Beckwith v. Bean

98 U.S. 266, 25 L. Ed. 124, 1878 U.S. LEXIS 1386

Opinions

Me. Justice Harlan

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an action by Andrew J. Bean against Beckwith and Henry, plaintiffs in error, for assault and battery and false imprisonment. It was commenced in the year 1865, in the County Court of Orange County, Vermont, and was tbenee removed for trial into the Circuit Court of the United States for that district. The defendants pleaded not guilty, and also filed several special pleas. At a former term, the case was brought to this court upon a certificate of division in opinion between the circuit and the district judge as to the sufficiency of some of those special pleas. We adjudged them to be defective. 18 Wall. 615. Upon a return of the case to the court below, a trial under the plea of not guilty resulted in a verdict in Bean’s favor for $15,000. Judgment having been rendered thereon against the defendants, this writ of error is prosecuted.

Before entering upon the discussion of the legal propositions presented for our determination, it is necessary to state the leading facts out of which this litigation arose, and which the evidence before the jury tended to establish.

Bean, the defendant in error, was, in June, 1864, a resident of Coaticoke, in the Dominión of Canada. His ordinary business was that of a harness-maker, but during the period hereinafter referred to he was, to some extent, engaged in the business of substitute brokerage, or in furnishing substitutes for our army. Henry and Beckwith, plaintiffs in error, were officers of the Union army, the former being provost-marshal and the latter assistant provost-marshal of the second congressional district of Vermont. They were appointed, commissioned, and sworn, as required by the statute popularly known as the Conscription Act of Congress, and were subordinates of General Pitcher, who was acting assistant provost-marshal-general for Vermont until October, 1864, when he was succeeded by Major William Austine. All of said officers and subordinates were subject to the authority of Major-General Dix, commanding, by appointment of President Lincoln, the department of the East, which embraced the State of Vermont.

On the 14th of June, 1864, Bean, accompanied by one Jewell and one Buckland, came from Canada to the headquarters of Captains Henry and Beckwith at Woodstock, Vt. They were accompanied by Eldon Brown and John Guptil. Before leaving Canada, Bean had a contract with Brown that the latter should come to the United States and enlist in our army as a substitute for persons drafted under the Conscription Act. In that contract Buckland had an interest, by stipulation with Bean. While at Woodstock, these five persons occupied the same room. Bean, Buckland, and Jewell proposed to, or through, one J. C. Stevens to enlist Brown and Guptil as substitutes; and thereupon an agreement was made, whereby Stevens was to pay Bean and his associates $600 for Brown and Guptil each, the proposed substitutes to receive out of that sum $200 each. Brown and Guptil, upon examination, were accepted and clothed in the uniform of soldiers, receiving $200 each from Stevens, while Bean, Jewell, and Buckland received $800 between them, and returned the same day to Canada. For the purpose, doubtless, of guarding against immediate desertion, Brown and Guptil were required by the provost-marshal to deposit their bounty with a clerk in the office, as security for their departure, on the following evening, to the recruiting rendezvous at New Haven, Conn. During the next day, each obtained five dollars of their bounty-money, and the same day deserted. On the 23d of June, 1864,. all the facts and circumstances connected with the enlistment and desertion of Brown and Guptil were verbally communicated by Captain Henry in person to General Pitcher, who directed that transportation to the northern border of Vermont be furnished to Captain Beckwith, with instructions to arrest the deserters, as well as Bean, Jewell, and Buckland, and bring them to headquarters. Transportation being furnished to Beckwith in pursuance of that order, he endeavored, under written instructions from Captain Henry, to effect the arrest of the parties; but his efforts in that direction were fruitless, until Nov. 11, 1864, when, meeting Bean upon the cars, he arrested him, using no more force than necessary. He informed him at the time that he had no warrant, but was acting under military order, and that the charge against him was that of aiding and abetting Brown and Guptil to desert. Upon the succeeding day, Bean was taken to Captain Henry’s headquarters, and by his order was placed in the State prison at Windsor, — that being the usual place for confinement of persons charged with offences against military law, — and he remained there in custody until April, 1865, when he was discharged, under the circumstances hereafter detailed.

The testimony of Bean tended to show that his confinement was prolonged unnecessarily, not only under circumstances of ■humiliation and severity, but against his protestation of innocence and frequent demands to be tried, by the civil courts, for the offence imputed to him. It further tended to show that such confinement without trial was procured or caused by the plaintiffs in error, and that among the results of such imprisonment was the. destruction of his business in Canada, the loss of property, and the expenditure of large sums of money.

Upon the part of the plaintiffs in error, the evidence tended to show that, from the circumstances and such information as they were able to obtain, they each believed, before and at the time of Bean’s arrest, that the enlistment and desertion of Brown and Guptil were in pursuance of a previous plan for that purpose formed between the deserters and Bean, Jewell, and Buckland, and that Bean and his associates aided and abetted in such desertion and escape; that, on 20th November, 1864, Captain Henry embodied in his regular tri-monthly report to the provost-marshal-general at Washington a general statement of Bean’s arrest upon the charge of “ taking part of the money paid for two substitutes,” and then “ being privy to their desertion,” and that he was held for the return of the $800; that, on the 8th of December, Bean wrote to Major Austine, inquiring whether report of his case had been made to him, which letter was referred to Captain Henry for “ report on the case; ” that, on the 13th of December, Captain Henry made such report, and had delayed a report until that date by the request of Bean; that, on December 16, Captain Henry, by direction of Major Austine, furnished Bean a written statement of the charges against him, and saying, “And it is claimed that you shall pay for the use of the government the $800, with the expense of your arrest; ” that, on 20th December, he communicated to Major Austine other facts in the case; that, on 21st December, he again, by written communication, called the attention of Major Austine to the case, expressing the opinion that the evidence then in his possession was insufficient to convict Bean in the civil courts under the Enrolment Act, and suggesting that he be turned over to General Dix or the military authority, rather than to the district attorney; that, on 3d January, 1865, Major Austine was officially advised, from department headquarters, that the case of Bean and his confederates was one of gross fraud upon the government, and authorizing him to collect from them, either individually or collectively, the amount received by them; to take all necessary steps for the arrest of the parties then at large, and keep them in custody until the money and expenses of their arrest were paid, and to discharge them when the money was paid over, — of which order Bean was advised on 6th January, 1865; that, on 21st January, Bean addressed, through Major Austine, a communication to General Dix, protesting his innocence, complaining of Major Austine, and demanding trial before the civil courts ; that, on 24th January, an answer came from department headquarters, reiterating the condition of Bean’s discharge as set forth in the order of January 3, and directing Major Austine “ to cause Bean to be distinctly informed that he was arrested by orders from these headquarters; ” that, on 24th February, Major Austine sent all his papers to department headquarters, and they were transmitted to the adjutant-general of the army at Washington, with an indorsement by General Dix, that “ Bean was held by mine (his) orders for complicity in a gross fraud against the United States; ” that the papers were returned to Major Austine in April, after passing through the offices of Secretary of War, adjutant-general, judge-advocate-general, provost-marshal, and inspector-general, with directions that Bean be turned over to the civil authorities for trial; that, upon receiving the order last mentioned, Captain Henry called the attention of the district attorney to its provisions, and invited his attention to the case; that, on 26th April, 1865, Bean was taken before a justice of the peace, who discharged him upon bond for his appearance before a United States commissioner when called upon; that, on 11th May, 1865, an examining trial was held, and Bean required to give bail for his appearance to answer any indictment before the grand jury, but that tribunal, upon investigation, failed to find an indictment against him.

It is stated in the bill of exceptions that the plaintiffs in error gave no other or further evidence, either oral or written, of any orders from the President of the United States, or their superior officers, than those just described; that the defendants and General Pitcher were examined as witnesses, and did not claim that said orders had been issued, known to, or approved by the President.

The evidence of plaintiffs in error tended to show that, while imprisoned, Bean was treated humanely; that Beckwith,in all he did, in regard to the arrest and confinement of Bean, acted in good faith and under the command of his superior officer, Captain Henry; that the latter, in all he did, acted in good faith and in obedience to the orders of his superior officers, as hereinbefore detailed; and that from time to time he promptly communicated to Bean the orders he received from his superior officers.

During the trial, the plaintiffs in error offered in evidence the depositions of George W. Kinney and of said Jewell and Brown, to the reading of which the defendant in error objected. The objection was sustained, and plaintiffs in error excepted.

Kinney, in his deposition, details the substance of a conversation held by him with Bean after the latter’s discharge. He says: “ I was talking with him in regard to this matter, asking if he didn’t think it rather rough to be taking those fellows over the other side to get shot, or words to that effect. He replied, he didn’t calculate to have them shot; if they were smart, he should have them back in a few days.” Witness says that there were a good many persons in Canada, during the war, who were generally known as deserters from the Federal army, and he understood from Bean that his dealings, to some extent, were with that class, and that some persons enlisted by him “ had been out already two or three times.”

The deposition of Brown shows that in July, 1863, he enlisted in the State of Maine in the Federal army, and within a short time thereafter deserted, and went to Canada; that Bean and others, who, as he thought, knew him to be a deserter, suggested that he should return to the United States and enlist ; that, in consequence of the hard times, he concluded to adopt the suggestion; that, after advising with Jewell upon the subject, the latter told him to go on, and he would overtake him upon the road; that he learned at the same time from Jewell that one Isaac Thomas would be sent along with him; that en route to Vermont to enlist, Buckland overtook them, and claimed him (Brown) “ as his man ; ” that farther along in the journey Bean joined the party, and held a conversation with Jewell and Buckland apart from the witness ; that there was conversation in the crowd about Thomas and himself enlisting under assumed names; that he concluded not to change his, but Thomas assumed the name of John Guptil; that it was first determined to enlist at Lebanon, and for that purpose Bean, Jewell, and Buckland went to the provost-marshal’s office at that place, but failing to enlist there, they all proceeded to Woodstock, where they did enlist.

The deposition of Jewell shows that he was himself a deserter. He details the circumstances under vdiich Bean, Buckland, and himself formed the purpose to place Brown and Guptil as substitutes in the army. It appears in his deposition that some dispute arose between Buckland and Bean about Brown. Bean insisted that Brown “belonged ” to him. Their differences were compromised by an agreement “to divide the profits if they put him in.” He explains why Brown and Guptil were not enlisted at Lebanon. He says, “ We all went from White River Junction to Lebanon, where the provost-marshal’s office was, to see what we could get for the men. Not succeeding to our satisfaction there, we concluded to go elsewhere. The reason was they were shipping their men daily direct to Concord. Brown did not want to go to the front so soon, but wanted longer time to get away, he not designing to go to the front at all; went back to White River Junction; took dinner there. We fell in with a man by the name of Stevens. This man was buying men, and said he would give so much for them there, or something more to take them to Woodstock and put them in. We concluded the best way was to take them to Woodstock. We procured a team at the junction. . . . When we came to Woodstock, Bean, Buckland, and myself went to the provost-marshal’s office first, and afterwards all went there, but did not enlist the men, for the reason that the men could not get their bounty till they got to camp, and they would not enlist. We drove back to White River Junction; saw Stevens again; 1 think he gave them some money, can’t tell how much, to go back to Wood stock and enlist. After they (Brown and Thomas) had received the money, they started to Woodstock the second time with Stevens. I remained at the junction. My being subject to the service, Bean and Buckland advised me to remain there, and they would do the business of enlisting the men at Woodstock. Next day they came back, and we all — Bean, Buckland, and myself — took the train for Canada. I had received nothing out of the bounty before that from Thomas. They said they would fix me all right when we got home. After we got home, I said something to them about it. They said they had nothing for me, that I was lucky to get back myself. ... I knew from both Brown and Thomas, before we left Canada, they were deserters. It was distinctly understood by us all, including Brown and Buckland, that both Brown and Thomas were deserters, and that was the reason why we were selecting other names by which they were to be enlisted. At least that was the way I understood it, and supposed all understood it so.”

Upon the conclusion of the evidence, the court overruled a motion of plaintiffs in error to dismiss the action, refused to instruct the jury as asked by them, and gave an elaborate charge upon the evidence and the law of the case.

The action of the court below in excluding the depositions of Kinney, Brown, and Jewell presents the first question for our consideration. Counsel for defendant in error contends that the facts stated in those depositions are not admissible for any purpose, not even in mitigation of damages.

There can be no rational doubt that the facts detailed by those witnesses, in connection with the evidence before the jury, conduced to show that Brown and Guptil were, at the time of their enlistment as substitutes, known to Bean, Jewell, and Buckland to be deserters from the Federal army, and that Bean, in conjunction with his associates, enlisted them in pursuance of an understanding had before leaving Canada, that they would desert as soon as they received their bounty, and that in such desertion they would receive all the aid which Bean and his associates could render. We express no opinion as to the degree of credit to which these witnesses were entitled. Nor do we say that the jury should have reached the conclusion which their evidence conduced to establish, viz., that Bean was, in fact, guilty of the offence for which he was arrested by Beckwith, under the written and verbal orders of his superior officers, — an offence punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding $500, and imprisonment not exceeding two years nor less than six months. 12 Stat. 735. Was the excluded evidence competent for any purpose in this case ? We are of opinion that it was competent in mitigation of damages. It tended to show the state of case which plaintiffs in error testify under oath they believed in good faith existed at the time of the arrest. It conduced to show that plaintiffs in error did not act from mere personal ill-will or from corrupt motives, and were not guilty of a wanton, reckless exercise of power for the mere purpose of humiliating and oppressing one who had not become obnoxious to the laws of the land. It tended to rebut the presumption of malice which might arise from the simple arrest and imprisonment, unaccompanied by any explanation of the reasons therefor. In connection with evidence which was admitted without objection, it seems to present a case which, under the law, did not call for or admit of vindictive or punitory damages against the plaintiffs in error. In determining whether the case demanded such damages, the jury had the right to consider all the attendant facts and circumstances out of which the arrest and imprisonment arose. They could not well ignore the important fact that the arrest occurred at a period in the country’s history when the intensest public anxiety for the fate of the Union peryaded all classes. The necessities of the government and the condition of the army had compelled the adoption of the most stringent and, in some respects, harassing regulations for an increase of the national forces. The enforcement of those regulations, in some localities, was made the occasion of tumultuous assemblages which threatened to disturb the peace of the country, at a time when the utmost energy and unity of action were required for the preservation of the government against armed insurrection. Citizens drafted were required to enter the military service, or furnish acceptable substitutes. The plaintiffs in error were charged with delicate and important duties in connection with the enlistment and enrolment of substitutes for that service. It is to be presumed that, independent of the desire to discharge the obligations of their official oaths, they shared the prevailing anxiety for the safety of the government, and recognized the fact that its safety depended upon speedy additions to the army then engaged in defending it. Neither evidence nor argument is needed to prove that the efforts of the government to strengthen the national forces by draft would have been seriously retarded, and perhaps altogether thwarted, if substitute brokers could, with impunity, and for purposes of private gain, impose fraudulent enlistments upon recruiting officers, and then connive at or aid and abet the desertion of the substitutes as soon as they had received their bounty-money. Whether such considerations influenced, or to what extent they should have influenced, the course of plaintiffs in error was for the jury, when determining whether punishment by exemplary damages should be inflicted. Further, if Captain Henry in good faith believed that Bean was guilty of such misconduct in the enlistment of the two deserters, it was his duty to communicate the facts and circumstances to his superior officer. If the order to Beckwith to arrest Bean was given by him in good faith, believing it to be his duty to obey the command of his superior officer, General Pitcher; if Beckwith executed the order under a like belief, and in like good faith; if the arrest was made and the imprisonment ordered from an honest purpose to guard the public interests and protect the army from the evil consequences of sham enlistments and frequent desertions, — they were entitled, by every consideration of justice, to stand before the jury in a more favorable light upon the question of damages than they would or should have stood had they been actuated by ill-will or sought to oppress one whose conduct had not justified the conclusion that he had violated any law. Every fact, therefore, which served to illustrate the motives which governed the plaintiffs in error in committing the trespasses complained of, and every fact which fairly conduced to prove the existence or non-existence of just grounds for imputing to Bean the fraudulent and illegal acts charged against him, and which were assigned as the cause of his arrest, were competent evidence, not in justification, but in mitigation of damages. It is the settled doctrine that “ damages are graduated by the intent of the party committing the wrong.” Sedg wick, Damages, 455. It is equally well settled that in the absence of gross fraud, malice, or oppression, in cases of trespass to person or estate, the jury should restrict damages to compensation or satisfaction for the actual injuries sustained. Sedgwick, Damages, 39; Day v. Woodworth et al., 13 How. 361. They may, when legal justification is not shown, consider the direct expenses incurred by the injured party, his loss of time, his bodily sufferings, under some circumstances his mental agony, his loss of reputation, the degree of indignity involved in the wrong done, and the consequent public disgrace attending the injury. These and similar elements of injury may be made the basis of compensation, and such compensation cannot be diminished by reason of good motives upon the part of the wrong-doer. But when the injured party seeks, as here, to show a case of “ great aggravation, cnielty, and injustice,” and upon that ground asks for exemplary or vindictive damages, by way of punishment, it was competent, in reduction of such vindictive damages, and for the purpose of restricting the jury to compensatory damages, to give in evidence such facts and circumstances connected with the injury complained of as might show the truth of the whole case, as it existed at the time of arrest. In Day v. Wood-worth (supra), this court said that the question of smart-naoney “ has always been left to the discretion of the jury, as the degree of punishment to be thus inflicted must depend upon the peculiar circumstances of each case; ” that is, “ upon the degree of malice, wantonness, oppression, or outrage of the defendant’s conduct.” Hence it has been held that, where the injury complained of was an arrest without warrant, the defendant could show, in mitigation of damages, and as explaining the arrest, that the plaintiff was justly suspected of felony. 2 Greenl. Evid., sect. 267; 3 Phillips, Evid. 518. The text in Greenleaf seems to rest partly upon the authority of Chinn v. Morris, 1 Ry. & M. 424, and Simpson v. McCaffrey, 13 Ohio, 508. The first case was trespass for an assault and false imprisonment. The defendant had given the plaintiff in charge to a constable for felony, and he was taken by the officer to a magistrate, who dismissed the charge. The defendant admitted, on the trial, that he had not sufficient evidence to sustain the charge of felony, but proposed to show that there •was reasonable ground of suspicion. Best, C. J., held the evidence admissible in reduction of damages. That case was cited, with approval, in Linford v. Lake, 3 H. & N. 276. The case in 13 Ohio was trespass for illegally entering and searching plaintiff’s house, tearing up porch, ransacking house, and breaking open desk, without legal authority. Certain evidence was offered hi justification as well as in mitigation of damages. The court said: “ The evidence ruled out by the justice of the peace, as shown by the bill of exceptions, in no sense constituted a justification of the trespass complained of. But it was competent in mitigation of damages. The principle of permitting damages, in certain cases, to go beyond naked compensation, is for example, and the punishment of the guilty party for the wicked, corrupt, and malignant motive and design which prompted him to the wrongful act. A trespass may be committed from a mistaken notion of power, and from an honest motive to accomplish some good end. But the law tolerates no such abuse of power, nor excuses such act; yet, in morals and the eye of the law, there is a vast difference between the criminality of a person acting mistakenly from a worthy motive, and one committing the same act from a wanton and malignant spirit, and with a corrupt and wicked design. Hence, when a jury are called upon to give smart-money or damages, beyond compensation, to punish the party guilty of the wrongful act, any evidence which would show this difference, or rather all the facts and circumstances which tend to explain or disclose the motives and design of the party committing the wrongful act, are evidence which should go to the jury for their due consideration.”

To the same effect is Roth v. Smith, 54 Ill. 432. That was an action to recover damages for having advised and procured, upon affidavit, the arrest and imprisonment of the plaintiff, by a Federal officer, upon the charge of discouraging enlistments. Evidence was admitted, against the objection of the plaintiff, that he had in fact discouraged enlistments; and upon appeal to the Supreme Court of Illinois that evidence was held to be competent in reduction of damages, upon the ground that it explained the circumstances of the alleged arrest, and tended to show that the defendant was not actuated by malice. That court, speaking through Chief Justice Lawrence, said : “ Admitting that on proof of these facts the plaintiff would Inn e been entitled to a verdict for some amount, he certainly would not have been entitled to nearly as large a sum in the way of damages, if the affidavit was true, as he should have received if it had not been true. If the affidavit was not true, and if the arrest was by procurement of defendant, the jury should presume malice, and award heavy vindictive damages. If the affidavit in fact was true, and the jury could see that the defendant, in making it, even though he voluntarily furnished it to the marshal and advised the arrest of the plaintiff, was acting without malice and in the belief that the public good required the arrest of the plaintiff, and that he could be legally arrested, and that, in causing his arrest, so far as the defendant could be said to cause it, he believed himself to be in the performance of his duty as a citizen, it would clearly, in such a case, be the duty of the jury to give only compensatory and not vindictive damages.”

In McCall v. McDowell (1 Deady, 283), which was an action for false imprisonment brought by McCall against General McDowell, it appeared in evidence that the plaintiff had, in gross and incendiary language, expressed exultation at the assassination of President Lincoln, for which conduct he was arrested and imprisoned under the orders of General McDowell. While this conduct did not, in the opinion of the learned judge trying the case, furnish legal justification for the arrest and imprisonment, it was competent evidence, in mitigation of damages, to go to the jury to show that the arrest was without bad motive, and with the purpose of discharging what the defendant, in the execution of high and responsible public functions, conceived, in good faith, to be his duty at a critical period in the country’s history.

A case in point is Bolts v. Williams, 17 B. Mon. (Ky.) 687. That was an action for trespass and false imprisonment. It appeared that the defendants, without warrant, and in violation of the laws of Kentucky regulating the apprehension and detention of fugitives from other States, arrested the plaintiff in that State and took him to Ohio, from which State it was alleged he was a fugitive from justice, having committed a felony there. The defendants, under the plea of not guilty, offered to prove the declarations of the plaintiff that he had committed a felony in Ohio, and that a reward had been offered for his apprehension. It was held that while such declarations did not establish justification for the apprehension and transportation of the plaintiff beyond the State, they were “ admissible in mitigation of damages, as conducing to show that the defendants, in making the arrest, were prompted by honest motives and no ill-will to the plaintiff.”

The same general doctrine is announced in Mr. Mayne’s Treatise on the Law of Damages. That author says: “ Of course, in all cases where motive may be a ground of aggravation, evidence on this score will also be admissible in reduction of damages. Hence, in an action for false imprisonment, evidence may be given of a reasonable suspicion that the plaintiff had been guilty of a felony, without any attempt at setting up a justification.” Says the same author: “And if the plaintiff was giyen in custody for an offence not justifying an arrest, evidence may be given of the offence. It is in the nature of an apology for the defendant’s conduct.” Mayne, Damages, pp. 74, 75.

Further citation of authority seems to be unnecessary. The rules announced in the authorities cited meet our approval, and we are not referred to any elementary treatise or adjudged case which states the law differently. It results that the court below erred in sustaining objections to the reading of the depositions of Kinney, Brown, and Jewell. The reasons assigned for their exclusion were insufficient. The court, in excluding them, said that it did so “ upon the ground that the guilt or innocence of said Bean was not a question for the determination of the jury, but that all the facts and circumstances which were known to the defendants, or with which they in any way became acquainted prior to the imprisonment, could be admitted for the purpose of rebutting malice and showing that they acted in good faith ; but that they could not give in evidence circumstances of which they had never heard until after the commencement of this suit.” It is true that the guilt or innocence of Bean was not for the determination of the jury, for the purpose of inflicting punishment for the offence imputed to him. But, as already shown, it was the right of the plaintiffs in error to prove, in mitigation of damages, that tbey were governed, in their whole conduct, by a sense of public duty, and not by a malignant purpose to oppress and humiliate the defendant in error. It was their right to show that the truth of the case, as it actually existed at the time of arrest, sustained the belief under which they acted.

Such a right would, however, be valueless, and such proof impossible, if the jury were not allowed to inquire whether there were, in fact, just grounds to charge upon Bean the fraudulent and illegal acts which were assigned as the reason for his arrest. The existence or non-existence of such grounds might materially influence the mind of the jury in determining whether the plaintiffs in error acted from a sense of duty, or from malice and sheer wantonness. If evidence of an honest belief, upon the part of plaintiffs in error, that Bean was privy to the desertion of the substitutes was competent in mitigation of vindictive damages, proof that he was, in fact, guilty of that offence would serve to show that such belief was not recklessly or inconsiderately formed, and that “ the charge was not a pure invention.” Linford v. Lake, supra. The fact of Bean’s complicity in the desertion of Brown and Guptil was believed, in good faith, by Henry and Beckwith to exist when the arrest and imprisonment occurred. So they testify under oath. Should they be precluded from establishing such complicity by the admission of Bean himself to the witness Kinney, simply because such admission was not made until after Bean’s release from custody? We think not. Had the admission been in writing, its competency could not well be doubted. That it was verbal is an objection, not to its admissibility, but to its value as evidence upon which to find a verdict. Yerbal confessions or admissions, made in the presence of the witness alone, constitute, it is true, very unsatisfactory evidence, partly because of the facility with which they may be fabricated. It is, therefore, to be received with great caution; but “ where the admission is deliberately made and precisely identified, the evidence it affords is often of the most satisfactory nature.” 1 Greenl. Evid., sect. 200; Botts v. Williams, supra; Higgs v. Wilson, 3 Met. (Ky.) 337. “ The caution,” says the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, “ should be applied to the proof of the statement, and not to the statement when proved.”

The same considerations apply to the evidence of Brown and Jewell. Most, if not all, of the substantial facts to which they deposed were known to defendants in error at and before the arrest. The excluded evidence was in support and corroboration of that which was known and believed at the time of the arrest to exist. It was cumulative evidence of the same general character as that which was admitted without objection. It introduced no new issue. That plaintiffs in error may not have been advised, until after Bean’s discharge, that those facts could be established by the testimony of Brown and Jewell more fully or more clearly than other witnesses could, or in corroboration of what other witnesses would state, constituted no reason for the exclusion of that evidence. Nor is the determination of this question affected by the fact that the defendant in error, upon the trial, complained more of his long confinement in prison than of the original arrest. We should regard all the circumstances attending the imprisonment, and not merely the period during which the imprisonment was continued. Read v. Sowerby, 2 M. & S. 78; 3 Starkie, Evid. 1452, 1453. One of the issues before the jury, as shown by the charge of the court, was as to the responsibility of the plaintiffs in error for the prolongation of the imprisonment, and the denial to Bean of a speedy trial in the civil courts. While it is true that good faith in the original arrest and imprisonment might have been succeeded by bad faith in unnecessarily continuing the imprisonment, and in preventing a trial of Bean in the civil courts, which alone had cognizance of the specific offence charged, it was for the jury, upon all the legitimate evidence which either side could produce, to determine whether such was the fact. If the excluded evidence was competent upon the issue of good faith in the arrest and the original imprisonment, — and we have held that it was, — the plaintiffs in error were entitled to have it before the jury in their consideration of the whole case, since any failure or deficiency in their proof, in that respect, might have justified the jury in believing that from the very outset they were actuated by improper motives.

A less liberal rule in the admission of evidence than that indicated in this opinion would often work the grossest injustice in cases where, as here, vindictive damages are sought against mere subordinates, whose testimony, if credited by the jury, would show that they acted in good faith, from a sense of public duty, and in obedience to the orders of their superior officers, who promptly assumed, and upon whom justly rested, the responsibility, not only for the prolongation of the imprisonment complained of, but for the denial of a speedy trial in the civil courts.

Upon this branch of this case it is proper to make one further remark. When the depositions of Kinney, Brown, and Jewell were offered, the objection was that, in their substance, they were not competent evidence, but that if any part of either of them was admissible, “ it was so intermingled with inadmissible statements that the whole became inadmissible.” The objection was made at the moment they were offered, without calling the attention of the court to the particular portions of the depositions which were claimed to be inadmissible under any view of the case. They were not excluded upon any such ground. They were excluded upon the broad ground that the facts and circumstances detailed by those witnesses were not heard of by the plaintiffs in error until after the commencement of this action. In this condition of the record it would be improper for this court, in view of what has been said, to sustain the ruling of the court below, simply because, in those depositions, there may be, here and there, isolated statements not affecting the substance of what the witnesses testified, and which, upon specific objections, could have been excluded as incompetent under the genei-al rules governing the admission of testimony.

Upon the conclusion of the evidence before the jury, the plaintiffs in error moved, in writing, that the case be dismissed, upon the ground that “ all the facts proved establish that the acts done by them, for which the plaintiff claims to recover, were done by them as military officers acting under the authority of orders of the President of the United States, during the existence of the late rebellion against the United States.” This motion was properly denied, for the reason, if for no other, that there were many disputed facts in the case, disconnected from any question of authority derivable from the general orders of the President. It was the province of the jury to consider those facts in connection with such propositions of law as the court should announce for their guidance. For like reasons, the court properly refused to charge the jury as requested by plaintiffs in error. That request altogether ignored the evidence introduced by the defendant in error, who testified, substantially, that the plaintiffs in error, under circumstances of oppression and wantonness, and by improper and fraudulent representations, procured their superior officers to continue the imprisonment longer than necessary, and prevented them from having a speedy trial in the proper court for the offence charged. It was the province of the jury to consider that evidence, and if they believed it to be true, and had discredited the opposing evidence, the defendant in error would have been entitled to a verdict by reason of any oppressive or corrupt abuse of authority on the part of the plaintiffs in error in making the arrest and ordering and continuing the imprisonment.

In the argument of the case before us a good deal was said in reference to that portion of the elaborate charge to the jury which discussed the right of the plaintiffs in error to take shelter under the act of March 2, 1863, entitled “ An Act relating to habeas corpus and regulating judicial proceedings in certain cases,” and the act of March 2, 1867, entitled “ An Act to declare valid and conclusive certain proclamations of the President, and acts done in pursuance thereof, or of his orders, in the suppression of the late rebellion against the United States,” — the former act, it will be remembered, authorizing defence to be made by special plea, or under the general issue. They are known as the Indemnity Acts, passed by Congress for the protection of military officers, and others who, between certain dates, made arrests, or were connected with the imprisonment and trial, under the authority of the orders and proclamations of the President, of persons charged with participation in the late rebellion, or with disloyal practices in aid thereof. Upon the part of the plaintiffs in error it is insisted that the charge was so inflammatory as to prevent a dispassionate and impartial consideration of the defence relied upon. It is further insisted that the court erred in what it said as to the right of the plaintiffs in error to justify under the provisions of the two statutes referred to. It is still further insisted that Beckwith and Henry having acted in good faith under the directions of their superior officers, both in ordering and making the arrest, and in holding Bean in custody after such arrest, they could not, in any event, be liable for vindictive damages, however illegal their acts may have been. Touching these objections to the charge of the court, it is sufficient to say that they are not presented by the bill of exceptions in such form that we should consider them. The only exceptions to the charge are in these words: “To the omission of the court to charge as requested, and to the charge of the court placing a construction upon said acts of Congress, and to so much of the charge as relates to the attempted justification of the defendants under said act, and the evidence hereinbefore detailed, the defendants excepted.”

We have already commented upon the refusal of the court to charge as requested by the plaintiffs in error. The exceptions to the charge as given are too vague and indefinite to raise the questions which were claimed in argument to arise under the acts of 1863 and 1867. Lincoln v. Claflin, 7 Wall. 132; McNitt v. Turner, 16 id. 362; Beaver v. Taylor et al., 93 U. S. 46. The exception is scarcely more definite than a general exception to the whole charge would have been. We cannot tell what specific portion of the elaborate charge construing the acts of Congress, or what specific portions of the charge concerning the evidence relied upon for justification under those acts, were intended to be covered by this general exception. The exception was to a series of propositions in gross, relating to the construction and to the validity, in certain aspects, of these acts of Congress, and to a mass of evidence introduced for the purpose of establishing the defence allowed by those acts. Some of those propositions seem to be sound in any view of the case; but since the exception did not call the attention of the court below to the specific propositions whieh were objected to, it cannot be regarded here. For the same reasons, we cannot consider the alleged error of the court in its charge to the jury upon the question of vindictive damages. While some portion of the amount found by the jury may be attributed to the charge of the court upon the subject of vindictive damages, it is sufficient to say that no exception was taken upon that point. We forbear, therefore, any expression of opinion as to whether the evidence before the jury authorized vindictive damages, or brings this case within the provisions of the statutes of 1863 and 1867. We express no opinion as to the construction of those statutes, or as to the questions of constitutional law which may arise thereunder. We feel obliged to adopt this course, because counsel for defendant in error, assuming that our decision in 18 Wallace as to the sufficiency of certain special pleas settled all the questions under the acts of 1863 and 1867, which could arise upon the evidence in this case under the general issue, did not, in his oral or printed argument, discuss the grave questions of statutory and constitutional law which, perhaps, the general exceptions to the charge were designed to present for our determination. We therefore restrict our decision to the single point properly presented for our determination; viz., that the court erred in excluding from the jury the depositions of Kinney, Brown, and Jewell, and upon that ground the judgment is reversed, with directions for such further proceedings as may be consistent with this opinion.

Upon the whole case, we.are of opinion that justice will be another trial of the case; and it is

So ordered.

Me. Justice Millee did not hear the argument in this case or take part in its decision.