to describe the scene; and, should
these Memoirs ever meet the eye of any of my fair countrywomen, I am
confident they will thank me for the omission. Suffice that upwards of
five hundred bodies were, in the course of the day, committed to a large
well, into which the enemy had thrown many of the dead during the siege.
This well was closed up; and a man of the artillery sculptured on a
stone, with his bayonet,

THE SOLDIER'S GRAVE.

There let them rest in peace!

We had scarcely proceeded one hundred yards when we met Captain B. and
his men, with the keeledar and another person in custody. The general
thus addressed him, "Captain B., by what authority have you acted as you
have done, and thus, without orders or instruction, permitted your men
to enter the fort?" The captain told a lame story, to the effect that
the keeledar had offered him a bribe to permit him to escape through the
limits of his post; and that, having refused this, he received
information that, if he wished, he might march his men into the fort.
There was evidently a mystery in all this, and the ill-natured world
said many unkind things on the subject; but how far these may have been
true I cannot pretend to say. Certain it is, however, that there was
something that came out a short time afterwards, that would have brought
the affair under the investigation of a general court-martial; but the
individual died, and the affair died with him, and he was buried on the
spot. He was an officer of unblemished character; and little did he
think that the spot where he was accused of committing his first offence
would be his grave. The keeledar was a most respectable-looking man, and
elegantly dressed; but I do not think I ever saw a more careworn and
dejected face than his in my life-time. He seemed weighed down with woe.
He salaamed to the general in a most respectful and humble manner, and
said, "Do what you please with me," at the same time offering his head.
I was desired to inform him that he must answer for his rebellion before
a court-martial, and that his life would be the forfeit if he could not
state satisfactory reasons for his treachery and rebellion, and satisfy
the government that this act of disaffection was not his own. He
replied, "I am as willing to meet death as I am to meet you here." He
was placed in security, and our next object was to dispose of the
prisoners. These were in number about two thousand, and more than
one-third of them