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Peterloo
Massacre;
Samuel Bamford's Account |
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"In about half an hour
after our arrival the sounds of music and reiterated shouts
proclaimed the near approach of Mr Hunt and his party; and in a
minute or two they were seen coming from Deansgate, preceded by
a band of music and several flags.
Their approach was hailed by one
universal shout from probably 80,000 persons. They threaded
their way slowly past us and through the crowd, which Hunt eyed,
I thought, with almost as much of astonishment as satisfaction.
This spectacle could not be otherwise in his view than solemnly
impressive.
Such a mass of human beings he had
not beheld till then. His responsibility must weigh on his mind.
The task was great, and not without its peril. The meeting was
indeed a tremendous one. |
Mr Hunt,
stepping towards the front of the stage,
took off his white hat, and addressed the
people.
We had got to nearly the outside of the
crowd, when a noise and strange murmur arose
towards the church. Some persons said it was
the Blackburn people coming, and I stood on
tiptoe and looked in the direction whence
the noise proceeded, and saw a party of
cavalry in blue and white uniform come
trotting, sword in hand, round the corner of
a garden wall, and to the front of a row of
new houses, where they reined up in a line.
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"The soldiers are
here," I said; "we must go back and see what
this means." "Oh," someone made reply, "they are
only come to be ready if there should be any
disturbance in the meeting." "Well, let us go
back," I said, and we forced our way towards the
colours.
On the cavalry
drawing up they were received with a shout of
goodwill, as I understood it. They shouted
again, waving their sabres over their heads; and
then, slackening rein, and striking spur into
their steeds, they dashed forward and began
cutting the people..." |
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"Stand fast," I said, "they are riding upon us; stand
fast".
The cavalry were in confusion: they evidently could not,
with all the weight of man and horse, penetrate that
compact mass of human beings and their sabres were plied
to hew a way through naked held-up hands and defenceless
heads; and then chopped limbs and wound-gaping skulls
were seen; and groans and cries were mingled with the
din of that horrid confusion.
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Many females
appeared as the crowd opened; and striplings or
mere youths also were found. Their cries were
piteous and heart-rending, and would, one might
have supposed, have disarmed any human
resentment: but here their appeals were in vain.
In ten minutes from
the commencement of the havoc the field was an
open and almost deserted space. The sun looked
down through a sultry and motionless air. The
curtains and blinds of the windows within view
were all closed.
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The hustings remained, with
a few broken and hewed flag-staves erect, and a torn and
gashed banner or two dropping; whilst over the whole
field were strewed caps, bonnets, hats, shawls, and
shoes, and other parts of male and female dress,
trampled, torn, and bloody.
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Several mounds of
human being still remained where they had
fallen, crushed down and smothered. Some of
these still groaning, others with staring eyes,
were gasping for breath, and others would never
breathe more.
All was silent save those low sounds, and the
occasional snorting and pawing of steeds."
Bamford
was arrested after the massacre, and
imprisoned for a year. |
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