When dawn broke on the 28th of April, 1772, a day which inflicted an eternal stain on the history of Denmark, the troops, consisting of 4,400 sailors belonging to the vessels in ordinary, and armed with pikes, 1,200 infantry, 300 dragoons, and, strange to say, the corps of military cadets, marched through the gates, in order to form a large circle round the stage of blood on the Osterfeld, keep back the eager countless mob, and be ready for any eventualities. General von Eickstedt, town commandant, had the supreme command of all the troops. The two gates of the citadel were also kept shut till the departure of the criminals; and the posts had been doubled in order to keep off the pressure of the crowd, who also congregated eagerly here. The two clergymen went at an early hour to the condemned men, and found them both calm and easy in mind. When Münter entered, Struensee was fully dressed, and lying on a couch. He was reading Schlegel's sermons on Christ's Passion, and a religious conversation began between the two, during which Münter looked very often toward the cell door with a fearful expectation; but the count not once. At length the officer on duty came in and requested Münter to step into the coach, and precede Struensee to the place of execution. Münter was greatly moved, but Struensee, as if it did not concern himself the least, comforted him by saying:-- "Make yourself easy, my dear friend, by considering the happiness I am going to enter into, and with the consciousness that God has made you a means for procuring it for me." Soon after, the two delinquents were requested to get into their coaches, Brandt going on first. The latter, after praying fervently, had had his chains, which were fixed in the wall, taken off, and he put on the clothes in which he intended to appear on the scaffold. He then drank a dish of coffee and ate something, walking up and down the room, which he had not been able to do before. As often as Dr. Hee asked him how he found himself, he said that he was not afraid of dying. He afterwards asked Hee whether he had seen anybody executed before, and how far he was to lay his body bare for the execution.