THE HULKS
Description of the _Proteus_--Story of a French sufferer--Aspect of
his fellow prisoners--Below decks--System of
discipline--Overcrowding and bad sanitary conditions--Dietaries
coarse and insufficient--Employments on board--The “Rafalés,” their
misery and degradation--Attempts at escape often
successful--Escapes at Dartmoor--Prisoner walled up in a
chimney--Naval officer’s uniform stolen--Some figures giving number
of French prisoners in custody.
We may leave Dartmoor for a time and return to the Hulks, which it was
intended to supplement and in a measure replace. It is well known that
they were viewed with horror, and some personal experiences of one who
was confined on board one for nearly nine years will be read with
interest. M. Louis Garneray, the author, was a French painter, who came
from a family of artists, and who took to a seafaring life from a love
of adventure. He sailed to the East on a French ship and made the
homeward voyage on the _Belle Poule_, one of a squadron which was to
cruise on the west coast of Africa, and was captured on the 30th of
March, 1806, by the English sloop _Ramillies_. Mr. Louis Garneray was
wounded and made prisoner and from that date, as he tells us, began a
torture which lasted for the nearly nine years of his imprisonment on
board the English hulks. He relates as follows: “I thought I was dead to
the past, but my blood boils with indignation when I recall the
unheard-of sufferings that I endured in those tombs of the living. The
lot of a solitary prisoner awakens compassion, but at least he is not
tortured by witnessing the woes of a herd of poor wretches, brutalised
and exasperated by privations and misery. Far from exaggerating I would
even wish to abate something of the truth in my account of the terrible
miseries of the English hulks.
“It took six weeks to reach Portsmouth Roads, and on the morning after
our arrival, I was transferred with some others to the hulk _Proteus_.
For the benefit of those who do not know what a hulk is, I may explain
that it is an old dismasted vessel, a two or three decker, which is
moored fast so as to be almost as immovable as a stone building.
“I passed between rows of soldiers on to the deck, and was brutally
thrust into the midst of the wretched, hideous mortals that peopled the
hulk. No pen, however powerful, could bring before the reader the sight
on which my eyes fell. Imagine a crowd of corpses leaving their graves
for a moment--hollow eyes, wan, cadaverous complexions, bent backs,
beards neglected, emaciated bodies, scarcely covered with yellow rags,
almost in shreds, and you will then have some notion of the scene that I
saw.
“Scarcely had I set foot on the deck, when the warders laid hold of me,
tore off my clothes with violence, forced me into an icy cold bath, and
then dressed me in a shirt, a pair of trousers, and waistcoat of an
orange yellow. Not an inch of stuff had been wasted in making these
garments; the trousers came to an end half way down my legs, and the
waistcoat obstinately refused to button. These garments bore the
initials T. O. stamped on them in black; those letters stood for
Transport Office. When dressed, I and my companions had our names
entered, and then each of us had a post assigned to him.
“The forecastle and the space between it and the quarter-deck were the
only parts where the prisoners were allowed to take air and exercise,
and not always even there. This space was about 44 feet long by 38 wide.
This narrow space was called by the prisoners ‘the park.’ Fore and aft
were the English; at one end the lieutenant in command; the officers,
their servants and a few soldiers at the other. The part allotted to the
prisoners was strongly boarded over, and the planks were thickly studded
with broad-headed nails, making them almost as impenetrable as a wall of
iron; and at intervals were loopholes, which, in case of an outbreak,
would enable the garrison to fire upon us without exposing themselves.
The prisoners’ berths were on the lower gun-deck and the orlop-deck,
each of which was about 130 feet long by 40 wide. In this space were
lodged nearly seven hundred men. The little light which could have
reached us through the portholes was obscured by gratings two inches
thick, which were inspected daily by our jailers. All round the vessel
ran a gallery with open floor, so that, had anyone attempted to hide
underneath, he would have been immediately seen by the sentinels, who
were always on duty in this gallery. Our guard consisted of about forty
or fifty soldiers; about twenty sailors and a few boys were also on
board. Sentinels were placed all over the vessel and on the quarter-deck
were always eight or ten men ready to take arms at the least noise. At
night we heard every quarter of an hour the monotonous cry of the
sentinels: ‘All’s well.’
“At six o’clock in the evening, during summer, and two in winter, the
English went round striking the sides of the hulk and the gratings over
the portholes, to see that all was right; later, soldiers armed with
loaded and bayoneted muskets came into our part of the hulk, and made us
go on deck that we might be counted. After this, the hatches and
portholes were closed, in winter at least, for in summer the portholes
were left open or we should have been all dead in the morning. As it was
the air was so poisoned by the close shutting up together of so many
persons, that the English, after opening the hatches in the morning,
rushed away from them immediately. The furniture of the hulk was very
simple; it consisted of a long bench placed against the walls, and four
others in the middle. Each prisoner was given, on coming on board, a
hammock, a thin blanket, and a flock mattress. The seven hundred
hammocks were arranged in two rows, one above the other. There was no
distinction of rank among us, but those of the prisoners who could
afford it, had made a sort of frame, which they themselves fitted with
mattresses; they were thus a little more comfortable, but the poisonous
air and vermin were the lot of all alike.
“It was, however, in our provisions that the hatred of the English
showed itself most clearly. Each prisoner’s ration consisted of a pound
and a quarter of brown bread, and seven ounces of cow-beef; for soup at
noon we were allowed three ounces of barley and an ounce of onion for
every four men. One day in the week, instead of meat and soup, we had a
pound of red herring and a pound of potatoes; and on another, a pound of
dried cod, with the same quantity of potatoes. These quantities would
have been sufficient, but the contractors always cheated; there were
also deductions made from a prisoner’s allowance for any attempted
escape, and for other alleged misconduct; and we had made a rule that
each should contribute his share towards these diminutions. There were
also other reductions made voluntarily by ourselves to pay for a
newspaper clandestinely introduced, and to supply money to those who had
escaped. The provisions were cooked by some of our number. We
breakfasted on dry bread; at noon we had our soup with bread in it, and
the meat was reserved for supper. The herrings were so detestable that
we generally sold them back again to the contractors at a low price;
they came round to us the next week; and in this way some of them did
duty faithfully for more than ten years! With the money realised by
their sale, we bought a little butter or cheese. The dried cod was bad,
but we could manage to swallow it. The bread was often heavy as lead,
but heavy as it was, the weight given to us was frequently so
insufficient that we were compelled to make complaint; and in that case
we had to wait fasting till the evening, before the proper authority
could find time to give his decision. Water was brought to us by little
boats, from which we ourselves had to raise it; those who were too weak,
too old or too dignified to share in this task, paid a halfpenny to
their substitutes. We had also to take each his part in cleaning our
decks and ‘the park.’ Crimes and disorders, the reader may suppose,
would be frequent enough in such an assembly of men, exasperated by
suffering and misfortune.
“In the _Proteus_ order was preserved as far as possible by a committee
of eight members, chosen by the majority, and their task was to issue
orders relating either to our general life or to particular cases, and
also to give decisions without appeal in all differences that arose. In
the event of a crime, however, the committee had only the power to
summon all the prisoners, who, in grave cases, were the judges. The
right of pardon did not exist in our community. To these means of
keeping order must be added the moral influence of the officers on
board, for although there was no distinction of rank, they were
generally esteemed, and could mostly get a hearing from the crowd.
“This was the community to which I was now introduced. When I went to
take the post assigned to me, there seemed to me to hang about the long
chamber a thick cloud, bearing in it the germs of epidemics. I had been
in my life in a slaver with 250 slaves packed in the hold, I knew how
poisonous was the atmosphere there, and thought that nothing could be
worse--I now learnt my mistake. The horrible den in which I found myself
was dimly lighted by the portholes covered with gratings; as my eyes
became accustomed to the dim light, I saw around the pale corpse-like,
ragged wretches I have described. Except a few who, stretched on the
boards at full length, wan and dull-eyed, seemed at the point of death,
all in this hideous den were busily engaged. Some, armed with planes,
were carpentering; others were at work in bone, making ornaments and
chessmen; others were making really beautiful models of ships; some were
making straw hats, and others knitted night caps; there were also among
them tailors, shoemakers and one man who manufactured, Heaven knows from
what, tobacco; nor must I omit the professors of fencing, the baton,
and, above all, dancing-masters, whose lessons were charged at the rate
of a halfpenny for an hour’s instruction. Seated near the portholes were
some of our officers, who by way of killing the time and earning a few
pence, gave lessons in algebra or geometry, at a price not above that
which the dancing-master received. Through this crowd moved dealers with
their cries of ‘Who wants to sell? Who buys?’ Every now and then some
poor wretch with hunger in his looks, would stop one of them, and
dispose of the miserable rags from his back, and then, turning to
another dealer, expend the amount in unattractive food. Some of the
occupations of which I have spoken--such as, for example,
straw-plaiting--were forbidden by the English, as coming into
competition with their own manufactures; with slight interruptions,
however, the prisoners worked continuously through the whole day.
“Did a soldier, sentinel or not, set foot on the gangway leading to our
part of the hulk, the first prisoner who observed him raised the signal
agreed on by us, and at the cry of ‘ship’ repeated from one end to the
other, everything forbidden was stowed away, and any who might happen to
be piercing the walls of the hulk in order to make their escape ceased
working for a while.
“My adventurous life had brought me into contact with many hardships,
but when I was shown the place assigned to me my heart sank. I had,
however, a little money; and for three out of my five louis, I purchased
from a soldier, who had succeeded to it within a fortnight, the right to
the best place in the hulk. I got a table and bench into the bargain,
and thus I was installed.
“I had not been long on board before I found that there was a particular
class excelling the generality in utter misery. They were called the
‘Rafalés,’ and lived penned up by themselves in seclusion from the rest.
Incorrigible gamblers, these wretches had long since parted with their
hammocks and blankets; at night they would lie for the sake of warmth in
a row on the bare boards, all on the same side; and when the one at the
head of a row got tired of the position, he would cry out, ‘Tack,’ and
the whole line would immediately change sides. The strange misery of
this existence seemed, nevertheless, to have its charms, for outsiders
would occasionally wish to enter this fellowship, but to do so, certain
rules had to be complied with. The aspirant had to sell all he
possessed, and to give a treat of beer and bread, after which a stone
would be given to him as a pillow, and he was then received as a member.
The experiment was tried of giving these men fresh hammocks, but they
found their softness insupportable and sold them. Many of these wretches
were all but naked; and when the roll was called, two or three in this
condition would hire between them an old blanket, under cover of which
they would come on deck; for this accommodation, the value of a
halfpenny (for money was a thing unknown to them) was deducted from
their next day’s rations. The rations of these men would be pledged for
sometimes five or six days in advance, and then they would wander about
looking with hungry eyes for potato-peelings or onion skins; a herring
head or cabbage-stump would be a blessed discovery; not seldom, however,
two ‘Rafalés’ in the extreme of hunger would even gamble for the prizes
thus obtained. Most of them, of course, soon died, and others, when at
the point of death, would be recovered by a course of treatment at the
hospital.
“By way of whiling away the time and in order that when my liberation
came I might be able to pass my examination, I determined to join those
who were studying mathematics. The difficulties in our way were not
slight; yet so earnestly did we study on board the hulks, that I have
known rude, ignorant sailors, who at setting out could not form a single
letter of the alphabet, become possessed in a few years not only of the
power to write fluently, but also of a competent knowledge of geography
and mathematics. Our first difficulty was to get books and instruments,
and even when this was overcome we had made but little progress. The
noise on deck by day rendered hopeless all attempt at study, and lights
were forbidden at night. At night, however, we determined to work. The
students were the poorest body on board, with the exception always of
our friends the ‘Rafalés;’ we had no money, yet to work at night we must
have a lamp or candle. At dinner, therefore, every student was bound to
set apart carefully every morsel of fat from his meat; this fat was
collected in a large shell, and with the addition of a wick we had our
lamp. When night came we drew our benches up to the table under our
lamp, and then surrounded the whole with a sort of hat, built up of
mattresses, hammocks and blankets. Every chink had to be stopped up to
hide the light from the English, who were constantly on the watch
through the loopholes. Sometimes the air became so bad in this
sanctuary, that I have frequently seen men by no means weak or delicate
fall senseless. These precautions were necessary, as, had we been
discovered, not only should we have had three days in the black-hole (an
awful den), on two-thirds of the allowance, but the authorities, by a
refinement of cruelty, which I have always been at a loss to understand,
were wont to destroy in the presence of prisoners books, papers, slates,
and other things, thus breaking all rules.
“It may be supposed that there was no lack of attempts to escape from
this life, which, in one of the three different hulks on board of which
I was during my imprisonment, was rendered still more miserable by the
choleric and vindictive character of the lieutenant in command. The
first of these attempts after my arrival was made in the following
manner. I have stated that water was brought over to us by little boats;
these boats carried back empty the barrels they had previously left.
Accordingly, the night before the arrival of the water-boat, one of our
number hid himself in an empty barrel. I and another were in the secret,
and it happened to be our turn to assist in raising and lowering the
casks. We had raised all the full barrels, and the order was given to
lower the empty ones. I could hear my heart beat, when, after having
lowered all but the row which would remain at the top, my companion and
I moved towards a barrel marked with a notch, to show us that it was
there our friend lay hidden. It descended safely and the boat, after a
while, pushed off. The man who had invented this desperate means of
escaping intended to remain till the following night in his barrel, and
then, when all was quiet, to get somehow to shore. Wild as the
undertaking seemed, it succeeded, nevertheless; but some time afterwards
when, from not hearing of his capture, we concluded that he had made
good his escape, and were about to repeat the attempt, we observed, to
our bitter disappointment, that the English carefully inspected the
barrels before lowering them.
“Various other methods were put in practice; and it was not seldom that,
in the dead of night, we were awakened by the firing of a musket,
followed perhaps by a cry, whereby we learnt that some attempt had been
discovered. The water would be immediately illuminated and boats would
put off from the other hulks to aid in the chase if necessary, and
presently soldiers would invade our den, and wake up those who still
slept with blows of the fist or the butt-ends of their muskets. Then,
for two hours, perhaps, we should have to turn out on deck, while we
were counted several times over; and when we at last regained our
hammocks, the rest of the night would pass in questions and suppositions
as to who had escaped, and whether he had got safely off. For an
intended escape was made known only to those who were to share in it,
and a few friends who could be relied on. Men driven desperate by hunger
would, for the sake of a little relief, turn traitors, and inform
against their companions in wretchedness. So many escapes were effected,
that at last, in order to reduce their number, the English Government
decreed that the flight of a prisoner should be punished by the death of
two others, who were to be hanged in his place, in case he should not be
retaken. Our officers met together and drew up a letter, addressed to
the Privy Council; and from it, in support of what I have stated, and
which else might appear my own invention, I cite the following passages:
‘We are unable adequately to express our astonishment at the order which
you have addressed to us; we have had to read it over and over again
before we could persuade ourselves that it was possible for persons
belonging to a nation calling itself civilised, to put forward such
barbarous threats as those contained in the order. You throw on us the
responsibility of holding in safe custody our comrades, removing it from
those to whom is confided their safekeeping. Prisoners are themselves to
answer for prisoners, and at the hazard of their lives.’ And again: ‘We
cannot doubt that it is your wish to reduce us to despair, and we swear
all, that whatever you may have in store for us, we will meet it with a
firmness that will not disgrace the great nation to which we have the
honour to belong. We choose death rather than ignominy; and death we
will face when called on in such a way as to leave behind us an example
of courage and firmness as striking as that you afford of injustice and
cruelty.’” This letter was followed by petitions from all the hulks, and
the atrocious measure was never put in force. The imposition of such
frightful penalties upon men who were only obeying the first dictates of
nature as exhibited by every caged animal from man downwards, was, of
course, perfectly indefensible. But England was no worse than France in
this respect. Severe punishment was decreed for all English prisoners
who sought to make their escape from French war prisons; at one time a
proclamation was made that all taken in the act should be sentenced to
the galleys; at another they were warned that they would be tried by
court-martial. But these threats availed little, and constant and
determined were the attempts to break away from the ruthless
confinement of such strong places as Verdun, Bitche and Valenciennes.
Our authority, M. Garneray, speaks of three of his attempts to escape
and no doubt he would have tried again but for the blessed advent of
peace. He brings his story to a close with the following last words:
“After long, patient labour, assisted by a companion, I had managed to
cut through the side of the hulk, but we were seen as we ventured forth
by some of the sentinels who laid rough hands upon us and wounded us
severely. Again, with a companion I got overboard, but was recaptured
when within an inch of drowning, the sad fate which overtook my friend.”
Once more, with two others, he contrived to seize a boat and get out to
sea, but when actually within sight of the French coast, they were
overtaken by an English corvette and secured. He says: “I was utterly
broken down. The ill-treatment we had so long suffered grew worse; news
reached us of the disasters of the French arms, and every moment we had
to listen to the grossest abuse of our emperor and our country. One day
my patience was exhausted, and I knocked down a sailor who had grossly
insulted me; others rushed up, and a fight ensued; the captain came up;
and bruised and bleeding I was thrust into the black-hole. Five days had
I been here when earlier in the morning than usual came the man who
generally brought me the morsel of horrible bread which was to last till
the following day: ‘You may come out.’ he said kindly; ‘you are free.’
I rushed on deck to get fresh air, where, to my surprise, I found my
comrades crying, laughing, dancing, shouting. The peace had been signed
and we were free!”
At Dartmoor attempts at escape were frequent and, when backed up with
much patient ingenuity and great daring, sometimes succeeded. A
favourite method of passing out was by mining underneath the boundary
wall. One case which narrowly involved the life of a boy of fourteen,
who was suspected of having given information, may be transcribed from
an official report:--“A poor boy called Philip Hamond,” says the report,
“calls for commiseration. This lad was born at Guernsey and was pressed
by a French privateer, which was taken by one of his Majesty’s cruisers.
The prisoners began a mine, which they carried under the foundations for
about forty yards at a depth of five feet below the surface and about
four feet in diameter, towards the outer walls to which they had nearly
approached. They were unable to work in a straight line on account of
the boulders which they came upon in the gravel, and were frequently
obliged to make a considerable deviation in order to turn these
obstacles. The tools used were wooden spades with an edge of tin, cask
hoops and old iron made into scrapers. The earth taken daily from the
mine had been concealed below the floor and had also been taken out to
the gardens in small quantities with ashes and refuse. The boy Hamond,
observing earth concealed and distributed in several places, became
alarmed lest he himself should become involved in a dangerous venture
and secretly informed the authorities. Upon the discovery of the plot
the prisoners rose in a body and arming themselves with daggers made of
old nails, iron wire and pieces of glass fitted into wooden handles,
they would instantly have made the boy the object of their vengeance if
he had not taken refuge under the bayonets of the guard which was called
in to suppress the rising.”
A captive will risk much and bear much to secure freedom. A Frenchman at
Dartmoor, who was a good practical stone-mason, was employed with others
in building the Princetown rectory-house. They had reached that part of
the work which consisted in fixing a chimney flue, and left an inner
recess large enough to hold a man standing upright, but walled only with
thin stone especially selected for the purpose and easily removable.
After six feet had been gained the strong work was resumed; the flue was
made the proper thickness and the stones rendered in good mortar. Care
was taken to leave air and eyelet holes for breathing and observation in
the six feet of thin wall. One afternoon the intending fugitive entered
the flue and took up his quarters in the above mentioned recess, while
his comrades went on with their work above. They worked so well and with
so much skill that they were particularly commended by their foreman,
who complimented them highly on the excellent face put upon the flue.
The man in hiding was not missed until after the party had left work,
but his absence was discovered at evening roll call. A thorough search
was then made of the rectory-house, inside and out, but the smooth
surface of the walls negatived all idea of a practicable hiding place. A
number of vigorous bayonet thrusts were made up the freshly built flue,
but without betraying or injuring the man inside and the search was
abandoned. It was believed the prisoner had absconded during the day,
having successfully eluded the vigilance of the sentries posted in a
cordon round the house. At nightfall, however, the immured man, finding
all quiet, attacked the green masonry at its thinnest part and
extricating himself without difficulty, made off unobserved. The state
of the flue on the following morning pointed clearly to the method by
which he had effected his escape.
The employment of the prisoners in the officers’ quarters outside the
prison, inspired another clever and audacious Frenchman with a plan of
escape. He was a man of the superior class, well educated, who had been
taken prisoner when serving on board a French privateer. He was a quick
and expert craftsman and was constantly employed in the officers’
quarters executing alterations and repairs. One day he was at work on a
cupboard in the house of the prison doctor who was an officer in the
British navy, and while thus engaged made friends with one of the
maid-servants. With her assistance he received a complete suit of the
doctor’s uniform including his sword and cocked hat. The prisoner was
not unlike the doctor, of the same fair complexion and much the same
height. With consummate coolness and skill he proceeded to change
characters, assuming the uniform which fitted him well and providing
himself with the doctor’s snuff box and silver topped cane. Just as the
hour for evening roll-call approached he had put the finishing touches
to the pigtail which he was careful to arrange as the doctor did, and
then he calmly walked out of the house, gained the high road to Plymouth
without observation and was beyond pursuit almost before his absence was
discovered. The fugitive eventually reached France in safety, whence,
with profuse thanks and acknowledgments, he returned the doctor’s
possessions.
When the continental war was at its height, the total number of French
prisoners was considerable. The majority of the prisoners were of course
sailors and soldiers, civilians being chiefly passengers taken in
merchant ships. All officers and civilians were ranked as gentlemen and
were given parole, with permission to reside within assigned limits on
certain conditions. They were kindly treated as a rule, were received in
society and their position, although painful, was at least endurable.
Great numbers, however, broke their parole between the years 1803-14.
The private men were not admitted to parole and were more or less
closely restricted to the hulks and prisons. It may be asserted on the
authority of contemporary writers that the pictures drawn of the
sufferings endured by the prisoners themselves were greatly exaggerated
and overcoloured. Some degree of severity was unavoidable, but their
treatment was generally mild and humane. The dietaries were sufficient
in quantity; the rations good and wholesome; the clothing warm and
serviceable, although in colour unsightly to lessen the chance of
escape. As time passed and when good order was regularly established,
close attention was paid to sanitary requirements, prisoners’ bedding
was well aired and in good condition, the prison chambers and the
between decks of the hulks were kept clean and dry and were thoroughly
well ventilated.