I obtained from an officer, who sat on the court-martial which investigated the affair, the following particulars: 

On the 24th of June, (O.S.,) the working party at Koultoukskoi, the western end of the road, disarmed its guard by a sudden and bloodless attack.  The insurgents then moved eastward along the line of the road, and on their way overpowered successively the guards of the other parties.  Many of the prisoners refused to take part in the affair and remained at their work.  A Polish officer named Sharamovitch assumed command of the insurgents, who directed their march toward Posolsky.

[Illustration:  TARTAR CAVALRY.]

As soon as news of the affair reached Irkutsk, the Governor General ordered a battalion of soldiers by steamer to Posolsky.  On the 28th of June a fight occurred at the river Bestriya.  The insurgents were defeated with a loss of twenty-five or thirty men, while the force sent against them lost five men and one officer.  The Polish leader was among the killed.  After the defeat the insurgents separated in small bands and fled into the mountains.  They were pursued by Tartar cavalry, who scoured the country thoroughly and retook all the fugitives.  The insurrection caused much alarm at its outbreak, as it was supposed all prisoners in Siberia were in the conspiracy.  Exaggerated reports were spread, and all possible precautions taken, but they proved unnecessary.  The conspiracy extended no farther than the working parties on the Baikal road.

The prisoners were brought to Irkutsk, where a court-martial investigated the affair.  A Russian court-martial does not differ materially from any other in the manner of its proceedings.  It requires positive evidence for or against a person accused, and, like other courts, gives him the benefit of doubts.  My informant told me that the court in this case listened to all evidence that had any possible bearing on the question.  The sitting continued several weeks, and after much deliberation the court rendered a finding and sentence.

In the finding the prisoners were divided into five grades, and their sentences accorded with the letter of the law.  The first grade comprised seven persons, known to have been leaders in the revolt.  These were sentenced to be shot.  In the second grade there were a hundred and ninety-seven, who knew the design to revolt and joined in the insurrection.  One-tenth of these were to suffer death, the choice being made by lot; the remainder were sentenced to twenty years labor.  The third grade comprised a hundred and twenty-two, ignorant of the conspiracy before the revolt, but who joined the insurgents.  These received an addition of two or three years to their original sentences to labor.  The fourth grade included ninety-four men, who knew the design to revolt but refused to join the insurgents.  These were sentenced “to remain under suspicion.”  In the fifth and last grade there were two hundred and sixty, who were ignorant of the conspiracy and remained at their posts.  Their innocence was fully established, and, of course, relieved them from all charge.