up to Seddon an the position behind the spruit he asked himi to- make a stand there. The Boershad come as far as. the farmhouse and to the ricllge wherj Dillon was shot. At this time they did not know that the Boers were not going to follow them up. He also asked For ammunition. While he was talking Quintal rode vp y and suggested that it would be well to send back the doctor to Dillon, as the Boers were near enough to see a white flag. The doctor was quite willing to go back, and Surgeon Wilson also wished to go. He remembered the occarion, because there was a high wind blowing, and the doctor suggested that they had better use two handkerchiefs. There was no timber about, and nothing to use for % staff, so he asked a-n officer for the use Df his riding crop. The officer declined, saying, " No ; I might want it." Witness lid not know the officer's name at the time, but had since learned that it was Acting Daptain Drury. After retiring some time ive met the rearguard of our column, and ;he advance guard of Knox's column. Uolonel Gray rode forward, and Captain Seddon, as commanding the reserves, and I, is commanding the scouts, met him. Cap- ! sain Seddon reported that he had found : the cattle, but that the Boers had been J ;oo strong, had driven us off, and we had i bad to retire. He said that Dillon had been hit. and that all his men were in. I ivas alongside him at the time. I made my report to Colonel Gray, and asked him if iie would send out a party, which I would ruide, with an ambulance, to. bring in Dillon. He rode off to Colonel Knox. and isked him if he would send his ambulance, is our mules were knocked up. Colonel ECnox sent out his ambulance with an escort, *nd I went out with i*,. About 5 o'clock in the evening we arrived at the place where Dillon had been hit, and Colonel Knox, hi* tdjntant, and. some- of his officers rode over so Dillon in the farmhouse. I went with them. While we were on our way from the column, and before we arrived at the spruit, we saw a man galloping towards us, md I rode out to meet him. He turned Dut to be Quintal, and he told me tnat Dillon w,as doing- fairly well, but that he jvas cold. He also said that there was ansther wounded man at the farmhouse. He told me that the Boers had not treated him properly under his flag of truce, and tie had been stuck up by some young armed Boers and robbed of some money. Dr 3-abites and another officer with the ambulance held a- consultation, and decided that Dillon should be brought on, and not left it the farmhouse. Dillon was put into the ambulance, and so was the other wounded nan. At the farmhouse there were 'several of our men who "had been stripped, and ;hey reported, that some of our fellows had been killed. There were wounded Boers in the farmhouse, but the doctors decided that they would have to remain, as there svas no more* room in* the ambulance. Then we commenced to retire to the camp. It was very cold, and Quintal, who was "riding with me, was complaining very much about bis wounded thumb. Late at night we arrived at a camp of the Ninth Hussars, md stayed there that night. We had ridden ahead of the ambulance. The next morning we rode over to the camp, and met a party under Major Curzon, who had been sent out to ask Knox if he would bury ?ur dead. We rode to the camp and joined the scouts. Curzon came back, and said ;hat Knox could not spare' time to bury the :lead, and Colonel Gray asked me if I sould find my way out to the place. I went out with a map named Darling. When we were on the ridge olose to the spruit Knox's columns shelled us with a big gun, and we cleared off the sky-line. We met some Boers down lower, and they showed us where two of our dead were on a. ridge jlose to the spruit. We removed the bodies to a less stony place, and buried them, and then we returned to camp. We did not look for the third body, as it was getting late. When we got back Colonel Gray sent for cne, and I reported what had occurred that 3ay and the day before. He did not make) any remark other than "W? will see to it." I went across to the hospital to see Dillon, and was refused admittance. I got over a fence, however, and got to his tent. W-> talked over what had happened, and he said Dr Findlay : I object to that. Mr Tajd#au May I ask your Sonor'jj

ruling as to whether or not statements made by an officer like Dillon, who was practically occupying the most important position on June 1, who was on a sick bed and was talking with a man in whom ho had great confidence, are not part of the l&gitimate evidence. His- Honor : The question is not the valuo of the evidence, but its admissibility. Mr Taylor quoted authority to show that the evidence was admissible, but his Honor ruled against it. Further examined, witness said he was not present at any inquiry into the happenings of Kaffir Spruit. Dillon was not a .man who indulged in profanity, but he jswore when he got the message back, ami also swore in the hospital. %^^ * Mr Taylor : Did tHe conduct of opera'ti^ns^ at KafSr Spruit creater very biffer leeKnffa in the regiment r His Honor ruled that the question was^ not admissable. * - Further examined, witness said it was Captain Seddon's duty to keep^iacdrouofa; with tbe scouts, and if they jot into trouble to see them through. T'hose-\viffie'sses3sl:?a had sworn there were 200 Boers oppased'to Captain Seddon's men were drawing on their imagination. They ha"d ' felien* Saoks* to the enemy most of the timW. It- vine scouts had been properly supported a numb&r of the attacking Boerg could haye^heen captured. It was not possible during tne retirement Tor Lieutenant Dillon to have ridden back to Captain Seddon and liave a chat with him. Dillon did not leave the scouts during the whole, of the engagement^ Lieutenant- Quintal j n his evidence said, "As soon a& we came in touch with Captain Seddon's support Lieutenant Dillon said ~h£ was going to the rear to see Captain Seddon. and would leave me in command," but Lieutenant' Quintal would not have been left in command. Witness would have been left in command, as he was. senior to Quintal. Witness had always been on good terms with Captain Seddon. By Dr Findlay: At the time of the Kaffir Spruit affair witness was under 21 yeaTs of age. He had read General Babington'a evidence. He found statements in that evidence that he' did not agree with. If the scouts were under Lieutenant Dillon, and were sent out to bring in cattle, and if Captain Seddon was sent out to support the scouts, if was Captain Sed'don's duty to obey Lieutenant Dillon. "Dr Findlay: Major-general Babingion has said it was Lieutenant Dillon's duty to obey Captain Seddon. You differ from Majorgeneral Babington ? — Witness : Yes, I do. Is it usual for the junior officer to control the senior officer? — It sometimes occurs. As a military rnle, would it not be Captain Seddon's duty to consider whether, in advancing to support the scouts, he would lose more men than he could save? — Captain Seddon ought to have, advanced to occupy positions to enable the scouts to retire. Major-general Babington says it would' be the duty of the scouts to keep in touch, with the supports? — In reply, I say that the drill book states that the supports are to keep in. touch; with the people they are sent out to support, and if the scouts find that their support Js getting too far away they tell the support to wait until they get up. Further cross-examined, witness said when the scouts got into a tight corner they were attacked by about 50 Boors. The scouts numbered 26. After the scouts received the order to retire they waited about 10 minutes to see if Captain Seddon would bring up his supports, and then retired. All the scouts got back to the supports, and they would theu be seven miles from the spruit. The first casualty to any of the scouts happened within 20 yards of the spruit. Captain Seddon left about 16 men to support the soouts, and the rest of the main body had galloped away to take up a position. Witness did not see Captain Saxby that day. He must have galloped away with the main body; if not he would be among the 16. Witness did not; see them all. Captain Saxby had a re-putation for skill and courage, and witness had never heard him tell a lie. It was not correct, as stated by Saxby, that 67 men fought the rearguard action, or that the movements of the main body towards the spruf? were conducted in an orderly manner. The statement witness made in the box that day had not been committed to memory by him. Captain Cameron and Lieutenant Whitely were not cowards in South Africa, but he considered Captain Seddon acted the part of a coward on this day. The officers who galloped away with Captain Seddon may not have known why they were galloping away. Perhaps they thought they were .being taken to occupy a certain position. When witness got back to the 16 men they set themselves to protect Dillon's retirement. Dr Findlay: How long after you joined with the 16 men was it that Dillon came in? — Witness: About two minutes. Do you seriously mean that you were holding a position to protect Dillon, who was only two minutes away? — Well it might have been two minutes, or 10 or 15 minutes. Further cross-examined: The 26 scouts junctioned with the 16 men, and a retreat was then made. The Boers numbered 80. The. main body at that time was 1000 yards off, and was going off at a handj-eanter. This was seven miles from the spruit. The rearguard fought for two miles, occupying half an hour. Witness then went m pursuit of the main body, and overtook them four miles from the spruit. Tho witness will be further crossexamined on Monday. THe court rose at 5 p.m.