Guardroom

“ Thus matters moved along, the noise and fun increasing, until the hour of twelve, at which time the guard were to return to head-quarters, make their report, and be relieved. As the bell tolled forth the hour, they seemed to regain possession of their senses; visions of the guard-house floated across their minds, and they well knew it was their doom unless they immediately departed. But now all was confusion: “Where is my musket?” was the general cry; but no muskets were to be found. ”

“ A break in the dull monotony can never be so welcome as to a dreary night-watch. He experienced a sense of absolute pleasure in the regulation appearance of the officer of the day, crossing the parade and challenged by the sentinel before the guard-house door. The brisk turning out of the guard was like a reassurance of the continued value and cheer of life. The flare from the guard-house door showed the lines of red uniforms, the glitter of the bayonets, the muskets carried at “shoulder arms!” ”

“ Inside was the guard-room, large and high, with passages leading off from it, and the soldiers of the guard were grouped idly about.
The sentry on duty with fixed bayonet was lounging in a wooden shelter near the gates. He jumped up as we entered. We walked across the guard-room, out into the open, and found ourselves in another garden. On either side of the path were grass lawns and trees. The paths were fenced off by [36] thin iron railings. All around the gardens were buildings symmetrically arranged: two stories high on each side of the gateway, and one story elsewhere. ”

“ A building connected with this police is the Guardo, or guard-house, a small shed, with an attap roof, open in front, and its three sides walled in by poles fixed in the ground, and not unfrequently also covered with attap. In some parts of large towns, and chiefly in the interior, these guardos are more substantially built; having roofs of tiles instead of attap, and brick walls in lieu of rough hewn poles. ”

“ At present our social intercourse with Bruno is limited. He is serving thirty days in the guard-house. But every day or two he slips into the hut to do his shopping, the kind-hearted guard standing at the door, as he does so, a sheepish look on his face. If there is one military duty which the doughboy hates above all others, it is this job of “chasing prisoners,” and when you meet a file of guard-house habitués escorted by a rifle in the rear, it is invariably the guard, and not the prisoners, who looks the culprit! ”

“ On the top of the inner wall is placed a guard at the distance of every twenty feet, which frustrates every attempt at escape, and instantly quells every disorderly motion of the prisoners. Between the two walls and over the intermediate space, are also stationed guards. The soldiers’ guard house, the turnkey’s office, and many other small buildings, are also within these two circular walls. Likewise several large commodious dwelling-houses, which are occupied by the captain of the prison, doctor, clerks, turnkeys, [Pg 11] &c., &c. ”

“ I was given one of the vacant rooms in the private mansion [405] then occupied as Provost-Marshal's Headquarters; a sentry with a loaded musket stood guard in the large hallway at my open door, with positive orders, as I was courteously informed by the officer who placed him there, not to allow anyone to see me, and, under no circumstances, was I to communicate with any person, except through himself, as officer of the guard. ”

“ The 'guard-house habit' has spoiled hundreds of men, who, but for that first confinement, would have made admirable soldiers. The enlisted man with the 'guard-house habit' is as useless and hopeless as the tramp or the petty thief in civil life. ”

“ On the march they take the form of advance guards, rear guards, and flank guards. At a halt they consist of outposts.
3. Interior guards are used in camp or garrison to preserve order, protect property, and to enforce police regulations. In time of war such sentinels of an interior guard as may be necessary are placed close in or about a camp, and normally there is an exterior guard further out consisting of outposts. In time of peace the interior guard is the only guard in a camp or garrison. ”

“ Near the guard-house which serves as a visitors' room, but where no visitors are allowed to enter on account of the fleas which infest it at this time of year, wives, mothers, sisters, and friends have come to see their soldiers. All make a brave attempt to hide their feelings. ”

“ But the guard-rooms, winding staircases, loop-holes, prisons, repeat themselves and intermingle; they have a wearisome family likeness. There are always black passages and corners, and walls twenty feet thick ”

“ Behind it there is a guard-room, with racks of rifles and bayonets for the Resident's body-guard of twelve men, and quarters for the married soldiers, for soldiers they are, though they are called policemen. A gong hangs in front of the porch on which to sound the alarm, and a hundred men fully armed can turn out at five minutes' notice. ”

“ You will be perfectly safe there, as the house is not under suspicion at present, and even if the revolutionary guard, under some meddle-some sergeant or other, chooses to pay it a surprise visit, your hiding-place will be perfectly secure. ”

“ The Horse Guards, containing the offices of various military departments is a low but not unpicturesque building surrounding a court-yard built in 1753 on the site of a guard-house fol the security of Whitehall palace dating from 1631. ”

“ We slept so soundly that the guards were compelled to dismount when calling the relief, and shake the next guards on duty out of their slumber and see that they got up, for men would unconsciously answer in their sleep. ”

“ The guard room in the centre building is 57 feet 6 inches by 59 feet 6 inches, and about 38 feet high, and is separated from the wings by heavy iron screens or gratings, to confine the prisoners to the corridors and galleries of each wing at such times as they may be allowed privileges outside of the cells ”

“ Most guards have a particular tune upon their horns for every different species of service, known only to each his own particular dependant, which gives a wonderful facility to their manœuvres. I have sat down with the landlord of a tap-room, who, without looking out, would remark, "here comes such-a-one;" ”

“ My gaze is directed to the left side of the room and down a short, narrow, heavily-walled corridor that forms the communication between the condemned cells and the execution chamber. There are a number of guards standing quietly about, and on my right, back of a rope stretched across the room, sit the witnesses.
There is a tension in the very air of the chamber. Absolute quiet prevails. A few seconds pass, eternally long they are. ”

“ By this means eight guards, armed with repeating rifles, patrolling the “gun walks” of the rotunda and cell wings, will be able to keep in subjection the 2,100 prisoners that are expected to occupy the new prison when it is finished. All the necessary utilities for the maintenance of life will be under one roof when the building is completed. ”

“ Two warders in blue uniforms, with peaked caps and swords, are stationed amongst them. The room has distempered walls, a bookcase with numerous official-looking books, a cupboard between the windows, a plan of the prison on the wall, a writing-table covered with documents. ”

“ There should be at least one noncommissioned officer constantly on the alert at the guardhouse, usually the corporal whose relief is on post. This noncommissioned officer takes post near the entrance of the guardhouse, and does not fall in with the guard when it is formed. He will have his rifle constantly with him. ”

“ At the guard-house a strong guard was daily mounted. Several sentinels were stationed on the walls of the fort, and a complete line occupied them by night. Without the ditch, glacis and abattis, another complete set of soldiers patroled through the night, and a picket guard was placed in or near the isthmus leading from the fort to the main land. ”

“ The guard-house doors are at all hours besieged—to the great discomfort of the sentries—by people eager to listen to the mutterings of the delirious man. A lady could not pass in without having scores of eyes turned inquiringly upon her. ”

“ The guard house is in one of these two, but I don’t care to learn of the interior of that place. I’m told that it’s poorly ventilated, having no windows. In winter there’s no heat in the cells. The guards have a fireplace in their area, but the men in the cells have to wear their blankets like Indians from morning ’til night to keep warm. At night there’s no sleeping, it’s that cold. Not many men getting in trouble during the cold months, I’m told.
3
Evening Muster. Cavalry troop in formation.
4
Old Fort Garland
From an early drawing in Harper’s New Monthly. ”

“ In the morning, as I opened the shutters of my room, I saw an armed guard in the courtyard,—an unusual circumstance. I went out into the corridor to get some wood which was piled up there, and found four musketeers at our doorway with the jailer, who said, 'Go back into your room, Citizeness.' I said, 'I am not going out ”

“ There are three hospital rooms in the upper story of the front part of the centre building, they have private water closets, bath tubs, with warm and cold water, and shower, they can be reached from the cells of the north and south wings by the gallery through the guard room and iron staircases, and also from the stairs in the front towers; they are well lighted and ventilated. ”

“ The guard was called.
I was put in the cellar.
Only a few dim rays of light found their way into my dismal prison, and they came struggling through a small crevice in the double partition of thick pine boards that divided the “cell” from the knapsack-room. On this formidable partition I at once went to work, with extraordinary nonchalance, with a small six-bladed knife I had in my pocket. I think this course was much more laudable than that pursued by Mr. ”

“ "The strongest guard is placed at the gateway to nothing," he said. "Maybe because the condition of emptiness is too shameful to be divulged." ”

“ but the dungeon was considered too horrible, so now it is composed of an iron gate, a grated sky-light, a camp-bed, a brick pavement, a stone ceiling, four stone walls, and it is called a "punishment room." ”

“ 'Well, last night in a tavern, a captain in the king's guard offered violence to the sweetheart of a young soldier, who naturally ran him through. But it seems there is some cursed law against killing guardsmen, and the boy and his girl fled away. It was bruited about that I was seen with them, and so today I was haled into court, and a judge asked me where the lad had gone. I replied that since he was a friend of mine, I could not betray him. ”

“ They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace—
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
“A soldier’s life is terrible hard,”
Says Alice. ”

“ When a prisoner sees the door of his dungeon open, he dashes for it without stopping to think where he shall get his dinner outside. ”

“ The guard looked from one to the other. His mind was soon made up. His training led him to despise foreigners and to respect and admire well-dressed gentlemen who travelled first-class. ”

“ doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and bolted. In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there an available exit.
The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner! ”

“ To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock, Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock, From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block! ”

“ We cannot pretend that we do not see the armed policeman who marches up and down beneath our windows to guarantee our security while we eat our luxurious dinner, or look at the new piece at the theater, or that we are unaware of the existence of the soldiers who will make their appearance with guns and cartridges directly our property is attacked.
We know very well that we are only allowed to go on eating our dinner, to finish seeing the new play, or to enjoy to the end the ball, the Christmas fete, the promenade, the races or, the hunt, thanks to the policeman's revolver or the soldier's rifle, which will shoot down the famished outcast who has been robbed of his share, and who looks round the corner with covetous eyes at our pleasures, ready to interrupt them instantly, were not the policeman and the soldier there prepared to run up at our first call for help. ”

“ I could believe that even with the diligent care of your guardsmen a single enemy might reach the inner chambers, but how a force of six or eight fighting men could have done so unobserved is beyond me. ”

“ He walked in silence through our six barracks. ”

“ It behooved wise people to play the part of their own police, and to guard themselves well, and care must be taken to duly close, bar and barricade their houses, and to fasten the doors well. ”

“ the guard sang out, as loud as he could roar. ”

“ Every one seems to be scrubbing their white steps. All the houses look like tidy jails, with their outside shutters. Several have crape on the door-handles, and many have flags flying from roof or balcony. Few men appear, and the women seem to do the business, which, perhaps, accounts for its being so well done. ”

“ There were in her at the moment two beings, one drawing deep breaths of freedom and exhilaration, the other gasping for air in a little black prison-house of fears. ”

“ I have you fast in my fortress, And will not let you depart, But put you down into the dungeon In the round-tower of my heart. And there will I keep you forever, Yes, forever and a day, Till the walls shall crumble to ruin, And moulder in dust away! ”