A sentinel is placed as guard over prisoners to prevent their escape, and, for this purpose, he is furnished a musket, with ammunition. To prevent escape is his first and most important duty.
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I suppose the law to be this: That a sentinel shall not use more force or violence to prevent the escape of a prisoner than is necessary to effect that object, but if the prisoner, after being ordered to halt, continues his flight the sentinel may maim or even kill him, and it is his duty to do so.
A sentinel who allows a prisoner to escape without firing upon him, and firing to hit him, is, in my judgment, guilty of a most serious military offense, for which he should and would be severely punished by a general court-martial.
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(Signed) Henry A. Morrow,
Colonel Twenty-first Infantry, Commanding Post.
[Third indorsement.]
Office Judge Advocate,
Military Division of the Pacific,
May 11, 1883.