On the morning of the seventh, by order of the commander-in-chief at Plymouth, a Colonel, with a reinforcement of troops, arrived and took command of the depot. Immediately on his arrival, he sent notice to the prisoners of his taking the command, and that Capt. Shortland wished the prisoners to appoint some few men to receive the explanation of his last night’s conduct; but we unanimously agreed, and despatched a letter to the Colonel, acquainting him that as citizens of the United States of America, we should conceive it a disgrace to the national character of our country to hold any communication with the murderer of our fellow-citizens. But provided the Colonel should require any conference with the prisoners, they should at any time with pleasure attend, and explain the nature of every past event. The Colonel, requesting a conference, came to the gate attended by the guilty Shortland, who could not now disguise the guilt of his crime; he could not look a prisoner in the face; as he walked along towards the prison bars with his eyes fixed on the ground, and as he came to the spot where, a few hours before, lay one of our murdered countrymen, he saw the blood, and faintly attempted to speak; but the monitor of Heaven was not quite overcome by the powers of Hell, and he could not utter a word. After several efforts he hesitatingly attempted to justify his conduct by saying it was a part of his duty, which was grounded on the fear he had of the prisoners making an attempt to escape, and imputed part of the fault to Mr. Beasley, in driving the prisoners to a state of desperation by his great delay of sending them home. The Colonel very patiently heard the stories of both parties, and promised a jury of inquest should be held over the bodies of our departed countrymen the next day, and a strict investigation of every circumstance of the event had, according to evidence. At nine o’clock we hoisted the colors half-mast on every prison; we then visited the Hospital, but the spectacle was painful indeed, and enough to freeze the blood of the most hardened parricide; the tables were covered with the amputated legs and arms of our fellow-prisoners, and our ears stunned with the groans of forty-two, wounded in the most shocking manner; and seven lay dead as solemn witnesses of the horrid act. We then returned to the prisons and appointed a committee of ten to take depositions of a great number of persons who were best acquainted with the particular facts. The committee being severally sworn, proceeded to make all possible inquiry into the circumstances of the massacre, and prepare every testimony to lay before the jury which were to sit over the bodies the next day.