m. I was
also given to understand that I had better make any arrangements
I thought necessary for my wife, which led me to think it probable
I should be shot or imprisoned. It was a reign of terror of a new
kind, of which I could never have expected to be a victim. As we
were crossing the Place de la Concorde we saw half a dozen soldiers
who had seized four Federals on the barricade close by. A struggle
was going on for life or death. The soldiers, having at last the
upper hand, strove to drag the Federals to the wall of the Ministry
of Marine to be shot. The poor wretches were imploring for mercy,
and refused to stand erect. Seeing this, the soldiers shot them
one after the other as they lay upon the ground.

"I was finally disposed of, in company with other prisoners, in
some large stables and carriage houses. Some of us were in plain
clothes, some in uniform. We were all packed together so closely
that there was not even the possibility of lying down upon the
stones. Bread and water alone were given us. On the approach of
night we were shut in like cattle, with the intimation that any
attempt to revolt or escape would be followed by instant execution.

"The next morning, May 27, at dawn, ten soldiers, with an officer
at their head, began calling by name eight or ten prisoners at a
time from one of our places of confinement, and they were dragged
away, God knows where. Utter dejection and despair were depicted
on the face of every man, especially on those who had been seized
on the barricades or in uniform. That afternoon I was called out,
being part of a batch of nine prisoners, mostly in plain clothes.
On that day rain fell incessantly. We thought as we marched through
the mud and drizzle that we were going to be shot _en masse_ without
any further trial; but on reaching the Champ de Mars, our escort
was ordered to take us to the barracks that are near it. There
our names were taken down by an officer, and we were locked up
in a room where seven other prisoners had already been confined.
It would be too horrible to relate the filth and closeness of that
place, which might have held seven or eight people, and we were
sixteen! There was a board fitted between two walls where seven
people could lie. This was appropriated before we got there. We
were forced to stand up or to lie down on the stones, which were
damp and inexpressibly dirty. We remained thus for two days. On the
29th the door opened at seven A. M. Eight