Scapegoats : thirteen victims of military injustice

316 Pages·2015·3.98 MB·English

by  Michael Scott

First Skyhorse Publishing edition © 2015
Text © Michael Scott 2013
First published 2013 by Elliott and Thompson Limited 27 John Street, London WC1N 2BX
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Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220801-9
Printed in the United States of America
‘And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats;
one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring
the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the
goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the
Lord, to make atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the
wilderness.’
Leviticus 16:7–10
By the same author
(With David Rooney)
In Love and War: The Lives of General Sir Harry and Lady Smith
CONTENTS
Foreword by Magnus Linklater
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Captain Jahleel Brenton Carey
The Killing of the Prince Imperial June 1879
2. Captain Charles McVay
The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis July 1945
3. Admiral John Byng
‘Pour encourager les autres’
March 1757
4. Captain Alfred Dreyfus
J’accuse
October 1894
5. Lieutenant General James ‘Pete’ Longstreet
The ‘Old War Horse’ of Gettysburg July 1863
6. Lance Corporal Robert Jesse Short
Mutiny at Étaples
October 1917
7. Major General Jackie Smyth VC MC
Disaster of the Sittang Bridge February 1942
8. Lieutenant General Sir Charles Warren GCMG KCB
‘Scapegoat-in-Chief of the Army in South Africa’
January 1900
9. Brigadier George Taylor DSO and Bar
The Battle of Maryang San
October 1951
10. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bevan