The war between the United States of America 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 formally declared,
by a proclamation issued by the President of the United States, in
conformity with a solemn act of the supreme legislature of the nation,
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 prisons. Some were sent to Chatham, some to Hamoze, and
others to Portsmouth; where a strict examination took place as to their
nativity and citizenship. After the examination, the officers who were
entitled to their parole, (such as commanders and first lieutenants
of privateers mounting 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 former is situated about twenty-six miles inland from Plymouth,
and the principal place of confinement for paroled officers. The town
of Ashburton is pleasantly situated in a healthy and fertile part of
the country, where 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 parole had their names registered, 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 prevent themselves from suffering, notwithstanding
the cheapness of provisions, and the facility of obtaining them. They
were permitted, during the day, to walk one mile on the turnpike road
towards London or Plymouth, and at a certain early hour every evening
they had to retire to their respective lodgings, and there to remain
till next morning; those were their general restrictions for all the
days in the week, except two, on which 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 officers
were compelled to drag out a tedious existence in a state of painful
solicitude for their country, their homes and families, during the
greater part of the late war.
But the condition of the officers on parole was enviable indeed,
when compared with that of the officers and others not entitled to
that privilege. Every such person taken under the flag of the United
States, were sent to some one of the places before mentioned, and
confined on board prison ships. The greatest number were sent to the
Hector and La Brave, two line of battle ships which were unfit for his
majesty’s service at sea, and were now used for the confinement of
prisoners of war. These were placed under the command of a lieutenant,
master’s mate, midshipman, and about twenty invalid seamen; there is
also a guard under the command of a lieutenant, ensign, and corporal,
consisting of thirty-five soldiers to each of these ships.
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 respective 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 taken down in writing. After the examination,
there was delivered to each man a very coarse and worthless hammock,
with a thin coarse bed-sack, with at most not more than three or four
pounds of flops or chopped rags, one thin coarse and sleazy blanket;
this furniture of the _bedchamber_ was to last for a year and a half
before we could draw others. After the distribution of the bedding,
we were informed of the rules and restrictions which we must strictly
observe. Every ship has a physician attached to it, who is ever to be
on board, and when any prisoner is sick, he is to repair immediately
to a certain part of the ship for medical aid; but seldom has he any
attention paid him till the moment of dissolution, the doctors paying
but little attention to the suffering prisoners, although a prisoner
is seldom or never suffered to expire on board; for at the moment
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 better 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 _humanely_, for the health and happiness of the prisoners, imposed
on them the following duty; to keep clean the ship’s decks and hold;
to hoist in water, provisions, coal, and every other article expended
or used in the ship; and also to permit the prisoners to cook their
own victuals, which consisted of the following 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 were fish days, the rations for which were one pound of salt
fish, the same weight of potatoes, and the usual allowance of bread.
The confinement, and this scanty and meager diet for men who were
brought up in a land of liberty, and ever used to feast on the luscious
fruits of plenty, soon brought on a pale and sickly countenance, a
feeble and dejected spirit, and a lean, half animate body. This bad
state of living, 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 morning, about sunrise, each prisoner is obliged to
“take up his bed and walk;” for he is ordered to shoulder his hammock
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 remain
on deck, as best suits his convenience.
No prisoner is permitted to hold any correspondence, except by unsealed
letters passing through the hands of the Board of Transport. No boat
is permitted to come alongside the ship, unless 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 prohibited by the _gracious_ and _humane_ Board
of Transport.
For consolation in our present miserable condition, we were informed
that the said _honorable_ Board had indulgently permitted the American
prisoners to establish and carry on any branch of manufacture, except
such as netting, woollen fabrics, making straw hats and bonnets, &c.
&c.; or rather, they prohibited every branch of manufactory which
they were capable of pursuing. At this time they could have carried
on the making of straw into flats for bonnets with very considerable
advantage, as almost every sailor was more or less capable of
working at this art, and, by strict attention to the business, could
have earned six or eight pence sterling per day: but this was not
permitted, and we considered this prohibition a contrivance of the
agents of government to induce the prisoners to enter his majesty’s
service. Their situation was now so abject and wretched, that they
were willing to embrace any opportunity where there was the least
prospect of bettering 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 condition, and some day or other of returning to their native
land, their wives and families, some of less fortitude were 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 was shortly after the
commencement of the war, prisoners were constantly arriving, and
immediately disposed of in one or other of these depots:--among them
were great numbers of American seamen who had been delivered up from
the different 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 gangway of the ships, were sent to prison with the
appellation of “dammed rebellious villains, unfit for his majesty’s
service!”
During the fall of the year one thousand eight hundred and twelve,
until April in one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, the English had
collected at the following depots the number hereinafter mentioned,
who were mostly prisoners delivered up from ships of war, and citizens
of the United States detained in them for some time before. At Chatham
were collected about nine hundred; at Portsmouth, about one hundred;
and at Plymouth, about seven hundred. These unfortunate men had often
made application to Mr. Beasley, the agent for American prisoners of
war, who resided in England, but were never able to obtain an answer
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 with vermin.
On the second of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen,
the Transport Board, apprehending the escape of the prisoners, in
consequence of their repeated threats to that purpose, issued an order
to Captain Pelew, then agent for the prisoners at Plymouth, to make
preparation for removing all the prisoners then confined on board the
Hector prison-ship, at Plymouth, to the depot at Dartmoor, in the
county of Devon, situated 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, they were ordered on deck, with their
hammocks, baggage, &c., in readiness to march to a prison, the very
name of which made the mind of every prisoner “shrink back with dread,
and startle at the thought;” for fame had made them well acquainted
with the horrors of that infernal abode, which was by far the most
dreadful prison in all England, and in which it was next to impossible
for human beings long to survive.
Two hundred and fifty dejected and unhappy sufferers, already too
wretched, were called, each of whom received a pair of shoes, and
his allowance of bread and salt fish. Orders were then immediately
given, for every man to deliver up his bed and hammock, and to repair
forthwith into the different launches belonging to the ships of war,
which were alongside the ship, ready to receive them. The prisoners
entered, surrounded by the guards and seamen belonging to the Hector
and La Brave. We were landed at New Passage, near Plymouth, and were
placed under the guard of a company of soldiers, equal in number to
the prisoners! Orders were then given to march at half-past ten in the
morning, with a positive 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, through a heavy rain, and over 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 prospect
than that which now presented itself to our hopeless view. Death
itself, with the hopes of an hereafter, seemed less terrible than this
gloomy prison.
The prison at Dartmoor is situated on the east side of one of the
highest and most barren mountains 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, except by one or two miserable
cottages, just discernible in an eastern view, the tenants of which
live by cutting turf on the moor, and selling it at the prison. The
place is deprived of every thing that is pleasant or agreeable, and is
productive of nothing but human woe and misery. Even riches, pleasant
friends and liberty could not make it agreeable. It is situated
seventeen miles distant from Plymouth, fourteen from the town of
Moorton, and seven from the little village of Tavastock.
On entering this depot “of living death,” we first passed through the
gates, and found ourselves surrounded by two huge circular walls, the
outer one of which is a mile in circumference and sixteen feet high;
the inner wall is distant from the outer thirty feet, around which is
a chain of bells suspended by a wire, so that the least 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 every twenty feet,
which frustrates every attempt at escape, and instantly quells every
disorderly motion of the prisoners. Between the two walls and over the
intermediate 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 commodious
dwelling-houses, which are occupied by the captain of the prison,
doctor, clerks, turnkeys, &c., &c. Inside of the walls are erected
large barracks, capacious enough to contain one thousand soldiers,
and also a hospital for the reception 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
which is insurmountable.
Thus much for the court-yard of this seminary of misery; we shall
next proceed to give a description of the gloomy mansion itself. On
entering, we found seven prisons enclosed in the following manner, and
situated quite within all the walls before mentioned. Prison No. 1, 2
and 3, are built of hard, rough, unhewn stone, three stories 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 large stone, arched above and floored with
the same. Into this cold, dark, and damp cell, the unhappy prisoner is
cast if he offend against the rules of the prison, either willingly
or inadvertently, and often on the most frivolous pretence. There he
must remain for many days, and often weeks, on two-thirds the usual
allowance of food, without a hammock or 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, prisons No. 5, 6, and 7,
along the south side of the circular wall. To each prison is attached a
small yard, with a constant run of water passing through it.
After viewing this huge pile of building, and obtaining what little
information we were able at this time, we were informed that these
seven prisons contained a _small family_ of French people, consisting
of about eight thousand, who were also 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 prisons;
the seventh being allotted to those criminals who had committed
misdemeanors, such as murder, larceny 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 constantly dropping
from the cold stone walls on every side, which kept the floor (made of
stone) constantly wet, and cold as ice.
All the prison floors were either stone or cement, and each story
contained but one apartment, and resembled long vacant horse-stables.
There were in each story six tiers of joists for the prisoners to
fasten their hammocks to. The 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 passage from one end of the prison to the other. We were
then informed that the prisoners must be counted out and messed, six
together, every morning 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 account
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 finds the top of the
mountain enveloped in a thick fog and heavy torrent of rain. In winter
the same cause makes as frequent snows as rain in summer. It is also
some degrees colder during the whole year than in the adjacent country
below. This too is occasioned by the great elevation of the top of the
mountain, which is above the atmosphere heated by the reflected rays
of the sun upon the common surface of the earth, and being small of
itself, reflects but little heat. These two causes combined, produce
constant cold and wet weather.
Information was brought us that all prisoners in England were placed
on a naval establishment, and under the direction of a naval officer.
Captain Isaac Cotgrave, of the royal navy, was the agent for the
prisoners of war at this depot. The Transport Board directed that a
market should be held every day, in front of each prison yard. This
market was supplied with provisions by the inhabitants of the adjacent
country; twenty or thirty of whom came every day, and furnished it with
every kind of country produce. They were not allowed to impose on the
prisoners, by demanding an exhorbitant price for their produce; the
prices of every article were fixed by the turnkeys before they entered
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 to
enter and begin their trade.
At the market, the French prisoners carry on a great traffic. They buy
and sell, and are, apparently, as happy as if they were not imprisoned.
But the Americans are not so;--they long for that land of liberty, so
dear to them, and sigh for 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 important events of
the few prisoners at the other depots.
From the commencement of the war, and previous to April 1813, a great
number of prisoners had been sent home, by exchange. Numbers died,
and some entered the service of Great Britain. The names of those who
died, and those who entered the service, are mentioned in the catalogue
hereunto annexed. About the first of May, Captain 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 were ever beheld. French prisoners, too wicked and
malicious to live with their other unfortunate countrymen: 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 resembled the
fabled ghosts of Pluto, as these naked and starved French prisoners.
Much of the misery and wretchedness of these creatures was owing 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 war. 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 experience a new scene of
distress;--the little clothing they had when they were taken, was
either worn out 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 of May, one thousand
eight hundred and thirteen, close confined in prison No. 4, with the
liberty of that one yard. We often demanded of Captain Cotgrave, the
reason why such distinction was made between the American and French
prisoners; but were 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 informed us of every particular
of their situation at both places; but they were comparatively well
off, when compared with our situation. The prisoners at Plymouth
informed us, that other prisoners arrived there daily, and that they
expected shortly to be removed, and to participate with us in the
sufferings 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
regiment is stationed here more than two or three months at a time.
These guards consist of about twelve or fifteen hundred soldiers, who
have been guilty of some offence, disobedience of orders, or neglect
of duty; and are sent here as a punishment. 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 Mr. Reuben G. Beasley,
agent for American prisoners of war. We 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 service;--that they had been compelled to do it, in
hopes to better their condition, and indeed to preserve life. For, as
they were wholly neglected by the agent 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, we 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 prisoners. The former were allowed many privileges
and advantages, which were denied the latter; and that our treatment
was contrary to what we considered the custom and usage of civilized
nations in modern warfare. That we were 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, _per necessitatem_, he was
obliged to grope from one end of the room to the other, and often could
not regain it during the whole night.
To all these petitions, complaints, and remonstrances, Mr. Beasley
returned no answer, nor took any notice of them whatever; which, of
course, made every prisoner despair of any relief from him. These
letters could not miscarry, or be intercepted; for we 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 distress; 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 hospital,
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 weather 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 among the French prisoners. We attributed these evils to the
shameful and criminal neglect of the agent of American prisoners, whose
conduct deserves 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 weak and feeble, that it required assistance to enable them to
walk.
The guards discharged this duty with great reluctance; their feelings
often revolted, when compelled to do this unkind office, and though
accustomed 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 principal agent of the Board, had received orders
from the Board, to remove the prisoners to other depots, either to that
of Chatham, Dartmoor, or Stapleton, which is near Bristol. This last
place was fixed on by the Board as a necessary precaution to prevent
any disturbance, which was apprehended might arise, should too many
American prisoners be confined in one place.
Accordingly, on the twenty-eighth, Captain Pelew 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 manœuvre 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 market. By this means, all we obtained from
the market came through the hands of the French prisoners 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 missing out of
the number, some dead, and others had enlisted into the king’s service.
On the twenty-ninth, fifty more American prisoners were transported
from on board the Hector, 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, without hammock, bed, or blanket. I leave the reader
to judge whether this measure arose from wanton cruelty in those
immediately concerned, or whether it was absolutely necessary to
prevent their escape, or rising and taking the ship, which had her
whole crew on board.
On the thirtieth, two hundred prisoners were ordered to go ashore, who
accordingly made themselves ready, and landed at New Passage, under
a guard of seamen and marines. Here they were received by a guard of
soldiers, consisting of two hundred and fifty, who were to convey them
on foot one hundred and thirty-four miles to Stapleton, 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 traveling
expenses. This was all the allowance made them to purchase food, drink,
and lodging; and they were to perform the whole journey in eight days.
They were also particularly enjoined not to leave the ranks on pain of
death, and the guard had orders to despatch any prisoner who should
attempt to escape. The particulars of their march, their arrival at
Stapleton, and treatment at that place, will be mentioned hereafter.
On the first of July, two hundred more were ordered 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 after passing through the usual forms
at their arrival, were received into prison No. 4, and might justly
have exclaimed, in the language of an eminent poet, “Hail, horrors!
hail, thou profoundest hell! receive thy new possessor.” For every one
ordered to this prison, counted himself lost.
On the third of July, another draft of prisoners, consisting of
about two hundred and fifty, were taken from the Hector, and sent to
Stapleton, under the usual guard, allowance, and restrictions.
The fourth of July, the birth-day of our nation, had now arrived. The
American prisoners, feeling that fire of patriotism, and that just
pride and honor, 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
by some means obtained two American standards; and being upward of
six hundred in number, we 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 induced to enter the service of the king, or that an enemy’s
flag should not be hoisted in their country, ordered the turnkeys to
enter the prison-yard, and take the colors from us. We returned him an
answer, that the day was the birth-day of freedom, and the anniversary
of our nation; and that he would confer on us a particular favor, 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 country 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 obtained one:
the prisoners bore off the other in triumph, and secured it. The
remainder of the day was spent in harmony and quietness. At evening,
when the guards came as usual to turn us into the prison, a dispute
arose upon the pitiful revenge sought for in depriving the prisoners of
their flag. This soon grew into an affray; the guards fired upon the
prisoners, and wounded two, which ended the affray.
From the disturbance on the evening of the fourth, nothing remarkable
took place, the prisoners being generally tolerable quiet and
peaceable 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 evening, 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 prisons, 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, stones, staves, and
every kind of weapon they could obtain.
Thus armed, they had managed to be in the yard first in the morning,
and arrayed themselves to give battle as soon as a sufficient number
of Americans should come out. Accordingly, when about one hundred and
twenty had entered the yard, this group of naked malignity began the
attack with desperate fierceness; the Americans, unsuspicious of an
attack, were of course unarmed, 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 rally; but the Frenchmen cutting off
their retreat into the prison and preventing those within from joining
or rendering any assistance, soon caused the Americans to fall a prey
to their superior number. Before the guards could interfere to prevent
the further proceedings, the Americans were mostly stabbed or knocked
down with heavy stones, and mangled in a most shocking manner. What
would have been the issue, had not the guards entered, and by charging
on both parties put a stop to the battle, is difficult to tell. On
examining the wounded, (fortunately none were killed,) it appeared
that about twenty on both sides were badly, and many others slightly
wounded. The former were taken to the hospital, and though apparently
dangerous, in a short time all recovered. Captain Cotgrave immediately
informed the Board of Transport of this unhappy event; but painted it
in such dark colors on the side of the Americans, that the Board gave
answer, that the Americans were totally different from all other men,
and unfit to live in any society. “If the household be devils, what is
the master of the house?” Did not the Americans descend from England?
The yard of No. 4 was ordered to be divided, which was done by a wall
fifteen feet high, which cut off all communication with the Americans,
and their late meager associates. This act, though it seemed to have
been done to injure the Americans, 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 moment make us forget our miseries. On the twenty-ninth
of this month, Captain Cotgrave received orders to remove one hundred
and twenty Americans from this prison to Chatham, which was to be the
complement of a cartel ship then lying at that place; this embraced
the greater part of the prisoners captured before January, 1813. There
remained of those captured before and after that time, 1200 at Chatham,
400 at Stapleton, and a few less than 500 at Dartmoor, some on board
the prison ships, and a number of officers on parole at Ashburton. The
greater part of these had been delivered 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 scene of distress than any we had before
experienced, now presented itself before us, and death seemed to be the
inevitable lot of every man.
The King of Terrors daily reached forth his inexorable hand, and
removed the sufferer from the pale of this clay tenement; for the
small-pox had got among the prisoners, and its ravages were so
alarming, that every prisoner expected each day would be his last; for
numbers died daily.
The prisoners who remained able, collected themselves together, and
formed a committee of correspondence, who, by bribing the guards,
conveyed letters daily to Mr. Beasley; particularly describing their
situation, that they were almost naked, and defrauded by the Contractor
of half their rations, which before were but one-third enough. That the
small-pox had got among them, and numbers died daily--that they were
covered with _animalcula_, and unless he could do something for their
relief, they must all perish together.
To these complaints he paid no kind of attention, neither came to see
whether they were true or false, nor sent any answer either written or
verbal.
The reader can easily figure to himself what must have been our
feelings, when five hundred men, closely confined in one apartment,
with that mortal epidemic among them without any assistance, or
possibility of escape.
The evil must lie somewhere; we were in doubt whether to believe it
was the will of the general government, of the people at large of this
country, or whether it was not entirely the fault of our agent, in not
seeing that all the officers in whose immediate care we were, acted
the honest part in the performance of those duties, which both this
government and that of the United States had intrusted to them. It was
not a general thing, and the evil was near at hand. The prisoners at
Halifax fared well; they did not, nor could not, complain; 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 Captain
Cotgrave, and demanded of him, what provisions the government of
England made for prisoners of war, when neglected by their own
government. He gave us every opportunity to search out the fault, by
producing the following printed rules and regulations, made by the
Transport Board.
The honorable 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; 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 sufficient quantity of coals to cook the same. These to be
served out daily by the contractors.
We watched the contractor, and found he weighed all the articles at
once, neat weight; and saw him scrimp the weight, to fill his pocket
out of the prisoners’ 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, receives twenty-seven ounces of beef, and one gallon and one
pint of soup.
On the fish days, every mess boiled their potatoes 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 delayed, 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 by those
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. Beasley to see 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 us by Capt. Cotgrave,
the government allowed each prisoner a hammock, one blanket, one
horse-rug, and a bed, containing four pounds of flocks; these articles
too were to serve us two 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, was a change which we had not had for a long time before. All
these we demanded and received; we also received a woollen 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 will begin with the cap, and take them
in their natural order, from head to foot.
The cap was woollen, 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
way down the arm, and the hand stuck out like a spade; the waistcoat
was short--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 was the pedestal for all the ornaments 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.
“_Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici?_”--HOR. A. P.
“My friends, were 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 hundred 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 allowed four
pence 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
arisen, that several taken in arms against Great Britain, were British
subjects; they were consequently taken out, and charged with having
committed high treason. That they were taken in arms against Great
Britain, was not denied; but that they were her subjects, which was
the most essential part of the charge, could 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 remained in the situation just described.
The prisoners continued very sickly.
Men, otherwise commonly honest, when reduced 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
integrity 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 prisoners;
brothers and the most intimate friends stealing 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 twenty-four lashes equally as severe as is given at the gangway
of a man-of-war ship.
To show the force of habit, though it is a vicious one, we will give
the reader a striking example. 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 allowance 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 the 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 informed of the particulars
of their march from Plymouth, which we promised to give the reader
in a former part of this work. The reader will remember, that at the
commencement of their journey, they were allowed a shilling a day for
traveling expenses, and on their way, they had to pay three pence a
night to lodge in a barn, or some public building, on straw. As they
were allowed a shilling only, this took one-quarter of the whole. With
much ado they reached Stapleton; they found the prison at that place
well constructed for the convenience of the prisoners, within a short
distance of the city of Bristol; which 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 in the 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 he was determined to take no notice.
They therefore concluded, that no arrangement was to 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 entering 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 constraint, through a well-grounded
apprehension of injury to his life or person, this fear, or compulsion,
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 began 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 “lighted up a smile in the aspect of
woe.” The soldiers and guards were ordered into the prison, and turned
out every man, both sick and well; overhauled the hammocks, swept the
prison, and opened the window-shutters: all filth was removed and every
thing made clean, for the first time since our arrival. The guards were
then stationed at the door, to prevent any prisoner from going 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 was announced by the turnkeys.
We arranged ourselves in the yard, in anxious expectation of the glad
tidings he might bring. He appeared, attended 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 this moment! when we expected from him the language
of consolation and relief, 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 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 entered the king’s service; and telling
him all the particulars of our 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 endeavor. We asked him the cause of so great a difference
in the treatment of the prisoners here and at Halifax? There they had
all the necessaries 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 trouble,
in conveying letters to him, while he had not thought fit to answer.
He said the exchange 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 the Agent, and others, to the
government of the United States. We retired to our hammocks, and gave
vent to our feelings in sighs and tears.
The thought that we must forego all the endearments of life, and perish
together, in a foreign country, 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 bring us to this
state, and through whose mercy alone we could hope to find relief.
The winter was fast approaching, and the cold upon this mountain was
very severe. The small-pox still 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 Plymouth; among which were
the crew of the United States’ brig Argus, taken by the Pelican. One
Robinson, who had belonged to the Argus, had declared, that several
of the crew of that vessel were British subjects. And immediately
seventeen, whom he pointed out, were taken and conveyed on board the
receiving ship, St. Salvador, 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, prevalent 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 informed, that Mr. Beasley 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 cutting a hole through the side of the Crown Prince, at that
place; that afterwards the guard were increased 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 with the remainder of my story, I cannot but here
observe the strange effect habit and corruption have in changing our
common nature. They had been many of 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-floor without covering for many years, till the flesh
had acquired a sort of hardness, like the stones themselves.
This was the effect of gambling, which had acquired 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 other
prisons, and sold them, and gambled the whole away. It is difficult
for the mind to conceive, how human beings could be possessed of fewer
virtues or more vices; or how they could any further change their
common nature 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 winter and summer for ten
years, than any prisoners at this depot; though to the number of nine
thousand.
The French prisoners never received any assistance from the French
government, but depended entirely on the British. Though I cannot
praise the general acts of the latter government, nor am 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 well, 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 remainder of their captivity.
In the six prisons, occupied by the French prisoners, is carried on
almost every branch of the mechanic arts. They resemble little towns,
being mostly soldiers; every man has his separate occupation; 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 committed to close confinement. These were able to 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 notes on the Bank of England, to the amount of one hundred and
fifty 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.
They also carried on the coining of silver, to a very considerable
advantage; they had men constantly employed outside of the yard, to
collect all the Spanish dollars they could, and bring into prison. Out
of every dollar they made eight smooth English shillings; equally as
heavy, and passed as well as any in the kingdom.
Whether they are constituted by nature to endure 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, and,
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
volatility, 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 becomes a nuisance among them,
he is condemned, and sent to No. 4, to remain during his captivity; so
the Americans must dwell among the damned.
On the twenty-eighth, a large corps 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 very mortal
distemper prevailed among the French prisoners, that carried off eight
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, to learn the nature of the
disease; it is afterwards, quite 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 together to call their attention, a large hole is dug back of
the prison, and all thrown in together, without 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,
orders are given, by the ringing of bells, that every prisoner, wanting
relief or medical aid, must repair to the hospital to be examined, and
receive prescriptions; he then returns to the prison, where he remains
till carried in again.
The sickness among the Americans somewhat abated the latter end of this
month. Many entered the king’s service. As the recruiting officers
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_, entered
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 majesty’s service, adopted a plan to encourage
it. When any one was known to be disposed that way, he would send him
a line, and invite him to come to the guard-house, where the other
prisoners could have no communication with him: here he was kept till
a number sufficient for a draft was 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 unthoughtful 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 season,
the prisons being always damp, and the weather very rainy. We were
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 greatest 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 to Mr. Beasley, and advising us to
do the same, which we had already 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 supplied 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 others’ 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, when ordered to bring out every prisoner into the yard,
sick or naked, they often pitied him, gave him some relief, and left
him behind; though ordered to cut him down or run him through, if he
offered to remain.
They supplied us with late papers, and gave us all the account they
could of the affairs in America. 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.
The news they bring of the success of the American 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 Erie 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 prisons;
go to market, but the Americans not permitted to. The government grew
more strict in their enlistments; 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 owed 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 prisoners without shoes or
clothes, obliged to keep their hammock. Fewer deaths than the month
before. Yard covered with snow.
_December._--Cold increasing. Prisoners in despair. Capt. Cotgrave
ordered the prisoners to turn out every morning at the hour of nine,
and stand in the yard till the guards counted them; this generally
took more than an hour. Many of the prisoners 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 complained 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 naked helpless
prisoner to perish in the pitiless blast of this bleak mountain, was an
act that made our hearts recoil with horror.
We remonstrated with the infamous author, but all our supplications and
remonstrances were in vain; the wretch was inexorable; his feelings 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 difficulty were restored to
life again; they were then immediately sent back to prison, there to
lie on the stone floor without bed or covering.
At this 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 Dartmoor, 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. Shortland,
at this time superseded Cotgrave. Shortland was a man whose feelings
had not yet grown callous by being familiarized with human misery,
and at his first 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 countermanded the order
which his predecessor pretended to have been commanded to put in
force. He declared to us that he would do all in his power to procure
us some relief from his government; that he himself would do all he
could in his situation as agent, to assist us; he very politely and
kindly offered to forward to Mr. Beasley, or to the Congress of the
United States, any communication or petition which might procure us any
relief. He stated in feeling terms to the Board of Transport the real
condition of the American prisoners. He ordered the doctors’ assistants
to visit the persons daily, and to remove to the hospital all the sick
who had before been refused admittance. He granted permission for two
of the prisoners to attend the market each day, and purchase such
little 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, we 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 extend, was covered with frost and snow; the prison
walls, by being continually damp, had become like solid ice, and the
prisoners obliged to keep their hammocks, for being allowed no fire,
had no other means to keep themselves warm.
The rigor of treatment seemed somewhat relaxed; for our friendly
officers and Scotch guards gave us as much relief and consolation
as their station would permit, and we endeavored to cultivate their
friendship.
According to Capt. Shortland’s advice, and our own necessities, we
again made application to Mr. Beasley. In this 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 foreign 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 offer
our services _en masse_ to the British government, and at the same time
transmit to the United 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 on 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.
_January, 1814._--The year commences with as cold weather as we ever
experienced in the city of New 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 frozen, were not the hammocks placed
so near together as to communicate the animal heat from one man to
another.
The running stream that supplied the prison froze solid, and the
weather was allowed to be colder 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, and the drifts in the yards as high as the prison walls (fifteen
feet), the water all frozen, 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 sentry on duty except in the barracks.
At midnight; this dreary night, eight prisoners, thinking to take
advantage of the night to make their escape, as no sentries 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
soldiers in the guard-house discovered them, and 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 the black-hole, which is
the place for prisoners that attempt to make their escape: the weather
extremely cold, was likely to prove their last. But the fifth day they
were removed to the cachot, and remained on two-thirds allowance,
sleeping on straw for ten days. The prisoners, soldiers, and officers,
were now furnished 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 upwards of nine thousand
French and American prisoners, besides fifteen hundred soldiers and
officers, doctors, and a numerous train of turnkeys.