Percy
Anderson was absolutely ignorant of what had happened, when he came to
me on the following day. The fact, too, is significant, that the
Washington journals, for whose net no incident is generally too small,
made no allusion to the tragedy, till the Thursday morning; I presume
silence was considered useless, when a member of our Legation must have
been made acquainted with the details.
The regrets of those who may have been interested in poor John
Hardcastle's life and death, will scarcely be lessened by the knowledge,
that he was not even in fault when he suffered. There were eight or ten
prisoners confined in the same room; and it was one of his companions
who had previously been twice warned back by the sentinel: he himself
was shot almost instantaneously after his head was thrust forth, without
a second challenge. The Washington papers stated that, when ordered to
draw back, he refused with an oath. With such chroniclers, one would not
bandy contradictions; I give this version of the facts, as I received it
from the lips of the Superintendent.
Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th, I was again summoned
below. I found Percy Anderson waiting there: he had obtained from the
War Office an order to see me alone, without limitation of time.
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