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THE 
 WILLIAM R. PERKINS 
 ' LIBRARY 
 
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DAKT MOOR 
 
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PRISONEil.) .viiiMOlRS, 
 
 DARTMOOR PRISON ; 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THF ENTIRE CAPTIVTTV 
 
 OF THE AMERICANS IN ENGLAND, 
 
 fillOT*! THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE LATE WAR BETWEEN TUT 
 
 T3SITLV STATES AXD GREAT BRITAIN, CNTIl ALi PRISOX EflS 
 
 WERE RELkASivD BY TUB 
 
 TREATY OF GHENT. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 V P\RTTrrT.\R nr.T^IL of all OCCURRENCES 
 
 HELATIVK TO THAT 
 
 HORRID MASSACRE AT DARTMOOR, 
 
 On the fatal evening of the 6th of April, 1815. 
 
 HK WHOLE CASEFULLT COMPILED FROM THE JOURNAL OF CHABLEt 
 ANDREWS, A PRISONER IN ENGLAND, FROM TUB COMMENCEMEJIT OF 
 THE WAR, UNTIL THE RELEASE OF ALL THE PRISONERS. 
 
 Qu(F«pif. ipse misfrrima otA', 
 
 Et quorum pars mngna fui ; gvis talia /ando, 
 
 Ttmperd a lucrymisf Virg. 1. ii. v. .'. 
 
 Thpse sufferings \ myself have seen, and the greater part of which 
 I was a priocipal party. Who can relate such woes without a tear ? 
 
 NEVV-YORK : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR 
 
PisTRiCT OF New-York, ss. 
 
 Be it remembered, thnt on the thirteenth day of October, in 
 the fortieth year of the Independence of the Uoiied States of Ame- 
 rica, Philip R Hopkins, of the said distuct, havh deposited in this 
 office the titie of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in 
 the words and figures following, to wit : 
 
 The Prisoners' Memoirs, or, Dartmoor Prison ; containing a com- 
 plete and impartial History of the etitii-e Captivity of the Americans 
 in England, from the corooiencemeot of the late war between tiie 
 Cnited States and Great Britain, until all prisoners were released by 
 t:ie Treaty of Ghent. Al^o, a particular detail of all occurrences re- 
 lative to that horrid Massacre at Dartmoor, on the fatal evening of 
 r.ieGth of April, 1815. 
 
 The whole carefully compiled from the Journal of Charles Andrews, 
 a prisoner in England, from the commencement of the war, until the 
 jelease of all the prisoners. 
 
 Quceque ipse miserrima vidi, 
 
 El quorum pars tnagna fui ; quis talia /ando, 
 
 Temperet a lacrymis f Virg. 1. ii. v, 5. 
 
 These sufferings I myself have seen, and the greater part of whicl 
 I was a principal party. Who can relate such woes without a tear.'^ 
 
 in conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, en- 
 titled " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the 
 copies of .\Iaps, Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of 
 such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an 
 Act, entitled " an Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for 
 the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, 
 Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, du- 
 ring the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof 
 to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other 
 prints." 
 
 THERON RUDD, 
 Cltrk of the Southern District of Nm- York. 
 
^^■^rp 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE great anxiety of the public to possess a 
 knowledge of the tacts contained in the following pages, 
 has obliged the editor to send it into the hands of the 
 public without a second examin^ition, and therefore in a 
 more unfinished state than he could have wished. But 
 as every historical relation ought to contain nothing but a 
 recital of facts, the editor has aimed to give the truth 
 with as great perspicuity as possible, without endeavour- 
 ing after elegance of diction or flowery romance. He 
 believes it will not be an unwelcome service to the pub- 
 lic if he relates to them what appeared to be the mosf 
 important and interesting events of the American cap- 
 tivity, without endeavouring to infuse into them the 
 heat of political prejudice. Through the whole he has 
 carefully avoided all opprobrious term^, or enthusiastic 
 praise, which might discord with the feelings of any, or 
 tend to stir up new hostilities betwixt the late bellige- 
 rants. 
 
 If any part of the work should be found languid and 
 tedious, it must be wholly attributed to the suffering si„ 
 tuation of the author ; the vigour and vivacity of whose 
 mind was greatly affected by those of the body. If 
 misery is less interesting collectively in groujis, than 
 
IV 
 
 when viewed individually, let the reader sino-le out one, 
 and view him, separately, through the iron giating, and 
 see him, pale and feeble, etciiing upon a stick, with a 
 rusty nail, another notch, which adds to his kalendar 
 another of those dismal days and nights he had spent in 
 confinement ; he may view him till he sees the iron en- 
 ter his soul before he turns from him, and then say —it 
 was my son, my brother, or my friend ! — he will the* 
 fhave a picture interesting enough to his feelings. 
 
CERTIFICATE. 
 
 IT E, the undersigned, late prisoners of war, having beea 
 confined prisoners the greater part of the last war be- 
 tween the United States of America and Great Britain, 
 and having carefully perused and examined the follow- 
 ing Manuscript Journal, kept by Charles Andrews, our 
 fellow-prisoner at Dartmoor, in the county of Devon, in 
 the kingdom of Great Britain, do solemnly declare, that 
 all matter and occurrences herein contained, are just and 
 true, to the best of our knowledge and belief; and that 
 tliis is the only Journal kept at Dartmoor. 
 
 Capt. Joshua Wait, New-York. 
 Capt. Samuel H. Ginnodo, Newport, R, T. 
 Capt. Frederick H. Coffin, Hudson, N. Y. 
 Mr. Joseph C. INIorgan, Newport, 11. I. 
 
 Lieut. Homer Hull, Con. 
 
 Mr. Jacob Evans, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 Capt. Benjamin F. Chesebrough, Con. 
 
 Mr. Luther S. Dunbar, Boston, Mass. 
 Capt. Richard Longly, Portland, D. M. 
 Mr. Ephraim Abbott, Boston, Mass. 
 Mr. Fenton Conner, Charleston, S. C. 
 Mr. Joseph Conner, Newbern, N. C. 
 
 Mr. David Morrison, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Caleb Coffin, Nantucket, Mass. 
 Mr. John Merrill, Portland, Maine. 
 
VI 
 
 Capt. Charles Bennet, Hudson, N. Y. 
 Mr. Willium Gnffiii, S^;lem, Mass. 
 Mr. James Bowie, do. do. 
 Mr. John F. Foster, Gloucester, Mass J 
 Mr. Joseph Clark, Cape-Elizabeth, do. 
 Mr. John Stafford, Boston, Mass. 
 Mr. Charles Whitewood, New-York. 
 Mr. Samuel Rossett, do. 
 
 Mr. Jacob F, Taylor, Philadelphia. 
 Mr. William Conklin, New-York. 
 Mr. Samuel S. Brush, do. 
 Capt. John C. Rowles, Baltimore, Md. 
 Mr. Jojm Meig-h, Boston, Mass. 
 Mr. Edward Shaw, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 Lieut. S. S. Fitch, Connecticut, 
 
 Mr. Samuel Correy, Vermont. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Howard, Baltimore, Md. 
 Mr. William Clark, Boston, Mass. 
 Mr. Joseph Fosdick, do. do. 
 Mr. Samuel Morrison, New-York. 
 Mr. William Hull, do. 
 
 Mr. William Atkins, Connecticut 
 
 Mr. Daniel Hotchkins, Salem, Mass. 
 Mr. Thomas Carlton, Boston, do. 
 Mr. John Mig-at, 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, Penn. 
 
 Mr. W. P. Sevear, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 Capt. James M'Quilter, do. do. 
 
 Mr.* John S. Miller, do. do. 
 
vu 
 
 Mr. Thomas Bailey, Salem, Mass. 
 
 Mr. Warren Humphrey, Connecticut, 
 
 Mr. William Rea, Boston, Mass. 
 Capt. Thomas Hussey, Hudson, N. Y. 
 Capt. James Bog'gs, Pliiladelphia, Penn. 
 
 Capt. James Gays, Virginia. 
 
 Capt. Thomas Mumford, Newport, R. I. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Dowel, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 Mr. Frederick G. Low, Cape- Ann. 
 
 Mr. Henry Bull, Connecticut- 
 
 Doct. Benjamin Mercer, New-York. 
 
 Mr. Reuben Sherman, '- Mass. 
 
THE 
 
 PRISONERS' MEMOIRS, Lc 
 
 P HE warhot.wcrn the United Stales of Amcricn 
 and Great-Britain, which has been so costly in 
 blood and treasure, and agonized the hearts of so 
 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 supreme 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, and began to capture each other's 
 vessels upon the high seas, wherever found. I 
 myself happened to be so unfortunate as to be 
 among the first captives brought into England. 
 On our first arrival there, we were all collected 
 from different ports, and confined in different pri- 
 sons. Some were sent to Chatham, some to Ha- 
 moze, and others to Portsmouth ; where a strict 
 examination took place as to their nativity and 
 B 
 
10 
 
 citizenship. After the examination the oflicers 
 who were entitled to their parole, (such as com- 
 manders and lirst lieutenants of privateers mount- 
 ing fourteen guns, commanders and first mates of 
 merchantmen, non combatants, &;c.) received it, 
 and were sent to the little village of Ashburton, in 
 Devonshire, or Reading, in Berkshire ; the for- 
 mer is situated about twenty-six miles inland from 
 Plymouth, and the principal place of confinement 
 for paroled oflicers. The town of Ashburton is 
 pleasantly situated in a healthy and fertile part 
 of the country, v/here every article of provision 
 is more easily obtained and at a much cheaper rate 
 than in many other parts of the kingdom. Here 
 all the officers on JDarole had their names regis- 
 tered and particular personal description taken of 
 them. They had allowed them by the British 
 government one shilling and six pence, which is 
 equal to thirty-three and a quarter cents, money 
 of the United States, per day each man. With 
 this small allowance great numbers of paroled 
 officers were compelled entirely to subsist, for 
 having no other dependence and no friends in this 
 country, they were obliged to purchase clothing, 
 board and lodging, and all other necessaries of 
 life, and to make use of every economy to pre- 
 vent themselves from suffering, notwithstanding 
 the cheapness of provisions, and the facility tf 
 
il 
 
 obtaining tiiein. They were permitted during 
 the day to walk one mile on the turnpike road 
 towards London or Plymouth, and at a certain 
 earl 7 hour every evening tlicy had to retire to 
 their respective lodgings, and there to remain till* 
 next morning ; those were their general restric- 
 tions for all the days in the wecic, except tvro, oa 
 Vv'hich every officer must answer at a particular 
 place appointed by their keepers, in the presence 
 of their agent or inspector. In this manner some 
 hundreds of ofFiccrs vrcrc compelled to drag out 
 a tedious existence in a state of painful solici- 
 tude for their country, their homes and fannlios, 
 during the greater part of tbo Icto v*-ar. 
 
 But the condition of the officers on parole was 
 enviable indeed, when compared v/ith that of the 
 officers and others not entitled to that privilege. 
 Every such person taken under the flag of the 
 United States werr «ont to oomc one of {.ht- plcices 
 before mentioned, an<I confined en beard pri- 
 son ships. The greatest number were sent to 
 the Hector and La Brave, two line of battle ship^. 
 v.hich were unfit for his majesty's Fervice at sea, 
 and Vv'ere nov/ used for the confinement of priso- 
 ners of war. These vrere placed under the com- 
 mand of a lieutenant, master's mate, midshipman, 
 and about twf^nty invalid seamen ; there is clso a 
 guard under the command of a lieutenant, ensign, 
 
12 
 
 and corporal, consisting of thirty-live soldiers to 
 each of these shipfe. 
 
 The Hector and La Brave lie about two miles 
 from Plymouth, well moored by chain moorings. 
 Captain Edward Pelew, of the royal navy,the agent 
 for prisoners of war, resides at this place. On 
 the reception of all prisoners into their respec- 
 live prison ships, they 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 respects was ta- 
 ken down in writing. After the examination, 
 there was delivered to each man a very coarse 
 and w^orthless hammock, v/ith a thin coarse bed- 
 sack, Vv^th at most not more than three or four 
 ]>oiind3 of Hocks or chopped rags, one thin coarse 
 iind sleazy blanket ; this furniture of the bed- 
 thamber was to last for a year and a half before 
 re could draw utKcre. Aitor tbo distribution of 
 ihe bedding, we were informed of the rules and re- 
 strictions which we must strictly observe. Eve- 
 ry ship has a physician attached to it, wdio is ever 
 to be on board, and when any prisoner is sick, he 
 is to repair immediately to a certain part of the 
 ship for mxcdical aid ; but seldom has he any at- 
 tention paid him till the moment of dissolution, 
 the doctors pa3'ing but little attention to the suf- 
 fering prisoners, although a prisoner is seldom ©r 
 
13 
 
 never suffered to expire on board ; for at the mo- 
 ment death seems inevitably approaching, the 
 prisoner is removed to a ship lying near by, called 
 the hospital ship, where if he happen to survive 
 the removal, he receives much l^etter treatment 
 and attendance ; but when 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 humayulij. for the 
 health and happiness of the prisoners, imposed on 
 ihem 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 in 
 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 beef, including the 
 bone, one third of an ounce of salt, and the same 
 quantity of barley, with one or two turnips, per 
 man. These were the rations for five days in the 
 week ; the other two Avere hsh days, the ra- 
 tions for which were one pound of salt fish, the 
 same weight of potatoes, and tlic u'^uol c> !lo v.ance 
 of bread. 
 
 B2 
 
14 
 
 The confinement, and this scanty and meager 
 diet for men who ^ Were brought up m a land of 
 liberty, and ever used to feast on the luscious 
 fruits of plenty, socn brought on a pale and sick- 
 ly countenan<:e, a feeble and dejected spirit, and a 
 lean, half animate body. This bad state of liv- 
 ing, I solemnly believe, has been the serious cause 
 of inducing many valuable citizens of the United 
 States to enter the king's service, to the great 
 injury of their country. 
 
 The prisoners are counted every night as they 
 are ordered below by the guard ; and every mor- 
 ning, about sun-rise, each prisoner is obhged to 
 " take up his bed and walk ;" for he is ordered 
 to shoulder his hamm.ock and go on deck, and be 
 counted with it on his shoulder. He then leaves 
 his hammock on deck all day, and has permission 
 to go below or rem^ain on deck, as best suits his 
 convenience. 
 
 No prisoner is permitted to hold any corres- 
 pondence, except by unsealed letters passing 
 through the hands of the Board of Transport. No 
 boat is permitted to come along-side the ship, un- 
 less by permission of the commanding officer, and 
 then must be strictly examined by the sentry, to 
 prevent any liquor, newspapers, or candles, from 
 coming among the prisoners ; these being prohi- 
 
15 
 
 bited by the gracious and humane Board of Trans- 
 port. 
 
 For consolation in our present miserable con- 
 dition, wc were informed that the said honourable. 
 Board had indulgently permitted the American 
 pnt^oncrs to establish and carry on any branch of 
 manufacture, except such as netting, woollen fa- 
 brics, making straw hats and bonnets, <Sz;c. <Sz;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 very 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 wa/3 
 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 were willing to embrace any opportu- 
 nity where there was the least prospect of better- 
 ing their condition, however repugnant to their 
 feelings or sentiments ; and though their country's 
 interest was ever nearest to their hearts, yet, 
 through the faint hope of ameliorating their con- 
 dition, and some day or other of returning to 
 their native land, their wives and families, some o^ 
 
10 
 
 less fortitude 'vvere induced to join in arms against 
 their country. It could not be a crime ; for self- 
 preservation is the first law of nature. 
 
 From the first of our imprisonment, which wa^ 
 shortly after the commencement of the war, pri- 
 soners were constantly arriving, and immediately 
 disposed of in one or other of these depots : — 
 among them v/ere great numbers of American sea- 
 men who had been delivered up from the dilFeren* 
 ships of war in the English service, on board of 
 which they had remained from one to ten years. 
 and after receiving many dozen lashes at the gang- 
 way of the ships, were sent to prison with the ap- 
 pellation of " damned rebellious villains, unfit for 
 his majesty's service I" 
 
 During the fall of the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and twelve, until April in one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirteen, the English had col- 
 lected at the following depots the number herein- 
 after mentioned, who were mostly prisoners deli- 
 vered up from ships of war, and citizens of the 
 United States detained in them for some time be- 
 fore. At Chatham were collected about nine hun- 
 dred ; at Portsmouth, about one hundred ; and at 
 Plymouth, about seven hundred. These unfortu- 
 nate men had often made application to Mr. Beas- 
 ley, the agent for American prisoners of war, who 
 resided in England, but were never able to ob- 
 
17 
 
 tain an auswe^ from him. At this time, great 
 numbers of the oldest prisoners were completely 
 destitute of clothing, and the most active and 
 cleanly unable to avoid being covered Avith ver- 
 min. 
 
 On the second of April, one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and thirteen, the Transport Board, appre- 
 hending the escape of the prisoners, in conse- 
 quence of their repeated threats to that purpose, 
 issued an order to Captain Pelew, then agent for 
 prisoners at Plymouth, to make preparalion for 
 removing all the prisoners then confiijed on board 
 of the Hector prison-ship, at Plymouth, to the 
 depot at Dartmoor, in the county of Devon, si- 
 tuated seventeen miles from Plymouth, in the back 
 country. 
 
 These orders were accordingly made known to 
 the prisoners ; and on the morning of the third 
 of April, thoy woro ordered on deck, with their 
 hammocks, baggage, <SiC. in readiness to march to 
 a prison, the very name of which made the mind 
 of every prisoner " shrink back with dread, and 
 5tartle at the thought ;" for fame had made them 
 well acquainted with the horrors of tliat infernal 
 abode, which was by far the most dreadful prison 
 in all England, and in which it was next to impos- 
 sible for human beings long to survive. 
 
IS 
 
 I'wo hundred and fifty dejected and unhappy 
 sufferers, ah^eady too wretched, were called, each 
 of v,-hom received a pair of shoes, and his allow- 
 ance of bread and salt fish. Orders were then 
 immediately given, for ever}- man to deliver up 
 iiis bed and hammock, and to repair forthwith in- 
 to the different launches belonging to the ships of 
 war, which were along-side the ship, ready to re- 
 ceive them. The prisoners entered, surrounded 
 by the guards and seamen belonging to the Hec- 
 tor and La Brave. We were landed at New Pas- 
 sage, near Fiymouth, and were placed under the 
 guard of a company of soldiers, equal in number 
 to the prisoners 1 Orders were then given to 
 march at half past ten in tlie morning, with a po- 
 sitive injunction that no prisoner should step out 
 of, or leave the ranks, on pain of instant death. 
 Thus we marched, surrounded by a strong guard, 
 tlirough a heavy rain, and o^-er a bad road, with 
 only our usual and scanty allowance of bread and 
 fish. We were allowed to stop only 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 pros- 
 pect than that which now presented itself to our 
 hopeless view. Death itself, v/ith the hopes of an 
 
19 
 
 hereafter, seemed less terrible than this gloomy 
 priso^i. 
 
 The prison at Dartmoor is situated on the 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, uncultivated and uninhabited, ex- 
 cept by one or two miserable cottages, just dis- 
 cernible in an eastern view, the tenants of which 
 live by cutting turf on the moor, and sellmg it at 
 the prison. The place is deprived of every 
 thing that is |;leasant or agreeable, and is produc- 
 tive of nothing but human woe and misery. Even 
 riches, pleasant friends and liberty could not make 
 it agreeable. It is situated seventeen miles dis- 
 tant from Plymouth, fourteen from the town of 
 Moorton, and seven from the little village of Ta- 
 vastock. 
 
 On entering this depot '' of living death," we 
 first passed through the gates, and found our- 
 selves surrounded by two huge circular walls, the 
 outer one of which is a mAe 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 h'f^st 
 touch sets every bell in motion, and alarms the 
 garrison. On the top of the inner wall is placed 
 a guard at the distance of eveiy twenty feet. 
 
2@ 
 
 which frustrates every attempt to escape, and iiir 
 stantly quells every disorderly motion of tl^ pri- 
 soners. Between the two walls and over the in- 
 termediate space, are also stationed guards^' The 
 soldiers' guard house, the turnkey's office, and 
 many other small buildings, are also within these 
 two circular walls. Likewise several large com- 
 modious dwelling-houses, which are occupied by 
 the captain of the prison, doctor, clerks, turn- 
 keys, &;c. Szc. Inside of the walls are erected 
 large barracks, capacious enough to contain one 
 thousand soldiers, and also a hospital for the re- 
 ception of the sick. No pains have been spared 
 to render the hospital convenient and comfortable 
 for the sick prisoner. And certainly much credit 
 is due to the director of this humane institution, 
 whoever he may have been, for the attention paid 
 to this most important appendage of an extensive 
 prison. These last mentioned buildings, and 
 several small store-houses, are enclosed by a third 
 wall. These three ranks of walls form in this 
 direction a barrier w^hich is insurmountable. 
 
 Thus much for the court-yard of this seminary 
 of misery ; we shall next proceed to give a de- 
 scription of the gloomy mansion itself. On en- 
 tering, we found seven prisons enclosed in the fol- 
 lowing manner, and situated (:|tiite within all the 
 walls before mentioned. Prisoa No. 1, 2 and o, 
 
21 
 
 ure built of hard, I'ou^h, unhewn stone, three ste- 
 ries high, one hundred 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 
 of largp stone, arched above and floored with the 
 same. Into this cold, dark, and damp cell, the un- 
 happy prisoner is cast if he offend against the 
 rules of the prison, either AviUingly or inadver- 
 tently, and often on the mos-t frivolous pretence. 
 There he must remain for many days, and often 
 weeks, on two thirds the usual allowance of food, 
 without a hammock or a bed, and nothing but a 
 stone pavement for his chair and bed. These 
 three prisons are situated on the north side of the 
 enclosure, as is also the cachot, and separated 
 from the other prisons by a wall. Next to 
 these is another. 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. G, and 7, along the south side of the 
 circular wall. To each prison is attached a small 
 yard, Avith a constant run of water passing 
 
 diroush it. 
 
 C 
 
22 
 
 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 up 
 our abode, and distribute ourselves as well as we 
 could. 
 
 We received our usual hammock and bed, and 
 in conformity with our orders, repaired separately 
 to one or other of six of these prison? ; 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 his 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 
 
23 
 
 hammocks have a stick at each end to spread 
 them out, and are 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 infoj'med 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 which 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 
 lid 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 v^hole 
 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 
 email of itself, reflects but little heat. These 
 
24 
 
 two causes combined, produce constant cold and 
 wet weather. 
 
 Information was brought us that all prisoners ii^ 
 England were placed on a naval establishment, and 
 under the direction of a naval officer. Capt. Isaac 
 Cotgrave, of the royal navy, was the agent for 
 pi-isoners of war at this depot. The Transport 
 Board directed that aYnarket should be held every- 
 day, in front of each prison yard. This market 
 was supplied with provisions by the inhabitants of 
 the adjacq^t country ; twenty or thirty of w^hom 
 came every day, and furnished it with every kind 
 of country produce. They were not allowed to 
 impose .on the prisoners, by demanding an exorbi- 
 tant price for their produce ; the prices of every 
 article were fixed by the turnkeys before they en- 
 tered the yard, according to the prices in the 
 nearest market-town. No person was permitted 
 to enter within the first gate, without being strictly 
 examined as to their business, and without giving 
 a satisfactory account of themselves ; if they did 
 this, they were then permitted tc enter and begin 
 iheir trade. 
 
 At the market, the Fnjnch prisoners carry on a^ 
 great traffick. They buy and sell, and are, ap- 
 parently, as happy as if they were not imprisoned. 
 But the Americans are not so ; — they long for that 
 
25 
 
 land of liberty, so dear to them, and sigh foj 
 their distant home. 
 
 As this depot seems to be the most interesting 
 scene of misery, we shall confine ourselves more 
 particularly to the events which occurred here ; 
 only touching, occasionally, upon the most im- 
 portant events of the few prisoners at the other 
 depots. 
 
 From the commencement of the war, and pre- 
 vious to April 1813, a great number of priso- 
 ners had been sent home, by exchange. Numbers 
 died, and some entered the service of Gi^at Britain. 
 The names of those who died, and those who en- 
 tered the service, is mentioned in the catalogue 
 hereunto annexed. About the first of May, Capt. 
 Cotgrave gave orders to have all the American 
 prisoners collected from the different prisons, and 
 transferred to prison No. 4. 
 
 In this prison were about nine hundred of the 
 most abject and outcast wretches that v/ere ever 
 beheld. French prisoners, too wicked and mali- 
 cious to live with their other unfortunate country- 
 men : they were literally and emphatically naked ; 
 having neither clothing or shoes, and as poor and 
 meager in flesh as the human frame could bear. — 
 Their appearance was really shocking to human 
 feeling. The mind cannot figure to itself any 
 thing in the shape of men, which so much resem- 
 C2 
 
26 
 
 bled the fabled ghosts of Pluto, as these naked and 
 starved French prisoners. Much of the misery 
 and wretchedness of these creatures Avas owins; to 
 their imprudence and bad conduct. 
 
 These men were now to be our associates, and 
 we deprived of the privileges allowed heretofore 
 to prisoners of w^ar. As the gate of this yard is 
 always kept shut, we could have no advantage of 
 the markets, or connexion with the other prisoners : 
 while the French prisoners, in the other prisons, 
 were allowed those benefits. 
 
 The American prisoners now began to experi- 
 ence a new scene of distress ; — the little clothing 
 they had v»^hen they were taken, w^as either worn 
 «3Ut or disposed of at a very reduced price, (not 
 more than one tenth of the value,) to buy the very 
 necessary articles of soap and tobacco. 
 
 We remained in this situation, during the month 
 9f May, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, 
 close confined in prison No. 4, with the liberty of 
 that one yard. We often demanded of Capt. Cot- 
 grave, the reason why such distinction was made 
 between the American and French prisoners ; but 
 Avere never able to obtain any other reason, than 
 that his orders were issued from the Transport 
 Board to do so. This month we received letters from 
 - our fellow-prisoners at Chatham, and those on 
 board the prison ships at Plymouth ; who inform- 
 
27 
 
 ed us of every particular of their situation at both 
 places ; but tiiey were comparatively well oft', when 
 compared with our situation. The prisoners at 
 Plymouth informed us, that other prisoners arri- 
 ved there daily, and that they expected shortly to 
 be removed, and to participate with us in the suf- 
 ferings and misery of Dartmoor. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth of May, the garrison which 
 we found here, was removed and supplied by new- 
 regiments of soldiers. We learned, that no regi- 
 ment is stationed here more than two or three 
 months at a time. These guards consi^ of about 
 twelve cr liftecn hundred soldiers, who have been 
 guilty of some offence, disobedience of orders, or 
 neglect of duty 5 and are sent here as a punish- 
 ment. By these soldiers we were informed of 
 the particulars of the actions of the Java and 
 Peacock. 
 
 At this time we made known, in as respectful 
 a manner as we could, all the particulars of our 
 unhappy situation to j\Ir. Reuben G. Beaslcy, agent 
 for American prisoners of war. W e informed him 
 that our allowance was too scanty, that the whole 
 day's allowance was scarcely enough for one meal, 
 that the greater part of the prisoners were in a 
 state of nakedness ; and also, that great numbers 
 had enlisted out of the prison, into the king's ser- 
 vice, — That they had been compelled to do it. in 
 
28 
 
 hopes to better their condition, and indeed to pre- 
 sei've hib. For, as they were wlioUy neglected by 
 the ageni of their country, they saw no other means 
 by which it was possible to preserve existence, — 
 or ever to return to their country ; as they totally 
 despaired of any exchange. 
 
 At the same time we informed him, that unless 
 something was done soon for our relief, w^e must all 
 either (though reluctantly) enter the service of 
 the enemy, or fall a sacrifice to famine and want. 
 
 We informed him also of the distinction which 
 was made between the French and American priso- 
 ners. The former were allowed many privileges 
 and advantages, which were denied the latter ; and 
 that our treatment was contrary to what we con- 
 sidered the custom and usage of civilized nations 
 in modern warfare. That w^e w^ere hurried into 
 the prison-house before dark, locked up, to remain 
 without any light or fire till seven or eight o'clock 
 in the morning. 
 
 If a prisoner had to leave his hammock, pent 
 necessitatein, he was obliged to grope from one end 
 of the prison to the other, and often could not re- 
 gain it during the whole night. 
 
 To all these petitions, complaints, and remon- 
 strances, Mr. Beasley returned no answer, nor took 
 any notice of them whatever-, which, of course, made 
 ever) prisoner despair of any reUef from him. — 
 
29 
 
 These letters could not miscarry, or be intercept- 
 ed ; for WG had formed a course of correspondence 
 with several very respectable mercantile houses in 
 London, through which our letters were sure to 
 reach Mr. Beasley by private conveyance. 
 
 The month of June commenced with deep dis- 
 tress ; for disease was then added to nakedness 
 and famine ; and we were still more severely dealt 
 by. For Doctor Dyer, who was head surgeon of 
 the Hospital-department, would not permit an 
 American prisoner to be brought into the Hospi- 
 tal, until his complaint was completely confirmed, 
 and often not until he was so weak, and reduced 
 so low, that it would take four men to remove him 
 on his hammock. For this conduct, he justified 
 himself by saying, that he had been acquainted 
 with the impositions of the Americans during the 
 revolutionary war, and that these impositions were 
 not to be played off on him any more. 
 
 A moment's reflection must have convinced him, 
 that it was impossible for these men not to be sick, 
 in their starved, naked, and wretched condition ; 
 sleeping in a prison, whose walls were constantly 
 wet and cold, occasioned by the constant rainy, 
 foggy, and damp, v/eather on this mountain. 
 
 But he refused to admit the American prisoners 
 into the Hospital, because, he said, such numbers 
 would breed every kind of pestilence and disease 
 
30 
 
 among the French prisoners. We attributed these 
 evils to the shameful and criminal neglect of the 
 Agent of American prisoners, whose conduct de- 
 serves the severest censure of every prisoner, and 
 requires a strict and impartial investigation by the 
 authority of his country. 
 
 From the first to the fifteenth of May, we were 
 every day called out of the prison and counted, to 
 see if any remained in prison. The soldiers then 
 entered the prison, and searched every hammock; if 
 they found any prisoner, he was hastened out into 
 the yard, though they were often found so v/eak 
 and feeble, that it required assistance to enable 
 them to walk. 
 
 The guards discharged this duty with great re- 
 luctance ; their feelings often revolted, when com- 
 pelled to do this unkind office, and though accus- 
 tomed to scenes of distress, were very sensibly 
 touched at the miserable situation of these their 
 fellow beings. 
 
 On the eighteenth of May, we received letters 
 from the other depots, and were informed that 
 there were seven hundred prisoners at Plymouth, 
 on board the Hector, which was so much crowded, 
 that Captain Pelew, of the Royal Navy, and princi- 
 pal agent of the Board, had received orders from 
 the Board, to remove the prisoners to other depots, 
 cither to that of Chatham, Dartmoor, or Stapleton, 
 
31 
 
 \\liich is near Bristol. This last place was lixed 
 on by the Board as a necessary precaution to pre- 
 vent any disturbance, which was apprehended 
 might arise, should too many American prisoners 
 be confined in one place. 
 
 Accordingly, on the twenty-eighth, Captain Pe- 
 lew ordered two hundred and fifty to be landed 
 from the Hector, and marched to Dartmoor. They 
 arrived there on the same day, and after going 
 through the same manoeuvre as the first draft, they 
 were committed to No. 4. These, together with 
 the former draft, made four hundred and seventy 
 Americans, and seven hundred naked outcast 
 French, all intermixed in one prison. 
 
 Care was taken to keep the yard of this prison 
 always locked, to prevent us from going to mar- 
 ket. By tliis means, all w(^btaincd from the 
 market came through the haneR of the French pri- 
 soners in the other prisons, who obliged us to pay 
 twenty-five per cent, above the market price for 
 all we had. At this time, about thirty were mis- 
 sing out of the number, some dead, and others had 
 enlisted into the king's service. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth, fifty more American pri- 
 soners were transported from on board the Hec- 
 tor, in a ship of war, round to Chatham. Two 
 only at a time were permitted to come on deck ; 
 the others were compelled to remain below, with- 
 
out hamtnock, led, or blanket. I lea'^'e the reader 
 to judge whether this measure arose from wanton 
 cruelty in those immediately concerned, or whe- 
 ther it was absolutely necessary to prevent their 
 escape, or rising and taking tiie ship, which had 
 her whole crew on board. 
 
 On the thirlledi, 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 
 liundi<?d and fifty, who were to convey them on 
 fool 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 'were 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 v/as ail tiie allowance made them to purchase 
 food, drink, and lodging ; and they were to per- 
 form the Vvhole journey in eight days. They were 
 also particularly enjoined not to leave the ranks 
 on p'a;n of death, and the guard had orders to 
 despatch any prisoner who should attempt to es- 
 
33 
 
 cape. The particulars of their march, their arr- 
 val at Stapleton, an J treatment at that place, will 
 be mentioned hereafter. 
 
 On the 1st 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 usual, 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 profoundest 
 hell I 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 two 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 day of jubilee arrives, roused all 
 their drooping spirits, and prepared to celebrate 
 it in a manner becoming their situation. We had 
 b.^ some means obtained two American standards ; 
 and being upward of six hundred in number, we 
 D 
 
34 f 
 
 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 into 
 the prison-yard to take the standards from us. 
 An obstinate resistance was made. After some 
 time spent in fighting for the flags, the guard ob- 
 tained one : the prisoner* bore ofl* 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 grev/ into an afiray ; the 
 ^ guards fired upon the prisoners, and wounded 
 two, which ended the affray. 
 
 From the disturbance on the evening of the 
 fourth, nothing remarkable tooli: place, the priso- 
 ners being 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 plan to massacre the Americans. 
 With this design, they had provided themselves 
 with knives, clubs, ston^es, staves, and every kind 
 of wcopon thoy could obtain. 
 
36 • 
 
 Thus armed, they had managed to be in thf; 
 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 unarm- 
 ed, and at first could make no resistance ; but after 
 recovering from the surprise which so sudden an 
 attack had created, they made an attempt to ral- 
 ly -y but the Frenchmen cutting ofi" their retreat 
 into the prison and preventing those within from 
 joining or rendermg any assistance* soon caused 
 the Americans to fall a prey to their superior 
 «number. Before the guards could interfere to 
 
 were mostly stabbed or knocked down with hea- 
 vy stones, and mangled in a most shocking man- 
 ner. 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 j 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. Captai#Cotgrave immedi« t 
 
ately informeJ 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 imfit to live in any so- 
 ciety. " If the household be devils, what is the 
 master of the house V Did not the Americans 
 descend from England ? 
 
 The yard of No. 4 was ordered to be divided, 
 which v/as done by a wall fifteen feet high, which 
 cut off all communication with the Americans, and 
 their late meager associates. This act, tliough 
 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 embrace--! the greater part of the 
 prisoner.^ captured before January 1813. There 
 remained of those captured, before and after that 
 time, 1 i'09 at Chatham, 400 at Stapleton, and a 
 
 few less than 500^ at Dartmoor, some on board 
 D2 
 
38 
 
 the prison ships, and a number of officers on parok 
 at Ashburton. The greater part of these had been 
 'lehvered up from ships of war. 
 
 At the close of this month, forty-five were 
 found to have entered the service of the enemy, 
 and fifteen had died at this place, seven or eight 
 at Chatham, and not one at Stapleton. 
 
 At the commencement of August, we found 
 ourselves limited and very much straitened in our 
 regulations. We were not permitted to go out of 
 the yard. A more alarming sc^ne of distress 
 than any we had before experienced, now pre- 
 sented itself before us, and death seemed to be 
 ihe inevitable lot of every man. 
 
 The King of Terrors daily reached forth his 
 inexorable hand, and removed the sufferer fronl the 
 pale of this clay tenement ; for the small-pox had 
 got among the prisoners, and its ravages wei'e 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 committee of cor- 
 respondence, who, by bribing the guards, convey- 
 ed letters daily to Mr. Beasley ; particularly de- 
 scribing 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 small-pox had got among them 
 
35 
 
 and numbers died daily — that they were covered 
 with a7iimalcula, 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 eent any answxr 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 w ere in doubt 
 whether to beHeve it was the will of the general 
 government, of the people at large of this country, 
 or w^hether 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 
 the 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. CotgravCj and de- 
 
40 
 
 manded of him, v/liat 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 fault, by pro- 
 ducing the following printed rules and regulations,, 
 made by the T ransport Board. 
 
 " The honourable Transport Board have made 
 arrangements with certain Agents or Contractors., 
 to supply all prisoners of war, as follows : 
 
 Each prisoner to receive per day, for five days 
 in the week, one and a half pounds of coarse 
 brown bread 5 one half pound of beef, including 
 the bone ; one third of an ounce of barley ; the 
 same quantity of salt ; one third of an ounce of 
 onions ; and one pound of turnips. The residue 
 of the week, the usual allowance of bread ; one 
 pound of pickled-fish, and just a sufiicient quanti- 
 ty of coals to cook the same. These to be served 
 out daily by the Contractors." 
 
 We watched the Contractor, and found he weigh- 
 ed all the articles at once, neat weight ; and saw 
 him scrimp the weight, to fill his pocket out of the 
 })risoners' bellies. 
 
 On beef days, the whole is thrown into a large 
 copper, when it is sufficiently boiled, the bone is 
 taken out, and each mess, consisting of six, re- 
 ceives twenty-seven ounces of beef, and o;ie gal- 
 lon and one pint of soup. 
 
41 
 
 On the fish days, every mess boiled their pota- 
 toes and fish in a net made of rope-yarn, that they 
 might have it separately to themselves ; after it 
 was boiled, it was taken up in wooden buckets, 
 with which each mess were provided ; and each 
 prisoner, being also furnished with a wooden 
 spoon, sets round the bucket, on the wet floor, and 
 makes a fierce attack. 
 
 After making these, and some other demands, 
 which we considered ourselves entitled to, most 
 of which were immediately granted, but some de- 
 layed, as we shall note hereafter, our sufferings 
 were somewhat relieved. 
 
 Could not these have been removed by our 
 Agent long before ? We find but few men so 
 honest that they do not need looking to sometimes 
 i,'y these who are interested in their honesty. — 
 These Contractors would have been as honest as 
 many other men with sharp looking after. Was 
 it not, then, the duty of Mr. Beasiey to sec that 
 the prisoners had what the government of England 
 allowed them ? If it was not, what was his duty ? 
 Was he sent there, as the log of wood in the fable 
 was sent by Jupiter into the pond, to be god for 
 the frogs ? 
 
 We found, by the printed regulations delivered 
 asby Capt. Cotgrave, the government allowed each 
 prisoner a hammock, one blanket, gne horse-rrs;. 
 
42 
 
 unci a bed, containing four pounds of flocks ; thesi" 
 articles too were to serve us tv/o years. By the 
 same regulations, the prisoners were to receive for 
 clothing, every eighteen months, one yellow 
 round-about jacket, one pair of pantaloons, and a 
 waistcoat of the same materials, as the government 
 of England allow for their soldiers ; and one pair 
 of shoes and one shirt, every nine months. The 
 shirt, though coarse, v/as a change which we had 
 not had for a long time before. All these we de- 
 manded and received ; we also received a v/oollcn 
 cap, which was to serve us eighteen months. 
 
 I cannot leave this subject without some little 
 description of several of the articles of clothing, 
 I w^ll begin with the cap, and take them in their 
 natural order, from head to foot. 
 
 The cap was wooli^n, about an inch thick, and 
 
 seemed to have been spun in a rope-walk, but 
 
 much coarser than common rope-yarn. The jacket 
 
 was not large enough to meet around the smallest 
 
 of us, although reduced to mere skeletons by such 
 
 continued fasting •, the sleeves came about half v/ay 
 
 down the arm, and the hand stuck out like a spade : 
 
 the waistcoat was short 5 it would not meet before, 
 
 nor down to the pantaloons ; thus leaving a space 
 
 between of three or four inches ; the pantaloons,. 
 
 which were as tight as our skin itself, came down 
 
 to the middle of the shin. The shoes, which v/As 
 
4? ^ 
 
 the pedestal for all the ornamsnts above, were 
 made of list, interwoven and fastened to pieces of 
 wood an inch and a half thick. The figure we made 
 in this dress was no common one. 
 *' Spcctatum ad/nisai risum tencatis amici ?" Hor. A. P. 
 " My friends, Avere you admitted to see this sight, 
 could you keep from laughing ?" When you see 
 us tackled, and put upon runners — skeletons as 
 we were. 
 
 By the regulations handed us, we also found 
 that the Board allowed a sweeper to every hun- 
 dred men, to sweep and keep clean the prison, 
 who was to be taken from among the prisoners, 
 and allowed by the government three pence per 
 day ; and one out of every two hundred was al- 
 lowed four j>ence halfpenny a day for cooking. 
 In like manner, a barber had three pence ; and 
 the nurses in the hospital, six pence a day. All 
 these offices were occupied by Frenchmen, as was 
 also the employments in the mechanic arts at six 
 pence per day. 
 
 During this month great numbers died of the 
 small-pox, and some of other diseases. Several 
 entered the king's service. Suspicions had ari- 
 sen, that several taken in arms against Great-Bri- 
 tain, were British subjects ; they were conse- 
 quently taken out, and charged with having com- 
 mitted high treason. That, they were taken in 
 
44 
 
 arms against Great-Britain, was not denied ; but 
 that they were iier subjects, which was the most 
 essential part of ti\e charge, couid not be proved • 
 they were consequently acquitted, and remanded 
 to prison. 
 
 We had but one clear day during the whole 
 month of August. 
 
 September commenced, and we remaine'd in the 
 situation just described. The prisoners continued 
 v^ery sickly. 
 
 Men, otherwise commonly honest, when redu- 
 ced to extreme necessity, naturally resort to the 
 commission of crimes. It is a maxim strikingly 
 true, that '" hunger will break through a stone 
 wall ;" and it is equally true, that it will break 
 through all moral obligation. Honesty and inte- 
 grity are but mere chimeras in dire necessity. — 
 Such was our situation, that it resembled more a 
 state of nature than a civilized society. Petty 
 larcenies were daily committed among the prison- 
 ers ; brothers and the most intimate friends steal- 
 ing from each other. To provide a remedy 
 against this evil, we appointed a legislative body, 
 to form a code of laws for the punishment of all 
 such misdemeanors. A tribunal was also formed 
 to try and convict all criminals according to law 
 and evidence. Many were tried, found guilty, 
 and sentenced to receive ftventy-four lashes equal- 
 
4^ 
 
 ly as severe as is given at the gangway of a maa- 
 ©f-war ship. 
 
 To show the force of habit, though it is a vi- 
 cious one, we will give the reader a striking ex- 
 ample. Some of the prisoners were so attached 
 to chewing tobacco, that they sold all their day's 
 allowance of beef to the French at the gate, to 
 purchase one chew. They sometimes sold this al- 
 lowance to buy soap enough to wash one shirt, 
 but this was only enduring one evil to remedy a 
 worse. 
 
 By letters received from our fellow prisoners 
 on board :he Crowned Prince, and the Nassau, 
 prison ships at Chatham, we received information 
 that the Americans were distributed among the 
 French prisoners on board the several different 
 ■ships at that place, and very severely used ; that 
 they had vainly addressed Mr. Beasley, and that 
 several had died and numbers entered the British 
 •service. 
 
 By letters received from Stapleton, we were in- 
 formed ot the particulars of their march from Ply- 
 mouth, which we promised to give the reader in a 
 former part of this work. The reader will re- 
 member, that at the commencement of their jour- 
 ney, they were allowed a shilling a day for travel- 
 ling expenses, and on their way, they had to pay 
 three pence a night to lodge in a barn, or some 
 E 
 
46 
 
 public building, on straw ; as they were allowed 
 a shilling onl}-, this took one quarter of the 
 whole. With much ado they reached Stapleton ; 
 they found the prison at that place well con- 
 structed for the convenience of the prisoners, 
 within a short distance of the city of Bristol; 
 w^hich is the third city in England, and situated in 
 Somersetshire, at the conflux of the river Avon, 
 with the small stream of the Froom, about ten 
 miles from the mouth of the Severn; these, and 
 several other small tributary streams, running 
 through a fertile country, bring into market all 
 kinds of provisions and fruits common to the 
 country, which are sold at a much cheaper rate 
 than at most other places in the kingdom. From 
 these sources, the market at Stapleton, which is 
 kept every day at the prison, is supplied with all 
 kinds of market produce. On their arrival they 
 found five thousand French prisoners. There 
 are three prisons enclosed and garrisoned injfche 
 same manner as those at Dartmoor ; they were 
 distributed among the French prisoners in the 
 different prisons. They had also written to Mr, 
 Beasley several times, and informed him, that their 
 situation was bad, although much better than that 
 at Dartmoor, and required his attention. But 
 lie was determined to take no notice. They 
 therefore concluded, that no arrangement was to 
 
47 
 
 be made for their exchange, or that any assistance 
 was to be offered from the government of the 
 United States, made necessity an excuse for enter- 
 ing the service of the enemy of their country ; 
 which many did at that place. 
 
 How far this is a, crime, when we consider the 
 quo animo ? I shall take this opportunity to show 
 what is the custom of nations, and what appears 
 to be the law of nature. It is said, " If a person 
 be under circumstances of actual force and con- 
 straint, through a well-grounded apprehension of 
 injury to his life or person, this fear, or compul- 
 sion, will excuse his even joining with either rebels 
 or enemies in the kingdom, provided he leaves 
 them whenever he hath a safe opportunity." 
 
 Now to return to Dartmoor. At a time when 
 the prisoners had despaired of any relief, and be- 
 gan to reconcile themselves to their hard fate, 
 they were very agreeably surprised to hear that 
 Mr. Reuben G. Beasley had condescended to visit 
 them, and then waited at the gate for admittance. 
 The idea, that their deliverer had come, diffused a 
 general joy through the whole prison, and " light- 
 ed up a smile in the aspect of woe." The sol- 
 diers and guards were ordered into the prison, and 
 turned out every man, both sick and well ; over- 
 hauled the hammocks, swept the prison, and open- 
 ed the window-shutters : all filih was removed' 
 
48 
 
 and every thing made clean, for the first time 
 since our arrival. The guards v/ere then station- 
 ed at the door, to prevent any prisoner from go- 
 ing in, to have any communication with the Agent ; 
 we were told, that no man could speak to him, 
 or have any communication with him whatever. 
 At three o'clock, the entrance of Mr. Beasley v/as 
 announced by the turnkeys. We arranged our- 
 selves in the yard, in anxious expectation of the 
 glad tidings he might bring. He appeared, at- 
 tended with his clerks, the clerks of the prison, 
 and a very numerous train of soldiers. As he 
 entered the yard of the prison, we presented a 
 frightful appearance, in our yellow uniform, wooden 
 shod, and meager, lantern-jaws. He felt the sight, 
 and seemed much surprised at the group. We 
 stood in silent expectation ; he moved along to the 
 prison ; but how were our feelings damped at thi^ 
 moment ! when we expected from him the lan- 
 guage of consolation and rehef, he only uttered, 
 in a careless tone to his clerks, " that he did not 
 think that the number had been so great !" 
 
 He entered, and cast his eyes around the cold 
 wet walls of the prison, and seemed to say, with a 
 shrug of his shoulders, " I am glad that it is not I 
 that is to live here." When he returned, we were 
 determined to have some conversation with him. 
 We therefore collected round him, demanded 
 
49 
 
 what arrangements were made for our relief, 
 whether we must expect to remain in our present 
 condition? Telling him, that if we must, that 
 we could not long survive ; and presenting him 
 with a list of names of those who had already en- 
 tered the king's service ; and telling him all the 
 particulars of oui distress. He then opened his 
 mouth, and said, he had no power to do any 
 thing, nor any funds to do with ; but he would 
 do his endeavour. Wc asked him the cause of so 
 great a difference in the treatment of the prisoners 
 here and at Halifax ? There they had all the ne- 
 cessaries and conveniences of life ; here we had 
 none of them. We asked him to whom we should 
 apply for relief in future ? We told him we had 
 been to great expense, heretofore, and much trou- 
 ble, in conveying letters to him, while he had not 
 thought fit to answer. He said the ex<^hange of 
 prisoners was stopped for the present year, and 
 that we could not expect to have our condition 
 altered. With these unwelcome observations, he 
 went immediately out of the gates, and left us to 
 all the wretchedness of despair. 
 
 We returned into the prison, lamenting our fate;. 
 Some cursed the day they were born ; some, the 
 day of their captivity ; some attributed all their 
 sufferings to the inattention of i ie Agent, and 
 
 others, to the government oi the United Stat«s. 
 E2 
 
50 
 
 Wp retired to our hammocks, and gave vent to our 
 feelings in sighs and tears. 
 
 The thought that we must forego all the endear- 
 ments of life, and perish together, in a foreign 
 €ountry, among our enemies, was too much for our 
 feelings to bear. The groans of the disconsolate 
 and sick filled the whole prison. Our Agent not 
 empowered to act, and without funds. We had 
 now only to look to heaven, whose will it was to 
 fering us to this state, and through whose mercj 
 alone we could hope to find relief. 
 
 The winter was fast approaching, and the cold 
 upon this mountain was very severe. The small- 
 pox sti^ continued, and the measles had got 
 among us, and great numbers were sick with both 
 diseases. The next day, conceiving they had no 
 other alternative, a great number entered the 
 British service ; rather hazarding the chance of 
 escape, and censure of their country, than to 
 trust life to the perils of this prison. 
 
 Although I am a little before some part, of my 
 story, I must not forget to mention, that about 
 the middle of September, another draft was taken 
 from the Hector, now at Hamoaze, near Ply- 
 mouth ; among which were the crew of the Uni- 
 ted States' brig Argus, taken by the Pelican. 
 One Robinson, who had belonged to the Argus, 
 had declared, that several of the crew of that vc??- 
 
51 
 
 sel were British subjects. And imrnediatel} 
 seventeen, whom he pointed out, were tcd^en and 
 conveyed on board the receiving ship, St. Salva- 
 dor, and put into close confinement, there to 
 await their trial and execution, should they be 
 found guilty. The boatswain, and a number of 
 others, wounded in the action, were conveyed to 
 the hospital, in Mill-prison at Plymouth. 
 
 At the end of this month a great number had 
 died, and numbers down with all complaints, prc- 
 \*alent in crowded camps or prisons. The weather 
 much like the month before. 
 
 By letters, received the tenth of October, from 
 Chatham and Stapleton, we were infonncd, that 
 Mr. Beaslcy had visited them, and his conduct and 
 language at those places were the same as at this 
 depot. By the letters from Chatham, we had an 
 account of eighteen making their escape, by cut- 
 ting a hole through the side of the Crown Prince, 
 at that place ; that afterwards the guard were in- 
 creased and more vigilant. 
 
 On the sixteenth, Capt. Cotgrave gave orders, 
 by directions of the Transport Board, to have all 
 these outcast Frenchmen in No. 4 collected. This 
 took four hundred and thirty-six from the prison, 
 and much relieved us. 
 
 Before I proceed on with the remainder of my 
 story, I cannot but here observe, the strange efiert 
 
 4 
 
52 
 
 habit and corruption have in changing our common 
 natuie. They had been many oi them ten years 
 in this prison in a state of perfect nudity, and had 
 been so for many years ; had slept upon the bare 
 stone-rloor without covering for many years ; till 
 the flesh had ac -uired a son of hardness, like the 
 stones themselves. 
 
 This was the effect of gambling, which had ac- 
 quired a greater power over them than hunger or 
 nakedness. Whenever they were supplied with 
 clothing, they never put them on, but turned to 
 gambling, till they had lost the whole. They had 
 often been supplied by their countrymen in the 
 other prisons, with hammocks, beds, and clothing : 
 but they no sooner got possession of them, than 
 they went to the grating of the othei prisons, and 
 sold them, and gambled the whole away. It is diffi- 
 cult for the mind to conceive, how human beings 
 could be possessed of fewer virtues or more vices ; 
 ©r how they could any further change their common 
 Hature to a bestial one without the assistance of a 
 Supreme Being. It is a remarkable fact, that these 
 men (if they yet deserve the name) were more 
 healthy, though stark naked wmtcr and summer 
 for ten years, than any prisoners at this depot ; 
 though to the number of nine thousand. 
 
 The French prisoners never received any assis- 
 tance from the French government, but depended 
 
53 
 
 entirely on the British. Though I cannot praise 
 the general acts of the latter government, nor an» 
 I disposed to flatter ; yet they did a humane act 
 which certainly deserves credit. They took these 
 four hundred and thirty-six Frenchmen out of this 
 prison, clothed them vv-ell, and put them on board a 
 prison-ship at Plymouth, separate from all other 
 men, except their guards, who carefully watched 
 them, and prevented them from disposing of their 
 clothes, and kept them decent during the remain* 
 der of their captivity. 
 
 In the six prisons, occupied by the French priso- 
 ners, is carried on almost every branch of the me- 
 ehanick arts. They resemble little towns, being 
 mostly soldiers ; every man has his separate occu- 
 pation ; his work-shop, his store-house, his coffee- 
 house, his eating-house, &C. &c. •, he is employed 
 in some business or other. 
 
 There are many gentlemen of large fortunes 
 here, who having broke their parole, were com- 
 mitted to close confinement. These were able t© 
 support themselves in a genteel manner ; though 
 they were prisoners, they drew upon their bankers 
 in other parts of Europe. 
 
 They manufactured shoes, hats, hair, and bone- 
 work. They likewise, at one time, carried on a very" 
 lucrative branch of manufactory. They forged. 
 
64 
 
 notes on the Bank of England, to the amount of 
 one hundred and nfty thousand pounds sterling ; 
 and made so perfect an imitation, that the cashier 
 could not discover the forgery ; and very much 
 doubted the possibility of such imitation. 
 
 Tliey also carried on the coining of silver, to a 
 very considerable advantage ; they had men con- 
 ►stantiy employed outside of the yard, to collect all 
 the Spanish dollars they could, and bring into pri- 
 son. Out of every dollar they made eight smooth 
 Ei)glish shillings ; equally as heavy, and passed as 
 well as any in the kingdom. 
 
 Whether they are constituted by nature to en- 
 dure hardships, or so long confinement has got 
 them wonted to live in prisons, I will not venture to 
 say ; but they really seem easy under it, live well, 
 and make money to lay up. 
 
 They drink, sing and dance, talk of their women 
 in the day-time, anti, like Horace, dream of them at 
 night ; but I have not heard of any issue by this 
 visionary connexion. But the Americans have not 
 that careless volatihty, like the cockle in the fable, 
 to sing and dance when their house is on fire over 
 them. 
 
 When any one has committed a crime, or be- 
 comes a nuisance among them, he is condemned, 
 and sent to No. 4, to remain during his captivity ; 
 so tiie Americans must dwell among the damned. 
 
i>0 
 
 On the tweniy-cighlh, a large corj^s of French 
 prisoners, taken at the battle near St. Sebastian, 
 in Spain, arrived at this depot, and took their 
 abode among the other Frenchmen. At this time, 
 a vei-y mortal distemper prevailed among the 
 French prisoners, that carried offeight or ten every 
 day. 
 
 When any one dies in the Hospital, his body is 
 removed to the Dead-house, a place made for 
 that purpose ; after being stripped of his clothes, 
 shirt and all, (which go to the government, or the 
 nurse of the deceased,) the body is then opened, 
 lo learn the nature of the disease : it is afterwards, 
 juite naked, put into a coarse shell, made of rough 
 pine boards, and remains in the Dead-house for 
 several days, till a number is collected in the same 
 manner : when a sufficient number is heaped to- 
 gether to call their attention, a large hole is dug 
 back of the prison, and all thrown in together, with- 
 out form or ceremony. 
 
 The hospital department consists of a surgeon, 
 two assistants, and as many male nurses as are 
 necessary. Every morning, at nine o'clock, ordere 
 are given, by the ringing of bells, that ever}^ priso- 
 ner, wanting reliefer medical aid, must, repair te 
 the Hospital to be examined, and receive prescrip- 
 tions ; he then returns to the prison, where he re- 
 mains till carried in again. 
 
^6 
 
 The sickness among the Americans seme what 
 abated the latter end of this month. Many enter- 
 ed the king-s service. As the recruiting officer^^ 
 receive a premium on every soldier they enlist for 
 his majesty, they used every inducement in their 
 power. An officer belonging to a Dutch regiment., 
 thought it a good opportunity to mock de gildt, en- 
 tered the yard, and began to solicit men to enlist 
 into the regiments to go against the United States -, 
 but the Americans took this the greatest insult, that 
 such a booby should think of getting them to fight 
 against their country ; they soon hustled Mynheer 
 out of the yard, and frustrated all his hopes of 
 gain. 
 
 The majority of the prisoners used every 
 means in their power to prevent our countrymen 
 from entering the enemy's service. We often, on 
 discovering the intention of any one to enlist into 
 their service, fastened him up to the grating and 
 flogged him severely, and threatened to despatch 
 them secretly, if they did not desist ; but attempts 
 ■were vain ; they justified themselves on the plea 
 of self-preservation ; that there was a possibility 
 of escaping and saving their lives ; and if detected 
 by their country, their death was distant, but here 
 it was speedy and certain. 
 
 Capt. Cotgrave, perceiving the great exertions 
 that were made to prevent any entering his ma- 
 
5t 
 
 jesty's service, adopted a plan to encourage it. 
 When any one Avas known to be disposed that way, 
 he would send him a Hne, and invite him to come 
 to the guard-house, where the other prisoners 
 could have no communication with him : here h 
 was kept till a number suincient for a draft wa« 
 collected, then sent to Plymouth, and put on board 
 a receiving ship, and received their bounty. About 
 one draft a month commonly took place. 
 
 November. The weather is much similar to that 
 of the state of New- York at the same season ; rain, 
 snow, and hail, almost every day ; the prisoners 
 without stockings, and many had been so un- 
 thoughtful of the future, as to sell their jackets to 
 buy food ; and the whole dress allowed them was 
 no more than sufficient in the most clement sea- 
 son, the prisons being always damp, and the 
 weather very rainy. We v. ere allowed no fuel ; 
 some had also sold their hammocks, blankets, and 
 beds, to the French. These thoughtless wretches 
 were now obliged to sleep, or rather lie upon the 
 stones the whole night, and when there happened 
 a fine day, which was seldom, it was with the great- 
 est difficulty the guards could rouse them from 
 this stupor, and get them into the yard. We 
 dreaded the winter. " 
 
 We received letters from our fellow-prisoners at 
 
 other prisons, informing us, that they had applied 
 r 
 
58 
 
 to Mr. Beasley, and advising us to do the same, 
 which we had ah-eady done ; they wished to be 
 informed of our situation ; this was done in 
 poetry. 
 
 The time had now expired for relieving the 
 present guard ; this being done, its place was sup- 
 plied by a Scotch regiment- Sympathy glowed 
 in the minds of these gallant fellows ; no nobler 
 act has nature done than form the heart that feels 
 for other's woes. They felt for ours, and though 
 enemies, at the peril of life relieved them ; it 
 was an act that superior beings might behold with 
 admiration. Touched with this tie of nature, 
 w^hen ordered to bring out every prisoner into the 
 yard, sick or naked, they often pitied him, gave 
 him some reUef, and left him behind ; though 
 ordered to cut him down or run him through, if 
 he offered to remain. 
 
 They supplied us v/ith late papers, and gave us 
 all the account they could of the affairs in Ameri- 
 ca. They cheered us with the agreeable account 
 of the Essex, and her success in the South Seas : we 
 had friends that pitied us, though they could not 
 greatly relieve us. 
 
 About this time a few prisoners from Plymouth? 
 lately captured, and lately from the states, arrived 
 at this depot. 
 
59 
 
 The news they bring of the success of the Ameri- 
 can arms, animates every soul, and for a moment 
 we forgot our troubles. By them the account of 
 the Boxer and Enterprise, the complete victory of 
 commodore Perry on Lake Eric, is given us, but 
 no hope of exchange or prospect of peace. No 
 alteration in our treatment by government ; the 
 prisoners not permitted out of yard No. 4. The 
 French go any where through the several pri- 
 sons ; go to market, but the Americans net permit- 
 ted to. The government grew more strict in their 
 enlistn-^ents ; they would receive none but regularly 
 bred sailors, and no invalids. 
 
 At the latter end of this month a great number 
 of prisoners taken under the American flag claimed 
 a release from confinement, and showed that they 
 t)wed their allegiance by birth to powers in alliance 
 with Great Britain.' To Holland, Sweden, and 
 other places, and are released on account of their 
 neutrality. 
 
 Weather very cold all the month. The prison- 
 ers without shoes or clothes, obliged to keep their 
 hammock. Fewer deaths than the month before. 
 Yard covered with snow. 
 
 Dec. cold increasing. Prisoners in despair. 
 
 Capt. Cotgrave ordered the prisoners to turn out 
 
 every morning at the hour of nine, and stand in the 
 
 ard till the guards counted ^cm ; this generally 
 
60 
 
 took more than an hour. Many of the prisonerg 
 were without stockings, and some without shoes, 
 and many without jackets. They cut up their 
 blankets to wrap up their feet and legs, that they 
 might be able to endure the cold and snow while 
 they were going through this ceremony. We com- 
 plained to the captain of this practice, and told him 
 it was too severe for the prisoners to endure ; he 
 said it was his orders, and as agent he must obey 
 them. We reminded him of several instances that 
 must shock the heart of every feeling man, that he 
 himself was knowing to the day before. Several 
 of these naked men, chilled, and benumbed with 
 cold, and being half starved, fell down lifeless in 
 his presence, and in presence of the guards and 
 turnkeys. This was a cruelty which exceeded 
 murder in any shape whatever ; to expose the na- 
 ked helpless prisoner to perish in the pitiless blast 
 of this bleak mountain, was an act that made our 
 hearts recoil v/ith horror. 
 
 We remonstrated with the infamous author, 
 but all our supplications and remonstrances were 
 in vain ; the wretch was inexorable ; his feehngs 
 had become callous by continuing so long among 
 the sufferings of the French prisoners. After 
 these men fell down in the yard, they were taken 
 up and carried to the hospital, and with some dif- 
 ficulty were restored to life again ; they were then 
 
61 
 
 immediately sent back to prison, there to lie on the 
 stone lioor without bed or covering. 
 
 At tiiis treatment I presume the reader will not 
 so much wonder that so many died, as he will that 
 any could live at all. 
 
 The name of Isaac Cotgrave, agent at Dart- 
 moor, of cruel memory, will ever be engraven in 
 odious characters on the mind of every American, 
 who witnessed his unparalleled cruelty. 
 
 On the 22d of this month, the iron sceptre was 
 wrested from his hand, and placed beyond his 
 reach. A new agent, Capt. Thos. G. Shordand, 
 at this time superseded Cotgrave. Shoriland was 
 a man whose feelings had not yet grown callous by 
 being familiarized w^ith human misery, and at his 
 iir t arrival he was shocked at the scenes of our 
 misery, which presented themselves in every shape 
 before him ; touched with compassion, he could not 
 continue the cruel practice of counting over the 
 prisoners every morning in the yard. He coun- 
 termanded the order, which his predecessor pre- 
 tended to have been commanded to put in force. 
 He declared to us, that he would do all in his pow- 
 er to procure us some relief from his government ; 
 tliat he himself would do all he could in his situa- 
 tion as agent, to assist us ; he very politely and 
 kiudl) oiiere 1 tc forward to Mr. Peasley, or to the 
 congress oi the United States, any commumcaiion 
 F 2 
 
Ii2 
 
 or petition which might procure us any relief. 
 He stated in feehng terms to the Board of Trans- 
 port, the real condition of the American prison- 
 ers. He ordered the doctors' assistants to visit the 
 persons daily, and to remove to the hospital all 
 ui? sick who had before been refused admittance. 
 He granted permission for two of the prisoners to 
 attend the market each day, and purchase such lit- 
 tle necessary articles as they were able, such as 
 soap, potatoes, tobacco, &;c. 
 
 These relaxations in the morning of his power 
 seemed to promise a bright day ; but the noon 
 began to grow a little obscure, and v/e are sorry to 
 say, at last went down in blood, and left obscure 
 the bright traits of the morning. 
 
 The weather was incredibly cold upon this 
 mountain ; the moor, as far as the eye could ex- 
 tend, was covered with frost and snow ; the prison 
 w^alls, by being continually damp, had become like 
 solid ice, and the prisoners obliged to keep their 
 hammocks, for being allov/ed no fire, had no other 
 means to keep themselves vvarm. 
 
 The rigour of treatment seemed somewhat re- 
 laxed ; for our friendly officers and Scotch guards 
 gave us as much relief and consolation as their sta- 
 tion would permit, and w^e endeavoured to culti- 
 vate their friendship. 
 
63 
 
 According to Capt. Shortland's advice, and our 
 own necessities, we again maJo application to Mr. 
 Beasiey. In tiiis letter we informed him that we 
 were fully of opinion that the United States would 
 sanction any reasonable overtures he should make 
 to prevent her citizens from starving or perishing 
 for want in a Ibreign prison ; that his being agent 
 for the United States, was sufficient power, and he 
 had a right to pledge the credit of the United 
 States, which was amply sufficient to procure any 
 sum requisite for our relief. We farther stated, 
 in the most unequivocal terms, that unless some 
 relief was given us soon, that the prisoners had 
 come to a unanimous and final determination to 
 oflbr our services en masse to the British govern- 
 ment, and at the same time transmit to the Uni- 
 ted States a copy of all letters from us to him, and 
 set forth to congress all our reasons for so doing, 
 which would most undoubtedly cast all the blame 
 ©n him. 
 
 This month ended with increased cold and snow 
 falling daily. The prisoners did not go out of their 
 hammocks, only at dinner, which was the only meal 
 they had. » 
 
 Jan. 1814. The year commences with as cold 
 weather as we ever experienced in the city of 
 Kew-York ; the buckets in the prison, in the short 
 space of four hours, froze ten or twelve quarts to 
 a solid, and the prisoners must inevitably have fro- 
 
64 
 
 zen, were not the hammocks placed so near toge- 
 ther as to cj.iimunicaie the animal heat from one 
 man to anolher. 
 
 Txie running stream that supplied the prison 
 froze solid, and the weather was allowed to be col- 
 der than it had been for fifty years before. 
 
 On the 1st the snow was two feet on the level, and 
 began to snow again ; the cold somewhat abated, 
 and it continued snowing the greater part of the 
 time till the nineteenth ; it had now got to be four 
 feet on the level, a:id the drifts in the yards as 
 high as the prison walls, (hfteen feet) the water 
 all fi'ozen, and the prisoners obliged to eat snow 
 for drink. The guards were all obliged to leave 
 the walls and retire to the guard house ; no sentery 
 on duty except in the barra.cks. 
 
 At midnight : this dreary night, eight prisoners 
 think'ng to take advantage of the night, to make 
 their escape, as no senteries were in sight, formed 
 a ladder, and with it ascended and descended the 
 first wall directly against the guard house, and in 
 ascending the second, the saldicrs in the guard 
 house discovered them, a id apprehended seven; the 
 eighth got quite over the wall, and made his 
 escape. These seven were taken to the guard 
 house and there put into ihe black hole, which is 
 the })laoe for prisoners diat attempt to make their 
 escape: the weataer extremely cold, was likely to 
 
05 
 
 prove their last. But the fifth day they were re- 
 moved to the cachot, and remained on two-thirds 
 allowance, sleeping on straw for ten days. The 
 prisoners, soldiers, and officers, w ere now furnish- 
 ed with salt provisions, which are always kept at 
 the prison against any emergency of this kind. 
 Every man upon the mountain was now much 
 alarmed, as only ten days stock of provision was 
 in reserve on the mountain, and there were now up- 
 wards of nine thousand French and American 
 prisoners, besides fifteen hundred soldiers and offi- 
 cers, doctors, and a numerous train of turnkeys. 
 
 The back house was at some distance, and the 
 snow drifted in, from ten to fifteen feet deep ; this 
 formed an impassible barrier 5 but Capt. Short- 
 land, at the head of two hundred French prisoners, 
 all the horse of the garrison and clerks, turn- 
 keys, (fee. after working one whole day, shovelled 
 a passage sufficient for wagons to pass. For 
 should the weather continue as cold as it then was, 
 all communication between that place and Ply- 
 mouth, whence the provisions were brought, being 
 totally stopped by the great depth of snow^, they 
 were in great danger of starving. On the twenty 
 fifth the weather began to moderate and the snow 
 began to dissolve. 
 
 The eighth man who made his escape had wan- 
 dered over the moor, through the deep snow, till 
 
66 
 
 by chance he came to a single hut on the moor. 
 the.peasants suspected him to be a prisoner, as no 
 person could travel in such tedious weather, and 
 after examininr^ him some time, he confessed he 
 had made his escape from prison. They brought 
 him back, and he received the same sentence as 
 his unsuccessful companions. During his absence 
 all the oincers and prisoners were much concern- 
 ed at the miserable fate tiiey were confident he must 
 have shared, as it was impossible for him long to 
 live, for if he survived the storm, he must starve in 
 a few days : but it seemed he had reached the hut 
 on the second day, vrithout being frozen in any part. 
 The oiScers and guards considering his attempt 
 so bold and fearless of death, and showed such a 
 noble longing for liberty, were really sorry to see 
 him brought back, and declared that a man so 
 dauntless as to dare such perils, deserved his li- 
 berty, and a reward ; and had it been^ in their 
 power he v» ould have been released. 
 
 Here I must beg leave, though I fear the repe- 
 tition of our distress may tire the reader, to ap- 
 peal to the feeling of my fellow citizens at 
 this time at ease, beyond the great Atlantic : 
 what would you have done, could you have seen 
 your fellow citizens at Dartmoor, the coldest win- 
 ter there has been for half a century, without fire, 
 or light, during the night, without stockings, andf. 
 
67 
 
 many without shoes, and nearly naked, hah' starv- 
 ed, buried, in snow, upon the top of an uninhabi- 
 ted and uncultivated mountain, the camp distemper 
 among them, and overrun with verm.in; great num- 
 bers dying, and death grimly threatening every 
 man. 
 
 Say, would you not have pitied and flew to their 
 relief, and left the gay circle of your amusement :' 
 
 But few entered the service of the enemy this 
 month; the weather being so very cold, they dread- 
 ed the removal to Plymouth. 
 
 Feb. 1814. The weather was more moderate^ 
 ,aid snow dissolving very fast. 
 
 We received a letter from Mr. Beasley, for the 
 first time since our confinement, which had conti- 
 nued ever since April 1813. This is the first scrap 
 In writing any prisoner in England had ever re- 
 < eived from him ; it read as follows " Fellow citi- 
 zens, I am authorized by the government of the 
 United States to allow you one penny half-penny 
 per day, for the purpose of procuring you tobacco 
 and soap, which will commence being paid from 
 the first day of January, and I earnestly hope it 
 will tend tow^ards a great relief in your present 
 circumstances. I likewise would advise j^ou to 
 appoint a committee, by w^hich means you can con- 
 vey to me any intelhgence through the Board 
 of Transport." Immediately after the reception 
 
68 
 
 of this letter, Tve formed a committee of six, five 
 besides myself, Avho were to see that every man 
 haJ hiS money, and gave a receipt to Capt. Short- 
 land, who was authorized by PJr. Beasley to pay it. 
 In conformity to these arrangements, we re- 
 ceived, on the 5th of February, three halfpence 
 sterling per day (less than three cents). This 
 money was to be paid every thirty-two days : as 
 one month had passed from the time it was to 
 commence, we received the payment for all that 
 time. The day's allowance of cash would pur- 
 chase two pounds of potatoes, or three chews of 
 tobacco, which latter was live shillings and six 
 pence sterling all over England. We returned to 
 Mr. Beasley a letter, acknowledging the receipt 
 of the money, and stated the great alteration this 
 little attention had made in the prisoners ; every 
 man was animated beyond description to find him- 
 s-elf again acknowledged by the United States : 
 that before that time they concluded that during 
 the twelve months they had been immured in 
 prisons, so far from their country, that they were 
 entirely forgotten by her, and that she did not any 
 more remember she had such sons as those at 
 Dartmoor, The gloom that had so long clouded 
 their countenances now began a little to disap- 
 pear, and the prospect a little brightened, and we 
 had hopes of life ; but still our nakedness was 
 
m 
 
 grievous to bear. In a letter of thanks to our 
 gQvernment through the medium of Mr. Beasley, 
 we stated every particular of our situation, our 
 jfiast and our present sufferings. We stated to 
 him, that it could not be possible that the Con- 
 gress of the United States had allowed tliat small 
 sum for those {ew articles, and had not made any 
 provision for clothing, which ouglu to have occu- 
 pied their first attention, for without cloti-es we 
 did not need soap. We must therefore con- 
 clude this sum vras allowed by himself out of the 
 United States' funds, and that we were extremely 
 grateful for it ; that tlic United States, Vv-ere they 
 acquainted Avith all the particulars of our situa- 
 tion, they would make immediately all requisite 
 arrangements for clothing, which his honour Mr. 
 Beasley must be well sali.^ified we were much in 
 need of. After this correspondence with Mr. 
 Beasley, we formed resolutions to expel all sham- 
 bling, and were fully confident that some greater 
 arrangement v/oulJ bo made for us. 
 
 Before this sime seventy-five had entered the 
 British service out of nine hundred Americans at 
 this depot, but nov/ not a man mentioned such a 
 thing ; he could not be persuaded to do it. Tliin 
 shows how much effect so little attention of Mr. 
 Beasley had upon the prisoners. We, on the 22^ 
 t)f this month, petitioned to have the black prison 
 
ers separated from the -^vhile, for it was impossi- 
 ble to prevent these fellows from stealing, al- 
 though they were seized up and flogged almost 
 every day. Our petition was granted^ and we 
 greatly relieved, and the blacks, ninety in num- 
 ber, occupied the upper stories. 
 
 The weather greatly moderated, but vast 
 quantities of rain fell. The British government 
 made an order to release all prisoners belonging 
 to the king of Prussia, taken under the flag of the 
 United States. A few days after they issued a 
 general order that all prisoners belonging to any 
 nation w4th whom she was in alliance, under 
 whatever flag they were taken, should be releas- 
 ed. This order released many Americans w^ho 
 were acquainted with different languages, and 
 could make a plausible story : the Yankees w^ere 
 citizens of all nations whose language they knew\ 
 At the close of this month we received letters 
 irom our countrymen on board the prison ships 
 at Chatham, and likewise those at Stapleton, in- 
 forming us that they had received the same al- 
 lowance of three halfpence per day at both pla- 
 ces, at the same time that we received it. They 
 also sent a copy of a letter of Mr. Beasley, which 
 is the same as the one already mentioned. They 
 also mentioned that they had had a very severe 
 winter, but it w as not as severe there as at this 
 
71 
 
 place. The prisoners at Chatliam, among 
 whom were great numbers, that had been released 
 "from the British service, during the winter, had 
 received, their wages and prize money ; whic^ 
 as is usual with a generous hearted sailor, they 
 distributed for the good of the whole. At the 
 depot at Stapleton, the American prisoners were 
 distributed among the French, who in many in- 
 stances were very kind. 
 
 On the last day of this month, by papers con- 
 veyed to us by our friendly Scotch guards, we 
 found an account of captain Porter's taking two 
 large South seamen, mounting 16 guns and up 
 wards of fifty men each. He says they surren- 
 dered without firing a gun ; that they were taken 
 by the boats of the Essex, and speaks rather 
 slightly of the courage of the British on those oc- 
 casions. 
 
 In Ptiarch the weather began to be mild ; the 
 snow was nov/ mostly gone ; the prisoners could 
 remain in the yard the greater })art of the day, 
 and their spirits v/ere much revived at the expec- 
 tation of receiving their penny halfpenny per 
 day in a lump ; but this was prolonged, and the 
 prisoners began to despond, as they had received 
 no information from Mr. Beasley since the second 
 of last month ; but on the fifteenth orders were 
 issued to pay it. and glad enough were we, for 
 
72 
 
 f^evy man considered this little payment his sole 
 suprrort. 
 
 Tiie gates were now left open, and we had alt 
 t^e privileges of the market which were allowed 
 t^ie French ; we were allowed to go through all 
 the prisons, visit the French officers, and gain 
 all the information we could from London papers, 
 which many of the French oilicers took daily. 
 The French prisoners were much concerned at 
 the fate of their country when they learned the 
 success of the allies, as every prisoner had been 
 in the army or navy of Bonaparte, and were 
 much attached to the Emperor. 
 
 Having received no letters from Mr. Beasley, 
 we now gave up all hope of exchange, gave our- 
 selves up to our condition, and resigned our des- 
 tiny into the hands of Heaven to deal with us as 
 he pleased, during the long captivity which we 
 believed we had to endure ; for seeing the Eng- 
 lish papers filled with accounts of the success of 
 their arms in Europe, and every day declaring 
 their full confidence of a complete conquest of A- 
 merica, we could not expect peace, though this 
 boasting did not frighten us, for we knew the 
 strength and valour of the American people. 
 
 On the 18th v/e established a coffee-house in 
 our prison, as the French had in theirs, and sold 
 eofiee at a penny a pint ; but you cannot think ii 
 
73 
 
 very delicious when I inform you that it could not 
 be bought under tvro and three pence per pound, 
 and molasses seventy per hundred weight. At 
 the same time some of the prisoners received mo- 
 ney from home, and all established themselves in 
 some kind of business. Some established them- 
 selves as tobacconists, others as potatoe-mer- 
 chants, butter merchants, and indeed almost all 
 kinds of merchandise were carried on in our pri- 
 son after we received our second payment : we 
 had " free trade and sailors' rights." We could 
 purchase any article of provision in the markets, 
 coffee, sugar, molasses, any thing the country af- 
 forded. The gates being now opened, we traded 
 with the French. We could buy potatoes at six 
 pence a score, butter at one and six pence per 
 pound, bread at three pence per pound, and as 
 for meat, that was out of the question altogether. 
 Every man began to use all the economy he could, 
 which he perceived the French did. Some went 
 to work for the French at making straw flats, at 
 which they could earn one penny per day. — 
 Others were employed in making hst shoes, some 
 in the manufactory of hair bracelets, necklaces, &lc, 
 while great numbers employed themselves in 
 working the bones we got out of the beef, in imita- 
 tion of i'-\c French, who were very ingenious, and 
 'would form the most admirable and beautiful 
 G2 
 
74 
 
 ships, plank, mast, and rig them all of bone. The 
 French, for their amusement, had regular plays in 
 a theatrical form, with very elegant scenery, once 
 a month. Hamlet's ghost was an easy part toact^ 
 for they had only to show their natural visage, be- 
 ing mere shadows themselves. They had excel- 
 lent music, and appropriate comic and tragic 
 dresses. They also had schools for teaching the 
 arts and sciences, dancing, fencing and music, and 
 each of these in great perfection. As numbers of 
 them were daily reccivmg money from France, 
 iheir prison was very rich. But ISq. 4, vrhere the 
 sons of liberty had lived SD long on the vapour of a 
 dungeon, when will the same be said of you ? 
 Pcrha}:« somxC victim as unhappy as myself, when 
 some ten years have rolled away, and the human 
 mind, compelled by stern necessity to invent, and 
 I myself have found m.y quietus behind the prison 
 walls, may tell a sorry story of splendid misery 
 within your gloomy gates. 
 
 During the whole month of March the weather 
 ft'as quite mild, ojid the prisoners gained their 
 health and strength greatly. On the 21 st we de- 
 tected the contractor cheating us in our rations, 
 by giving scant weight* We immediately inform- 
 ed Capt. Shortland of the fraud, who examined in- 
 to the fact and had the cheating stopped, but gave 
 
70 
 
 the conduct of the contractor a very easy term, 
 by saying it was a mistake. 
 
 Towards the close of this month many of the 
 Americans had obtained some remnants of gar- 
 ments from the French, and mostly all the boys 
 had got into the employ of the French officers as 
 waiters. Many of these little victims of war were 
 under thirteen, and tliere were many old men a- 
 bove the age of sixty imprisoned ; both these 
 classes it has been considered contrary to the cus- 
 tom of nations to imprison. What use could it 
 fee to sacrifice the aged or the child in a prison ? 
 
 I had sailed for many years in the employment 
 ©f merchants of England, and had ever had a most 
 exalted idea of the humanity and generosity of 
 that nation, but by woeful experience I found I 
 had been deceived. Many of my readers may. 
 perhaps, dispute tiie truth of what I have here 
 asserted, but I appeal to thousands of my coun- 
 trymen, who will testify the truth of what I have 
 said, and thousands who have suffered with me 
 will say,that the pen of Homer or Milton would 
 fall short in describing the miseries of Dartmoor. 
 
 Though the weather was quite mild at the end. 
 of the month, yet as many of the prisoners were 
 almost naked, they suffered greatly for want, df 
 more clothing. 
 
76 
 
 ©n the last day of this month we received a let- 
 ter from Mr. Beasley, being the second ever re- 
 ceived at this Depot from him. 
 
 I shall commence the transactions of April, bj 
 giving a copy of the letter which we received the 
 day before. 
 
 Fellow Citizens^ 
 
 In addition to the allowance of three half-pence 
 per day, which has -heretofore been allowed, I 
 shall make remittance to Captain Shortland, to 
 enable you to have coffee and sugar twice a week, 
 that is, the days on which your rations consist of 
 fish ; my intention at first, was to have the arti- 
 des themselves sent to be distributed, but it being 
 suggested to me by the committees at the other 
 depots that the value in money would be more 
 serviceable to the prisoners, I have determined to 
 allow three pence half-penny per man, two days 
 in the v/eek, being the value of those articles, and 
 t hope the committee will find means to ensure its 
 feeing applied to the purpose intended. Yours &c. 
 
 R. G. BEASLEY. 
 
 With the letter was accompanied an additional 
 allowance, which augmented the sum to two pence 
 kalf penny, and we now received the sum of six 
 and eight pence on the eighth. This was to con- 
 tinue being paid monthly. ^ 
 
/7 
 
 As it is natural to expect, this payment produ-- 
 oed great spirits and annnation among the prison- 
 ers, and was as welcome as a thousand pounds 
 Wiien we were free and had plenty. With this 
 money the prisoners purchased many little neces- 
 sary articles of clothing, such as shirts, shoes, 
 trowsers, &lc. which could be bought ve/y cheap 
 •f the French, who always kept stores of second 
 hand clothing, which were obtained from the offi- 
 cers. 
 
 The weather was fine for this place, and the pris- 
 oners healthy, and having obtanied some few 
 clothes, and anticipating the reception of more, be- 
 gan to be quite comfortable in their situation, 
 when we compare it to the distress of that cold 
 winter they had just passed through. 
 
 Our little salary seemed to command some res- 
 pect from the turnkeys, soldier-officers and sub. 
 alterns, who were themselves as poor and meager 
 as Hamlet's apothecary. It brought us many in- 
 dulgences, such as, full liberty of the markets, 
 which before had been prohibited, and we compel- 
 led to purchase of the French at the gratmgs. 
 This was a great benefit to us, for we could no\r 
 trade with the country people much cheaper. 
 
 To regulate our rations, wc were also allowed to 
 appoint a committee of two to attend at the store 
 
t9 
 
 house to see that the contractor gave us weight ii> 
 those articles allowed by the board. 
 
 The day after we received our payment, we re- 
 reived London papers containing an official ac- 
 count of the allies entering Paris, and the complete 
 defeat and dovvnfall of Bonaparte. This news was 
 a sore affliction to the French prisoners, who were 
 passionately attached to the Emperor, and not 
 much less galling to the Americans, for nov/ some 
 boasting pettimaitres among the British officers 
 would come into the yard, in the most taunting 
 vile manner, to sport with the feelings of the pris- 
 oners of both nations, for, said they, " we have con- 
 quered France, and have not the least doubt but 
 we shall shortly completely reduce the United 
 States to colonies of Great Britain, and yout 
 haughty president become a mendicant vaga- 
 bond." This insolence was too much for flesh and 
 blood to bear. They declared they could have 
 peace on any terms they wished, and although we 
 were yet prisoners of war, they considered us their 
 subjects. 
 
 Such language to prisoners who could not resent 
 it, showed that the authors of it could be nothing 
 better than the vilest caitiffs, and could flow from 
 aothin.c: but the meanest of envv. 
 
 The French prisoners felt this conduct much 
 «^orc seyere than wc : for the conaucst was al- 
 
79 
 
 t'eady niatk', and they were obliged to look to ^ 
 master whom they hated, to one who was the 
 choice of their enemies, Lewis 1 8th. 
 
 Many gentlemen visited the prison to congratu- 
 late those unfortunate men, on their being restor- 
 ed to liberty, and thought that as they had been 
 many of them confined fi^om five to eleven years, 
 they would rejoice at the idea of liberty under any 
 monarch. They presented jthe prisoners with tlie 
 old national flag, and advised them to v.car the 
 v>hite cockade, but they declared, in the presence 
 of those gentlemen, that they would prefer staying 
 in prison all ihcir life time than to serve any other 
 master, or become subject to any other king than 
 Bonaparte, whom they loved. But the sequel w^ill 
 ^how how lasting their determinations were, and 
 tiow like they were to their nation at large. 
 
 At this time to express their regret at the misfor- 
 lune of their beloved emperor, and their resent- 
 ment to the proffered flag and cockade of the new- 
 monarch, they came forward every m.an, wearing 
 the tri-coloured cockade, and the white ones on the 
 heads of the dogs, that ran about the yard. The 
 white flag they destroyed w ith great eagerness, in 
 presence of the visitors and groat numbers of Bri-^ 
 tish officers standing on the wall. 
 
 Shortly after this intelligence of the affairs of 
 France, we had letters from Chatham, v.hich ir- 
 
m 
 
 formed us, that since th^ last from that place there 
 had arrived great numbers of prisoners there, and 
 that many were almost persuaded in their own 
 minds to enter the enemie'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 great number of 
 »hops for various branches of business ; this mo- 
 ney circulated within ourselves, and every one de- 
 rived some advantage. 
 
 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, was too 
 nicely interwoven with the threads of their nature, 
 to be rased by that of their aversion to the Bour- 
 bons. The change which was about to take place 
 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 their youth, the pla» 
 
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 bovs in tlse 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 woather was equally fine, 
 but some rain. Tn the bt^stle of the crowd, we J- 
 most forgot our situation ; the market square was 
 H 
 
82 
 
 crowded every day with people of every descrip^ 
 tion, some came for curiosity, others to trade, and 
 among the latter were many Jews, who bVought 
 clothing, and many other articles, which might 
 be wanted by the French for their journey. The 
 Frencn prisoners were all in confusion making rea- 
 dy for their departure. The proposal was again 
 made to the French prisoners to hoist the white 
 flag, and wear the ensignia of Louis 18th; 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 sei-ve, or die in prison. When the 
 proposition was made to them either to hoist the 
 flag and wear the ensignia, or remain in prison till 
 the last draft of prisoners in England, they then 
 immediately, but 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 reflection, and the most 
 poignant regret, for they had for years endured 
 all the calamities and hardships of danger and 
 war, for the support of their beloved emperor, who 
 ROW must give place to those they hated. 
 
 On the 1 0th a draft of Americans from Plymouth, 
 about 170, in great distress, arrived at thisdei ot; 
 among whom were the seventeen that were taken 
 and put into close confinement by the information 
 
83 
 
 of Robertson. They had been tried for high treason 
 by a court of judicature ; but there not being suf- 
 ficient evidence on the part of the crown to sup- 
 port the charge, they were acquitted, and sent t© 
 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 loth, 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- 
 ley, 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- 
 ins^. Mr. WiUiams 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 change and life it gave the prisoners : 
 they all cleaned themselves, and every thing about 
 them, and laid by their yellow rags. 
 
 They began to attract the attention of all about 
 them ; the British officers would now visit tliem; 
 
84 
 
 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 selHng 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 Ignited States, to 
 receive his monthly payment, or not receive it at 
 all. 
 
 We now felt a spirit of independence, which had 
 before been smothered in the wretchedness of ouf 
 situation ; 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 5 
 but now we could vindicate our country's rights, 
 in argument with any visitor ; 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 himself about something. 
 
 On the twentieth, orders arrived for the first 
 draft of French, and the day after, five hundred 
 were takon out a«id marched to Plymouth, where 
 they took shipping and went to France. 
 
 A very singular kind of conduct now showed it- 
 
85 
 
 self ill the British government. Twenty-four 
 Americans, citizens of the 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 applications. 
 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, seeing they 
 could not have the privilege of French prisoners, 
 applied to Mr. Beaslcy, and claimed their citizen- 
 ship in the United btates : but received for answer 
 from him, " that he could not receive them as 
 such I" 
 
 These men were citizens of the world sure 
 enough, for they belonged to no nation in it ; they 
 therefore remained unprovided for hy either gov- 
 eriiment. But we could not see them perish, as 
 lo ig as we had any ihjng which could be divided ; 
 they therefore lived upoo our charity the whole 
 time. 
 
On the twenty-fifth, another draft took place as 
 before, and released one thousand. At this time, 
 all the Swedish subjects, taken under the flag of 
 the United States, 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. &LC, ; and two hundred labourers were 
 paid six pence a day. In answer to this applica- 
 tion, we were told, that after the discharge of all 
 the French prisoners we should have them allowed 
 us. 
 
 When the French prisoners passed out, they 
 were all called over by name, and great numbers 
 being dead, w^hich was not known to the keepers, 
 afforded a fine opportunity for the Americans to 
 answer, and pass out in the name of the deceased. 
 Great numbers, who could speak French, obtained 
 their 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 
 letter^ from Chathg^m and Stapleton, that Mr. Wil- 
 
87 
 
 liams, and the Jew merchant had visited them, and 
 siippHed 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, T can- 
 not forbear 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 pass. 
 
 It 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 imiiiur- 
 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^ 
 
83 
 
 in the agonies of despair, he seized a knife and 
 put an end to his sufferings, by cutting his own 
 throat, in pre&ence of his countrymen and the 
 keepers I 
 
 The spectacle was too horrible to behold with- 
 out the deepest regret and sorrow ; it was a sight, 
 that all-powerful Juno might have sent down Iris 
 from heaven, to relieve his struggling soul from her 
 united limbs. Many, through despair, had com- 
 mitted suicide before in the French prisons. 
 
 June. The weather continued much the same. 
 On the fifth, another draft of French prisoners 
 was made. At this time, an order was issued, to 
 discharge from confinement all French prisoners 
 who had been taken under the flag of the United 
 States. The Americans, w^io were ever watchful 
 for an opportunity to make their escape, took ad- 
 vantage of this order to obtain their hberty; many 
 came forward and claimed their birthright in 
 France and its dependencies ; being well versed 
 in the French language, they bore a good exami- 
 nation, and one hundred and twenty-one were re- 
 leased in the last draft of French subjects. 
 
 By this time all the French from No. 4 were 
 released, and we had the whole prison to ourselves ; 
 but the blacks being mixed with us were very 
 troublesome. 
 
89 
 
 We having purchased from the French all they 
 had, were now well furnished with household fur- 
 niture, such as tables, dishes, seats, and things to 
 cook in. We now carried on the business of ma- 
 'king straw flats for hats and bonnets, although not 
 allowed by government ; by strict attention, we 
 could make at this business three pence a day. 
 
 On the fifteenth, we received our monthly pay, 
 which never failed to come about that time. 
 
 On the twentieth, the whole of the French priso- 
 ners were discharged except a few sick in the 
 Hospital. 
 
 On the 22d, Capt. Shortland gave us informa- 
 tion that all the prisoners in England were to be 
 collected at Stapleton, as the Transport Board 
 determined on that place for a general depot for 
 all American prisoners. There were now in Eng- 
 land, three thousand five hundred unparoled priso- 
 ners. The same information was given at Chat- 
 ham and Plymouth. 
 
 We anticipated much advantage in the change 
 of situation, and began to prepare for the removal, 
 and from the authentick account we had received 
 from that place, there had not died but one-fiftieth 
 as many in proportion to their number, as had 
 died at this depot; the change was therefore 
 much to be desired ; the cHmate was much more 
 pleasant and healthy, and the contiguity to the 
 
90 
 
 city of Brrsfel, where every article manufactured 
 by the pl'isoriers, would find a ready market at a 
 much higher price than at this place ; all articles 
 of provision much cheaper. But much to our dis- 
 appointment, on the twenty-fourth, the late order 
 was countermanded, and Capt. Shortland ordered 
 to make all things ready for the reception of all 
 the prisoners in England, as the board" had deter- 
 mined on making this depot the general recepta- 
 cle for all prisoners in England, as they consider- 
 ed it the safest of any in the kingdom, and they 
 might have added, far more infernal than the bas- 
 tile. He also told the prisoners that he had or- 
 ders to employ any number of the prisoners he 
 should think necessary ; such as carpenters and 
 masons to build a church near the prison, and a 
 number of labourers to repair the roads ; also 
 blacksmiths, coopers, painters, lamp-lighters, and 
 nurses in the hospital, &c. The number he said 
 would amount to upwards of one hundred. He 
 then told us under what restrictions we were to 
 work ; we were to be under the eye of a guard 
 all the time, and if any prisoner attempted to 
 make his escape, that no more Americans would 
 fee employed, and to prevent this, the following 
 rule was adopted ; they were to receive their 
 pay, at the rate of six-pence per day, every three 
 months, and if any prisoner escaped, the whole 
 
91 
 
 pay was forfeited ; this kept every prisoner watcli- 
 ful over each other, for when one ran away, all 
 the others lost their whole pay and emplo\ ment, 
 besides, this was the method they had used with 
 the French. 
 
 We found this to be a great benefit to us, for 
 those workmen who went out of the prison yards^, 
 smuggled in all kinds of prohibited articles, such 
 as rum. candles, oil, and news-papers ; and smug- 
 gled out all the prohibited articles, manufactured 
 in the prison. At this trade, each man could 
 make four or five shillings a day. 
 
 There were now eleven hundred prisoners, and 
 manufactures having got to considerable perfec- 
 tion, the receijits of money brought into the prison 
 each week besides the allowances, were fifty 
 pounds sterling. Besides this sum of money, many 
 prisoners had friends in England, and received 
 from them considerable sums. 3^^ 
 
 The prisoners now began to live, and got inte 
 2;ood spirits. The latter pari of this month 150 
 workmen were employed at different branches of 
 mechanical business. At this time prisoners from 
 Stapleton arrived at this depot ; their number at. 
 first was 400, but was now reduced to 350. Sev- 
 enteen had enlisted into the British service, eight 
 died.and the remainder made their escape. On their 
 arrival here, they were committed to No. 4, which 
 
92 
 
 contained upwards of 1 400, and was much crowd- 
 ed. These 350 were in a very bad condition, 
 many were w^ithout shoes, and had travelled most 
 of the distance in the same condition, for the shoes 
 they had received from the agent did not last 
 more than three or four weeks. This was an im- 
 position of the contractor, as the agent afterwards 
 said he had learned. 
 
 On the twentieth of June we were informed by 
 Capt. Shortland, that when the other prisoners ar- 
 rived from Chatham, he would open the yards on 
 the south side of the enclosure, and give us all 
 the privileges of the other prisons. These yards be- 
 ing large, would admit of many amusements which 
 that of No. 4 would not, such as playing ball, &c. 
 
 At this time, viewing our circumstances on all 
 sides, and seeing no hope of exchange or peace, 
 we formed a design to make our escape ; our plan 
 was, that immediately after our removal to the 
 other prisons, to dig a hole two hundred and eighty 
 feet long, all the way under gi'ound ; this would 
 reach from the prison beyond the outer wall. The 
 success of this design will be mentioned hereafter. 
 On the same day we received London papers, con- 
 taining an account of the capture of the United 
 States frigate Essex, by the frigate Phebe. and 
 sloop of war Cherub. The London editor said 
 that the Essex was equal in size to a seventy-foui\ 
 
93 
 
 Had he said her defence was equal to a seventy- 
 four, Capt. Hilliar would have agreed with him. 
 The garrison was agam renewed with a new regi- 
 ment, and the old one removed. This regiment 
 was very much embittered against the govern- 
 ment ; their term of five years, for which they had 
 enlisted, having expired, the government refused 
 to discharge them. 
 
 At this time the government was giving great 
 encouragement to soldiers to enlist to fight against 
 the United States ; this regiment was ofiered every 
 inducement to join ; they therefore made ittheirbu- 
 siness to make particular inquiry of the prisoners, 
 what was the manner of our warfare, and the dis- 
 positions of the American soldiers. I found they 
 wcrc very ignorant in these things, and easily de- 
 terred from their enlisting. I composed a song 
 and distributed it among them, after which not a 
 man ever enlisted, or ofiered to. This very much 
 enraged the soldier-officers of the garrison, who 
 issued orders, that if any sentery was found con- 
 versing with a prisoner, he should be punished ; 
 but it was impossible to stop it, the soldiers were 
 equally desirous as the prisoners to converse. 
 
 The fourth of July was not far diistant, and we 
 began to make preparations to celebrate the day 
 a second time since our confinement. We obtain- 
 ed permission from the keeper, to purchase tw^ 
 I 
 
94 
 
 hogsheads of porter ; we likewise had got a num- 
 ber of gallons of rum, unbeknown to the keeper. 
 
 We also provided ourselves with American co- 
 lours, and invited all the soldier-officers, clerks of 
 the prison, and soldiers, to attend and hear an ora- 
 tion that would be delivered on the fourth, which 
 was the anniversary of American independence. 
 The prisoners were in high spirits, expecting to 
 enjoy themselves much better than they had done 
 on the preceding one, when they were half naked. 
 In the month of June we had but few deaths, 
 and the prisoners generally healthy ; we had rain, 
 and many showers. 
 
 On the first of July, we received letters from 
 Chatham, informing us, that they were much con- 
 cerned at a late order, which was shortly to re- 
 move them to this depot ; the same letter informed 
 us that the prisoners on board the Crowned Prince 
 had been confined three days without victuals or 
 drink ; the reason why is yet untold. 
 
 On the second of the month the crew of the Ar- 
 gus received another payment of several pounds 
 each man, through the hands of the late purser to 
 that vessel ; this came very timely to us, in the ce- 
 lebration of the American independence. 
 
 By letters from Plymouth this day, we were in- 
 formed the reason of the prisoners being confined 
 below deck, on board the Crowned Prince. 
 
95 
 
 It happened that the boats' crew of that ship had 
 been on shore and stole a sheep from a farmer, 
 and the commander had had his table served with 
 the best pieces ; the farmer getting information 
 where the sheep had gone, came and demanded 
 reparation for his sheep; the commander, to screen 
 the boats' crew, paid the farmer the price of the 
 sheep. 
 
 The story of the sheep was soon known to the 
 prisoners, who having a dislike to the commander, 
 one morning, as he was going on shore with his 
 wife, and at the moment he was entering the boat, 
 they all as one agreed to cry blar ; he understood 
 the meaning the very instant the sound struck his 
 oar, and turning back, he ordered the prisoners all 
 below, and to be kept there three days without 
 victuals or drink. 
 
 On the evening of the third, an event happened 
 at Dartmooi, which ended in a very serious man- 
 ner. A dispute arose between towo of the prison- 
 ers late belonging to the United States' brig Ar- 
 o-us, bv the names of Thomas Hill and James 
 Henry ; the quarrel growing quite warm, and not 
 being ended that night, they agreed to fight next 
 morning ; accordingly, next morning, about nine 
 o'clock, they commenced the battle in prison No. 4, 
 and by an unfortunate blow from Hill, Henry was 
 killed on the spot ; a jury of inquest was called 
 
96 
 
 next morning and held over the body of the dcr 
 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 tjie 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 they attempted to de- 
 prive us of the flag, we might rush on the guards 
 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 sornc more favourable 
 opportunity. At eleven o'clock all the prisoners 
 assembled in the yard. The British oflicers be- 
 longing to the garrison, colonels, majors, captains, 
 clerks, turnkeys, and a great number of soldiers, 
 
97 
 
 assembled on the walls to hear an oration cona- 
 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 readers 
 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 trariquillity, 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 tyrvinny. Since tliat time, England has 
 used every intrigue to deprive us of the greatest 
 of blessings. First, coiitrary to the laws of ci- 
 12 
 
98 
 
 vilized 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, v/ithin the jurisdicticn 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 v/as 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 with- 
 in our own waters : our commerce confined and 
 completely destroyed, contrary to the laws of neu» 
 
99 
 
 traiity. All this was done by England, and she 
 unprovoked. Then, fellow citizens, the result of 
 all the?e depredations, must be a formal declara- 
 tion of war, which could no longer be delayed. — 
 Our country then, prudently and wisely, mastered 
 all their forces both by sea and land ; England 
 stood ready for combat fully prepared, and with 
 the 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 Guerriere, 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 after a second retaliation, she acknowledged 
 her country's wrongs, by striking her colours to 
 the gallant Jones. 
 
 The officers and seamen of our infant navy, 
 710W 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 frigate completely fitted 
 
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 bottom. 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 j, 
 
 shores of libd|^\ when victories were proclaimed i 
 
 1 
 
 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 honeur, 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 
 of 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 
 ntval force on that lake, to the amazement of all 
 surrounding nations, and the disgrace of the 
 British flag. 
 
JOl 
 
 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 af equal size. 
 
 And now, fellow citizens, this country, Vvhat 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 has 
 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 
 ifijured 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, 
 
102 
 
 and much meliorated our sufferings, though illy 
 able, while carrying on so expensive a war ? 
 
 And now, 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 ihem not malre you despair o£ juur 
 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 
 ailver 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 he- 
 
103 
 
 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 ail 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- 
 ?olation to us in our present condition, we might 
 rest fully assured 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 shortly take place, 
 they said must be imputed entirely to the bad man- 
 agement of our President and Congress : we have 
 
104 
 
 now conquered France, and America mustbecon« 
 que red next. We found them ignorant of the 
 strength and resources of the American people ; 
 we gave them a 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 yard 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, foi when: we sailors 
 have the greatest respect ; and Mr. Madison, par- 
 ticularly, is a great favourite of sailers. After 
 dinner we had a song, Avhich was composed for 
 the occasion. 
 
105 
 
 The day was passed in the greatest harm(^ny> 
 no quarrel or strife occurred to mar its pleasure. 
 The next day, every man resumed his occupation 
 and seemed to enjoy a negative happiness, wi.ich 
 arose from a freedom from absolute pain. 
 
 On the eighth of this month a friend of mine, 
 for whom I 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 I inscribed the following 
 words ; 
 
 Here lies the body of 
 JAMES HART, 
 
 a native of the United States of 
 
 America, 
 
 .who departed this life July 8th, 1B14. 
 K 
 
106 
 
 Under which was the following epitaph. 
 
 Your country mourns yovir hapless fate ; 
 So mourn we prisoners all ; 
 You've paid the debt we all must pay, 
 Each sailor great and small. 
 
 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 up. 
 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- 
 bed 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 during the remainder 
 of the month ; few persons arrived, but vre had 
 expectation of a great number. The weather was 
 rainy and cold ; the prisoners generally healthy ; 
 few died, but the prison was very much crowded, 
 there being 1500 in No. 4. 
 
 At the commencement of August, a draft of 
 prisoners arrived, who had been recently captured 
 
 Mm 
 
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 cachet, there to remain on two- 
 thirds allowance, without hammock or bed, sleep- 
 ing on the stone floor, during their Avhole 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 
 on 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 ; ho 
 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 
 
 ihe crime, had it been well proved, would war- 
 I'ant so rigorous a punishment, is not the subject 
 of investigation j they had the power to treat them 
 as they pleased, nor had the sufferers any redress, 
 for, inter armis lages silent, " the laws are silent 
 amid arms." 
 
 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- 
 nation of the trial, I shall give in a subsequent 
 page. 
 
 The prisoners having no expectation or hope of 
 exchange, or a peace, noAV 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 done 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, 
 Avho was acquitted by the jury, and he remanded 
 to Dartmoor as a prisoner of war. 
 
 The same day arrived a large draft of prisoners 
 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 the Amer- 
 ican prisoners vfere 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 out 
 and put on board the ship C-ommodore, 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 tJiat prison and 
 about twelve hundred in No. 4, who were not yet 
 removed. 
 
110 
 
 We finding our number increasing daily and no 
 prospect of peace or exchange, now delerrhined to 
 put in execution our projected plan of escape; ev- 
 ery prisoner being willing, and not a dissenting ' 
 voice among the Avhole, we mustered a number of 
 bibles in each prison, and began to solemnly 
 swear every man to keep secret every transaction 
 he should see 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 whatever, any 
 thing which might lead to a discovery of their de- 
 sign, on pain of immediate death in a private and 
 secret manner, which would most assuredly take 
 place vvithout the knowledge of the keepers. 
 
 After they were all sw^orn, 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 
 
Ill 
 
 course, on the twentieth we made a beginning 
 in both prisons, and dug directly down. In this 
 perpendicular direction, we must sink our work 
 twenty feet, which woukl come on a horizontal 
 pk\ne with the road. On this horizontal plane we 
 must then pursue the work, in an eastern direction, 
 :wo hundred and fifty feet, which distance would 
 carry us beyond the outer Avail and under all the 
 foundations which extended below the surface of 
 the earth, about six feet ; if this work were per- 
 formed v/e should then have a passage into the 
 road. The digging could be carried on with very 
 Ittle difficulty; but the great obstacle before us, 
 vv?.s to convey away the dirt, and this on a little 
 consideration seemed to vanish, when we consid- 
 ered the stream of water in the yard which passed 
 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 clca'; of the dirt, obtained permission to bring 
 ir.to the prisGii a large quantity of lime, under the 
 pretence of wiiite-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- 
 ^er, 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- 
 
112 
 
 gin a similar operation in that prison, as we could 
 pass and repass 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 
 dirt away. 
 
 In these three different places we made our at- 
 tacks, and very rightly supposing, 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 
 oudet, 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 behef that we should shortly make our 
 esca}:)e. 
 
 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 fresh 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 account 
 of some events which took place during this ope- 
 ration. 
 
 In the mean while a number of prisoners arri- 
 ved, some from Chatham, some from the West Ik- 
 
113 
 
 dies, and from other places. These, as soon a5 
 they arrived, were made acquainted with our de- 
 sign an i operations, and sworn and charged as t^e 
 others had been. Among these prisoners was the 
 crew of the United States brig FroHc. These 
 prisoners 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 their allowance so very short. During the 
 month we had great quantities of rain, which was 
 very favourable to our operations. The prisoners 
 were now more healthy than they had been before 
 since our confinement. Those who had been sick for- 
 some time, died. 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 
 were 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 td 
 
114 
 
 fliscovcr the place ; but the hole was larger undeF 
 ground, and would admit four men to work abreast. 
 
 But, to our groat moriification, on the second, 
 Capt. Shorlland entered the prison with the guards, 
 and went directly toAvards the hole, and as he pass- 
 ed, he informed 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 w4th crow-bars to 
 sound, and after having made the minutest exami- 
 nation, by accident found the entrance, to the great 
 mortificaticrx 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 an}' account what- 
 ever of the means they had made use of to light 
 
the hole, or how they had disposed of the dirt ; and 
 when they were strictly examined by the ofRcers, 
 they gave no other answer, than that each man 
 eat his proportion, to make up his scant allo\rance. 
 
 To prevent any further operation of this kind^ 
 Capt. Shortland had every prisoner removed from 
 the yard, which encloses No. 6, 6, and 7, int6 the 
 enclosure on the north side, which contained 
 No. 1, 2, and 3 ; but having no suspicions of any 
 attempts to escape in No. 4, tliey let the prisoners 
 there remain. 
 
 After the prisoners vrere removed from the other 
 two })risons, they lillcd the entrance of the hole 
 up with stone : they supposed tliese were not 
 eatable. 
 
 We remained in No. 2 till the eighth, when v.e 
 were aicain 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 
 sitting, 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- 
 ted nature by our laws, required positive and di- 
 rect evidence, which the court considered Jiad no'- 
 
116 
 
 been produced ; and although very strong circum- 
 stantial evidence had been given, yet they consid- 
 ered that such evidence ought never to take a 
 man's life, 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 manner 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 Avith 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 making 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 dep:>t 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 dis- 
 
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 pixxiecd as we mentioned 
 before, and to report their progress every evening. 
 As the hole in No. 6 was farthest advanced, we 
 formed a 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. 
 
 With this arrangement we proceeded on, and 
 on the 12th, in No. G, 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 hberty, 
 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 
 
118 
 
 with a dagger, made by prisoners who worked at 
 black-smithing. 
 
 When the work was complete, we were to make 
 «ur 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 craft ; 
 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 reach France 
 or sell our lives at the dearest rate ; for, by this 
 time, life was of little consequence to us, when we 
 compared 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 reader 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 I — a 
 man by the name of ^Bagley, another Sinon, 
 walked out in open day, before all the prisoners 
 
 * '^ This roan belonged to Portsmouth, N. H. 
 
119 
 
 then in the yard, went up to the turnkeys anU 
 marched off with them to the keeper's house, gave 
 him information of all tlie operatio]is and designs? 
 and we never saw him after ; for could wC have 
 catched him, we should scarcely have tried him, 
 but should have torn him in atoms before the lite 
 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 humbl^; 
 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. Shortland 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. 
 We again resigned ourselves to our situation, an«i 
 
120 
 
 jdiaced all our hopes of life or liberty on that Al- 
 mighty arm, vrhich had brought us to these suffer- 
 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. 
 Beaslcy, 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 was about to take place ; but as we 
 had no account to that effect from Mr. Beasley, 
 w^e could place no dependence on it ; the only 
 hope we had was in bribing the guards, and that 
 ©f peace. 
 
 By letters from Plymouth, v*e had information 
 that an action had been fought between the Essex, 
 Capt. Porter, and the British frigate Phebe, Capt. 
 Hillier, and a sloop of war. The action w^as 
 long and severe, and much blood spilt on both 
 sides ; 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 vess'cls, 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 comm.on meed 
 
121 
 
 of praise ; I therefore undertook to celebrau: 
 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 dralt were men who had been delivered up 
 from the navy : they were collected at Chatham, 
 and brought round by water to Plymouth, landed, 
 ;ind then ordered to prepare to march for Dart- 
 moor prison, tlie 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 r 
 ^' 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 many years as good and 
 fuuliful 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 ; 
 ihe v.hites, in the north and south wing, occup}/ing 
 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 accom.plishment of such an undertaking, had 
 It been their design. But they knew very well 
 the consequence of doing this ; although, on the 
 first sortie, the officers, soldiers and guards, must 
 fall into their power, yet as the prisoners must all 
 march 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 was scarce a day but some dis- 
 ^pute or strife took place, between the turnkeys 
 
123 
 
 &r guards and the prisoners, and kept a continual 
 alarm. The prisoners Avould 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 
 
 ^4hey were willing to release him, for the prisoners 
 immediately surrounded him by hundreds ; 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 su}}erin- 
 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. 
 
124 
 
 We had much rain and stormy weather during 
 the rnontii of September. One tedious month had 
 now passed by, and another lay in hopeless pros- 
 pect before us ; but our hopes were a little 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 State^"^^ 
 vessels ; this letter w-as to inform the crew of the 
 Argus more 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 beiligerants. 
 
 Several persons made ihcir escape by briling the 
 senteries, after this neics, 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. 
 Tiie particulars seemed too galling to their feel- 
 ings to publish. After reading the account in the 
 London paper, I composed a dirge, and put it up 
 ©n the front of the prison, in fall sight of all the 
 
125 
 
 soklier-oliicers atid 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 complaints 
 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 
 towards the ground along the rope of the prison ; 
 the soldiers saw it and concluded it must be a man 
 sliding down the rope to make his escape ; the 
 alarm was given, and Capt. Shortland and zM the 
 soldier-olHcers, at the head Oi 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 musket* y 
 Vv'as poured in upon the enemy, and down came 
 the jacket ; they rushed in upon it, and to thciv 
 astonishment; they had conquered a jacket. 
 
126 
 
 The keepers who had been so, insolent the day 
 before, by v/ishing Mr. Madison in the prison, now 
 showed great resentment, anc] gave themselves 
 many airs upon the occasion. 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 ; but a divine interposition 
 of goodness seemed to direct the balls, for every 
 one lodged in some part 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 celebrated 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 vengeance 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 
 on board the artel Janey, then lying at that placo. 
 
127 
 
 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 Frolic, were obliged to 
 carry the baggage themselves or leave it behind, 
 for they were allowed no means to transport it. 
 Twelve miles of the distance is water carriage ; 
 the other eighteen is land ; this distance they had 
 to march on foot : they received 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 compli- 
 ment at that place, then to proceed to Dartmouth, 
 and receive the crev/ of the late United States' 
 brig Argus, and her officers, and non-combatants 
 from Asliburton. The same letters informed us that 
 all the prisoners in England, theri 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 
 I 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 tiiey were now quite destitute, and very sickly, 
 
128 
 
 rjuid the weather cold and stormy for several days 
 together. On the third we received a letter from 
 Mr. Baasley, 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 w^ere 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 emdure 
 the hardships of their condition, though their tvvo 
 and a halfpence a day was some relief: yet as ail 
 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. Sv/ain of New- 
 Bedford, Pilassachusetts, taking a very sudden 
 move and leaving the^whole establishment, with- 
 out giving notice ; this left them unprovided with 
 sufficient 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- 
 erino; by the walls, in the pale and feeble ray of a 
 winter sun, when Mr. Williams arrived v.ith 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 ^ates. 
 The draft of this crew consisted of one-hundred, 
 which was all that was 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 to 
 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 vrere 
 committed to close confinement, during the war, oh 
 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 
 ever since in close confinement in the cachot, but 
 M 
 
 I 
 
fl30 
 
 our 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 CYery 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- 
 lorm the government in direct terms, that if a 
 peace did not take place before the first of April, 
 that they would lay dovrn their arm^s. 
 
 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 oiiiccrs and soldicTs, tiiat had 
 defeated and drove the whole American army, 
 headed by Mr. Madison in person, and that they 
 were in so close pursuit of him, that he had a se- 
 \cre race all the way from Bladcnsburgh 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 gf the greatest cities in 
 th"b 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 \vc 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 be 
 -u lib red much less, and v/ere in a better condition 
 
132 
 
 lo endure the hardships of a prison than the year 
 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 month, dis- 
 tributing the several articles above mentioned. 
 
 As the season advanced the hard weather in- 
 creased, and the snovv' 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 som.e occupation ; 
 they endeavoured to cherish and keep the mind 
 alive if the body decayed, and to cultivate that 
 nobler pan of our being, they establiiihed a num- 
 ber of schools, and the young men and boys were 
 instructed in them for nearly tv/o 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 
 science. 
 
 There has from the earliest 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 inscnsibihty, 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 Ta} lor, 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 it 
 the following inscription, which 1 put at the head 
 <^f his grave, where it remains on the moor. 
 M2 
 
134 
 
 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 therfe 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. 
 
 j^c patient, meek, and wait His call,^ 
 Endure these ills of strife : 
 For great's the sin of mortal man. 
 That takes away his life». 
 
135 
 
 One knows not how to account for the origin of 
 that act which takes away one's own hfe : self-love 
 and self-preservation are so deeply rooted in the 
 very nature of all living creatures, that it is the ulti- 
 mate mo'ive of all actions to endeavour to sustain 
 and preserve life ; fear of destroying it is so in- 
 stinctive iii all animals, that tliey seem to flee from 
 danger without any reasonmg in the act, and al- 
 most without 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 presence of his 
 God, w ith all his former crimes, and this most he- 
 nious of ail, 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. 
 
 la the interim, prisoners arrived from ditTereat 
 quarters of the globe ; some taken in Canada on 
 tlie lakes, and others on the land : and amongst 
 these arrivals was the crew of the privateer Leo, 
 captured off the coast of Portugal. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth, we were most agreea- 
 bly surprised with the joyful tidings of peace ! — 
 Tne preliminaries were announced in the London 
 paper which we received this day, and the news 
 was confirmed l^y a letter from Mr. Beasley, re- 
 
136 
 
 jeived the same day ; stating that the treaty had 
 been signed by tlie commis-sioaers at Giient 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 countiy, 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. Tiie 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 w^e 
 were confident wotild be honourable to our coun- 
 try. We were confident that the ground- w^ork 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, unkiiown to uie keepeis, and made large 
 
137 
 
 cartridges, wound them up in twine, so that when 
 exploded would make a report as loud as a six 
 r)ounder ; we then procured a large ensign, and a 
 pendant for each prison ; we prepared a white (lag 
 in the centre, painted in large capitals, " Free 
 Trade and Sailors' Rights." 
 
 The next morning, to the astonishment of the 
 officers and guards, we displayed the flags on the 
 top 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 down, or every thing would 
 ])e in confusion ; he said, if we would take the 
 motto-flag down, he -would hoist an American en- 
 sigii 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 \ 
 
I3B 
 
 »ve then lokl him, out of respect for hini, wc would 
 take them all dovvn, and wait till the ratiftcation 
 of peace, before v.'c displayed them again. 
 
 On the thirty-first of this month, arrived a draft 
 of prisoners, among whom were many Avho had 
 ^iven themselves up as American citizens, and 
 claimed their right to a citizenship, and refused 
 to act on board his Majesty's ships any longer j 
 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, 
 and the mischief now over. The constant cry 
 among the sailors, ivho are great friends to Uncle 
 Sam, was. Damn my eyes if he han't stood it like 
 a man. 
 
 Among those prisoners who bad declared them- 
 selves citizens of the United States, were six w^ho 
 had been in the enemy's service for many years, 
 and wer^ 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 tliem had been appoint- 
 ed to some petty office on board the Pelican. 
 But supposing a peace would shoHly be concluded 
 between the two nations, they had thought best to 
 cliim a citizenship, and obtain their release. This 
 information soon 'spread amone: all the prisoner?. 
 
139 
 
 and enraged them to the highest degree at then 
 conduct, and being flushed with high spirits with 
 the late news of peace, were about to proceed to 
 ©xtreinities with them, and they finding their hves 
 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 
 service ; as the next day they were conveyed to 
 Plymouth, and we heard no more of them. 
 
 The weather was now very severe, and the old- 
 est prisoners had not received any clothing sincf 
 May, and were much in need of jackets and trow- 
 isers ; of this fact the prisoners were a self evident 
 and naked truth. Many were sick in the hospital, 
 
 December thirty-first, 1814. Statement of pris- 
 oners in prison at this depot. 
 
 Prisoners delivered up from the British 
 navy. 197 8. 
 
 United States' and privateers' incn, those taken 
 in merchant vessels. 3348. 
 
 Total, exclusive of those exchanged - 5326. 
 
 Mr. Beasley, agent, had visited them once. 
 They had recewed from him one jacket, one pair 
 of trowsers, tvv'o 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, 
 
140 
 
 one yellow jacket, one pair of trowsers, one waist- 
 coat, one pair of wooden shoes, and one cap. 
 
 Received in cash one and a halfpence, to which 
 was added one penny more after two months, each 
 man per day, from the tirst 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. 
 
 We had been in this cold and dreary mansion^ 
 wenty-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 of the sam.eness 
 that may appear in this narrative, is owing to a 
 uniform ?tate of misery, which will not admit of a 
 variety in the description. 
 
141 
 
 Capt. .Shortland had got information on the se- 
 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 wdio had entered the Britisi) 
 service the winter before. After having received 
 many insults, and much hard usage, on board the 
 war shij)s, they had got tired of their situations, 
 and claimed their citizenship and got themselves 
 delivered up and sent to prison again, which the\ 
 considered the least of the two evils. 
 
 Their conduct on ])oard the ships, was no doubt 
 as disgi*aceful 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 m.entioned. — 
 After holding consultations, many were for putting 
 them to immediate death, others were for flogging 
 them as severely as they could bear, and every 
 man for giving tlicm some condign punishment ; 
 N 
 
142 
 
 but at last it was unanimously concluded to put 
 upon tliem a mark, 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, pricl^d 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 
 blistered 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- 
 ing. 
 
 The next day, Capt. Shortland being offended 
 at the treatment his friends had received, sent 
 and had three men taken, v.hom 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 
 1,0 be tried by tlfo laws of this country. On the 
 ivventy-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 snov*' falling, the men v.ere obliged 
 to keep \vithin doors. On the same day arrived a 
 regiment of regular troops, who themselves had 
 })een prisoners in France for many years during 
 the late war between that nation and England. — 
 They were much disgusted with the freatment we 
 received here, and cjxlaimed 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 mihtury, 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 jirisoners 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 
 tw^enty-eighth these officers received their parole, 
 and proceeded on to Ashburton, where all the pa. 
 roled oilicers verc stationed. 
 
144 
 
 Nantucket Neutrality, 
 
 On the thirtieth, Sir Isaac Coffin arrived with 
 another British admiral ; Sir Isaac is a. native of 
 Massachusetts, and feehng some partiality to his 
 native statesmen, requested Capt. Shortland to 
 permit all the men who belonged to Nantucket to 
 come alone into m.arket 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 ■v\ould be released, 
 on account of belonging to a neutral Country. — 
 They then took an affectionate leave of the citi- 
 zens of that neutral nation, and went away. Such 
 are the advantages derived from being a neutral 
 nation in time of w^ar. 
 
 February commences w ith 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, and 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 the 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, diat the chief surgeon in England visited the 
 pi'ison ; 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 by Fahrenheit'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 1200 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 to ascer- 
 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. 
 
 N 2 
 
146 
 
 On the tentli, arrived a draft of prisoners, lately 
 captured on their voyage to France : on the same 
 day, 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 care 
 to send clothing to those who last arrived, as in 
 this instance, although they had not been prisoners 
 but a few wrecks ; 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 ten 
 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 
 
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 learnine: him to live without eating;. 
 
 On the thirteenth, one of the four prisoner?, 
 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 tlie 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, that he 
 be returned to the cachot again. 
 
 The prisoners positively refused to give the man 
 up, and declared that no force of arms should 
 wrest him from their protection. He then ordered 
 the market closed, and would not allow any com- 
 munication 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 
 
 h 
 
148 
 
 prisons, that search might be made for the prise- 
 nei-, and he again remanded to the cachot : but all 
 the prisoners having previously agreed to stand 
 by each other, 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 v/ere 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 
 against 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 or fifty carpenters, 
 masons, and other mechanicks, who were a great 
 profit to the government ; this step put Shortland 
 to great expense and inconvenience to procure 
 others. 
 
 He at last concluded to make peace, and restore 
 tranquillity and let the man remain, and on the 
 twentieth 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 
 
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, 
 Limong whom were the crew of the late United 
 States brig Syren ; the treatment of these men be- 
 fore 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 
 last 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 officers 
 on parole. The prisoners v/cre barefooted, and 
 very sickly. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of this month, is gazetted 
 in the London papers, the official account of the 
 capture of the United States frigate President, 
 Com. Decatur. 
 
 The 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 to 
 yard-arm. Knowing this to be a falsehood, I 
 addressed a letter to the editor, requesting him to 
 road a short piece of poetry which I enclosed. 
 
 March commenced with cold and blustering wea» 
 thcr, and the prisons almost one continued scene 
 
150 
 
 ^ 
 
 of sick and dying, the t>iiialI-pox was raging with a 
 desolating aspect, and the grcat,cst anxiety con- 
 cerning the ratification of the treaty ; afflictions, 
 which seem never to come singly, were now pres- 
 sing upon the ba<:k of one another ; pestilence, 
 famine, and nakedness Avcre not ailliction 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 inquiiy 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 ver^'- 
 narrow circumstances. 
 
 We all agreed to give her the day's allowance of 
 fish of that week, which we sold to the contractor 
 and received the money, which amounted to nearly 
 "one hundred dollars 5 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, w^ere taken out of the custody of the 
 agent of prisoners of war at this place, by a writ of 
 Habeas Corpus ad respodendum^ and removed tr. 
 
151 
 
 the criminal prison at Exeter, to be tried for the 
 oilence by tiie civil laws of this country. They 
 were removed in irons. The prisoners then made 
 a contribution for the support of these men while 
 at Exeter. 
 
 On the tenth, we received London papers, 
 which gave an account of Bonaparte's having ar- 
 rived in F^-ance at the head of about one thousand 
 men, and that he was making the most rapid ad- 
 vances toward Paris, and thousands joining him, 
 ihat the greatest confusion was taking place in 
 ilie affairs of France. 
 
 This uitelligcncc struck the greatest astonish- 
 .:cnt in all England, and created a very serious 
 (jncern among all the military. Avho expected to 
 br^ relieved on the arrival of tlic treaty ratified by 
 the President, but now they must despair of that 
 idea, as new wars must inevitably follow the htcps 
 of that gigantick monster. 
 
 On the fourteenth, a universal joy was diffused 
 
 hrough the whole prison, and " a smile lighted up 
 
 in the aspect of woe ;" the Favourite, the welcome 
 
 messenger of j^eace, arrived and brought the treaty 
 
 ratiiled by the President of the linited States. 
 
 I cannot better express the joy that diffused it- 
 self through the whole country, Englishmen as 
 well as prisoners, than by giving the followincr 
 lines from a great author. 
 
152 
 
 The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, 
 And leap exuliing like the bounding roe. 
 No sigh nor murmur the wide world shall hear, 
 From ev'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 of all the prisoners, 
 we had received no information from Mr. Beasley 
 for six weeks, and the prisoners now were in 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 their immediate conveyance to the United 
 States, and that he v/ould 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, v/hen a very cold and un- 
 pleasant letter was|received from him, which read 
 as follows: 
 
 " Fellow Citizens, 
 
 T am informed that great numbers of the pri- 
 soners refuse being inoculated with the smill 
 
^53 
 
 pox, which T hear has been very mortal amoftg 
 you. I therefore acquaint you, that it w-ill 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 wc expected to have 
 been informed something relative to our speedy 
 departure, and that he had made arrangements 
 to clothe the oldest prisoners, who were so na- 
 ked, that they were unlit to be discharged. 
 
 On the nineteenth, an order arrived, informing 
 Capt. Shortland to discharge thirty men, as they 
 had been aj^plied 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. Shoitland released 
 diose three men, whom we have mentioned were 
 committed to close confinement in the cachot last 
 August, on susj.icion 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 months confined within a damp stone 
 room twenty feet square, floored with stone, and no 
 li^ht except a dim ray that gleamed through the 
 top of the gable end. They had lived on two 
 O 
 
154 
 
 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 
 inanner ; 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 farmer who lived about eight miles 
 fonir the prison, and accused him of being an 
 American prisoner, making his escape from the 
 depot ; as great numbers had lately made their 
 escape, and thinking to receive the reward, which 
 was three pounds, given by the government for 
 apprehending any prisoner making his escape frcm 
 prison \ told the farmer he must go back to the pri- 
 
155 • 
 
 son with him, and the farmer, having been onee -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 c^f 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 treated 
 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. 
 Shortland, the Jew was obliged to pay fire pounds 
 to prevent a suit. 
 
 The affair was 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 
 Had been taken under the French flag, and had 
 
156 
 
 been considered as French prisoners till they 
 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 
 from any government, since the French prisoners 
 were discharged, and had lived entirely on the 
 charity of the" other prisoners. They had been 
 prisoners four or five years. 
 
 The same letter informed us that he had taken 
 three ships at London for the conveyance of the 
 prisoners to the U. States. 
 
 The same day, a passport for four prisoners-, 
 who w^ere to be discharged, was received. 
 
 During this month many prisoners made their 
 escape, the government appearing very careless ; 
 and it was supposed this negligence was intention- 
 al, that they might escape for the purpose of im- 
 pressing, as the press was hot about this time j 
 but some fev,^ v/ere detected when passing' the 
 wall, and sentenced to the cachot for ten days, on 
 two thirds allowance, which^ stopped the esca- 
 ping for that time. 
 
 On the tw^enty-fifth, the prisoners began to be 
 impatient of such delay in the American agent, 
 as eleven days had elapsed since the arrival of 
 the ratified treaty, and nothing in readiness to dis- 
 
157» 
 
 cliarge them, no means provided, and such delay 
 too much to be borne ; their situation was such, 
 that they could not restrain their resentment 
 against such criminal neglect- as their agent was 
 guilty of; they were determined to punish him as 
 much as it lay in their power ; they therefore caus- 
 ed his effigy to be hanged on the top of one of the 
 prisons, after which it was taken down, and burnt 
 in presence of all the officers and soldiers. — 
 But I must not forget to mention the sentence of 
 the court, pronounced before his execution, and 
 his dying confession, when under the gallows. 
 $Scnlence. 
 At this trial, held at Dartmoor on the twenty- 
 fifth day of March, one thousand eight hundred 
 and fifteen, you, Reuben G. Beasley in effigy, are 
 found guilty, by an impartial and judicious jury 
 of your countrymen, upon the testimony of five 
 thousand seven hundred witnesses, of depriving 
 many hundreds of your countrymen of their lives, 
 by the most wanton and most ci'ucl deaths, by 
 nakedness, starvation, and exposure to pestilence. 
 It therefore becomes the duty of this court, as 
 ought to be the duty of every court of justice, to 
 pronounce that sentence of the law, which your 
 manifold and henious crimes so richly deserve. — 
 And it is with the dee]')est regret that 1 am com- 
 pelled to say, our country has been imposed upon, 
 O 2 
 
by a man whose crimes must cut him off from 
 among the hving. You this day must be hanged 
 by the neck on the top of the prison No. 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 v/inds, 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 forth 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 the 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 con- 
 tempt, but being fully convinced of all my past 
 
159 
 
 errors, I make this public and candid confession, 
 in hopes that 1 may find mercy in the presence of 
 a just and merciful God. I further do acknow- 
 ledge, that I have been the means of detaining 
 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 npt 
 closed till June eighteen hundred and thirteen ; I 
 likewise confess, that 1 have deprived great num- 
 bers of you of your regular turns of exchange, by 
 filling the cartels with paroled officers, who were 
 not entided to the same ; 1 must confess that had 
 I have made proper application to the British go- 
 vernment, and had I 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 oiders to 
 supply all the wants of her citizens, who were pri- 
 soners of war at that time in England ; but to my 
 shame, and 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 
 
 ■,^v.-atfti 
 
160 
 
 be procured in all England. At the same time I 
 made advances to you, prisoners, of two and a half 
 cents per day, and then represented to your coun- 
 try, the Congress of the United Stales, that I had 
 supplied all your wants by providing you a suffi- 
 cient quantity of clothing, and making you a daily 
 advance of money suitable to your wants jfo r I 
 did think that by deceiving the United States, and 
 depriving you of the necessaries of life, I should 
 in a very few years accumulate to myself a Ycry 
 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, v/ho 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 cjuite true 
 
161 
 
 That Beasley had himself been there, 
 
 And the devil burnt his Jew : 
 
 For both contriv'd 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 bcea 
 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 
 w^ere accused of marking the traitors, returned 
 to Dartmoor ; as did also the defendants who had 
 had their trial, and were acquitted. 
 
 On the twxnty-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. Tiiey 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 w^ere ma- 
 king in this country to assist the allies. The 
 very name of the Emperor, and the mention of 
 th? battle of New-Orleans, made every British 
 
162 
 
 officer and soldier turn pale, and shudder at the 
 thoUifht. 
 
 On the last day of March, I collected the exact 
 number of all prisoners at this depot, and noted as 
 follows •- 
 
 In prison No. 1 ----.,- - 1769. 
 
 In do. No. 3 972. 
 
 In do. No. 4 10.51. 
 
 In do. No. 5 958. 
 
 In do. No. 7 1263. 
 
 In different employments about the stores 3 1 . 
 
 Employed in the hospital - - - 1 9. 
 
 Patients in 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- 
 ships - - - - 2243. 
 
 Including those few mentioned, taken under the 
 French flag. 
 
 On the same day we received letters from Lon- 
 don, informing us that the ships taken for our- 
 conveyance, 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 Halifax to England. 
 
 As this is intended to be a true and faithful ac- 
 count of all the occurrences and circumstances of 
 the American captives in England, we cannot for- 
 bear mentioning some circumstances, which may 
 appear trifling and vminteresting to those wh© 
 have not felt as we have. 
 
 The weather now being mild, and the pleasant 
 season for crossing the Atlantic fast approaching, 
 ihe prisoners felt the most insufferable anxrty 
 Ibr their departure. The winds being favourable, 
 and seventeen days having elapsed smce the rati- 
 iied treaty arrived, they could not but Avait 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 w^ar, had been 
 paid at different times their prize money, and the 
 wages due for their past services in the navy. 
 
164 
 
 This day a man by the name of Bratt, who had 
 belongc j to the United States' brig Argus returned 
 to prison. This man, at the time we were at- 
 temptin.^- to make our escape by digging out, Avas 
 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 them, 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 tlie second we had information that the 
 ship Milo of Boston had arrived in England in 
 eighteen days from that port ; she was the first 
 American vessel which had reached this place 
 since the peace. 
 
 On the same day, we received a letter from Mr. 
 Beasley, which read as follows : 
 " Fellovv' Citizens, 
 
 -' From the numberless letters I receive daily, J 
 
165 
 
 find that ihe 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. 
 
 " I must also acquaint you that I am making 
 every possible despatch with the cartels for youi 
 conveyance to the United States, Avhere 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 the 
 goddess of liberty. 
 
 The prisoners that had kept shops in the pri- 
 sons for retailing small articles, such as tobacco, 
 thread, soap, coffee, sugar, &;c. now broke up, 
 and everything 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 been 
 from sixty to eighty in each prison ; at these pla- 
 P 
 
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 were very high at this time all 
 over England ; w^e could buy for a penny sterling, 
 only one small chew of tobacco, which w^as 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 m^en 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 work, 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, jj, • 
 
167 
 
 During the whole of this day the prisoners re- 
 mained without bread, and the captain of the pri- 
 son gone to Plymouth ; we vrcre 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 of 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. 
 
168 
 
 The prisoners then collected themselves into 
 companies, to consider of this very extraordinary 
 conduct in the contractor ; and after 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- 
 portunity, 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-house? 
 and supply ourselves ; and provided the garrison 
 should charge or fire upon us, to make a general 
 attack, and tak^ possession of the guard house 
 and barracks, and stand the consequences let come 
 what might. Accordingly at dark, the prisoners 
 v/ere ordered, as usual, inside the prisons to 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, iled in the ut- 
 
169 
 
 most coniiision and consternation to the main 
 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 different 
 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 receiv^e 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 
 fii-e or make a charge on them, they must abide 
 by any consequences that would follow : we told 
 them that we were confident that no such orders 
 had been issued from the government of Great 
 Britain ; we also tol J 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, &lc. then immediately came for- 
 ward and entered into this engagement, that if the 
 P 2 
 
17© 
 
 « 
 
 prisoners would retire into the 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, w^hile the attention of the guard was 
 taken up with the main body of tliem. 
 
 Those that had gone out after remaining all 
 night, came and demanded admittance into prison 
 again. This movement in the prisoners astonished 
 the natives of the moor, who left vacant their huts 
 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 
 
 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- 
 fliers ; but found all things quiet and tranquil-^ as 
 the prisoners had obtained their usual allov.ance 
 of 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, 
 ?.nd these had spread abroad and become the gene- 
 ral opinion outside of the walls, that the Amerir 
 can prisoners being detained so long since the 
 ratification had arrived, now three weeks, in v.hich 
 time Mr. Bcasley might have had all discharged, 
 and on their passage to the United States, had 
 grown impatient, and as no ships had yet saded 
 from London to receive them, their forbearance 
 was quite 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 m a body, being de- 
 termined to risque their lives at all hazards, and 
 
172 
 
 depend on their owii exertions for their liberty 
 amon^- armed soldiers, rather than remain in the 
 v/retched conJition they were then in. These 
 suspicions had gone so much abroad, that every 
 boJy about the prison was apprehensive the pri- 
 soners would make the attempt lo escape in a 
 boiy, 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 
 3u])ject 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 httle 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 treaty. 
 
 The story I am about to relate is of the deepest 
 concern, as well to every citizen of the United 
 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 in 
 
175 
 
 the most candid and impartial manner ; every tran- 
 saction whereby the intention of those acting in it 
 can be discovered, require to be shown in the 
 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 
 ovrn knowledge, that I myself was witness to: 
 then to give 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 !" 
 Though the scene is of painful memory, and my 
 sovd 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. Shordand 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 
 of mere play, without any design to escape, 
 
174 
 
 On discovering the hole, Capt. Shortland seemed 
 instantly to conceive the murderous design ; for 
 without giving the prisoners any notice to retire, 
 he planted soldiers in proper positions on the top 
 of the wall, where they could best assist in perpe- 
 trating his murderous and barbarous deeds. 
 
 A few mmvitea past six, whilp the prisoners were 
 innocently, and unapprehensive of mischief, walk- 
 ing in the prison yards, and those in No. 1, 3 & 4, 
 were particularly so, as the yards of these prisons 
 are entirely separated every way from the j^ard ift 
 which the hole in the wall had been made ; — the 
 alarm bells rung, and the drums of the garrison in 
 every direction beat to arms : this was about ten 
 minutes past six. 
 
 This sudden and unexpected alarm, excited the 
 attention of all the prisoners, who out of curiosity 
 made immediately for the gates of the prison yard, 
 to inquire the reason of the alarm. 
 
 Among so many as were in this depot, it is rea- 
 sonable to suppose that some mischievous persons 
 were among them, and among those collected at 
 the gate were some such persons who forced the 
 gates open, whether by accident or design I will 
 not attempt to say ; but without any intention of 
 making an escape, and totally unknown to every 
 man, except the few v/ho stood in front of the 
 gates : those back naturally crowded fdrward to, 
 
175 
 
 sec what was going on at the gates ; this pressed 
 and forced a number through the gates, quite con- 
 trary to the intention of either those in front or 
 those in rear. 
 
 While in this situation, Capt. Shortland entered 
 the inner square at the head of the whole body of 
 soldiers in the garrison ; as soon as they entered, 
 Capt. Shortland took sole command of the whole, 
 and immediately drew up the soldiers in a position 
 to charge. 
 
 The soldier-officers, perceiving by this move, 
 the horrid and murderous design of Capt. Short- 
 land, resigned their authority over the soldiers^ 
 and refused to take any part, or give any orders 
 ibr the troop to fire. 
 
 They saw by this time, that the terrified priso- 
 ners were retiring as fast as so great a crowd would 
 permit, and hurrying and flying in terrible flight, 
 in every direction to their respective prisons. 
 
 The troop had now advanced within three yards 
 of the prisoners, when Capt. Shortland gave them 
 orders to charge upon them ; at this time the 
 prisoners had all got within their respective prison 
 yards, and were fliying with the greatest precipi- 
 tation from the point of the bayonet ; the doors 
 now being full of the terrified crowd, they could 
 not enter as fast as they wished ; at this moment 
 of dismay, Capt. Shortland was distinctly heard 
 
176 
 
 10 give orders to the troops to fire upon the priso- 
 ners, although now completely in his power, and 
 their liv^es at his disposal, and had offered no vio- 
 lence, nor attempted to resist, and the gates all 
 closed. 
 
 The order was immediately obeyed by his sol- 
 diers, and they discharged a full volley of musketry 
 into the main body of the prisoners, on the other 
 side of the iron railings which separated the pris- 
 oners from the soldiers. 
 
 These volleys were repeated for several rounds, 
 and the prisoners falling, either dead or wounded, 
 in all directions, while it was yet impossible for 
 ^hem to enter the prison, on account of the num- 
 bers that flew there for refuge from the rage of the 
 blood-thirsty murderer. 
 
 In the midst of this horrid slaughter, one man 
 among the rear prisoners, with great p^'esence of 
 mind and the most undaunted courage, turned and 
 advanced to the soldiers, amidst the fire of hun- 
 dreds, and while his fellow-prisoners were falling 
 all around him, and in a humble and suppliant 
 manner, with his hat in his hand, this resolute soul, 
 in the face of danger and death, implored mercy 
 of Captain Shortland to spare his countrymen ; 
 O '. spare my countrymen ! he cried ; O ! Captain 
 f'Tbear, dont kill us all! — To this supplication, 
 this cruel, inexorable Shortland replied — Retire, 
 
177 
 
 fon damned rascal : I'll hear to nothing ! The soU 
 diers then pricked him with their bayonets, which 
 oompelled him to retreat to the prison-door, where 
 he must wait his doom with the other unfortunate 
 prisoners, till the soldiers, who had now entered 
 the different prison yards, and were pursuing and 
 firing, should despatch him with the rest. 
 
 To do justice to the merits of this young man, 
 I must inform the public that his name is Green- 
 low, of Virginia, and late a midshipman in the U. 
 States navy, but now a prisoner of the crew of the 
 privateer Prince of Ncufchattel. 
 
 The soldiers now advanced, making a general 
 massacre of men and boys, whom accidents or 
 impossibility had left without the doors of the 
 prison ; they advanced near to the crowded doors, 
 and instantly discharged another volley of mus- 
 ketry on the backs of those farthest out, endea- 
 vouring to force their passage into the prison. 
 
 This barbarous act was repeated in the presence 
 of this inhuman monster, Shortland — and the priso- 
 ners fell, either dead or severely wounded, in all 
 directions before his savage sight. 
 
 But his vengeance was not glutted by the cruel 
 murder of the innocent men and boys, that lay 
 weltering and bleeding in the groans and agonies 
 of death along the prison-doors, but turned and 
 ■traversed the yard, and hunted a poor affrighted 
 
 Q 
 
178 
 
 vretch, that had flew for safety close under the 
 walls of prison No. 1, and dared not move lest he 
 should be discovered, and immediate death be his 
 lot. 
 
 But alas ! the unhappy man was discovered by 
 these hell-hounds, with this deamon at their head, 
 and with cool and deliberate malice, drew up their 
 muskets to their shoulders and despatched the un- 
 happy victim, while in the act of imploring mercy 
 from their hands. His only crime was not being 
 able to get into the prison without being shot be- 
 fore. 
 
 In the yard of No. seven, they found in their 
 hunt, another hajoless victim, crouching close along 
 the wall at the far end of the yard, and fearing to 
 breathe, lest he should share the fate of his unfor- 
 tunate countrymen that had already fallen a sacri- 
 fice to the rage of this lawless banditti ; when O ! 
 cruel to relate, five of them drew up the instru- 
 ments of death, and by the order of this fell mur- 
 derer, discharged their contents into the body of 
 this innocent man, while begging them to spare his 
 life ! 
 
 This Mero^ now having accomplished his mur- 
 derous designs, retired with his troops from the 
 yard, and left it a horrid scene of his relentlesf^ 
 rasfo. ! 
 
179 
 
 The dead and the wounded lay scattered about 
 the yard ; seven were killed dead on the spot, and 
 six with the loss of a leg or an arm, and dange- 
 rously wounded : several were pronounced mortal. 
 The names of every man. either killed or wound- 
 ed, will be given in the catalogue annexed. 
 
 As it was much feared the murderers would en- 
 deavour to conceal many of the dead, Dr. M'Grath, 
 head surgeon of the Hospital, an honest skil- 
 ful man, entered immediately after Shortland re- 
 tired, and exerted his utmost ability in collecting 
 the dead and wounded from the several prison 
 yards, and conveying them to the Hospital. 
 
 At the same time, he sent to the neighbouring 
 towns to call in the aid of medical gentlemen that 
 resided there ; he also demanded admittance into 
 the prisons, which were now closed, to receive the 
 dead and wounded that had reached the inside of 
 the prison. 
 
 A despatch was inamediately sent to Plymouth^ 
 to inform the Admiral and Commodore, and the 
 Commander in Chief of the Military Department, 
 of the fatal sixth of April ^ one thousand eight hurt' 
 dred andf/teen^ which day must be of horrid mem- 
 ory to every American, whose mind will revolt with 
 indignity at the name of SHORTLAND and the 
 MASSACRE AT DARTMOOR ! I. 
 
180 
 
 Bhoriland ! thou foul monster and inhuman vi^ 
 lain ! is thy soul glutted with the blood of the in- 
 nocent victims, that fate had doomed to thy re- 
 vengeful and blood-thirsty power ? I appeal to the 
 world to say, whether the conduct of Warren Has- 
 tings, whether the massacre of St. Domingo, caa 
 exceed the horrid catastrophe of this ill-fated 
 nrght, conducted under the immediate inspection 
 of your murderous eye ? and should the laws of 
 your country not doom you to a death of the 
 most severe nature, as a publick example for your 
 well known crimes, your whole nation is involved 
 as a black accomplice in your monstrous guilt ; 
 and the bloodof my unfortunate countrymen, shed 
 by your base hand, must ever remain a stain to the 
 character of your nation. 
 
 Tell me, ye bloody butchers ! and thou wh© 
 contrived, as well as ye who executed the execra- 
 ble design, how dare ye breathe that air, which 
 wafted to the ear of Majesty the groans of the 
 wounded and the dying ? How dare ye tread that 
 earth, which is wet with the blood of the innocent, 
 shed by your accursed hands ? Do not the goads 
 and stings of conscious guilt wound you in your 
 daily w^alks ? Do not the ghosts of the murdered 
 rise before you in your nightly dreams ? 
 
 On the morning of the seventh, by order of tlie 
 commander in chief at Plymouth, a Celoncl, with a 
 
181 
 
 reinforcement of troops, arrived, and took com- 
 mand of the depot. Immediately on his arrival, 
 he sent notice to the prisoners of his taking the 
 command, and that Capt. Shortland wished the 
 prisoners to appoint some few men to receive the 
 explanation of his last night's conduct ; but we 
 unanimously agreed, and despatched a letter to the 
 colonel, acquainting him,that as citizens of the Uni- 
 ted States of America, we should conceive it a dis- 
 grace to the national character of our country, to 
 hold any communication with the murderer of our 
 fellow citizens. But provided the Colonel should 
 require any conference with the prisoners, they 
 should at any time with pleasure attend, and ex- 
 plain the nature of £very past event. 
 
 The colonel requesting a conference, came to the 
 gate attended by the guilty Shortland, who could 
 not now disguise the guilt of his crime ; he could 
 not look a prisoner in the face ; as he walked along 
 towards the prison bars with his eyes fixed on the 
 ground, and as he came to the spot where a few 
 hours before lay one of our murdered countrymen, 
 he saw the blood, and faintly attempted to speak, 
 but the monitor of Heaven was not quite over- 
 eo!nc by the powers of Hell, and he could not ut- 
 ter a word. After several efforts, he hesitatingly 
 attempted to justify his conduct, by saying it was 
 a part of his duty, which was grounded on the 
 Q 2 
 
182 
 
 lear he had of the prisoners making an attempt 
 to escape, and imputed part of the fauk to Mr. 
 Beasley, in driving the prisoners to a state of des- 
 peration by his great delay of sending thena 
 home. 
 
 The Colonel very patiently heard the stories of 
 both parties, and promised a jury of inquest should 
 be held over the bodies of our departed country- 
 men the next day,and a strict investigation of every 
 circumstance of the event had according to evi- 
 dence. 
 
 At nine o'clock, we hoisted the colours half- 
 mast on every prison ; we then visited the hospi- 
 tal, but the spectacle was painful indeed, and 
 enough to freeze the blood of the most hardened 
 , parricide ; the tables were covered with the am- 
 putated legs and arms of our fellow prisoners, and 
 our ears stunned with the groans of forty-tvv'o 
 wounded in a most shocking manner, and seven 
 lay dead as solemn witnesses of the horrid act. 
 
 We then returned to the prisons and appointed 
 a committee of ten to take depositions of a great 
 number of persons who were best acquainted with 
 the particular facts. The committee being seve- 
 rally sworn, proceeded to make all possible in- 
 (\mvy into the circumstanc.es of the massacre, and 
 prepare every testimony to lay before the jury, 
 which were to sit over the bodies the next day. 
 
183 
 
 At two in the afternoon arrived an Admiral and 
 another officer of high rank in his Majesty's na- 
 vy, and after introducing themselves to the pri- 
 soners, in a very friendly and feeling manner, ex- 
 pressed their extreme regret for the horrid and 
 barbarous act of Capt, Shortland, and informed 
 us that they had come clothed with proper autho- 
 rity to make inquiry into the conduct of Capt. 
 Shortland in the late unhappy event, and his con- 
 duct during his agency at the prison. They as- 
 sured us, that he would be called to an account by 
 the government, and that a fair investigation 
 should be had of all his conduct. 
 
 I have omitted to mention a circumstance which 
 occurred during the dreadful scene of the night. 
 A lamp-lighter, who was in the act of lighting the 
 lamp at the door of prison No. 3, in which I my- 
 self resided, being compelled to take refuge 
 among the prisoners, was forced by the hurrying 
 group into the prison. He belonged to the same 
 reo;iment of soldiers who were that moment com- 
 mitting these most horrid outrages. He was imme- 
 diately seized by the prisoners, and conveyed to a 
 particular part of the prison, and the prisoners 
 being in the most enraged state, it was immedi- 
 ately proposed to put him to death, and sacrifice 
 him to our resentment, as a just retaliation of cur 
 injury 5 but on cool deliberation and debate 
 
184 
 
 -throughout the prison, it was thought better to 
 spare him ; and to the pleasing astonishineni of 
 this man, half dead with fear, he was told to rest 
 easy, for his life should not be taken, but he should 
 be preserved, that the whole world might distin- 
 guish the difference of humanity between unpro- 
 voked British soldiers, and the injured and f)ro- 
 voked American seamen ; accordingly, when the 
 doors were opened to take out the wounded, the 
 man was released, which astonished and confound- 
 ed the whole soldiery, who felt the force of the re- 
 proach with the keenest remorse, and were com- 
 pelled to express the highest respect for this 
 generous revenge. 
 
 The following is a correct list of killed and zoound- 
 ed on the 6th of April^ 1815, and contains a 
 true statement of their condition at \2 o"^ clock 
 on the Sth day of the same month. 
 Killed, 
 John Haywood, black, Virginia, discharged ; the 
 ball entered a little posterior to the acromion 
 of the left shoulder, and passed obliquely up^ 
 wards ; made about the middle of the right side 
 its egress of the neck. 
 Thomas Jackson, N. Y. Orbit of N. Y. the ball 
 entered the left side of the belly nearly in a line 
 with the navel, and made its egress a little be- 
 low the false ribs in the opposite side ; a large 
 
185 
 
 portion of the intestinal canal protruded 
 through the wound made by the ingress of the 
 ball. He languished until 3 o'clock of the 7th, 
 when he died. 
 
 John Washington, Maryland, Rolla privateer ; 
 the ball entered at the squamore process of 
 the left temporal bone, and passing through the 
 head, made its exit a little below the cruceal 
 ridge of the occipital bone. 
 
 James Mann, Boston, Giro; the ball entered at 
 the inferior angle of the left scapula, and lodg- 
 ed under the integument of the right pectoral 
 muscle. In its course it passed through the 
 inferior margin of the rio^ht and left lobes of the 
 lungs. 
 
 Joseph Toker Johnson, not known ; the ball en- 
 tered at the inferior angle of the left scapula, 
 penetrated the heart, and passing through both 
 lobes of the lungs, made its egress at the right 
 axilla. 
 
 William Leverage, N. Y. Saratoga : the ball en- 
 tered about the middle of the left arm, through 
 which It passed, and penetrating the corres- 
 ponding side, betwixt the second and third ribs, 
 passing through the left lobe of the lungs, the 
 mediartenum, and over the right lobe, lodged 
 betwixt the fifth and sixth ribs. 
 
 James Campbell, N. V, discharged ; the ball ea? 
 
186 
 
 tered at the outer angle of the right eye, and 
 in its course fractured and depressed the great- 
 er part of the frontal bone, fracttired the nasal 
 bones, and made its egress above the orbital 
 ridge of the left eye. He languished until the 
 morning of the 8th, when he died. 
 
 Dangerously wounded, and limbs amputaUd immt' 
 diately, on the night of the sixth, 
 
 John Gray, Virginia, prize to the Paul Jones, left 
 arm. 
 
 James Wills, Marblehead, Paul Jones, left arm. 
 
 James Trumbull,Portland,Mame, Elbridge Gerry, 
 left arm. 
 
 Robert Willet, Portland, Maine, left thigh. 
 
 Tiiomas Smith, New- York, Paul Jones, left thigh. 
 
 John Gier, Boston, Rambler, left thigh. 
 
 Wm. Leversage, N. York, Magdalen, right thumb. 
 
 Dangerously zvou?ided, limbs not amputated 
 
 on the Sth, 
 
 Thomas Findley, Marblehead, Enterprise, wound- 
 ed in the thigh and back. 
 
 Ephraim Linson. 
 
 John Hogerberth, Philadelphia, Good Friends, of 
 do. thigh and hip. 
 
 William Blake, Kennebeck, discharged, M. W. 
 three wounds in the body. 
 
 Peter Vfilson, New- York, Virginia Planter, in the 
 hand. 
 
187 
 
 James Israel, do. do. thigh. 
 
 Jacob Davis, do. do. thigh. 
 
 Caleb Cottoo, Taunton, Mass. M. W. two place? 
 in the boJy. 
 
 John Roberts, do. do. thigh. 
 
 Joseph Phipps, OU Concord, Zebra, thigh and 
 belly. 
 
 William Lamb, do. do. eyes. 
 
 Edward Gardner, Marblehead, impressed, in the 
 wrist. 
 
 William Appleby, N. York, Magdelen, arm. 
 
 James Bell, Philadelphia, Joel Barlow, wrist and 
 thigh. 
 
 Philip Ford, Philadelphia, impressed, five wounds, 
 side, breast, back, and thigh. 
 
 Jam.es Birch, thigh. 
 
 Henry Montcalm, Roxbury, Mass. Governor Tom- 
 kins, knee. 
 
 Andrew Garrison, tliigh and head. 
 
 Robert Tadley, Bath, Maine, Grand Turk, pri- 
 vates. 
 
 William Penn, Virginia, impressed, thigh. 
 
 Joseph Reugli, thigh. 
 
 Ta iddeus Hov/ard, Rochester, Mass. Hart of Bed- 
 ford, leg. 
 
 Edward Banker, Portsmouth, K. H. impressed, 
 back. 
 
188 
 
 Thomas George, Norfolk, Virginia, U. S. Rattle- 
 Snake, thigh. 
 Alexander Wilson, Providence, R. I. Leo, hand 
 
 and leg. 
 John Surrey, N. Y. French privateer, cheek. 
 Nathaniel Wakeneld, Beverly, Mass. Giro, right 
 
 knee. 
 Samuel E. Tyler, Boston, Tom, thigh and arm. 
 Joseph Reaver, Salem, Mass. legs and thighs. 
 Stephen S. Vincent, New-Jersey, head and ears. 
 James Christie, Tickler, different places. 
 William Smith, New-York. 
 Robert Willet, Portland, man of war, knee. 
 Slightly wounded, 
 Greenlovr, Virginia, different places. 
 Ephraim Lincoln, Boston, Argus, by the bayonet. 
 James Newman, Baltimore, impressed, by the 
 
 bayonet. 
 Alexander Peterson, N. York, Erin, Boston, by 
 
 the bayonet. 
 Joseph Music, Charleston, S. C. impressed, by 
 
 the bayonet. 
 John Willet, Philadelphia, by the bayonet. 
 Joseph Hindil, Philadelphia, Young Wasp, in the 
 
 h-nd. 
 Perry Richardson, Bath, Maine, Rolla, by the 
 
 h-xyonet. 
 John Cowen» Teezer, by the bayonet. 
 
189 
 
 Jairies Barker, Wiscasset, Elbridge Gerry, ^by the 
 
 bayonet. 
 James Wedgewood, Porlsmouth, N. H. Lark. 
 
 in the head. 
 James Mathews, Delaware, by the bayonet, 
 John P^Iurray, New- York, by the bayonet. 
 William Marshal, Lawrence, by the bayonet. 
 Thomas Johnson, Albany, Criterion, by the bayo- 
 net. 
 
 The list of killed and wounded contains all that 
 could be ascertained at that time, but great sus- 
 picions remained among the prisoners that more 
 liad been killed, than were certainly known, as 
 some were missing, and not to be found among 
 the living, or the dead ; it was sup])osed that 
 these had been killed, and being mangled in a 
 most shocking manner, were privately taken away 
 by Capt. Shortland, and buried that night, before 
 doctor Magrath entered the yard, and a re])ort 
 prevailed that* he had done it: as great numters 
 who were slightly wounded did not go to the hos- 
 pital, I, to ascertam^the exact number of killed and 
 wounded, took the list of those in the hospital, 
 from the doctor's books, and every prison muster- 
 ed all those that refused going to the hospital, by 
 which means the list can be depended on as strict- 
 ly correct. 
 
 R 
 
190 
 
 1 
 
 At twelve o'clock, 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 yefe 
 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, &zc. 
 
 The summary of the evidence I shall give pre- 
 sently ; but I must here digress a little to give 
 some 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, v/ho had applied to be re- 
 ieaNed to man ships in different parts of Europe. 
 During the eighth and ninth, the prisoners made 
 every inquiry in their power to learn whether 
 any were missing, who were not included among 
 the dead, wounded, or discharged; but nothing 
 sUtisfactory could be obtained, but only a report 
 
191 
 
 that alter 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 fear 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 
 Hames have been already mentioned, the number 
 of which «fefiSffiw^itu at ion, 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 w^ounds 
 apiece from the bayonet. Hundreds of the pris- 
 oners very narrowly escaped, having received 
 several shots through the hats and clothes. 
 
192 
 
 We have just discovered that the soldiers here 
 at present are the Somersetshire mihtia ; and 
 the garrison consists of fifteen-hundred soldiers of 
 different military classes. 
 
 On the evening of the ninth, the inquest, consis- 
 ting of twelve peasants, dependants of Capt. Short- 
 Ian J, delivered in this most extraordinary and un- 
 just verdict, of Justifiable Homicide ; such a ver- 
 dict astonished every person, who was not parti- 
 ceps criminis» This verdict seems to have been 
 ..given against evidence ; a summary of which on 
 both sides I shall nov/ 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 unknowm to m.ore 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 w^all. It was proved that the gates 
 were broken open by a man in the state of intoxica- 
 tion, and unknown to tlie piisoncrs, and that wheJi 
 broken open it was in the power of the sentery to 
 have taken the offender and confined him without 
 any resistance of the prisoners. It was also pro- 
 ved that they came running to the gate out of ca- 
 
1^3 
 
 riositr, to learn the occasion of the alarm bells 
 ringing : that the few persons (who were not above 
 fifty,) flocked into the s(|uarc, w^ere 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 command 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 t;ic prison, 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 
 hod got into the prisons, except some few, being 
 frightened, and not able to get into the prisons, 
 ran for refuge close to tlie 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 
 
194 
 
 Capt. Shortland answered, " retire, you damned 
 rascal. Fll hear to nothing." Ii was proved that 
 he ti^rnkeys, contrary to the invariable custom, 
 had been in and 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 doors 
 secretly locked, which much surprised the few 
 that happened to see the doors locked, but did not 
 suspect any mischief was about to be done; that 
 this Vv^as done some time before tlic usual hour foi* 
 turning in. Also, that Capt. Shortland actually 
 took hold of a musket with his own hands in con- 
 junction with a soldier, and fired the first gun. 
 That the soldier-ofFicers were unwilling to give 
 any orders to the soldiers, or take ary active part- 
 in the proceedings. 
 
 From the summary of the evidence above given, 
 on the part of the prisoners, it must appear evi- 
 dent to every impartial reader, that Capt. Short- 
 land made the attack with malice pi-epense. But 
 • to give the public the fairest opportunity to judge. 
 I shall give a summary of the evidence on the 
 part of Capt. Shortland, v/hich came all from the 
 mouth of witnesses particeps criminis, and acting 
 with him. Those consisted of clerks, turnkeys, 
 
195 
 
 and soldiers, who had been the very instruments 
 of the massacre. They deposed and said, that 
 the prisoners were in a state of mutiny, and tliat 
 great numbers had threatened to escape by for- 
 cing through the walls, and that the hole in the 
 wall was big enough for a man to pass through ; 
 that the lock on the gate was broke by some pri- 
 soner, and that 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 fj'om 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 attend to see the last sad office, which 
 one friend can perform for another in giving the 
 grave its due. O - Britannia 5 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, has found. Deny the dead'tfeeir 
 sacred due ! 
 
 Thou ingrate race, is this the reward due to 
 men who have laboured many years thy faithful 
 servant, and now after having dragged out a paiHi' 
 
i9a 
 
 fal imprisonment for two years, ajid the momeftt 
 the hope of returning had rekindled the sparks off 
 life, must be massacred in a most barbarous man- 
 ner, and denied the right of the grave ? 
 
 I must here relate one instance which 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 liere by the French prisoners, 
 whicn I was this evening perusing, I find the 
 following remarlcabie circumstance of cruelty re- 
 lated, v/n;ch took place during their confinement. 
 
 Captain Cotgrave being ai/eiit, and Dr. Decker 
 head surgeon of the Hospital, m 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 ofi' more than eight hundred. 
 
 This unfeeling man. Dr. Decker, caused the 
 coffins to be brought into the rooms of the Hospi- 
 t:il, to receive the bodies : where they often re- 
 mained several days in readiness to receive tlie 
 unhappy man fast approaching the end of all his 
 sufferings. 
 
 It is said in the manuscript, that this w^orse than 
 barbarian, would gaze with the greatest satisfac- 
 tion on the surrounding victims, that he might dis " 
 
197 
 
 eover from the very inmost recesses of the heart, 
 what effect the appearance of these coiTins had on 
 their exhausted spirits. 
 
 However unfeehng this might be, yet their lot 
 was envied by hundreds cf 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 sulTerings would have moved the 
 heart even of a cannibal, and it is a solitary in- 
 btance 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 ago- 
 nies of death, as did this man often in saying the 
 more deaths the fewer enemies. 
 
 Another circumstance is related in the same ma- 
 nuscript, in which Capt. Isaac Cotgrave was the 
 principal 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 ihejn : 
 
198 
 
 numbers were wounded, but none killed ; they ilieu 
 hastily retired into the prison. 
 
 Capt. Cotgravc, 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 lAan 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 places ; 
 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 monumeiit 
 of their cruelty. 
 
199 
 
 THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF 
 PRISOJ^ERS, 
 
 Wc, 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 
 ''vening, when the prisoners were all quiet in their 
 respective yards, it being about the usual 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 
 
 This, of course, occasioned considerable alarm 
 among them. In this moment of uncertainty, they 
 were running in different 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 inito 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 directions towards their respective pris- 
 ons. It appears there was some hesitation in the 
 minds of the officers, vrhether or not it was proper 
 to fire upon the prisoners in that 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 
 v/ere either killed or wounded. The remainder 
 were endeavouring to get into the prisons, when 
 p-oinp- towards the lov/er doors, the soldiers on the 
 walls commenced firing on them from that quarter, 
 which kilkd some and wounded others. After 
 much difticulty, [all the doors being closed in the 
 
201 
 
 entrance, but one in each prison] the snrvivort 
 succeeded in gaining the prisons ; immediately af- 
 ter which, parties of soldiers came to tlie doors of 
 Nos. 3 and 4 prisons, and fired several vollies 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 see in the yards en- 
 deavouring to get in the prison, when their num- 
 bers were very few, and when not the least shadow 
 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 were marching in from the Square ; 
 they immediately went up and fired into the same, 
 which wounded several ; one of the prisoners ran 
 
 S 
 
202 
 
 ®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- 
 lain Shortland, for reasons which we will now pro- 
 ceed to give — as an illiicidation 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 Vt as 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 serv^ed with 
 their bread, and quietly returned to their prison. 
 This circumstance, with the censures that were 
 
I 
 
 203 
 
 thrown on his conduct, reached the ears of Short- 
 land on his return home, and he must then have de- 
 termined on the diabohcal plan of seizing the first 
 shght pretext to turn in the military, to butcher 
 the prisoners lor the gratification of his malice and 
 revenge. It unibrtunately happened, that in the 
 ;\fternoon of the 6th of A|)rll, 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 aftbrdcd Shortland his wished for pretext, 
 and he took his measures accordingly ; he had all 
 the garrison drawn up in the military vvalk, 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, to 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 w^cight to the belief of its 
 being a premeditated, determined massacre, are, 
 
 First — The sanguinary disposition manifested 
 on evciT occasion by Shortland, he having, prior 
 
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 
 ©f a light being seen in the [>risons ; which barba- 
 rous act was repeated several nights successively. 
 That murder was not then committed, was owing 
 to an over-ruling Providence 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 upon 
 the prisoners in the yard of No. 7 prison, because- 
 they would not deliver up to him a man w^ho 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 — He 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, 
 ^' Pll fix the damrCd rascals directly .'''' 
 
 Thirdly — His having all the soldiers on their 
 posts, and the garrison fully prepared before the 
 
20^ 
 
 alarm bell rung. It could not then, of course, bt 
 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 — The 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!" 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* 
 ners had to pass in gaining the prisons. 
 
 S 2 
 
S06 
 
 We here solemnly aver, that there was no pre- 
 concerted plan to attempt breakmg 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 we 
 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 slightly do. Total, sixty- 
 ievcn killed and wounded. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 WU. B. ORNE. 
 WM. HOBART, 
 JAMES BOGGS, 
 JAMES ADAMS, 
 FRANCIS JOSEPH, 
 JOHN F. TROBRIDGE, 
 JOHN RUST, 
 HENRY ALLEN, 
 WALTER COLTON, 
 THOMAS B. MOTT, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Bartmoor Prison, April 7 tk. 1815. 
 
207 
 
 i» 
 The same day Mr. Ingraham came to the prison 
 
 and informed the prisoners, that he had come for 
 
 the purpose of shipping a number of men, to maa 
 
 ships now lying in different ports in Europe ; he 
 
 also informed us, thnt he had been appointed agent, 
 
 under the consular agent of the United States • 
 
 '■nd that every preparation was making for the 
 
 .mmediate release of every prisoner, and we might 
 
 be assured of the immediate arrival of the ships 
 
 trom London to convey us to the United States. 
 
 On the tenth, a number were discharged to man 
 different ships in Europe ; this day arrangements 
 were made by the prisoners, fcr tl e assistriice Cind 
 relief of our wounded countrymen in the llojiital, 
 and also an arrangement for the prisoners to wear 
 rrape 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 were paid every at- 
 tention, for their comfort and speedy recovery, by 
 Doctor Magrath. 
 
 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 nevv- 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 
 
208 
 
 it was the case ; every day's delay made more 
 confusion and anxiety among the prisoners. The 
 weather 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 
 
209 
 
 
 # 
 
 prisoners then in each prison, which I shall give 
 
 as follows : 
 
 
 Prison No. 1 , contained 
 
 1290 
 
 3, - - - - 
 
 952 
 
 4, ... - 
 
 978 
 
 6, - - - - 
 
 938 
 
 7, - . . - 
 
 1248 
 
 fn different employments about the 
 
 
 stores and hospital, 
 
 - 29 
 
 Patients in the hospital, 
 
 107 
 
 Total number of unparoled prison- 
 
 
 ers in England, 
 
 5542 
 
 In visiting the hospitals, I found the wounded 
 jerisoners fast recovering, all in high spirits, the 
 prison generally more healthy than it had been 
 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 such 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 readiness 
 to deliver up every article, which we had receiv- 
 ed from the British Government ; such as beds, 
 hammocks, blankets, &c, &:c. These articles had 
 been in our possession, and in constant use ever 
 since the second of April, 1813, and had never 
 been changed j we felt but little reluctance in de- 
 
210 
 
 » 
 
 iivering them up, when aQiniated with the idea of 
 once more revisiting our nat:\ c country, and leav- 
 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 uhich 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 affray, 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 grazed his 
 clerk ; upon tms 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 account was equally base and false, as the 
 act was cruel and murderous ; but the mention of 
 twelve killed, confirmed the prisoners in their be- 
 icf that this number had been killed, and the five. 
 
211 
 
 which •^^'ere not to be found, Avcre secretly buried 
 by Capt. Shortland that night, and that he, in the 
 guilty and confused state of his mind, had given 
 an account of twelve, instead 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, 
 -oon grow hardened and forget them. But could 
 iliis 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 large white 
 (lag, and as a memento, had, in the middle of rt, 
 the representation of a tomb, with the Goddess of 
 Liberty leaning on it, and a murdered sailor 1\ ing 
 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 England, for the jiurpose of manning 
 ships in different ports. We had no news from 
 
211 
 
 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 v/ith im- 
 patience and 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 behef ; 
 and I can assure them of eight cartels being al- 
 ready taken up for their conveyance to the Uni- 
 ted iStates. And with regret I hear from officers 
 who were sent to inquire into the shameful con- 
 duct of the sixth of April, that the extravagant 
 excess of the prisoners was partly occasioned by 
 their censuring the U. States and myself I" 
 
 Mr. Beasley had, no doubt, been informed of 
 what he v/ rote, but it was not the fact, for his infor- 
 mation, no doubt, came from the two officers who 
 were here, the Admiral and his associate ; but no 
 such conversation took place in their hearing 
 which rmmbers of the most respectable prisoners 
 can testify, and no such idea had been entertained 
 by any prisoner in the prison. These officers in 
 
21B 
 
 tended that Mr. Beasley should bear all the 
 blame. God knows his conduct was blameable 
 enough throughout ; but to do him justice, he had 
 no blame in the murderous act of the fatal sixth 
 of April. His eliigy had been burnt on the 24th 
 of March, and all animosity had been dissipated 
 with the ashes of his eliigy, and his name seemed 
 to be forgotten, for it was scarcely ever mention- 
 ed. Mr. Beasley had had every particular of the 
 event, before his interview with the OiTicers, 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 line for this place, but 
 this morning the moor as far as the eye could 
 reach, was covered with snow, and continued to 
 snow all day, and the weather very cold. 
 
 On the sixteenth we received letters from Lou- 
 don, from many of our fellow citizens, who had 
 received passports and left the prisoa since the 
 f'tal sixth of April •, on their arrival in London, 
 iliey were taken before ihe lord mayor of that city 
 rfud their depositions taken relative to the massacre 
 of the sixth, which was to the same purpoit as be- 
 fore the committee. On the same day, Col. Haw- 
 ker, formerly consular agent, under the American 
 consul at London, visited the prison for the pur- 
 pose of shipping seamen to man ships at Plymouth* 
 T 
 
214 
 
 bound to New-Orleans. In this way the pri- 
 soners were daily diminishing in number, as any 
 one might obtain a passport who could procure a 
 friend to make application for their release, and 
 informing Mr. Beasley that they required no assis- 
 tance from him to convey them to the United 
 States. In obtaining a passport in this way from 
 Capt. Shortland, they needed no other protection 
 in this country. 
 
 This day a man was committed to the cachot 
 for drawing money from Col. Hawker in an as- 
 sumed name. The colonel was determined to 
 have him brought to condign punishment: this man 
 the next day was taken out of the cachot and con- 
 veyed to Exeter, to be tried at the next August 
 assizes. 
 
 On visiting the hospital, I found the v/ounded 
 r id the sick fast recovering, and had every atten- 
 tion paid them by Dr. Magrath, for their health 
 and comfort, that his rcsoui'ces would allovr. 
 
 On the seventeenth, a black man belonging to 
 No. 4 was found dead in his hammock. On this 
 day we received another letter from Mr. Beasley, 
 which informed us that those oflicers that had visi- 
 ted the prison by order of the British government, 
 had represented the conduct of the prisoners on 
 the sixth of April, in a very unfavourable light, 
 hut having received a correct statement from the 
 
215 
 
 prison, and a general summary of the evidence ou 
 both sides as delivered in to the jury of inquest j 
 he now apologized for his last letter. 
 
 On the nineteenth, at four o'clock in the after- 
 noon, an express arrived informing Capt. Short- 
 land that one cartel had arrived at Plymouth, and 
 ordered him immediately to remove two-hundred 
 and forty-nine prisoners from this depot to that 
 place, for embarking on board the ship. At five 
 in tlie aftenioon, the whole draft w^as collected in 
 the square, with all their baggage. This was the 
 first draft of prisoners that had entered the prison 
 after thc^ declaration of war, and had been im- 
 mured within these gloomy walls more than two 
 long and tedious years. They were then infor- 
 med that one baggage v/agon would be allowed 
 to every hundred men, for the conveyance of their 
 baggage to Plymouth. 
 
 The ])risoners being the greater part bare- 
 footed, made inquiry whether any arrangement 
 had been made by Mr. Beasley for providing 
 the;n with shoes and clothes, as they were much 
 in vrant of them; but were much surprised and 
 disappointed when they found no provision had 
 been made. The money due from government 
 had run over the usual time of payment, now twen- 
 ty-five days, although application had previously 
 been made for the payment of the daily allowance, 
 ^rA also, the other articles, both by the prisoners 
 
210 
 
 and Capt. Shortland himself; but Mr. Beasley stiU 
 neglected to make any arrangement for either. 
 
 At six every prisoner''s name was called, and 
 they committed together Vvith 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 ; T therefore 
 leave to the imagination of the reader, what emo- 
 tions the heart must feel, when a change which 
 promised every endearment of life to them, and 
 freed them from every evil of it, was about 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. 
 
 The next morning we took our departure for 
 Plymouth, and v/ith 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- 
 manded by Capt. Dirkes ; we found some few of 
 ©ur countrymen who had been on parole, on board 
 the ship. 
 
 It was now just forty days since the arrival ol 
 the ratified treaty in ii*iigidnJ» 
 
217 
 
 The next clay eight of the prisoners left the car- 
 tel to join a brig under French colours bound for 
 France. 
 
 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- 
 vernmenlSj 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 wc set sail Mr. Williams informed us that 
 he was instructed by Mr. Beasley to take down all 
 the particulars of the investigation, 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, wliich 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, 
 would not be paid by Mr. Beasley, nor would any 
 provision be made by him for shoes or clothing, 
 but that the prisoners must go home as they were. 
 T 2 
 
218 
 
 On the twentv-tbird, the wind being favourable, 
 wc ^ove short, and made preparations forsa-'ling. 
 
 On musterins; the prisoners, we found their num- ' 
 ber amounted to two hundred and sixty-three ; this 
 increase of number was by officers paroled at Ash- 
 burton. 
 
 At three in the afternoon, we left the port of 
 Plymouth, with a fresh and favourable wind. 
 
 We had left behind at Dartmoor five thousand 
 ®ne hundred and ninety three of our fellow priso- 
 ners, 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- 
 'bark immediately for the United States. Alter 
 leaving Plymouth we found the provisions under 
 the 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 
 pound of salt beef, one pound of bread, half a 
 pound of potatoes a day ; 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- 
 |;ar a week. 
 
 Mr. Beasley had made arrangements for each 
 prisoner to have a small bed and blanket ; the 
 cartel was equipped according to custom, with 
 great ^uus and small arms. 
 
219 
 
 A Physician had been appointed with a suffi- 
 cient quantity of medicine to serve during the pas- 
 sage. 
 
 One part of the ship was allotted to the sicI^'5 
 where every attention was paid them by their 
 Gountrymen for their comfort and conveiiicnce. 
 
 During the residue of the month nothing mate- 
 rial occurred ; the cartel quite healthy, only {ive 
 ca,^es of sick, and them not very dangerous ; the 
 month ended uith winds, light and unfavourable. 
 
 On the first of Miiy we were in lat. 45° North, 
 and longitude 23° 4 1 ' "IVest. On the second, being 
 in long. 24°, we spoiic a brig from London bound 
 to vQucbec. 
 
 From the first to the fourteenth the winds were 
 fi om N. W. to S. W. and the cartel kept betweeiit 
 the latitudes of 42° and 44° North. 
 
 Some few sick, but not dangerously. On thi^ 
 d-^-y we discovered a sail on our weather beam, 
 standing to the eastward ; at 2 P. M. she bore up 
 P aiid stood for the cartel, with a Britibh flag flying j 
 ' at four we spoke her in lat. 42, and long. 38. 
 She proved to be a British transport with a num- 
 ber of troops from Mobile, bound to England, and 
 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 
 board the cartel and remained for an hour, and theR 
 
220 
 
 r^tu'^ne'^ to the transport, and each ship marie sail 
 for their lestmed places. 
 
 The winds still continued the same way the 
 twenty-eighth. This day, Sunday, we fell in with 
 several large islands of Ice, lat. AS° ; on the same 
 day, lat. 42'-' loner. 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 AVest, we spoke a brig I'rom 
 Portland four days out, bound to Surinam. 
 
 Cartel perfectly healthy with the exception of 
 ©nr man very low in a consumption. 
 
 On the first of June, lat. 40, 60, long. 64, spoke 
 tie ship Helvitius of Philadelphia, bound home, 
 after remaining during the whole war up the east 
 country. On the second of June, lat. 40, 35. 
 long. 69, the majority of the prisoners agreed to 
 take possession of the cartel, and run her into 
 New- York, for the following reasons : the ship be- 
 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- 
 ance of a gale from the S. VV. and the weather 
 thick and hazy ; thirdly, the port of N. York be- 
 ing the most convenient for the greater part of 
 the prisoners 5 for which reasons, at twelve meri- 
 dian, by the general voice of all on board, the 
 eommaad was taken iroai her former capiaiii, ciiid 
 
221 
 
 she directed for the port of N. York. At 4, P. M. 
 the man in a consumption " put off this mortal 
 coil," and took his quietus in thirty-live fathom of 
 water, in the usual form at sea. 
 B' The captain of the ship required some docu- 
 W ment, that he might show for his indemnification 
 . for resigning the command of the 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. 
 Cerlificate, 
 " We, the undersigned, citizens of the U. States 
 ^ of America, do hereby certify, that on the second 
 day of June, 1815, 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 
 made the light-house, distance three or four 
 leagues ; at two P. M. obtained a pilot and stood 
 witiun 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 States, we shall 
 give it Lo the reader verbatim. The reuUer wil! 
 
222 
 
 perceive that it- differs somewhat from the account 
 of the massacre which I have given before, and 
 that of the committee of prisoners. The pubhc 
 are 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 pia fraus for the love 
 of peace and harmony betv/een the two govern- 
 ments, have made it a vail of amnesty, and a pre- 
 ventative of new troubles. 
 
 THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 Plymouth, 'iQth April, 1815. 
 We, the undersigned commissioners, appointed 
 ©n behalf of our respective governments, to in- 
 quire into, and report upon, the unfortunate oc- 
 currence of the 6th 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 arid Major General Brown 
 respectively, as well as the depositions taken at 
 the qoroner's inquest upon the bodies of the pri- 
 soners who lost their lives upon that melancholy 
 occasion : upon v/hich inquest the jury found a 
 verdict of justifiable homicide; proceed immedi- 
 atdy to the examination upon oath in the presence 
 of one or more of the magistrates of the vicinity, 
 •fair the witnesses, both American and English^ 
 
223 
 
 who offered themselves for that purpose ; or who 
 could 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 the 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 
 premising, that we have been from necessity com- 
 pelled to draw m.any of our conclusions from 
 statements and evidence highly contradictory, we 
 do now make upon the whole picceedini^s the ibl- 
 lowins: rer>ort : — 
 
 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 rcsdessness and impatience of confinement aj)- 
 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 oi 
 this incpiry, a large body of the prisoners ruslied 
 
224 
 
 into the market square, from whence, by the re- 
 gulations of the prison, they are excluded, de- 
 manding bread, instead of biscuit, which had on 
 that day been issued by <,hc officers of the depot ; 
 their demands, however, having been then almost 
 im.m.ediately complied with, they returned to their 
 ov.Ti 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 man 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 a noisy and 
 disorderly manner. 
 
 That a much more considerable number of the 
 prisoners wa? 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 gamblmg tables being commonly kept in that 
 
■225- 
 
 part of the yard) yet, when connected with the 
 circumstances of the breach, and the* time of the 
 day, which was after the hour the signal for the 
 prisoners to their respective prisons had ceased to 
 sound, it became a natural and just ground of 
 alarm to those who had charge of the depot. 
 
 It was also in evidence tha)t in the building for- 
 merly the petty olhcers' 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 ofi'duty, 
 were usually kept in the racks, and though there 
 was no evidence that this xvas in any respect the 
 motive which induced the prisoners to make the 
 opening in the wall, or even that they were ever 
 ac(juainted 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 bell, the usual signal for collect- 
 ins: th^ officers of the depot and putting the milita- 
 ry on the alert. 
 
 However reasonable and justifiable this was as 
 a measure of precaution, the effects produced 
 thei-eby in the prisons, but which could not have 
 been intended, were mo^i unfortunate, and deeply. 
 
226 
 
 io be regretted. A considerable number of the 
 prisoners in the yards 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 
 also, from the plan of the prison, compelled, in or- 
 der to reach their own homes, to pass by the same 
 spot, and thus, that which was mearly a measure 
 of precaution, in its operation increased the evil it 
 was intended to prevent. 
 
 Almost at the same instant that the alarm bell 
 rang, (but whether before or subsequent, is, upon 
 the evidence, 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 
 -square, by means of an iron bar ; and a very con- 
 siderable number of the prisoners immediately 
 rushed towards that gate ; and many of them be- 
 gan to press forwards as fast as the opening would 
 permit into the square. 
 
 There was no direct proof before us of pre- 
 vious concert or preparation on the part of the 
 
227 
 
 prisoners ; and no evidence of their intention ot 
 disposition to effect their escape on tliis occasion, 
 excepting that which arose by inference from the 
 whole of the above detailed circumstances con- 
 nected together. 
 
 The natural and almost irresistible inference to 
 be drawn, however, from the conduct of the pri- 
 soners by Capt. Shortland, 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 when 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 usually opened 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 the square, the power of escape 
 was almost to a certainty afforded to them, if they 
 should be so disposed. Capt. Shortland in the 
 first instance proceeded down the square towards 
 the prisoners, having ordered a part of the differ- 
 ent guards, to the number of about fifty only at 
 
228 
 
 first, (though they were increased afterwards,) to 
 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, explaining to them 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 rear of Capt Shortland, about two-thirds 
 of the way down the square — the latter is about 
 100 feet bread, and the guard 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., sed 
 on in considerable numbers, at last ordered about 
 15 file of the guard, nearly in front of the gate 
 which had been forced, to charge the prisoners 
 back to their own yards. The prisoners were in 
 some places so near the military, that one of the 
 soldiers states that he could not come fairly down 
 to the charge ; and the military were unwilling 
 to act as against an enemy. Some of the prison- 
 ers also were unwilling and reluctant to retire, and 
 some pushing and struggling ensued between the 
 parties, arising partly from intention, but mainly 
 from the pressure of these behind preventing those 
 in front from getting back. After some little time, 
 however, this charge appears to have been so far 
 
229 
 
 effective, and that with 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 after this, in 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 American, 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 others, was 
 pelting the military with large stones, by which 
 ^ome 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 tliey 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 
 b"en given to fire, the evidence is very contradic- 
 tory. Several of the Americans swear positive- 
 ly, that Capt. Shortland gave that r^ff'er ; but the 
 manner in which, from ihe conlusioAi of the mo- 
 U 2 
 
230 
 
 ment, they describe this part of the transaction, 
 is so different in its details, that it is very difficult 
 to reconcile their testimony. Many of the sol- 
 diers and other English \\itnesses, heard the word 
 given by some one, but no one of them can swear 
 it was by Capt. Shortland, 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. 
 Shortland denies the fact ; and from the" situation 
 in which he appears to have been placed at the 
 time, even according to the American witnesses, 
 in front of the soldiers, it may appear somewhat 
 improbable that he should then have given such 
 an order. But, however, it may remain a matter 
 of doubt whether the firing first began in the 
 square by order, or was a spontaneous act of the 
 soldiers themselves, it seemed clear that it v» as 
 continued and renewed, both there and elsewhere, 
 w^ithout orders ; and that on the platforms, and in 
 several places about the prison, it was certainly 
 commenced w^ithout 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 m any oth- 
 er point of view than as showing a want of self- 
 possession, and discipline in the troops, if they 
 
231 
 
 should have fired without order. With regard t© 
 the above most important consideration, oi whe- 
 ther the hiiiig vvas justifiable or not, we are of opi- 
 nion, under all the circumstances of the case, from 
 the apprehension which the soldiers might fairly 
 entertain, owing to the numbers 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 i he prisoners, and compel them 
 thereby to desist from all acts of violence, and to 
 retire as they were ordered, from a situotion in 
 vvliich the responsibility of the agents, and the 
 I mihtary, could not perm. t them with safety tore- 
 main. From the fact of the crowd being so close, 
 and the firing at first being attended with ver\ lit- 
 tle injury, it appears probable that a large propor- 
 tion of the muskets were, as stated by one oi- tv.o 
 of the witnesses, levelled over the heads of tlie 
 prisoners ; a circumstance in some respects to be 
 lamented, as it induced them to cry out " bi;«nk 
 <artridges," and merely irritated and encoura< ed 
 them to renew their insults to the soldiery, which 
 produced a repetition of the firing in a manner 
 much more destructive. The firing in the square 
 having contmued for some time, by which several 
 oi tiie prisoners sustained injuries, the grca' t 
 part of them appear to have been running b^ck 
 with the utmost precipitation aod confusion to 
 
232 
 
 their respective prisons, and the cause for further 
 firing seems at this period to have ceased. It ap- 
 pears accoi'dingly that Capt. Shortland was in the 
 market square, exerting liimseh^ and giving or- 
 ders to that effect, and that Lieut. Fortye had suc- 
 ceeded in stopping the fire of his part of the 
 guard. Under these circumstances it is very diffi- 
 cult to find any justification for the further con- 
 tinuance and renewal of the firing, 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 turnkeys in shutting the prisons, 
 and of stones being thrown out from v/ithin the 
 prison doors. The subsequent firing rather ap- 
 pears to have arisen from the state of individual 
 irritation and exasperation on the part of the sol- 
 diers who followed the prisoners 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 circumstances. Capt. 
 Shortland was from this time busily occupied with 
 the turnkeys in the square, receiving and taking 
 care of the wounded. Ensign White rema.n:d 
 with his guard at the breach, and Lieuts. Avelyne 
 aud Fortye, the only other subalterns known to 
 
233 
 
 have been present, continued in the square with 
 the mam bodies of their respective guards. 
 
 The time of the day, which was the officers' 
 dinner hour, will in some measure explain this, ae 
 it caused the absence of every officer from the pri- 
 son whose presence was not indispensable there. 
 And this circumstance, which has been urged as 
 an argument to prove the intention of the prisoners 
 to Lake 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 least of the mischief which 
 ensued. 
 
 At the same time that the firing was going on 
 in the square, a cross fire was also kept up from 
 several of the platforms on the walls round the pri- 
 son where the senteries stand, by straggling parties 
 of soldiers wdio 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 the first instance in the square. — 
 But that part, which it is positively sworn was di- 
 rectcd against straggling parties of prisoners run- 
 ning about the yards and endeavouring to enter ih 
 the few doors whichthe turnkeys,according to their 
 usual practice, had left open, does seem, as stated, 
 tQ have been wholly without object or excuse, and 
 
234 
 
 io have been a wanton attack upon the lives of de- • 
 fenceless, and at that time iincfTending, indivuhials. 
 Tn the same, or even more severe terms, we must 
 remark upon what was proved as to the firing into 
 the door ways of the prisons, more particularly into 
 that of No. 3 prison, at a time when the men were 
 in crowds at the entrance. From 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 soldiers ci very few feet from 
 the door way ; and although it was certainly 
 sworn that the prisoners were at the time of part 
 of the firing at least, continuing to insult a'id oc- 
 casionally to throw stones at the soldiers, and that 
 they were standing in the way of, and impeding 
 the turnkey, who was there for the purpose of 
 closing the door, yet gtill there was nothing stated 
 which could in our view at all ^stify such exces- 
 sively harsh and severe treatment of helpless and 
 unarmed prisoners, when all idea of escape was 
 at an end.— ^Undcr these impressions, 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 any particular indi- 
 vidual, but without success ; and all hopes of brin^- 
 
^ 
 
 235 
 
 ing the offenders lo punisliment should seem to be 
 at an end. — In conclusion, ve, the undersigned, 
 have only to add, that whilst avc lament, as we 
 do most deeply, the unfortunate transaction which 
 has been the subject of this inquiry, we find cur- 
 selves totally unable to suggest any steps to be 
 taken as to those parts of it which seem to call for 
 redress and punishment. 
 (Signed) 
 
 CHARLES KING, 
 
 FRAS. SEYxliOUR LARPFNT. 
 
 London, X^th Ajoril. 181j. 
 Sir, 
 At the request of Lord Castlereagh, we have 
 
 iiad interviews with him and Mr. Goulburn on the 
 subject of the transportation of the American 
 prisoners now in this country, to the United States, 
 and of the late unfortunate event at the depot at 
 Dartmoor. 
 
 On the first subject, w^e agreed to advise your 
 acceptance of the jiroposition of Lord Castle- 
 reagh to transport the prisoners at the joint e^* 
 Dense of the two countries, reserving the con- 
 struction of the eirticles of the treaty, which pr^ 
 vides for the mutual restoration of prisoners, for 
 future adjustment. It was st;Ued by u;*, r»nd was 
 , so understood, that the joint expense, thus to be in- 
 curred, is to comprehend as well the requis.te ton- 
 
236 
 
 nage as the subsistence of the prisoners ; and 
 moreover thai measures of precaution should be 
 adopted relative to the health and comfort of the 
 prisoners similar to those which had taken place 
 in Am.erica. 
 
 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, difiering very materially in fact from that 
 which had resulted from an inquiry instituted by 
 the port admiral, it has been thought adviseable 
 that some n.eans should be devised of procuring 
 inrormation as to the real state of the case, in 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 have 
 re-orted 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 we have 
 thought such an mquiry most likely to produce an 
 impartial and satisfactory result. 
 
237 
 
 We presume that you will have too much occu- 
 pation on the first subject and the other inciden- 
 tal duties of your office, to attend to this incjuiry 
 in person. On that supposition, we have stated 
 to the British government that wc should recom- 
 mend to you the selection of Charles King, Esq. 
 as a fit person to conduct it in behalf of the Ameri- 
 can government. If Mr. King will undertake the 
 ■uisiness, he will forthwith proceed to Dartmoor, 
 •nd in conjunction with the' British commisoioncr, 
 who may be appointed on the occasion, will ex- 
 mine the persons concerned, and such other 
 evidence as may be thought necdSsary, and make a 
 joint report upon the facts of the case to John Q^ 
 4dams, Esq. Minister Plenipotentiary of the Uni- 
 ted States at this court and to the British govern- 
 ment. 
 
 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 he*^ 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, 
 
 ALLEKT GALLATIN. 
 R. G. Beaslcy, Esq. kc. ^c. 
 X 
 
238 
 
 Plymouth, ^Gth April, 1815. 
 Sir, 
 
 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 respectiye 
 governments, in relation to the unfoitunate trans- 
 actions at Dartmoor Prison of War, on the Gth 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 j 
 it therefore may not be improper in this letter to 
 enter into some little explanation of such parts 
 of the report. Although it does appear that a 
 part of the prisoners were on that evening 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 niilitary force, and even in a strict sense, ike 
 first use of fire-arms, yet I cannot but express it 
 as my settled opinion, that by conduct a little more 
 temporizing, this dreadful alternative of firing upon 
 unarmed 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 
 
 
239 
 
 iie prisoners, it may be but fair to consider, whe* 
 ther in such a moment of confusion and alarm, as 
 that appears to have been, the oificer 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 done, and caught with elec- 
 tric rapidity from the square to the platforms, there 
 is no plea nor shadow of excuse for it. except in 
 the personal exasperation of the soldiery, nor for 
 the more dehberate, and therefore more unjustifi- 
 able, firing which took place into tlirce of the 
 prisons, No. 1, 3, and 4, but more pailicularly in- 
 to No. 3, after the prisoners had retired into them, 
 and there was no longer any pretence of appre- 
 hensions as to their escape. Upon this ground, 
 as you, sir, will perceive by the report, Mr. Lar- 
 pent and myself had no difterence of opinion, and 
 I am fully persuaded that my ovm regret was not 
 greater than his, at perceiving hov/ hopeless would 
 be the attempt to trace to any individuals of the 
 military these outrageous proceedings. 
 
 As to whether the order to fire came from vJap- 
 faln Shortland, I yet confess myself unable to form 
 any satisfactory opinion, though perhaps the bias 
 of my mind is, that he did give such an order, — 
 
 % 
 
240 
 
 But his anxiety and exertions to stop it after it had 
 continued for some little time, are fully proved, 
 and his general conduct, previous to this occur- 
 rence, as far as wc 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 tov/ards 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- 
 ihough 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 request that he w^ould 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 say, that the wounded are for the most part do- 
 ing well. 
 
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 desired 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 v^'ithout 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 tlie honour to be, with much respcci, 
 your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) CHARLES KING. 
 
 His Excellency J. Q,. Adams, &ic. &c. 
 
 London^ 30th Aprils 1815. 
 Sir, 
 
 In my letter of the 19th instant, I informed you 
 
 of the measures which had been adopted here in 
 
 consequence of the late unfortunate event at Dart* 
 
 moor Prison, 
 
 1 have now the honour to transmit the copy o? 
 a letter addressed to me by Mr, Clay and Mr. 
 Gallatin, relative to that occurrence, and to th£) 
 
 ' X 2 
 
242 
 
 Vaiisportatioti ot the American prisoners in tins 
 country to iiie United States. 
 
 In the absence of Mr. Adams, it 'becdines my 
 luty 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 
 ;ommissioners appointed for that purpose, also of 
 a letter from Mr. King to Mr. Adams, and of a 
 'list of the killed and wounded on that melancholy 
 iccasion. 
 
 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- 
 i-oneou3 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 treat}^ 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 iii 
 a peremptory manner. 
 
243 
 
 On the receipt of the intelligence of the ratifica- 
 tion from America, 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, Avill 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 from 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 I 
 could not prevent the one, nor have 1 deserved the 
 other. 
 
 I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedi- 
 ont humble servant, 
 
 R. G. BEASLEY, , 
 
 The honourable Johx Masox, &c. &c. &c. 
 
244 
 
 From the Plymouth (Eng.) Telegraph, April 
 22, 1815. 
 To the Editor, 
 Sir, , 
 The officers and prisoners of this dejx)!, 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 
 liicewise 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- 
 dressed to that gentleman. 
 
 1 am, <fcc. 
 
 Benjamin Mercer. 
 Hospital, April] 13,1815. 
 
 Dartmoor 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 
 deemed 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 American prisoners of war in Eng-% 
 
245 
 
 k 
 
 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 
 accessibility of his manners, his unremitting as- 
 siduities and unwearied exertions, in combatting a 
 succession of diseases of the most exasperated and 
 malignant character, v/hich 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 apprelicnsion were 
 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 Providence, of rescuing many citizens 
 of the United States from the fast approximating 
 embraces of death. This malignant species of 
 
246 
 
 small-pox, unknown to the generality of profes- 
 sional gentlemt^n, appeared in other places, and a 
 far greater number fell victims, in proportion to 
 the cases at the place. We therefore trust, that 
 some distinguished mark of the nation's gratitude 
 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, 
 
 BENJ. MERCER, 
 
 PIERRE G. DE PEYSTER, 
 
 HENRY PROCTOR, 
 
 JOHN COTTLE, 
 
 THOS. CARBERRY, 
 
 JAMES LESTER, 
 
 HENRY BULL, 
 
 THOS. B, MOTT, 
 
 SETH WALKER, 
 
 W ILLIAM W'EST, 
 
 CHARLES DEXTER, 
 
 WILLIAM MOLLEY, 
 
 JOHN S. TROUBRIDGE, 
 
 HENRY SHERBURN, 
 
 THOS. B. FR06T. 
 
 345 
 
 
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247 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 Officers and brave Americans collecHvely» 
 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 my 
 conduct, with which you have honoured me, 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 me, if 
 I find it impossible to command words suiliciently 
 emphatic, adequately to express the sentiments of 
 gratitude, with v/hich I am penetrated, for this 
 unexpected proof of your regard ; I must there- 
 fore allow my heart, rather than ni)' pen, to lliank 
 you. But it would not be doing justice to my 
 feelings were I to abstain from assuring you, that 
 I have cn<leavoured to perforin my duty towards 
 you, with that self-devotcdness, which looks only 
 foi" its reward in its own consciousness of right, and 
 its own secret sense of virtue ; and whatever dif- 
 ficulties I have had to encounter in tiie discbarge 
 of my important trust, by struggling with # suc- 
 cession of the most violent and exasperated epi- 
 demic diseases, perhaps ever recorded in medical 
 history, during the whole of my scrvi^ among 
 you, the distinguished proof of your confidence 
 
24S 
 
 and approbation of my professional labours, with 
 whicii you this day,have bet^n pleased to honoui- me, 
 amply compensates me, and must rank amongst 
 the proudest and happiest 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- 
 lectively, that a due and lively sense of the high 
 honour which you have conferred upon me, shall to 
 the last moments of my existence remain 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 j-our families and 
 friends ; and that you may all long enjoy peace 
 and happiness, is the sincere wish of 
 
 your most grateful and much 
 
 obliged humble servant, 
 GEO. MaGRAIH. 
 Dartmoor, March 30, 1815. 
 
 Dartmoor Prison, April ^th, 1815. 
 j^ To His Excellency John Quincy 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- 
 cellency George Magrath, Esq. M. P. principal of 
 
249 
 
 the medical department 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 philanthrophist. 
 
 His professional skill has been peculiarly conspi- 
 cuous in his successfully combatting a succession 
 of diseases, of the most exasperated and malignant 
 character, which prevailed among the prisoners. 
 
 Dr. Magrath's health, from his indefatigable exer- 
 tions, became seriously impaired, but he perseve- 
 red in tlie performance of his arduous duties and 
 unremitting efforts to arrest the alarming and ra- 
 pid advances of the prevailing diseases ; and he 
 was the agent under divine Providence of rescuing 
 many citizens of the United States from a prema- 
 ture grave, and as it were, renewing their exis- 
 tence, but more particularly on the late ui\happy 
 occurrence. 
 
 Language is too impotent to describe Dr. 
 
 Magrath's unexampled endeavours to prevent 
 
 the effusion of blood ; regardless of the many 
 
 dangers by which he was environed, he per- 
 
 Y 
 
25a 
 
 severed, amidst the heavy and incessant fire of 
 musketry, in his humane endeavours to preveat 
 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 solicitj 
 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 would 
 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- 
 man. 
 
 We avail ourselves of this opportunity to offer 
 to your Excellency our congratulations on the 
 happy termination of your important duties at 
 Ghent, by the conclusion of a peace so highly 
 honourable to our beloved country, and to your- 
 ^selfj and to assure your Excellency of our high r-^^ 
 
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 
 war at this depot, 
 
 PIERRE G. DEPEYSTER, 
 HENRY PROCTER, 
 HENRY BULL, 
 JOHN COTTLE, 
 THOS. GAIR, 
 THOS. CARBERRY, 
 JAMES LESTER, 
 BENJ. MERCER, 
 ISAAC DOWELL. 
 
 Dartmoor^ April 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- 
 
252 
 
 felt acknowledgments, and everlasting grati^de. 
 With the most sincere and cordial good wishes 
 for your health and happiness, 
 
 I remain, gentlemen, your much 
 obliged and most grateful servant. 
 GEO. MAGRATH. 
 To the gentlemen forming the Hospital Corrt' 
 mittee. 
 
 February, 1815. 
 The following is a correct list of all who entered 
 his Majesty'^s service out of Dartmoor prison 
 from Jlpril IMS, until 1014 ^ to which is an- 
 nexed their former residence and the ships in which 
 they were captured or impressed- 
 
 James Akin, Roxbury, Mass. Wm. Bayard 
 
 Abel Akins, Penobscot, Maine, Tygris, Baltimore 
 
 A ] ford Arnold, unknown, Penn. Viper, do. 
 
 Wm. Arm.-;trong, 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 
 
 E :\vard Blackstone, Kennebunk, Maine, do 
 
 W liiiam Bisnop, Danverse, Mass. Spitfire, Boston 
 
 •Vf 
 
2oS 
 
 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, New bury port, Mass. m^in of war 
 Jerodia Denison, Middleton, Con. brig Star 
 John Duncan, Boston, Viper 
 Wm. Ervine, New- York, Virginia Planter 
 Francis Foster, New-London, Con. Meteor, N. Y, 
 Shubel Folger, Nantucket, Mass. William Bayard 
 William Fenton, Wiscasset, Maine, man of war 
 Daniel Holt, New-London, Con. brig Star, N. Y. 
 John Hughs, New-Yoi-k, do. 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. ' Rolla, Phil. 
 Henry Neal, N. Y. N. Y. Ned, Bal, 
 
 Charles M'Nies, Bal. Maryland, Ned, do. 
 John I^ewgent, N. Y. True blooded Yankee* 
 
 y 2 
 
254 
 
 Francis Rice, Boston, Mass. Virginia Planter* 
 Ebcinezer Rich, Portland, Mass. Flash, N. York, 
 John Senate, Phila;lelphia, Wm. Bayard. 
 
 John Sheard, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. do. do. 
 John Shultz, Denmark, Criterion, N. Y. 
 
 Wni. Smitli, New-York, Terrible. 
 
 John I'homson, Denmark, brig Star. 
 
 VVm. Thomas, Germany, Viper, Bal. 
 
 Zach. Tough, New-London, Con. Terrible. 
 John Williams, N.York, N. Y. Wm. Bayard. 
 Edwai-d Washburn, N. York, N. Y. brig Star 
 George Y/illiams, Bal. Maryl. Charlotte, Charls. 
 John Wilson, Phil. Penn. Governor Gerry, N. Y. 
 William Warner, New-York, N. Y. Ajax. 
 John Vv^est, do. do. Dukanor. 
 
 Israel Wright, Tinmouth, Vcr. brig Star, N. Y. 
 Y>^m. Wilson, Long-Island, N. Y. Ned, Bal. 
 Robert Wesel, New-York, N. Y. do. ^ do. 
 Jame- Pickerton, Hampton, Vir. Lightning, Phil. 
 Francis Lisda, New-Orleans, Louisiana, unknown. 
 James Johnson, New- York, N. Y. brig Mars. 
 
 TJie foUoxoing is a correct list of all who entered his 
 Majestij''s service from the different prison ships 
 at Chatham, frord April 181 S, until June 1814, 
 Copied from the clerk^s books, 
 
 John Anderson, b. Newcastle, Del. man of war, 
 
 John Atkinson, b. Baltim. Maryland, True Blood. 
 
 John Austin, unknown, unknown* 
 
255 
 
 Josiah Abraham, Phil, Pen. man of war. 
 
 James Anderson, Bal. Maryland, unknown. 
 
 Peter Boyd, New- York, N. Y. do. 
 
 John Boyd, Kennebunk, Mass. do. 
 
 John Brown, New-Bedford, Impressed. 
 
 John Bauld, Block Island, man of war. 
 
 Isaac Baily, Boston, Mass. do. 
 
 John Brown, Salem, do. True Blood. 
 
 Peter Brown, Phil. Penn. unknow^n. 
 
 George Bing, New- York, N. Y. man of w^ar. 
 
 John Brown, b. Salem, Mass. do. 
 
 Samuel Billham, b. do. do. do. 
 
 John Barks, New-Bedford, do. 
 
 Geo. Burns, Phil. Penn. do. 
 
 Asa BuoijHis, New-Bedford, Mass. unknown. 
 
 Rufus Brown, Eastport, do. 
 
 Jolin Burns, North-Carolina, do. 
 
 John Baily, Hainsbury, Mass. do. 
 
 Ebenezer Carter, Portsmouth, N. H. man of war 
 
 Isaac Crawford, Boston, Mass. do. 
 
 Benjamin Gotten, Norfolk, Vir. do. 
 
 Thomas Charles, b. New- York, N. Y. do. 
 
 Charles Cuffee, Long-Island, N. Y. man of war. 
 
 Isiiac Carrol, New-York do. unknown. 
 
 Ezekiel Church, Phil. Penn. do. 
 
 P. ter Dowling, Lewisburg, Vir. Gov. Tomkinis, 
 
 \s m. Denning, New-Bedford, man of war. 
 
 Ib^ac Daritou, Boston, Mass* do. 
 
256 
 
 Thomas Denison, Portsmouth, N. H. man of \\rar 
 Tiioniis Dunn, New- York, N. Y. unknown.. 
 John Davis, Alexandria, Vir. man of war. 
 Henry Dison, Hohnes' Hole, unknown. 
 Silas Eaton, Phil. Penn. M. S. Malta. 
 Duiley French, b. Newbury port, Mass. unknown. 
 John Fowler, unknown, do. 
 
 Ehds Field, do. cio. 
 
 Nicnolas Gold, North Kingston, R. I. do. 
 Wm. Goes, New- York, N. Y. do. 
 
 Jeremiah Gills, b. Baltimore, Maryland, do. 
 Isaac Griffin, 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. 
 Henry Holsworth, New- York, unknown. 
 John Hopkins, unknown. do. 
 
 Samuel Hopkins, do. do. 
 
 Su.nuel Hainsly, b. do. do. 
 
 Wm. Hull, b. Bal. Maryland, do. 
 
 Johnson Harlem, b. New- York, do. 
 James Hall, Wainsburg, N. Y. do. 
 Wm. Hubbard, Providence, R. I. do. 
 Peter Henry, Phil. Penn. do, 
 
 Thom. Hazaird, Narraganset, R. I. do» 
 John Fitz, New-Bedford, Mass. do. 
 Benjamin ilolbrook, Kennebeck do. 
 
Thomas Jackson, b. New-York, unknowzi 
 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, Ncwburyport, Mass.do. 
 John Jones, Boston, 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 Lewis, b. unknown, unknown. 
 
 George Lee, b. Salem, Mass. do. 
 Ajsfi 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 M-jrgan, b. unknown, do. 
 
 Benjamin Melvin, b. Nuntucket, 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. 
 JohnNicklas, New-York, N. Y. manof w?- 
 
258 
 
 • Owens, Philadelphia, Pemi. 
 
 Richard Porter, Wiscasset, Mass. Impressed. 
 Thomas Parkman, unknown. 
 Edward Phillips, do. 
 Elisha Paul, Maryland. 
 Sirnon Roy, Saybrook, Connecticut. 
 John Ride, Philadelphia, Penn. 
 Thomas Roberson, Plymouth, Mass. man of War 
 -John Rough, Alexandria, Virginia. 
 William Riley, Philadelphia. 
 
 Henry Randolph, , 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, Georgia. 
 
 William Rich, Warrington, Con. 
 
 Isaac Somendycke, New- York. 
 
 George Simsons, b. PhiladeliDhia. 
 
 David Simond, b. Alexandria, Virg. impressed 
 
 John Smith, Norfolk, do. do. 
 
 James Stanly, Nev/-York. 
 
 William Symons, b. Charleston, S. C. 
 
 William Steward, b. unknown. 
 
 John Simson, b. do. 
 
 William Strong, Marblehead, Mass. 
 
 David Stephens, Long-Island, N. Y. 
 
259 
 
 William Scofield, Turkey-Hill, Oldhadam, Con. 
 
 John Thompson, Long Island, N. Y. 
 
 Edward F'itly, New- York. 
 
 John Vanderhoven, do. 
 
 William Welch, Charleston, S. C. 
 
 Charles Wctmore, Norwich. Con. 
 
 John B. Williams, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 John Wells, New- York. 
 
 Charles Wight, Alexandria, Vii-, 
 
 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 AVilson, Providence, R. I. 
 
 Robert Wilson, Newport, do. 
 
 The following is a correct list of prisoners who en' 
 tcred his Majesty s service at the Depot of Staple- 
 ton, from July 18J3, until May 1814, copied 
 from the clerk's hooks, 
 
 John Abrahams, b. New- York, Grand Napoleqn 
 John Brown, Charleston, S. C. Revenge. 
 John Beinbridge, Dutchm.an, Tickler, Boston 
 Charles Burgoin, Charleston, S. C. Revenge, 
 
26d 
 
 Joseph Fletcher, Portland, Mas. Orders in Council 
 Henry Hendrick, do. 
 
 Ebon. Jacobs, Newburyport, impressed. 
 William Howard, Philadelphia,. Fox. 
 Stephen ITpiiry, black man. 
 Robert Hackley, New- York, unknown. 
 Mark Mason, Philadelphia, Fox. 
 
 James Marley, Norfolk, Virg. impressed. 
 George Rus-^tll, New-York, Tom 6f Baltimore. 
 John Smith, Paul 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 tolw 
 died at Stapleton prison, from Jw/?/ 1813, until 
 June 1814. 
 
 George Morgan, Long-Island, N. Y. Grand Na- 
 poleon. 
 David Smart, New- York, Price of Baltiraorcv 
 John Dunn, Philadelphia, do. do. 
 
 D. Francis, Providence, R. I. Hebe of Philadel. 
 John Mitchel, New- York, unknown 
 
 Isaac Watts, Charleston, S. C. do 
 
 Lambert Johnson, New- York, do 
 
261 
 
 The following is a list of names of persons who died 
 at Chatham, on hoard the different prison-ships 
 frfim January 1813, until June 1814 ; at which 
 time all the jjrisoners were removed to the depot at 
 Dartmoor. 
 Feb. 28, 1814. Samuel Abbct, Andover, Mass 
 Feb. 19, 1814. William Allen, Newport. R. I. 
 January 4, 1313. Josejih Andrews, Marblehead 
 January 7, 1813. Howel Baysta, Boston, Mass 
 Dec. 5, 1814. Moses Blackman, Boston, do 
 
 James Butler, unknown. 
 Feb. 28, 1814. William Butler, Baltimore, Md 
 March 31, John Adams, New-York. 
 Dec. 1813. ElyBactman, Wocester county, Mai^ 
 
 Thomas Billings, New- York. 
 Jan. 9. Christopher Bi^lbadge, Salem, Mass 
 May 3, Edward Brown, Marblehead, do' 
 June 5, Nicholas Bunker, Scituale, -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 3. JamesDiverause, do. do. 
 April 18. Benjamin Elvell, Gloucester, Mass 
 May 19, W iUiam Elingwood, Marblehead, Mass 
 
252 
 
 Jan. 27. William Foller, Marblehead, Haiss 
 
 March 27. Anthony Fundy, New-Yofk 
 
 April 12, 1814. William Forman, Portsmo^utl;. 
 
 New Hampshire 
 May 18. Amos Graindy, Marblehead, Mass 
 June 6, 1813. James B. Green, Alexandria,'Vir 
 June 25, 1814. Thomas Hutchinson, unknown 
 Dec, 27. George Hubbard, do 
 
 Feb. 14. William Hart, do 
 
 April 17. Jacob Holt, Salem, Mass 
 May. Christopher Hubbard, Baltimore, Md 
 March 29, Samuel Head, New- York 
 February 5. Samuel Jones, New- York, Tyger 
 May 16, 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 
 JUarch 22. Ezekiel Miller, New- York 
 March 29. Samuel Miller, New- York 
 April 1. Fisher Mansfield, New-London, Qon 
 Aaron Mackley, drowned escaping 
 March 16. Captain Morgan, Salem, Mass. Enter- 
 prize 
 •June 10. James Mills, Alexandria, Vir 
 March 29, 1813. Samuel Nelson, New- York 
 January 6, 1814. Hugh Nichcls, Newbern, N C- 
 April 3. William Pousland, Marblehead, Mass 
 
 .*^ 
 
 
263 
 
 April 20. Clemont Pair, Portland, Maine 
 
 21. 'Edward Patten, Baltimore 
 May 24. William Potter, Beverly, Mass 
 June 6. David Pinkham, Nantucket, do 
 Jan. 4. Jared Ray, New- York 
 
 John Roaply, New- York 
 March 25. Charles Saunders, near Alexandria, V 
 do 19i Proctor Simonds, unknown 
 do 24. Ebenezer Skinnei", Nantucket, Mass 
 Henry Scot, Baltimore 
 Jonathan Sawyer, Portland, Maine 
 Nov. 25, 1813. Reuben Moslaird, Nantucket, Mas 
 
 Tygcr, N Y 
 Feb. 16. Daniel Roaps, Salem, Mas 
 May 9. John Rottor, Md. 
 April 24, 1814. James Smith, Marblehead, Mass 
 
 Growler, - - Salem. do 
 
 May 28. Jonathan Trueman, Portland, Maine 
 March G. Edward Williams, Philadelphia. 
 April 14. James Weeks, Marblehead, Mass 
 
 do 29, 1813. Samuel Warren, unknown 
 March 4. Richard Winchester, Gloucester, Mass 
 
 — Webber, Kennebeck, Maine 
 
 August 16. Francis WiUiams, Salem, Mass 
 March 26. Stephen Thatson, Brookiield, do 
 
 Thirty-nine names unknown — chiefly U. States 
 loiaiitrv 
 
264 
 
 The following contains a list of the persons who died 
 at Dartraoor^ from April IS13, until' the- ISih 
 February, 1815 / copied from the reports of the 
 
 Doctor. 
 
 Dec 23, 1813. Henry Alligo, New- York, U. S. brig 
 Argus 
 
 Oct. 24. Ambrose Alamond, Carthagenia, Presi- 
 dent 
 
 ^ov. 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 
 
 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- 
 
 vmcible Napoleon 
 Nov. 14. Asa Allen, Boston, Herald 
 May 5, 1814. Nick Bianchard 
 
265 
 
 Nov. 20, 1813. Hezekiah Bray, Boston, India 
 do 23. John Boatman, Baltimore, Chasseur 
 do 5. 1814. Lewis Bryen, Carolina, Hawke 
 do 27. Peter Berry, died suddenly 
 do 28. Peter Barker, Boston, Derby 
 do 28. Peter Bin, Petersburg, Vir. Independence 
 do 3,1813. Thomas 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 Blagdcll, New-Hampshire, Erie 
 do 1 4. James Beck, Portsmouth, N. H. impressed 
 Jaa. 17, 1815. Daniel Bourge, Portsmouth, N, H, 
 
 Hailequin 
 Feb. 11. George Brown, West-Chester, N. Y. im- 
 pressed 
 do 17.. Charles Brown, Boston, Paul Jones 
 do 1 7. Mo^es Bailey, Philadelphia, Scorpion 
 Nov. 21, 1814. John JBablista, New- York, Herald 
 Jan. 23. 1814, John Bryson, Virginia, Alicantr 
 Doc. 29, 1814. James Booth, New- York, Mary 
 Nov. 18, 1814. Y. S. Bates, unknown, 
 July 4, 1814, Wai. Clarke, Virginia, Frplic 
 % 2 
 
266 
 
 Oct. 20, 1813, Wm. Clark, South Kingston, K. i. 
 
 StarofN. 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, Benjv^min Cook, Bait. Md. Chesepeake 
 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, Duxbury, Essex 
 Nov. 8, Thomas Cooper, Washingtor., N. C, ■ 
 Unio-. 
 do. 11, James Congdon, Cambridge, Mass. Mary 
 do. 26, John Cole, Bait. Md. Adeline 
 Dec. 4, Richard Coifee, Long-Island, N. Y. Am.er. 
 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. India 
 " 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. 
 
267 
 
 Pel). 25, 1814, Wm. Ferza, Granviile. '^lermaiii 
 
 Jan. 27, 1814, James Fulford, N. C Snap-dragon 
 
 Wm. Fletcher, Marblehead, Mass. Spitfire, Boston 
 
 Dec. 23, 1813, Henry Frelitch, Liv^erpool, Penn, 
 Liverpool 
 
 i^'ovember 12. Jesse Field, Townsend, Maice^ 
 Siron 
 do 30. Joshua Fowler, Boston, Impressed 
 
 January 23, William Fennel, Portsmouth, N. H, 
 Harper. 
 
 March 18, 1814. Thomas Foquct. v';.i:i\ ii;o, brig 
 Argus 
 
 May 1813. Reuben Glass, Duxbury, Mars of Bal- 
 timore 
 
 April 19, 1814. Thomas Gasgiline, Martinico, W. L 
 Augustine 
 
 October 22. William Gibson, New- York, Rattle- 
 snake 
 
 November 4. Francis Gardner, , R.hode 
 
 Island, Rambler 
 
 December 3. John Gaylor, ►, North Carolina> 
 
 America 
 
 February 17, 1815. James Gedman, Portsmouth^ 
 N. H. Bunker-Hill 
 
 January 29, 1 81 5. Richard Hughs, New- York, 
 Amiable, Phila. 
 
 March 5.. Simeon Harress, New- York, Magdalen 
 
 July 3, 1814. James Henry, do U. S- brig 
 ^^rgus 
 
268 
 
 Julys, James Hart, do. Courier of Bal- 
 
 timore 
 
 Novciiiber 9. Isaac Hermain, Portland, Maine, 
 Ei bridge Gerry 
 do 11. James Hetrope, Cambridge, Mass. Mary 
 da 24. William Harress, Portsmouth, N. H, 
 Portsmouth 
 
 December 21. Dempey Hydra, , North 
 
 Carolina, Paul Jones 
 do - 4. Silas Hardison, , N. Carolina 
 
 Januarys, 1815. Elijah Hartford, St. Thomas, U. 
 States Infantry 
 
 February 5. Jacob Hanley, Milford, impressed 
 
 December 29, 1814. Alexander Henderson, Ne\v» 
 York, Criterion 
 
 November 4, 1814. William Jones, Cambridge^ 
 Pvlass. Hawke 
 
 April 30, 1814. George Jones, , Connecti- 
 cut, Viper of Baltimore 
 
 June 25. Lambert Johnson, Middletown, N. J, 
 Paul Jones 
 do 6. Thomas Jackson, New-York, impressed 
 
 November 2. Alexander Johnson, Charlestoi*, 6. C. 
 William 
 do 25-' Manuel Joseph, Oporto, impressed 
 
 January 24. Thomas Jarvis, Marblehead, Mass. 
 Industry 
 
 Janua-y 8, 1815. John Johannas, Salem, Mass^ 
 President 
 
269 . 
 
 February 1. John Johnson, New- York, born in 
 Rhode-Island, Criterion 
 
 November 11, 1814. James Ketrope, Cambridge, 
 Mary 
 
 February 3, 1815- Uriah King, Scituate, Mass. 
 Dominick 
 Nov. 3, 1814. Jesse Lasol, Martinico, President 
 
 August 5, 1814. John Lewis, R, I. True Blooded 
 Yankee. 
 
 Jan. 1, 1814, James Lestar, unknown, do. 
 
 Jan. J 5, Charles Lamson, Bait. Md. Mars, Bait. 
 
 Sept. 30, Lewis Larkins, Durham, Mass. RoUa. 
 
 Nov. 1, Placid Lorly, Washington, Hawke. 
 
 Nov. 22, Anthony Lamb, Con. Grand Turk. 
 
 Dec. 30, Richard Lee, Mass. brig Argus. 
 
 Jan. 27, Amos Larkins, Beverly, Mass. Impressed 
 
 Feb. 4, 1815, James Laskey, Marblehead, Mass 
 Enterprise. 
 
 Nov. 20, 1814, Sola. Marshall, 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. Orieans, Paul Jones.. 
 New- York 
 
 Oct, 27, Calasso Madosa, Carthagena, President 
 
270 
 
 October 25, Albert Mingo, N. Orleans, Weezer 
 
 Nov. 18, Rollen M-Donovan, Mass. Siro 
 
 Nov. 1 8, John Macky, Bait. Md. Rattlesnake 
 do. 20, Richard Miller, Penn. Snap Dragon 
 
 Jan. 30, Joseph Mid^e, unluiown 
 
 Dec. 12, Ezekiel Mitchell, Poitland, D. Maine 
 Charlotte 
 
 Feb. 5, 1815, Jesse March, Kennebunk, do. 
 M'Donough 
 
 Feb. 14, Wm. Mister>^ Bait. Md. impressed 
 do. 17, John Martin, Carthagena, President 
 Sol. Marshal, Deer Island, Mass. Mammotli I 
 
 Jan. 22, 1815, Peter Mitchell, New-York, For- 
 midable 
 
 Nov. 15, 1813, Benj. Newbern, New-York, U. S. 
 brig Argus 
 
 Sept. 29, 1814, Edward Norton, Plymouth, Mass. 
 U. S. ship Argus 
 
 Feb. -24, 1815, Daniel Nash, Maryland, impressed 
 
 Oct. 7, 18 J 4, Josiah Pettengell, Salem, Mass 
 Enterprise 
 
 Nov. 4, 1814, Joel Perigo, Beston, Mass. India 
 
 March 12, 1814, Samuel Pcarce, Greenwich, R. I. 
 DartofN. Y. 
 
 Dec. 4, 1814, Samuel Peterson, Phil. Nonsuch 
 
 Nov. 5, 1814, Thoinas Parker, Bait. Md. Domi- 
 nique 
 
 Nov. 28, Wm. Parker, New-York, Derby 
 
27l 
 
 Jan. 30, 1814, Charles Parker, unknown 
 ^ov. 3, John Perkins, Pittsfield, IVjass. Siro 
 Nov. 7, James Palmer, Portsmouth, N. H. Frolic 
 do. 23, John Pollard, Pcrnambiico, S. A. Ida 
 Jan. 14, Aaron Peterson, Stonington, Con. Joel 
 
 Barlow 
 Oct. 5, John Potter, Phil. Penn. impressed 
 Sept. 25, Ephraim Pinkham, Wiscassct, Maine^ 
 
 Mammoth '^ 
 
 May 1813, Florace Risley, Long-Island, N. Y. 
 
 StarofN. Y. 
 November 16, 1814. Benjamin Rinevon, Guada- 
 
 loupe. West Indies, Fox 
 do 12. LukeRodgers, , North Carolina, 
 
 Fairy 
 
 , ^do 14. David Reed, Townsend, District of Maine^ 
 
 America 
 December 29. James Rooth, Norwich, Con. Mary 
 
 January 9, 1814. Silas Hardison, , Nortb 
 
 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. Samuel Robenson, Philadel- 
 phia, Nonsuch 
 
272 
 
 January 16, 1814. William Saunders, Kennebunk, 
 
 Maine, Mars of Baltimore 
 October 17, William Shans, U: S. brig Argus 
 do 20. Francis Saul, Wiscasset, Maine, Mer- 
 cury 
 do ^5. Jacob Sawyer, Providence, R. I. 
 impressed 
 
 November 3, Richard Sperdy, , Virginia, 
 
 Amelia 
 do 20. Isaac Simerson, New- York, Invinci- 
 ble 
 do 21. Lewis Stow, Middle to v/n. Con. Tick- 
 ler 
 December 7. Jacob C. Secusa, New- York, Vo- 
 lunteer 
 do 8. Nicholas Smith, Richmond, Virginiaj 
 
 Herald 
 do 15. John Stiles, Baltimore, Md. William 
 
 Bayard 
 January 24. Henry Schelding, unknown 
 
 do 14. Smith Schelding, New- York, Fort 
 
 Erie 
 do 5, 1815. John Stow, Harlequin 
 
 do 20. John Straul, Portland, Maine, Siro 
 March 15, 1814. William Sternis, Norwich, Conj 
 Viper of Baltimore 
 
 December 5. William Smart, , Virginia,, 
 
 Gothland 
 
273 
 
 January 28, 1815. Daniel Simons, Marblehead, 
 
 Mass. Enterprise 
 do 12. Ebenezer Simons, unknown 
 
 February 7. John Seapach, Portland, Maine, Ali- 
 cant 
 
 March 9, 1814. Eleazer Tobic, New- York, True- 
 blooded Yankee 
 
 February 25. William Tyre, Springfield, Viper of 
 Baltimore 
 
 March 18. Thomas Tagatt, Granville, Argus 
 
 July 23. Abraham Thomas, , Con. P. Jones 
 
 September 26. Matthew Tineman, New- York, 
 Tom Thumb 
 
 October 25. John Thomas, New-York, Elbridge 
 Gerry 
 
 November 3. Abraham Tompkins, New- York, 
 Governor Shelby 
 do 24. Francis Tuttle, Pernell, Maine, Leo 
 
 December 2. Jolin B. Taylor, New- York, Fair 
 American 
 
 January 27, James Fulford, , North Caro- 
 lina, Snap-Dragon 
 
 February 12, 1815.Samuel TophownjMontgomery, 
 soldier of the U. S. A. 
 
 January 8. James Vassa, unknown. Growler 
 
 January 19, 1815. Daniel Very, Salem, Masg, 
 Frolic 
 
 A a 
 
274 
 
 August 31, 1814. Nathaniel Vaughrs, Newport, 
 R. I. Ducanavia 
 
 March 20, 1814. Thomas Williams, , Con- 
 necticut, Viper of Baltimore 
 
 October 27. William Williams, Georgetown, Ma- 
 ria Theresa 
 
 December 5. William Wescott, , Virginia, 
 
 Gothland 
 
 January 14, James Williams, Weathersfield, Con. 
 Caroline 
 
 do 17. Seth Williams, Portsmouth, N. H. 
 Harlequin 
 
 January 28, 1815. George Overt, , New» 
 
 Hampshire, impressed 
 do 8. Joseph Wedger, Marblehead, Mass 
 
 Growler 
 
 February 1. Joseph Williams, Gay-Head, Enter- 
 prise 
 
 January 24, 1814. Thomas Zervice, Marblehead, 
 Mass. Industry 
 
 January 21, 1814. WiUiam Young, North Carolina, 
 Levant 
 
275^ 
 
 The following is a list of persons zoho escaped from 
 Dartmoor prison, from September 1814; the first 
 escape^ until March 13, 1815- 
 
 September 20, 1814. Shapley Smith, Baltimore, 
 Leo 
 do 20. Henry Cottrill, Narraganset, R. I. 
 
 unknown 
 October, 1814. Captain Swain, New-Bedford, Ma?. 
 
 1814. Gascoigne, unknown 
 November — . Henry Allen, Salem, Mass. Polly 
 John Windham, unknown 
 
 December — . Russell, New-Bedford, Mass. 
 
 do — . Howard, unknown 
 
 September — . Benjamin Prince, Portland, Maine, 
 Magdalen 
 
 January, 1815. Rodgers, New- York, True- 
 
 blooded Yankee 
 do — . Caleb Holmes, do. unknown 
 
 February, 1815. Joseph Langford, Baltimore, 
 
 True-blooded Yankee 
 do 6. George Denison, Portland, Maine, 
 
 Siro of Baltimore 
 do 12. John W. Fletcher, Alexandria, Vir, 
 Rattlesnake 
 Blarch 12, 1815. David Flood, Portland, Maine., 
 impressed 
 
276 
 
 March — . Isaiah Bunker, Philadelphia, True- 
 blooded Yankee 
 do 18. William Webster, unknown 
 
 Escaped from the last date, until April, six men, 
 names unknown 
 
 The follozoiiig is a correct list of names of prisoyiers 
 who died at Dartmoor prison^ from February 18, 
 1815, xmtil April 20, 1815. 
 
 March 4. Archibald Allen, , New- Jersey, 
 
 impressed 
 
 do 15. William Adams, . , Connecticut, 
 
 impressed 
 
 Capt. Allen, of the U. States brig Argus, 
 of his wounds 
 
 February 22, 1815. John Butler, , Delaware, 
 
 Semi ram us 
 
 March IS. Peter Burch, Philadelphia, Prosperity 
 
 do 29. William Brady, Baltimore, Flash, N. Y. 
 
 do 22. Henry Campbell, Philadelphia, Pen. 
 
 Columbia 
 
 April 5. James Campbell, Nev»^-York, impressed 
 
 March 1 1 . Jonathan Dyer, Portsmouth, N. H. 
 
 True-blooded Yankee 
 February 25. Jonathan Davis, Middle-river, Mass. 
 ship Yorktown 
 
277 
 
 March 30. Benjamin Delano, Ducksbury 
 
 April 12. John Devinas, , Ohio 
 
 March 14. William Evin, Rhode Island, 
 
 brig Star 
 do 18. Archibald Fogerty, , Massachu- 
 setts, Horatio 
 April 16. John Francis, Norfolk, Vir. impressed 
 March 4. Jeremiah Gardner, Newport, R. 1. im- 
 pressed 
 February 23. Josiah Gun, Salem, Mass. 
 March 24. Thomas Groves, Boston, Mass. Port 
 Mehon 
 do 14. Jonathan Gladding, Bristol, R. I. 
 Rattlesnake 
 February 24. Francis Hobden. Gloucester, Vir. 
 March 10. Abijah Holbrook, Weymouth, Derby 
 do 14. John Hobson, Bedford, N. C. Snap- 
 dragon 
 do 20. Joseph Haycock, Portland, Maine 
 April 6. Henry Holden, Boston, Sultan 
 
 6. John Haywood, , Vir. impressed 
 
 18. Thomas Hall, Surprise 
 
 February 22. John Jennings, Gay Head, M. V. 
 Hawke 
 
 23. James Jones, , Md. impressed 
 
 26. Peter Joseph, W. Indies, President 
 
 A a 2 
 
278 
 
 February 24. Edward Jenkins, Gimibridge, Mass. 
 
 Tom of Baltimore 
 March 10. Wm. Johnson, Salem, Mas. impressed 
 
 do 14. John Jackson, Baltimore, do 
 April 6. Thomas Jackson, New- York, Orbit- 
 do 6. Joseph Johnson, , ConneGticut, 
 
 Paul Jones 
 Feb. 26. James Knapps, Baltimore, impressed 
 
 John Kelly, Marblehead, Mas. Allred 
 April 16. Jacob Kemble, Jenet 
 
 do 6. William Leverett, New- York, Saratoga 
 
 March 10. Capt. Lepiate, , N. Y. Paul Jones 
 
 February 21. Edward Miller, Newark, N. J. 
 Mammoth 
 do 21. Charles Moutle, Stonnington, Con. 
 
 impressed 
 March 26. James Morris, Baltimore, President 
 
 24. William Mills, city of Jersey, N. J. 
 
 Zebra 
 
 27. Benjamin Marshall, , Massachu- 
 setts, Mindor 
 
 30. George Moore, Boston, Mass. Chas- 
 seur 
 January 2. John Blonroe, Albany, N. Y. Rattle- 
 snake 
 April 6. Jabez Mann, Boston, Siro 
 
279 
 
 March 10. Jonathan Paul, Charleston, S. C imp, 
 do .. i'riomas Peckham, Windham, Con. 
 
 Paul Jones 
 
 do 22. Gideon Porter, , Rhode Island, 
 
 impressed 
 April 1. Samuel Parish, Norfolk, Vir. Grand Na- 
 poleon 
 February 23. Joseph Quios, Salem, Mas. Herald 
 Mdi'ch 2, Joseph Rasom, VViscasset, Maine, Ned 
 of Baltimore 
 do 2. Joseph Robenson, do do. Ned 
 
 of Baltimore 
 
 April 1. James Robenson, , Massachusetts, 
 
 Price of Baltimore 
 do 18- William Robenson 
 March 20. Jeremiah Stan wood, New buryport, Ms. 
 impressed 
 do 17. Silas Squibs, New-London, Connecti- 
 cut, Hope-packet 
 February 22. Martin Sutten, Nev/ Bedford, Mass. 
 
 Lion 
 M .rch 4. David Shute, Salem, Mass. impressed 
 do 5. Andrew Smith, Indian River, Tom 
 
 do 14. Joseph Salesbury, , Massachusetts, 
 
 Zenith 
 
 do 16. Theodore Snell, — , Rhode Island, 
 
 a soldier 
 
2^0 
 
 Mnrch 16. Stephen Stacy, Marblehead, Mass. Ohi© 
 February 21. Henry Thomas, Cambridge, Mass. 
 
 Derby 
 April 14. Richard Smith, Grand Turk 
 
 February 21. David Turner, Boston, Derby 
 April 6. John Turner, Massachusetts, 
 
 Rattlesnake 
 do 18. William Thompson, Siro 
 
 February 25. Darius Vilims, Providence, R. I. 
 
 Frolic 
 March 10. Charles Williams, New-London, Con* 
 do 17. Samuel Williams, , Massachusetts, 
 
 Scorpion 
 
 do 26. Edward W^illiams, ,Va. impressed 
 
 April 6. John Washmgton, Cooperstown, Md. 
 
 Rolla 
 
 Died at Ashherton during the war, 
 
 March 10, i815. B. Elvel, Gloucester, Mass. Fire- 
 Fly 
 
 do 25. Abraham Burnham, ■ , Mass. Price 
 
281 
 
 Supplement of some matters obtained since the 
 preceditig pages were written. 
 
 Copy of a letter from Lieut. N. D- Nicholson, of 
 the late U. States brig Si/ren, to Capt. Samuel 
 Evans, commanding naval officer at JSTeza- For A% 
 
 New- York, August 24, 1815. 
 Sir, 
 
 Conceiving it my duty to make known the 
 treatment exhibiteil by British officers and men, 
 to those who are so unfortunate as to fall into their 
 power, I am induced to acquaint you with the fol- 
 lowing circumstances : 
 
 After the surrender of the Si/reji to the Medwai/, 
 the officers and crew of the former were removed 
 to the latter : the crew not being allowed the pri- 
 vilege of taking their clothing, &lc. w^ith them, — 
 so that the prize-crew had a fair opportunity of 
 plundering such articles as they thought proper ; 
 which opportunity they took care to profit by, as 
 many of our men were pillaged of all they pos- 
 sessed, excepting w^hat they had on at the time ; 
 and the officers in like manner wxre plundered on 
 board the Medioaij. The midshi]3men, some of 
 them, were completely stripped ; others lobt taeir 
 
282 
 
 watches, &c. For my own part, I came off with 
 the loss of about half my clothing, and thought my 
 self well off when compared with the losses of my 
 shipmates. 
 
 The morning after our capture, we were mus- 
 tered on the quarter-deck, to undergo a search ; 
 ihe men were then stripped to the skin, and their 
 clothing not returned ; so that many of them were 
 left without any thing more than a shirt and trow- 
 sers. The next day, Mr. Barton (the first lieute- 
 nant of the Medzvay) distributed the clothing he 
 had taken from our men, to his quarter-masters and 
 quarter-gunners in my presence. 
 
 After being on board the Medway five weeks, we 
 were landed at Simon-Tovv'n, twenty-five miles to 
 the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope ; myself 
 and brother officers paroled, and the men marched 
 to Cape-Town under an escort of dragoons ; being 
 obliged to ford a lake on the march, where the boys 
 were compelled to go over on the backs of the tall 
 men ; this march of twenty-five miles was per- 
 formed in one day, and without shoes or food ; 
 the latter article they were kept without four and 
 twenty hours ; their shoes were stolen by the crew 
 of the Medivay while they were asleep. After re- 
 maining in this situation nearly eight months, with- 
 out bed or bedding, (they were not even furnished 
 
283 
 
 with straw, and their hammocks 
 plea of their being pubUck property 
 embarked in different men of war ai 
 for England ; myself, and about sixty officers and 
 men, in the Cumberland, seventy-four, Capt. Ba- 
 ker, were all put on the lower gun-deck without 
 distinction, among their own crew, and fed on 
 prisoners' allowance ; and on my remonstrating 
 with the captain for receiving such treatment, he 
 ordered me off the quarter-deck, with a threat, at 
 the same time, to put me in irons. 
 
 We remained in this situation eighteen days, af- 
 ter which Lieuts. German, Gordon, and myself, 
 were removed to the Grampus, thirty, at St. He- 
 lena, admitted to the ward-room mess, and treated 
 with civility. 
 
 With respect, I have the honour, Szc. 
 
 N. D. NICHOLSON, 
 Capt. Samuel Evans. 
 
 THE END 
 
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