Yes, who was it? speculate who you think is the real man behind the wall. why is he there? massie unfortunately complied, not wanting to look like he was backing down from a fight. swords were named as the weapon. attempts at last-minute reconciliation failed. so within the inner walls of the fort, the duel actually took place. massie was not able to hold his own against drane, and was killed. massie had been a popular officer and his brethren mourned his loss bitterly; he was buried him on the grounds with ceremony, and a marker was erected to his memory. according to legend, drane vanished soon after this and was never seen again; his fellow officers had supposedly abducted him and walled him up alive in the fort. but is this story true? no, not entirely. gustavus drane did not die in 1817: he was promoted to captain and later died in 1846. massie’s grave was moved several times in the many decades following his death. for many years the massie-drane duel on castle island was considered just another tall tale of boston harbor that may have had some grains of truth, but had been wildly exaggerated by the unfortunate credulity of the locals. but a new twist to the old tale came to light in 1905, eighty-five years after the duel had taken place. when boston workmen were repairing parts of the old fort, they came across a section of the old cellar that their original diagrams showed was a small dungeon, but in reality was entirely walled off. why had the dungeon been sealed up? no one seemed to know. the workers secured permission to explore the area further, and the wall was broken down. it was thick with layers of brick and mortar. shining a light within the dank and fetid recess, the workmen made a strange discovery. within was a skeleton shackled to the floor of the dungeon, with ragged scraps of an ancient us army uniform still draped over its bones. who this was, no one could tell. but if it was not drane, then who was it?