Chapters 21-30 [ Edited ]

[Peppermill]

I want to post an interesting tidbit for these chapters, so am adding this thread.

Connie -- thanks for the lesson on adding a thread. It worked exactly as you described!

Message Edited by Peppermill on 03-22-2008 08:26 PM

[Peppermill]

The chapter describes an admiral shot by the English to "encourage others."

When I was searching for images, I stumbled across this BBC article which says the anecdote is based on a real incident and the admiral's descendants are still trying to get a pardon and restoration of the man's honor some 250 years later!

Admiral John Byng was found guilty of neglect of duty and executed in 1757 after failing to retake Menorca from the French with a small fleet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/7291657.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng

"Byng's execution was satirized by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In Portsmouth, Candide witnesses the execution of an officer by firing squad; and is told that 'in this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others' (Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres).
Byng was the last of his rank to be executed in this fashion, and 22 years after the event the Articles of War were amended to allow 'such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve' as an alternative to capital punishment. In 2007, some of Byng's descendants petitioned the government for a posthumous pardon; the Ministry of Defence refused. Members of his family and a group at Southill in Bedfordshire where the Byng family lived continue to seek a pardon.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Excellent!  Glad to hear it, Peppermill!

~ConnieK

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Peppermill wrote:
I want to post an interesting tidbit for these chapters, so am adding this thread.

Connie -- thanks for the lesson on adding a thread. It worked exactly as you described!