REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURT OF INQUIRY APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE THE CASE OK LIEUT.-COL. J. STOUGHTON DENNIS.
The appointment of a Court of Inquiry to investigate the charges made against Lieut.-Col. J. Stoughton Dennis was granted on the request of that officer himself. From the time that Lieut.-Col. Dennis hastily left his command battling with the Fenians on the streets of Port Erie, the men of the Welland Canal Field Battery knew him no more, as he never came back. Therefore their relations were strained. Most of the men of the Battery and the Dunnville Naval Brigade were pronounced in their denunciation of his conduct during the fight, and freely expressed their minds in this respect.
When Capt. King's wounds permitted his return home to Port Robinson from the hospital at Buffalo, a large number of people assembled to give him a welcome. In replying to their greetings, Capt. King incidentally made mention of the experience of his Battery in the battle at Fort Erie, and during his remarks voiced the sentiments of his men by publicly accusing Lieut.-Col. Dennis of cowardice. This charge came to the ears of Lieut.-Col. Dennis and he demanded a Court of Inquiry to investigate the matter. In the meantime a formula of six separate charges was filed against Lieut.-Col. Dennis, and His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief appointed the following officers as a Court of Inquiry, viz.:—Col. Geo. T. Denison, President; Lieut.-Col. James Shanly, and Lieut.-Col. S. B. Fairbanks.
The Court assembled in the City Hotel at Fort Erie, on the 8th of November, 1866, for the purpose of taking testimony. Among those who were notified to appear as witnesses were a number of men who had been engaged in the fight as members of the Welland Canal Field Battery and the Dunnville Naval Brigade, besides several citizens.
For some reason four members of the Welland Canal Field Battery who had been summoned to testify were not called upon for their evidence, which they considered a very strange proceeding as they were all present for that purpose, and had evidence to offer which would tend to substantiate Capt. King's allegations. Eight or ten witnesses were examined, when the Court proceeded to sum up the evidence and consider the charges seriatim. The result was that Lieut.-Col. Dennis was exonerated by the Court, although Col. Geo. T. Denison (the President) differed from his colleagues on several important points stated in the charges.
The following is the official report, published in General Orders, which contains the charges made, the findings and the remarks of His Excellency the Governor-General on the case:—
VOLUNTEER MILITIA. HEADQUARTERS, OTTAWA, 14th December, 1866.
GENERAL ORDERS No. 1.
The Court of Inquiry lately assembled at Fort Erie on application of Lieut.-Colonel Dennis, having presented its report, the Commander-in-Chief directs that the several charges preferred against that officer, with the opinion of the Court of Inquiry thereupon, be published for general information.