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This webpage reproduces articles in The Pittsburg Press Sep. 3, 1905 and The San Francisco Call Aug. 23, 1905 The texts are in the public domain. This page has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know!

The Maney-Hedberg Murder Case:
Items from 1893‑1894

Article in The New York Times,
October 31, 1893

Murder at Fort Sheridan

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Capt. Alfred Hedberg shot by Lieut. J. A. Maney.

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Outcome of a Quarrel Concerning the Wife of the Murdered Man — The Shooting Preceded by a Violent Altercation in Which Much Harsh Language Was Used, and Also by a Hand-to‑Hand Encounter — Hedberg's Army Record not an Enviable One.

Fort Sheridan, Ill., Oct. 30. — Capt. Alfred Hedberg of Company I, Fifteenth Infantry, was shot by First Lieut. J. A. Maney, Regimental Quartermaster of the same regiment, at this post to‑day.

The men were in front of the cavalry barracks, and the shooting took place in the presence of Sergt. Copeland, two sentinels, and three prisoners who were working near the cavalry stables. Capt. Hedberg died two hours later at the post hospital. Lieut. Maney immediately after the shooting gave himself up to Col. R. E. A. Crofton, commander of the post, who ordered him under arrest and turned a guard to watch him until the civil authorities could be communicated with, of until his superior officers should decided upon a court-martial.

Maney used an army revolver, and fired but one shot, the bullet striking Capt. Hedberg in the groin. The Captain was taken to the hospital by the ambulance corps.

Those who were witnesses of the affair differ as to how it occurred. It is quite certain that the meeting of the two officers was accidental. They soon got into a wordy altercation, had a scuffle, and then Maney drew his revolver and fired at close range, Hedberg falling on his face in the dirt of the stable yard.

Private Edwards says that before the shooting Maney called Hedberg names that in army circles are considered fairly good cause for a shooting, and that Hedberg stood it without doing more than to say, "You are a scoundrel."

Sergt. Copeland, who saw the shooting from a distance of fifty yards, says that Maney drew his revolver, and then told Hedberg to go and get his. Copeland says that Maney advanced toward Hedberg holding his revolver in his hand. In a moment they met and clinched. Maney kicked Hedberg, and was in turn kicked. The Captain dropped an armful of parcels that he held and struck at his opponent. Then came the shot.

In view of the fact that Lieut. Maney will probably make the plea that he shot in self-defense, the testimony of other witnesses is important. They say that Maney told Hedberg he was going to shoot him, and that Hedberg was shot while trying to wrest the Lieutenant's pistol from his grasp.

When Capt. Hedberg was taken to the hospital it was discovered that he had a loaded revolver in his pocket. He made no effort to reach it when he was struggling with Lieut. Maney.

There is something back of the shooting this afternoon that army officers are loth to speak about and that privates do not know enough about to give an intelligent story.

There has been talk in the past of Capt. Hedberg's jealousy of Lieut. Maney, who was undoubtedly an admirer of Mrs. Hedberg, a beautiful woman and twenty years her husband's junior. Mrs. Hedberg was told of the shooting by the Chaplain of the post, who was accompanied by the wife of one of the officers. She was completely prostrated and it became necessary to summon the surgeon, who administered an opiate.

The Hedberg quarters are close to the bachelor rooms of Lieut. Maney and the sentinels guarding the prisoner are within sight and sound of the widow of the victim.

Mrs. Hedberg did not arrive at the side of her husband until after he had expired.

Capt. Hedberg had trouble to keep the roster of his company full, and finally the command was "skeletonized" and Hedberg was sent to Chicago on recruiting service. This duty was completed last Spring, and on returning to this post, the Captain was put in command of Company I, which exists only on paper, and the Captain's principal duty has been that of standing his tour of officer of the day. He went but little into society.

Capt. Hedberg was fifty-five years old, came from Sweden, and served as recruiting officer the latter years of the war. He was never at West Point. He married his wife in California.

Lieut. Maney is thirty‑six years old. He graduated from West Point in the class of '77 and has since been in the service. He has a fighting record, and is an excellent soldier. In various Indian fights he took an active part, and was conspicuously brave in the Victoria campaign from 1879 to 1882 in New‑Mexico. In the Chief Geronimo fight he took an active part. He is very popular at the post.

Capt. Cornish, Officer of the Day,​a made an examination of the case, calling before him the witnesses to the shooting, and, as already suggested, it is understood among the officers at the post that Lieut. Maney will make the plea of self-defense at the trial.

Col. Crofton has notified the District Attorney of the killing of Capt. Hedberg and the arrest of Lieut. Maney. At the examination Lieut. Maney said:

"The shooting was a result of the trouble I had with Capt. Hedberg a month ago over the kalsomining of his basement, when he threatened to shoot me after an investigation, over which I had charge. I expected Capt. Hedberg to shoot me if I did not get him first, and consequently, in self-defense, I had to protect himself."

Lieut. Maney refused to make any further statement.

Col. R. E. A. Crofton said to‑night:

"Up to one month ago both men had been the best of friends. At that time an altercation took place between them about some trivial official affair, and I understand that Capt. Hedberg threatened to kill Lieut. Maney. Since then nothing has occurred to show that the men were such deadly enemies as they have proved to have been.

"I believe the shooting was done in self-defense, as Lieut. Maney is not the man to resort to action of that kind without sufficient grounds. I understand that the Captain had a revolver in his pocket at the time of the shooting, but I do not know that he tried to use it. Capt. Hedberg was quick tempered — his best friends admit that — and I really believe that Lieut. Maney shot him in self-defense, as I said before. As to what will be done with Maney I cannot say. There may be a court-martial or a civil trial. The kind will depend upon what the higher authorities say."

Capt. Hedberg was well known in the army, chiefly because of the arbitrary methods he took to punish any soldier to whom he took a dislike. One day the Captain was boating on Lake Michigan. A squall came up and the boat was upset. A private swam out from shore and rescued the Captain. Soon afterward Capt. Hedberg preferred charges against the soldier because he had treated him roughly while rescuing him from drowning. The charges were dismissed by the trial board.

On another occasion Capt. Hedberg met two privates in a barber shop outside the Government reservation. Because they did not take off their caps the son of him they were brought up for trial.

Another case in which Capt. Hedberg was concerned had to do with Private James Hanson of his company. He was absent from two roll calls March 7, 1892. In such cases it is usual to bring the offender before a summary court, consisting of the second ranking officer of the post, who has the right to imprison the private in the guard house or inflict a light fine.

Instead of bringing Hanson before a court, Capt. Hedberg caused a trial board to be convened. When Hanson appeared before it he found that Capt. Hedberg was President of the trial board. The prisoner was represented by a shrewd Irish private named Driscoll as counsel.

When the prisoner was asked, as is usual, if he objected to any member of the trial board, his counsel, Driscoll, replied that objection was made to Capt. Hedberg because that officer had been convicted of lying and theft, and dishonorably dismissed from the service and sentenced to a year's imprisonment.

To substantiate his statement he submitted a copy of General Court-Martial No. 4, series of 1873, which showed that while a Captain at Fort Cummings, N. M., Hedberg had been convicted on five charges, and that he had taken $600 of his company's money and had conspired to defraud the Government of $500. It showed further that he was cashiered, dismissed from service, and sentenced to a year's imprisonment but the imprisonment was canceled. Ten years later he was reinstated.

When Driscoll made this statement Capt. Hedberg demanded two days in which to prepare an answer to the charges. The delay was granted. When he made his reply he did not attempt to deny the charges but he demanded that Driscoll be disbarred from acting as counsel for Hanson, on the ground that he came into the court for the purpose of defaming the character of an officer. Driscoll was disbarred. Hanson was then tried and sentenced to the guardhouse. Hedberg then preferred charges against Driscoll for libel and disrespect. Col. Crofton, commandant of the fort, approved the charges, and sent them on to the Adjutant General. Accompanying the charges was a letter from Capt. Hedberg, stating that his conviction in New‑Mexico was due to the prejudice of the jury. The charges against Driscoll were not pushed.

Article in The New York Times,
November 1, 1893

Coroner at Fort Sheridan

Inquiry Into the Murder of Capt. Hedberg by Lieut. Maney.

Fort Sheridan, Ill., Oct. 31. — Coroner Knight to‑day held an inquest in the hospital of the fort on the body of Capt. Alfred Hedberg, who was shot and killed by Lieut. Maney. The first witness examined was Private Alfred Troget.b He said in substance:

C. E. Johnson, private, gave the same testimony substantially.

"There is a woman in the case," said Coroner Knight, "and it is not likely the soldiers would know anything about it."

Lieut. Eitelc and several other witnesses were examined, but their testimony was practically a repetition of that given by previous witnesses.

The jury returned a verdict that Capt. Hedberg had died from a wound inflicted by Lieut. Maney, but placed no blame on the latter. Lieut. Maney is confined to his quarters under military arrest.

Col. Crofton, the officer in command at Fort Sheridan, went to Chicago to‑day and had a long conference with Gen. Miles relative to the shooting of Capt. Hedberg. It was agreed that the case was one for the civil courts and not for court-martial, and the State law will be allowed to take its course in dealing with Lieut. Maney.

Article in San Francisco Call,
Vol. 74 No. 155, Nov. 2, 1893

Not Put in Jail.

Maney Expects to Clear Himself.

Some Sensations Coming.

The Attorney for the Defendant Believes That He Has a Bailable Case.

Chicago, Nov. 1.— At the inquest upon the body of Captain Alfred Hedberg at Fort Sheridan yesterday three witnesses testified to seeing the captain strike Lieutenant Maney a severe blow in the face before the fatal shot was fired, and half a dozen prominent officers testified to Lieutenant Maney's good character and record, and to the prevalent dislike for Captain Hedberg. Maney is in the hands of the civil authorities and will be tried as a citizen for murder. Captain Hedberg's funeral will be held to‑morrow.

Lieutenant James E. Maney belongs to an old and famous family of Nashville, Tenn. He is a son of General James Maney, who was a distinguished officer in the Federal army and a graduate of West Point.​d General Maney served as Minister to Brazil under President Garfield, and was reappointed to the position by President Harrison. His son, Lieutenant James E. Maney, graduated with high honors at West Point in a brilliant class,​e and has been assigned to duty at important stations ever since he received his commission. He is a brilliant young man of fine talents, generous and fearless, and is a leader in society at his old home, where he spends his annual vacations.

The complaint on which Lieutenant Maney is to have a preliminary hearing on Friday before Commissioner Hoyte was filed to‑day in the United States District Court by Henry R. Brinkerhoff, Captain in the Fifteenth Regiment, United States Infantry, at Fort Sheridan. The complaint merely alleges the fact of the shooting and declares that the deed was perpetrated willfully and with malice aforethought. W. F. Forrest has been retained by Lieutenant Maney and has requested District Attorney Milchrist to delay the service of the warrant for the lieutenant's arrest until Friday, without the necessity of putting the prisoner in jail. Attorney Forrest says there will be no trouble in convincing the Commissioner that it is a bailable case. Sensational developments are expected at the hearing.

Article in The New York Times,
December 27, 1893

Mrs. Hedberg wants Maney punished.

Says a Disposition to Shield the Slayer of
Her Husband is Being Shown.

Chicago, Dec. 26. — Mrs. Alfred Hedberg, whose husband, Capt. Hedberg, was shot and killed at Fort Sheridan two months ago, is in the East, trying to enlist the War Department in her aid to secure the punishment of Lieut. Maney, who did the shooting. She alleges that Col. Crofton, commandant of the post, and District Attorney Milchrist, are lukewarm in their prosecution of the case. She also thinks that Capt. Chapin, Officer of the Day when the shooting occurred, could have prevented it.

Mrs. Hedberg has been in Washington, and is now in New‑York interviewing prominent officers in the army. She has stirred up things greatly. It is reported that Secretary Lamont has ordered an investigation into affairs at Fort Sheridan, on charges that there has been serious lack of discipline. Mrs. Hedberg is a woman of remarkable perseverance. She married Capt. Hedberg in California while he was disconnected with the army, he having been cashiered for irregularities in his finances in New‑Mexico. She secured his reinstatement. She now proposes to secure his vindication.

At the time of the shooting nearly every man of the military reservation alleged that Lieut. Maney acted in self-defense, and that the shooting was justifiable. It is now alleged that 90 per cent of the officers feel that no serious question of self-defense entered into the case. Col. Crofton has been criticised for having said, within a few hours of the shooting, that Lieut. Maney acted in self-defense. As the commandant of the fort, it is urged that he should have passed no judgment on the case when it was likely to come before him in his official capacity. He denies that he said any such thing; his version is that he said Lieut. Maney must have shot in self-defense.

Mrs. Hedberg says that Capt. Chapin knew that the two men were "gunning" for one another two weeks before the shooting, and that he advised Lieut. Maney to arm himself, but that he did not report the case to the commandant. She says this was gross neglect of duty, and she wants Capt. Chapin court-martialed. She also charges that District Attorney Milchrist is not prosecuting Maney victoriously, because he is a handsome young fellow, to ruin whose life would be a shame.

Col. Crofton denies that there is a lack of discipline at the fort, and is willing to submit to an inspection. Gen. Miles would not express any opinion as to the charges brought by Mrs. Hedberg.

Article in The Chicago Tribune,
February 5, 1894

 p5  To hear Maney case.

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United States Grand Jury to Sit in Chicago Feb. 7.

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Heroic Work Done by the Widow of Capt. Hedburg, Whom Lieut. Maney Killed, to Avenge Her Husband's Death — Maney Is Out on Bail and This Causes Comment — An Army Tribunal Will Review the Case, Too — Stories About Fort Sheridan Investigated.

With the return of the widow of the late Capt. Hedberg from the East and the sitting of the newly-impaneled Federal grand jury public interest is aroused once more as to what may be the result of the Hedberg-Maney tragedy at Fort Sheridan the afternoon of Oct. 30, 1893. Mrs. Hedberg has been in Washington and New York for several weeks and returns with the confident belief "that justice will be done in the United States and military courts." She has succeeded, with the aid of influential friends, in arousing the War Department to such an extent that she will have warm support in bringing the slayer of her husband to judgment. Mrs. Hedberg has retained excellent legal counsel in Chicago, and, if needed, will have the advice of some of the most powerful attorneys in the East. The grand jury will investigate the case Feb. 7. Whatever the result may be in the civil courts a military tribunal will hear the case also, and thus Lieut. Maney will be tried twice for the offense. In the meantime he is out on bail with a leave of absence from Fort Sheridan, a condition of affairs which has been adversely commented on in many quarters, as this crime of which he stands charged is not usually bailable. Incidentally it is not unlikely that there will be a lively shaking up in both civil and military circles because of this remarkable display of favoritism.

The causes which led to the shooting of Capt. Alfred Hedberg by Lieut. J. A. Maney, the incidents of the shooting, the unusual features of the arrest, imprisonment, and liberation of Maney; the revelations in regard to regimental and post management that followed an official investigation by the War Department, the brave battle on the part of Mrs. Hedberg for her husband's honor, all go to make the trial of Lieut. Maney one of remarkable interest. The attendant features have attracted the attention of military men and jurists in a dozen different States and the outcome will be watched closely by many who know little of the routine of an army post.

Story of the Hedberg Shooting.

Lieut. J. A. Maney of the Fifteenth Infantry, quartermaster of the regiment at the time, shot Capt. Alfred Hedberg of Company I of the same regiment at 2 P.M., Monday, Oct. 30. It was the last day of the Columbian Exposition and the city a few hours before had lost its Mayor by an assassin's bullet, so the full meaning of the tragedy enacted that afternoon at the military reservation did not appear with the force it has now come to assume. From the effects of this shot Capt. Hedberg died in a short time. Lieut. Maney surrendered to Col. Crofton, Post Commander, and was placed under guard. At the time all the sympathy seemed to be on the side of Lieut. Maney, who was a popular officer, while Capt. Hedberg was disliked by many of the privates and subordinate officers. A plea of self-defense was made by Maney's friends. The Coroner's jury returned this simple verdict:

"The deceased came to his death from a gunshot wound inflicted by Lieut. Maney."

After the military burial, Nov. 1, the Lieutenant was turned over to the Federal authorities. A few days later he was allowed to go free under $10,000 bail to appear for trial.

Widow Begins Her Endeavor.

This was not the end, however. Mrs. Hedberg went to work among her friends in and out of military circles and the results have been apparent upon several occasions in the last two months. Before the new year there had been a change of opinion at Fort Sheridan about the shooting. Nearly 90 per cent of the officers are said to feel that the killing of Capt. Hedberg was unjustifiable and that no serious question of self-defense entered into the case. Then early in January Lieut.‑Col. George H. Burton was ordered here from Washington to investigate the affairs at Fort Sheridan from Col. Crofton down to the keeper of the canteen. As a result it has been rumored the regiment was to be transferred to the Pacific coast, but as yet nothing has been made public. The report contains Col. Burton's judgment on the Hedberg murder. As that case is at present in the hands of the civil authorities awaiting trial the department has refrained from publishing this before the civil authorities have had their say.

Fort Sheridan has been one of the pet posts of the War Department. If there was one fort in the country which officials of the department desired to be free from scandalous reports Fort Sheridan was that one. But this seems to have been a bad selection. It may be that the unpleasant notoriety that now surrounds Fort Sheridan is not due to Col. Crofton, but the fact remains that it has arisen under his administration, and for that reason by many he is considered responsible for the trouble. The investigation by Col. Burton and the trial of Lieut. Maney will more nearly affect Col. Crofton and Capt. Chapin than any one else besides Maney.

Question of Discipline.

The whole question of discipline hinges on the events of the day when Capt. Hedberg was shot, and Capt. Chapin was officer of the day when the shooting took place. His authority was absolute next to that to Colonel, and he could have placed either or both of the men in arrest. It is charged that he knew Maney was armed and looking for Hedberg, but he failed to act or bring the matter to the attention of the Colonel. Other officers also are said to have known of the trouble. If they did, under the army regulations, they should have reported it. Col. Crofton is blamed in army circles for allowing such a condition of affairs to exist as made it possible for the feud to be carried on without being officially brought to his notice.

The trial of Lieut. Maney is expected to reveal the inside workings of a wide army circle for the last twenty years. The trouble between the Lieutenant and Capt. Hedberg began as far back as 1873 at Fort Buford, Dak., and the tragedy at Fort Sheridan was the natural outcome of it. It is a story of petty slights and persecutions, charges of theft, dishonor, and court-martial, then Congressional interference, more persecutions, and finally death. All this, and more, is expected to come out at the trial soon to take place.

District-Attorney Milchrist has been charged with apathy in the prosecution of Maney. Mrs. Hedberg said Mr. Milchrist told her it was with reluctance he prosecuted the case, because "Maney is a handsome young fellow, and it would be a shame to ruin his life."

Mr. Milchrist emphatically denied having made the statement.

Article in The New York Times,
May 14, 1894

To Probe an Army Scandal

Lieut. Maney to be Tried by Court-Martial.

He Killed Capt. Hedberg and Was Acquitted of Murder in a Civil Court — His Victim Said to Have Been Ostracized by His Brother Officers at Fort Snelling — All the Facts to be Developed in the Court-Martial and Action Taken on Them.

Washington, May 13. — There has been no case which has excited so much general comment in the army as the forthcoming trial by a court-martial, at Fort Snelling, Minn., of Lieut. J. A. Maney, Fifteenth Infantry. The trial is the result of the killing of Capt. Hedberg, Maney's superior officer, at Fort Sheridan, near Chicago. Maney was acquitted of the charge of murder by a civil court, and the defense will introduce before the military court in bar of trial this previous inquiry and verdict.

Col. Barr, the Judge Advocate, at Governors Island, will conduct the prosecution, and has a mass of information to combat the contention of Maney. There is no lack of precedent in favor of Col. Barr's argument, for there have been innumerable occasions where soldiers and officers have been tried by court-martial after the civil court had tried and acquitted the accused. Maney's trial has more to do with the breach of discipline in the killing of Capt. Hedberg than with the act itself.

It is not the trial of Maney alone that stimulates interest, however. There is in the War Department a long and startling report from an Inspector, Col. Burton, detailed some weeks ago by Secretary Lamont to inquire into the state of affairs at Fort Sheridan. Following the shooting of Capt. Hedberg, there was much talk of unsoldierly conduct at Fort Sheridan. Gossip went so far as to suggest a combination of officers of the Fifteenth Infantry to ostracize Capt. Hedberg, and it was intimated that the unpopularity of the officer led to the assault which ended in his death. Col. Burton's report is known to have contained information which may call for inquiry into the affairs of the post, and the conduct of some of the officers of the regiment.

Hedberg had been dismissed from the army years ago upon a charge which the President believed to have been unfounded. During Mr. Cleveland's first Administration he reappointed Hedberg to his old regiment and the Senate confirmed the nomination. When Hedberg reported at Sheridan, it was said, he was not received by most of the families of officers with whom he must associate officially. For a long time Capt. Hedberg and his wife lived with few speaking friends at the post, and during that time there was trouble between officers and general discontent at the presence of Hedberg. The shooting of Hedberg while he was on his way to his quarters with his arms full of bundles, the refusal of Col. Crofton to allow the widow to see the body of her husband, the order from the same source prohibiting the women of the post from attending the funeral, were told here recently to Secretary Lamont by Mrs. Hedberg.

Col. Crofton has a splendid record as a soldier. An officer of the War Department who served under him in war times says he is an ideal soldier, but according to Mrs. Hedberg's story and the reports which have come to Secretary Lamont from other sources, he has been arbitrary in some matters.

The feeling against Col. Crofton on account of some of his acts may be explicable, as the assertions affecting him come from people naturally prejudiced, and Col. Crofton will be given an opportunity to explain the matter. The President takes a personal interest in the Maney trial and the inquiry which is proposed into the affairs of the Fifteenth Infantry. He detailed the court, which will meet at Fort Snelling, and evidently means to sift to the bottom the charges affecting the regiment. It is said that he will find out whether it is true that combinations may be formed against army officers, after the manner alleged to have been established at Sheridan. There is much talk naturally of the result which would follow the proving of the assertions which are made against the officers at that post. One contemplates the retirement of the regimental commander, another is the assignment of the Captains to other regiments, a third is to send the companies to other posts,​f and it is said that these suggestions are even under consideration at the department.

Article in The Illustrated American,
June 16, 1894

 p693  The Maney-Hedberg Court Martial

The court-martial appointed to try Lieut. J. A. Maney, of the Fifteenth United States Infantry, at Fort Snelling, Minn., on what is practically a charge of murdering a brother officer, has given rise to a most interesting point of law. The point is whether a man, having been tried and acquitted on a charge of murder by a jury of his peers, may have his life placed in jeopardy a second time on the same charge.

Lieutenant Maney was indicted for the murder of Capt. Alfred Hedberg, and, after a trial in a United States District Court, was acquitted. A court-martial was then appointed to try him on what, as we have stated, is practically the same charge. His counsel applied to the United States Court, at St. Paul, to secure a writ of prohibition against the court-martial, on the ground that a United States Court, a court superior to the court-martial, had declared the accused innocent of the very charges on which that court-martial intended to try him. Lieutenant-Colonel Barr, Judge-Advocate, argued that courts-martial were not a part of the judicial system of the United States, and that the civil courts had no authority to issue an order to a military court to stop its proceedings ordered by the Commander-in‑Chief of the army — that is, the President of the  p684 Republic. The St. Paul court refused to restrain the court-martial from proceeding with the trial.

If Lieutenant Maney shall be convicted of murder — the decision will have probably been reached before this appears in print — and is sentenced to confinement in a military prison, an appeal for a writ of habeas corpus will be made to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Capt. Alfred Hedberg was a Swede by birth. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the United States army and succeeded in gaining his commission.

Now, wrong though it may be, there is a very strong feeling among the commissioned officers of every army, whether it be that of a republic or that of a monarchy, against the admission of "rankers" into their sacred circle. When Alfred Hedberg, in 1873, received his commission in the Fifteenth Infantry, then quartered at Fort Buford, N. D., he found, to his bitter cost, that this was the case; and his lot was far from being a happy one. He had not been many years an officer before charges of embezzlement and lying were brought against him. He was tried in a New Mexico court, convicted, and dismissed from the service. He then drifted to San Francisco, where he became a broker and married a very handsome young woman, some twenty years his junior. To wipe out the disgrace of having been turned out of the United States army, on what he considered false charges, became his one object in life. He accepted a clerkship in Washington, D. C., in the hope of being able to get a bill passed in Congress restoring him to his former position. After some years the bill was passed and signed by President Cleveland in 1889, and Captain Hedberg was sent back to his old regiment at Fort Buford, a fact that does not speak well for the tact of the War Department officials at Washington. At first none of the officers nor officers' wives would call upon the Hedbergs. The Captain was ignored by his Colonel and snubbed by everyone. Later he was more kindly treated, but he and his wife were being continually reminded of the awkwardness of their position, which was not improved by the irascibility of Hedberg's temper.

In the spring of 1891 the Fifteenth moved to Fort Sheridan, Chicago. Here Captain Hedberg complained that the men attached to the fort refused to salute him. There appears to be no doubt, too, that they made insulting remarks in his hearing about his foreign birth and accent, having taken their cue from the other officers. It did not improve Captain Hedberg's temper to hear rumors of the marked attention paid to his pretty wife by his brother officer, Lieut. J. A. Maney — a Southerner by birth and son of the ex‑Consul to Uruguay and Paraguay. The relations between Hedberg and Maney became very strained, and it was an open secret that each was waiting for an opportunity to "get the drop" on the other. So disgraceful was the state of discipline at Fort Sheridan that no official notice was taken of this.

On the thirtieth of last October Captain Hedberg was passing the cavalry stables with a bundle of parcels under his right arm. He met Lieutenant Maney and they began quarrelling over some trifling matter. Maney kicked Hedberg, who, having lately broken his left wrist, shifted his parcels to his left arm and struck his opponent with his right fist. The two grappled. Maney fired a forty-five calibre cavalry revolver, which he had in his hand, and Hedberg fell to the ground wounded in the groin. Twenty minutes later he was dead, and it was not till some minutes after his death that his widow was notified of the fact.

Every effort was made to hush the matter up, the Colonel of the fort even going so far as to try and persuade Mrs. Hedberg not to prosecute the case. She did, however, and Lieutenant Maney was indicted on the charge of murder. He was tried at Chicago and, as already stated, was acquitted.

Colonel Mason, President Colonel Bates, 2d Regiment Lieutenant-Colonel Hawkins, 23d Infantry Lieutenant-Colonel Kellogg, 5th Infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel Randall, 8th Infantry. Major Wirt Davis, 5th Cavalry. Captain H. Brown, 12th Infantry. Colonel Byrne, Surgeon-General. Lieutenant-Colonel Bache, Medical Department Lieutenant-Colonel Kent, 18th Infantry Major Hamilton, 3d Cavalry Captain Forse, 1st Cavalry Captain Woodworth, 10th Cavalry. Colonel Barr, Judge-Advocate Diagram showing positions of officers composing the court as shown on page 685.

General Orders
No. 28

hqrs of the Army, Adjutant General's Office Washington, August 3, 1894. I. Before a general court-martial which convened at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, pursuant to Special Orders, No. 103, May 2, 1894, Hqrs of the Army, Adjutant General's Office, and of which Colonel Edwin C. Mason, 3d Infantry, was president, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas F. Barr, Deputy Judge Advocate General, was judge-advocate, with arraigned and tried —

1st Lieutenant James A. Maney, 15th Infantry.

Charge. — "Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline."

Specification — "In that 1st Lieutenant James A. Maney, 15th Infantry, United States Army, did wrongfully engage in an altercation and scuffle with his superior officer, Captain Alfred Hedberg, of the same regiment, and did use insulting language toward him, and did violently assault and kick him, the aid Hedberg, and did draw and point a pistol upon and at him, and did further actually shoot him, said Hedberg, causing his death. This at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, on October 30, 1893."

Additional Charge. — "Conduct to the prejudice of general order and military discipline."

Specification. — "In that 1st Lieutenant James A. Maney, 15th Infantry, having on the 2d day of October, 1893, engaged in a quarrel with Captain Alfred Hedberg, 15th Infantry, during which angry and provoking words were exchanged, and, as alleged by said Maney, the said Hedberg did threaten to kill him, said Maney, he, the said Maney, did on or about the following day, to wit: the 3d day of October, 1893, address the said Hedberg a grossly disrespectful and insulting letter, in tenor and form as follows:

and did cause said letter to be delivered at the private quarters of said Hedberg with the intent to manifest gross disrespect toward and insult the said Hedberg. This at Fort Sheridan, Illinois."

Plea.

To the specification, "Not guilty."

To the charge, "Not guilty."

Additional Charge.

To the Specification, "Guilty, to the facts alleged in aid specification except as to the words 'having *** engaged in a quarrel with Captain Alfred Hedberg, 15th Infantry, during which angry and provoking words were exchanged, and, as alleged by said Maney, and except as to the words 'grosly disrespectful and insulting,' and except as to the words 'with the intent to manifest gross disrespect toward and insult the said Hedberg.' And to the excepted words not guilty."

To the Charge, "Not guilty."

Finding.

Of the Specification, "Guilty, except the words 'did wrongfully engage in an altercation and scuffle with his superior officer, Captain Alfred Hedberg, of the same regiment, and did use insulting language toward him, and did violently assault and kick him, the said Hedberg, and.' Of the excepted words not guilty; and the court attaches no criminality to the specification as modified."

Of the Charge, "Not guilty." Additional Charge.

Of the Specification, "Guilty."

Of the Charge, "Guilty."

Sentence.

And the court does therefore sentence him, 1st Lieutenant James A. Maney, 15th Infantry, "To be reprimanded in general orders." The court is thus lenient on account of the great provocation for the writing and sending of the letter referred to as disclosed in the evidence.

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II. The record of the proceedings of the general court-martial in the foregoing case of 1st Lieutenant James A. Maney, 15th Infantry, having been forwarded for the action of the President, the following are the orders in the case:

III. 1st Lieutenant James A. Maney, 15th Infantry, is released from arrest and restored to duty.

By command of Major General Schofield: Geo. D. Ruggles,

Adjutant General.

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Thayer's Notes:

a As the later articles on this page report, including a later article in the same newspaper, the Officer of the Day was in fact Capt. Chapin.

b The post returns read Treggett, and the Chicago Tribune of April 17 and April 19, 1894 report his name correctly, and further state that he was serving with the 17th Infantry.

c Our reporter misread his notes, I think: there was no officer in the Army at that time by the name of Eitel, neither a lieutenant nor of any other rank. The man, according to post returns graciously dug up for me by John Stanton of FortWiki, was one of the prisoners, Private Lionel L. Eitel: it's easy to see how Lionel or even an abbreviated Lio. would have been read later as Lieut.

d The entire sentence is grossly inaccurate. James Maney's father was George Earl Maney. He was not a West Point graduate; and although he served briefly as a lieutenant in the Federal army in the Mexican War, he achieved distinction not as a Federal, but as a Confederate general. The article goes on to state that he served as Minister to Brazil, which I can't confirm, although I find online pages making him ambassador to Colombia, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

e More inaccuracy. There was nothing particularly brilliant about the Class of 1877, although it was the largest class up to its time; and although graduation from the Military Academy is nothing to sneeze at — the standards for selection and the attrition rate are both high — Cadet Maney can hardly be said to have graduated with high honors: his final class standing was 72nd of 76.

f The Fifteenth does in fact seem to have been transferred as a unit to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., but only in 1896; the 1895 court-martial and dismissal of Lt. Samuel S. Pague — also for murderous assault on his commanding officer — may conceivably have had something to do with it, as the last straw in the bad local reputation of the unit.

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