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L'Institut a microfilm' Ohince ZnfiiVChinvh r Q Twnhy.rl/i'tirtr I %'f,iii ffi< huir,'fHm:f,-7^ T't'd. .. • - x4i < I •>> Hi ^tavc wi :t v,-as a "^^:^" ■'■■ '/-f PftSGNERS' MEMOIRS, dIrtmoor PRISON^ } ,r " HISTORY OF THE E,VTI|lK CAPTIVfTV OF THE AMKRIcInS IN ENGLAND, Srcox Tff^'roviTwnssrETiT % *h« iatb war jjetwekn tfia c|lTp SI4^'£S AK1» ORlS.iT BRITAtJf, CNTrx Ait ittlSON BBS ; ;i( -, - ^'**= RRLKASEl) Br TUK TREATY OF GHENT. Also; A fAKTICCLAR DETAIL OF ALL OCCURRENOr..^ Btl.ATlVR TO THAl"^ S *i V IIORR^i) mAssacrk vtdaktmoor, > 0« tlie fiatfel evening of the 6th of April, 1815. ■!^,>.; filH WHOLE tASfiFIILtY CO«HL«D FBOM THF JOURNAL dV CHABLKS _iNDrtEW8, A PRMONEK IN KNtJLAND, »ROM THH COMMEr CEMENT 0» ■"Trif WAR, UNTU THE KBLHASE OF ALL THE PHISO.NBfcM. QtttC^c ipse jnis*:rrima vidi, Ei quorum pars mngna fni ; quistaliu0:iiJki, ,' rempereta lecrtfmisf Virg. 1. ii, y. i. Thepe siiflTerlnarfi I myself have seen, and the greater parttf whic yr-as a principal ^rty. Who can relate such woes without a.t«w P 'IK- NEW-YORK: PamTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1815. \ "^ y >, / ^, ^' ' ifHiHii' \ DiwnicT Of N«#)^RK, M. ., *S * * Bk it RBMjcMBinrRD, tlntt <^ the iMrteenth day ofOcliAitr, i» the fortieth yeir of the ln the comtnenremeflt of the latt? war betweeir the Vrtited States and Great Britain, until all' prisoners were released by t3ie Treaty t^ Ghent. Also, a particulac'tdetail of aH wcurrences re- Itttiveto that houpkl' raaftmcre it OarUMoff on the fatal eveirii|i>f the «th^f April, 1815. . ' ^ The whole carefully rompiled from the Journal of Charles Andr^wi^ a prisoner in England, ffom the couunenceiieot ^ the war, until the /ilMlieofallthe prisoDcra. ^? * . # ' These Bitfferii^s I myself have seen, an I was a princftMd i»rty« Whi^can r«kt|i QucotM hit ■miemmoLvMAy <^if' ; fUM ialia, fando, ^ '^ ofw|icli atefifp. ._-__IWItls,en- IV % seeimag the I ta conformitir to the^ Ajd of»the Cbaglirto* HitM *''An Act for the ipcofatagemtnt of «„^.^bi -7 • — copies of Ma]^,, Charts, and Books to the authdrs and preprin^rs of SQch copies, during tha tjiae therein mentiooed.** tikA also ,to an Act, entitled ** an Ac^ supplementary to an Act, entiued an Act for the im(iait«eem«M4|^M |Mwr«itt|, hy secMring the copies of Maps, Charts, and B)Mil0^ Ulte itutbaini aad froprietors of striefa copies, du- titq; th^ tiiiieii theiian mentioned, and eztcwIiNf t)w Imoefits thereof to the arts of deeigaine, engravingv and^-etching historictAiand otiier eUrk ds of'the public without a setond examination, and therefore in 'a : more unfinished state than he could have wishedj^But as every historical relation ought to contain nothing but a lecital of facts, the editor has aio^d to give the tmlh with as great perspicuity as possible, without endeavour- ing after elegance of diHicHi or flowery romance. He believes it, will not be an unwelcome service to the p9^ - lie if he relates to them what appeared to la^ ^cr^niosC iflip<||rtaiitiMd interesting events of the American cap- ^'^ity^ ^^IpP!^^ endeavoiylne to infuse int^ them the heat of poluica! prejudice, u'hrough the whole he has ' carefuMy avoided all opprobrious terms, or enthusiastic praise, which might discord with the feelings of any^ or tend to stir up new hostilities l}etvvixt the late bellige- rants. ' ,» |[f any part of the work should be found languid and tedious, it must be wholly attributed to the suffering si. iuation of tiie author ; the vigour and vivacity of^,wfa»9e mind was jsreatly affected by those of the body. If tnisery is less interesting colloctiveiy in grou^ thas m 'WU '%''* vasfc*. L.-^. %■ ^M'^S- ' when viewed indfv.Wl,^, ,e| the re.der .,„g,, out .>.e, ami v.«w h.m, *p.rntdy, ^rongh the iron gra..|,g, and 2 "'n pale and reebie. etching upon a .tlk.'^'ith^ n ; «'" "' "'H<^^\'^»^-h-dds to hi. kalendar ano her of fl.o.e dismal days and nights he had spent i» on nemem ; he may view hirn till he sees the iron en- ter h.s soul before he turn* from hfm. and then fc -it was my son, mj. brother, or my friend !-he wFthe. *hav,^ a picture interesting enou^ to his feelings. "f» ■ € .t-^" ■,«». H^l ^ngle out one, on gr.ilmg, ami a ttick, with a 3 hjg kalendar 'e had spent in e» the iron en- -he wlntheB '.Hp., .L.M.* t ' * f. CE^IFICATE. 'Vfi-W^ ' » ^1 WE,,the undersigned, late prisafierst>f war, having bceu confmd pHsoncrs the greater part' of the last war be- f^veen the United States of America and Great Uritain, and having carefuHj p#rused and examined the follow- ing Manuscript Jj)umal, kept by Charles *Andrei^»|%ur fellow-prisoner §t Dartmoor, in the county of Devo^i in the kingdom of Great JBritain, do solemnly declare, that all matter ancf occurrences herein contained, arc just and true, to the best of our knowledge and belief; and that this is the only Journal kept at Dartmoor. I C«pt^ Joshua Wait, New-York. Capt. Samuel H. Ginnodo, Newport, R. 1^ Capt. Frederick H. CofSm, Hudswn, N. Y. Mr. Joseph C. Morgan, Newport, R. I. Lieut. Homer Hull, ■ - — Con. Mr. Jacob Evans, Baltimore, I^d. « Capt. Benjamin F. Chesebrough, ■ ! Con. Mr. Luther S. Dunbar, Boston, Mass; Capt. Richard Longly, Portland, D. M. Mr. Ephraim Abbott, Boston, Mass. Mr. Fenton Corfner, Charleston, S. C. Mr. Jpseph Conner, Newbern, N.C. Mr. David Moririson, — — — Pennsylvimia. Mr. Caleb Coffin, Nantucket, Mass. Mr. John Merrill, Portland, Maine; ■% M iiB #»• r^i % fi ■»H •-flPf'- - S**' I** Capt. CharWB; •*(«?, I, HudsOii) N. Y. TVlr Willium Giiffin, SalemfMaSs. * Mr. James Bowie, do. do. Mr. John F. Foster. Gloi^tev, Mass.' ^ Mr. Jo.seph Clark, Cape-E/izabeth, do. Mr John St^iftbrd, Boston^ Mass. Mr. Charles Whitewood, New-York. Mr. Samuel Rossett, do. Mr. Jacob F. Taylor, Philadelphia. Mr. William Conifin, New- York. Mr. Samuel S. Bi-ush, do. |il|- Capt. John C. Kowles, Baltimore, Md. ^ Mr. Jolm Meigh, Boston, Mass. Mr. Edward Shaw, Baltimore, Md: Lieut. S. S. Fitch, Connecticut. Mr. Samuel ("oi-rey, Vermont. Mr. Samuel Howard, Baltimore, Md. Mr. William Clark, Boston, Mass. Mt Joseph Fosdick, do. do. Mr Samuel Morrison, New-York. Mr. William Hull, do. . Mr. William Atkin% Connectiipat. Mr. Daniel Hotchkins, Salem, Mass. Mr. Thomas Carlton, Boston, do. Ml*. John Migat, Warren, R. I. Mr. Cornelius Hoy, Baltimore, Md. Capt. Jesse S. Smith, Stonington, Con. Mr. James Sproson, New -York. Mr. Benjamin Wheeler, Baltimore, Md. ' Mr George Scott, *———, . Capt. Matthew S. Steel, Philadelphia, Penti: Mr. W. P.Sevear, Baltimofe, Md. j ^ ^ Capt James M'Quilter, do. do. Mr. John S. Miltev, do. do. *r* H: ■m. i m- vr-^.*^ "n. Ml*. Tliom-i-; Siiley, SHlem, Mass. Mr. Warren K nupliifv, . Connecticut; Mr. William Re I. Boston, Vfass. Capt. Thomas Hu83e#; flud-.(>n, N. Y. Capt. James Boggs, Phikclelphia, Fenn. Capt. James Gays, Virginia. > jCapt. lH^mas^ Mumford, Newport, R. L Mr. Isaac Dowel, Baltimore, Md. Mr. Frederick G. Low, Cape-Ann. Mr Henry Bull, Connecticut • Doct. Benjamin Mercer, New- York- Mr. Reuben Sherman, ■ . ■■. Massv , »• fF »^. 4 ^p.*' .jf t' f-^ #*, m, «• /" , IV^J ^«^* ^* „Afc < * •*»f *¥f r%fA- %.. *. «*«ij ?» ,'^- ^•^ ^ ?l!*%.- ■* ,^7 ^'--rx*-- +v. #' ■•* >. ■^( .1^ itr ,it|: 1' , ■ -if'*" P i f, ^■ THE PRISONERS' MEMOIRS, ic '^0 The war between the United States of America and Grea$-Britain, which has been so costly in blood and treasure, and agonized the hearts of s© many thousands of our fellow-beings, was formal- ly declared, by a proclamation issued by the Pre- sident of the United States, in conformity with a solemn act of the slipreme legislature of the na- tion, on the eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twelve. The nations were, by this act, at open hostilities, ^^d began to capture each other's vessels upo« the high seas, wherever found. I myself happened to be so unfoi-tunate as to be i among the first captives brought into England. On our first arrival there, we were all collected from different ports, and confined in different pri- sohs* Some were sent to Chatham, some to Ha- moze, and othefs to Portsmouth i where % strict examination took place as to theirnativity and B m i # #*•, 10 ■^iWF Citizenship. After the examination the officers who were entitled to their parole, (mch as com- manders and first lieutenants o^ privateers mount- ing fourteen gu&, commanders and first mutes of merchantmen, non combatants, &c.) received it and were sent to the litde village of Ashburton, in Devonshire, or Reading^ i^^ Berkshire ; the for- mer is situated about twenty-six miles inland (rim Plymouth, and the principal place of confinement for paroled officers. The town of Ashburton is pleasantly situated in. a healthy and jertilt part «f the country, where ev^ery article of pmvi^ipu IS more easily obtained and at a much cheaper rate than in many other parts of the kingdom. Here >U the offic«r*^n parole hadjheir names regis- . tere* and particular personal description taken of them. ^ They had allowed them by the British government one shilling ^d six p^ce, which is equal ta Uiirty-three and a quarter cents, money of the United States, per day eac|^an. With . this small allo^^noe great numbeis of paroled officers were cupelled entiitely to subsist, for harfng no oAer elew, of the royal navy,the agent for prisoiiers^of war, resides at this place. On thr reception of aU prisoners into their respec- tiv^ prison ships, the^ were obliged to undergo a •strict examination concerning their birth, place of residence, and age ; a complete and minute description of their person in all resp|cts was ta- ken down in writing. After the examination, tl jre was delivered to each man a very coarse and worthless hammock, with a thin coarse bed- sack, with atliiost not more, than three or four pounds of flocks or chopped rags, one thin coarse and 4eazjf blanket; this furniture of the bed- chamber was to last for n^ year and a half before we could draw others. After the distribution of the bedding, we were informed of tJ» rules and re- strictions which we must strictly observe. Eve- ry' ship has a physician attached to it, who is ever to be on board, and when any prisoner is sick, he is to repair immediately to a certain part of the shi|) for nwdical aid ; but seldom has he any at- tention paid him till the moment of dissdution, the toctors paying but little attention to the suf' fering prisoners, although a prisener is seldom or m. 13 vt# never suftbrtd to f^xpfrc cm, eI^»«|. for at the mo- ment death seems inevitably a^proi*ching, the prisoner is^removed to a ship lying nearby, called the hospital ship, where if he happen to survive the removal, he receives much better treatment and attendance ; but ^hen once removed to that ship, they may bid adieu to their fellow prisoners, and most of them to sublunary things ; for not more than one out of ten ever recovers. We were then informed, that the Transport Board had most graciously and humanely, for the health and happineas of the prisoners, iniposed on them the following duty ; to keep clean the ship's decks and hold ; to hoist in water, provisions, coal, and every other article expended or used ia the ship ; and also to permit the prisoners to cook their own victuals, which consisted of the follow- ing rations allowed by the English government : To each man one pound and a half of very poor coarse bread, half a pound of b«ef, including the bone, one third of an ounce of salt, and the same quantity of barley, with one or two tulnips, per man. These were the rations for fiv^,d&ys ifi the weeif;. the other two were fish days, &e ra- tions for which were one pound of sak fi^fay thyy of their country. ' ° '^' S""^"' The prisoners are counted every ni^ht =>. ,u «re onJered below by the ^ua^d ' , ^'^ "ing,abRut sun-rise each "r' ""d every mor- " 'ake up his bed „d I'^rrV' "'"f '° to shoulder his hammock „d go 1 tc'k Ijf counted Witt it on his shoulder. Xt.ll '' A>s hammock on deck all day a»d hS. 'o gb below or remain on de^k^if^'r convenience. ' ''^'' *""« his No prisoner ,js permitte^I t« k„i 1 P..d..ce, except 'L.tsetird 't^r^tr through the hands of the Board of T ^ ^^ 15 bited by the gracious and humane Board of Trans? port. For consolation in our present miserable con- dition, we were informed that the said honourablt Board had indulgently permitted' the American prisoners to establish and carry on any branch of manufacture, except suih as netting, woollen fa- brics, making straw hats and bonnets, &;c. &c. ; or rather, they prohibited every branch of manufac- tory which they were capable of pursuing. At this time they could have carried on the making of straw into flats for bonnets with vei^ conside- rable advantage, as almost every sailor was more or less capable of working at this art, and, by strict attention to the business, could have earned six or eight pence sterling per day : but this was not permitted, and we considered this prohibition a contrivance of the agents of government to in- duce the prisoners to enter his majesty's service. Their situation was now so abject and wretched, that they wiere willing to embrace any opportu- nity where there was the least prospect of better- ing their conc^tion, however repugnant to their feelings or sentHteents ; and though their country's interest was ever nearest to their hearts, yet, through the feint hope of ameliorating their eoa- dition, and some day or other of returning to their native land, their wiyes and families, some df % *■ • 16 less fortitude were induced ,o join in arms againl thcr country. »t could not be r; crime 5 foLlf. preservation is the firat law of nature shortly after the commencement of the war, pri- di,r 77.'^°"''«'"'y ""ving, and immediately deposed of .n one or «,er of these depots J among them were great numters of American sea- men who had been delivered up f,*„ ,he diflbi^nt wIUk^I"" ;" "'^'="S"^'"^^ice,o„boa,^of whKh they had remained f.^ one to ten year, and after receiving many down lashes at the gang' "-ay of the ships, were sent trc of bread and fish. We were allowed to stop v Jy once during the march of seventeen miles. We arrived at Dartmoor late in the after part of the day, and found the ground covered with snow. Nothing could form a more dreary pic. p^ct than that which now presented itself to hopeless view. Death itself, with the hopes ©f an ^^ .0. 19 hereaftcF) seemed less terrible than this gloomy prison. * * m m ■ The prison at Dartmoor is situated on tae east side of one of the highest and most barren moun* , "^ tains in England, and is surrounded on all sides, . as far as the eye can see, by the gloomy features of a black moor, olicultivate^ and uninhabited, ex- cept by one or two miserable cottages, just dis- cernible in an cat tern view, the tenants of which live by cuttiijg turf on the moor, ajid selling it at the orison. The place is deprived of every thirig that is pleasant or agreeable, and is produc- tive of nothing but human woe and misery. Even riches, pleasant friendb and liberty could not make it agreeable. It fs situated seventeen miles dis- tant from Plymoudi, fourteen from the town of Moorton, and seven from the littlt village of Ta- vastock. On entering this depot " of living death," we first passed through the gates, and found our- selves surriunded by two huge circular walls, ihe outer one of which is a mile in circumference And sixteen feet high ; the inner wall is distant from the outer thirty feet, around which is a chain of bells suspended by a wire, so that the L^ast toucn sets every bell in motion, and alarms the garrison. On the top of the inner wall is placed a guard at the distance of every twenty fee^f 1K \ \* ♦■ 20 ^ich frustrates every attempt f escape, ^ I^aSmquells ev.ry disorderly niotion of the Ft soS Between the two walls and over the m- ^' *.«n^cc are also stationed guards. The termediate space, are <*»» ,^i,_„,„ office, and two circular wai^ ^ ^ occupied by r^»= rlwplline-houses, ^vmcn die uv, i , modious dwelling ,Uptnr clerks, turn- cepuon of ^'^ J^ ^ J^ie„t and comfortable r TfsLl';r - And cenainly much credit • H*e tote director of this humane instUuUon ::::rm3.haveheen,f.thea^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^--irr=S'^-. .nd '" . smlulre-hmtses,are enclosed b^ a th-rd "T The elree ranks of walls fcrm m th« • ?"•• rLier which is insurmountable. ' direction ''^^'""^ ^^^ ^^ „f this seminar,.- Thus much for the CO y ^^^ ^^ ^ ^^_ of misery ; we shall next p tering, we fo»"<*'*7 J , ^e within aU the lowing manner, and -tuated q^ ^ ^^ ^ w,Us before mealioned. Prison no ^ ■a . nd uit le pri- thein- . The e, and n these ;e coia- piedby 5, turn- erected tain one the re- 1 spared ifortable -h credit stitution, tion paid extensive ngs, and by a: third •m in this ible. ' seminary give a dC" :. On en- in the fol- hin all the 1,2 and % 21 ale built of harJ, raugh, unhewn sfi)ne, three s^d- ries hi§h, one hondred and eighty feet long and forty broad ; each of these prisons, on an average, are to contain fifteen hundred prisoners. There^ is also attached to the yard of these prisons a house of correction, called a cachot; this is built gf latge stone, arched above and floored with the same. Into this cold, dark, and damp cell, the un- happy prisoner is cast if he oifend against the rules of the prison, either willingly or inadver- . tently, and often on the most fri^#)us pretence. There he must remain for many days, ^d often weeks, on two thirds the usual allowance of food, without a hammock or a bed, and nothing but ft stone pavement for his chair and bed. Tbeie three prisons are situated on the north side of the enclosure, as is also the cachot, and separa|ed from the other prisons by a wall. Next to these is sftiother, No. 4, which is equally as. large as" any of the others; this is separated from all the others* by a wall on each side, and stands in the centre of the circular walls. Adjoining to this, are situated, in rotation, pri- sons No. 5, 6, and 7, along the south side of the circular wall. To each prison is attached a small yard, with a constant run of water passing through it. 4 m #' After viewing this huge pile of building, and obtaining what little information *we were able at this time, we were informed that these seven pri- sons contained a small family of French people, consisting of about eight thousand, who were al- so prisoners of war. Among these fluttering, ghastly skeletons, we were directed to take u|t our abode, and di^^^tribute ourselves as well as we could. »' We received our usual hammock and bed, and in conformity #ithour order?, repaired separately to oiie or otiier of six of these prisons ; the se- venth being allotted to those criminals who had committed misdemeanors, such as murder, lar- ceny on their fellow-prisoners, and other heinous offences, which too frequently occurred. We entered the prisons ; but here the heart of every American was appalled. Amazement struck the unhappy victim ; for as he cast Ms hopeless eyes around the prison, he saw the water con- stantly dropping from the cold stone walls on eve- ry side, which kept the floor (made of stone) con- stantly wet, and cold as ice. All the prison floors were either stone or ce- ment, and each story contained but one apart- ment, and resembled long vacant horse stables. There were in each story six tier of joists for the prisoners to fasten their hammocks to. The f # k.^- ■■^ f>. 23 ft f Siammocks have a stick at each end to spread them out, and arte hung in the manner of cots^ four or five deep, or one above the other. On each side of the prison is left a vacancy for a pas- sage from one end of the prison to the other. We were then informed that the prisoners must be counted out and messed, six together, every morn- ing by the guards and turnkeys. , During the month of April there was scarce a day but more or less rain fell. The weather here is almost constantly wet, and foggy, on ac- count of the prison being situated on the top of a mountain, whose elevation is two thousand feet above the level of the sea. This height is equal to the plane on vfhich the clouds generally float in a storm, the atmosphere not being dense enough to support heavy clouds much above that height ; almost every one that passes that way envelopes the top of the mountain in a thick fog and heavy torrent of rain. In winter the same cause makes as frequent snows as rain in summer. It is also some degrees colder during the whole year than in the adjacent country below. This too is occasioned by the great elevation of the top of the mountain, which is above the atmos- phere heated by the reflected rays of the sun upon the common surface of the earth, and being small of itself, reflects but litde hcfl, or blankot. I leave the reader to luui e whether this measure arose from wanton cruelty in those immciliately concerned, or whe- ther it was absolutely necessary to prevent their cscaj^c, or rising and taking the ship, which had hci" wholn crew on board. On the thirtieth, two hundred prisoners were ordered to go ashore, who accordingly made them- selves ready, and landed at New Passage, under a guard of seamen and marines. Here they were received by a guard of soldiers, consisting of two hundred and fifty, who were to convey them on loot one hundred and thirty- four miles to Staple^ ton, within a few miles of Bristol. Stapleton is a pleasant situation, and is a fine healthy country ; but the fatigue of the journey^ the restrictions and inconvenience to which the prisoners wx're subjected, presented to them a melancholy prospect. At the commencement of their journey, they were provided with a shilling (twenty-two and a half cents) per day, for their travelling expenses. This w as all the allowance made them to purchase food, drink, and lodging ; and they were to per- form the wliole journey in eight days. They were also particularly enjoined not to leave the ranks on pain of death, and the guard had orders to despatch any prisoner who shoxild attempt to es- 33 cape. The narticulir.^ of their march, their arr* val at Stapleton, anJ treatment at that place, will be mcntione J hereafter. On tiie Ist of July, two hundred more were or- dered from on board the Hector, to march and share with us the miseries of Dartmoor. They were landed as u.^ual, and marched under a strong guard to that mountain of wretchedness, and af. ter passing through the usual forms at their arri- val, were received into Prison No. 4, and might justly have exclaimed, in the language of an emi - nent poet, " Hail, horrors ! hail, thou profoundcs^ hell • receive thy new possessor." For every one ordered to this prison, counted himself lost. On the third of July, another draft of prison- ers, consisting of about fwo hundred and fifty, were taken from the Hector, and sent to Staple- ton, under the usual guard, allowance, and re- strictions. The fourth of July, the birth-day of our nation, had now arrived. The American prisoners, feel- ing that fire of patriotism, and that just pride and honour, which fills the bosom of every American, when that great d^ of jubilee arrives, roused all their drooping spirits, and prepared to celebrate it in a manner becoming their situation. We had bX some means obtained two American standards ; and being upward of six hundred in number, we D 34 divided into two columns, and displayed our flags at each end of the prison. Of the propriety of the proceedings, I leave the reader to judge. We were, however, resolved to defend them till the last moment : but Captain Cotgrave, either from a determination to depress our spirits as much as possible, that we might the more readily be indu- ced to enter the service of the king, or that an enemy's flag should not be hoisted in their coun- try, ordered the turnkeys to enter the prison-yard, and take the colours from us. We returned him an answer, that the day was the ,birth-day of free- dom, and the anniversary of our nation ; and that he would confer on us a particular favour, if he would permit us to enjoy it with a decorum and propriety suited to our situation as prisoners of war. We added this arrogant condition, that if he should persist in attempting to take that flag which we should ever respect, in whatever coun- try we were, he must abide by the consequences. Captain Cotgrave, being irritated at this haughty and independent language, ordered the guard int® the prison-yard to talce the standards from us. An obstinate resistance was made. After some time spent in fighting for the ftags, the guard ob- tained one : the prisoners bore off the other in triumph, and secured it. The remainder of the day was spent in harmony and quietness. At 35 evening, when the guards came as usual to turn us into the prison, a dispute arose upon the piti- ful revenge sought for in depriving the prisoners of their flag. This soon grew into an affray ; the guards fired upon the prisoners, and wounded two, which ended the affray. From the disturbance on the evening of the fourth, nothing remarkable took place, the priso- ners bping generally tolerable quiet and peace- able till the tenth, when a dispute arose between the French and American prisoners in the yard of No. 4 ; the dispute was quite warm, and pervaded nearly all the prisoners of both nations, each of whom espoused the cause of his fellow prisoner. Things were not pushed to extremities this even- ing, the hour to turn in prevented their further progress ; but animosities had not subsided. At this time the French prisoners occupied the two upper stories of prison No. 4 ; they consisted of about nine hundred outcasts from the other pri- sons, as we had occasion to mention before. They had during the night, with malice prepense, concerted a pl^n to massacre the Americans. With this design, they had provided themselves with knives, clubs, stones, staves, and every kind of weapon they could obtain » 36 n Thus armed, they had managed to be in the yard first in the morning, and arrayed themselves to give battle as soon as a sufficient number of Americans should come out. Accordingly, when about one hundred and twenty had entered the yard, this group of naked malignity began the attack with desperate fierceness ; the Americans, unsuspicious of an attack, were of course unarms ed, and at first could make no resistance ; but af jer recovering from the surprise which so sudden an •attack had' created, they made an attempt to ral- ly ; but the Frenchmen cutting off their retreat into the prison and preventing those within from joining or rendering any assistance, soon caused the Americans to fall a prey to their superior number. Before the guards could interfere to prevent the farther proceedings, the Americans were mostly stabbed or knocked down with hea- vy stones, and mangled in a most shocking man- nen What would have been the issue, had not the guards entered, and by charging on both par- ties put a stop to the battle, is difficult to tell. On examining the wounded, fortunately none were killed ; it appeared that about twenty on both sides were badly, and many others slightly wounded. The former were taken to the hospi- * tal, and though apparently dangerous, in a short time all recovered. Captain Cotgrave immedi^ 3.7 fiitely informed the Board of Transport of this un- happy event ; but painted it in such dark colours on the side of the Americans, that the Board gave answer, that the Americans were totally different from all other men, and unfit to live in any so- ciety. " If the household be devils, what is the master of th% house ?" Did not the Americans descend from England ? The yard of No. 4 was orderied to be divided, which was done by a wall fifteen feet high, which cut off all communication with the Americans, and their late meager associates. This act, thougl> it seemed to have been done to injure the Ameri- cans, certainly created no regret ; for instead of doing them an injury, it was a great relief to be disencumbered of that outcast tribe* A spark of momentary joy may burst through the darkest clouds of grief, and hope for a mo- ment make us forget our miseries. On the twen- ty-ninth of this month, Captain Cotgrave received orders to remove one hundred and twenty Ameri- cans from this prison to Chatham, which was to be the complement of a cartel ship then lying at that place ; this embraced the greater part of the prisoners captured before January 1813. There remained of those captured, before and after that time, 1200 at Chatham, 400 at Stapleton, and a few less than 6©0 at Dartmoor, some on board D2 m the prison ships, and a number of officers on parole at Ashburton. The greater part of these had -been dehvered up from ships of war. At the close of this month, forty-five were foimd to have entered the service of the enemy, and fifteen had died at this place, seven or eight at Chatham, and not one at Stapletdh. At the commencement of August, we found mirselves limited and very much straitened in our regulations. We were not permitted to go out of the yard. A more alarming scene of distress than any we had before experienced, now pre- sented itself before us, and death seemed to be the inevitable lot of every man. The King of Terrors daily reached forth his- inexorable hand, and removed the sufferer from the pale of this clay tenement ; for the small-pox had got among the prisoners, and its ravages were so alarming, that every prisoner expected each day would be his last ; for numbers died daily. The prisoners who remained able, collected themselves together, and formed a conimittee of cor- respondence, who, by bribing the guards, convey- ed letters daily to Mr. Beasley ; particularly de- scjribing their situation, that they were almost na- ked, and defrauded by the Contractor of half their rations, which before were but one third enough. That the smaJl-pox had got among them. 39 and numbers died daily — that they were covered with animalcula, and unless he could do something for their relief, they must all perish together. To these complaints he paid no kind of atten- tion, neither came to see whether they were true or false, nor sent any answer either written or verbal. * The reader can easily figure to himself what must have been our feelings, when five hundred men, closely confined in one apartment, with that mortal epidemick among them without any assis- tance, or possibility of escape. The evil must lie some where ; we were in doubt whether to believe it was the will of the generial government, of the people at large of this country,^ or whether it was not entirely the fault of our Agent, in not seeing that all the officers in whose immediate care we were, acted the honest part in the performance of those duties, which both this government and that of the United States had in- trusted to them. It was not a general thing, and tj^e evil was near at hand* The prisoners at Ha- lifax fared well ; they did not, nor could not, com- plain ; prisoners in other places in England were tolerably well provided for. After so many fruitless applications to our agent, we despaired of any relief from that quarter, and then made application to Capt. Cotgrave, and de- m 40 manded of him, what provisions the government of England made for prisoners of war, when ne- glected by their own government. He gave us every opportunity to search out the fauh, by pro- ducing the following printed rules and regulations., made by the T ransport Board. " The honourable Transport Br.'5 f'lrm Chatham, which in- formed us, that since the last from that place there had an-ivcd great numbers of prisoners there, and that many were ahnost persuaded in their own minds to enter the cnemie's service ; that they had received the additional allowance at the same time as ourselves. On the 15th we were informed that there was a draft ready at Plymouth and would shortly be sent to this depot. About this time a separate arrangement was made for allowing the crew of the U. S. brig Argus half pay, to be received monthly, and at the time the first payment was received, they received cloth- ing. This v/as an additional benefit to our prison, as there were established in it a grea^ number of shops for various branches of lousiness 5 this mo- ney circulated v/ithln ourselves, and evcj'v one de- rived some advantaire. The preliminaries of peace being agreed on at Paris, the French prisoners, towards the close of the month, began to make all preparation for leav- ing the prison, and once more visiting their native country. The idea of returning to their native country, their homes, and their wives, vras too nicely interwoven v-ith the threads of their nature, to be rased by that of their aversion to the Bour- bons. The change wliich was about to take jjlace in their situation, had in it too many of the .en- dearments of life to be sacrificed for the love of any monarch. The scenes of theu- youth, tlie pla- ,/i»^ 7t* 81 ces where they had spent so many careless, plea- sant days, the embraces of their friends, all rush- ed upon their minds at once, and they could not forbear the highest transports of joy. They went to leave all the evils that men suffer in this life, and to embrace all the good and blessings of it. We had now an opportunity of procuring all the tools and utensils of the mechanical arts which the French carried on. And during their long im- prisonment they had obtained almost every article that could be named ; all these articles we purcha- sed, and every man turned all his ingenuity to some branch or other. The weather being pleasant, and the prisoners healthy, they bore their confinement with as much patience as could be expected. By permission', towards the close of the month they established a beer-house, where small beer was sold for two pence half penny per pot. On the last day.of the month a school was es- tablished for the instruction of the boys in the arts of reading, writing and common arithmetic ; to maintain the school, the rate of tuition was fixed at six pence a month per scholar, to be paid by them. May commenced, the weather was eqnally fine, but some rain. In the brstle of the crowd, we al- most forgot our situation ; the market square was H III i 82 , 1'''; crowded every day with people of every descrip- tion, some came for curiosity, others to trade, and among the latter were many Jews, who brought clothing, and many other articles, which might be wanted by the French for their journey. The French prisoners were all in confusion making rea- dy for their departure. The proposal was'^again made to the French prisoners to hoist the wliite flag, and wear the ensignia of Louis 1 8th; but they rejected it, and would not listen to any argu- ment. Now was the time to try the strength of their attachment to the emperor, whom only they had sworn to serve, or die in prison. When die proposition was made to them either to hoist the ilagand wear the en.signia, or remain in piiscn till the last draft of prisonei-s in England, they then immediately, ])ut rather reluctantly, hoisted the white flag and put on the cockade. But it was a grievous sight to them, and they could not look at it but with the bitterest rcilection, and the most poignant regret, for they had for years endured all the calamities and hardships of danger and war, for the support oi' their beloved emperor-, who now must give place to those they hated. On the 10th a draft of Americans from Plvmoudi about 170, in great distress, arrived at this depot •' among whom were the seventeen that were taken and put mto close confinement by the information rJoscnp- idc, and brought » might .'. The ng rea- ls again e wJiite th ; but y argu- igth of ly they en the ist tJie son till y then ?cl tlie was a ook at most idured r and r, A^'ho louth, cpot: taken lation 83 of Robertson. They had been tried for high trcasoji by a court of judicature ; but thcrenot being suf- ficient evidence on the part of the crown to sup- port the charge, they were acquitted, and sent to this prison, to be dealt by as prisoners of war on- ly. In the same draft were a number of prison- ers who had been released from British ships of war. On the 15th, we received our monthly pay ; this came very appropos, to enable us to buy all the furniture used by the French at a very low price. On the same day Mr. Williams, clerk to Mr. Beas*' Icy, and a Jew merchant of London, Mr. Jacobs, brought and delivered to each prisoner a jacket,' pair of trowsers, a pair of shoes, and a shirt. The jacket and trowsers were of very coarse blue cloth, much coarser than that of the English ; but it was such a dress as we had been used to wear- in^.. Mr. Williams then told us that we were to be clothed altogether by the U. States, and these we had now received were to last us eighteen months. These were the first we had ever receiv- ed from the agent, and it is impossible to describe the great cl^ange and life it gave the prisoners : they all cleaned themselves, and every thing about them, and laid by their yellow rags. They becran to attract the attention of all about them ; the Briiish officers would now visit them', 84 \.i m and were not afraid of being covered with ver- min as before ; our appearance was not loathsome to one another; we were in great spirits now, and to prevent some thoughtless men from selling their clothing to the French to wear home, we passed an act, that every man should appear in his dress which he had received from the United States, to receive his monthly payment, or not receive it at all. We note felt a spirit of independence, which had before been smothered in the wretchedness of our situation 5 we could now converse with ease, and without that restraint, which a mean and dirty habit will ever give a man in presence of those in a clean, and genteel one ; that old, dirty, tawny dress depressed us with a sense of inferiority ; but now we could vindicate our country's rights, in argument with any vinitoi' ; we came out boldly, and demanded restitution for any injury or fraud that heretofore had been practised upon us ; every man began to see to it, how he should gain some- thing more, now he was furnished with utensils, and set himsel.^ about something. On the twciitieth, orders arrived for the first draft of French, and the day after, five hundred were taken out and marched to Plymouth, where they took shipping and went to France. A very singular kind of conduct now showed it-- 85 with ver- oathsome now, and ling their e passed his dress States, to eive it at hich had 5s of our iase, and nd dirty those in , tawny Tiority ; J rights, t boldly, )r fraud • ; every n some- itonsils, the first lundred , where Dwed it" self in the British gv)vernment. Twenty-four Americans, citizens of tlic United States, who had been taken under the flag of France, about two years before the war between the United States and Great Britain, were now among the French prisoners at this place. They had often applied to the government to be released, as citizens of the United States before the war. They also, as- serting their citizenship, had applied after the war, to be enrolled on the list of United States priso- ners, but had been refused both their amplications. They now expected to be released with the French prisoners, on account of their always being con- sidered by government as French prisoners ; but the government would not release them as such, but detained them in prison. They now, ^eing they could not have the privilege of French prisoners, applied to Mr. Bcasley, and claimed their citizen- ship in the United States : but received for answer from him, " that he could not receive them as such !" These men were citizens of the world sure enough, for they belonged to no nation in it ; they therefore remained unprovided for by either gov- ernment. But we could not see them perish, as long as we had any thing which could be divided ; they therefore lived upon our chanty the whole time. H2 «^ V i-' : 86 On the twenty-fifth, another draft took place as before, and released one thousand. At this time, all the Swedish subjects, taken under tlio Hag of the United Slates, were released and permitted to go home. The French, who had been employed in diffe- rent occupations, being now released, we applied to government to be allowed that privilege, each man employed at these different occupations', such as carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, nurses in the hospital, <^c. ; and two hundi'cd labourers were paid six pence a day. In answer to this applica- tion, we were told, that after the di.^charge of all the French prisoners we should have them allowed us. * When the French prisoners passed out, they v^ere all called over by name, and groat nui'nbers being dead, which was not known to the keepers, ailorded a fine opportuhity for the Americans to answer, and pass out in the name of the deceased. Great numbers, who could speak French, obtained tlieir release in this manner. At the end of the month, another draft of one thousand took place, among whom, twenty Ameri- cans passed out in the same manner as before, the deception not being as yet discovered. At the same time, we received information by letters from Chatham andStapleton, that Mr. Wil- ■Mtm place as lis time, ^ flag of lilted to in diffe- applied e, each IS, such 3 in the "s were pplica- ; of all llowed , they mbers epcrsj uis to sased. tained f one meri- 3, the n by Wil- 87 liams, and the Jew merchant had visited them, and su])pUed .them in the manner as ourselves, and also, that the French prisoners at those places were released daily. Few died this month, the weather generally [pleasant, but much rain. Before I leave the events of this month, I can- not fojbear mentioning one very melancholy and 'striking instance of the force of disappointment and despair ; where hope has painted glowing scenes of pleasure ; the heart sickens and the mind grows frantick. On the discharge of the prisoners, every man before he can be discharged, must return the same complement of bedding which he had received two years before ; he must have the same number of articles, let them be in ever so worn-out state ; if he do this he can then pass, if not, he cannot pa'ss. Jt happened, that one unfortunate man, called for in the last draft, did not bring forward the ar- ticles of bedding : he was refused a pass, and or- dered back to produce them ; he ran about in great confusion and the most terrible anxiety to procure them, but could not find them ; he returned again to pass out, but was refused ; he had been immur- ed and buried within the cold, gloomy walls of this prison, eleven tedious and painful years, he said : he ran and looked, and looked again— he could not procure them, and he was refused to pass j—then.. # Mi, 96 t. next morning and held over the body of the de- ceased, and after hearing the evidence, the jury brought in a verdict of manslaughter, or (a killing not wholly without fault, but without malice.) Thomas Hill was removed and confined in the county prison at Exeter, there to await his trial at the August assizes then next ensuing. The fourth of July now having arrived, and all things in great preparation, we displayed our flag in the yard, with the following inscription upon it in large capitals, " All Canada or Dartmoor prison for life,^^ This pleased the soldiers, but irritated the officers, who discovering our firm resolution to defend the flag, and not having but part of a regi- ment in the garrison, and they friendly toward us, thought best to be quite silent and let us pro- ceed our own way ; for if thfy attempted to de- prive us of the flag, we might rush on the guard; who would make but a faint resistance, or join us, and all the prisoners might make an easy escape. But the prisoners did not wish to make the at- tempt, for they knew a reinforcement could easily be raised, and make a vigorous pursuit, and were therefore willing to wait some more favourable opportunity. At eleven o'clock all the prisoners assembled in the ya rd. The British officers be- longing to the garrison, colonels, majors, captains, clerks, turnkeys, and a great number of soldiers assembled on the walls to hear an oration com- posed by a Yankee sailor, upon the circumstances of the present times. An empty cask was placed in such a situation, as all the strangers on the walls could hear distinctly. The orator of the day then mounted the cask, and all the spectators keeping a profound silence, began his oration, which we shall give our reader^ verbatim, as it was delivered by the sailor. Countrymen and Fellow Citizens, This day we dedicate as the birth day of free- dom, it being the fourth of July, the day that our fathers declared themselves free and independent from the tyrannical laws of this country. After many years hard struggle, and the loss of many of our fathers and friends, America was acknowledg- ed by all civilized nations, a free and independent government. For many years our fathers, and we their off- spring, remained in the most perfect state of peace and tranquillity, and reaped every blessing that grows on the soil of liberty ; England, ever envying us the honour our fathers acquired by their valour in arms, when they declared that them- selves and their sons should no longer wear the yoke of tyrmry. Since ihat time, England has used every intrigue to deprive us of the greatest ef blessings. First, contrary to the laws of ci- 98 i: • > 1 1 ' ■*!* [Vl'l ▼ilized nations, she has dragged you from your homes, from your wives, your families and friends, into her infernal bulwarks, her ships of war ; there, after suffering every degradation, from the terror of the lash, she has sent you to the most horrid prison, in compensation for your long and faithful services. England, envying the hap- piness our countrymen enjoyed under so mild a government, the reverse of her own tyrannical laws, exerted every art to destroy their tranquilli- ty, by offering insults to the U. States ships at va- rious times, impressing and murdering our bro- ther seamen, within the jurisdiction of our own wa- ters and within sight of our capital. Our country was passive, and wishing to remain at peace with all nations, bore these insults with a fortitude becoming a great and wise people, and was in hope that at some future day, England would re- dress those injuries in a fair and honourable way* But contrary to every expectation, for years be- fore the war, she grew more bold, and showed a disposition to add injury to insult, by issuing or- ders to make prizes of all American vessels not bound to her own .ports, or those of her allies. All nations stood amazed to see our country in- sulted, our seamen impressed and murdered w^ith- in our own waters ; our commerce confined and completely destroyed, contrary to the laws of neur 99 trality. All this was done by England, and she unprovoked. Then, fellow citizens, the restilt of all these depredations, must be a formal declara- tion of war, which could no longer be delayed. — Our country then, prudently and wisely, mustered all their forces both by sea and land ; England stood ready for combat fully pre])ared, and with Uie fullest assurance of a speedy victory ; but a- las ! for England ; within a few weeks after the de- claration of war, the United States frigate Consti- tution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, fell in with His Majesty's ship Gucrriere, and then retali- ated for one insult, by sending her to the bottom. Great was the astonishment of England. Shortly after, the U. S. ship Wasp, fell in with His Majesty's ship Frolic, of far superior force, and alter a second retaliation, she acknowledged her country's w,fongs, by striking her colours to the gallant Jones. The officers and seamen of our infant navy, now felt the ardour of our forefathers. %.•• Decatur, in the frigate United States, fell in with a vessel of equal force, the Macedonian, the pride of the British navy ; and after displaying the courage of injured Americans, he took and brought her into port. The Constitution shortly after took her station along-side of the Java, a Irigate completely fitted I .. 4'„ ['J. ■n#;-. ^^'If '} i f|A [1\ - f 11 uA 100 and manned with a superior number of seamen ; and again did the God of battle decide in favour of the injured Americans, and sent the Java to the bottomc The tidings had scarcely reached the American shore, when another laurel was ad- ded to our infant navy; the United States ship Hor- net engaged His Majesty's ship Peacock, of equal force ; and Capt. Lawrence, unwilling to make any distinction between her and the Java, sent her to the bottom too. This intelligence had scarcely reached the shores of liberty, when victories were proclaimed from all directions. The British, feeling their pride wounded by the great exploits of our undaunted seamen, fitted out the Boxer, with the fullest assurance of recover- ing her lost honour, and were confident of taking our brig Enterprise,of much inferior force. But Di- vine Providence, ever extending the hand of assist- ance to the injured, decided the contest in favour ^{ our insulted country ; and the Boxer was cap- tured and brought safe into port, in the United States. Our next laurel was reaped on Lake Erie, by Commodore Perry. He bravely captured all the naval force on that lake, to the amazement of all surrounding nations, and the disgrace of the British flag. 101 Commodore Chauncey, at the same time, had a complete ascendency over the whole British force on Lake Ontario ; while Commodore Rodgers is traversing the ocean in every direction, and des- troying British property to an immense value. — The United States ship Essex is complete master of all the South Seas, in defiance of all the boast- ed superiority of the British. The United Sates ship Congress is cruising on the coast of Brazil, and completely intercepting the trade of Great Britain to all Spanish South America, and defy- ing any thing of equal size. And now, fellow citizens, this country, what has she done ? She has long boasted of her honour and her bravery ; and she has issued orders to her frigates, never to engage an American frigate, unless' under cover of a ship of the line. She lias likewise endeavoured to rouse the anger of the savage tribes in the wilderness of Canada, to mur- der and scalp your brethren in arms, in that coun- try. But divine Providence, still assisting your injured country, turned the ferocity of the sava- ges against those who moved them to anger, and their vengeance recoiled on the hand that attempt- ed to use it. And you, fellow citizens, although prisoners of war, feel the benefit of belonging to so great and wise a nation. Have the United States not assisted us in our unhappy situation^ i til* ^' hi if 6* '„ 1/ 102 and much meliorated our sufferings, though illy able, while carrying on so expensive a war ? And^ow, fellow citizens, I conjure you to be?pa- tient, and consider your country to be using her utmost endeavour to bring about an honourable and speedy peace. In a state of war, many sto- ries are circulated in this country, favourable to her success in arms, which have no foundation ; and this is done to encourage and inspire the sol- diery to enlist in her wars ; and perhaps, fellow citizens, many of you may honestly believe the re- ports, but let them not make you despair of your country. No, depend upon it, she cannot be con- quered. England may get momentary possession of one small city, or perhaps ten, but America is not conquered till every man is either taken pri- soner or killed. The success of our naval arms is a sufficient proof, and our country is now in triumph at her great naval success. Have we not this moment, as it were, heard of another brilliant achievement upon the ocean ? The United States ship Pea- cock, on her first cruise after she left the stocks, captured and brought into port. His Majesty's ship L'Epervier, of equal size, with immense sums of silver and much treasure on board ? From the success of American arms, which have already astonished our enemies, we have nothing to fear ; and we have the greatest reason to be- .111 Ids lieve that the American cause is big with the most wonderful achievements ; that the exploits of our countrymen in arms, in the present contest, will astonish all nations, and be recorded on the pages of history, and remain in the choicest archieves of posterity, with equal glory to those of Marathon and Thermopylae. Fellow prisoners, let us then be resigned to our present unhappy condition ; and through the great exertion of our country, and the assistance of Di- vine Providence, who disposes of events and go- verns futurity, we may hope once more to revisit our native country in an honourable peace, and live happy and free. After the oration was delivered, the officers that were on the walls, entered the prison yard, and expressed the greatest surprise that we should en- tertain a hope that the United States would be successful in a war with Great Britain, when she was at peace with all other nations. But for con- solation to us in our present condition, we might rest fully ass#ed that we should be released in a very short time by a peace, which would be brought about by their conquering the United States, and reducing them to colonies again ; and such a change, which must shordy take place, the} said must be imputed entirely to the bad man- agement of our President and Congress : we have 104 '% now conquered France, and America roust be con- quered next. We found them ignorant of the strength and resources of the American people ; we gave themja particular account of the situation of America, her means of defence, and the spirit and determination of the people ; the great supe- riority of gunnery, which the American seamen possessed over those of Great Britain ; the truth of which was shown in the actions of the Guer- riere, Frolic, Java, &c. &:c. They left the yand much chagrined at these facts, which they could not deny ; and remarking that they were surprised to find sailors so well ac- quainted with the politics of both countries, but that they believed they must be most of them Englishmen born, and that it was a very great pity His Majesty should be deprived of so many valuable seamen. At two o'clock we sat down to our fourth of July dinner, which was composed of soup and beef, the best we could prepare. We gathered in parties with the greatest animation, conversing of our President and Congress, for whcm. we sailors have the greatest respect ; and Mr. Madison, par- ticularly, is a great favourite of sailors. Alter dinner we had a song, which was con.posed for the occasion. '•■>ii 105 The day was passed in the gr(?atcst harmony, no quarrel or strife occurred to mar -its pleasure. The next day, every man r«sumed his occupation and seemed to enjoy a negative happiness, wLich arose from a freedom from absolute pain. On the eighth of this month a friend of mine, for whom 1 had much respect, died, and at his bu- rial I took occasion to survey the vast tenements of the dead, and consider within myself what innumerable multitudes of people lay confused to- gether on this moor ; how friends and enemies, officers and soldiers, the brave and the coward, collected from all quarters of the globe, of all na- tions, and of all colours, lay undistinguished in ^ one common mass of matter ; and not a stone to name one tenant of the tomb. After having surveyed this great magazine of mortality as it were, in the lump, out of respect to my friend, I searched about and obtained a very slaty stone, on which 1 inscribed the following words : an s of who departedlbislife July 8th, 1814, •%»•! vX'i V 106 Under which was the following epitaph. Your country mourns your hapless fate So mourn we prisoners all ; You've paid the debt we all must pay, Each sailor great and small. i> <•' Mi. V It < m Pff h 4 ■ Jl Your body on this barren moor, Your soul in Heaven doth rest, Where Yankee sailors, one and all, Hereafter will be blest. The agent permitted us to put this stone upp and of the many thousands that lay indiscrimi- nately mingled together upon this moor, this stone recorded the only syllable of the dead bu- ried here. The life of these men is finely descri- Ijed in Holy Writ by the path of an arrow, which is immediately closed up and lost. We received our monthly pay as usual, and no- thing remarkable occurred durk|| the remainder of the month ; fe,w peE|ons arrived, but we had ?r. The weather was dly healthy ; ch crowded. expectation of rainy and cold few died? but there being l.^iiP^&.^|^ At the commencemen prisoners arriyed, wM St, a draft of cently captured a 107 on the coast of Europe, among whom were fouv men lately belonging to the private armed schoon- er Surprise of Baltimore ; these four men on their first arrival at this depot, were put into close con- finement in the cachot, there to remain on two- thirds allowance, without hammock or bed, sleep- ing on the stone floor, during their whole impris- onment. When the cause of their confinement was known, it seems it had grown out of the follow- ing circumstances. The Surprise was cruising in the channel of England, and fell in with, and captured a schoon- er, and put on board her these four men, to take charge of the prize. Shortly after, the prize was re-captured by an English frigate, and after taking possession of her, found stowed away in the round house, (which is a few feet above the deck,) a cask of powder, which contained, but a few pounds at most, and ©n examination they found part of a match and a candle ; the captain of the frigate being suspicious of these four men's having an intention to blow the vessel up, took them and committed them to close confinement until he arrived in England ; he then reported them to the Board of Transport and delivered them into their custody, and they, from these suspicious circumstances, sentenced them to the punishment above mentioned. Whether 108 =1- ' If- iT i: the crime, had it been well piioved, would war- rant so rigorous a punishment, is not the subject of investigation -, they had the power to treat them as they pleased, nor had the sufferers any icdress, for, inter armis lages silent, " the laws are silent amid ai-ms." On the arrival of these prisoners, Capt. Short- land opened the south yard of the enclosure, and gave all the officers liberty to go into No. 6 ; a few days after, a habeas corpus ad testificandum was awarded to bring forward six prisoners, to appear and give evidence in the cause of Thomas Hill, then depending at the next Exeter assizes, who was charged with man-slaughter for killing James Henry on the third of July. The termi- natidipfef the trial, I shall give in a subsequent page. The prisoners having no expectation or hope of exchange, or a peace, now set about contriving a method of escape, something of which we hinted at in a preceding page. The plan was to dig out of prison No. 6. The plan was made known to the prisoners in No. 4, who were expecting to be removed into No. G, in a few days, when they would have access to No. 5, 6, and 7, which were contained in one yard. To have the plan circu- lated with the greatest secrecy, that would ob- tain the opinion of all the prisoners, without the 109 suspicion of the guards, or officers ; it was thought best to have it clone in poetry, and accordingly it was done in that manner. This attracted the at- tention of the prisoners, and we soon found the intention of each man to favour the plan. On the fifteenth of August, the six men whom we mentioned in the preceding page, were taken to Exeter, returned, and with them Thomas Hill, who was acquitted by the jury, and he remanded to Dartmoor as a prisoner of war. The same day arrived a large draft of prisonerfi who had been sent from Halifax prison on board the Transport ship Bensen. These persons on their passage attempted to rise, and take the ship, in which attempt a sharp contest ensued, and the struggle was for some time doubtful, but tllg Amer- ican prisoners were overpowered and afterwards treated with the greatest severity and cruelty* In the engagement several on both sides were severely wounded, but none killed, or mortally wounded. Some of the prisoners were taken opt and put on board the ship Commodore, and the re- mainder confined in the coal-hole, and kept on bread and water for several days. These prisoners were put into No. 6, which now made about eight hundred in that prison and about twelve hundred in No. 4, who were not yet removed. m [■,■*' J 10 it-' ' i Wc finding our number increasing daily and no prospect ol peace or exchange, now determined to put in execution our projected plan of escape; ev" ery prisoner being willmg, and not a dissenting voice among the whole, wo mustered a number of bibles in each prison, and began to solemnly swear every man to keep secret every transaction he should sec or know of concerning the operation then about to be begun ; when a man was sworn, he was strictly cautioned and charged not to make known by word or sign, in any way wlifitever,' any thing w hich might lead to a discovery of their de- sign, on pain of immediate death in a private and secret manner, wdiich would most assuredly take place without the knowledge of the keepers. After they were all sworn, and the fixed deter- mination of hanging the first informer, a num- ber of confidential persons were appointed as spies, to watch the conduct of others. We also appointed other trusty men to watch the move- ments of the turnkeys, and senteries ; and see that the prisoners held no conversation with either of them. We then divided ourselves into parties to work, and who were alternately to dig, and re- lieve each other. After taking a correct survey of the ground, measuring and making it out, and taking the K2 M «, Ill G||ir«c, on the twentieth we made a beginnfnic m both jjiisons, and dug directly down. \ thit per])cndicular direction, we must sink our work twenty feci, which would conie on a horizontal plane with the road. On this horizoniid plane wc must then pursue the work, in an eastern (hrection, two hundred and fifty ieet, ivhich distance would carry us beyond the outer wall atid under all the . foundations which extended below the surface of the earth, a bout six feet ; if this work were per- formed we should then have a passage into the road. Tiic digging could be carried on with very little difliculty ; but the great obstacle before us was to convey away the dirt, and this on a little consideration seemed to vanish, when v e consid- ered the stream of water in the yard which passecj under the prison at the rate of four miles an hour ; into this stream we threw great quantities of fine' dirt, which passed off. We, as another means to get clear of the dirt, obtained permission to bring into the prison a large quantity of lime, under the pretence of white-washing the walls of the prison. These walls were made of large rough stone' and every night we made of the dirt a sort of mor- ter, and plastered on the walls, and then white- washed it over. No 5 prison containing no prisoners, and not be- ing visited by the keepers, we thought best to be- , ." IV ■<5 • ■tj tf I'm * m .1 112 gill a similar uperation in that prison, as we co\||^ pass and r.t])a.s into it unknown to the keepers.-- In this we commenced (digging in the day-time, and found a hollow place under the prison to stow the diiL away. In these three diflerent places we made our at- tacks, and very rightly sui)posing, that if one should be discovered, that we should still have an- other, which we could proceed in without suspi- cion ; we were apprehensive, that the run of wa- ter, which passed through an iron grating at the outlet, might get stopped with the dirt, and lead to a discovery. We hastened on the work, every man as busy as a bee, and flushed with the hope and full belief that we should shortly make our escape. At the close of the month, we had dug toward the wall in a horizontal direction forty feet, without the least suspicion. As we entered so far under ground, we found a want of f sh air, and to re- medy this, we contrived a lamp to keep burning in the hole, that would expel all the azotic gas, or dead air, and bring in a constant supply of fresh. I must digress for a moment, to give an ac f nnt of some events which took place during th'' ^' ration. In th2 mean while a number of prisoners arri- ved, soii,e ^Vom Chatham, some from the West In- ^'W.t\. §'. *••' 113 dies, ami from other places. These, as soon ns they arrived, were made acquainted with our de- sign an' I operations, and sworn and charged as tae others liad been. Among these prisoners was the crow of tlic United States brig Frolic. These })risoners were destitute of clothing, and in a very- bad state of health,. which was occasioned by be- ing so very closely confined during the passage, and t'lt'ir allowance so very short. During the month \v€ had great (juantities of rain, which was v(M'y favourable to our operations. The prisoners wei'C now more hcaltiiy than they had been before since our confinement. Those who had been sick for some time, dicd^ Those who had been here a long time, had become used to the hardships, but new comers were sickly. On the last day of August, our subterraneous passage was sixty feet from No. 5, and about the same from No. 6, and No. 4 nearly equal. The dirt being very loose, and but few stones to ob- struct our way, our passage seemed short, and promised success. September having commenced, and no suspicion or discovery as yet made, although the prisons vv ere searched every day by the keepers ; but the holes being very small, and so nicely closed every day, that it would require the minutest search to '^■■A •r*; 114 i\ il^ W^ discover the place ^ but the hole was larger under groui) \ and would admit four men to work abreast. But, to our great mortification, on the second, Capt. Shortland entered the prison with the guards, and went directly towards the hole, and a^ he pass- ed, he mformed us that he knew of our operations in No. 5, but his informer had not told him cor- rectly, for after a long search, they could not dis- cover the hole. It was then suggested by his attendants to sound the prison ; they then began with crow-bars to sound, and after having made the minutest exami- nation, by accident found the entrance, to the great mortification of every man. They undertook to enter the hole, but after en- tering a few feet, their lights went out, and they could not keep them burning ; and being unac- quainted with the materials, and method used by us to light the hole and expel the dead air, could not penetrate to the extent, nor did they ever enter near all the distance. They were no less astonished to conceive what had become of the dirt taken from the passage, and it ever remained a great mystery to them. Every man was strictly cautioned, should any discovery take place, not to give any account what- ever of the means they had made use of to light • 5t exami- 115 the hole, or how they had disposed of the dirt ; and when they were strictJ> examined by the olficcrs, they gave no other answer, than that each man eat his proportion, to make up his scant allowance. To prevent any further operation oi this kind Capt. Shordand had every prisoner removed from' the yard, which encloses No. 5, 6, and 7, into ihc enclosure on the north side, which contained ^o. 1, 2, and 3 ; but having no suspicions of any attempts to escape in No. 4, they let the prisoners there remain. After, the prisoners were removed from the other two pri-^ons, they filled the entrance of the hole up with stone : they supposed these were not •ratable. We remained in No. 2 till the eighth, when we were again removed to the south side, on account of prison No. 2 being out of repair. This gave us fresh hopes. As the noise had not yet entirely got silent, we thought best to stop all" operations in No. 4 for the present. In the mean while, our court of judicature was fitting, and several persons were arraigned at the bar, and charged with having given information of our design to escape ; all the evidence against them was produced, but the crime being of a capi- tal nature by our laws, required positive and di- rect evidence, which the court considered had not ivy ; I' If r 116 he^n producer^ ; and although very strcng cireupi^ stciiiual evidence had been given, yet they consid- ered that such evidence ought never to take a man's hfe, which must have been the case had any one been found guilty. We afterwards believed it must have been acci- dental ; that some person had spoken too loud, or in an unguarded mainer in the presence of the turnkeys ; for we found no discovery had been made of the operations in No. 4 or 5, although Capt. Shortland had declared himself to be ac- quainted with them in No. 5. After the bustle of the discovery had a little blown over, and the officers and keepers had ridi- culed the futile idea of our makmg our escape, by saying they had guards and spies in all directions ; we then gave orders to the blacks in No. 4 to pro- ceed on with their work. At this time, the 10th, a draft of prisoners arrived from Chatham ; these were mostly men delivered up from ships of war in England, and some few were sent from the West Indies, Bermuda, and New Providence.— This draft increased the number of prisoners at this depot to three thousand five hundred in all. When these men arrived, we were under great apprehensions that they would be ordered into No. 5, and in the hurry and bustle of entering, before they were cautioned, might lead to a Ois- 117 covery of the work in that prison ; but happily, they were ordered into No. 7, and all the white prisoners from No 4 ordered in with them ; and all the blacks were now to be kept by themselves* They were directed to proceed as we mentioned before, and to report their progress every evening. As the hole in No. 6 was farthest advanced, we formed u communication to let each other know their progress each day, that all the holes might proceed with equal progress, and come out at the ♦same time. -V With this arrangement we proceeded on, and on the 12th, in No. 6, we dug down, and the next day had gone quite round the stones which were thrown in to fill up the entrance of the hole, and came out into the former passage : this was done in the night, and in the day time we carried on the work in No. 5, disposing of the dirt as before. The work went on with the greatest care, se- crecy and success,, and every man was animated with the liveliest hope of soon gaining his liberty, till each hole had come within thirty-five or forty feet of the intended place of coming out. We could always ascertain the distance we were from the top of the ground by measuring with our line and rule, and had concluded to work that dis- tance in one week : every man was now provided L 118 i %* with a dagger, made by prisoners who worked at black-smithing. When the work was complete, we were to make our move some dark stormy night at the hour of ten, which would give every man who wished, an opportunity to reach Torbay, about ten miles dis- tance, at which place lay a large number of un- armed vessels, fishing boats and other small cralt ; we could reach this place a little after midnight^ and then proceed as fast as possible for France ; on leaving the outlet of the passage every man was to separate and take care of himself. When we were once out, we had determined to rcach France or sell our lives at the dearest rate ; for, by this time, life was of little consequence to us, when we ^mparcd it to the miseries we must suffer, if we should be brought back, and therefore we were de- termined to hazard it at all events. But I hasten from our future resolutions to re- lieve the i-eader from his anxiety, by showing the event. At this moment, when every man was well pleased with the prospect, how was his just indig- nation raised, and his fierce anger kindled ! a man by the name of *Bagley, another Sinon, wallced out in open day, before all the prisoners * T\m Til an belonged to Portsmoutli, N. IT. m' * 1 ill 1 ' ■ ** m. - -■ ■ .»^ I 119 then in the yard, went up to the turnkeys and marched off with them to the keeper's house, gave him information of all the operations and designs, and we never saw him after ; for could wo have catched him, we should scarcely have tried him, but should have torn him in atoms before the life could have time to leave his traitorous body. This Judas received the price of his iniquity from the Transport Board, and got a passport to go where he pleased, and the' publick's humble servant put into the cachot ;— but I can tell him, should this work ever reach his infamous hand, that it is the sincere wish of every prisoner, that he may. fall, and like that other Judas, his bowels may gush out. The prisoners were then immediately removed to the north side of the enclosure, and confined to No. 1 and 3 ; and to repair the damages which had been done to the prisons, Capt. Slfortland put every man on two thirds allowance, and took the other third to pay expenses of repair ; this he did for ten days successively ; if we had eaten the dirt up, we had to starve it back again. Our hopes were all blown up to the moon, and we left to despair ; we had no prospect by which we could hope to be relieved, but every thing seemed to threaten us with imprisonment for life. Wc again resigned ourselves to our situation, and 120 '^f ■ II ^jlaced all our hopes of life or liberty on that Al- mighty arm, which had brought us to these sufier- ings by His Divine pleasure. Every man with reluctance now returns to his usual occupation, hoping to gain a few articles of clothing, which he stood in need of. The shoes furnished by Mr. Beasley, which were the poorest that could be made in England, were now worn out, and we needed others. It was reported among the prisoners, that an. exchange v/as about to take place ; but as wc had no account to that effect from Mr. Beasley, wc could place no dependence on it ; the only hope we had was in bribing the guards, apd tha^ of peace. By letters from Plymouth, we had information that an action had been fought between the Essex, Capt. Porter, and the British ingaie i uC^C, ^^J?.: Hillier, and a sloop of war. The action was long and severe, and much blood spilt on both sides 5 and although the Essex was taken, the ho- nour of the day belonged to the Americans. She fought under every disadvantage, and gallantly stood the fire of both the enemy's vessels, and bore hard for a victory, till chance decided against her. The magnanimity of the officers and crew commands the noblest sentiments of respect from every American ; they deserved no common meed 121 that At- ie sufler- lan with :upation, ig, which d by Mr. could be , and we , that an It as we Beasley, the only apd that formation he Essex, >V,o r!f:»r)t« :tion was it on both n, the ho- ins. She gallantly 5sels, and ed against and crew pect from mon meed of praise ; I therefore undertook to celebrate, their valorous deeds in verse. A large draft of prisoners from Chatham, arri- ved at this place the latter end of this month ; among them were great numbers of men, who had been detained on board His Majesty's ships from eight to twelve years, and one who had been detained eighteen years. The greatest part of this draft were men who had been delivered up from the navy : they were collected at Chatham, and brought round by water to Plymouth, landed, I and then ordered to prepare to march for Dart- moor prison, the sufferings of which they had long been acquainted with, by report ; but pre- vious to their departure, they, anticipating their treatment there, prepared the following motto, in capitals, and fixed it to the fore part of their hats : •' British gratitude for past services,^^ With this on their hats, they marched the distance of eigh- teen miles. During the march, the officers tried every means to persuade them to take it off, but they absolutely refused, saying, it was truth, and as prisoners of war, they had a just cause to com- plain of the treatment and ingratitude of a government which they had so long served. They insisted that it was cruelty to make them prisoners, after they had served so manv years as good and jf' iaithful servants j and it was much more ungratc- L2 122 ful now, to send them to the worst prison in Eng- land, as a compensation for their long and faith- ful services. ' The garrison was now reinforced by a large number of soldiers, and the prisoners separated ; the whites, in the north and south wing, occupying two prisons in each yard, and the blacks, one in the centre. The prisoners were not permitted to have intercourse with one another from the different prisons, except on Sundays. The number being now very large, it was fear- ed they would rise, and take possession of the guard house, and then make their escape. They had some ground to fear the event might take place, for the prisoners did not consider these walls, nor the soldiers, any very great obstacle in the accomplishment of such an undertaking, had it been their design. But they knew very well the consequence of doing this ; although, on the iirst sortie, the officers, soldiers and guards, must fall into their power, yet as the prisoners must all inarch in a body to keep them under, the alarm would spread over all England, and the militia be raised upon them, before they would be able to reach the sea coast and take shipping. Capt. Shortland was in daily fear of such an attack, for there wa|; scarce a day but some dis- pute or strife took place, between the turnkey^ 123 •r guards and the prisoners, and kept a continual alai ta. The prisoners would not hear any abu- sive language against the President of the United States ; and on the first disrespectful word from a sentery, stationed singly in the yard, they would knock him down, and he could get no relief, till they were willing tri release him, for the prisoners immediately surrounded him by hundreds 5 and the garrison declared that they had more trouble with four thousand Americans, than they should have with twenty thousand Frenchmen. On the last day of this month, another draft ar- rived, among whom were the crew of the United States brig Rattle Snake and some others, sent- from Halifax. The prisoners became sickly again, and up- wards of one hundred in the Hospital ; but they had much better attendance than before, having now a new surgeon, Doct. Magrath, to superin- tend that department ; he was a humane, skilful and attentive man, and a friend to the sick and distressed prisoner. I know of nothing more agreeable to the human feelings, than the presence of a friend by our sick bed ; and this man admin- istered more of the medicine of life by the sympa- thetic emotions of his heart, than all the anodynes in the apothecary's shop. m^ , r '*' ^: 124 "We had much rain and stormy ircathcr during the month of September. One tedious n»onth iiad now passed by, and another lay in hopeless pros- pect before us ; but our hopes were a httle revived on the second of October by a letter, which we received from Mr. Beasley, informing us that a partial exchange would take place between the two countries. This exchange would extend to none but those taken in the United States vessels ; this letter was to inform the crew of the Argus moie particularly, as they were the oldest prisoners taken in the United States service. — The same letter gave general information, that there was great prospects of a speedy peace be- tween the two belligerants. Several persons made their escape hy brihing the 3cnteries, after this news, and passing out in the night, with a soldier's coat and cap on, under his protection. But this method was discovered and stopped, and eight only were able to make their escape by it. We received the account of the United States ship Wasp, sinking the Reindeer and Avon. The particulars seemed too galling to their feel- ings to publish. After reading the account in the Loudon paper, I composed a dirge, and put it up on the front of the prison, in full sight of all the 125 soldier-officers and guards, as a tribute of respect to the departed worthies of His Majesty's navy. Almost every draft of prisoners brought intelli- gence of new victories of the Americans by sea, and every British paper was filled with comjilaints of American privateers destroying British proper- ty in their own waters, and in sight of their cities. The prisoners being animated with the success of the arms of their country, could not forbear ex- pressing their joy in some pleasant feat. The following anecdote has something of the features of the attack of Don Quixotte on the wind-mill. The prisoners the night after the news of the Wasp, took a jacket at twelve at night, lowered it down tcVv'arus the p^rouild along the rope of the prison ; the soldiers saw it and concluded it must be a man sliding down the ropc to make his escape : the alarm was given, and Capt. Shortland and all the soldier-officers, at the head of the picket, entered, and hailed the man on the rope, but no answer ; they then drew themselves up in martial array, and every man sat his teeth and screwed his cour- age up to the sticking place, ready for battle ; Capt. Shortland, an experienced officer, gave or- ders to fire, and instantly a volley of musketry was poured in upon the enemy, and down came the jacket ; they rushed in upon it, and to theiv astonishment, they had conquered a jacket* 12«5 mw ii III hip m- Thc keepers who had been so insolent the tlay brfore, by wishing Mr, Madison in the prison, now showed great resentment, and gave themselves many airs upon the oceasion. The soldiers dis- covered a candle burning in the prison, and called aloud, " put out that candle ;" but the order not being instantly obeyed, they discharged a volley through the window ; ])ut a divine interposition of goodness seemed to direct the balls, for every one lodged in some jyart of the hammocks, which almost formed a solid column, and not a single man hurt or touched, though asleep in the ham- mocks. The next morning, I thought the battle with the jacket and the attack on the sleeping prisoners deserved to be celebratt-d in some sig- nal way, and sung like the deeds of the gallant Quixotte. It had been remarked by the prisoners that, about the time of some reverse of the arms of the enemy, the keepers treated them with much greater severity, and seemed to wish to wreak their ven^ceance in retaliation on the prisoners. On the eighteenth, orders, together with a list of names, came, to discharge sixty-two of the crew of the late United States' brig Frolic, who had been exchanged, and were to repair immediately to Dartmouth, thirty miles from the depot, to go •n board the artel Janey, then lying at that place -& ii7 with the greater part of her number, which con- sisted of prisoners late belonging to the United States' navy and army. Those sixty-two of the Frohc, were obliged to carry the baggage themselves or leave it behind, for they were allowed no means to transport it. Twelve miles of xhv distance is water carriage • ihe other eighteen is land ; this distance they had to march on foot : they i-eceived a shilling each man, and one day's provision at the commencement of the journey. By letters from Plymouth, we received intel- ligence that another cartel, the St. Philip, was preparing to take on board part of her co'mpli- mcnt at that i)lace, then to proceed to Dartmouth, and receive the crew of the late United States' brig Argus, and her officers, and non-combatants from Ashburton. The same letters informed us that all the prisoners in England, then nearly five thousand, would shortly be removed to this prison ; and accordingly at the latter end of this month they all were removed to this depot, and made, with some few lately from sea, five thousand and twenty. They were badly prepared to stand the inclemency of the approaching season; they were all miserably clothed, and the shoes they had re- ceived from Mr. Beasley lasted but a few weeks, and they were nov/ quite destitute, and very sickly. pi , ^.'*4 .1 ', ■ ,1 ^. VifMm n 128 and the weather cold and stormy for several days together. On the third we received a letter from Mr. Beasley, informing us that his clerk, Mr. Wil- liams, was on his way from London to this place with clothing, which he would distribute among the prisoners captured since the middle of last May, and to those captured before that date, he would deliver one shirt, and one pair of shoes and stockings, which should be their supply for nine months. The old prisoners stated their situation to Mr. Beasley by letter at the same date, and in- formed him that they were in need of clothing ; that what they received in May was worn out, also their shoes, and that they were not supplied with sufficient bedding to make them any way comfort- able through the approaching winter, especially as they were sickly, and had the small-pox in the prison, and that they should not be able to endure the hardships of their condition, though their two and a halfpence a day was some relief: yet as all the workmen were turned into prison, and not permitted to go out any more on account of one man whom we believe to be Capt. Swain of New- Bedford, Massachusetts, taking a very sudden move and leaving the whole establishment, with- out giving notice ; this left them unprovided with isufficient means to take care of themselves. 129 Now the surly blasts of chill November had made all surrounding nature wear the sad aspect of decay, and the bare-footed prisoner stood shiv- ering by the walls, in the pale and feeble ray of a winter sun, when Mr. Williams arrived with the clothing, as was expected, and on the third saw the crew of the Argus take their departure from this prison, to go on board the St. Philip, then ly- ing at Dartmouth, bound for the United States, The draft of this crew consisted of one-hundred, which was all that wa§ taken from this place ; she had previously taken in her complement, except this number, at Chatham. Shortly after her sail- ing from Dartmouth she was so unfortunate as ta spring her mast, and obliged to return into port* At this time the Phebe, and the late United States' frigate Essex, arrived in England. The editors who published the arrival of these two ships, made no remark or observation whatever, only barely said they had arrived. The reader will not have forgotten the circum- stance of the four men, whom we mentioned were committed to close confinement, during the war, on suspicion of an intention to blow up the ship. We, at this time, made application to the Board of Transport, to mitigatethe punishment of these four men, late of the Surprise ; and who had remained mtr since in close confinement in the cachot, but M :.W' 130 •ur petition was not granted ; the board said, the sentence had passed and could not be recalled, they must suffer according to the sentence. These poor fellows had endured the three months im- prisonment with a magnanimity becoming Ameri- cans. The prisoners seeing they could not get them relieved, agreed to allow them a half-penny a month out of every man's pay, which was cheer- fully done by every man. They supplied them with such articles as the board would allow them to have. Our hope now brightened amidst the clouds of sufferings and despair, by the reports from Ghent of a speedy peace ; which swelled every London paper. The guards, both officers and soldiers, stationed here, were much disaffected with the government of the country ; and informed us, that the military through the whole kingdom had the same disaf- fection, and that they had gone so far as to in- form the government in direct terms, that if a peace did not take place before the first of April, that they would lay down their arms. The battle, and destruction of Washington, had now crossed the Atlantic, and was sounding with great applause to the British arms ; every paper was swelled with the most pompous description of the great battle, and the unparalleled bravery and 131 magnanimity of their oincers and soldiers, that had defeated and drove the whole American army, headed by Mr. Madison in person, and tliat they were in so close pursuit of him, that he had a se- vere race all the way from Bladensburgh to Washington ; which they were disposed to ridi- cule, by comparing to John Gilpin's celebrated race. They also gave a description of Washington, which they declared was one of the greatest cities in the known world : the grandeur and magnificence of it surpassed that of Paris or London ; it con- tained thirteen hundred spacious squares, , But they did not mention, that those squares contained no houses or inhabitants. These stories could not gain the belief of persons acquainted with the American nation, and its capi- tal, but we were led to believe that the conduct on both sides deserved much censure, and that the burning of that capital was a disgrace to both na- tions. Nothing very material occurred among the priso- ners this month ; they received their monthly pay as usual, but were more sickly, and the weather cold and tedious, but could not be compared with the November before. The prisoners, though far from being as comfortable as they ought to b e .suffered much less, and were in a better condition m- 132 h-i ' 'sT'i ■ i!^ Pi m'^ it4 v.. life M to endure the hardships of a prison than the yeai* before, now they were supplied with one pair of shoes and stockings, and allowed two and a half pence per day. They did not shrink at the ap- proaching season so much as before. Mr. Williams returned to London at the end of the month ; he had been with us all the montli, dis- tributing the several articles above mentioned. As the season advanced the hard weather in- creased, and the snow fell in great abundance in the beginning of December, and the prisoners much chilled with the cold, applied for permission to keep fire, as had been permitted to the French prisoners, but were peremptorily refused and ab- solutely forbid. But to make the best of these evils of life, they applied themselves every man to some occupation ; they endeavoured to cherish and keep the mind alive if the body decayed, and to cultivate that nobler part of our being, they established a num- ber of schools, and the young men and boys were instructed in them for nearly two years, and many of them, who were perfectly unacquainted with letters when they came to this prison, had acquired a tolerable education in the English branches of jBcience. There has from the eariiest ages of antiquity, been frequent instances of men, who have been 133 weary of life, and had not the courage and forti- tude to bear those ills which are incident to it, and have therefore, by a sort of false heroism, attempt- ed to avoid them by destroying their own life. The Stoic philosophy, which seemed to be a cultivated degree of insensibility, encouraged it, and called it heroism : but the act is cowardly, and a great offence against the laws of God and man. I have thought proper to premise these observa- tions, before I related the melancholy instance of a young man, a native [of the city of New York, by the name of John Taylor, who put an end to his life on the first of this month, by hanging him- self in prison No. 5. By the position in which he was found in the morning, he must have been all. intent on death ; he had fastened himself to one of the stantions, so that his toes could just touch the floor. We knew of no other cause than that despair had given him less courage to live than to die. Thinking it might tend to deter others from fol- lowing the example of this unhappy victim of des- pair, I procured a large slate, and engraved on ij^ the following inscription, which 1 put at the head •f his grave, where it remains on the moor. 0. M2 #( Jf 134 i m Here lies JOHN TAYLOR, A native citizen of the city of New York, Who committed suicide, by -hanging him- self in prison No. 5, on the evening of the first of December, 1814. I then put over each prison as a caveat, the fol- lowing memento^ as it was feared others would do the same act. Whene'er you view this doleful tomb, Remember what you are, And put your trust in God alone : Suppress that fiend, Despair. Lo ! there's entomb'd a generous youth, Despair did doom to die ; By the hard act of suicide, John Taylor there doth lie. He hung himself within yon walls. A warning may it prove : Tho' man is wicked here below. There's a just God above. ^^ Be patient, meek, and wait His call, Endure these ills of strife ; For great's the sin of mortal man. That takers awaj^his life. 135 One knows not how to account for the origin of that act which takes away one's ovva life : seil-iovc and seh-preservation are so deeply rooted in the very nature of all living creatures, that it is the ulti- mate mo ivc of all actions to endeavour to sustain and preserve life ; fear of destroying it is so in- stinctive in all animals, that they seem to flee from danger without any reasoning in the act, and al- most witfiout knowing when the volition begins. But the suicide reverses every thing ; he does an act which is not natural, not rational, not desirable? and dangerous ; he rushes into the presr^nce of his God, with all his former crimes, and this nKjst he- nk)us of all, brings him there. From the first to the twenty-sixth nothing mate- rial occurred, but a constant fall of snow every day, but the season was less severe than that of the year before. • In the interim, prisoners arrived from different quarters of the globe ; some taken in Canada on the lakes, and others on the land : and amongst these arrivals was the crew of the privateer Leo, captured oiF the coast of Portugal. On the twenty-ninth, we were most agreea- bly surprised with the joyful tidings of peace !— « The prehminaries were announced in the London paper which we received this day, and the news was confirmed by a letter from Mft Beasley, re- ■«3S .«- ::,¥'. 136 :civc J the same day ; stating that the treaty had been signed by the commissioners at Ghent on the 24th, and that the sloop of war Favourite would sail with the Treaty on the second of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, with all possi- ble speed for the United States, and that three months would release every man from confinement. Language is too feeble to describe the trans- ports of joy, that so suddenly and unexpectedly filled every heart. Every man forgot the many tedious days and nights he had so often numbered over within these prison walls. The memory of his better days rose fresh in his mind, and he once more hoped to return to his native country, which he had so long despaired of ever revisiting ; his liberty, the embraces of his friends, he knew bet- ter how to prize by being so long deprived o^ them. The delicious fruits of plenty he could by his imagination taste. The prison was now in great confusion and bus- tle, in preparing to celebrate the peace, which we were confident would be honourable to our coun- try. We were confident that the ground-work of the treaty must be free trade and sailors' rights ; and made arrangements to celebrate it in a man- ner conformable to the rights of the ocean. We obtained a quantity of powder of the sol- diers, unknown to the keepers, and made large 137 cartridges, wound them up in twine, so that when explodeci would make a report as loud as a six pounder ; wo :hen procured a large ensign, and a pendant for each prison ; we prepared a white flag in the centre, painted in large capitals, " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." The next morning, to the astonishment of the ©fficers and guards, we displayed the flags on the lop of each prison ; and on No. 3, which was styled the Commodore, displayed the white flag with the above motto, and at the same time fired a salute of seventeen rounds. Shortly after, Capt. Shortland entered the yard, and politely requested the white flag containing the motto to be taken down, as it would draw cen- sure upon him from the government, by holding out inducements for the sailors to mutinise ; he said, the government of Great Britain took care to suppress all such inflammatory mottos. But the prisoners were too full of spirits to comply with the request at that time. They continued it till towards evening, when he again entered and so- licited us. to take it dawn, or every thing would be in confusion ; he said, if we would take the motto-flag down, he would hoist an American en- sign on one end of his own house, and a British one on the other end ; and if we were not con- tented with this, he would order them all down ; M m 138 we tlien tolrl him, out of respect for him, vvc would take them all down, and wait till the ratificatioji ©f peace, before we displayed them again. Oil the thirty-first of this month, arrived a draft of prisoners, among whom were many who had given themselves up as American citizens, and claimed their right to a citizenship, and refused to act on board his Majesty's ships any longer ; these the prisoners did not give a very welcome reception ; for they had delayed till the act had become a wilful aiding and assisting the enemy, an I the mischief now over. The constant cry among the sailors, who are great friends to Uncle Sam, was, Damn my eyes if he han't stood it like a man. Among those prisoners who had declared them- selves citizens of the United States, were six who had been in the enemy's service for many years, and were on board his Majesty's ship Pelican, when she engaged the United States' brig Argus, and took a very active part in the action against the Argus ; every man of them had been appoint- ed to some petty office on board" the Pelican. But supposing a peace would shortly be concluded between the two nations, they had thought best to claim a citizenship, and obtain their release. This information soon spread among all the prisonerg. h and enraged them to the highest degree at their conduct, and being flushed with high spirits with the late news of peace, were about to proceed to extremities with them, and they finding their lives were in danger, applied to Capt. Shortland for protection, who entered the prison yard with the guards and took these traitorous villains along, and we believe they went back into his Majesty's scrvkfc ; as the next day they were conveyed to Plymouth, and we heard no more of them. The weather was now very severe, and the oldr est prisoners had not received any clothing since May, and were much in need of jackets and trow- .sers ; of this fact the prisoners were a self evident and naked truth. Many were sick in the hospital. December thirty-first, 1 8 H. Statement of pris- oners in prison at%is depot. Prisoners delivered up from the British navy. 1978. Unifed States' and privateers' men, those taken in merchant vessels. 3348. Total, exclusive of those exchanged - 5326. Mr. Beasley, agent, had visited them once. They had received from him one jacket, one pair of trowsers, two shirts, two pair of shoes, and two pair of stockings, each man. Received from the British government, one hammock, one blanket, one horse rug, one bed. wo ^r- =1 -»> ane yellow jacket, one pair of trowsers, one w:\isu coat, one pair of wooden shoes, and one cap. Received in cash one and a halfpence, to which Was added one penny more alter two months, each man per day, from the first of January, 1814. The weather still continued cold, and the oldest prisoners had not as yet received any shoes or clothes, but were daily expecting them from Mr. Beasley. |p We had been in this cold and dreary mansion, wcnty-one months, and the above items were all the assistance we had received from Beasley, the only person in this foreign land of our enemies to whom we could look for any assistance, or from whom we had any right to expect it. Our ears had been constantly assailed with the groans of the sick, and the dying ; pestilence and disease had been our constant companions ; our minds had become almost distracted betwixt the grief of our departed friends, and fellow prisoners, and the hunger and want of our own body. From such a long series of incessant sufferings, it is na- tural to suppose that the bodies were emaciated, and the mind debilitated ; and much oi the sameness that may appear in this narrative, is owing to a uniform f tate of misery, which will not admit of a variety in the description. f -"*^' 141 ^apt. Shortland had got information on the s^. cond of November, 1815, that the prisoners had counterfeited three shilling pieces, and passed them to the market people, for their country pro- duce, and shortly after he detected two men at- tempting to pass bad money ; he had them ap- prehended immediately, and sent to the cachot. Nothing worthy of note occurred till the twen- tieth, when two men lately arrived were discove- red to be the same who had entered the British service the winter before. After having received many insults, and much hard usage, on board the war ships, they had got tired of their situations, and claimed their citizenship and got themselves delivered up and sent to prison again, which they considered the least of the two evils. Their conduct on board the ships, was no doubt as disgraceful as the act they committed to bring them there ; they shifted from ship to ship, till* the one wherein they claimed their citizenship was ignorant of the manner they had come into the service. The prisoners being highly enraged at such conduct, made strict inquiry into the mat- ter, and found the facts as above mentioned After holding consultations, many were for puttin-y them to immediate death, others were for flogging them as severely as they could bear, and every man for giving them some condign punishment j N 4m [ill s « 142 but at last it was unanimously concluded to put upon them a marll; which would be a lasting stig- * ma, and an example for others. They seized and took the traitors into prison, and fastened them to a table, so that they could not resist, and then, with needles and India ink, pricked U.S. on one cheek, and T. on the other ; which is United States traitor. After we let them go, they were taken immediately to the hospital, and their faces bli.stered on both sides, to endeavour to extract the ink, but this only made it brighter and sink deeper in. The doctors reported the traitors to be in a very dangerous state, and that their lives were despaired of. If this had been the case, it must only proceed from the application they had made use of, for no harm could arise from mark- mg. The next day, Capt. Shortland being offended at the treatment his friends had received, sent and had three men taken, whom he suspected were concerned in the affair, and put them into the cachot, where they were examined not long after by the King's solicitor, and there ordered to remain till the next Exeter assizes, then and there. to be tried by the laws of this country. On the twenty-fifth arrived five hundred suits of clothes, which were distributed among those who had last arrived. 143 The weather being very severe, and great quantities of snow falling, the men were obliged to keep within doors. On the same day arrived a regiment of regular troops, who themselves had been prisoners in France for many years during the late war between that nation and England. — They were much disgusted with the treatment we received here, and exclaimed against the authors of it, whoever they might be, and declared they had not received such treatment in France. At this time, the government not being so strict in their charge to the military, and the keepers not so strict in putting them in execution, and these new guards being very friendly, gave us a fine opportunity to escape over the walls, and many made their escape in dark stormy nights. This continued for some time, till one man was taken on the wall, in the very act ; then it was stopped, and strict orders given. On the twenty-sixth a draft of prisoners arri- ved, among whom were the crew of the privateer Neuf- Chattel of New- York, lately captured, and two navy officers captured on the lakes. On the twenty-eighth these officers received their parole, and pn^ceeded on to Ashburton, where all the pa- roled officers were stationed. ■# 144 ■■# '■';t,-. 'X P;l.: V < I Kantuckct Neutrality, On the thirtieth, Sir Isaac CofTm arrived with another British admiral ; Sir Isaac is a native of Massachusetts, and feeling some partiality to his native statesmen, requested Capt. Shortland to permit all the men who belonged to Nantucket to come alone into market square, which request was of course granted. He himself and the other ad- miral, whose name we did not learn, held a long conversation with the Nantucket men, and in- quired the particulars of their birth, their friends and places of residence; they then told them, should the war continue, they would be released, on account of belonging to a neutral Country. — They then took an aftectionate leave of the citi- zens of that neutral nation, and w^ent away. Such are the advantages derived from being a neutral nation in time of war, February commences with much snow and cold ; the prisoners in great anxiety for the ratification of the treaty. On the fourth arrived a draft of prisoners, late- ly captured in the privateer Brutus. At this time a new, and most dreadful calamity now alarmed and endangered the life of every man ; the African pox had, by some unfortunate means, got among the prisoners, an I threatened destruction to every living soul. The disorder was so violent that 145 when it attacked a person, he had nothing to ex. pect but immediate death ; numbers died daily. On tlie fifth, the London papers mentioned two American frigates cruising in the channel, which excited great alarm. On the sixth, the pestilence had grown so mor- tal, that the chief surgeon in England visited the prison ; he imagined the distemper to arise from a want of pure air ; that so many people crowded together in one building must render the air very impure, and unfit for respiration. He tried the difference of temperature of the air in the prison, and outside, which he found to differ twenty-five degrees byFahrenheit's thermometer, the air being much warmer inside. This difference of heat arose entirely from the heat of the human body, as no fire was kept in the prisons ; each prison now contain^ ed about 1 200 persons on an average. It is high- ly probable the distemper had generated itself in the bad state of air, and had not been introduced from abroad, as was first supposed.^ On the eighth arrived an order from the Board of Transport, for Capt. Shortland toascer- tain the number and description of all prisoners belonging to the Island of Nantucket, for the pur- pose of giving them their discharge ; like the citizens of Denmark and Sweden, they were neu- tral* K 2 146 l^ 11 "- (-' •# On the tenth, arrived a draft of prisoners, lately capiuicd on their voyage to France ; on the same 4day, a number of prisoners were called on, to give "evidence on the part of the crown, concerning the marking of the traitors in the cheek. The king's solicitor was a long while busy in endeavouring to obtain information, but all the satisfaction he got was, that they had heard by re- port that the men that marked the traitors, were to be tried at Exeter the next assizes. At the same time a small quantity of clothing arrived from Mr. Beasley, who it seemed always took car^ to send clothing to those who last arrived, as in this instance, although they had not been prisoners but a few weeks ; he seemed to have an idea that they always come into prison naked, and when they were there, one suit would last them all their life ; for the oldest prisoners had not received any clothing since the last May, and it was now teq months, and every garment entirely worn out. He supposed, that during two years imprisonment, such as we had had, we must have got used to, every species of hardship, and that going naked was so slight an evil that we did not mind it at all. During the interval of time since the peace, another slight evil, somewhat similar to the above, had befallen us, for the Contractor seeing we were shortly to go to a land of plenty, was determined i 147 to show us^ the difference in a man's feelings, be, tween eating and going without ; so he gave us no more than the simpleton gave his horse, while he was learning him to live without eating. On the thirteenth, one of the fou"^- prisoners, whom we mentioned before were sentenced last August to remain in the cachot during the war, watched an opportunity to get among the other prisoners in the yard : being let into the yard of that building for the benefit of the fresh air, and seeing the attention of the turnkeys and soldiers occupied by some other object, at this time jumped ^^ over the iron railing that separated this building from the yards of No. 1, 2 and 3, and got undis- covered amongst the other prisoners ; the morning following he was missed by the keepers, and in- formation given to Capt. Shortland, who demand- ed the man from among us immediately, tiiat he be returned to the cachot again. 4^ The prisoners positively refused to give the man |P, and declared that no force of arms should t^est him from their protection. He then ordered the market closed, and would not allow any com- murjication with it, and refused the prisoners every privilege, and gave them only their allowance. On the fourteenth, he entered the yard at the head of two hundred soldiers with fixed bayonets, and ordered every prisoner to retire within the ■jl ^ ■,.,* 148 prisons, that search might be macle for the priso- ner, and he again remanded to tiie cachot ; but all ,the prisoners having previously agreed to stai:d by each otlier, and if they attempted to use any violence, to surround and disarm them, a signal was given to surround, and the soldiers were im- mediately surrounded, and the intention made known to the officers, and advised to retire, unless they were determined to risk the consequence. — They then very prudently ordered the soldiers to fall back, and retire without the yard, and leave the man whom they sought. The captain still harbouring rancour in his breast, thought to compel us to give up the man by force of starvation, and kept the markets closed Igainst us, and compelled us to subsist solely on our scant allowance : but we to retaliate, forbid all prisoners going out of the yard to work, who at this time were about forty ox fifty carpenters, masons, and other mechanicks, who were a great profit to the government ; this step put Shortland to great expense and inconvenience to proctW' others. * - ^ He at last concluded to makepeace, and restore tranquillity and let the man remain, and on the tvv'entieth he again opened the markets to the priso- ners, and we permitted the workmen to go out and work again. The other three men remained in iiki iUki 149 the cachot, but a stronger guard was placed there, otherwise we were determined to release them by force. ^ On the twenty-second, arrived a draft of priso- ners lately captured off the Cape of Good Hope, among whom were the crew of the late United States brig Syren ; the treatment of these men be- iore they arrived at this place will be mentioned in the supplements to this work. These, together with others taken in other parts, arrived since the Iast> enumeration on the last day of one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, made in all at this de- pot five thousand eight hundred and fifty, which were all the prisoners in England except ofticeis ®n parole. The prisoners were barefooted, and very sickly. On the twenty-sixth of this month, is jetted m the London papers, the oflicial account of the capture of the United States frigate President, Com. Decatur. WThe editor says she was captured solely by the Endymion, of far inferior force ; he says the en- gagement was in the old English style, yard-arm td yard-arm. Knowing this to be a falsehood, I addressed a letter to the editor, requesting him to read a short piece of poetry which I enclosed. March commenced with cold and blustering wea^ ther, and the prisons almost one continued scene «- ]| if 150 of sick and dying, the small-pox was raging witli a desolating aspect, and the greatest anxiety con- cerning the ratification of the treaty ; afflictions, which seem never to come singly, were now pres- sing upon the back of one another ; pestilence, famine, and nakedness were not affliction enough, phrensy must be added. *'•' On the fourth, a man in the Hospital, in a sud- den fit of insanity, seized a knife and stabbed two of the nurses very dangerously, of which wounds Jonathan Paul died on the tenth, the other sur- vived. On inquiry into the circumstances of the de- ceased, we found him to have been a married man, and his wife had lived a little distance from the prison, since his confinement, who was in very narro|| circumstances. We all agreed to give her the day's allowance of fish of that week, which we sold to the contractor and received tlie money, which amounted to nearly one hundred dollars ; this sum she received, and returned to her residence on the day of the death of her husband. • On this day also, the three men who were put into close confinement, for marking the traitors on the face, were taken out of the custody of the agent of prisoners of war at this place, by a writ of Habeas Corpus ad respodendum^ apd removed tw m, 151 tte criminal prison at Exeter, to be tried for the offence by the civil laws of this country, Thev were removed in imne tk^ , ^ a confrJhnr ? T ^ Pnsoners then made a contribution for the support of these men while at JLxeter. On the tenth, we received London papers, whrch gave an account of Bonaparte's having ari nved .n France at the hoa,! of about one thousand men, and that he was mak-ng the n,ost rapid ad- vances toward Paris, and thousands joining hi™. tt: aiiTrnr"'"" ^^^ '^'^'-^ ^'-^ - This in-^lligonce struck the greatest astonish- ment ,n ail Ln^land, and created a very serious concern among all the military, who expected to be reheved on the arrival of the treaty ratified by the President, but now they nm.t despair of that .den, as new wars n>ust inevitably follow the steps of that gigantick monster. On the fourteenth, a universal joy was dhT.sed through the whole prison, and " a smile lighted un .n the aspect of woe ;" the Favourite, the welcome messenger of peace, arrived and brought the treaty nUUied by the President of the I'niteci States I cannot better exp,-c.s the joy that diffused it- sel through the whole country, Knglishn.en as well as prisoners, than by giving the following lines from a great audior. * ■1»: "■I r The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego. And leap exulting like the bounding roe. No sigh nor murmur the wide world shall hear, From cv'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear. We raised the ensigns and pendant on each prison, presented to Capt. Shortland and gentle- men under his command, an address in poetry. On the seventeenth, we were informed by Capt. Shortland, that he had received orders from the Board of Transport to discharge the prisoners whenever Mr. Beasley was ready to receive them. To the great disappointment ol all the prisoners, we had received no information from Mr. Beasley for six weeks, and the prisoners now were m the greatest anxiety. They reasonably expected that on the arrival of this ratified treaty, Mr. Beasley would have every thing in a state of readiness, for tbijir immediate conveyance to the United States, and ^hat he would inform them in what manner they were to proceed there ; but not a syllable was received from the agent of our coun- try till the eighteenth, when a very cold and un- pleasant letter was received from him, which read as follows : " Fellow Citizens, ' I aiH^fnformed that great numbers of the pri- sbners refuse being inoculated with the small 153 :h forego, 11 hear, on each nd gentle- poetry. 1 by Capt. from the prisoners eivc them, prisoners, r. Beasiey 'ere in the lected that L r. Beasiey readiness, be United [II in what but not a our coun- Id and un- which read of the pri- the small jidx, which I hear has been very mortal among you. I therefore acquaint you, that it will be im- possible for me to send home any prisoners, unless they have gone through the same. Yours, &c. R. G. BEASLEY." This strange letter rather increased the great anxiety every man was in, for we expected to have been informed something relative to our speedy departure, and that he had made arrangement?? to clothe the oldest prisoners, who were so na- ked, that they were unfit to be discharged. On the nineteenth, an order arrived, informing Capt. Shortland to discharge thirty men, as they had been applied for by American captains, to man ships in France, and up the east country ; the Transport Board had ordered them to be dischar- ged. On the twentieth, Capt. Shortland released those three men, whom we have mentioned were committed to close confinement in the cachot last August, on suspicion of blowing up the vessel • the other we have mentioned made his escape. These men made as ghastly an appearance, as it is possible for human beings to make ; they had been eight month| confined within a damp stone room twenty feet square, floored with stone, and no light except a dim ray that gleamed through the top of the gable end. They had lived on two O ,-* ]. 154 '! -. I III mm thirds of a scant allowance, till their trembling limbs could scarce support their body. On the same day, a writ came to remove the insane man, who had occasioned the death of Jonathan Paul, to Exeter, to have his trial ; also one to bring forward about twenty persons as witnesses, in this, and the trial of the three men whom we mentioned had been taken there for trial, for marking the traitors. The small pox raged now in a most alarming manner; it being of the African kind, scarce a man recovered, after once being attacked and con- veyed to the hospital. After the arrival of the ratification of the trea- ty, great numbers visited the prison from all parts of the country, with almost every kind of article for sale in the markets ; among whom were great numbers of Jews, who came here to sell old clothes. One of these Jew merchants on his way to the prison, met a farm^er who lived about eight miles forar the |)rison, and accused him of being an American prisoner, making his escape from the depot ; as great numbers had lately made tbeir escape, and thinking to receive the reward, which was three pounds, given by the government for apprehending any prisoner making his escape from prison j told the farmer he must go back to the pri- » % 155 son with him, and the farmer, having been once a sailor, was willing to confirm him in his suspicions, and began the song of Yankee Doodle ; this con- firmed the Jew in his belief of his being an Ameri- can, and he was sure he had got a prize worth three pounds to him; but his prisoner re- fused to walk, and thinking he could afford to hire a conveyance for him, gave half a guinea to a wagoner to take him to the prison, and created him very liberally along the way with drink.— About 11 o'clock the Jew arrived with his prison- er, and applied to the keepers to take charge of him, and pay the reward of three pounds ; but to his astonishment, the clerks, turnkeys, and every officer, immediately knew the farmer, and knew him to be a respectable man residing on the edge of the moor. He now demanded of the Jew a compensation for being detained several hours a prisoner, and the demand being justified by Capt. Shordand, the Jew was obliged to pay five pounds to prevent a suit. The affair Avas made known to the prisoners, and every man forbid purchasing any thing of the Jew ; he was therefore obliged to leave the mar- ket without disposing of a single article. On the twenty-fourth, a letter was received from Mr. Beasley, informing those Americans who bad been taken under the Frcftch flag, and had 156 ; .* been considered as French j^risoncrs till thcv were discharged, and from that time till this, had been recognised by no government, that he was now authorized to acknowledge them as Ameri- cans, and sent to each man a suit of clothes. — This was the first assistance these men had had fi'om any govenmient, since the French prisoners were discliarged, and had lived entirely on th.f ' (• • I S r s, lii l> '■ > \^ ''feil 4 * 158 ^ by a man wliose crimes must cut him off from, among the hving. You this day must be hanged by the neck on the top of the prison Ko. 7, until you are dead ; your body is then to be taken down and fastened to a stake, and burned to ashes, which are to be distributed to the winds, that your name may be forgotten, and your crimes no longer dis- grace our nation. On hearing the above sentence, the compunc- tion of his conscience now brought foith the fol- lowing confession. CONFESSION. •« Injured countrymen, and fellow citizens, " I this day, by the verdict of a just and impar- tial jury, and by the sentence of an impartial court, am to be made a public example, and receive that punishment which is so justly due to my many odious offences against tlie laws of God, and my country ; and being in a very few moments to make my exit from this world, do confess, in the presence of Almighty God, that for the first twelve months of my consulship I did most criminal- ly neglect the American prisoners, who were dying daily for the want of my assistance, which I with- held through mercenary motives : the cries and petitions of my unfortunate countrymen^ I have always treated with the utmost disregard and coa- tempt, but bemg fully cpnyinced of all my past oft' froii!- e hanged >. 7, until «en down es, which )ur name nger dis- ;ompunc- h the fol- d impap- ial court, eive that ny many and my raents to s, in the he first riminal- re dying 1 1 with- ries and I have nd coa- uy past 159 ermrs, I make this public and candid conftssioB, in hopes that I may find mercy in the presence of a^ust and mercifi^I God. I iurther do acknow- ledge, that I have been the means of detaming you in your present situation by neglecting to send you home, as I might have done, while the ex- change was open for prisoners, which was not closed till June eighteen hundred and thirteen ; I likewise confess, that I have deprived great num- bers of you of your regular turns of exchange, by filling the cartels with paroled officers, who were not entitled to the same ; I must confess that had I have made proper application to the British go- vernment, and had 1 used my influence, I might have obtained the release of all the men discharged from his majesty's ships of war ; but being selfish, and swayed by despicable motives, I made no ex- ertions for their relief. I do likewise confess, that after the second year of my consulship, I could no longer withhold from my unfortunate countrymen, some little assistance in money and clothing, as the United States had given me positive orders to supply all the wants of her citizens, who were pri- soners of war at that time in England ; but to my shame, an^. to the disgrace of any American agent, I entered in a contract with a Jew merchant of London, to supply the prisoners with the very meanest and coarsest clothing that could possibly ICO .sh •'4'. Ise procured in all England! At the same time I made advances to you, prisoners, of two and a iialf cents, per day, and then represented to your ofsun- try, the Congress of the United Staies, that 1 had supplied all your wants by providuig you a suffi- cient quantity of clothing, and making you a daily advance of money suitable to your wants ; for I did think that by deceiving the United States, and depriving you of the necessaries of life, 1 should in a very few years accumulate to myself a very handsome fortune ; but to my great disappoint- ment and disgrace, the peace took place, and all my villany and deception was discovered ; my crimes stood in open day. For these crimes now I am justly doomed to this ignominious death, and must very shortly make my appearance before the just, and Almighty God, to answer for all my crimes ; where I expect there will rise up in evi- dence against me, the souls of hundreds of my de- parted countrymen, who now lie buried behind the walls of this prison by my crimes ; as the time is now expired, I must depart to the uncertainty of an hereafter." The hat drops. " I depart among the damned." After the ashes was scattered in the winds, the following dirge was then sung, The image of disgrace we've hang'd, And wish it was quite true #- 161 That Beasley had htjnself been there, »^. And the devil burnt his Jew : j^ For both contrivM to wrong us much ;, And they knew it very well, They'll always have the prisoners' prayer To send them both to hell. On the twenty-sixth, the prisoners who had beeii- taken to Exeter to give evidence against the in- sane man who stabbed Paul, and also those who were to give evidence against the three men who were accused of marking the traitors, returned to Dartmoor ; as did also the defendants who had had their trial, and were acquitted. On the twenty-eighth, we received our monthly pay as usual : the prison continued very sickly, and no preparation for our departure. At this time the officers and soldiers of the gar* rison seemed greatly alarmed and much concerned at the news received from France. They had the greatest apprehensions of an immediate war with Bonaparte, as the Paris papers gave an ac- count of his being at the head of three hundred thousand men in arms ; and the British papers mentioned the great preparations they were ma- king in this country to assist the allies. The very name of the Emperor, and the mention of the battle of Ncw-Orleaas, made every British ■%i4 ■l» i 162 officer and soldier turn pale, and shudder at the thought. On the last day of March, I collected the dfect number of all prisoners at this depot, and noted as w follows : In prison No. 1 ----,. . 1769. In do. No. 3 972^ In do. No. 4 1051, In do. No. 5-----.. 958, In do. No. 7 1263. In different employments about the stores 31, Employed in the hospital - - - 19. Patients m the hospital - - 130, Total at Dartmoor - - - 5693 The following are the different descriptions of prisoners, and the number of each class. There were of those discharged from British ships of war and also those taken in England, 2200, Coloured people - . 1000. United States' soldiers and sailors 250. Taken on board of privateers and merchant- 9hips . - . . 2^43^ Including those few mentioned, taken under th€ French flag. On the same day we received letters from Lon- don, informing us that the ships taken for our COijveyance, lay wind bound in the Downs. 163 The month concluded with pleasant weather for Dartmoor; sickness and small pox had some- what abated. The prisoners made a contribution for the assistance of a prisoner, who had lost an arm in attempting to take possession of the cartel, which was conveying them from HaHiax to England. As this is intended to be a true and faithful ac- count of all the occurrences and ciccumstances of the American captives in England, we cannot for- bear mentioning some circumstances, which may appear triHing and uninteresting to those who have not felt as we have. The weathcx now being mild, and the pleasant season for crossing the Atlantic fast approaching, the prisoners felt the most insufferable anxiety for their departure. The winds being favourable, and seventeen days having elapsed smce the rati- fied treaty arrived, they could not but wait with impatience for the cartels. On the first of March, Capt. Shortland receiv- ed orders to discharge twenty-one prisoners, who had applied to be released in England. Previous to this time almost all the men who had been de- livered from the British ships of war, had been paid at different times their prize money, and the wages due for their past services in the navy. 164 f;J» t, i This daiy a man by the name of Bratt, who hail belonged to the United States' brig Argus returned" to prison. This man, at the time we were at- tempting to make our escape by digging out, was accused of dropping some unguarded expression, which had led to a discovery of our first attempt; he was threatened to be put to death, by great numbers of prisoners, and the keepers fearing this might be the case, took him to the guard house, where he remained till the crew of the Argus was discharged from prison, when he was also discharged with tliem, and went along with the crew to Dartmouth, and entered the cartel ; he was there accused of the same as before, and threatened, and fearing his life might be taken, he escaped from the cartel, went into the country and worked at his trade, which was that of a blacksmith, and had resided there the whole time. On the second we had information that the ship Milo of Boston had arrived in England m eighteen days from that port ; she was the first American vessel which had reached this place since the peace. Oa the same day, we received a letter from Mr. Beaskv. which read as follows : "^ F'ejlov^ Citizens, *^ From tiie numberless letters I receive daily, 1 165 find that the prisoners entertain an idea of my releasing any prisoners that are enabled with a sufficiency to provide for themselves ; I therefore must give you fully my intention on that subject, which is, to grant passports only to such persons as have friends or connexions in this country, of responsibility. " 1 must also acquaint you that I am making every possible despatch with the cartels for your conveyance to the United States, where you are much wanted, and the encouragement for seamen very great." This letter again revived the drooping spirits of the prisoners, who for many days had been al- most distracted with the tedium of suspense. We now felt that a few days would release us from this earthly hell, and like iEneas of old, pass by propitious gales from hell to heaven, and short- ly repose on the Elysian fields, in the arms of tiie goddess of liberty. The prisoners that had kept shops in the pri- sons for retailing small articles, such as tobacco, thread, soap, coftee, sugar, &c. now broke up, and every thing was in great confusion for want of these articles ; these shops were a great advan- tage to those who kept them, and a great accom- modation to all the prisoners. There had bv^en fron) sixty to eighty in each prison ; at the^e pja- P i'' ini 166 ces all those small articles might easily be obtain- ed, though at somewhat higher price than in the market. Our salary would not go far in purchasing these articles, which wero very high at this time all over England ; we couUl buy for a penny sterling, only one small chew of tobacco, which was sel- ling at Plymouth by the quantity at nine shillings and six pence per pound. We find mentioned in the paper of this day, the arrival of the late U. States frigate President at Plymouth ; they barely mention that she had ar- rived at that place, and that she was captured by the Endymion, but the circumstances of the cap- ture they very prudently left out, as reflecting no honour on the captors, Capt. Shortland had two men committed to close confinement, who had been accused of draw- ing money from the Directors of Greenwich Hos- pital, under assumed names. On the fourth, a circumstance occurred, which may lead to the recital of other circumstan- ces, which many to whose hand this work may come, may be inclined to doubt the veracity of; but I can appeal, not only to those who have certifi- ed this w >rk, but to nearly six thousand of my fel- low prisoners, who upon their solemn oath can at- test to the truth of what is herein contained. i67 During the whole of this day the prisoners vt- maincd without bread, and the captain of the pri- son gone to Piyniouth ; we were obliged to subsist on the four and a half ounces of beef, and the soup made of it ; we demanded of the contractor the reason of our not drawing our usual allowance of bread ; he answered, that it could not be ob- tained till to-morrow ; we waited as patiently as our feelings would allow, till the expiration of thirty-six hours from the time we had received the last bread, when hunger became so pressing, that it drove us to a state of desperation, and we could no longer endure it, as the whole allowance was scarcely sufficient to sustain life. At dusk in the evening, we again demanded the reason of our not receiving our allowance qf bread as usual, as the store-house we well knew contained a sufficiency of both hard and soft bread. The contractor's clerk informed us, that a quantity of damaged hard bread, which had been kept in reserve for times of extreme necessity, now remained on hand, and that unless we would accept of one pound of that in lieu of the pound and a half of soft bread allowed by the Transport Board, until all they had was expended, he should not serve us with any bread, until Capt, Shortland returned from Plymouth. .•.;,Ni "ilj IGU The prisoners then collected themselves into Gompunicb, to consider oi this very extraordinary conduct in the contractor; and alter mature de- liberation, they all concluded that it must be a de- sign in the contractor to get rid of his damaged bread, before we went away, and had taken this op- portuuity, while the captain was absent, to compel us to receive it by starving us till we were wil- ling ; we therefore concluded rather to die by the sword, than the famine, and determined to remain no longer in this starving condition, for we had all this time lived solely on the four and a half ounces of beef. Thus desperate by starvation, we deter- mined to force open the gates in front of the prison, disarm the soldiers, break open the store-hou-.- ? and supply ourselves ; *rid provided the garrison should charge or fire upon us, to make a general attack, and take possession of the guard house and barracks, and stand the consequences let come what might. Accordingly at dark, the prisoners were ordered, as usual, inside the prisons K) be locked up for the night, but instead of complying with orders, a signal previously agreed on was given, and passed like lightning through every prison, and every prisoner appeared instantly at the gate in one solid body ; on approaching the gates, and bursting open the first three, the sol- diers and turnkeys stationed there, fled in the ut- it\ -f^ M 169 Ives into ordinary iturc tle- bc a de- damaged n this op- compel ere wil- ie by the remain e had all If ounces ve deter- le prison, :e-hous*> garrison general rd house let come prisoners )ns K) be )mplying 1 on was ;h every tantly at [ling the , the sol- i the ut- most confusion and consternation to the mala body in the guard house. The alarm bells rung and the drums in every direction around the gar- rison beat to arms ; the women in the dilFcrent houses connected to the depot, flew in confusion and terror in every direction from the depot ; in a few moments the alarm had reached the neigh- bouring villages for many miles, and the militia assembled in arms to assist the garrison, which was at this time twelve hundred. We stood ar- ranged in front of the store-house ready to re- ceive the attack of the soldiery, or receive our usual allowance of bread ; in a few moments the soldiers arrived and advanced with charged bay- onets within two yards of the prisoners. The soldiers were then brought to a stand by the threats of the prisoners, who all declared, in the most determined tone, that if they attempted to fire or make a charge on them, they must abide byjiny consequences that would follow : we told theinglhat we were confident that no such orders had been issued from the government of Great Britain ; we also told them, that unless the bread was served out immediately, that the store-house should be levelled with the ground, and every prisoner should march out of the prison. The contractor, clerks, &;c. then immediately came for- ward and entered into this engagement, that if the P 2 "t ^^ 170 prisoners would retire into tlie prison yards, that the bread should be immediately served to them ; the prisoners agreed and retired, and for the se- curing the fulfilment of the engagement, they took with them as a hostage one of the clerks inside of the prison, and there to remain till every prisoner had received his usual allowance of bread, which was not till after twelve o'clock at night. During this time, the guards, soldiers, keepers, and every person connected with the prison, remained in the greatest apprehension, fearing the prisoners had some further intention than merely to obtain their bread ; they feared their troubles would end in a more serious way, and the prisoners all make their escape. But next morning showed that the prisoners had no intention of escaping, for during the Confusion of the night, many of them had ta- ken the opportunity to scale the walls in an oppo- site direction, while the attention of the guard was taken up with the main body of Lhem. Those that had gone out after remaining all »ight, came and demanded admittance into prison again. This movement in the prisoners astonished the natives of the moor, who left vacant their liu is and fled for safety ; the women and children had retired to the nearest towns, and there took refuge, and the men had joined the garrison for protection. 171 ards, that to them ; 5r the se- lent, they irks inside y prisoner ;ad, which , During and every ned in the Dners had 3tain their end in a all make d that the for during im had ta- 1 an oppo- guard was laining all nto prison astonished ; their hiiis iidren had )ok refuge, >rotection. During the night an express was sent to Ply- mouth to acquaint Capt. Shortland of the event, and that the prisoners had complete possession of the whole garrison, and the control of all things at Dartmoor. In the morning Capt. Shortland ar- rived with a reinforcement of two hundred sol- diers ; but found all things quiet and tranquil ; as the prisoners had obtained their usual allowance ©f bread, they were satisfied and sought nothing more. Capt. Shortland made an apology for the fault of the contractor, and things passed on tolera- bly well ; but great suspicions remained among the people who had formerly attended the market, and these had spread abroad and become the f^ene- ral opinion outside of the walls, that the Ameri- can prisoners being detained so long since the ratification had arrived, now three weeks, in which time Mr. Beasley might have had all discharged, and on their passage to the United States, had grown impatient, and as no ships had yet sailed from London to receive them, their forbearance was quice exhausted, and from some threats that had been thrown out by some of the prisoners in presence of the market people, that if the agent of their country did not procure their release with- in one month from the arrival of the treaty, that they would take their liberty in a body, being de- termined to risque their lives at all hazards, and i ■ 172 (ilepcnd on their own exertions for their liberty among armed soldiers, rather than remain in the wretched condition they were then in. These suspicions had gone so much abroad, that every body about the prison was apprehensive the pri- soners would make the attempt to escape in a body, and some unhappy issue grow out of it. But the prisoners generally had no design of es- caping, as by that means they would lose their op- portunity of returning home in the cartels. On the sixth, we addressed a letter to Mr. Beasley, on the subject of our discharge, and informed him that we had made application to the British govern- ment to interfere in forwarding our release, as he^ Mr. Beasley, had delayed the time already nearly one month, and had only procured three ships, and them still in London, when at the same time ships could have been procured at Plymouth, on equally as good terms as at London, which would, with very little exertions on the part of Mr. Beas- ley, have released the greater part of the prison- ers in two weeks, from the arrival of the ratifica- tion of the treatv. The story I am about to relate is of the deepest concern, as well to every citizen of the Un ted States, as to those who were the immediate sub- jects of it. The event concerns the interest of both governments, and deserve to be treated iii .»»sa. ■w« 173 ihe most candid and impartial manner ; every tran- saction whereby the intention of those acting in. it can be discovered, require to be shown in tlie purest and most open view. That the public may have all that can be known on this important subject, I propose to lay before them, in the first instance, what passed within my own knowledge, that I myself was witness to: then to e;ive them the report of the committee ap- pointed by the prisoners, to investigate the circum- stances of the massacre ; and lastly, to give the report of the agents appointed by the two govern- ments. What one of that nation, or what soldier of that hardened, wretched band, can refrain from tears even while he relates the murderous deeds ? " What blind, detested madness could afford Such horrid license to the murd'ring sword I" Though the scene is of painful memory, and my soul shudders at the remembrance, and hath shrunk back with grief at the thought, yet will I relate what my eyes hath seen and my ears heard. On the sixth of this month, April, about six o'clock in the evening, Capt. Shortland discovered a hole in the inner wall, that separates the bar- rack-yard from prison No. 6 and 7 ; this hole had been made in the afternoon, by some prisoners out ^ ///// :<>/ 1.0 I.I — If 1^ ||M 1.8 1.25 1.4 J4 6" - ► V] > 190 At twelve oV.lock, at noon, on the eighth, a ju* . ry of inquest arrived, composed of twelve farmers, and a coroner, and sat over the bodies of our mur- dered countrymen ; they began to take the de- positions of the prisoners and turnkeys, and pro- ceeded on till seven in the evening, and adjourned till next morning. The evidence of the prisoners corresponded with the statement in a preceding page. ^ On the morning of the ninth, the dead not yet being buried, the jury sat over them again, and proceeded on with the evidence on both sides, which consisted of Dr. Magrath, whose evidence was against Shortland, prisoners, turnkeys, sol- dier-officers, soldiers, &;c. The summary of the evidence I shall give pre- sently ; but I must here digress a little to give som©^ circumstances that intervened betwixt the taking of the depositions, and the verdict of the jury. This morning an order arrived for the discharge of thirty-four prisoners, who had applied to be re- leased to man ships in different parts of Europe. During the eighth and ninth, th(f*|)risoners made every inquiry in their power to learn whether any were missing, who were not ii^luded among the dead, wounded, or discharged ; but nothing satisfactory could be obtained, but only a report 191 that after the prisons were closed, Capt. Shortland had secretly buried some of the most mangled bodies, before Dr. Magrath entered, as he is a man of integrity, feeling, candour, firmness, and unshaken veracity, as well as genius and skill, that no favour or affection could swerve from the truth. Shortland would therefore endeavour to conceal as much as possible from him, as what- ever came within his knowledge, came out with- out Tear or reward, and was much against the conduct of Capt. Shortland. On the morning of the seventh, as before mentioned, we ascertain- ed by the testimony of those persons whose names are mentioned in the certificate to this work, the particulars of the killed and wounded, whose names have been already mentioned, the number of which and their situation, were as follows. Seven were killed dead in the yards, and in the prisons. Six suffered amputation of a leg or an arm. Thirty -eight dangerously wounded and many supposed to be mortal by the surgeon of the depot. Twelve slightly wounded. The total amount of killed and wounded sixty-three. Among these were many mangled in the mosthorrid man- ner, having received five, six, and seven wounds apiece from the bayonet. Hundreds of the pris- oners very narrowly escaped, having receivefl several shots through the hats and clothes. -*nj»»" « V*"'"**"**™'**^'* ' »*-^'- % ■* 1 'J Pi fyS !¥i MM ' 't 192 Wc have just discovorofl that the soldiers licic at present arc the SomcrsetshMe militia ; and the garrison consists of liftccn-hundrcd soldiers ot flliirerent military classes. On the evening of the ninth, the inquest, consis- ting of twelve peasants, dependants of Capt. Short- land, delivered in this most extraordinary and un- just verdict, of Justifiable Homicide ; such a ver- dict astonished every person, who was not ^arh'- ceps criminis. This verdict seems to have been given against evidence ; a summary of which on both sides I shall now proceed to give the reader, that he may judge for himself. It appeared from the different witnesses before mentioned, that the hole made in the wall, was unknown to more than three-fourths of the prisoners confined in the yard of No. 5 and 7, where the hole was made, and that no combination had ever been entered into by any of the prisoners to escape ; it was also proved that the prisoners confined in the yards of No. 1 , 3 and 4, were totally ignorant of there being any hole in the wall. It was proved that the gates were broken open by a man in the state of intoxica- tion, and unknown to the prisoners, and that when broken open it was in the power of the sentery to have taken the offender and confined him without any resistance of the prisonei-s. It was also pro- ved that they came running to the gate out of cu- 193 liosity, to learn the occasion of the alarm bells ringing ; that the lew persons (who were not above fifty,) rtockcd into the S(juare, were carried out of the gates by the numbers pressing in the rear to gratify their curiosity ; that no stones or clubs were thrown while they were in this situation ; that they all immediately retired into the yards of their respective prisons, and shut the^gates after them ; that Capt. Shortland took the imme- diate <:ommand of the soldiers, and ordered them to fire on the prisoners ; that on firing the prison- ers made all possible exertion to gain the inside of the pi'ison, but some fell before they could reach it; that the soldiers pursued and fired into the prisons and killed two within the prison ; that the soldiers on the ramparts singled out the pri- soners, and fired and killed them, as they were going into the prisons ; that after all the prisoners had got into the prifions, except some few, being frightened, and not able to get into the prisons, ran for refuge close to the walls, and were fired upon singly, and either killed or wounded by seve- ral soldiers firing at one. That an officer of low rank assisted under the command of Capt. Short- land, in killing a boy, not over thirteen years old I that a prisoner applied to Capt. Shortland to forbear, and stop the horrid massacre, as the pri- soners were retiring as fast as possible, and that R 2 :ft' M .^^•^^■MW^ IHhMiMIMMOwiEf'W' ■4' 4^ 194 Capt. 5^hortland answered, " retire, you damned rascal. I'll hear to nothing." It was proved that the turnkeys, contrary to the invariable custom, had been in^nd locked all the doors of each pri- son, except one ; there being four doors to each prison, they had ever before been left open, till a horn was sounded, and the turnkeys cried " turn in, turn in ;" but that night no horn was sounded, nor was there any cry to turn in, but the doons secretly locked, which much surprised t|ic few that happened to sec the doors locked, Imt did not suspect any mischief was about to be done; that this was done some time before the usual hour for turning in. Also, that Capt. Sliortland actually took hold of a musket with his own hands in con- junction witli a holdier, and fired the first gun. That the soldier-ofFicers were unwilling to give, any orders to the soldiers, or take any active part in the proceedings. From the summary of the evidence above given, on the part- of the prisonei*s, it must appear evi- dent to every impartial reader, that Capt. Short- land made the attack with malice prepense. But to give the public the fairest opportunity to judge, I shall give a summary of the evidence on the part of Capt. Shordand, which came all from "the mouth of witnesses particeps criminis, and acting ■with him. Those consisted of clerks, turnkeys, ^mm 195 and soldiers, who had been the very instrumentts of the massacre. They deposed and said, that the prisoners were in a state of mutiny, and that great numbers had threatened to espape by for- eing through the walls, and that the hole in the wall was big enough for a man to pass through ; that the lock on the gaie was broke by some pri- soner, and tliat stones were thrown while the prisoners were at the gate, and also clubs, and pieces, of iron thrown at the guards by the pri- soners while there ; that great numbers had got into the square, and that they did mean to make their escape. Nothing material could be further drawn from these witnesses. In the evening of this day, the bodies of our mur- dered countrymen were buried behind the prison walls in the same manner as before the peace, without form or ceremony, and no prisoner per- mitted to attej;^d to see the last sad office, which one friend can perform for another in giving the grave its due. O - Britannia ; thy boast is gone, thy pride is lost, humanity is fled from thy degene- rate sons, and a safer asylum in the bosom of the savage tribes, ha3 found. Deny the dead theif sacred due ! Thou ingrate race, is this the reward due to men who have laboured many y|ars thy faithful servant, and now after having dragged out a pairt- ■"i. - ? »( it i> 'i^ 1 "' I' 'V. - ] ^^^^Hh^'iI '■#1 ^B 196 ful imprisonment for two years, and the moment the hope of returning had rekindled the sparks of life, must be massacred in a most barbarous man- ner, and denied the right of the grave ? I must here relate one instance v/hich occurred a few years ago, and which goes very far to show the inhumanity of those who have had the com- mand of this depot heretofore. In a manuscript which was left here by the French prisoners, which I was this evening perusing, I find the following remarkable circumstance of cruelty re- lated, which took place during their confinement. Captain Cotgrave being agent, and Dr. Decker head surgeon of the Hospital, in December, one thousand eight hundred and nine, a most malignant and contagious disease, bearing the most frightful and mortal symptoms, broke out among the French prisoners, which in the short space of one month carried off more than eight hundred. This unfeeling man, Dr. Decker, caused the ■eoftins to be brought into the rooms of the Hospi- tal, to receive the bodies : where they often re- mained several days in readiness to receive the unhapi y man fast approaching the end of all his sufferings. It is said in the manuscript, that this worse than "barbarian, woi^ld gaze with the greatest satisfac- tion on the surrounding victims, that he mi^htdis- n *I91 cover from the very inmost recesses of the heart, * what effect the appearance*of these cofniis had on their exhausted spirits. However unfeeling this might be, yet their lot was envied by hundreds of their countrymen, who were left to perish in the prison without any as- sistance, without a friend, and in want of every thing ; and would not be received into the Hospi- tal by this unfeeling man. Their extreme sufferings would have moved the heart even of a cannibal, and it is a solitary in- stance of cruelty, that any one belonging to a civi- lized nation could rejoice at such a mournful spec- tacle, and exult over their fellow-beings in the aga- «*es of death, a*s did this man often in saying the ore deaths the fewer enemies. Another circumstance is related in the same ma- nuscript, in which Capt. Isaac Cotgrave was the piiijcipal actor. On the eighth of October, one thousand eight hundred and nine, the turnkeys, by mistake, had left one of the prison doors unlocked, which be- ing discovered by some of the prisoners, they de- termined if possible to effect an escape ; they got into the yard, but unfortunately were discovered the very moment they came out, by one of the senteries, who gave the alarm, and instantly a vol- ley of sixty muskets was discharged at them j "^^^' •••^♦r - " f 198 E ' .JliiiJ Vi< numbers were wounded, hut none killed ; they then hastily retired into the prison. Capt. Cotgrave, the agent, then entered the yard at the head of a large body of troops, and after searching the yard in every direction, and discovering nobody, he was retiring, when they discovered a man creeping along the wall ; the blood' thirsty monsters instantly fell upon the un- happy victim, and would neither listen to his cries nor prayers, but before he could make himself known to them, several musket-balls had pierced his vital parts, and laid him lifeless on the ground ; but they were not content with this ; they ran up to him, and ran over and over his lifeless corpse, stabbing it with their bayonets in many placdH; after having satiated their ferocity, on inspecting the body, they found it to be one of their own men, whom the darkness of the night had prevented them from distinguishing. In memory of this horrid act, the French priso- ners raised a monument on the very spot where it was committed ; but the keepers of the prison had it destroyed the same day, for it was a monumeo^ ©f their cruelty. 199 THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF PRISOJ^ERS. We, the undersigned, being each severally sworn on the holy evangelists of the Almighty God, for the investigation of the circumstances attending the late horrid massacre, and having heard the depositions of a great number of witnesses : from our own personal knowledge, and from the depo- sitions given in as aforesaid, REPORT AS FOLLOWS : That on the 6th of April, about 6 o'clock in the evening, when the prisoners were all quiet in their respective yards, it being about the «sual time of turning in for the night, and the greater part of the prisoners being then in the prisons, the alarm bell was rung, and many of the prisoners ran up to the Market-square to learn the occasion of the alarm. There were then drawn up in the Square, several hundred soldiers, with Captain Shortland [the Agent] at their head ; it was likewise obser- ved at the same time, that additional numbers of soldiers were posting themselves on the walls round the prison yards. One of them observed to the prisoners, that they had better go into the prisons, for they would be charged upon directly. # 200 lAJ |! I U^ iM 'M H's i'^ I SF ^^^^^^^^^^^^Hw V ' ^^^^^■L'' ' •PWH . ^^^^^^nw ' m This, of course, occasioned considerable alarsa among them. In this moment of uncertainty, they were running in dilTerent directions inquiring the cause of the alarm — some toward their respective prisons, and some toward the Market- square. — When about one hundred were collected in the Square, Captain Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge upon them, which order the soldiers were reluctant in obeying, as the prisoners were using no violence ; but on the order being repeated, they made a charge, and the prisoners retreated out of the Square into the prison-yards, and shut the gates after them. Captain Shortland, himself, opened the gates, and ordered the soldiers to fire in among the prisoners, who were all retreating in different dir^tions towards their respective pris- ons. It appears there was some hesitation in the minds of the officers, whether or not it was proper to fire upon the prisoners in thnt situation ; on which Shortland seized a musket out of the hands of a soldier, which he fired. Immediately after, the fire became general, and many of the prisoners were cither killed or wounded. The remainder were endeavouring to get into the prisons, when going towards the lower doors, the soldiers on the walls commenced firing on them from that quarter, which killed some and wounded others. After much difficulty, [all the doors being closed in the 201 cntrnnce, but one in each prison] the survivor^ succeeded in gaining the prisons ; immediately af- ter which, parties of soldiers came to the doors of Nos. 3 and 4 prisons, and fired several voliies into them through the windows and doors, which killed one man in each prison, and severely wounded others. It likewise appears, that the preceding butchery was followed up with a disposition of peculiar in- veteracy and barbarity. One man who was severely wounded in No. 7 prison-yard, and being unable to make his way to the prison, was come up with by the soldiers, whom, he implored for mercy, but in vain; five of the hardened wretches immediately levelled their pieces at him, and shot him dead on the spot. — The soldiers who were posted on the walls, mani- fested equal cruelty, by keeping up a constant fire on every prisoner they could sec in the yards en- deavouring to get in the prison, when their num- bers were very few, and w4ien not the least shalow of resistance could be made or expected. Several of them had got into No. 6 prison cook-house, which was pointed out by the soldiers on the walls, to those who w^ere marching in from the Square ; they immediately went up and firt d into the same, which wounded several ; one of the prisoners ran S ^02 •ut with the intention of gaining his prison, but Was killed before he reached the door. On an impartial consideration of the circum* stances of the case, we are induced to believe that it was a premeditated scheme in the mind of Cap- tain Shordand, for reasons which we will now pro- ceed to give — as an illucidati(m of its origin, we will recur back to an event which happened some days previous. Captain Shortland was, at the time, absent at Plymouth, but before going he or- dered the contractor or his clerk to serve out one pound of indifferent hard bread, instead of one pound and an half of soft bread, their usual al- lowance — this the prisoners refused to receive — they waited all day in expectation of their usual allowance being served out ; but at sunset, finding this would not be the case, burst open the lower gates, and went up to the store, demanding to have their bread. The officers of the garrison, on being alarmed, and informed of their proceedings, observed, that it was no more than right the prisoners should have their usual allowance, and strongly reprobated the conduct of Captain Shortland in withholding it from them. They were accordingly served with their bread, and quietly returned to their prison. This circumstance, with the censures that were h' " '• • 203 thrown on his conduct, reached the ears of Short- land on his return home, and he must then have de- termined on the diabolical plan of seizing the first slight pretext to turn in the military, to butcher the prisoners for the gratitication of his malice and revenge. It unfortunately happened, that in the afternoon of the 6th of April, some boys who were playing ball in No. 7 yard, knocked their ball over into the Barrack-yard, and on the sentery in that yard refusing to throw it back to them, they picked a hole in the wall to get in after it. This afforded Shortland his wished for pretext, and he took his measures accordingly ; he had all the garrison drawn up in the military walk, addi^ tional numbers posted on the walls, and every thing ready prepared before the alarm bell was rung ;. this, he naturally concluded, would draw the atten- tion of a great number of prisoners towards the gates,,^o learn the cause of the alarm, while the turnkeys were despatched into the yards, to lock all the doors but one of each prison, to prevent the prisoners retreating out of the way before h€ had sufficiently wreaked his vengeance. What adds peculiar weight to the belief of its feeing a premeditated, determined massacre, are, First — The sanguinary disposition manifested m every occasion by Shortland, he having, pri IP « I *'i !'-' • '■W' '.rf' ' «^ n*' . . ,, '. ,* . ' x •# -.<■* %■. •■"': iM 1 - 1'1 1 : I -: 'k^. .!*: ' ■ "■' .i ' *!'li 1 t-n 111? ^^" « 204 to this time, ordered the soldiers to fire into the prisons, through the prison windows, upon unarm- ed prisoners asleep in their hammocks, on account of a light bemg seen mthe prisons ; which barba- rous act was repeated several nights successively. That murder was not then committed, was owing to an over-ruling I'rovidence alone ; for the balls were picked up in the prison, where they passed through the hammocks of men then asleep in them. He having also ordered the soldiers to fire upoa the prisoners in the yard of No. 7 prison, because they would not deliver up to him a man who had escaped from the cachot, which order the com^ manding officer of the soldiers refused to obey ; and generally, he having seized on every slight pretext to injure the prisoners, by stopping their marketing for ten days repeatedly, and once a third part of their provisions for the same length of time. ^ Secondly—Be having been heard to say, when the boys had picked the hole in the wall, and some time before the alarm bell rung, while all the priso- ners were quiet as usual in their respective yards, " ni fix the damii'd rascals directly.''^ Thirdly— Uis having all the soldiers on their posts, and the garrison fully prepared before the 205 alarm bell rung. It could not then, of course, be rung to assemble the soldiers, but to alarm 'the prisoners, and create confusion among^ them. Fourthly/— The soldiers upon the wall, previous to the alarm bell being rung, informing the priso- ners that they would be charged upon directly. Fifthly-fWt turnkeys going into the yards and closing all the doors but one in each prison, while the attention of the prisoners was attracted by the alarm bell. This was done about fifteen minutes sooner than usual, and without informing the priso- ners it was time to shut up. It was ever the in- variable practice of the turnkeys, from which they • never deviated before that night, when coming in- ' to the yard to shut up, to hollow to the prisoners so loud as to be heard throughout the yards, '' turn in, turn in r but, on that night, it was done so secretly, that not one man in a hundred knew they were shut ; and in particular their shutting the door of No. 7 prison, which the prisoners usually went in and out at, [and which was formerly always closed last] and leaving one open in the other end of the prison, which was exposed to a cross-fire from the soldiers on the walls, and which the priso- Jiers had to pass in gaining the prisons. S 2 m P m it ym )^: Uh i u I fii f: < 206 We here solemnly aver, that there was no pre- concerted plan to aitompt breaking out. There cannot be produced the least shadow of a reason or inducement for that intention, the prisoners dai- ly expecting to be released, and to embark on board cartels for their native country. And wc likewise solemnly assert, that there was no inten- tion of resisting, in any manner, the authority of this depot. N. B. Seven were killed, thirty dangerously wounded, and thirty slighdy do. Total, sixty- seven killed and wounded. (Signed) WM. B. ORNE, WM. HOBART, JAMES BOGGS, JAMES ADAMS, FRANCIS JOSEPH, JOHN F. TROBRIDGE, JOHN RUST, HENRY ALLEN, WALTER COLTON, THOMAS B. MOTT, Dartmoor Prison, April! th, 1815. Committee, 4 t t '*'w' 207 The same clay Mr. Tngraham came to the prison and iniornieU the prisoners, that he had come for the purpose of shipping a number of men, to man ships now lying in diHercnt ports in EuK^pt- ; he also informed us, that he had been appomted pgent, under the consular agent of the United Statrp ; and that every preparation was maiving for re immediate release of every prisoner, and we miLlt be assured of the immediate arrival of the ships froia London to convey us to the United States. On tlio tenth, a number were discharged to man diilerent ships in Europe ; this day arrangements were made by the prisoners, for tl e assistance and relief of our wounded countrymen in the llopital, and also an arrangement for the prisoners to wear crape on their arm, for thirty days after their ar. rival in America, as a tribute of respect due to their departed friends and fellow-prisoners. — The' wounded in the Hospital wei-e paid every at- tention, for their comfort and speedy recovery, by Doctor Magrath. . a We received no letters from Mr. Beasley, al- though hundreds of letters had been sent to him since the melancholy event of the 6th. Reports were circulating that a new agent was to be ap- pointed by the U. States to supersede Mr. Beas- ley, which every man most anxiously wished might be true, but had not the satisfaction to learn M8 tT' .^ it was the case ; every day's delay made more confusion and anxiety among the prisoners. The weathci during this month up to the present day, had been remarkable fine, pure and healthy, and more so than it had been at this place since our confinement ; as if the All-Seeing eye of Heaven looked down with pity and compassion upon our injured and wounded countrymen, and dispensed His blessings for their speedy recovery in the salubrity of his air. That passage in Holy Writ, in this instance seemed to be remarkably verified, " that when the prisoner was sick in prison^ he visited him." Capt. Shortland, after being acquitted, resum- ed the command of the depot, but he was seldom seen by the prisoners, being very apprehensive that the prisoners would shoot him the first oppor- tunity ; therefore he kept a body guard about him, and this day a draft of thirty prisoners being dis- charged, and having to pass by his house, he had his guard stationed at his door. On the morning of the twelfth, we were inform- ed by Capt. Shortland that the drafts for the dis- charge of the prisoners were already made out, and that the draft for the first cartel would con- sist of 280, to be discharged as they entered this depot. 1 therefore obtained the exact number of m * 209 1290 952 978 938 1248 29 107 5542 prisoners then in each prison, which I shall give as follows : Prison No. 1, contained 3, - - ^ - 4, - - - - 5, - - ,- - 7, - - - - In different employments about the stores and hospital, Patients in the hospital, Total number of unparoled prison- ers in England, . - - In visiting the hospitals, I found the wounded prisoners fast recovering, all in high spirits, the prison generally more healthy than it had beea since our arrival at it. Capt. Shortland removed his family from this place, for his guilt had brought upon him the apprehension of the first draft's re- taliating upon him by attacking his family ; but no suefh idea had entered the imagination of any prisoner ; it was the creature of his own guilt. We were ordered at this time to be in Feadiness to deliver up every article, which we had receiv- ed from the British Government ^ such a-s beds, hammocks, blankets, &c. &;c. Thes^ticles had been in our possession, and in constant use ever since the second of April, 1813, and had never been changed ; we felt but little reluctance in de* h Ihr"^ .-.ft i I' i 1 210 livering them up, when animated with the idea of once more revisiting our native couiitry, and heav- ing a dreary prison, which many of us had inhabi- ted upwards of two years. On the following day we received a London pa- per which contained the following account of the late horrid massacre at this depot; it read as follows : " An affair of a serious nature has recently ta- ken place at Dartmoor prison : the prisoners at- taching the greater part of the fault of their long detention since the peace to Mr. Beasley,' their country's agent, resident at London, had, before ^ the affrmy, burnt his person in effigy in the yard of their prison; on account of which, Captain Shortland, unarmed and unattended, entered the yard of their prison with a view to appease the* anger of*these unfortunate men ; but his recep- tion was attended with the prisoners discharging a pistol at him, the contents of which graz'^d his clerk ; upon this the prisoners attempted to gain their liberty by rushing out of the'gates, but were soon coiled by the guards firing upon them, and killing twelve, and wounding thirty." The accdSiiit was equally base and false, as the act was cruel and murderous : but the mention of twelve killed, confirmed the prisoners in their be- ief that this number had been killed, and the five 211 which were not to be found, were secretly buried by Capt. Shoriland that night, and that he, in the guilty and confused state of his mind, had given an account of twelve, instear! of seven, which were the only ones found of the killed. I leave it to the reader to judge, whether nature or habit had done most towards hardening the feelings of this man. It is well known that men accustomed to the sufferings and misery of their fellow beings, soon grow hardened and forget them. But could this man, from the short time here, have grown so callous in his feelings as to commit such acts from habit, or must cruelty and malice have been woven in his constitution ? On this day, the prisoners in making prepara- tion for their departure, prepared a ferge white Hag, and as a memento, had, in the middle of tt, the representation of a tomb, with the Goddess of Liberty leaning on it, and a murdered sailor lying by its side, and an inscription over it in large capi- tal letters, ^''Columbia weeps, and we remember, ^^ This flag was intended to be carried home to the U. States, as it showed a just resentment for the execrable deeds which it recorded, and a just re- spect for the sufferers. This same day, numbers of prisoners were released by application of their friends in Enghnd, for the purpose of manriftig ships in different ports. Wc had no news from m &m u m ;.-^^V. ^i'- ':%■ ■■ft; I VI. -'-i. •■;i ^ 7« life--*- ' m » 212 Mr. Beasley, and most of the prisoners barefoot- ed, the oldest in a state of nudity, not having re- ceived any jackets or trowsers for more than eleven months. At length, when we were almost dead with im- patience Ind delay, on the fourteenth we received a letter from Mr. Beasley to the following effect : " Fellow Citizens, « I have been informed that numbers of the prisoners have entertained an idea, that they are to remain in prison, until the arrival of some U. States' ships in this country, but 1 can assure them that there is no foundation for the belief; and 1 can assure them of eight cartels being al- ready taken up for their conveyance to the Uni- ted States.* And with regret I hear from officers Who were sent to inquire into the shameful con- dutt of the sixth of April, that the extravagant excess of the prisoners was partly occasioned by their censuring the U. States and myself !" Mr. Beasley had, no doubt, been informed of what he wrote, but it was not the fact, for his mfor- mation, no doubt, came from the two officers who were here, the Admiral and his associate ; but no such conversation took place in their hearmg, which numbers of the most respectable prisoners can testifv, and no such idea had been entertamed by viBT^sS^r in the prison. These officers in- i 21Si tended that Mr. Bcasley should bear all the blame. God knows his conduct was blameable enoijj;h throughout ; but to do him justice, he had no blame in the murderous act of the fatal sixth of April. His effigy had pfen burnt on the 24th of March, and all animosity had been dissipated with the ashes of his effigy, and his name seemed to be forgotten, for it was scarcely ever mention- ed. IVlr. Beasley had hadjevery particular of the event, before his interview*with the officers, but made no exertions as yet to inquire into the af- fray. The weather up to this day since the month be- gan, had been remarkably fine for this place, but this morning the moor as far as the eye could reach, was covered with snow, and cdhtinued to snow all day, and the weather very cold. On the sixteenth we received letters from Lon- don, from many of our fellow citizens, who had received passports and left the prison since the fatal sixth of April ; on their arrival in London, they were taken before the lord mayor of that city '"^' and their depositions taken relative to the massacre of the sixth, which was to the same purport as be- fore the committee. On the same day. Col. Haw- Jler, formerly consular agent, under the American consul at London, visited the prison for the pui> ,^%ose of shipping seamen to man ships at Plymouth^ T m B f lij^' ■ ■ . * ex' •• si'- ii''i>'' ,.._^i '^ and Capt. Shortland himself; but Mr. Beasley still neglected to make any arrangement for cither. At six every prisoner's name was called, and they committed together with their baggage to a separate prison, ready for their departure the next morning. The joy they felt on this occasion is better imagined than described ; I therefore leave to the imagination of the reader, what emo- tions the heart must feel, v/hen a change which promised every endearment of life to them, and freed them ifrom every evil of it, was abo\#to take place. I visited the hospital this evening for the last time, and had the pleasing satisfaction of finding the sick and wounded in a state of fast recovery, except a few who were dangerous. " *rhe next morning we took our departure for Plymouth, and with joy in our hearts bid farewell to that pale of misery, and at four in the afternoon arrived at Plymouth, having travelled all the way under the direction of a strong guard. *" ' We were immediately embarked on board the cartel Maria Christiana, a Swedish ship, com^| mandedby Capt. Dirkes ; we found some few^^||r our countrymen who had been on parole, om the ship. It was now just forty days since the ari^ the ratified treaty in England, ■j**" »if*"- 217 The next day eight of the prisoners left the <;ai:- tel to join a brig under French colours bound for F#ncc. ^' On the twenty-second the wind being contrary, the prisoners were permitted to go on shore and spend the day. A court of inquiry had been in- stituted by commissioners appointed by both go- vernments, for the investigation of the unfortunate occurrences of the sixth of April, and was then sit- ting for that purpose. Several of the prisoners were called upon to give evidence in the cause, and their depositions taken by the court that day. The court was attended by Mr. Williams, depu- ty consular agent to Mr. Beasley. Before we set sail Mr. Williams informed us th| he was instructed by Mr. Beasley to take dewni the particulars of the investiga|ion, for the purpose of laying them before the American government ; but the commissioners had not reported when we left Plymouth, but it was expected they would in a few days, which shall contain a part of this work as soon as it is received. Mr. Williams informed us that the money allow- ed by government, which had been due thirty days, mul(* not be paid by Mr. Beasley, nor would any |)vision be made by him for shoes or clothing, It that the prisoners must go home as they were. T ^- 218* 1^1 On the twcnty.third, the wind being favourable, we hove short, and made preparations for sailing. On mustrring the prisoners, we found their nHH- ber amounted to two hundred and sixty-three ; this increase of number was by officers paroled at Ash- buiton. At three in the afternoon, we left the port of Plymouth, witba fresh and favourable wind. We had left behind at Dartmoor five thousand ©ne hundred and ninety three of our fellow priso- Bers, whom the agent informed us would be con- veyed to this place in the same manner as our- selves in a few days, as the other cartels were on their way round to Plymouth, and thence to em- [•k immediately for the United States. After ving Plymouth we found the provisions under direction of Capt. Turner, appointed by the agent to deal out the rations to the prisoners. We were allowed, five days in the week, one potmd of salt beef, one pound of bread, half a pound of potatoes a dey ; the other two days one pound of pork, the same quantity of bread, and half a pint of peas per man, and half a pint of vine- gar* a week. Mr. Beasley had made arrangements foi^each prisoner to have a small bed and blanket ; the caitei was equipped according to custom, with- great ^uns and small ^rms» 219 A Physician had been appointed with a sufli- cient quantity of medicine to serve during the pas- One part of the ship was allotted to the sick, where every attention was paid them by their countrymen for their comfort and convenience. During the residue of the month nothing mate- rial occurred ; the cartel quite healthy, only five cases of sick, and them not very dangerous ; the month ended with winds, light and unfavourable. On the first of May we were in lat. 45° North, and longitude 23° 4 1 ' West. On the second, being in long. 24°, we spoke a brig from London bound to Quebec. From the first to the fourteenth the winds were ^'J'<5n^|l| W. to S. W. and the cartel kept betweea the latmides of 42° and 44° North. ■ Some few sick, but not dangerously. On this f day we discovered a sail on our weather beam, standing to the eastward ; at 2 P. M. she bore up and stood for the cartel, with a British flag flying ; at four we spoke her in lat. 42, and long. 38. She proved to be a British transport with a nu hvv of troops from Mobile, bound to England, aii fourteen days from Bermuda. She sent her boat along-side the cartel with a naval and military of- ficer, and the captain of the transport; they came on Ipoard the cartel and remained for an hour, and then *.,-. #. 220 \^^ c ■ " .^- t l^pturned to the transport, and cnch ship ma^le sail for their dcsunod places. ||l Tlie winls still continued the same wa;^^ tvventy-eigiith. This day, Sunday, we fell in with several large islands of Ice, lat. 45° ; on the same day, lat. 42° long. 60°, we spoke the brig Sally Bar- ker, six days from Boston, bound for Portugal : the three days following the winds continuing light, from the South and West, we spoke a brig from Portland four days out, bound to Surinam. ^ Cartel perfectly healthy with the exception of ©nc man very low in a consumption. On the tirst of June, lat. 40, 50, long. 64, spoke the ship Helvitius of Philadelphia, bound home, after remaining during the whole war up the cast country. On the second of June, ^at. i|, 35, long. 69, the majority of the prisoners aPfed to take possession of the cartel, and run her into New- York, for the following reasons : the ship be- 1 ing disabled by the loss of her main trussel-trees, ' which endangered the top-mast, and rendered her unfit for sea ; secondly, there being every appear- ipcc of a gale from the S. W. and the weather thick and hazy ; thirdly, the port of N. York be- ing the most convenient for the greater part of the prisoners ; for which reasons, at twelve meri- dian, by the general voice of, all on board, the command was taken from her former captain, and 221 c she directed for the port of N. York. At 4, P. M. tli^inan in a consumption " put off this mortal i«i" and took his ({uictus in thirty-hvc fathom of water, in the usual form t^ sea. Tile captain of the ship required some docu- ment, that he might show for his indemnification for resigning tlie command of tlic ship, and devia- ting from his destined port, which was Norfolk, Vir. ; the following certificate, signed by a great number of the prisoners, was delivered him. Certificate, " We, the undersigned, citizens of the U. States of America, do hereby certify, that on the second day of June, 1816, at twelve meridian, being in lat. 40, 30, long. 69, 30, by mutual agreement of a majority of prisoners now on board the cartel Maria Christiana, bound for Norfolk, did take possession of her, and directed her for the port of New-York." At four o'clock on the third, we discovered the highlands of N. Jersey bearing W. by S.-, at eight matle the light-house, distance three or four leagues ; at two P. M. obtained a pilot and stood within the Hook ; at seven came to an anchor ; the next morning arrived at New-York. Having received the report of the commission- ers since our arrival in the United Slates, we shall sive it to the reader verbatim. The reader will '■\ '<:: ;- «. r . I 222 perceive that it diflers somewhat from the accouriT. of the massacre which I have given before, ^d that of the committee of prisoners. The pMic arc to judge of the report ; the facts seem not to warrant just such an one ; but to give my simple opinion as an individual, I believe that the com- missioners through a sort of piafraus for the love of peace and harmony between the two govern- ments, have made it a vail of amnesty, and a pre- ventative of new troubles. THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. Plymouth, 26th April, ISl 5. We, the undersigned commissioners, appointed on behalf of our respective governments, to in- quire into, and report upon, the unfortunate oc- currence of the eth of April inst. at Dartmoor prison ; having carefully perused the proceedings of the several courts of inquiry instituted imme- diately after that event, by the orders of Admiral Sir John T. Duckworth and Major General Brown respectively, as well as the depositions taken at the coroner's inquest upon the bodies of the pri- soners who lost their lives upon that melancholy occasion : upon which inquest the jury found a verdict of justifiable homicide; proceed immedi- ately to the examination upon oath in the presence of one or more of the magistrates of the vicinity, of all the witnesses, both American and English, the accouriT. before, j^nd The pSHic seem not to c my simple at the com- for the love Avo govern- ^, and a pre- SIONERS. nV, 1815. s, appointed lents, to in- "ortunate oc- it Dartmoor proceedings tuted imme- > of Admiral neral Brown »ns taken at i of the pri- melancholy jury found a 3ed immcdi- the presence the vichiity, md English, 223 who offered themselves for that purpose; or who cou|d be discovered as likely to afford any materi- al information upon the subject, as well as those who had been previously examined before the coroner, or otherwise, to tde number in the whole of about eighty. We further proceed to a minute examination of the prisons, for the purpose of clearing up some points, which upon the evidence alone, were scarcely intelligible ; obtaining from the prisoners, and from the officers of the depot, all the necessary assistance and explanation : and ])remising, that we have been from necessity^ com- pelled to draw many of our conclusions from statements and evidence highly contradictory, we do now make upon the whole jjroceedings the fol- lowing report : — During the period which has elapsed since the arrival in this country of the account of the ratifi- cation of the treaty of Ghent, an increased degree of restlessness and impatience of confinement ap- pears to have prevailed amongst the American prisoners at Dartmoor, which though not exhibi- ted in the shape of any violent excess, has been principally indicated by threats of breaking out if not soon released. On the fourth of this month in particular, only two days previous to the events, the subject of this inquiry, a large body of the prisoners rushed • , J I' ; I' : lit wi i^^0*^ I si 224 into the market square, from whence, by the re- gulations of the prison, they are excluded,ie- manding bread, instead^'of biscuit, which had on that day been issued by the officers of the depot ; their demands, however, having been then almost immediately complied with, they returned to their own yards, and the employment of force on that occasion became unnecessary. ,;,^, • On the evening of the sixth, about six o'clock, it was clearly proved to us, that a breach had been made in one of the prison walls, sufficient for a full sized roan to pass, and that others had been commenced in the course of the day near the same spot, though never completed. That a number of the prisoners were over the railing erected to prevent them from communica- ting with the sentinels on the walls, which was of course forbidden by the regulations of the prison, and that in the space between the railing and those walls, they were tearing up pieces of turf, and wantonly pelting each other in u noisy and disorderly manner. That a much more considerable number of the prisoners was collected together at that time in one of their yards near the place where the breach was effected, and that although such collec- tion of prisoners was not unusual at other times (the gambling tables being commonly kept in that ■iiHi. •m 225 )»art of the yafd) yet, when conriected with the circumstances of the breach, a^ the time of the day, which was after the hour the signal for the prisoners to their respective prisons had ceased te sound, it became a natural and just ground of alarm to those who had charge of the depot. It was also in evidence that in the building for- merly the petty officers' prison, but now the guard barrack, which stands in the yard to which the hole in the wall would serve as a communication, a part of the arms of the guard who were 4fduty, were usually kept in the racks, and though there was no evidence that this was in any respect the motive which induced the prisoners to make the opening in the wall, or even that they were ever acquainted with the fact, it naturally became at least a further cause of suspicion and alarm, and an additional reason for precaution^. Upon these grounds Capt. Shortland appears to us to have been justified in giving the order, which about this time he seems to have given, to sound the alarm b^Il, the usual signal for collect- ing the officers of the depot and putting the milita- ry on the alert. ' ^ However reasonable and justifiable this was as a measure of precaiition, the' effects produced thereby in the prisons, 'but which could not have been intended, were most unfortunate, and deeply IT ^ IV ■. 226 to be rtgrelted. A considerable number of the prisoners in the fards where no disturbances existed before, and who were either already within their respective prisons, or quietly reti- ring as usual towards them, immediately upon the sound of the bell rushed back from curiosity (as it appears) towards the gates, where, by that time, the crowd had assembled, and many who were at the time absent from their yards, were «lso, from the plan of the prison, compelled, in or- der to f each their own homes, to pass by the same ^pot, and thus, that which was meariy a measure of precaution, ir its operation increased the evil it was intended to prevent. , , v 11 Almost at the same insteat. that the alarm bell rane (but whether before o* subsequent. Is, upon Jhe Uidence, doubtful, though Capt. Shortland states it positively as one of his further reasons for causing it to ring) some one or more of the prisoners broke the iron chain, which was the on- ly fastening of No. 1 gate, leading into the market iuare,by means of anironbar, -daveryc^- sWerable number of the prisoners immediately rushed towards that gate ; and many of them be^ gan to press forwards as fast as the opemng would permit into the square. , There was no direct proof before us of pre- vious concert or preparation oh" the part of the 227 prisoners ; and no evidence of their intention or disposition to effect their escape on this occasion, excepting that which arose by injcrcnce from the whole of the above detailed circumstances con- nected together. . The natural and almost irr^stible inference to be drawn, however, from the conduct of the pri- soners by Capt. Shortlandj and the military, was, that an intention on the part of the prisoners to escape was on the point of being carried into exe- cution, and it was at least certain that they were by force passing beyond the limits prescribed to *them, at a time wheii*^^they ought to have been, quietly going in for the night. It was also in evidence that the outer gates of the market square were usualMc^ened about this time to let the bread wagon'* pass and repass to the store, although at the period in question they were in fact closed. ' Under these circumstances, and with these im- pressions necessarily operating upon his mind, and a knowledge that if the prisoners once pene- trated through me square, the power of escape vm$ almost to a certainty afforded to them, if the^ should be so disposed. Capt. Shortland in the first instance proceeded down the scjuare towards the prisoners, having ordered a part of the differ*- ent guards, to the number of about fifty only a^ 0*1 M i ':«^ ■If' ;. ■1 ■J:h J 41 Hirst, (though they were increased afterwards,) ty follow him. For some time both he and Dr. Ma- grath endeavoured, by quiet means and persua- sion, to induce the prisoners to retire to their own yards, explain]^ to \h.m^ the fatal consequences which must ensue if they refused, as the milita- ry would in that case be necessarily compelled to employ force. The guard was by this time form- ed in the rearof Capt Shortland, about two-thirds of the way down the square— the latter is about 100 feet broad, and th€^guai-d extended nearly all across. Capt. Shortland, finding that persuasion was all in vain, and that although some were indu- ced by it to make an effort to retire, others pre».§ed on in considerable numb^'s, # last ordered about 15 file of the^guard, nea%|^, front of the gate .which had been forced, to charge the prisoners back to their own yards. The pmonera were in spme places so near the military, that one of the soldiers states th»t he could not come fairly down to the charge ; and the military were unwilling to act as against an enemy. S^me of the prison- ers also were unwiUing and^reluctant to retire, ^nd *.some pushing and struggling ensued between the parties, arising partly from intention, but mainly from the pressure of these behind prev enting those in front from 8;etting back. Afte|^;§om e little time, however, this charge appears to hav e been so f^V S # 229 effective, and that wfth little or no injury to the prisoners, as to have driven them for the most part quite down out of the square, with the excep- tion of a small number who continued their re-» sistance about No. 1 gate. A great crowd still remained collected afWr this, ^ the passage be- tween the square and the prisoners' yards, and in the part of these yards in the vicinity of the gates. This assemblage still refused to withdraw, and according to most of the English witnesses, and some of the 4merican, was making a noise, hal- looing, insulting, and provoking, and daring the military to fire, and, according to the evidence of some of the soldiers, and some othe/s, was pelting the military with large stones, by which some of them were actually struck. This* circum- stance is, however, denied by many of the Amer- ican witnesses ; and some of the English, upon having the question put to them, stated they saw no stones thrown previously to the firing, although their situation at the time was such as to enable them to see most of the other proceedings in the square. Under these circumstances the firing commenced. With regard to any order having been given to fire, the evidence is very contradic- tory. Several of the Am e 'leans swear positive- ly, that Gapt. Shortland gave that rr'er 5 but the manner in which, from the conl'usion ol the mo- U 2 n 'V- 'S^ 230 # ment, they descrlTic this ptiVt of the transaction, is so ditierent in its details, that it is very difficult to reconcile theii- testimony. Many of the sol- diors and other English witnesses, heard the word given by some one, but no one of them can swear it" was bv Capt. ffijrdand, or by any one in par- ticular, and 'some, amongst whom is the officer commanding the guard, think, if Capt. Shortland had given such an order,that they must have heard it, which they did not. In addition to this, Capt. Sliortland denies the fact ; "and from the situation in which he appears to have been placed at the time, even according to' the American witnesses-, M- front of the soldiers, it may appear somewhat improbable that he should then have given s«ch an order. But, however, it «aSpi>emain a matter *f doubt whether the Mftg%^t began in the square by order, or was a spontaneous act of the soldiers themselves, it seemed clear that it was continued and renewetl, both there and elsewhere, without orders ; and that on the platforms, and in several places about the prison, it was certainly commenced without any authority. The fact of an order having been given at first, provided the firing was, under the existing circumstances, jus- tifiable, does not appear.very material in any oth- er point of view than as showing a want of self- yossession, and discipline in the troops, if they ,«5« 231 shcwild have fired without order. With regard t« the above most important consideration, of whe- ther the firing 'vas justifiable or not, we are of opi- nion, under afl th? circumstances of the case, iiom the apprehension which the soldiers might fairly entertain, owing to th^ ,numbe#| and conduct of the prisoners, that this firing to a certain extent, was justifiable in a military point of view^, in or- der to intimidate the prisoners, and compel them thereby to desist from all acts of violence, and to retire as they were ordered, from a situation ia which the responsibility of the agents, and the military, could not periJW them with .safety to re- main. From the fact of the crowd being so close, and the firing at first being attended with very lit- tle injury, it appears probable that a large propor- tion of the muslpets were, as stated by one or two of the witnesses, levelled over the heads of the prisoners ; a circumstance in some respects to be lamented, as it induced them to cry out " blank cartridges," and merely irritated and encouraged them to renew their insults to the soldiery, which pi'oduced a repetition of th^ firing in a manner much more destructive. The firing in the square having continued for some time, by which several of t' e prisoners, sustained injuries, the greater part of them appear to have been running back with the utmosl: precipitation and confusion t« f ■ l'^' :r .ivi 232 r their respective prisons, and the cause for further firin »• seems at this period to have ceased. It ap- pears accordingly that Capt. Shorttand was in the market square, exerting ^himself and giving 'or- ders to that effect^ and that Lieut. Fortye had suc- ceeded in stopp^ the fire of his part of the guard. Under tfee circumstances it is very diffi- cult to find any justification for the further con- tinuance and renewal of the tiring, which certain- ly took place both in the prison yards and else- where : though we have some evidence of subse- quent provocation given; to the military, and re- sistance to the turnke)#in shutting the pricons, and of stones being thrown out fi-om within the prison doors. Tii€ subse(|uent firing rather ap- pears to have arisen from the «^tate of individual irritation and exasperation on the part of the sol- diers who followed the prisortfets into their yards, and from the absence of nearly all the officers, who might have restrained it ; as well as from the great difficulty of putting an end to a firing when once commenced under such circtimstances. Capt. Siiortland was from this time busily occupied with the turnkeys in the square, receiving and taking G^ce of the wounded. Ensign White rem;^ n d with his guard at the breach, ani Lieuts. Av( iyne and Fortye, the gnly other subalterjis knowa to 233 ♦• havel}ecn present, continued in the square vvitk the main bodies of their respective guards. The time of the day, which was the ofTicers' dinner hour, will in some measure explain this, as it caused the absence of every <^cer from the pri- son whose presence was not indispensable there. And this circumstance, which has been urged a* an argument to prove the intention of the prisoners to take this opportunity to escape, tended to in- crease the confusion, and to prevent those great exertions being made, which might perhaps have obviated a portion at le^ of the mischief which ensued. ^t the same time that the firing was going oia in the square, a crosK f re was also kept up from several of tfee platforaas on the walls rewind the pri- son where the sente^es stand, by straggling parties of soldiers who ran up there for that purpose. As far as this fire was directed to disperse the men as- sembled round the breach, for which purpose it was most efiectual, it seems to stand upon the same ground as that in Jthe first instance in the square.— «• But that part, which it is positively sworn was di- rected against straggling parties of prisoners run- ning about the yards and endeavouring to enter in the few doors whichthe turnkeys,according to their usual practice, ijad left open, docs seem, ^s stated, to have been wholly without object or excuse, an<^ •Sb- IT? ■■^•A.^-. 'X' ^.: ^: I. ■I 234 \o have been a wanton attack upon the lives of de- fenceless, uiitl at that time unofiending, individuals. In the same, or even more severe terms, we must remark upon what was proved as to tiie firing into the door ways oi'^e prisons, more particularly into that of No. 3 prislti, at a time when the men were in crowds at the entrance, rto.n the position of the prison and of the door, and from the marks of the balls which were pointed out to us, as well as from the evidence, it was clear this firing must have proceeded from spldiers a very few feet from the door vray ; and a||iough it was certainly sworn that the prisonei-s were at the lime of part of the firing at least, continuing; to insult and, oc- casionally to throw stones a-t the soldiers, and that they were standing in the wa^' of, aajd impeding the turnkey, who was ther4l&)r i.lie purpose of closing the door,yetjUl|^her^ wa^ nothing stated Which could in our' view at all justify such exces- sively harsh and severe treatment of helpless and unarmed prisoners, when all idea of escape was at an end.— Under these impucssions, we used every endeavour to ascertain if there was .the least prospect of identifying any of the soldiers who had been guilty of the particular outrages here alluded to, or of tracing any .particular death at that time, to the firing of ar^^p-irticular indi- vidual, but without success j andattfcpes of briug- r/ 4- \. ■■■# , .fi^t^^i^f^^ff'^j 235 w$ the ofTcnders to punishment shouM serm to be at an end* — !n conclusion, wc, the undtTsigned, have only to add, that whilst wc lauiont, as we do most deeply, the unfortunate transaction which has been the subject of this inc^y, we find our- selves totally unable to suggcit' any steps to be taken as to those parts of it which seem to call for redress and punishment. (Signed) CHARLES KING, FRAS. SEYMOUR LARPENT. Sm, London, 1 8 Ui April, 1815. At the request of Lord Castlereagh, we have had interviews with him and»Mr. Goulburn on the subject of the transportation of the. American prisoners now in this country, to the United States, aiftl of the late unfortunate event at the depot at Dartmoor. On the first subject, we agreed to advise your acceptance of the proposition of Lord Castle- reagh to transport the prisoners at the joint ex- pense of the two countries, reserving the con- struction of the articles of the treaty, which pro- vides for the mutual restoration of prisoners, for future adjustment. It was stated by us, rind was so understood, thdt the joint expense, thus to be in- curred, is to comprehend as v/eil the requisite ton- ^1^ * ■ 1 236 • t : i c i S I i \ A '''^!^1 r J If' 1* ^ mmam nags as the sulosistence of the prisoners \ and moreover that measures of precaution should be adopted relative to the health and comfort of the prisoners similar to'those which had taken place in America. The details of this arrangement, if you concur with us as to the expediency of making it, are left with you to settle with the proper British autho- rity. On the other subject, as a statement of the trans- action has been received from the American priso- ners, differing very materially in fact from that which had resulted from an inquiry instituted by the port admiral, it has been thought adviseable that some means should be devised of procuring information as to the real state of the case, Ih or- der, on the one hand,,, to show that there had not been any wanton or improper sacrifice of the lives of American citizens, or, on the other, to enable the British government to punish their civil and military officers, if it should appear that they^iave resorted to measures of extreme severity without necessity, or with too much precipitation. Lord Castlereagh proposed that the inquiry should be a joint'one, conducted by a commissioner selected by each government. And wc have thought such an inquiry most likely to produce an impartial and satisfactory result. ^ We presume that you will have too much occd- J)ation on the first subjiect and the other inciden- tal duties of your office, to attend to this inquiry in person. On that supposition, we have stated to the British government that w^e should recom- mend to you the selection of Charles King, Esq. as a fit person to conduct it in behalf of the Amerir can government. If Mr. King will undertake the business, he will forthwith proceed to Dartmoor, and in conjunction with the British commissioner^ who may be appointed on the occasion, will ex* amine the persons concerned, and such other evidence as may be thought necessary, and make a joint report upon the facts of the case to John Q^ Adams, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary of the Uni- ted States at this court and to the British govern- ment, g The mode of executing this service must be left to the discretion of Mr. King and his colleague. — If they can agree upon a narrative of the facts after having heard the evidence, it will be better than reporting the whole mass of testimony in de- tail, which they may perhaps find it necessary to do, if they cannot come to such an agreement. We are, sir, your obedient humble servants, (Signed) H. CLAY, ALBERT GALLATIN. R. G. Beasley, Esq. kc. &c. X *l ■%► '.,* t-' ■if " ■ '«,, y « j { ^ . i'f*> ' i 5 J*- "."!>,. Silt, ^38 Plymouth, 26/A April, 1815i In pursuance of instructions received from Messrs. Clay and Gallatin, I have now the honour to transmit to you the report prepared by Mr. Larpent and myself on behalf of our respective governments, in relation to the unfortunate trans- actions at Dartmoor Prison of War, on the 6th of the present month. Considering it of much im- portance that the report, whatever it might be, should go forth under our joint signatures, I have forborne to press some of the points which it in- volves, as far as otherwise I might have done, and it therefore may not be improper in this letter to enter hito some little explanation of such parts of the report. Although it does appear that a part of the prisoners were on that ev^ehing in such a state, and under such circumstances, as to have justified, in the view which the commander of the depot could not but take of it, the intervention of the military force, and even in a strict sense, the first use of fire-arms, yet I cannot but express it as ray settled opinion, that by conduct a little more temporizing, this dreadful alternative of firing upon imarmed prisoners might have been avoided.— Yet as this opinion has been the result of subse- quent examination, and after having acquired a knowledge of the comparatively harmless state of .A 239 the prisoner^ it may be but fair to consider, whe- ther in such a moment of confusion and alarm, as that appears to have been, the officer command- ing could have fairly estimated his danger, or have measured out with precision the extent and nature^ of the force necessary to guard against it. But when the firing became general, as it after- wards appears to have dme, and caught with elec- tric rapidity from the square to the platfprms, there is no plea nor shadow of excuse for it, except in the personal exasperation of the soldiery, nor for the more deliberate, and therefore more unjustifi- able, firing which took place into three of the prisons, No. 1, 3, and 4, but more particularly in- to No. 3, after the prisoners had retire^ into them, and there was no longer any pretence of appre- hensions as to their escape. Upon this ground, as yoii, sir, will perceive by the report, Mr. Lar- pent and myself had no diiference of opiaion, and I am fully persuaded that my own regret was not greater than his, at perceiving how hopeless wouJ4 be the attempt to trace to any individuals of the military these outrageous proceedings. As to whether the order to fire came from Cap- l^ain Shortland, I yet confess myself unable to form any s itisi'actory opinion, though perhaps the bias of my mind is, tiiat he did ^ive such an order* — r •»1 11 ■-, -„, 1 i < 240 But his anxiety a-nd exertions to stop it after it had continued for some little time, are fully proved, and his general conduct, previous to this occur- tence, as far as we could with propriety enter into such details, appears to have been characterized with great fairness, and even kindness, in the light in which he stood towards the prisoners. On the subject of any complaints against their own government existing among the prisoners, it was invariably answered to several distinct ques- tions put by me on that head, that none whatso- ever existed or had been expressed by them, al- though they confessed themselves to 'entertain some animosity against Mr. Beasley, to whom they attributed their detention in this country •, with what justice you, sir, will be better able to judge. They made no complaint whatsoever, as to their provisions and general mode of living and treat- ment in the prison. I have transmitted to Mr. Beasley a list of the killed and wounded on this melancholy occasion, with a Bequest that he would forward it to the United States for the information of their friends at home, and I am pleased to have it in my power to vay, that the wounded are for the most part do-^ ing well. h\ ■i '4 241 I have also enclosed to Mr. Beasley the notes taken by me of the evidence adduced before us, with a request that he would have them fairly co- pied, as also a copy of the depositions taken before the Coroner, and desiitd him to submit them to you when in order. I cannot conclude, sir, without expressing my high sense of the impartiality and manly firmness with which this inquiry has been conducted on the part of Mr. Larpent, nor without mentioning that every facility was afforded to us in its prosecution, as well by the military officers commanding here and at the prison, as by the magistrates in the vicinity. I have the honour to be, with much respect, your most obedient humble servant, '■ (Signed) CHARLES KING. His Excellency J. Q,. Adams, &lc. Sac. Sir, London, 30lh April, 1815. In my letter of the 19th instant, 1 informed you of the measures which had been adopted here in consequence of the late unfortunate event at Dart- moor' Prison. , I have now the honour to transmit the copy of a letter addressed.to me by Mr. Clay and lyir. Gallatin, relative to that occurrence, and to the X 2 W' ■,•• ^-,:l % 1 h' '■" if. • '''■ ;', ii: 1 '% '■\s^ ' ■•'*■> , '". "1 > i V '(" *■ , 1 ( ■ ,'■?■ v^ •■ 242 transportation of the American prisoners in this country to the United States. In the absence of Mr. Adams, it becomes my duty to communicate for the information of our government, the result of the investigation at Dart- moor. I enclose a copy of the joint report of the commissioners appointed for that purpose, also of a letter from Mr. King to Mr. Adams, and of a list of the killed and Avounded on that melancholy occasion, I shall leave to Mr. Adams any further steps which he may deem it proper to take in this busi- ness. 1 cannot, however, forbear to notice the er- roneous impression of the prisoners, that their de- tention so long has been owing to me. You are aware, sir, of my constant exertions during the war to effect their liberation. I immediately, on the signing of the treaty of peace at Ghent, re- newed my instances on that subject ; proposing, as a condition, that all prisoners who might be de- livered over to me by the British government, should be considered as prisoners of war, and not at liberty to serve until regularly exchanged, in the event of the treaty not being ratified by the President. This proposition was declined and in a peremptory manner* 24^ >ner9 in this ms, and of a On the receipt of the intelligence of the ratificl- tion from Apierica, I lost not a moment in request- ing the release of the prisoners, according to the terms of the treaty ; and the number of vessels which I had hired, as mentioned in my letter of the 13th, and which are now on their voyage to the United States, will show that the necessary steps were taken to provide for their immediate trans- portation to their country. The prisoners also were informed of these measures, and of the ex- ertions which had been made Jrom the commence-, ment, to return them to their homes with the least possible delay* Therefore, whatever may have been their uneasiness, under confinement, and whatever hostile feelings they may have had to- wards me, as noticed in the report, and in Mr. King's letter, I must say with confidence, that'l could not prevent the one, nor have I deserved the other. * I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedi- ent humble servant, R. G. BEASLEY. The honour»ble John Masok, &c, Sec. &c. ^ ; , I J V* .^^. i . -i.i \ ' ^ 244 ^From the Plymouth (Eng.) Telegraph, April 22, 181£i. To the Editor, Sir, j The officers and prisoners of this depot, feel- ing an ardent desire that the citizens of the United States may be informed of the many and great services rendered them by Dr. Magrath, and likewise that the subjects of Great Britain may learn with what sentiments of gratitude and re- spect his unparalleled efforts in the cause of hu- manity, and the discharge of his duty, have at this depot filled us ; we have to request that you will cause to be inserted in your paper, as early as possible, copies of the enclosed testimonials, ad- flressed to that gentleman. » I am, -(Sic. Benjamin Mercer. Hospital, April 13, 1815. • Dm-tmoor prison, March '28, 1815. To His Excellency James Madison. Honoured and respected Sir, From the general philanthrophy of your charac- ter and liberality of sentiment, no apology is dv'cmed requisite for introducing to your particu- lar notice, and that of the nation at large, Dr. George Magrath, principal of the medical depart- ment for the Anaencan prisoners of war in Eng- 245 land. It is impossible for us to speak of this gen- tleman in terms that will do justice to his superior professional science, brilliant talents, the exem- plary virtues of his heart, the urbanity and easy acctssibility of his manners, his unremitting as- siduities and unwearied exertions, in combatting a succession of diseases of the 'most exasperated and malignant character, which prevailed among the prisoners. At the first forming of the depot, pneumonia, in its worst form, generally prevailed, which degenerated into a still more dangerous species of pulmonic complaint, nearly peripneu- monia notha, which was rapidly succeeded by a putrid kind of measles, and that destructive mala- dy followed by a malignant small-pox, which spread rapidly ; dismay and apprehension wer« painted on every countenance. Dr. Magrath's time and attention were fully oc- cupied in the hospital, and in vaccinating the pri- soners. From his unprecedented exertions in an inclement season of the year, in a most inhospita- ble clime, his health became seriously impaired ; but totally regardless of himself, he persevered in his unparalleled exertions, and from his superior knowledge in the healing art, was the means, un- der divine Providepce, of rescuing many citizens of the United States from the fast approximating embraces of death. This malignant species of ■m I '■ '■ £ 7W'j^:\ m- y^ i-i t "4 m. t mm A, ^ 'U 246 small-pox, iinkuown to the generality of profes- sidnal gentlemen, appeared in other places, and a far greater number fell victims, in proportion to the cases at the place. We therefore trust, that ibttie distinguished mark of the nation's gratitade will be conferred on Dr. Magrath ; for this truly great man's exertions in the cause of suffering humanity, have been rarely equalled, but never excelled. We have the honour to remain, with sentiments of respect and attachment, your excellency's obe- dient humble servants, ^r* BENJ. MERCER, PIERRE G. DE PEYSTER, HENRY PROCTOR, JOHN COTTLE, THOS. CARBERRY, JAMES LESTER, HENRY BULL, THOS. B. MOTT, SETH WALKER, WILLIAM WEST, CHARLES DEXTER, WILLIAM MOLLEY, JOHN S. TROUBRIDGE, HENRY SHERBURN, TUGS. B. FR06T, I ^ o cr o o I » of profes- aces, and a oportion to trust, that 's gratitacle r this truly )f suffering but never sentiments mcy's obe- O o B 1 J) I-*- >-" B • »— < 3 B- <0 •^ e ?* > *^ & cn ^ Oj C . o' »— 1 • 01 p D ^ 3 cr* O' -o g- • •^ 1— 1 p c«' £--< O -^ ? a 247 ANSWER. Officers and brave Americans collectively. Permit me to request you will accept the warm- est and most sincere thanks of my heart, for the flattering testimonials of your approbation of ray conduct, with which you have honoured mc, and allow me to assure you, that nothing can be more exquisitely gratifying to my very best feeling, than the language in which you have been pleased to convey this mark of your esteem. I feel convinced that you will indulgently excuse mc, if I find it impossible to command words sufficiently emphatic, adequately to express the sentiments of gratUude, with which I am penetrated, for this unexpected proof of your regard •, I must there- fore allow my heart, rather than my pen, to thank you. But it would not be doing justice to my feelings were I to abstain from assuring you, that I have endeavoured to perform my duty towards you, ^ith that self-dcvotedness, which looks only for its reward in its own consciousness of right, and its o#n secret sense of virtue ; and whatever dif- ficulties I have had to encounter in the discharge of my important trust, by struggling with a suc- cession of the most violent' and exasperated epi- demic diseases, perhaps ever recorded in medical history, during the whole of my service among you, the distinguished proof of your confidence \, 'i....'*r' '■ !■*' 'I'ti: l.a..r- ." irlr'i^^i 248 fana approbation of my professional labours, vrith which you this day^iave been pleased to honour me, amply compensates me, and must rank amongst the proudest and liappiest events of my life. It now only remains for me, in this plain, but un- feigned language, again to beg you will receive my most sincere thanks -, and to assure you, col- lectivcly, tjiat a due and lively sense of the high Jionour which you have conferred upon me, shall to the last moments of my existence rei^ain ingrafted in my breast. And here allow me most sincerely to congratulate you on the happy event which ter- minates your captivity, and which is soon to re- store you to the bosoms of your famiheii and friends-, and that you may all long enjoy peace md happiness, is the sincere wish of ,| ' ' ' your most grateful and much obliged humble servant, GEO. MAGRATH. Dartmoor, March 30, 1 8 1 5, .♦ Dartmoor Prison, April 9th, 1815. To His Excellency John Quinct Adams. Sir, Impressed with the sense of duty which we /owe to our country and to ourselves, we respec tively solicit permission to introduce to your Ex- ceUency George Magrath, Esq. M. D. principal ef the i^edical dcpartipent at this depot* Language is incompetent to delineate the worth and charac- ter of this gentleman, pre-eminent in medical sci- ence, enriched by every virtue and accomplish- ment that can dignify and adorn human nature and form the gentleman and philaathrophist. His profess'Qpal skill has been peculiarly conspi- cuous in hi-s successfully combatting a succession of diseases, of the most exasperated and malignant cjb^r^ctpr, wjii^h jirevaile^^^j^ng.the j^isoners. Dr. Magrath's health, from his indefatigable exer- tions, became seriously impaired, but he perscve^ jifjfi in the performance of his arduous duties and unremitting efforts to arrest the alarming and ra* pid advances of the prevailing diseases ; and he .TKfas^he agent under divine Providence of rescuing .igaany citizens of the United States from a prema* ture gravcj and as it were, renewing their exis» tence, but more particularly on the late unhap[>y o^urrence. Language is too impotent to ^describe Dr. JMagrath's unexampled endeavours to prevent the effusion of blood;" regardless of the many 4ianffjers by which he was environed, he per- Y '' 'I ',*^ ^) w u ^50 severed, amidst the heavy and incessant fire of musketry; in his humane endeavours to prevent the fatal catastrophe. His treatment of the unfortunate wounded Americans, is superior to all praise, and was such as to entitle Dr. Magrath to the es- teem and gratitude of the citizens of the Uni- ted States. We therefore respectfully and ardently sohcit, that your Excellency would be pleased to honour »Dr. Magrath with your particular notice and es- teem, and to convey these our sentiments to^the government of the United States ; for we woMd wish to give all possible publicity to our high sense of Dr. Magrath, and to evince to our country and the world how gratefully we appreciate the essen- tial services we have received from that gentle- Hian. ^ , We avail ourselves of this opportunity to offer to your Excellency our congratulations on the happy termination of your important dixies at Ghent, by the conclusion of a peace so highly honourable to our beloved country, and to your- self, and to assure your Excellency of our high re- sant fire of to prevent e wounded :, and was to the es- f the Uni- intly sol'cit, d to honour tice and es- neiits tolhe »r we woMd ir high sense country and e the essen- that gentle- nity to offer ons on the [It dirties at e so highly md to jour- our high re- 251 spect and {Attachment to your character and per- son* We have the honour to be, sir, your obedient humble Servants, For and in behalf of the American prisoners of l^rar at this depot, PIERRE G. DEPEYSTER, HENRY PROCTER, HENRY BULL, JOHN COTTLE, THOS. GAIR, THOS. CARBERRY, JAMES LESTER, BENJ. MERCER, ISAAC DOVVELL. Dartmoor, jlpril 10, 1815. Gentlemen, Honoured as I am with the approbation of those whose good opinion I so highly estimate, I cannot permit myself to receive this additional mark of your friendship and regard (in which you much overrate my humble exertions, in the dis- charge of my duty and the cause of hu- manity,) without begging leave to assure you, that whilst it reflects upon me the highest honour tha could be conferred, it lays claim to my heart- •41 'f' ,, J ..I ■ ^1 ' •' '^,^> « •-'■ ' ,:•! ■i ^>- I'l 4 H .?• [It. 111 ' 252 felt acknowledgments, and everlasting gratitude* With the most sincere and cordial good wi^he^ for your health and happiness, I remain, gentlemen, your much obliged and most grateful servant, GEO.MAGRATH. To the gentlemen forming the Hospital' €om^ mittee* I ' : .February, 1815. The foUo'^ifig is a cort^c^ list of all who entered his Majesty^s service 6%d^of Dartmoor prison from April 1^13, mtU ioi^ ^ to which is an- nexed their former residmc% and the ships in which they were captured or irrvpfessed' James Akin, Roi^bury, Mass. Wm. Bayard Abel Akins, Penobscot, Maine, Tygris, Baltimore Alford Arnold, unknown, Penn- Viper, do. Wm.'Arm^strong, Salem, Mass. Rolla, priv. Anthony Agusta, New-Orleans, do do Henry Allen, Roxbury, Mass. Wm. Bayard, N. Y. George Blanchard, Elizabeth, N. J. do. Gabriel Bugoine,-— Vir. brig Star, N. Y. Henry Brown, New- York, Criterion, Baltimore „ ^Edward Blackstone, Kennebunk, Maine, do William Bishop, Dginverse, Mass. Spitfire, Boston od wi^heg much I servant, Y, 181S. jho entered loor prison hich is an- ips in which yard 5, Baltimore , do. priv. do lyard, N. Y. lo. Y. Baltimore ne, do tfire, Boston 253 William Brown, New-Point-Comfort, Vir. U. S. brig Argus. Frederick Cransburgh, Prussia, brig Star John C. Cox, b. New- York, do Stephen Churchell, Richmond, Vir. Viper, Bah. Samuel Cook, Tiverton, R. I. Price, do Albert Cooper, Newburyport, Mass. m.'xn of war Jerodia Denison, Middleton, Con. brig Star John Duncan, Boston, Vipei* Wm. Ervine, New- York, Virginia Planter Francis Foster, New-London, Con. Meteor, N. Y. Suubel Folger, Nantucket, Mass. William Bayard William Fenton, Wiscasset, Maine, man of v.ar Daniel Holt, New-London, Con. brig Star, N, Y. John Hughs, New- York, Sp, do John Hubbard, do do do James Holms, Portsmouth, N. H. Magdalin, N. Y. Thomas Howell, Beverley, Mass. Independence Anthony Hughieco, New-Orleans, Rolla privateer Aaron Hinkley, Bath, Mass. Viper, Bal. Francis Joseph, New-Orleans, brig Star, N. Y. James Jackson, Phil. Penn. Paul Jones, N. Y. John Little, do. "^ Unknown. Matthew Latimore, N. Y. Meteor, N. Y. Robert Murray, New-Port, R. Roila, Phil. Henry Neal, N. Y. N. Y. Ned, Bal. Charles M'Nies, Bal. Maryland, Ned, do. JohuNewgent, N. Y. True blooded Yankee. Y 3 f. m '^ ^■""3P' •'#« • • it 254 Francis liice, Boston, Mass. Vi^i^^iiiia Platitei-. Ebeiiezer Rich, Portland, Mass. Flash, N.York. John Senate, Philadelphia^ Wm. Bayard. John Sheard, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. do. do. John Shultz, Denmark^ Criterion, N. Y# Wm. Smith, New- York, Terrible. John Thomson, D^nniark, brig Star. Wm. Thomas, Germany, Viper, Bal. Zach. Tough, New-London, Con. Tc^tible. John WiHiams, N. York, N. Y. Wm. Ba)ard; Edward Washburn, N. York, N. Y. brig Star George Williams, Bal. Maryl. Charlotte, Charls. John Wilson, Phil. Penn. d^vernor Gerry, N. Y. William Warner, New- York, N. Y. Ajax. John West, do. do. Dukanor. Israel Wr«ght, Tinmouth, Ver. brig Star, N. Y. Wm. Wilson, Long-Island, ' N. Y. Ned, Bal. Robert Wesei, New-York, N. Y. do. do^ J^amesPickerton, Hampton, Vir. Lightning, Phil. Francis Lisdfei, New-GrleanS) Louisiana, unknown* James Johnson, New- York, N. Y. brig Mars. The following is a correct list of all who entered his Majesty^ service from the different prison ships at Chatham, from ApriUSlS, until June 1814. Copied from the cleric'' s books, John Anderson, b. Newcastle, Del. man of war, John Atkinson, b. Baltim. Maryland, True ilood. 1 \ Joiu) Austin, unknown. unknown^ .1 11 1 }i ] i55 Josiah Abraham, Phil. Pen. man of war. \ Jarnts Anderson, Bal. Maryland, unknown. Peter Boyd, iNtw-Yoik, N. Y. do. John Boyd, Kennebunk, Mass. do. * John Brown, Ncw-Bedfor !, Impressed. John Bauld, Block Island, man of war. Isaac Baily, Boston, Mass. do. John Brown, Salem, do. True Elood. Peter Brown, Phil. Penn. unknown. George Bing, New-York, N. Y. man of war. John Brown, b. Salem, Mass. do. Samuel Billham, b. do. do. do. John Barks, New-Bedford, do. Gt o. Burns> Phil. Penn. do. Asu Bumpus, New-Bedford, Mass. unknown. BufiJs Brown, Kastport, do. Joiin Burns, North-Carolina, do. John Baily, Hainsbury, Mass. do. El »enezer Carter, Portsmouiii, N. H. man of way. Isaac Crawford, Boston, Mass. do. Benjamin Gotten, Norfolk, Vir. do. Thomas Charles, b. New- York, N. Y. do. Charles Cutfee, Long-Island, N. Y. man of war. Isaac Carrol, New-York do. unknown. Ezekiel Church, Phil. Penn. do. Peter Dowling, Lewisburg, V r. Gov. Tooiking, "W ill. pen!ur;g, New-L'edfor ;, iuan of war. Ifcaac i/aiiioii, lioj>ton, IViasfc. do. 'i^'- 256 i; ,' f ; ; 1 V ■ I- ^^1' l*> ik ^i" t\% U % '¥ Thomflts D^nison, Portsmouth, N. H. man of war Thomas Du.^n, New- York, N. V. unknown. John Davis, Alexandria,' Vir. man of war. Henry^D.son, Holmes' Hole, unknown. Silas Eaton, Phil. Pcnn. M. S. Malta. Dudley French, b. Newbury port, Mass. unknown. John Fowler, unknown, ^o. Elias Field, do. ^o- Nicholas Gold, North Kingston, R. I. do. Wm. Goes, New-York, N. Y. do- Jeremiah Gills, b. Baltimore, Maryland, do* Isaac Gr4ffin, Boston, Mass. do. ' Gills, New-York, N. Y. do. Samuel Harvey. North Carolina. Impressed. James Hoyd, New-York, N. Y. man of war. Henry Hamong, Phil. Penn. brig Esel, Bal. Hoary Holsworth, New-York, unknown. John Hopkins, unknown, Samuel Hopkins, do. Samuel Hainsly, b. do., Wm. Hull, b. Bal. Maryland, Johnson Harlem, b. New-York, James Hall, Wainsburg, N. Y. Wm. Hubbard, Providence, R. I. Peter Henry, Phil. Penn. Thom. Hazaird, Narraganset, R. I. do. John Fitz, !;ew.Bedford,Mass. do. Benjamin Uolbrook, Kennebeck , do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. 257 Thomas Jackson, b. New-York, unknown John Jackson, Long-Island, do. Samuel Jackson, b, Salem, Mass, do. John Jackson, b. New- Bedford, do. Wm. Johnson, Norfolk, Vir. do. Zaca James, Snowhill, Maryland, do. Francis Johnson, Bal. do. do. Nathan Kezer, Newburyport, Mass.do. John Jones, BostQrt^ do* do. Isaac Lemur, do. do. Impressed. Andrew Lamson, Portsmouth, N. H. unknown. John Lunderson, New- York, do. John Lames, Portsmouth, N. H. brig Hunter. George Lewh, b. unknown, unknown. George Lee, b. Salem, Mass. do. Asa Freeman, Pittyfoog, unknown. Jeremiah Miller,' Soco, Maine, do. Edward Mathews, Phil. Penn. man of war, John Morris, do. do* do. Mr. Fairlin, Bait. Maryland, do. Benjamin Morgan, b. unknown, do. Benjamin Melvin, b. Nantucket, Mass. do. John Molden, b. Bait. Maryland, do. Morris, New- York, do. Edw. Moulton, Newburyport, Mass. do. Henry Moore, New- York, do. John Mackey, Portsmouth, N. H. do. JohnNicklds^ New-Yoii, ]N'. Y. man of wai- :*. < * ' ' *-\ \ ' - r ^ '*' ' "j; y !• , t A. '; 1 ^1 v^ ■• 'fe ill ,M * * 'V 258 Owens, Philadelphia, Penli. Richard Porter, Wiscasset, Mass. Impressed. Thomas Parkman, unknown. Edward Phillips, do. ElishaPaul, Maryland. Simon Roy, Saybrook, Connecticut. John Ride, Philadelphia, Penn. Thomas Roberson, Plymouth, Mass. man of War John Rough, Alexandria, Virginia. William Riley, Philadelphia. Henry Rando^h, ; Massachusetts. Robert Real, New-York, N. Y. James Roberts, b. Wilmington, N. C. , Robert Roberts, b. New-York. John Ring, Philadelphia, Penn. Nathan Robinson, unknown. Morris Russell, Savannah, Georgiia. William Rich, Warrington, Con. Isaac Somendycke, New-York. George Simsons, b. Philadelphia. David Simond, b. Alexandria, Virg. impressed John Smith, Norfolk, do. do. James Stanly, New-York. William Symons, b. Charleston, S. C. William Steward, b. unknown. John Simson, b. ^o. William Strong, Marblehead, Mass. f David Stephens, Long-Island, N. Y. npressed. t. s. man of War msetts. . C. i^. 'g. impressed do. J. C. 3S. 259 William Scofield, Turkey-Hill, Oklhadam, Con. John Thompson, Long Island, N. Y. ^ Edward Fitly, New- York. John Vanderhoven, do. William Welch, Charleston, S. C. Charles Wetmore, I^orwich, Con. John B. Williams, Baltimore, Md. John Wells, New- York. Charles Wight, Alexandria, Vir. Charles Wilford, New- York. Charles Williams, unknown. William Watson, Charleston, S. C. man of war- William Walker, Pelham, N. H. * Jason Wood, Philadelphia, Penn. William Wood, do. do. Ezekiel Wilson, do. do, William Wolf, Savannah, Georgia. Charles Wilson, Providence, R. I. Robert Wilson, Newport, do. The following is a correct list of prisoners who ew tered his Majesty's service at the Depot of Staph" ton, from July 1813, until May 1814, copied from the clerk^s hooks, John Abrahams, b. New- York, Grand Napoleon John Brown, Charleston, S. C. Revenge. [John Beinbridge, Dutchman, Tickler, Boston iCharles Burgoin, Charleston, S, C. Revenge, t ^i ' n in 260 Josepk Fletcher. Portland, Mas. Orders iniCouncil H(ii^y Hea i*k U, do. Ebcn. Jacobs, Newbuiyport, impressed. William Howard, Pb'b/lcdphia, Fox. Stephen Henry, bktK i' ai. Robert Hackley, New- York, unknown. Mark Mason, Philadelphia, Fox. James Marley, Norfolk, Virg. impressed. George Russell, New- York, Tom of Baltimore. John Smith, i*aul Jones. Francis Surges, black man. Thomas Taylor, Maryland, Price of Baltimore Charles White, New- York, Meteor. The following is a list of names of persons who died at Stapleton prison, from July 1813, miil June 1814. George Morgan, Long-Island, N. Y. Grand Na- poleon. David Smart, New- York, Price of Baltimore. John Punn, Philadelphia, do. do. D. Francis, Providence, R. I. Hebe of Philadel. John Mitchel, New York, unknown Isaac Watts, Charleston, S. C. do Lambert Jphnspn, New- York; d© ^i wL Ml V. Grand Na- , Mas The following is a list ofnam^ f)/ persons whoslied at Chatham, on hoard the different prison-ships from Janmry 1813, until June 1814 ; 1h which time all the prisoners were removed to the depot at Dartmoor, Fib. 28, 1814. Samuel Abbet, Andover, Mass Feb. 19, 1814. William Allen, Newport R. f. January 4, 1813. Joseph Andrews, Marbleliead January 7, 181?. Howcl Baysta, Boston, Muss Dec. 5, 1814. Moses Blackman. Boston, do James Butler, unknown. Feb. 28, 1814. William Butler, Baltimore, Md March 3 1 , Jolm Adams, New- York. Dec. 1313. ElyBactman, AVocester county, Thomas Billings, New-York. Jan. 9. Christopher Balbadge, Salem, Mass May 3, Edward Brown, Marblehead, do June 5, Nicholas Bunker, Scituate, do June 11. Jesse Brown, Belfast, Maine Nov. 23, 1813. Thomas Carter, Norfolk, Vir May 4. Thomas Copland, Charleston, S C April 16. Isaac Clough, Marblehead, Mass May 25. Christy, Baltimore, U. S. gun-boat March 4. James Davis, Somerset April 27. John H. Downie, Salem, Mass. July 5. James Diveiause, do. do. April 18. Benjamin Elvell, Gloucester, Mass May 1 9, William Elingwood, Marblehead, Mass z m « •-■» 'S' 262 .1 '■-^**'- <^' Jan. 27. William Foller, Marblchead, Mass . March 27. Anthony Fundy, New-York April ft, 1814. William Forman, Portsmouth, New Hampshire * May 18. Amos Graindy, Marblchead, Mass ^ June 6, 1813. Jame»*B. Green, Ale?irandria, Vir June 25, 1814. Thomas Hutchinson, unknown , Dec. 27. George Hubbard, do Feb. 14. William Haft, ' do April 17. Jacob Holt, Salem, Mass May. Christopher Hubbard, Baltimore, Md March 29, Samuel Head, New-York Februarys. Samuel Jones, New- York, Tyger May*f6. John Johnson, Long-Island, N Y March 12. William Light, unknown Feb. 23. Reuben Ludlow, New- York, Tyger Jan. 7. James Lewis, Norfolk, Vir March 30, James Ludlow, Greenfield, Con March 22. Ezekiel Miller, New- York March 29. Samuel Miller, New- York April U Fisher Mansfield, New-London, Con Aaron Mackley, drowned escaping -i March 16. Captain Morgan, Salem, M^s. Enter pri^ Juneio. James Mills, Alexandria, Vir March 29, 1813. Samuel Nelson, New- York January 6, 1814. Hugh Nichols, Newbern, N C April 3. William Pousland, Marblelicad, Mass i •i '• 263 April 20. Clcmont Pair, Portland, Maine 21. Kdward Patten, Baltimore May 24. William Potter, Beverly, Mass June 6. DavidPinkham, Nantucket, do J|n. 4. Jarcd Ray, New- York JohnRoiiply, New- York March 25. paries Saunders, near Alexandria, V wn— -chiefly U. State* Infantry ■i/^ ,»M 1 I':.. Hi "S !Ji| ii i m '^:- 264 The following contains a list of the persons who died at Dartmoor, from April \Q\3, until the ISih February/, 1815 ,* copied from the reports of the Doctor, ' ^ Dec 23, 1813. Henry Alligo, New-York, U. S. brig Oct. 24. Ambrose Alamond, Carthagenia, Presi- dent Nov. 6. John Adams, Washington, S. C. Grey- hound do. 21. John B.Allen, New-York, Herald Dec 25, 1814. Isaac Anderson, Portsmouth, N H Huzzar » ;;^ Dec 23. Joshua Andrews, Ipswich, Mass. David Porter, do 3. John Adams, N- C. America do 27. Alexander Anderson, N- York, Criterion Jan. 7. Jacob Anderson, Portsmouth, N H do 26. Daniel Archer, Salem, Mass. Grand Turk Jan. 4, 1815. Daniel Appleton, Portsmouth, N H U S Frolic ¥ Feb. 5. Robert Adams, Marblehead, Mass, He- rald Feb. 18. Peter Amos, Martha's Vineyard, do. In- vincible Napoleon Nov. 14. Asa Allen, Boston, Heral4 May 5. 1814. NickBlanchard ■Ir IS who died I the IQih wrts of the , U. S. brfg nia, Presi- 1. C. Grey- Herald nouth, N H klass. David k, Criterion N H Grand Turk smouth, N H , Mass, He- y^ard, do. In- I '265 ■v Nov. 20, 1813/HezekiahBray, Boston, India do 23. John Boatman, Baltimore, Chasseur do 5. 1814. Lewis Bryen, Carolma, Hawke do 27. Peter Berry, died suddenly do i28. Peter Barker, Boston, Derby do-28. Peter Bin, Petersburg, Vir. Independence do 3,1813. Thoh:as Barren, Virg. U S brig Argus Dec. 2. Henry Burly, New- York do 5. John Baldwin, Boston, Fox do 8. James Barret, Pennsylvania, Bury do 26, 1814. Henry Burbage, Virginia, Grey- hound January 30. Charles Barker do 27. Benjamin Bale, Dover, N. H. Victory do 20. Philip Blagdell, New-Hampshire, Erie do 14. James Beck, Portsmouth, N. H. impressed Jan. 17, 1813. Dmiel Bourge, Portsmouth, N. H. Harlequin Feb. 11. George Brown, West-Chester, N. Y. im- press' -d do 1 7. Charles Brown, Boston, Paul Jones do 17. Moses Bailey, Philadelphia, Scorpion Nov. 21, 1814. John Babhsta, New- York, Herald Jan. 23. 1814, John Bryson, Virginia, Aiirant Dc^c. 29, 1814. James Booth, New- York, Mary Kov. 18, 1814. Y. S. Bat<^s, unknown, July 4, 1814, VVm. Clarke, Virgmia, Frolifi Z 2 # *{.. v' i- ^' ^'■ LI n i' 1 t ^ . \' t ■ I I. ^0r 266 Oct. 20, 1813, Wm. Clark, South Ringstoh, R. L Star of N. Y. Jan. 16, Charles Cornish, Bait. Md. Chesepeake March 5, James Combs, Bristol, D. Maine, U. S. ^ brig Argus do. 20, John Cole, Wiscasset, impressed April 6, Benjamin Cook, Bait. Md. Chesepeajce Oct. 3, Deal Carter, New- York, Zebra, N. Y. do. 7, John Collins, Phil. Mammoth Baltimore do. 16, John Carney or Carson, Vir. Flash do. 25, Simeon Chanler, Daxbury, Essex Nov. 8, Thomas Cooper, Washington, N. C. Union. do. 1 1, James Congdon, Cambridge, Mass. 'Mary do. 26, John Cole, Bait. Md. Adeline \ Dec. 4, Richard Coftee, Long-Island, N. Y. Amer. Jan. 17, Samuel Campeach, Carthegena, President *do. 24, Simeon Clark, Weathersfield, Snap-dragon Nov. 5, 1814, Wm. Coleman, N. C Hawke May 10, Wm. Dilton, Georgetown, Argus Nov. 14, Silas Durham, Boston, Mass. Ind^ do. 18, Amasa Dilano, New-Bedford, do. Jan. 10, Wm. Dimamond, R. I. brig Mary Oct 25, 1814, David Dunham, unknown, Fame, Baltimore Jan. 27, William Edgar, N. Jersey, Hepsie do 6, 1815^ Edward Evans, Kennebunk, brig Star, N. y. ■.#* ■J J^. Peb. 25, 1814, Wm. Ferza, Granville, Mermaid Jan. 27, 181 4^ James Fulford, N. C Snap-dragou Wm^^FlQtcher, Marblehead, Mass. Spitfire, Boston Dec. 23, 1813, Henry Frelitch, Liverpool, Penn. Liverpool November 1 2. Jesse Field, Townsend, Maine, Siron do 30. Joshua Fowler, Boston, Impressed January r>3, William Fennel, Portsmouth, N. H. Harper. March 18, 1814. Thomas Foquet, Granville, brig Argus May 1813. Reuben Glass, Duxbury, Mars of Bal- timore April 19, 1814. Thomas Gasgiline, Martinico, W. L Augustine October 22. WiUiam Gibson, New- York, Rattle- snake ' November 4. Francis Gardner, , Rhod Island, Rambler l# December 3. John Gay lor, ►, North Carolina^ America February 17, 1815. James Gedman, Portsmouth, N. H. Bunker-Hill January 29, 1815. Richard Hughs, New- York, Amiable, Phila. March 5. Simeon Harress, New- York, Magdalen July 3, 1814. James Henry, do U.S. brig Argus #», % '^1, ■ , ,' ( \ - \ y li: ■■ ■ ^ ., 'J- '^1 c%< MM. 1 26a ,,jp do. Courier of Bal- July 0, James Hart, timore in November 9. Isaac Hermain, Portland, Maine, Elbrid;^e Gerry do 11. Janes Hetrope, Cambridge, Mass. Mary do :24, William liarress, Portsmouth, N. H. Portsmouth December 24. Dempey Hydra, , North Carolina, Paul Jones do - 4. Silas Hardison, , N. Carolina January 6, 1815. Elijah Hartlord, St. Thomas, U. States Infantry February 5. Jacob Hanley, Milford, impressed D.'cember29, 1814. Alexander Henderson, New- York„.Criterion November 4, 1814. William Jones, Cambridge, Mass. Hawiic jfpnl 30, 1314. George Jones, , Connecti- cut, Viper of Baltimore June 25. Lambert Jolmson, Middletown, N. J. Paul Jones do 6. Thomas Jackson, New- York, impressed November 2. Alexander Johnson, Charleston, S. C. William do 25. Manuel Joseph, Oporto, impressed January 24. Thomas Jarvis, Marblehead, Mass. Industry Januai-y 8, 1815. John Johannas, Salem, Mass. President 1 1 -ii ■» '1 %■- 269 I .V- ier of Bal- d, Maine, ass. Mary h, N. H. — , North . Carolina 'homas, U. ipressed son, New- lambridgCj Connecti- on, N. J. impressed 3ston, S. C. impressed ead, Mass, km, Mas5^ February 1. John Johnson, New- York, born in Rhode-Island, Criterion November 11, 1814. James Ketrope, Cambridge^ Mary February 3, 1815. Ui:iah King, Scituate, Mass. Dominick ~ * Nov. 3, 1814. Jesse Lasol. Martinico, President Augusts, 1814. John Lewis, R. I. True Blooded Yankee. Jan. 1, 1814, James Lestar, unknown, do. Jan. 1 5, Charles Lamson, Bait. Md. Mars, Bait. Sept. 30, Lewis Larkins, Durham, Mass. RoUa. Nov. 1, Placid Lorly, Washington, Havvke. Nov. 22, Anthony Lamb, Con. Grand Turk. Dec. 3^ Richard Lee, Mass. brig Argus. Jan. 27, Amos Larkins, Beverly, Mass. Impressed Feb. 4, 1815, James Laskey, Marblehead, Mass Enterprise. Nov. 20, 1814, Sola. Mnrshdl, Mass. Alexandria Oct. 1, 1813, Thomas Morrison, Bait. Md. Mes- senger. Jan. 14, 1814, Henry Moore, New- York, Mar- mion, N. Y. Feb. 24, John Montgomery, New-Bedford, Im- pressed. * Sept. 22, Manuel Martin, N. Orleans, Pan! Jones, New-York Oct. 27, Calasso Mado-a. ('arthagena. President m % *, 270 i * III*'- I.. ' « t ^t. 1:13 October 25, Albert Mingo, N. Orleans, Weezer Nov. 18, Rollcn M'Donovan, Mass. Siro Nov. 1 8, John Macky, Bait. Md. Rattlesnake do. 20, Richard Miller, Penn. Snap Dragon Jan, 30, Joseph Midge, unknown Dec. 12, Ezekiel Mitchell, Portland, D. Maine Charlotte " ^ Feb. 5, 1815, Jesse March, Kennebunk, do. M'Donough Feb. 14, Wm. Misten, Bait. Md. impressed do. 17, John Martin, Carthagena, President Sol. Marshal, Deer Island, Mass. Mammoth Jan. 22, 1815, Peter Mitchell, New-York, For- midable Nov. 15, 1813, Benj. Newberiv New-YoU:, U. S. ' brig Argus ^Sept. 29, 1814, E Iward Norton, Plymouth, Mass. U. S. ship Ar;.:;us Feb. 24, 18 i5, DiinicbNash, Maryland, impressed Oct. 7, 13(4, Josiah Pettcngeil, Salem, Mass Enterprise , Nov. 4, 1814, Joel Peri^o, B^^ston, Mass. India March 12, 1814, ."^aniuel Pcarcr, Greenwich, R. I. DartofN. Y. Dpc. 4, 1^14, Samuel Peterson, Phil. Nonsuch Nov. 5, 1314, Thomas Parker, Bait. Md. Domi- nique Ngv. 28, W.ni. Parker, New- York, Derby 271 -Jan. 30, 1814, Charles Parker, unknowu Nov. 3, John Perkins, Pittsfield, Mass. Siro Nov. 7, James Pahner, Portsmouth, N. H. Frolic do. 2'^, John Pollard, Pernambuco, S. A. Ida Jan. 14, Aaron Peterson, Stonington, Con. Joel Barlow Oct. 5, John Potter, Phil. Penn. impressed Sept. 25, Epliraim Pinkham, Wiscasset, Maine, Mammoth May 1813, Horace Risley, Lbng-Island, N. Y. StarofN. Y. November IG, 1814. Benjamin Rinevon, Guada- loupe. West Indies, Fox do 12, LukeRodgers, , North Carolina, do 14. David Reed, To wnscnd. District of Maine, America December 29. James Rooth, Norwich, Con. Mary- January 9, 1814. Silas Hardison, , North Carolina, Hawke do 22. Thomas Rix, Suffolk, Vir. Labrador February 7, 1815. Francis Roberts, St. Sebastian, Spain, Chesepeake do 14. John Risdon, Baltimore, Pike do 15. Samuel Robenson, Boston, Duca- navia December 9, 1814. S&muel Robenson, Philadel- phia, Nonsuch I I I WKort, — , Con- wn, Ma- Virginia, eld, Con. b N. H. —•, New^ id, Mass. d, Enter- rblehead, Carolina, ^ i«-sfR? ^^ik The. following is a list of persons who CRcapcd from Dartmoor prison, from September 1014 1 tkejirs9 escape^ until Ma rch 13, 1815. September 20, 1814. Shapley Smith, Baltimore, Leo do 20. Henry Cottrill, Narraganset, R. I. unknown October, 1 3 1 4. Captain Swain, New-Bedford, Mas. 1314. Gascolgne, unknown November — . Henry Allen, Salem, Mass. Polly John Windham, unknoi^n December — . -- — Russell, New-Bedford, Mass. do — . f Howard, unknown September — . Benjamin Prince, Portland, Maine, Magdalen ^i- January, 1815. -^Rodgers, New- York, True- blooded Yankee do — . Caleb Holmes, • do. unknown February, 1815. Joseph Xangford, Baltimore, True-blooded Yankee do 6. George Denison, Portland, Maine, Siro of Baltimore do 12. John W. Fletcher, Alexandria, Vir. Rattlesnake March \l, 1815. David Flood, Portland, Mairit», impressed »if^ .-?■' , i' ■t ►-; % 18^. .V W^^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / 7/ ^ ^ 4;>, W Cncmes of prisoner^, , ^ who died at Dartmoor prison, from Febrmry 1 8^ ^ IS15, until ApriL^O; 1S15. ,^, March 4. Archibald Allen, -—^ — , New-Jersey/'' impressed , do 15. William Adams^ impressed Gapt. Allen, of th^. States brig Argus, of his wounds February 22, 1815. JohnB||tler, , Delaii|S*ej Semiramus March 18. Peter Burch^ Philadelphia, Prosperity do 29. William BiSly, Baltimore, Flash, N. Y. do 22. Henry Canil^eH, Philadelphia, Pen. Columbia April 5. James Campbell, New- York, impressed March41. Jonathan Dyer, Portsmouth, N. H > True-blooded Yankee February 25. Jonathan Davis, Middle-river, Mass. ship Yorktown «, v- 4 « r. True- six men^ )risonem / uary 18^^ ^- Jerseys ''"''' necticutj g Argus, ■ ■' f* rosperity sh, N. Y. a, Pen. mpressed « 1^ N. Hy er, Mass. ' 2T7 March 30. B^ijamin Delano, ©ucksbury April 12. 3b\\n Devinas, , Ohio *n H^ March 14/ Williani Evin, — Rho(^&%landi brig Star if , *. do 18.^ Archibald Fogerty, setts,j Horatio *- April 16. John Fr8|icis, l||)ffblk, Vir. impressed Mfirch 4^ Jeremiali trardner, Nfwpqrt, R. 1. inof^ i ■' pressed -..^..^y- *^'^" ?--^-^."' ■ February 2^3. Josiai^bun, s3em, IVIass. March 24. Thomas Gi-oves, Boston, Mass. Port Mehon do 14. Jonathan Gladding, Bristol, R. I- *Rattlesilake j:, February 24. Francis Hobden, GloucesUr, Vir. Maw^ 10. Abijah H^^ook, Weymouth, Derby do 14. John Hob^W, Bedford, N, C, Snap^ dragon ' do 20. Joseph HayeoclJiflPortland, Maine ^ ^ April 6. Henry Holden, i||^ton, Sultan 6. John Haywood, , Vir. impressed 18. Thomas Hall, ^Surprise February 22. John Jennings, Gay Head, M. V, *pp (^. .^ Hawke 23. James Jones, -, Md. impressed ^ 26, Peter Joseph, V/. Indies, President % A a 2 ■* ■♦ i ♦4 ■:% .■^ ;-» * ■ ' '»:.. 278 February 24. EdwiS'd Jenkins, GamlN-idge, Mass. TDm^f BaMnore - # *^ Mar<:h4f^ Wm. Johnson, Salem, Mas. liiprcssed do k J^. John JacKiSflm,* Baltimore, ^ do April i^^'homas Jackson, New- York, Orbit ^. do 6. Joseph Johnsem, --; , Connecticn^i .. - Paul Jones ' ■ ^^ -"' f^- ;^ ' ^ ■".^ *;F«b. 26. James Knapps, Baltiihore, impressed John||^^, Ma^lUb^, MasJ Alfred April 16. "Jacob KeiAble, ^ Jenet do 6. William Leverett, Ne.w-York, Saratoga March 10. Capt. Lepiate, -, , N. Y. Paul Jones February 21. Edward Miller, Newark, N. ^ - Mammoth ^ "'. ^ do ti. Charles Moutle, Stonnington, Con. , ■'impressed ' . ittk:: ■ ' ^^'' Mai*ch 26. James Morris^^ltimore, President. ♦ ^ ^ -24. William Mills, city of Jersey, N. J. ■" ^jZebra--^ ' i'. „:.^^^'" <=n. B^njantttpfeirshall^ , Massachu- * .^tts, Mindor 30. George Moore, Boston, Mass. Chas* seur January 2. John Jfonroe, Albany, N. Y. Ratttei«» sn-ike . » , 4 Aprile. Jabez Jtfpt W> pofton^ Siro 0^:^, *■■ ' 'ffa ■'f Mar do P ^do ir Apr P "Feb '' Mai do ~";.. , O *^ ;.: •■ ■ P do ■„■•■ I . c . Fel I *Ma t dc dc 2 % dc * »• •41 ■«. 279 e, Mass. aprcssed )rbit inecticn^y pressed ;! is. Alfred Jenet Saratoga ml J.ones ^, • N. J, - ;on, Con. esident y, N. J^ Hassaclm- ss. Chas* r. Rattli^ ' March 10. #>nathan Paul, CMrleston, S.C. imp. do 15. Thoma* Peckham, Windham, Con. Paul JonjBs -' . ; do 22. Gideon PorteE, — — , Rhcrf^e W^nd, impressed 'J' ^^ April %. Samuel Parish, Norfolk, Vir. Grand Na- poleon ^% 'iPebruary%3. Jo^ph Quion, Salem, Mas. Herald March 2, Joseph %som, W||casset, Maine, Ned of Baltinj^re >, V * do 2. Joseph Robenson, do do. Ned of Baltimore 1. James Robenson, , Massachusetts, Price hi Baltimore * do 1 8* ^y .iliam Robenson IP' «l«v . 'Mir' March 20. Jeremiah^inwood, Newburyport, Ms. impressed 4o 17. Silas Squibs, New-London, ConlAeQ|Fi .cut, Hope-packet '^9i ^- %> February 22. Martin Sul^^ flew Bedford, M^%s. ^ Lion -March 4. David Shute, Salem, ^J^ss. impressetf ' ^ do 5#r Andrew §taith, Indian River, Tom do 14. Joseph Salesbury, — — , Massachusetts, Zertith do 16. Theodore Snell, — — *-, Rhode Islan<|y • a soldier . *^- ■m m '*. * n. «;■ 4P. 4fc I* % fp ,* 28e March 16. Stephen a!(iacy,MarbleheadgMoss. Ohio February 2i. Hetiry Thomas, #tl»ttibriclge, Mass. Derby . ^' April 14. Richard Smith, Grand Turk * Februai^Jl. David Turner, Boston, Derbj^ Api^il 6* John turner, Massachfsettf , Rattlesnake . |^:^ do 13. Willi^tw Thompson, ^* ' " ^^^^ February 25. Darius^iUius, Prdvidence, \R, |^% ■ Frolic ■ ' ... ._ ' ■', *f^'"''*^'''^ March 10. Charles William^, New-LdSBon, Coni do 17. Samuel Williams, - — -». Me^ssaGiusetts, Scorpion , * do 26. Iklward Williams, -« — , Va. impressed April' 6. Jifc Washmgton, Cooperstown, Md. Died at A shhtrtim during thenar, w March 10, '815. B. ElvJl Gloucester, Mass. Fire- p' ■ t Copy the Ev • . ,>,, h *" do 25, Abraham Burnhaai, '#:^ ■ii -f ■ -, Mass. Prie^ ■ ■ < ,^' •■■ >..'i WW'" Sir, treata powe lowii . -^ ^,. M the to tfe vileg so tfa ^ pluiii whic sessf and I boar *#ieK # i. Ohio Mass. Turk / Siro " , R* t* I, Coiu^ iusetts, pressed s. Fire- s* Pm^ :t If.*''- %| :m ^#'- ■'■teif. ' Sxnmlement of som^ ffkUters obtained since the ' * . preceding ^%es were tvriWen. Copy ol" a letter from Lieut. N. D- NiciioiisoN, of ; the \me U. States brig Syren, to Capt. Samuei/ Evans, commandi»g naval officer at New-York, ^ New-York, Mqvst 24, 1815. Sir, ^Conceivihg it my duty to make known the treatoient exhibited by British officers and men, ,tg those who are so unfortunate as to fall into their power, I am induced to acquaint you with the fol'- lowing circumstances : ^ r '. After the 'surrender of the Syren to the Medwayy the officers and crew of the former were removed to t^te latter? the crew not being allowed the'^rir vilege of taking their clotk^g, &c. with them,-||- so that the prize-crew had a fair opportunity df ^ plundering such articles as they thought proper ; which opportunity they took care t© profit by, as l^any of pur men w€re pdiaged of all they pos« sessed, "excepting what they had on at the time ; and th« officers in like manner were plundered on tboard the Medway. The midshipmen, some of 'them, were completely stripped ; others lost the\^^ 4, . w: thing "tie istera and ■^** ireeks, we ■„■*■' } miles to e ; myself I mai-ched tis; OTihg e the boys 3f the tall was per- or food ; . four and ' the crew Alter re^ iths, with- ' furnish^C * ,■ ■H 28^ with straw, aAd th^ir hammocks were taken on a plea of their being publick property,) we were all embarked in difTerent ftien of war and Indiameft for England ; myself, and about sixty officers and men, in the Cumberland, seventy-four, Capt. Ba- Jeer, were all put on the lower gun-deck without distinctipn, among their own crew, and fed on prisoners' allowance; and on.^my remonstrating with the captain for receiving such treatment, he ordered me oJT the quarter-deck, with a threat, at ^* . #• r fe «' ■%