Thomas Findley, Marblehead, Enterprise, wounded 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 Wilson, New-York, Virginia Planter, in the hand.James Israel, do., do., thigh.Jacob Davis, do., do., thigh.Caleb Cotton, Taunton, Mass., M. W., two places in the body.John Roberts, do., do., thigh.Joseph Phipps, Old Concord, Zebra, thigh and belly.William Lamb, do., do., eyes.Edward Gardner, Marblehead, impressed, in the wrist.William Appleby, New-York, Magdelen, arm.James Bell, Philadelphia, Joel Barlow, wrist and thigh.Philip Ford, Philadelphia, impressed, five wounds, side, breast, back and thigh.James Birch, thigh.Henry Montcalm, Roxbury, Mass., Governor Tompkins, knee.Andrew Garrison, thigh and head.Robert Tadley, Bath, Maine, Grand Turk, privates.William Penn, Virginia, impressed, thigh.Joseph Reugh, thigh.Thaddeus Howard, Rochester, Mass., Hart of Bedford, leg.Edward Banker, Portsmouth, N. H., impressed, back.Thomas George, Norfolk, Virginia, U. S. Rattlesnake, thigh.Alexander Wilson, Providence, R. I., Leo, hand and leg.John Surrey, N. Y., French privateer, cheek.Nathaniel Wakeneld, Beverly, Mass., Ciro, 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.
Thomas Findley, Marblehead, Enterprise, wounded 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 Wilson, New-York, Virginia Planter, in the hand.
James Israel, do., do., thigh.
Jacob Davis, do., do., thigh.
Caleb Cotton, Taunton, Mass., M. W., two places in the body.
John Roberts, do., do., thigh.
Joseph Phipps, Old Concord, Zebra, thigh and belly.
William Lamb, do., do., eyes.
Edward Gardner, Marblehead, impressed, in the wrist.
William Appleby, New-York, Magdelen, arm.
James Bell, Philadelphia, Joel Barlow, wrist and thigh.
Philip Ford, Philadelphia, impressed, five wounds, side, breast, back and thigh.
James Birch, thigh.
Henry Montcalm, Roxbury, Mass., Governor Tompkins, knee.
Andrew Garrison, thigh and head.
Robert Tadley, Bath, Maine, Grand Turk, privates.
William Penn, Virginia, impressed, thigh.
Joseph Reugh, thigh.
Thaddeus Howard, Rochester, Mass., Hart of Bedford, leg.
Edward Banker, Portsmouth, N. H., impressed, back.
Thomas George, Norfolk, Virginia, U. S. Rattlesnake, thigh.
Alexander Wilson, Providence, R. I., Leo, hand and leg.
John Surrey, N. Y., French privateer, cheek.
Nathaniel Wakeneld, Beverly, Mass., Ciro, 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.
Ephraim Lincoln, Boston, Argus, by the bayonet.Greenlow, Virginia, different places.James Newman, Baltimore, impressed, by the bayonet.Alexander Peterson, New-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 hand.Perry Richardson, Bath, Maine, Rolla, by the bayonet.John Cowen, Teezer, by the bayonet.James Barker, Wiscasset, Elbridge Gerry, by the bayonet.James Wedgewood, Portsmouth, N. H., Lark, in the head.James Mathews, Delaware, by the bayonet.John Murray, New-York, by the bayonet.William Marshal, Lawrence, by the bayonet.Thomas Johnson, Albany, Criterion, by the bayonet.
The list of killed and wounded contains all that could be ascertained at that time, but great suspicions remained among the prisoners that more had been killed than were certainly known, as some were missing, and not to be found among the living or the dead; it was supposed 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 report prevailed that he had done it: as great numbers who were slightly wounded did not go to the hospital, I, to ascertain the exact number of killed and wounded, took the list of those in the hospital, from the doctor’s books, and every prison mustered all those that refused going to the hospital, by which means the list can be depended on as strictly correct.
At twelve o’clock, at noon, on the eighth, a jury of inquest arrived, composed of twelve farmers, and a coroner, and sat over the bodies of our murdered countrymen; they began to take the depositions of the prisoners and turnkeys, and proceeded on till seven in the evening, and adjourned till next morning.
The evidence of the prisoners corresponded with the statement in a preceding page.
On the morning of the ninth, the dead not yet being buried, the jury sat over them again, and proceeded on with the evidence on both sides, which consisted of Dr. Magrath, whose evidence was against Shortland, prisoners, turnkeys, soldier-officers, soldiers, &c.
The summary of the evidence I shall give presently; 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, who had applied to be released 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 satisfactory could be obtained, but only a report that after the prisons were closed, Capt. Shortland had secretly buried some of the most mangled bodies, before Dr. Magrath entered, as he is a man of integrity, feeling, candor, firmness, and unshaken veracity, as well as genius and skill, that no favor or affection could swerve from the truth. Shortland would therefore endeavor to conceal as much as possible from him, as whatever came within his knowledge, came out without fear or reward, and was much against the conduct of Capt. Shortland. On the morning of the seventh, as before mentioned, we ascertained by the testimony of those persons whose names are mentioned in the certificate to this work, the particulars of the killed and wounded, whose names have been already mentioned, the number of which and their situation, were as follows:
Seven were killed dead in the yards, and in the prisons. Six suffered amputation of a leg or an arm.Thirty-eightdangerously wounded and many supposed to be mortal by the surgeon of the depot.Twelveslightly wounded. The total amount of killed and woundedsixty-three. Among these were many mangled in the most horrid manner, having received five, six, and seven wounds apiece from the bayonet. Hundreds of the prisoners very narrowly escaped, having received several shots through the hats and clothes.
We have just discovered that the soldiers here at present are the Somersetshire militia; and the garrison consists of fifteen hundred soldiers of different military classes.
On the evening of the ninth, the inquest, consisting of twelve peasants, dependants of Capt. Shortland, delivered in this most extraordinary and unjust verdict, of Justifiable Homicide; such a verdict astonished every person, who was notparticeps criminis. This verdict seems to have been given against evidence; a summary of which on both sides I shall now proceed to give the reader, that he may judge for himself. It appeared from the different witnesses before mentioned, that the hole made in the wall was unknown tomore 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 & 4, were totally ignorant of there being any hole in the wall. It was proved that the gates were broken open by a man in the state of intoxication, and unknown to the prisoners, and that when broken open it was in the power of the sentry to have taken the offender and confined him without any resistance of the prisoners. It was also proved that they came running to the gate out of curiosity, to learn the occasion of the alarm bells ringing; that the few persons (who were not above fifty,) flocked into the square, were carried out of the gates by the numbers pressing in the rear to gratify their curiosity; that no stones or clubs were thrown while they were in this situation; that they all immediately retired into the yards of their respective prisons, and shut the gates after them; that Capt. Shortland took the immediate command of the soldiers, and ordered them to fire on the prisoners; that on firing the prisoners made all possible exertion to gain the inside of the 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 prisoners, and fired and killed them, as they were going into the prisons; that after all the prisoners had got in, except some few, being frightened, and not able to get into the prisons, ran for refuge close to the walls, and were fired upon singly, and either killed or wounded by several soldiers firing at one. That an officer of low rank assisted under the command of Capt. Shortland, in killing a boy, not over thirteen years old! that a prisoner applied to Capt. Shortland to forbear, and stop the horrid massacre, as the prisoners were retiring as fast as possible, and that Capt. Shortland answered, “retire, you damned rascal, I’ll hear to nothing.” It was proved that the turnkeys, contrary to the invariable custom, had been in and locked all the doors of each prison, 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 happenedto see the doors locked, but did not suspect any mischief was about to be done; that this was done some time before the usual hour for turning in. Also, that Capt. Shortland actually took hold of a musket with his own hands in conjunction with a soldier, and fired the first gun. That the soldier-officers were unwilling to give any orders to the soldiers, or take any active part in the proceedings.
From the summary of the evidence above given, on the part of the prisoners, it must appear evident to every impartial reader, that Capt. Shortland made the attack with malice prepense. But to give the public the fairest opportunity to judge, I shall give a summary of the evidence on the part of Capt. Shortland, which came all from the mouth of witnessesparticeps criminis, and acting with him. Those consisted of clerks, turnkeys, 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 that great numbers had threatened to escape by forcing 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 broken by some prisoner, 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 prisoners while there; that great numbers had got into the square, and that they did mean to make their escape. Nothing material could be further drawn from these witnesses.
In the evening of this day, the bodies of our murdered countrymen were buried behind the prison walls in the same manner as before the peace, without form or ceremony, and no prisoner permitted to attend to see the last sad office, which one friend can perform for another in giving the grave its due. O! Britannia, thy boast is gone, thy pride is lost; humanity is fled from thy degenerate sons, and a safer asylum in the bosom of the savage tribes is found. Deny the dead their sacred due!
Thou ingrate race, is this the reward due to men who have labored many years thy faithful servant, and now, after having dragged out a painful imprisonment for two years, and the moment the hope of returning had rekindled the sparks of life, must be massacred in a most barbarous manner, 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 thosewho have had the command of this depot heretofore. In a manuscript which was left here by the French prisoners, which I was this evening perusing, I find the following remarkable circumstance of cruelty related, which took place during their confinement.
Captain Cotgrave being agent, and Dr. Decker head surgeon of the hospital, in December, one thousand eight hundred and nine, a most malignant and contagious disease, bearing the most frightful and mortal symptoms, broke out among the French prisoners, which, in the short space of one month, carried off more than eight hundred.
This unfeeling man, Dr. Decker, caused the coffins to be brought into the rooms of the hospital to receive the bodies: where they often remained several days in readiness to receive the unhappy man fast approaching the end of all his sufferings.
It is said in the manuscript, that this worse than barbarian, would gaze with the greatest satisfaction on the surrounding victims, that he might discover from the very inmost recesses of the heart, what effect the appearance of these coffins had on their exhausted spirits.
However unfeeling this might be, yet their lot was envied by hundreds of their countrymen, who were left to perish in the prison without any assistance, without a friend, and in want of everything; and would not be received into the Hospital by this unfeeling man.
Their extreme sufferings would have moved the heart even of a cannibal, and it is a solitary instance of cruelty, that any one belonging to a civilized nation could rejoice at such a mournful spectacle, and exult over their fellow-beings in the agonies of death, as did this man often, in saying the more deaths the fewer enemies.
Another circumstance is related in the same manuscript, 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 being discovered by some of the prisoners, they determined, 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 sentries, who gave the alarm, and instantly a volley of sixty muskets was discharged at them; numbers were wounded, but none killed; they then hastily retired into the prison.
Capt. Cotgrave, the agent, then entered the yard at the head of a large body of troops, and after searching the yard in every direction, and discovering nobody he was retiring, when they discovered a man creeping along the wall; the blood-thirsty monsters instantly fell upon the unhappy 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 prisoners 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 monument of their cruelty.
THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF PRISONERS.
We, the undersigned, being each severally sworn on the holy evangelists of the Almighty God, for the investigation of the circumstances attending the late horrid massacre, and having heard the depositions of a great number of witnesses, from our own personal knowledge, and from the depositions given in as aforesaid,Report as Follows:That on the 6th of April, about six o’clock in the evening, 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 observed, 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. This, of course, occasioned considerable alarm amongthem. 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 into the prison-yards, and shut the gates after them. Captain Shortland himself opened the gates, and ordered the soldiers to fire in among the prisoners, who were all retreating in different directions toward their respective prisons. It appears there was some hesitation in the minds of the officers, whether 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 were either killed or wounded. The remainder were endeavoring to get into the prisons, when going towards the lower doors, the soldiers on the walls commenced firing on them from that quarter, which killed some and wounded others. After much difficulty, [all the doors being closed in the entrance, but one in each prison] the survivors succeeded in gaining the prisons; immediately after which, parties of soldiers came to the 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 inveteracy 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, manifested equal cruelty, by keeping up a constant fire on every prisoner they could see in the yards endeavoring to get into the prison, when their numbers 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 infrom the Square; they immediately went up and fired into the same, which wounded several; one of the prisoners ran out with the intention of gaining his prison, but was killed before he reached the door.On an impartial consideration of the circumstances of the case, we are induced to believe that it was a premeditated scheme in the mind of Captain Shortland, for reasons which we will now proceed to give—as an illucidation 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 ordered the contractor or his clerk to serve out one pound of indifferent hard bread, instead of one pound and a half of soft bread, their usual allowance—this the prisoners refused to receive—they waited all day in expectation of their usual allowance being served out; but at senset, finding this would not be the case, burst open the lower gates, and went up to the store, demanding to have their bread.The officers of the garrison, on being alarmed, and informed of their proceedings, observed, that it was no more than right the prisoners should have their usual allowance, and strongly reprobated the conduct of Captain Shortland in withholding it from them. They were accordingly served with their bread, and quietly returned to their prison. This circumstance, with the censures that were thrown on his conduct, reached the ears of Shortland on his return home, and he must then have determined on the diabolical plan of seizing the first slight pretext to turn in the military, to butcher the prisoners for the gratification of his malice and revenge. It unfortunately happened, that in the afternoon of the 6th of April, some boys who were playing ball in No. 7 yard, knocked their ball over into the barrack-yard, and on the sentry in that yard refusing to throw it back to them, they picked a hole in the wall to get in after it.This afforded Shortland his wished-for pretext, and he took his measures accordingly; he had all the garrison drawn up in the military walk, additional numbers posted on the walls, and every thing ready prepared before the alarm bell was rung; this, he naturally concluded, would draw the attention 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 preventthe prisoners retreating out of the way before he had sufficiently wreaked his vengeance.What adds peculiar weight to the belief of its being a premeditated, determined massacre, are,First.—The sanguinary disposition manifested on every occasion by Shortland, he having, prior to this time, ordered the soldiers to fire into the prisons, through the prison windows, upon unarmed prisoners asleep in their hammocks, on account of a light being seen in the prisons; which barbarous 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 who had escaped from thecachot, which order the commanding 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 prisoners were quiet as usual in their respective yards, “I’ll fix the damn’d rascals directly.”Thirdly.—His having all the soldiers on their posts, and the garrison fully prepared before the alarm bell rung. It could not then, of course, be rung to assemble the soldiers, but to alarm the prisoners, and create confusion among them.Fourthly.—The soldiers upon the wall, previous to the alarm bell being rung, informing the prisoners 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 prisoners it was time to shut up. It was ever the invariable practice of the turnkeys, from which they never deviated before that night, when coming into 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 theywere 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 prisoners had to pass in gaining the prisons.We here solemnly aver, that there was no preconcerted plan to attempt breaking out. There cannot be produced the least shadow of a reason or inducement for that intention, the prisoners daily expecting to be released, and to embark on board cartels for their native country. And we likewise solemnly assert, that there was no intention of resisting, in any manner, the authority of this depot.N. B. Seven were killed, thirty dangerously wounded, and thirty slightly so. Total, sixty-seven killed and wounded.(Signed)WM. B. ORNE,}WM. HOBART,}JAMES BOGGS,}JAMES ADAMS,}FRANCIS JOSEPH,}JOHN F. TROBRIDGE,}Committee.JOHN RUST,}HENRY ALLEN,}WALTER COLTON,}THOMAS B. MOTT.}Dartmoor Prison, April 7th, 1815.
We, the undersigned, being each severally sworn on the holy evangelists of the Almighty God, for the investigation of the circumstances attending the late horrid massacre, and having heard the depositions of a great number of witnesses, from our own personal knowledge, and from the depositions given in as aforesaid,
Report as Follows:
That on the 6th of April, about six o’clock in the evening, 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 observed, 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. This, of course, occasioned considerable alarm amongthem. 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 into the prison-yards, and shut the gates after them. Captain Shortland himself opened the gates, and ordered the soldiers to fire in among the prisoners, who were all retreating in different directions toward their respective prisons. It appears there was some hesitation in the minds of the officers, whether 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 were either killed or wounded. The remainder were endeavoring to get into the prisons, when going towards the lower doors, the soldiers on the walls commenced firing on them from that quarter, which killed some and wounded others. After much difficulty, [all the doors being closed in the entrance, but one in each prison] the survivors succeeded in gaining the prisons; immediately after which, parties of soldiers came to the 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 inveteracy 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, manifested equal cruelty, by keeping up a constant fire on every prisoner they could see in the yards endeavoring to get into the prison, when their numbers 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 infrom the Square; they immediately went up and fired into the same, which wounded several; one of the prisoners ran out with the intention of gaining his prison, but was killed before he reached the door.
On an impartial consideration of the circumstances of the case, we are induced to believe that it was a premeditated scheme in the mind of Captain Shortland, for reasons which we will now proceed to give—as an illucidation 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 ordered the contractor or his clerk to serve out one pound of indifferent hard bread, instead of one pound and a half of soft bread, their usual allowance—this the prisoners refused to receive—they waited all day in expectation of their usual allowance being served out; but at senset, finding this would not be the case, burst open the lower gates, and went up to the store, demanding to have their bread.
The officers of the garrison, on being alarmed, and informed of their proceedings, observed, that it was no more than right the prisoners should have their usual allowance, and strongly reprobated the conduct of Captain Shortland in withholding it from them. They were accordingly served with their bread, and quietly returned to their prison. This circumstance, with the censures that were thrown on his conduct, reached the ears of Shortland on his return home, and he must then have determined on the diabolical plan of seizing the first slight pretext to turn in the military, to butcher the prisoners for the gratification of his malice and revenge. It unfortunately happened, that in the afternoon of the 6th of April, some boys who were playing ball in No. 7 yard, knocked their ball over into the barrack-yard, and on the sentry in that yard refusing to throw it back to them, they picked a hole in the wall to get in after it.
This afforded Shortland his wished-for pretext, and he took his measures accordingly; he had all the garrison drawn up in the military walk, additional numbers posted on the walls, and every thing ready prepared before the alarm bell was rung; this, he naturally concluded, would draw the attention 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 preventthe prisoners retreating out of the way before he had sufficiently wreaked his vengeance.
What adds peculiar weight to the belief of its being a premeditated, determined massacre, are,
First.—The sanguinary disposition manifested on every occasion by Shortland, he having, prior to this time, ordered the soldiers to fire into the prisons, through the prison windows, upon unarmed prisoners asleep in their hammocks, on account of a light being seen in the prisons; which barbarous 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 who had escaped from thecachot, which order the commanding 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 prisoners were quiet as usual in their respective yards, “I’ll fix the damn’d rascals directly.”
Thirdly.—His having all the soldiers on their posts, and the garrison fully prepared before the alarm bell rung. It could not then, of course, be rung to assemble the soldiers, but to alarm the prisoners, and create confusion among them.
Fourthly.—The soldiers upon the wall, previous to the alarm bell being rung, informing the prisoners 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 prisoners it was time to shut up. It was ever the invariable practice of the turnkeys, from which they never deviated before that night, when coming into 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 theywere 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 prisoners had to pass in gaining the prisons.
We here solemnly aver, that there was no preconcerted plan to attempt breaking out. There cannot be produced the least shadow of a reason or inducement for that intention, the prisoners daily expecting to be released, and to embark on board cartels for their native country. And we likewise solemnly assert, that there was no intention of resisting, in any manner, the authority of this depot.
N. B. Seven were killed, thirty dangerously wounded, and thirty slightly so. Total, sixty-seven killed and wounded.
(Signed)
Dartmoor Prison, April 7th, 1815.
The same day Mr. Ingraham come to the prison and informed the prisoners that he had come for the purpose of shipping a number of men, to man ships now lying in different ports in Europe; he also informed us that he had been appointed agent, under the consular agent of the United States: and that every preparation was making for the immediate release of every prisoner, and we might be assured of the immediate arrival of the ships from 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, for the assistance and relief of our wounded countrymen in theHospital, and also an arrangement for the prisoners to wear crape on their arm for thirty days after their arrival in America, as a tribute of respect due to their departed friends and fellow-prisoners. The wounded in the hospital were paid every attention, for their comfort and speedy recovery, by Doctor Magrath.
We received no letters from Mr. Beasley, although hundreds of letters had been sent to him since the melancholy event of the 6th. Reports were circulating that a new agent was to be appointed by the United States to supersede Mr. Beasley, which every man most anxiously wished might be true, but had not the satisfaction to learn 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 remarkably 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, resumed the command of the depot, but he was seldom seen by the prisoners, being very apprehensive that the prisoners would shoot him the first opportunity; therefore he kept a body guard around him, and this day a draft of thirty prisoners being discharged, and having to pass by his house, he had his guard stationed at his door.
On the morning of the twelfth, we were informed by Capt. Shortland that the drafts for the discharge of the prisoners were already made out, and that the draft for the first cartel would consist of 280, to be discharged as they entered this depot. I therefore obtained the exact number of prisoners then in each prison, which I shall give as follows:
In visiting the hospitals, I found the wounded prisoners fast recovering, all in high spirits, the prison generally more healthy than it had been since our arrival in it. Capt. Shortland removed his family from this place, for his guilt had brought upon him the apprehension of the first draught’s retaliating 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 received 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; we felt but little reluctance in delivering them up, when animated with the idea of once more visiting our native country, and leaving a dreary prison, which many of us had inhabited for upwards of two years.
On the following day we received a London paper which contained the following account of the late horid massacre at this depot; it read as follows:
An affair of a serious nature has recently taken place at Dartmoor prison: the prisoners attaching 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 reception was attended with the prisoners discharging a pistol at him, the contents of which grazed his clerk; upon this the prisoners attempted to gain their liberty by rushing out of the gates, but were soon coiled by the guards firing upon them, and killing twelve, and wounding thirty.
An affair of a serious nature has recently taken place at Dartmoor prison: the prisoners attaching 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 reception was attended with the prisoners discharging a pistol at him, the contents of which grazed his clerk; upon this the prisoners attempted to gain their liberty by rushing out of the gates, but were soon coiled by the guards firing upon them, and killing twelve, and wounding thirty.
The account was equally base and false, as the act was cruel and murderous; but the mention of twelve killed confirmed the prisoners in their belief that this number had been killed, and the five which were not to be found, were secretly buried by Captain 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 knownthat men accustomed to the sufferings and misery of their fellow-beings, soon grow hardened and forget them. But could this man from the short time here, have grown so callous in his feelings as to commit such acts from habit, or must cruelty and malice have been woven in his constitution?
On this day, the prisoners in making preparation for their departure, prepared a large white flag, and as a memento had in the middle of it, the representation of a tomb, with the Goddess of Liberty leaning on it, and a murdered sailor lying by its side, and an inscription over it in large capital letters, “Columbia weeps, and we remember.” This flag was intended to be carried home to the United States, as it showed a just resentment for the execrable deeds which it recorded, and a just respect for the sufferers. This same day, numbers of prisoners were released by application of their friends in England, for the purpose of manning ships in different ports. We had no news from Mr. Beasley, and most of the prisoners barefooted, the oldest in a state of nudity, not having received any jackets or trowsers for more than eleven months.
At length, when we were almost dead with impatience 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 United States’ ships in this country; but I can assure them that there is no foundation for the belief; and I can assure them of eight cartels being already taken up for their conveyance to the United States. And with regret I hear from officers who were sent to inquire into the shameful conduct of the sixth of April, that the extravagant excess of the prisoners was partly occasioned by their censuring the United States and myself.
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 United States’ ships in this country; but I can assure them that there is no foundation for the belief; and I can assure them of eight cartels being already taken up for their conveyance to the United States. And with regret I hear from officers who were sent to inquire into the shameful conduct of the sixth of April, that the extravagant excess of the prisoners was partly occasioned by their censuring the United States and myself.
Mr. Beasley had, no doubt, been informed of what he wrote, but it was not the fact, for his information, 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 numbers of the most respectable prisoners can testify, and no such idea had been entertained by any prisoner in the prison. These officers intended 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 themurderous act of the fatal sixth of April. His effigy had been burnt on the 24th of March, and all animosity had been dissipated with the ashes of his effigy, and his name seemed to be forgotten, for it was scarcely ever mentioned. Mr. Beasley had had every particular of the event before his interview with the officers, but made no exertions as yet to inquire into the affray.
The weather up to this day since the month began, had been remarkably fine 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 London, from many of our fellow-citizens, who had received passports and left the prison since the fatal sixth of April; on their arrival in London, they were taken before the lord mayor of that city, and their depositions taken relative to the massacre of the sixth, which was to the same purport as before the committee. On the same day, Col. Hawker, formerly consular agent, under the American consul at London, visited the prison for the purpose of shipping seamen to man ships at Plymouth, bound to New-Orleans. In this way the prisoners 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 assistance 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 assumed name. The colonel was determined to have him brought to condign punishment: this man the next day was taken out of the cachot and conveyed to Exeter, to be tried at the next August assizes.
On visiting the hospital, I found the wounded and the sick fast recovering, and had every attention paid them by Dr. Magrath, for their health and comfort, that his resources would allow.
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 officers who had visited the prison by order of the British government, had represented the conduct of the prisoners on the sixth of April, in a very unfavorable light, buthaving received a correct statement from the prison, and a general summary of the evidence on both sides as delivered in to the jury of inquest; he now apologized for his last letter.
On the nineteenth, at four o’clock in the afternoon, an express arrived informing Capt. Shortland 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 the afternoon, the whole draft was collected in the square, with all their baggage. This was the first draft of prisoners that had entered the prison after the declaration of war, and had been immured within these gloomy walls more than two long and tedious years. They were then informed that one baggage wagon would be allowed to every hundred men, for the convenience of their baggage to Plymouth.
The prisoners being the greater part barefooted, made inquiry whether any arrangement had been made by Mr. Beasley for providing them with shoes and clothes, as they were much in want 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 twenty-five days, although application had previously been made for the payment of the daily allowance, and also, the other articles, both by the prisoners and Capt. Shortland himself; but Mr. Beasley still neglected to make any arrangement for either.
At six every prisoner’s name was called, and they committed together with their baggage to a separate prison, ready for their departure the next morning. The joy they felt on this occasion is better imagined than described; I therefore leave to the imagination of the reader, what emotions 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 with joy in our hearts bid farewell to that pale of misery, and at four in the afternoon arrived at Plymouth, having travelled all the way under the direction of a strong guard.
We were immediately embarked on board the cartel Maria Christiana, a Swedish ship, commanded by Capt. Dirkes; we found some few of our countrymen who had been on parole, on board the ship.
It was now just forty days since the arrival of the ratified treaty in England.
The next day eight of the prisoners left the cartel to join a brig under French colors 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 instituted by commissioners appointed by both governments, for the investigation of the unfortunate occurrences of the sixth of April, and was then sitting 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, deputy consular agent to Mr. Beasley.
Before we 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, which shall constitute a part of this work as soon as it is received.
Mr. Williams informed us that the money allowed 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.
On the twenty-third, the wind being favorable, we hove short, and made preparations for sailing.
On mustering the prisoners, we found their number amounted to two hundred and sixty-three; this increase of number was by officers paroled at Ashburton.
At three in the afternoon we left the port of Plymouth, with a fresh and favorable wind.
We had left behind at Dartmoor five thousand one hundred and ninety-three of our fellow prisoners, whom the agent informed us would be conveyed to this place in the same manner as ourselves in a few days, as the other cartels were on their way round to Plymouth, and thence to embarkimmediately for the United States. After leaving Plymouth we found the provisions under the direction of Capt. Turner, appointed by the agents 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 vinegar 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 guns and small arms.
A Physician had been appointed with a sufficient quantity of medicine to serve during the passage.
One part of the ship was allotted to the sick, where every attention was paid them by their countrymen for their comfort and convenience.
During the residue of the month nothing material occurred; cartel quite healthy, only five cases of sick, and them not very dangerous; the month ended with winds, light and unfavorable.
On the first of May we were in lat. 45° North, and longitude 23° 41’ West. On the second, being in long. 24°, we spoke a brig from London bound to Quebec.
From the first to the fourteenth the winds were from N. W. to S. W., and the cartel kept between the latitudes of 42° and 44° North.
Some few sick but not dangerously. On this day we discovered a sail on our weather beam, standing to the eastward; at 2 P. M. she bore up and stood for the cartel, with a British flag flying; at four we spoke her in lat. 42, and long. 38. She proved to be a British transport with a number of troops from Mobile, bound to England, and fourteen days from Bermuda. She sent her boat alongside of the cartel with a naval and military officer, and the captain of the transport; they came on board the cartel and remained for an hour, and then returned to the transport, and each ship made sail for their destined places.
The winds still continued the same way the twenty-eighth. This day, Sunday, we fell in with several large islands of Ice, lat. 43°; on the same day, lat. 42° long. 60°, we spoke the brig Sally Barker, six days from Boston, bound for Portugal; the three days following the winds continuing light, from theSouth and West, we spoke a brig from Portland four days out, bound to Surinam.
Cartel perfectly healthy, with the exception of one man very low in a consumption.
On the first of June, lat. 40, 50, long. 64, spoke the ship Helvitius, of Philadelphia, bound home, after remaining during the whole war up the east country. On the 2nd 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 being disabled by the loss of her main trussel-trees, which endangered the top-mast, and rendered her unfit for sea; secondly, there being every appearance of a gale from the S. W. and the weather thick and hazy; thirdly, the port of New-York being the most convenient for the greater part of the prisoners; for which reasons, at twelve meridian, by the general voice of all on board, the command was taken from her former captain, and she directed for the port of New-York. At 4 P. M. the man in a consumption “put off this mortal coil,” and took his quietus in thirty-five fathoms of water, in the usual form at sea.
The captain of the ship required some document, that he might show for his indemnification for resigning the command of the ship, and deviating from his destined port, which was Norfolk, Vir.; the following certificate, signed by a great number of the prisoners, was delivered him.
CERTIFICATE.
We, the undersigned, citizens of the United 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.
We, the undersigned, citizens of the United 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 highland of New-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 within the Hook; at seven came to an anchor; the next morning arrived at New-York.
Having received the report of the commissioners since our arrival in the United States, we shall give it to the readerverbatim. The reader will perceive that it differs somewhat from the account of the massacre which I have given before, and that of the committee of prisoners. The public are to judge of the report; the facts seemed not to warrant just such an one; but to give my simple opinion as an individual, I believe that the commissioners, through a sort ofpia frausfor the love of peace and harmony between the two governments, have made it a vail of amnesty, and a preventative of new troubles.
THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS.