In 1766 Valérie Coffre quarrelled with a fellow prisoner, Nicholas Chartier, and killed him with a knife. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was attended by a Roman Catholic priest, was very earnest in his devotions, and was executed at Winchester, the whole of his fellow prisoners being marched thither under a strong guard to witness the scene. He was a handsome, well-built man of twenty-two. In 1784 the Castle was properly fitted up as a War Prison. The ancient moat outside the walls, which during long years of neglect had become choked up with rubbish, was filled with water, and the keep was divided into five stories, connected with a wooden stairway at the side, and the entire Castle was arranged for the accommodation of about 8,000 prisoners. [Illustration: PLAN OF PORTCHESTER CASTLE, 1793. A. Kitchens, B. Hospital. C. Black Hole. D. Caserns. E. Great Tower. ] In 1794 the prisoners captured in Howe’s victory of the ‘Glorious First of June’ were lodged in Portchester. One of the prizes taken, the _Impétueux_, took fire, and at one time there was danger that the fire would spread. The prisoners at Portchester were delighted, and danced about singing the _Ça ira_ and the _Marseillaise_, but happily the ship grounded on a mud-bank, and no further damage was done. In 1796 two prisoners quarrelled over politics, one stabbed the other to death, and was hanged at Winchester. In 1797 the agent in charge complained that many Portsmouth people, under pretence of attending Portchester Parish Church, which stood within the Castle _enceinte_, came really to buy straw hats and other forbidden articles manufactured by the prisoners. The inconvenience of the position of this church was further manifested by a daring escape which was made about this time. One Sunday morning, just as service had begun, the sentry on duty at the Water Gate saw three naval officers in full uniform come towards him from the churchyard. Thinking that they were British officers who had seen their men into church and were going for a walk, he presented arms and allowed them to pass. Soon after it was discovered that three smart French privateer captains had escaped, and without doubt they had contrived to get second-hand British naval uniforms smuggled in to them by _soi-disant_ worshippers!