The prisoners' memoirs, or, Dartmoor prison : $b containing a complete and impartial history of the entire captivity of the Americans in England, from the commencement of the last war between the United States and Great Britain, until all prisoners were released by the treaty of Ghent. Also a particular detail of all occurrences relative to the horrid massacre at Dartmoor, on the fatal evening of the 6th of April, 1815.Andrews, C. (Charles)
History
The prisoners' memoirs, or, Dartmoor prison : $b containing a complete and impartial history of the entire captivity of the Americans in England, from the commencement of the last war between the United States and Great Britain, until all prisoners were released by the treaty of Ghent. Also a particular detail of all occurrences relative to the horrid massacre at Dartmoor, on the fatal evening of the 6th of April, 1815.
Andrews, C. (Charles)
Dartmoor Prison; United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Prisoners and prisons
through the windows and doors, which killed one man in each prison,
and severely wounded others.
It likewise appears, that the preceding butchery was followed up with
a disposition of peculiar inveteracy and barbarity.
One man, who was severely wounded in No. 7 prison-yard, and being
unable to make his way to the prison, was come up with by the
soldiers, whom he implored for mercy, but in vain; five of the
hardened wretches immediately levelled their pieces at him, and shot
him dead on the spot.--The soldiers who were posted on the walls,
manifested equal cruelty, by keeping up a constant fire on every
prisoner they could see in the yards endeavoring to get into the
prison, when their numbers were very few, and when not the least
shadow of resistance could be made or expected. Several of them
had got into No. 6 prison cook-house, which was pointed out by the
soldiers on the walls, to those who were marching in from the Square;
they immediately went up and fired into the same, which wounded
several; one of the prisoners ran out with the intention of gaining
his prison, but was killed before he reached the door.
On an impartial consideration of the circumstances of the case, we are
induced to believe that it was a premeditated scheme in the mind of
Captain Shortland, for reasons which we will now proceed to give--as
an illucidation of its origin, we will recur back to an event which
happened some days previous. Captain Shortland was, at the time,
absent at Plymouth, but before going, he ordered the contractor or his
clerk to serve out one pound of indifferent hard bread, instead of
one pound and a half of soft bread, their usual allowance--this the
prisoners refused to receive--they waited all day in expectation of
their usual allowance being served out; but at senset, finding this
would not be the case, burst open the lower gates, and went up to the
store, demanding to have their bread.
The officers of the garrison, on being alarmed, and informed of their
proceedings, observed, that it was no more than right the prisoners
should have their usual allowance, and strongly reprobated the
conduct of Captain Shortland in withholding it from them. They were
accordingly served with their bread, and quietly returned to their
prison. This circumstance, with the censures that were thrown on his
conduct, reached the ears of Shortland on his return home, and he
must then have determined on the diabolical plan of seizing the first
slight pretext to turn in the military, to butcher the prisoners
for the gratification of his malice and revenge. It unfortunately
happened, that in the afternoon of the 6th of April, some boys who
were playing ball in No. 7 yard, knocked their ball over into the
barrack-yard, and on the sentry in that yard refusing to throw it back
to them, they picked a hole in the wall to get in after it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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