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Show 22 MASSACRE harm less; they penetrated the earth of which the walls were composed, and were there buried, without fu.r ther inJ'ury · So me .t wo l1 0urs were thus spent Wlthout injuring any person in the Fort. 'l,bcy then commenced tiirmving bombs. rrhc bursting of these shells had more ell'cct. 'l'berc was no shelter from these fatal messages. Mothers gathered their little ones around them and pressed their babes more closely to their bosoms, as one explosion after auother warned them of their imminent danrrcr By these explosions some ''~'·ere occasionally ~'o~nclcd and a few killed, until, at length, the shrieks of the wounded and groans of the dying were heard in various parts of the fortress. Do you ask w by these mothers "nd c'. 'ld u u1 ren were thu. s butchered in cold blood? I 'n n s\\·_ m ., t,u cy were slam for adhering to the doctrine th"" t " a1 1 men nrc · endow~d by their Creator with the inalienable •·igltt to en;oy life and liberty." Ilolding to this doctrine of Ilancock and of J ell'erson, the power of the nation was a. rrayed aao n.inst them , 'a nd our. ai.m y employed to depn ve them oflifc. 'l'hc bombardment was continued some hours with but little ell'ect, so far as the assailants could discover. A'l' llLoUNT'S FoRT. 23 They manifested no dieposition to surrender. The day was passing away. Lieut. Loomis called a council of ollicCl'S an<l put to them the question, what jw·tltel' shall be done? An under officer suggested the propriety of firing "hot shot at tl1c magazine." rl'l1c proposition was agreed to. The furnaces were heated, balls were prepared, and tbc cannonade was resumed. The occupants of the Fort felt relieved by the change. 'l'hey coultl hear the deep bumming sound of the cannon ba!1e, to wl•ieh they h"l become accustomed in the early prt of tlw clay, and some made them· selves merry at the supposed fo!1y of their assailants. 'l'hefknew not that the shot was heated, and was there· fore unconscious of tlJC danger wl1ich thrcatcuccl them. 'l'he sun was rapidly descending in the west. The tall pines and spruce threw their shadows over the fmtification. The roar of thO cannon, the sighing of the shot, the gro:ms of the wounded, the dark shades of approaching evening, all conspired to render tbe scene one of intense gloom. 'l'hey longed for the approach· ing night to close around them in order that they might bury the dead, and flee to the wilderness for safety. Suddenly a startling phenomcnr. presented itself to their astonished view. Tho heavy emban1_.ment and |
