The general finally said: "If you will give me your word that there will be no further attacks upon Germans in Ghent, and that the wounded soldiers will be taken under American protection and returned to Brussels by the consular authorities when they have recovered, I will agree to spare Ghent and will not even demand a money indemnity.

We hoped now to be able to push on faster, and to reach Ghent before midnight, for it is only a little over twenty miles by the direct road.