Actually, I was doing some reading for my Military History class, and apparantly one of the British Admirals in command of British naval forces around North America during the American Revolution tried rather vigerously to get a court-martial after he was relieved of his command. Basically, with a Court Martial of a flag officer, there would be an investigation into all the factors that lead to his situation, and if they showed that the circumstances were beyond his control (like, say, if the Admiralty failed to send enough ships to reasonably allow him to carry out the various missions they were ordering him to complete), then his reputation would be cleared and he could move on elsewhere.
He was never given his court martial, so he was never able to clear his reputation and his career pretty much ended on the spot.
Yeah, from what I’ve read about the way the British government handled the American Revolution on the Navy end of things, it’s just kinda sad. They didn’t have enough ships to handle the jobs they needed to handle because the Navy was in peacetime mode, which meant most of the ships of the line were in mothballs, and most of the frigates from the previous war had been scrapped (apparantly frigates had a relatively short useful lifespan, due presumably to the cost of maintaining ships in peacetime, and advancing technology, while ships of the line, big, expensive, and time consuming to build, were kept as long as they could be used). To refit and crew the men-o-war would have taken time and money, and to build more frigates (far more appropriate for their needs) would have also taken a great deal of time and money, including hiring and training shipbuilders.
Basically, they hoped to win the war on the cheap because of the many difficulties and economic consequences they would face if they rushed into a wartime production, not to mention the political implications of going into a full-scale war with their own colonists (who throughout the war were considered to be Englishman by most people in England). They took too long to expand the navy, and then expanded it too slowly, to meet the growing needs of the war, and more than one undermanned British admiral lost his job because of it. By the time they HAD expanded their navy enough to deal with the Americans, they were already fighting the Spanish and the French, with the other major powers bowing out and declaring neutrality (England had apparantly not made many friends during the French and Indian War (what’s that called in Europe? The Seven Years War?) By the time the British had gotten the situation under control fighting the French and Spaniards, they had already lost support for a war in America.
Mind you, I’m not TERRIBLY disappointed at the outcome. Had the British defeated Admiral De Grasse at the Battle of the Cheasapeke… why, we might all be speaking ENGLISH now!
As I was reading through the thread I was wondering if I was the only one who caught this. I certainly wasn’t the only Yankee in any of the units I was in while on active duty. Now that I am only doing it part time I can tell you it is hard to find a southerner in the New Jersey National Guard. Go figure.
I’m trying to find the article. IIRC many didn’t try to come back. Some did and each case was heard on an idividual basis and some were allowed back depending on circumstances.
By policy and enforcement, the prohibition against making statements about the President is normally confined to statements made “while in one’s official capacity.” The Navy times article mentioned above, is a pseudo official publication, and the Marine used his full name and title. Additionally, an Army or Air Force general got into trouble when he made a speech, while in uniform, criticizing President Clinton. Hell, most Officers I know criticized Clinton when he got a pass on the whole adultery thing, which would have gotten us either kicked out or ensured we were not ever promote again, and no one was called to task on that. By and large, you can make any comments you want, in public, as long as you are out of uniform.
