After the ashes was scattered in the winds, the following dirge was
then sung:
The image of disgrace we’ve hang’d,
And wish it was quite true
That Beasley had himself been there,
And the devil burnt his Jew:
For both contriv’d to wrong us much;
And they know it very well,
They’ll always have the prisoners’ prayer
To send them both to HELL.
On the twenty-sixth, the prisoners who had been taken to Exeter to give
evidence against the insane man who stabbed Paul, and also those who
were to give evidence against the three men who were accused of marking
the traitors, returned to Dartmoor; as did also the defendants who had
had their trial, and were acquitted.
On the twenty-eighth, we received our monthly pay as usual: the prison
continued very sickly, and no preparation for our departure.
At this time the officers and soldiers of the garrison seemed greatly
alarmed and much concerned at the news received from France. They had
the greatest apprehensions of an immediate war with Bonaparte, as the
Paris papers gave an account of his being at the head of three hundred
thousand men in arms; and the British papers mentioned the great
preparations they were making in this country to assist the allies. The
very name of the Emperor, and the mention of the battle of New-Orleans,
made every British officer and soldier turn pale, and shudder at the
thought.
On the last day of March, I collected the exact number of all prisoners
at this depot, and noted as follows:
In prison No. 1 1769
In do. No. 3 972
In do. No. 4 1051
In do. No. 5 958
In do. No. 7 1263
In different employments about the stores 51
Employed in the hospital 19
Patients in the hospital 130
Total at Dartmoor 5693
The following are the different descriptions of prisoners, and the
number of each class.
There were of those discharged from British ships of war,
and also those taken in England, 2200
Colored people 1000
United States’ soldiers and sailors 250
Taken on board of privateers and merchant-ships, Including
those few mentioned, taken under the French flag. 2243
On the same day we received letters from London, informing us that the
ships taken for our conveyance, lay wind bound in the Downs.
The month concluded with pleasant weather for Dartmoor; sickness and
small pox had somewhat abated.
The prisoners made a contribution for the assistance of a prisoner, who
had lost an arm in attempting to take possession of the cartel, which
was conveying them from Halifax to England.
As this is intended to be a true and faithful account of all the
occurrences and circumstances of the American captives in England, we
cannot forbear mentioning some circumstances, which may appear trifling
and uninteresting to those who have not felt as we have.
The weather now being mild, and the pleasant season for crossing the
Atlantic fast approaching, the prisoners felt the most insufferable
anxiety for their departure. The winds being favorable, and seventeen
days having elapsed since the ratified treaty arrived, they could not
but wait with impatience for the cartels.
On the first of March, Capt. Shortland received orders to discharge
twenty-one prisoners, who had applied to be released in England.
Previous to this time almost all the men who had been delivered from
the British ships of war, had been paid at different times their prize
money, and the wages due for their past services in the navy.
This day a man by the name of Bratt, who had belonged to the United
States’ brig Argus returned to prison. This man, at the time we were
attempting to make our escape by digging out, was accused of dropping
some unguarded expression, which had led to a discovery of our first
attempt; he was threatened to be put to death, by great numbers of
prisoners, and the keepers fearing this might be the case, took him
to the guard house, where he remained till the crew of the Argus were
discharged from prison, when he was also discharged with them, and went
along with the crew to Dartmouth, and entered the cartel; he was there
accused of the same as before, and threatened, and fearing his life
might be taken, he escaped from the cartel, went into the country and
worked at his trade, which was that of a blacksmith, and had resided
there the whole time.
On the second we had information that the ship Milo, of Boston, had
arrived in England in eighteen days from that port; she was the first
American vessel which had reached this place since the peace.
On the same day, we received a letter from Mr. Beasley, which read as
follows:
_Fellow Citizens_,
From the numberless letters I receive daily, I find that the prisoners
entertain an idea of my releasing any prisoners that are enabled with
a sufficiency to provide for themselves; I therefore must give you
fully my intention on that subject, which is, to grant passports only
to such persons as have friends or connexions in this country, of
responsibility.
I must also acquaint you that I am making every possible dispatch with
the cartels for your conveyance to the United States, where you are
much wanted, and the encouragement for seamen very great.
This letter again revived the drooping spirits of the prisoners, who
for many days had been almost distracted with the tedium of suspense.
We now felt that a few days would release us from this earthly hell,
and like Ænas of old, pass by propitious gales from hell to heaven, and
shortly repose on the Elysian fields, in the arms of the goddess of
liberty.
The prisoners that had kept shops in the prisons for retailing small
articles, such as tobacco, thread, soap, coffee, sugar, &c. now broke
up, and every thing was in great confusion for want of these articles;
these shops were a great advantage to those who kept them, and a great
accommodation to all the prisoners. There had been from sixty to eighty
in each prison; at these places all these small articles might easily
be obtained, though at somewhat higher price than in the market.
Our salary would not go far in purchasing these articles, which were
very high at this time all over England; we could buy for a penny
sterling, only one small chew of tobacco, which was selling at Plymouth
by the quantity at nine shillings and six pence per pound.
We find mentioned in the paper of this day, the arrival of the late
U. States frigate President at Plymouth; they barely mention that she
had arrived at that place, and that she was captured by the Endymion,
but the circumstances of the capture they very prudently left out, as
reflecting no honor on the captors.
Capt. Shortland had two men committed to close confinement, who had
been accused of drawing money from the Directors of Greenwich Hospital,
under assumed names.
On the fourth, a circumstance occurred, which may lead to the recital
of other circumstances, which many to whose hand this work may come,
may be inclined to doubt the veracity of; but I can appeal, not only to
those who have certified this work, but to nearly six thousand of my
fellow prisoners, who upon their solemn oath can attest to the truth of
what is herein contained.
During the whole of this day the prisoners remained without bread, and
the captain of the prison gone to Plymouth: we were obliged to subsist
on the four and a half ounces of beef, and the soup made of it; we
demanded of the contractor the reason of our not drawing our usual
allowance of bread; he answered, that it could not be obtained till
to-morrow; we waited as patiently as our feelings would allow, till the
expiration of thirty-six hours from the time we had received the last
bread, when hunger became so pressing, that it drove us to a state of
desperation, and we could no longer endure it, as the whole allowance
was scarcely sufficient to sustain life. At dusk in the evening, we
again demanded the reason of our not receiving our allowance of bread
as usual, as the store-house we well knew contained a sufficiency of
both hard and soft bread. The contractor’s clerk informed us, that a
quantity of damaged hard bread, which had been kept in reserve for
times of extreme necessity, now remained on hand, and that unless we
would accept of one pound of that in lieu of the pound and a half of
soft bread allowed by the Transport Board, until all they had was
expended, he should not serve us with any bread, until Capt. Shortland
returned from Plymouth.
The prisoners then collected themselves into companies, to consider of
this very extraordinary conduct in the contractor; and after mature
deliberation, they all concluded that it must be a design in the
contractor to get rid of his damaged bread, before we went away, and
had taken this opportunity, while the captain was absent, to compel
us to receive it by starving us till we were willing; we therefore
concluded rather to die by the sword, than the famine, and determined
to remain no longer in this starving condition, for we had all this
time lived solely on the four and a half ounces of beef. Thus desperate
by starvation, we determined to force open the gates in front of the
prison, disarm the soldiers, break open the store-house and supply
ourselves; and provided the garrison should charge or fire upon us,
to make a general attack, and take possession of the guard house and
barracks, and stand the consequences let come what might. Accordingly
at dark, the prisoners were ordered, as usual, inside the prisons to be
locked up for the night, but instead of complying with orders, a signal
previously agreed on was given, and passed like lightning through every
prison, and every prisoner appeared instantly at the gate in one solid
body; on approaching the gates, and bursting open the first three, the
soldiers and turnkeys stationed there, fled in the utmost confusion
and consternation to the main body in the guard house. The alarm-bells
rung and the drums in every direction around the garrison beat to
arms; the women in the different houses connected to the depot, flew
in confusion and terror in every direction from the depot; in a few
moments the alarm had reached the neighboring villages for many miles,
and the militia assembled in arms to assist the garrison, which was at
this time twelve hundred. We stood arranged in front of the store-house
ready to receive the attack of the soldiery, or receive our usual
allowance of bread; in a few moments the soldiers arrived and advanced
with charged bayonets within two yards of the prisoners. The soldiers
were then brought to a stand by the threats of the prisoners who all
declared, in the most determined tone, that if they attempted to fire
or make a charge on them, they must abide by any consequences that
would follow: we told them that we were confident that no such orders
had been issued by the government of Great Britain; we also told them,
that unless the bread was served out immediately, that the store-house
should be levelled with the ground, and every prisoner should march
out of the prison. The contractor, clerks, &c. then immediately came
forward and entered into this engagement, that if the prisoners would
retire into the prison yards, that the bread should be immediately
served to them; the prisoners agreed and retired, and for the securing
the fulfilment of the engagement, they took with them as a hostage one
of the clerks inside of the prison, and there to remain till every
prisoner had received his usual allowance of bread, which was not till
after twelve o’clock at night. During this time, the guards, soldiers,
keepers, and every person connected with the prison, remained in the
greatest apprehension, fearing the prisoners had some further intention
than merely to obtain their bread; they feared their troubles would
end in a more serious way, and the prisoners all make their escape. But
next morning showed that the prisoners had no intention of escaping,
for during the confusion of the night, many of them had taken the
opportunity to scale the walls in an opposite direction, while the
attention of the guard was taken up with the main body of them.
Those that had gone out after remaining all night, came and demanded
admittance into prison again. This movement in the prisoners astonished
the natives of the moor, who left vacant their huts and fled for
safety; and the women and children had retired to the nearest towns,
and there took refuge, and the men had joined the garrison for
protection.
During the night an express was sent to Plymouth to acquaint Capt.
Shortland of the event, and that the prisoners had complete possession
of the whole garrison, and the control of all things at Dartmoor. In
the morning Capt. Shortland arrived with a reinforcement of two hundred
soldiers; but found all things quiet and tranquil; as the prisoners
had obtained their usual allowance of bread, they were satisfied and
sought nothing more. Capt. Shortland made an apology for the conduct
of the contractor, and things passed on tolerably well; but great
suspicions remained among the people who had formerly attended the
market, and these had spread abroad and become the general opinion
outside the walls, that the American prisoners being detained so long
since the ratification had arrived, now three weeks, in which time
Mr. Beasley might have had all discharged and on their passage to the
United States, had grown impatient; and as no ships had yet sailed from
London to receive them, their forbearance was quite exhausted, and
from some threats that had been thrown out by some of the prisoners
in presence of the market people, that if the agent of their country
did not procure their release within one month from the arrival of the
treaty, that they would take their liberty in a body, being determined
to risk their lives at all hazards, and depend on their own exertions
for their liberty among armed soldiers, rather than remain in the
wretched condition they were then in. These suspicions had gone so much
abroad, that every body about the prison was apprehensive the prisoners
would make the attempt to escape in a body, and some unhappy issue grow
out of it. But the prisoners generally had no design of escaping, as
by that means they would lose their opportunity of returning home in
the cartels. On the sixth, we addressed a letter to Mr. Beasley, on the
subject of our discharge, and informed him that we had made application
to the British Government to interfere in forwarding our release, as
he, Mr. Beasley, had delayed the time already nearly one month, and had
only procured three ships, and them still in London, when at the same
time ships could have been procured at Plymouth, on equally as good
terms as at London, which would, with very little exertion on the part
of Mr. Beasley, have released the greater part of the prisoners in two
weeks from the arrival of the ratification of the treaty.
The story I am about to relate is of the deepest concern, as well to
every citizen of the United States as to those who were the immediate
subjects of it. The event concerns the interest of both governments,
and deserve to be treated in the most candid and impartial manner;
every transaction whereby the intention of those acting in it can be
discovered, require to be shown in the purest and most open view.
That the public may have all that can be known on this important
subject, I purpose to lay before them, in the first instance, what
passed within my own knowledge, that I myself was witness to; then to
give them the report of the committee appointed by the prisoners to
investigate the circumstances of the massacre; and lastly, to give the
report of the agents appointed by the two governments.
What one of that Nation, or what soldier of that hardened, wretched
band, can refrain from tears even while he relates the murderous deeds?
“What blind, detested madness could afford,
Such horrid license to the murd’ring sword!”
Though the scene is of painful memory, and my soul shudders at the
remembrance, and hath shrunk back with grief at the thought, yet will I
relate what my eyes hath seen and my ears heard.
On the sixth of this month, April, about six o’clock in the evening,
Capt. Shortland discovered a hole in the inner wall, that separates the
barrack-yard from prison No. 6 and 7; this hole had been made in the
afternoon by some prisoners out of mere play, without any design to
escape.
On discovering the hole, Capt. Shortland seemed instantly to conceive
the murderous design; for, without giving the prisoners any notice
to retire, he planted soldiers in proper positions on the top of the
wall, where they could best assist in perpetrating his murderous and
barbarous deeds.
A few minutes past six, while the prisoners were innocently, and
unapprehensive of danger, walking in the prison yards and those in No.
1, 3 and 4 were particularly so, as the yards of these prisons are
entirely separated every way from the yard in which the hole in the
wall had been made--the alarm bells rung, and the drums of the garrison
in every direction beat to arms; this was about ten minutes past six.
This sudden and unexpected alarm excited the attention of all the
prisoners, who, out of curiosity made immediately for the prison yard
to inquire the reason of the alarm.
Among so many as were in this depot, it is reasonable to suppose that
some mischievous persons were among them, and among those collected at
the gate were some such persons who forced the gate open, whether by
accident or design I will not attempt to say; but without any intention
of making an escape, and totally unknown to every man, except the few
who stood in front of the gates; those back naturally crowded forward
to see what was going on at the gates; this pressed and forced a number
through the gates, quite contrary to the intention of either those in
front or those in rear.
While in this situation Capt. Shortland entered the inner square, at
the head of the whole body of soldiers in the garrison; as soon as
they entered, Capt. Shortland took sole command of the whole, and
immediately drew up the soldiers in a position to charge.
The soldier-officers, perceiving by this move the horrid and murderous
design of Capt. Shortland, resigned their authority over the soldiers,
and refused to take any part, or give any orders for the troop to fire.
They saw by this time that the terrified prisoners were retiring as
fast as so great a crowd would permit, and hurrying and flying in
terrible flight, in every direction, to their respective prisons.
The troop had now advanced within three yards of the prisoners, when
Capt. Shortland gave them orders to charge upon them; at this time the
prisoners had all got within their respective prison yards, and were
flying with the greatest precipitation from the point of the bayonet;
the doors now being full of the terrified crowd, they could not enter
as fast as they wished; at this moment of dismay, Capt. Shortland
was distinctly heard to give orders to the troops to fire upon the
prisoners, although now completely in his power, and their lives at his
disposal, and had offered no violence, nor attempted to resist, and the
gates all closed.
The order was immediately obeyed by his soldiers, and they discharged
a full volley of musketry into the main body of the prisoners, on the
other side of the iron railings which separated the prisoners from the
soldiers.
These volleys were repeated for several rounds, and the prisoners
falling, either dead or wounded, in all directions, while it was yet
impossible for them to enter the prison, on account of the numbers that
flew there for refuge from the rage of the blood thirsty murderer.
In the midst of this horrid slaughter, one man among the rear
prisoners, with great presence of mind and the most undaunted courage,
turned and advanced to the soldiers, amidst the fire of hundreds, and
while his fellow-prisoners were falling all around him, and in an
humble and suppliant manner, with his hat in his hand, this resolute
soul, in the face of danger and death, implored mercy of Capt.
Shortland to spare his countrymen. “O! spare my countrymen!” he cried,
“O! Captain, forbear, don’t kill us all.” To this supplication, this
cruel, inexorable Shortland replied, “Retire, you dammed rascal; I’ll
hear to nothing.” The soldiers then pricked him with their bayonets,
which compelled him to retreat to the prison door, where he must wait
his doom with the other unfortunate prisoners, till the soldiers, who
had now entered the different prison yards, and were pursuing and
firing should dispatch him with the rest.
To do justice to the merits of this young man, I must inform the public
that his name is Greenlow, of Virginia, and late a midshipman in the
United States navy, but now a prisoner of the crew of the privateer
Prince of Neufchattel.
The soldiers now advanced, making a general massacre of men and
boys, whom accident or impossibility had left without the doors of
the prison; they advanced near to the crowded doors, and instantly
discharged another volley of musketry on the backs of those farthest
out, endeavoring to force their passage into the prison.
This barbarous act was repeated in the presence of this inhuman
monster, Shortland--and the prisoners fell, either dead or severely
wounded, in all directions, before his savage sight.
But his vengeance was not glutted by the cruel murder of the innocent
men and boys that lay weltering and bleeding in the groans and agonies
of death along the prison-doors, but turned and traversed the yard,
and hunted a poor affrighted wretch, that had flew for safety close
under the walls of prison No. 1, and dared not move lest he should be
discovered, and immediate death be his lot.
But, alas! the unhappy man was discovered by these hell-hounds, with
this demon at their head, and with cool and deliberate malice, drew up
their muskets to their shoulders and despatched the unhappy victim,
while in the act of imploring mercy from their hands. His only crime
was not being able to get into the prison without being shot before.
In the yard of No. 7, they found in their hunt another hapless victim,
crouching close along the wall at the far end of the yard, and
fearing to breathe, lest he should share the fate of his unfortunate
countrymen that had already fallen a sacrifice to the rage of this
lawless banditti; when, O! cruel to relate, five of them drew up
the instruments of death, and by the order of this fell murderer,
discharged their contents into the body of this innocent man, while
begging them to spare his life!
This _Nero_, now having accomplished his murderous designs, retired
with his troops from the yard, and left it a horrid scene of his
relentless rage!
The dead and the wounded lay scattered about the yard; seven were
killed dead on the spot, and six with the loss of a leg or an arm, and
dangerously wounded; several were pronounced mortal. The names of every
man, either killed or wounded will be given in the catalogue annexed.
As it was much feared the murderers would endeavor to conceal many
of the dead, Dr. Magrath, head surgeon of the Hospital, an honest
skillful man, entered immediately after Shortland retired, and exerted
his utmost ability in collecting the dead and wounded from the several
prison yards, and conveying them to the Hospital.
At the same time he sent to the neighboring towns to call in the aid of
medical gentlemen that resided there; he also demanded admittance into
the prisons, which were now closed, to receive the dead and wounded
that had reached the inside of the prison.
A despatch was immediately sent to Plymouth, to inform the Admiral and
Commodore, and the Commander in Chief of the Military Department, of
the fatal _sixth of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen_;
which day must be of horrid memory to every American, whose mind will
revolt with indignity at the name of SHORTLAND AND THE MASSACRE AT
DARTMOOR!!
_Shortland!_ thou foul monster and inhuman villain! is thy soul glutted
with the blood of the innocent victims, that Fate had doomed to thy
revengeful and blood-thirsty power? I appeal to the world to say
whether the conduct of Warren Hastings, whether the massacre of St.
Domingo, can exceed the horrid catastrophe of this ill-fated night,
conducted under the immediate inspection of your murderous eye? and
should the laws of your country not doom you to a death of the most
severe nature as a public example for your well known crimes? Your
whole nation is involved as a black accomplice in your monstrous guilt;
and the blood of my unfortunate countrymen, shed by your base hand,
must ever remain a stain to the character of your nation.
Tell me, _ye_ bloody butchers! and _thou_ who contrived, as well as
ye who executed the execrable design, how dare ye breathe that air,
which wafted to the ear of Majesty the groans of the wounded and the
dying? How dare ye tread that earth which is wet with the blood of the
innocent, shed by your accursed hands? Do not the goads and stings of
conscious guilt wound you in your daily walks? Do not the ghosts of the
murdered rise before you in your nightly dreams?
On the morning of the seventh, by order of the commander-in-chief at
Plymouth, a Colonel, with a reinforcement of troops, arrived and took
command of the depot. Immediately on his arrival, he sent notice to the
prisoners of his taking the command, and that Capt. Shortland wished
the prisoners to appoint some few men to receive the explanation of
his last night’s conduct; but we unanimously agreed, and despatched a
letter to the Colonel, acquainting him that as citizens of the United
States of America, we should conceive it a disgrace to the national
character of our country to hold any communication with the murderer
of our fellow-citizens. But provided the Colonel should require any
conference with the prisoners, they should at any time with pleasure
attend, and explain the nature of every past event.
The Colonel, requesting a conference, came to the gate attended by the
guilty Shortland, who could not now disguise the guilt of his crime;
he could not look a prisoner in the face; as he walked along towards
the prison bars with his eyes fixed on the ground, and as he came to
the spot where, a few hours before, lay one of our murdered countrymen,
he saw the blood, and faintly attempted to speak; but the monitor of
Heaven was not quite overcome by the powers of Hell, and he could
not utter a word. After several efforts he hesitatingly attempted to
justify his conduct by saying it was a part of his duty, which was
grounded on the fear he had of the prisoners making an attempt to
escape, and imputed part of the fault to Mr. Beasley, in driving the
prisoners to a state of desperation by his great delay of sending them
home.
The Colonel very patiently heard the stories of both parties, and
promised a jury of inquest should be held over the bodies of our
departed countrymen the next day, and a strict investigation of every
circumstance of the event had, according to evidence.
At nine o’clock we hoisted the colors half-mast on every prison; we
then visited the Hospital, but the spectacle was painful indeed, and
enough to freeze the blood of the most hardened parricide; the tables
were covered with the amputated legs and arms of our fellow-prisoners,
and our ears stunned with the groans of forty-two, wounded in the most
shocking manner; and seven lay dead as solemn witnesses of the horrid
act.
We then returned to the prisons and appointed a committee of ten to
take depositions of a great number of persons who were best acquainted
with the particular facts. The committee being severally sworn,
proceeded to make all possible inquiry into the circumstances of the
massacre, and prepare every testimony to lay before the jury which were
to sit over the bodies the next day.
At two in the afternoon arrived an Admiral and another officer of
high rank in his Majesty’s navy, and after introducing themselves to
the prisoners, in a very friendly and feeling manner, expressed their
extreme regret for the horrid and barbarous act of Capt. Shortland, and
informed us that they had come clothed with proper authority to make
inquiry into the conduct of Capt. Shortland in the late unhappy event
and his conduct during his agency at the prison. They assured us, that
he would be called to an account by the government, and that a fair
investigation should be had of all his conduct.
I have omitted to mention a circumstance which occurred during the
dreadful scene of the night. A lamp-lighter, who was in the act of
lighting the lamp at the door of prison No. 3, in which I myself
resided, being compelled to take refuge among the prisoners, was
forced by the hurrying group into the prison. He belonged to the same
regiment of soldiers who were that moment committing these most horrid
outrages. He was immediately seized by the prisoners, and conveyed
to a particular part of the prison, and the prisoners being in the
most enraged state, it was immediately proposed to put him to death,
and sacrifice him to our resentment, as a just retaliation of our
injury; but on cool deliberation and debate throughout the prison, it
was thought better to spare him; and to the pleasing astonishment of
this man, half dead with fear, he was told to rest easy, for his life
should not be taken, but he should be preserved, that the whole world
might distinguish the difference of humanity between unprovoked British
soldiers, and the injured and provoked American seamen; accordingly,
when the doors were opened to take out the wounded, the man was
released, which astonished and confounded the whole soldiery, who felt
the force of the reproach with the keenest remorse, and were compelled
to express the highest respect for this generous revenge.
_The following is a correct list of killed and wounded on the 6th of
April, 1815, and contains a true statement of their condition at 12
o’clock on the 8th day of the same month._