“I now most warmly congratulate you on these merited and brilliant testimonies of approbation, amidst such numerous, such exalted tokens of applause; and forgive me, faithful companions, if I humbly crave your acceptance of my grateful acknowledgments. I only presume to ask this favour, as having been a constant witness of your cheerful submission to the greatest hardships, your matchless spirit and exertions, and on all occasions your heroic contempt of every danger.” The soldiers then fired a grand _feu de joie_, each discharge being heralded by a volley of twenty-one guns, and the ceremony concluded with three such cheers as only British troops can give. Afterwards the governor and his staff and the field-officers withdrew, and the detachments marched into town, lining the streets from the Convent to the King’s Bastion. At about half-past eleven the procession began to move in the following order:-- Marshal. Band of the 12th Regiment, playing “See the Conquering Hero Comes.” Artillery. Quarter-Master-General, and Adjutant-General, Town-Major and Deputy, with other Staff of the Garrison. First Division of Field-Officers, youngest first. Band of the 58th Regiment. The Commissioner’s Secretary, bearing on a crimson velvet cushion the Commission. The Commissioner’s Aides-de-Camp. Lieutenant-General Boyd, the King’s Commissioner. The Governor’s Secretary, bearing on a crimson velvet cushion the Insignia of the Order of the Bath. The Governor’s Aides-de-Camp as Esquires. General Elliot, the Knight Elect, supported by Generals de la Motte and Green. Aides-de-Camp to the Major-Generals. Major-General Picton. His Aide-de-Camp. The Brigadier-Generals, eldest first. Band--De la Motte’s. Second Division of Field-Officers, eldest first. Band of the 56th Regiment. The Grenadiers of the Garrison. Such was the procession; and interesting it must have been to see those bronzed and battle-worn heroes, who had but just been released from the toils and anxieties of a protracted siege, assembled in recognition of the honour paid by their sovereign to the commander whose resolution, devotion, and military capacity had so largely conduced to bring about a successful result. The following particulars are borrowed from Drinkwater, whose minute history of the siege is necessarily the authority to which all later writers resort:--