, and act with you in the enforcement of the law.
J. NEELY JOHNSON.
* * * * *
Two days after the Governor's proclamation half a dozen of the prisoners
in "Fort Gunnybags" were exiled by the Vigilance Committee. Each, after
a regular and impartial trial, was found guilty of offenses against the
law. The sentence was banishment, with death as the penalty for return.
Under a strong guard of Vigilance Committee police the malodorous sextet
were marched through town, and placed aboard the steamer Hercules. A
squad of Vigilantes remained until the vessel left her dock to see that
they did not escape. Thus did the Committee answer Governor Johnson's
proclamation. The fortification of the Vigilante Headquarters went on.
Hundreds of gunnysacks filled with sand were piled in front of the
building as a protection against artillery fire. This continued for days
until a barricade ten feet high and six feet thick had been erected with
embrasures for cannon and a loop-holed platform for riflemen. Cannon
were placed on the roof of the building where the old Monumental
firebell had been installed as a tocsin of war.
In the meantime Sherman was enrolling men.
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