My colleague Christian Burset is an outstanding legal historian, and he sent along this splendid revisionist account of Sackville's Case (1760). If you have advisory opinions on the mind, you'll be interested.
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Every year since 1967, the British consulate in Chicago has received an anonymous delivery of roses on August 1. The mysterious flowers commemorate the Battle of Minden (1759), when British and German forces defeated the French army. Some British regiments still celebrate Minden, which helped set the stage for Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War. But it was an unhappy occasion for Britain's senior commander, Lord George Sackville, who was accused of cowardice when he failed to pursue and decisively destroy the retreating French. After the battle, Sackville resigned his commission and returned to England, where he decided that the only way to recover his reputation was to have a court-martial judge his actions and (he hoped) exonerate him.
