PLYMOUTH, 26th April, 1815.
We, the undersigned commissioners, appointed on behalf of our
respective governments, to inquire into, and report upon, the
unfortunate occurrence of the 6th of April instant, at Dartmoor
prison, having carefully perused the proceedings of the several courts
of inquiry instituted immediately after that event, by the orders of
Admiral Sir John T. Duckworth and Major General Brown respectively, as
well as the depositions taken at the coroner’s inquest upon the bodies
of the prisoners who lost their lives upon that melancholy occasion;
upon which inquest the jury found a verdict of justifiable homicide;
proceed immediately to the examination upon oath, in the presence of
one or more of the magistrates of the vicinity, of all the witnesses,
both American and English, who offered themselves for that purpose, or
who could be discovered as likely to afford any material information
upon the subject, as well as those who had been previously examined
before the coroner, or otherwise, to the number in the whole of about
eighty. We further proceed to a minute examination of the prisons, for
the purpose of clearing up some points, which upon the evidence alone,
were scarcely intelligible; obtaining from the prisoners, and from the
officers of the depot, all the necessary assistance and explanation;
and premising, that we have been from necessity compelled to draw many
of our conclusions from statements and evidence highly contradictory,
we do now make upon the whole proceedings the following report:
During the period which has elapsed since the arrival in this
country of the account of the ratification of the treaty of Ghent,
an increased degree of restlessness and impatience of confinement
appears to have prevailed amongst the American prisoners at Dartmoor,
which, though not exhibited in the shape of any violent excess, has
been principally indicated by threats of breaking out if not soon
released.
On the fourth of this month in particular, only two days previous to
the events, the subject of this inquiry, a large body of the prisoners
rushed into the market-square, from whence, by the regulations of
the prison, they are excluded, demanding bread, instead of bircuit,
which had on that day been issued by the officers of the depot; their
demands, however, having been then almost immediately complied with,
they returned to their own yards, and the employment of force on that
occasion became unnecessary.
On the evening of the sixth, about six o’clock, it was clearly proved
to us, that a breach had been made in one of the prison walls,
sufficient for a full-sized man to pass, and that others had been
commenced in the course of the day near the same spot, though never
completed.
That a number of the prisoners were over the railing erected to
prevent them from communicating with the sentinels on the walls, which
was of course forbidden by the regulations of the prison, and that
in the space between the railing and those walls, they were tearing
up pieces of turf, and wantonly pelting each other in a noisy and
disorderly manner.
That a much more considerable number of the prisoners was collected
together at that time in one of their yards near the place where
the breach was effected, and that although such collection of
prisoners was not unusual at other times (the gambling tables being
commonly kept in that part of the yard) yet, when connected with the
circumstances of the breach, and the time of the day, which was after
the hour the signal for the prisoners to their respective prisons had
ceased to sound, it became a natural and just ground of alarm to those
who had charge of the depot.
It was also in evidence that in the building formerly the petty
officers’ prison, but now the guard barrack, which stands in the
yard to which the hole in the wall would serve as a communication, a
part of the arms of the guard who were off duty, were usually kept
in the racks, and though there was no evidence that this was in any
respect the motive which induced the prisoners to make the opening in
the wall, or even that they were ever acquainted with the fact, it
naturally became at least a further cause of suspicion and alarm, and
an additional reason for precaution.
Upon these grounds, Captain Shortland appears to us to have been
justified in giving the order, which about this time he seems to have
given, to sound the alarm-bell, the usual signal for collecting the
officers of the depot, and putting the military on the alert.
However reasonable and justifiable this was as a measure of
precaution, the effects produced thereby in the prisons, but which
could not have been intended, were most unfortunate, and deeply to be
regretted. A considerable number of the prisoners in the yards, where
no disturbances existed before, and who were either already within
their respective prisons, or quietly retiring as usual towards them,
immediately upon the sound of the bell rushed back from curiosity (as
it appears) towards the gates, where, by that time, the crowd had
assembled, and many who were at the time absent from their yards, were
also, from the plan of the prison, compelled, in order to reach their
own homes, to pass by the same spot, and thus, that which was merely
a measure of precaution, in its operation increased the evil it was
intended to prevent.
Almost at the same instant that the alarm-bell rang, (but whether
before or subsequent, is, upon the evidence, doubtful, though Captain
Shortland states it positively, as one of his further reasons for
causing it to ring) some one or more of the prisoners broke the iron
chain, which was the only fastening of No. 1 gate, leading into the
market-square, by means of an iron bar; and a very considerable number
of the prisoners immediately rushed towards that gate; and many of
them began to press forwards as fast as the opening would permit, into
the square.
There was no direct proof before us of previous concert or preparation
on the part of the prisoners; and no evidence of their intention
or disposition to effect their escape on this occasion, excepting
that which arose by inference from the whole of the above detailed
circumstances connected together.
The natural and almost irresistible inference to be drawn, however,
from the conduct of the prisoners by Captain Shortland and the
military, was, that an intention on the part of the prisoners to
escape was on the point of being carried into execution, and it was
at least certain that they were by force passing beyond the limits
prescribed to them, at a time when they ought to have been quietly
going in for the night. It was also in evidence that the outer gates
of the market-square were usually opened about this time to let the
bread-wagon pass and repass to the store, although at the period in
question they were in fact closed.
Under these circumstances, and with these impressions necessarily
operating upon his mind, and a knowledge that if the prisoners once
penetrated through the square, the power of escape was almost to a
certainty afforded to them, if they should be so disposed. Capt.
Shortland, in the first instance, proceeded down the square towards
the prisoners, having ordered a part of the different guards, to the
number of about fifty only at first, (though they were increased
afterwards,) to follow him. For some time both he and Dr. Magrath
endeavored by quiet means and persuasion, to induce the prisoners to
retire to their own yards, explaining to them the fatal consequences
which must ensue if they refused, as the military would in that case
be necessarily compelled to employ force. The guard was by this time
formed in the rear of Capt. Shortland, about two thirds of the way
down the square--the latter is about one hundred feet broad, and the
guard extended nearly all across. Captain Shortland, finding that
persuasion was all in vain, and that although some were induced by
it to make an effort to retire, others pressed on in considerable
numbers, at last ordered about 15 file of the guard, nearly in front
of the gate which had been forced, to charge the prisoners back
to their own yards. The prisoners were in some places so near the
military, that one of the soldiers states he could not come fairly
down to the charge; and the military were unwilling to act as against
an enemy. Some of the prisoners also were unwilling and reluctant to
retire, and some pushing and struggling ensued between the parties,
arising partly from intention, but mainly from the pressure of those
behind preventing those in front from getting back. After some little
time, however, this charge appears to have been so far effective,
and that with little or no injury to the prisoners, as to have
driven them for the most part quite down out of the square, with the
exception of a small number who continued their resistance about No.
1 gate. A great crowd still remained collected after this in the
passage between the square and the prisoners’ yards, and in the part
of these yards in the vicinity of the gates. This assemblage still
refused to withdraw, and according to most of the English witnesses,
and some of the American, was making a noise, hallooing, insulting
and provoking, and daring the military to fire, and, according to
the evidence of some of the soldiers, and some others, was pelting
the military with large stones, by which some of them were actually
struck. This circumstance is, however, denied by many of the American
witnesses; and some of the English, upon having the question put to
them, stated they saw no stones thrown previously to the firing,
although their situation at the time was such as to enable them to see
most of the other proceedings in the square. Under these circumstances
the firing commenced. With regard to any order having been given to
fire, the evidence is very contradictory. Several of the Americans
swear positively that Capt. Shortland gave that order; but the manner
in which, from the confusion of the moment, they describe this part
of the transaction, is so different in its details, that it is very
difficult to reconcile their testimony. Many of the soldiers and other
English witnesses heard the word given by some one, but no one of them
can swear it was by Capt. Shortland, or by any one in particular, and
some, amongst whom is the officer commanding the guard, think, if
Capt. Shortland had given such an order, that they must have heard it,
which they did not. In addition to this, Capt. Shortland denies the
fact; and from the situation in which he appears to have been placed
at the time, even according to the American witnesses, in front of
the soldiers, it may appear somewhat improbable that he should then
have given such an order. But, however, it may remain a matter of
doubt whether the firing first began in the square by order, or was a
spontaneous act of the soldiers themselves, it seemed clear that it
was continued and renewed both there and elsewhere, without orders;
and that on the platforms, and in several places about the prison,
it was certainly commenced without any authority. The fact of an
order having been given at first, provided the firing was, under the
existing circumstances, justifiable, does not appear very material in
any other point of view than as showing a want of self-possession and
discipline in the troops, if they should have fired without order.
With regard to the above most important consideration, of whether
the firing was justifiable or not, we are of opinion, under all the
circumstances of the case, from the apprehension which the soldiers
might fairly entertain, owing to the numbers and conduct of the
prisoners, that this firing to a certain extent, was justifiable in
a military point of view, in order to intimidate the prisoners, and
compel them thereby to desist from all acts of violence, and to retire
as they were ordered, from a situation in which the responsibility of
the agents, and the military, could not permit them with safety to
remain.--From the fact of the crowd being so close, and the firing at
first being attended with very little injury, it appears probable that
a large proportion of the muskets were, as stated by one or two of the
witnesses, levelled over the heads of the prisoners; a circumstance
in some respects to be lamented, as it induced them to cry out “blank
cartridges,” and merely irritated and encouraged them to renew their
insults to the soldiery, which produced a repetition of the firing
in a manner much more destructive. The firing in the square having
continued for some time, by which several of the prisoners sustained
injuries, the greater part of them appear to have been running back
with the utmost precipitation and confusion to their respective
prisons, and the cause for further firing seems at this period to
have ceased. It appears accordingly that Capt. Shortland was in the
market-square, exerting himself and giving orders to that effect,
and that Lieut. Fortye had succeeded in stopping the fire of his
part of the guard. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult
to find any justification for the further continuance and renewal of
the firing, which certainly took place both in the prison yards and
elsewhere; though we have some evidence of subsequent provocation
given to the military, and resistance to the turnkeys in shutting the
prisons, and of stones being thrown out from within the prison doors.
The subsequent firing rather appears to have arisen from the state of
individual irritation and exasperation on the part of the soldiers
who followed the prisoners into their yards, and from the absence of
nearly all the officers, who might have restrained it; as well as from
the great difficulty of putting an end to a firing when once commenced
under such circumstances. Capt. Shortland was from this time busily
occupied with the turnkeys in the square, receiving and taking care of
the wounded. Ensign White remained with his guard at the breach, and
Lieuts. Avelyne and Fortye, the only other subalterns known to have
been present, continued in the square with the main bodies of their
respective guards.
The time of the day, which was the officers’ dinner hour, will, in
some measure, explain this, as it caused the absence of every officer
from the prison whose presence was not indispensable there. And
this circumstance, which has been urged as an argument to prove the
intention of the prisoners to take this opportunity to escape, tended
to increase the confusion, and to prevent those great exertions being
made, which might perhaps have obviated a portion, at least, of the
mischief which ensued.
At the same time that the firing was going on in the square, a cross
fire was also kept up from several of the platforms on the walls round
the prison where the sentries stand, by straggling parties of soldiers
who ran up there for that purpose. As far as this fire was directed to
disperse the men assembled round the breach, for which purpose it was
most effectual, it seems to stand upon the same ground as that in the
first instance in the square. But that part, which it is positively
sworn was directed against struggling parties of prisoners running
about the yards and endeavoring to enter in the few doors which the
turnkeys, according to their usual practice, had left open, does seem,
as stated, to have been wholly without object or excuse, and to have
been a wanton attack upon the lives of defenceless, and at that time
unoffending individuals. In the same, or even more severe terms, we
must remark upon what was proved as to the firing into the door-ways
of the prisons, more particularly into that of No. 3 prison, at a
time when the men were in crowds at the entrance. From the position
of the prison and of the door, and from the marks of the balls which
were pointed out to us, as well as from the evidence, it was clear
this firing must have proceeded from soldiers a very few feet from
the door-way; and although it was certainly sworn that the prisoners
were at the time of part of the firing at least, continuing to insult
and occasionally to throw stones at the soldiers, and that they were
standing in the way of, and impeding the turnkey, who was there for
the purpose of closing the door, yet still there was nothing stated
which could in our view at all justify such excessively harsh and
severe treatment of helpless and unarmed prisoners, when all idea of
escape was at an end. Under these impressions we used every endeavor
to ascertain if there was the least prospect of identifying any of the
soldiers who had been guilty of the particular outrages here alluded
to, or of tracing any particular death at that time to the firing
of any particular individual, but without success; and all hopes of
bringing the offenders to punishment should seem to be at an end. In
conclusion, we, the undersigned, have only to add, that whilst we
lament, as we do most deeply, the unfortunate transaction which has
been the subject of this inquiry, we find ourselves totally unable to
suggest any steps to be taken as to those parts of it which seem to
call for redress and punishment.
(Signed) CHARLES KING,
FRAS. SEYMOUR LARPENT.
LONDON, 18th April, 1815.