A shot was fired about 7 o’clock in the evening, by which time many of the soldiers were drunk.  The Germans were not of one mind as to the direction from which the shot proceeded.  Some said it came from a jeweler’s shop, and some said it came from other houses.  No one was hit by this shot, but thereafter German soldiers began to fire in various directions at people in the streets.

It is said that a German General or Colonel was killed at the Burgomaster’s house.  As far as the committee have been able to ascertain, the identity of the officer has never been revealed.  The German version of the story is that he was killed by the 15-year-old son of the Burgomaster.  The committee, however, is satisfied by the evidence of several independent witnesses that some German officers were standing at the window of the Burgomaster’s house, that a large body of German troops was in the square, that some of these soldiers were drunk and let off their rifles, that in the volley one of the officers standing at the window of the Burgomaster’s house fell, that at the time of the accident the wife and son of the Burgomaster had gone to take refuge in the cellar, and that neither the Burgomaster nor his son were in the least degree responsible for the occurrence which served as the pretext for their subsequent execution, and for the firing and sack of the town.[A]

[Footnote A:  This account agrees substantially with that given in a letter written by Mme. Tielmans, the Burgomaster’s wife, which is printed in the fifth report of the Belgian Commission.  The letter is as follows: 

This is how it happened.  About 4 in the afternoon my husband was giving cigars to the sentinels stationed at the door.  I saw that the General and his aides de camp were looking at us from the balcony and told him to come indoors.  Just then I looked toward the Grand Place, where more than 2,000 Germans were encamped, and distinctly saw two columns of smoke followed by a fusillade.  The Germans were firing on the houses and forcing their way into them.  My husband, children, servant, and myself had just time to dash into the staircase leading to the cellar.  The Germans were even firing into the passages of the houses.  After a few minutes of indescribable horror, one of the General’s aides de camp came down and said:  “The General is dead.  Where is the Burgomaster?” My husband said to me, “This will be serious for me.”  As he went forward I said to the aide de camp:  “You can see for yourself, Sir, that my husband did not fire.”  “That makes no difference,” he said.  “He is responsible.”  My husband was taken off.  My son, who was at my side, took us into another cellar.  The same aide de camp came and dragged him out and made him walk in front of him, kicking him as he went.  The poor boy could hardly walk.  That morning when they came to the town the Germans had fired through the windows of the houses, and a bullet had come into the room where my