To which charge the prisoner, in a firm voice, replied:
"Not guilty of wilful neglect of duty, though found sleeping upon my
post."
The Judge Advocate then cautioned all witnesses to withdraw from the
court and come only as they were called. They withdrew, and he then
arranged some preliminaries of the examination, and called in--
Captain Zuten, of the--Regiment of Infantry.
This witness was a short, coarse-featured, red-haired person of
Dutch extraction, without intellect enough to enable him to conceal
the malignity of his nature.
He testified that on Thursday, the first of September, Traverse
Rocke, private in his company, was ordered on guard at the
northwestern out post of the quarters, between the hours of four and
eight a.m. That about five o'clock on the same morning, he, Joseph
Zuten, in making his usual rounds, and being accompanied on that
occasion by Colonel Gabriel Le Noir, Lieutenant Adams and Ensign
Baker, did surprise Private Traverse Rocke asleep on his post
leaning against the sentry box with his musket at his feet.
This witness was cross-examined by the Judge Advocate, who, it is
known, combines in his own person the office of prosecutor on the
part of the United States and counsel for the prisoner, or rather,
if he be honest, he acts as impartial inquirer and arbiter between
the two.
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