Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXX, No. 6, June 1847Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXX, No. 6, June 1847
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
We will not follow the prisoner to the place of his confinement, or
dwell upon his dismal reflections behind the grated bars of a felon’s
cell. He was not a prisoner of war, entitled to the courtesies and
respect due to a brave but unfortunate soldier. He was a criminal,
guilty of a most base and ignominious act, for which his thorough
knowledge of military law told him he must die. He had landed without a
flag, entered the enemy’s quarters in disguise, and there sought to
bribe an officer to the betrayal of his trust. There was no hope. He
felt it. He must die upon the scaffold. In vain, with impotent rage, did
he heap curses upon the heads of his imbecile agents. They were at
liberty, and he was the victim. If any thing could aggravate his
wretchedness, it was the reflection that the day of his arrest was the
day of his expected nuptials. No time was lost in his trial. A military
court was convened on the ensuing day, before which the prisoner made an
ingenious but useless defence. He was convicted, and sentenced to death,
and the sentence was immediately forwarded to the commander-in-chief for
approval.
The minutes of the trial, which were also sent to General Washington,
were fully explanatory of the particulars of his arrest, and of the
personal reasons which had influenced Gansevoort in resorting to
measures for its procurement, which the latter would otherwise have
considered objectionable. To these, the commandant added his express
desire, that if the circumstances afforded any ground for a mitigation
of punishment, the prisoner might have the full benefit of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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