The works of the adversary which had been uprooted by the fierceness of the besiegers’ fire were rebuilt and rearmed in the night. There were some, however, which seemed to totter on their bases. Wondrous must have been the energy employed to give completeness to such a series of extensive formations as comprised their defences. There was, let it be acknowledged, a Vauban in the fortress. Todleben was he, an ardent and skilful general and engineer, whose genius made him equal to any pressure and capable of compassing any amount of devastation. We, too, had Vaubans, disciples of the most approved military masters; and the solid field structures founded by their talent and directed by their skill and sleepless industry, prove their worthiness to rank with the best engineers of any country. It only wanted this unprecedented siege to make clear that which, for forty years, was an open question. No working party was furnished for the left attack on the 7th. There were, however, 54 sappers in the trenches who mended the embrasures and threw up the rock by mining in different places in the third parallel. Private Walter Conning, a delicate man but of robust purpose, was noticed by Major Bent for his calm activity while mending an embrasure in No. 4 battery on the left attack. His duty was to attend to the repairs of the platforms; but as these were in a serviceable state and he did not choose to remain idle, he leaped into an embrasure and assisted his comrades to rebuild it. While doing so he was struck down by a spent shot which knocked him from the aperture against the traverse. This self-imposed employment, an instance of unobtrusive devotion, coupled with his uniform steadiness and zeal in working the advanced trenches, gained for him promotion and the decoration of the Military War Medal of France. Adam McKechnie—a private—was no less conspicuous in No. 9 battery repairing with sand-bags two embrasures which had been knocked to pieces. A blaze of fire was upon him during the whole time, but he continued his exertions for more than two hours with a bearing so manly, that Lieutenant Oldfield of the royal navy and his seamen, looked on with as much admiration as surprise. Among those who were the most praised was private Andrew Fairservice. He is stated to have been “exceedingly active in repairing embrasures under heavy fire;” so much so, indeed, that his valour and perseverance gained him the honour of a “distinguished service” medal and a gratuity of five pounds.