The Last Proclamation I now impressed upon my officers as forcibly as I could the importance of intercepting the communications of the enemy by blowing up their trains.

A mechanical device had been thought of, by which this could be done.

The barrel and lock of a gun, in connexion with a dynamite cartridge, were placed under a sleeper, so that when a passing engine pressed the rail on to this machine, it exploded, and the train was blown up.

It was terrible to take human lives in such a manner; still, however fearful, it was not contrary to the rules of civilized warfare, and we were entirely within our rights in obstructing the enemy's lines of communication in this manner.
Owing to this, the English were obliged to place many more thousands of soldiers along the railway line, in order to keep the track clear.

Even then, the trains, for a considerable time, could not run by night.