The National Register. — London, England, 1815-09-03 00:00:00

SEPT. 3. OFFICIAL PAPERS. RENQAT • Rtiat:re to the &ging and if of :thc American Citizens impriioned at Dartmoor. • (FROM THE NATIONAL INTELLta'ENICER. Jaffa) • Plrnouth, April OG, 1 815 . . We, the undersigned Commissioners, appointe&on helialf of our respective Governments, to inquire into and report upon, the unfortunate occurrence of the 6th 'of April just. at Dartmoor prison, having carefully perused the proceed ings of the several Courts of Inquiry, instituted inirnedi rod% after that event, by the orders of Admiral Sir Jelin 11 4 . Duckworth and Major-General Brown, respectively, as well ai the depositions taken at the coroner's inquest, upon the bodies of the prisoners who lost their lives upon that me lancholy occasion ; upon which inquest the jury found a verdict of justifiable homicide I proceeded 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 discoverid as likely to afford any material information on the subject, as well those who had been previously examined before the coroner as otherwise, to the number in the whole of abriut 80. We further proceeded to a minute examination of the pri sons, firr the purpose of clearing up some points which, upon the evidence alone, were scarcely intelligible ; obtaining front the prisoners, and from the officers of the depot, all the necessary assiirance and explanation; premising, that we have been from necessity compelled to draw many of our conclusions from statements and evidence highly contra dictory, 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 impa tience of confinement appears to have prevailed amongst the American prisoners at Dartmoor, which, though not exhibited in the shape of any violent excesses, has been priorioaily indicated by threats of breaking out if not soon released. On the 4th 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 ex. ' eluded, demanding bread, instead of biscuit, which had on that day been issued by the officers of the depot ; their de mands, however, having been then almost immediately corn-• plied with, they returned to their own yards, and the employ' ment of force on .that occasion became unnecessary. On the evening of the 6th, about six o'clock, it was clearly proved to us, that a breach or hole 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 went . over the failing, erected to prevent them from communicating with the centi rels on the walls, which was of course forbidden by the regu lations of the prison, and that iu 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 ollected 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 sunning' at other times (the gambling tables being usually kept in tt:at part, of the yard), yet, when connected with the.:cir-.1 THE NATIONAL. REGISTER. cumstances of the breach, and the time of the day, which tai after the hour the signal for the prisoners ro retire to their . raspectiVe..prfsons,,had ceased to sound, it became a natuiatintdlttstirotinal of alarm to those wilt) had charge of the depot. It was also in evidence that in the building. 'formerly the petty offiters' "prison, .hut now the guard barrack, with 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 tracks, 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 ac 7quainted with the fact, it naturally became at least a ((tither cause of suspicion and alarm, and an additional reason for pre caution. Upon these grounds Captain Shortland appears - to us to have been justified in giving the order, which about this time he seems to have Over, to sound the alarm bell, the usual signal for collecting the officers of the depot and putting the military upon the alert. Ifoaever reasonable and justifiable this was as a islealure of precaution, the effects produced thereby in the prisons, but which could not have been intended, were most unfor tunate, and deeply to be regretted. A con , itieraln; moldier of the prisoners in the yards where no distil' haloes existed before, and who were either already within their respective prisons, or quietly retiring as usual towards them, imme diately upon the sound of the bell rushed ha. k from cu riosity (as i: appears) towards the gates, where, by that time, the crowd had assembled, and many who were at the time absent from their raids weie also, from the plan of the prison, compellvd, - in order to teach their own ii-mes, to pass by the same spot, and thus that which was merely a mea— sure of precaution, in • its . operation i"creasetl the evil it was intended to prevent. Almost at the same instant that the alarm bell rang ',but whether before or subsequent is union the evidence doubtful, though Capt. Shortland states it positively as one of his further reasons for causing it to ring) some one or more of the prisoners broke tar iron chain, which was the only fastening of No. 1 gate, leading into the market square, by means of an iron bar ; :Ind a very considerablenumber of the prisoners rushed towards that gate, and many of them began to press foi ward 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 occa sion, excepting that which arose by inference from the whole of the above detailed circumstances connected to gether. The natural and almost irresistible irifel ence t o be drawn, however . .. l 4mm the conduct of the prisoners by . Capt. Shortland and the military was, that an intention on the part of. the• prisoners to .escape was on the pint of being carried into exectition ; and it was at least certain that they were by force pasting beyond the limits prescribed to them, at a time .when they ought to have been quietly goiug in for the night. It . was also in evidence that the outer gates of the market.aquare were usual 4 .oletted about this time, to let the hreaer4aggon pass and repass to the atore,..although, at the period in question, they were, in fact, closed. Un,der these circumstances, and with these impressions nece s sarily operating upon his mind, and a knoWledge that if the prisoners once penetrated through the square, the power of escape was ahnost to A (.: , lattity . afroided to them, should they : he. so disposed, Capt. short land, in the first instance, proceeded clown the s(piale to- wards the• prisoners, having mitered a part of the different guards, to the number of aiioot .5(1 only at firFt, though They were increabed afterwaids, to fully* hint. For ,aloe