# Devonshire Characters and Strange Events/Governor Shortland and the Princetown Massacre

GOVERNOR SHORTLAND AND THE PRINCETOWN MASSACRE
ON the 18th June, 1812, the United States of America declared war with Great Britain. Since Napoleon's Edict of Berlin, 21 November, 1806, which had closed all the ports of Europe that he could control against English merchandise, there had been considerable tension, breaking out into ill-will, between the States and Britain. By Orders of Council, our vessels were empowered to stop and search American ships for deserters from our navy, and for contraband of war, although the Orders were relaxed as far as America was concerned for the ports of Germany and of the Baltic, yet our interference hampered her growing trade with France, and this was forbidden by the above Orders. The States cast a covetous eye on Canada, and hoped to cripple our trade with the West Indian Islands. Indeed, the declaration of war was kept secret for some days so as to afford opportunity for the armed vessels of the States to intercept the sugar fleet before it and its convoy had received news that war was declared.
Prisoners began to arrive at Plymouth, mainly seamen captured from merchant vessels, and were sent to the Hector and Le Brave, two line-of-battle ships unfit for service at sea and now anchored in the Hamoaze. The officers were entitled to reside on parole in Ashburton, and were allowed by the British Government ​eighteenpence a day each man for their lodging and board and washing. They were suffered every day to walk a mile along the Exeter or the Totnes road, but were required every evening to return to their respective lodgings and there remain till the next morning. But such officers as broke parole were sent to the common sea-mess on board one or other of the ships above-mentioned.
The French officers had shown conspicuous indifference about keeping their parole. Between 1809 and 1812 five hundred officers violated their paroles and effected their escapes. A good many American officers were equally unscrupulous.
We have the journal of an American prisoner, Charles Andrews, who was one of the first taken and who remained in durance till the end of the war. His statement was countersigned as a genuine record of facts by fourteen captains, two lieutenants, one doctor, and forty-five others who had shared the long captivity with him.
There were other American prisoners at Chatham and at Portsmouth, but with them we have no concern. Every prisoner sent to one of the two ships for their accommodation in the Hamoaze was given a coarse hammock with a mattress, the latter with from 3 to 4 lb. of chopped rags and flock in it, "one coarse and sleazy blanket," and these were to last for the twelvemonth. To each man was allowed 1½lb. of poor coarse bread, ½ lb. beef including bone, ⅓ oz. of salt, and one or two turnips per man. These rations were for five days in the week: the other two were fish days, 1 lb. salt haddock, 1 lb. potatoes and bread as before, then constituted the fare.
From the summer of 1812 to April, 1813, there were seven hundred prisoners on board these vessels at Plymouth. They suffered from want of many ​conveniences and comforts. They had no change of clothes and linen, some had their garments completely worn out; they were not provided with combs and brushes, tea, coffee, boots and shoes. The American Government had appointed a Mr. Ruben G. Beasley as its agent in England to see to the comfort of the prisoners, and he was furnished with money by that Government for the supply of all that was needful to make the captivity endurable by those who had to endure it. But he pocketed the money and only doled out some to Jews who undertook to supply certain articles to the prisoners, few and bad, short in quantity and bad in quality. The American prisoners wrote repeatedly in complaint to Mr. Beasley, pointing out that they were half-starved, in bad health, shoeless, nearly naked. But he did not even trouble to answer the letters and made no inquiry as to the real condition of the complainants. Added to their discomforts was the fact that they were devoured by vermin, and had no means of keeping themselves clean.
On 2 April, 1813, an order was issued for the American prisoners to be transferred to Princetown, with their hammocks, baggage, etc., and on that day 250 men were so dispatched. "Orders were given to march at 10.30 in the morning, with a positive injunction that no prisoners should step out of or leave the ranks, on pain of instant death. Thus we marched, surrounded by a strong guard, through a heavy rain, over a bad road, with only our usual and scanty allowance of bread and fish. We were allowed to stop only once during the march of seventeen miles.
"We arrived at Dartmoor late in the afterpart of the day, and found the ground covered with snow.
"The prison of Dartmoor is situated on the east side of one of the highest and most barren mountains in ​England, and is surrounded on all sides as far as the eye can see by the gloomy features of a black moor, uncultivated and uninhabited, except by one or two miserable cottages, just discernible in an eastern view, the tenants of which live by cutting turf on the moor and selling it at the prison. The place is deprived of everything that is pleasant or agreeable, and is productive of nothing but human woe and misery. Even riches, pleasant friends, and liberty could not make it agreeable. It is situated seven miles from the little village of Tavistock.
"On entering this depôt of living death, we first passed through the gates and found ourselves surrounded by two huge circular walls, the outer one of which is two miles in circumference and 16 ft. high. The inner wall is distant from the outer 30 ft., around which is a chain of bells suspended by a wire, so that the least touch sets every bell in motion and alarms the garrison. On the top of the inner wall is placed a guard at the distance of every 20 ft. Between the two walls and over the intermediate space are also stationed guards.
"Thus much for the courtyard of this seminary of misery. We shall next proceed to give a description of the gloomy mansion itself. On entering we find seven prisons enclosed in the following manner, and situated quite within all the walls before-mentioned. Prisons 1, 2, and 3 are built of hard, rough, unhewn stone three storeys high, 180 ft. long and 40 ft. broad; each of these prisons on an average can contain 1500 prisoners. There is also attached to the yard a house of correction, called a cachot; this is built of large stone, arched above and floored with the same. Into this cold, dark, and damp cell, the unhappy prisoner is cast if he offend against the rules of the prison, ​either willingly or inadvertently, and often on the most frivolous pretext. There he must remain for many days, and often weeks, on two-thirds the usual allowance of food, without a hammock or a bed, and nothing but a stone pavement for his chair and bed. These three prisons are situated on the north side of the enclosure, as is also the cachot, and separated from the other prisons by a wall. Next to these is another, No. 4, equally as large as any of the others, this is separated from all the rest by a wall on each side, and stands in the centre of the circular walls.
"Adjoining this are situated prisons Nos. 5, 6, and 7, along the south side of the circular wall."
The prisons had been erected at a cost of £130,000 in 1809, and consisted of five radiating blocks of buildings, like spokes of a wheel, and two other blocks nearer the entrance. These two constituted, one the hospital, the other the residence of the petty officers. A segment cut off from the inner circle contained the governor's house and the other buildings necessary for the civil establishment; and into this part of the ground the country people were admitted and a daily market was held, where vegetables and such other things as the prisoners might care to purchase were provided, in part by the neighbouring farmers, but mainly by Jew pedlars. The barracks for the troops was a detached building at a little distance.
"We entered the prisons," continues Mr. Andrews, "but here the heart of every American was appalled. Amazement struck the unhappy victim, for as he cast his hopeless eyes around, he saw the water constantly dripping from the cold stone walls on every side, which kept the floor, made of stone, constantly wet and cold as ice. During the month of April there was scarce a day but more or less rain fell."
​When the Americans arrived they found the prison already packed with 8000 French captives. These were of various classes and characters. Among these latter "the Seigneurs" were such as received remittances from their friends, or had money of their own, and were able to draw cheques on Plymouth bankers, and these bought such luxuries as they would in the market of the outer court. Those who worked at trades were known as labourers, and they were employed in building the chaplain's house, etc. The inn, "The Plume of Feathers," the sole building in Princetown which is not an architectural monstrosity, was erected by these French "labourers." They also erected the cottage at Okery Bridge, which was an extremely picturesque edifice till its balconies and galleries were removed. But there were others, the prisoners who would do no work, who gambled for whatever they possessed, and quarrelled, fought, and were intolerable nuisances. These would gamble the very clothes off their backs, and were reduced to blankets with a hole cut in the middle, through which they thrust their heads. As they were denied knives, when they wanted to fight they attached one blade of a pair of scissors to a stick, and with these formidable weapons, each armed with one portion of the scissors, they were able to deal each other serious wounds.
To the great annoyance of the American prisoners they were thrust into No. 4 ward, into which had been relegated the good-for-naught class of the French. But here they did not live as brothers, for they drew a sharp line of demarcation between themselves, who were of white blood, and their negro brethren, fellow seamen captured with them under the same banner.
At the end of May the Americans appealed respectfully, but urgently, to the U.S. agent, Mr. R. G. ​Beasley, complaining that the allowance made them was scanty, that the whole day's pittance was scarcely enough for one meal, that for the greater part the American prisoners were in a state of nakedness, and that a good many of them to escape from a condition that was intolerable had volunteered to join the King's service.
"To these petitions, complaints, and remonstrances, Mr. Beasley returned no answer, nor took any notice of them whatever."
On 28 May, 250 more American prisoners arrived, raising the total to 500. Again they appealed to the agent of the U.S.A., informing him that they were defrauded of half their rations by the contractor, that small-pox was raging among them, and that they were swarming with vermin.
"To these complaints he paid no more attention, neither came to see whether they were true or false, nor sent any answer either written or verbal."
On 16 September, 1813, to the immense relief of the Americans, all the French prisoners to the number of 436, who had herded with them in No. 4, were turned out and placed elsewhere. Many of these had been in prison for ten years, and were in a condition of perfect nudity, and slept on the bare floor without any rug under them or covering over them. This endured for so many years had caused their skin to acquire a hardness like that of the stones. But this condition was entirely due to the passion for gambling. Whenever they were supplied with clothes, instead of putting them on, they started playing and staking every several article of clothing given them, till they had lost all. They had often been supplied by their countrymen with hammocks, beds, and garments, but they no sooner were in possession of them than they went to the grating, sold them to the Jews outside, and gambled the whole ​proceeds away. Very different was it in the No. 6 ward, occupied by the industrious French prisoners. "Here is carried on almost every branch of the mechanic arts. They resemble little towns; every man has his separate occupation, his workshop, his store-house, his coffee-house, his eating-house, etc.; he is employed in some business or other. There are many gentlemen of large fortune there who, having broken their parole, were committed to close confinement. These were able to support themselves in a genteel manner; though they were prisoners, they drew upon their bankers in other parts of Europe. They manufactured shoes, hats, hair, and bone-work. They likewise, at one time, carried on a very lucrative branch of manufacture; they forged notes on the Bank of England to the amount of £150,000 sterling, and made so perfect imitations that the cashier could not discover the forgery. They also carried on the coining of silver, to a very considerable advantage. They had men constantly employed outside the yard, to collect all the Spanish dollars they could, and bring them into the prison. Out of every dollar they made eight smooth English shillings, equally as heavy, and passed as well as any in the kingdom."
With regard to the forgery of bank-notes, something may be added. The material for manufacturing the notes was imported from without, and the Jews were largely involved in the matter. The method pursued was revealed in 1809, before the American prisoners arrived, when two French captives, Charles Guiller and Victor Collas, who were berthed on board El Firm, in the Hamoaze, made overtures for their transfer to the Généreux from which they could direct their operations with more freedom. They opened negotiations with the captain's clerk of the Généreux, candidly telling ​him that their object was the forgery and passing of £5 bank-notes, and promising him a share of the spoils. The man affected to entertain the proposition, but communicated the whole to his captain, secured the transfers as desired, and supplied the prisoners with all the necessary facilities. By means of fine hair pencils and Indian ink they forged to a point of astonishing perfection notes on the Bank of England, the Naval and Commercial Bank, and Okehampton one-pound notes. To compensate for the deficiency of the official perforated stamps, they set to work with smooth half-pennies and sail-maker's needles, and thus imitation was carried to perfection. When the prisoners had made sufficient progress, their trunk was seized with the evidences of their guilt, and they were restored to closer supervision, and visited with the usual corporal punishment.
On the whole, the French prisoners, if they conducted themselves well and were industrious, did not suffer severely. A book was published in Paris by Le Catel, in 1847, entitled La Prison de Dartmoor, un récit historique des Infortunes et Evasions des Prisonniers Français en Angleterre, sous l’Empire, depuis 1809 jusqu'en 1814, but it is a romance, the "facts" drawn out of the lively imagination of the author. The only prisoners who really suffered were those who brought their sufferings on themselves. As Andrews says of the French, "they drink, sing, and dance, talk of their women in the day time and dream of them at night. But the Americans have not that careless volatility, like the cockle in the fable, to sing and dance when the house is on fire over them."
In December, 1813, the cold was severe. Captain Cotgrave was governor of the prison, and he ordered ​the prisoners to turn out every morning at nine o'clock and stand in the yard till the guards had counted them, and this usually took over an hour. Many of the prisoners were without stockings, and some without shoes, and many without jackets. They cut up their blankets to wrap round their feet and legs, that they might be able to endure the cold and snow which lay thick whilst they were undergoing this ceremony. They complained to Captain Cotgrave, but he replied that he was acting upon orders. Several of the naked men, chilled and half starved, fell insensible before him and the guards and turnkeys, and had to be removed to the hospital; but as soon as they were brought round they were sent back to their prison.
On 22 December, 1813, Captain Cotgrave was superseded and Captain Thomas G. Shortland was appointed governor. At first he seemed to be an improvement on the former, who had been a harsh martinet; he stopped the roll-call and required the surgeon to visit the prisons daily. But the favourable impression he caused at first did not last long.
Hitherto, for some unaccountable reason, the licence to trade with the country-folk and pedlars in the outer court which had all along been allowed to the French had been denied to the American prisoners, but on 18 March, 1814, this restriction was withdrawn, and the American prisoners were allowed greater privileges. They now began to receive money from home, to make shoes of list, to plait straw, make bracelets, and carve meat-bones. The French had been allowed to have plays with a stage and scenery once a month, good music and appropriate comic and tragic costumes. They had also had their schools for teaching the arts and sciences, dancing, fencing, and fiddling. But all these privileges had been denied to the Americans ​occupying No. 4. Now these privileges were extended to them, and they considered that this indulgence was due to Captain Shortland. Indeed, Shortland seems to have been on the whole more humane than Cotgrave, and the final disaster which has blackened his name was due to another cause, his moral and mental incapacity to fill the position into which he had been thrust.
In 1814, there were 1500 prisoners of American nationality in No. 4. They despaired of freedom, and were rendered restless by the French prisoners evacuating the prison after the abdication of Napoleon, 4 April, 1814, and the end of the European war. Then there were 3500 American prisoners moved into No. 5, and by 31 December in that year the number amounted to 5326, mainly in the buildings 4 and 5.
Those in No. 4 now resolved on making an attempt at escape, and they began to excavate a tunnel that was to run 250 feet and enable those in the ward to escape, not only out of the block, but also beyond the outer wall. American blacksmiths among the prisoners furnished the necessary tools, and correspondence was maintained with American agents outside, and a fleet of friendly fishing boats was hovering about in Tor Bay to receive the prisoners. But they were betrayed by one of their number, who led the Governor to the excavation when it had been carried as far as sixty feet. It was at once choked up with masses of granite and cement, and those who had been engaged on it were put on short commons. This was in the summer of 1814. The attempt completely upset Governor Shortland's nerves.
On 24 December, 1814, peace between England and America was signed at Ghent, and the news speedily reached England, but did not arrive in the United ​States, and was not published there till 11 February, 1815. By 1 January, 1815, the American prisoners in Princetown were aware that the time of their incarceration was drawing to an end. Indeed, they might have all been discharged, but that the Government waited for the United States Government to send men-of-war or other vessels to convey the prisoners to America. A misunderstanding prevented their immediate release. The American Government considered it the duty of the British Government to reconvey the prisoners to the United States, and undertook in return to reconvey the British prisoners detained in their prisons to Bermuda or Halifax. Lord Castlereagh objected to this as an unfair and unreasonable distribution of expenses, for Great Britain would be put to the expense, not only of conveying the American prisoners to the States, but also of bringing home from Bermuda and Halifax all the prisoners of her own nationality.
At the end of March, 1815, three months after peace had been concluded, there were 5693 prisoners within the walls of Princetown Gaol. That these were restless and impatient at their detention is not to be wondered at. But their chief irritation was against Mr. Beasley, the agent, whom they considered as dilatory, and who they supposed ought at once to have provided for their repatriation, they being unaware of the contention between the two Governments as to the cost of this repatriation. They were further incensed against him because, according to the testimony of John C. Clement, one of them, made in Philadelphia: "During our confinement, the American agent (Beasley) did not give us, say from 2 April, 1813, to March, 1814, the 6s. 8d. sterling per month, as well as the suit of clothes allowed us annually by our Government, which money and clothes the prisoners have never received; and ​when I, with two hundred and fifty others, were released from prison, there was likewise a shirt, a pair of shoes, and 6s. 8d. due to us, which we never received. The prisoners had applied to Beasley repeatedly for what was due to them, but received no satisfaction. He never visited the prisons but once during the two years and upwards I was there." On 4 April the Governor went to Plymouth; and orders had been left that the prisoners were to be given biscuit in place of bread. This they resented, and refused the biscuit. Towards evening they broke out in mutiny and threatened to sack the stores unless they were at once provided with bread, but this was done and they were satisfied.
A messenger was at once dispatched to Plymouth to announce to Shortland that the captives were in rebellion. When he received the news he rushed off to the Citadel and begged for a reinforcement of two hundred men to be added to the five hundred Somersetshire and Derbyshire militiamen already at Princetown. Accordingly these soldiers, under Major Joliffe, were accorded him. He returned with them to Princetown, and found that the rioters had peacefully retired to their beds after the outbreak and promised to give no more trouble.
Governor Shortland was somewhat irritated against the Americans on account of a practical joke they had recently played on him. One evening they had attached a jacket and a pair of breeches to a string, and had let them down over the outer wall. A turnkey saw what he supposed to be a prisoner in the act of making his escape, and communicated with the Governor, who called out some warders, marched to within some yards of the spot, and ordered a volley to be fired at the supposed escaping prisoner. As he did not fall, a little ​nearer inspection revealed that an April fool had been made of him.
On 6 April, at 6 p.m., Captain Shortland was informed that a hole had been discovered in the wall that separated the yard No. 6 from No. 7. This hole, says Andrews, had been made that same afternoon by some of the Americans out of mere mischief, and without any design of effecting their escape. Indeed, why should they attempt it, when their release was at hand, and they were in daily expectation of receiving their cartels of discharge?
Other prisoners state that the hole was made by some of the boys whose ball, as they were playing, had flown over into the next yard, and they bored through so as to recover their ball. Directly it was discovered a sentinel was placed by it to prevent its being enlarged; but it was then no bigger than that a head could be thrust through; and afterward, through the hole in the wall, the sentinel remonstrated with the prisoners on the other side.
All the prisoners who were subsequently examined protested on oath that the perforation was not made with intent to escape, or to get at the armoury so as to provide themselves with weapons. This, however, was the view taken of it by Shortland, and in a fit of nervous fear he ordered the alarm bells to be pealed and the military to be called out. These latter issued from their barracks with drums beating to arms. This was at ten minutes to six in the evening.
This sudden and unexpected alarm excited the attention and curiosity of the prisoners, and they poured forth from their wards, filled the inner yard and rushed to the outer gates. They suspected that fire had broken out.
"Among so many as were in the depôt," says ​Andrews, "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 gates 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 these in front or those in rear.
"While in this situation Captain Shortland entered the inner square at the head of the whole body of soldiers in the garrison. As soon as they entered Captain Shortland took sole command of the whole, and immediately drew up the soldiers in a position to charge."
Here ensues a difference between the report of the commissioners appointed later to investigate the matter and that drawn up by the prisoners. These latter assert that the officers of the regiment, seeing what was Shortland's intention, refused to act under him, and withdrew. The commissioners state that the hour was that of the officers' mess, and that they were at dinner, and only two young lieutenants and an ensign were with the soldiers. But this is incredible. The alarm bell pealing and the drum calling to arms would have summoned the officers from their mess, and we are rather inclined to believe that the account of the Americans is correct. The officers saw that the Governor had lost his head and was resolved on violence, and they withdrew so as not to be compromised in what would follow. The officers, says Andrews, perceiving the horrid and murderous designs of Captain Shortland, resigned their authority over the ​soldiers and refused to take any part, or give any orders for the troops 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 terrified flight in every direction to their respective prisons.
"The troop had now advanced within three yards of the prisoners, when Captain Shortland gave them orders to charge upon them. At the same 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 being now full of the terrified crowd. They could not enter as fast as they wished. At this moment of dismay, Captain Shortland was distinctly heard to give orders to the troops to fire upon the prisoners, although now completely in his power, 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 the 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. The volley was repeated for several rounds, the prisoners falling dead or wounded in several directions, while it was yet impossible for them to enter the prisons on account of the numbers that fled there from the rage of the bloodthirsty murderers.
Horrid Massacre at Dartmoor Prison, England From an old print
"The soldiers advanced making a general massacre of men and boys, whom accident or inability had left without the doors of the prison; they advanced near to the crowded door, and instantly discharged another volley of musketry on the backs of those furthest out. 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 sight.
"But his vengeance was not glutted by the murder of innocent men and boys that lay weltering and bleeding in the agonies of death about the prison door, but turned and traversed the yard, and hunted a poor affrighted wretch that had fled for safety close under the walls of Prison No. 1. This unhappy man was discovered by these hell-hounds, with that demon at their head, and with cool and deliberate malice drew up their muskets to their shoulders and dispatched their victim in the act of imploring mercy from their hands. His only crime was not being able to get into the prison before without being shot.
"In the yard of No. 7 they found another hopeless victim crouching along the wall at the far end of the yard. Whereupon five of them drew up their instruments of death, and by the order of this fell murderer discharged their contents into the body of the innocent man."
After this the soldiery were withdrawn.
​The account by Andrews is tinctured with animosity, and is not to be taken au pied de la lettre. He is unquestionably wrong in stating that these two crouching men were shot by Shorthand's orders. The evidence taken later is contradictory. Shortland, by his own account, had already retired from the yard.
A dispatch was immediately sent to Admiral Sir J. T. Duckworth, Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth, who lost no time in directing Rear-Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, Bart., and Captain Schomberg, the two senior officers at that port, to proceed to Dartmoor and inquire into the circumstances.
It was ascertained that seven of the prisoners had been killed outright, seven were so badly wounded that they had to have legs or arms amputated, thirty-eight were dangerously wounded and fifteen slightly.
Before the two sent from Plymouth arrived, Shortland had asked for a reinforcement, and a colonel at the head of more troops arrived. "The colonel came to the gate attended by the guilty Shortland," says Andrews, "who could not look a prisoner in the face, but walked towards the prison bars with his face fixed on the ground."
Plan of Dartmoor Prison
The prisoners now formed a committee to draw up an account of the circumstances, and to send it to the American agent, Beasley, for transmission to the Government of the United States. It is characterized, naturally, with bitterness and resentment, such as were felt in the heat of the moment.
It will be as well to give this textually.
"We the undersigned, being each severally sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, for the investigations of the circumstances attending the late Massacre, and having heard the depositions of a great number of witnesses, from our own personal knowledge, and from the depositions given in as aforesaid,
Report as follows.
"That on the 6th of April, about 6 o'clock in the evening, when the prisoners were all quiet in their respective yards, it being about the usual time for turning in for the night, and the greater part of the prisoners being then in the prisons, the alarm bell was rung. Many of the prisoners ran up to the Market Square (the outer court) to learn the occasion of the alarm. There were then drawn up in the square several hundred soldiers, with Captain Shortland at their head; it was likewise observed at the same time, that additional numbers of soldiers were posting themselves round the walls of the prison yard. One of them observed to the ​prisoners that they had better go into the prisons, for they would be charged upon directly. This, of course, occasioned considerable alarm among them. In this moment of uncertainty they were running in different directions, inquiring of each other what was the cause of the alarm, some towards their respective prisons, and some towards the Market Square. When about one hundred were collected in the Market Square, Captain Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge upon them; which orders the soldiers were reluctant in obeying, as the prisoners were using no violence; but on the order being repeated, they made a charge, and the prisoners retreated out of the square into their respective prison yards, and shut the gates after them. Captain Shortland himself opened the gates, and ordered the soldiers himself to fire in among the prisoners, who were all retreating in different directions towards their respective prisons. It appears that there was some hesitation in the minds of the officers whether or not it was proper to fire upon the prisoners in that situation; on which Shortland seized a musket out of the hands of a soldier, which he fired. Immediately after the firing became general, and many of the prisoners were either killed or wounded; the remainder were endeavouring to get into the prisons, when, going towards the lower doors, the soldiers on the walls commenced firing on them from that quarter, which killed some and wounded others. After much difficulty (all the doors being closed in the interim, but one in each prison), the survivors succeeded in gaining the prisons. Immediately after which parties of soldiers came to the doors of Nos. 3 and 4 prisons, fired several volleys into them, through the windows and doors, killed one man in each prison, and wounded severely several others. It likewise appears that the preceding butchery was followed up with a disposition of peculiar inveteracy and barbarity. ​One man, who had been severely wounded in No. 7 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! 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 yard endeavouring to get into the prisons, when the numbers were very few, and when not the least shadow of resistance could be made or expected. Several of them 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 all the circumstances of the case, we are induced to believe it was a premeditated scheme in the mind of Captain Shortland, for reasons which we will now proceed to give. As an elucidation of its origin, we will recur back to an event which happened some days previous. Captain Shortland was, at that time, absent in 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 sunset, finding this would not be the case, they burst open the lower gates, and went to the store, demanding to have their bread. The officers of the garrison, on being alarmed, and informed of the reasons of this proceeding, 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 into the barrack yard, and on the sentry in that yard refusing to throw it back to them, they picked a hole through the wall to get in after it. This afforded Shortland his wished-for pretext, and he took his measures accordingly. He had all the garrison drawn up in the military walk, additional numbers posted on the walls, and everything prepared before the alarm bell was rung. This, he naturally concluded, would draw the attention of a great number of prisoners towards the gate to learn the cause of the alarm, while the turnkeys were dispatched into the yards to lock all the doors but one of each prison to prevent the prisoners retreating out of the way before he had sufficiently wreaked his vengeance.
"What adds particular weight to the belief of its being a premeditated massacre are, firstly, The sanguinary disposition manifested on every occasion by Shortland, he having, prior to this time, ordered the soldiers to fire into the prisons, through the windows, upon unarmed prisoners asleep in their hammocks, on account of a light having been seen in the prisons, which barbarous act was repeated several nights successively; that murder was not committed was owing to an over-ruling Providence alone, for the balls were ​picked up in the prisons, where they passed through the hammocks of men asleep in them: he having ordered the soldiers to fire upon the prisoners in the yard No. 7 prison, because they would not deliver up to him a man who had made his escape from the cachot, which order the Commanding Officer of the soldiers refused to obey; and generally he having seized on every slight pretext to injure the prisoners, by his stopping the marketing for ten days repeatedly, and once a third part of their provisions for the same length of time. Secondly, He having been heard to say, when the boys had picked the hole in the wall, and some time before the alarm bell was rung, and while all the prisoners were quiet in their respective yards as usual, ’I’ll fix the d——d rascals directly.' Thirdly, He having all the soldiers on their posts, and the garrison fully prepared before the alarm bell was rung. It could not of course then be done to assemble the soldiers, but to alarm the prisoners and create confusion among them. Fourthly, The soldiers on the wall, previous to the alarm bell being rung, informing the prisoners that they would be charged upon directly. Fifthly, The turnkeys going into the yard and closing all the doors but one in each prison, whilst the attention of the prisoners was attracted by the alarm bell. This was done about fifteen minutes sooner than usual, and without informing the prisoners it was time to shut up. It was ever the invariable practice of the turnkeys, from which they never deviated before that night, when coming into the yards to shut up, to halloo to the prisoners so loud as to be heard all over the yards, ’Turn in! turn in!' while on that night it was done so secretly, that not one man in a hundred knew they were ​shut, and in particular their shutting the door of No. 7, which the prisoners usually go in and out at (and which was formerly always the last one closed), and leaving one open in the other end of the prison, which was exposed to a cross-fire from the soldiers on the walls, and which the prisoners had to pass in gaining the prison.
"It appears to us that the foregoing reasons sufficiently warrant the conclusions we have drawn therefrom. We likewise believe, from the depositions of men who were eye-witnesses of a part of Shortland's conduct on the evening of the 6th April, that he was intoxicated with liquor at the time, from his brutality in beating a prisoner, who was then supporting another, severely wounded; from the blackguard and abusive language he made use of; and from his having frequently been seen in the same state: his being drunk was of course the means of inflaming his bitter enmity against the prisoners, and no doubt was the principal cause of the indiscriminate butchery, and of no quarter being shown.
"We here solemnly aver, there was no preconcerted plan to attempt breaking out. There cannot be produced the least shadow of a reason or inducement for that intention, the prisoners daily expecting to be released, and to embark on board cartels for their own native country. And we solemnly assert, likewise, that there was no intention of resisting, in any manner, the authority of the government of this depôt.
"Signed by the Committee (ten names in all).  N.B.—7 were killed,  30 dangerously wounded,  30 slightly wounded.  Total 67 killed and wounded.  "Dartmoor Prison, April 7, 1815."
​Some points in the above account deserve comment. It is obvious that it is an entirely one-sided version of what took place. The committee do not mention that after the gates to the inner yard had been fastened, the prisoners pressing against it, and by means of some iron tool, broke the lock and burst the gate open. Nor do they state that the prisoners assailed the soldiery with abuse and with stones. They do not state that Shortland gave the order to fire—only that he fired the first shot. There is conflicting evidence relative to the order given; but there is good evidence that Shortland fired the first shot.
The charge of a prearranged massacre need not be seriously entertained. Apparently Shortland was thoroughly frightened and lost his head and acted with extraordinary indiscretion.
The order of events seems to have been this:—
1. A hole was knocked through a wall, not an outer wall of the prison, but one dividing the yards, by some boys after their ball. This was reported to the Governor, who was alarmed, and fancied that an attempt was being made by the prisoners to get at a few stacks of arms; but there was no ammunition in the guardhouse. There was a sentinel in the yard, and there were soldiers about. That this hole-breaking was done by the boys was proved afterwards by evidence taken. The hole was knocked in open daylight and in the afternoon, so that there could have been no sinister object contemplated.
2. When Shortland saw the hole it was just about the time for locking up; and the warders had begun to do this, and had locked all the doors of the prison houses except one in each for the ingress of those who were still in the yards. There was no evidence that this was done purposely before the proper time.
​3. He ordered the alarm bell to be pealed and kept ringing, so that the prisoners did not hear the summons to all to go within. This was the real fact.
4. Then, surprised by the ringing of the bell, the prisoners in the several houses ran out, and pressed against the gate fastened with a chain; and one with a bolt or bar broke the chain, and with the pressure of the crowd the gate was burst open, and the prisoners surged forth into the outer or market square, which was also supplied with an iron gate, then open.
5. Shortland thereupon drew up the militia across the yard, and going before the line of soldiers, remonstrated with the prisoners and urged them to retreat; but this they were unable to do, owing to those who had entered the outer yard being pushed forward by those behind.
6. Thereupon he ordered the military to charge with fixed bayonets; and as the prisoners were slow in retiring, he or some one else or the soldiers on their own initiative fired on the crowd, and drove them through the inner gate into the inner yard, where the soldiers were assailed with insulting epithets, and some stones were thrown at them.
7. Some of the military ran up on the platform of the outer wall, and thence enfiladed the flying prisoners. There was no evidence that Shortland had placed these men on the wall before this took place.
8. Shortland then, possibly, retired into the outer yard and busied himself with the wounded, and left the military to do as they thought best in the inner yard, where they continued to fire volleys, driving the frightened prisoners in at the doors of their respective houses, fired in on them huddled together inside through the doorways and windows.
9. Major Joliffe at the time was in the barrack half a ​mile from the prison, when news reached him, whilst at mess, that there was a riot in the prison. He at once called out his grenadiers and marched to the prison, where he found firing going on, and he entered the inner yard and stopped the firing. The firing was done by the Somersetshire and Derbyshire militia.
10. Shortland at the same time or a little earlier, and conjointly with Joliffe, urged the soldiers to cease from firing.
Such, as far as can be made out from the account given by the witnesses on oath, both before the coroner and, subsequently, before the magistrates and the commissioners, appears to have been the sequence of events. Captain Shortland was not drunk at the time; indeed, as Dr. Magrath, the prison surgeon, testified that "having observed him on the evening of the 6th, no man could be more free from it; and from my acquaintance with him and with his general habits in his family, I do not think any man can be more abstemious."
Governor Thomas George Shortland, Captain, R.N., gave his account on oath later, before the commissioners, and from it he appears to have been unarmed and in undress. His account is very confused, and speaks for the condition of his mind at the time that he had lost his head, and did not know well what he did or did not do. It shall be given verbatim, only omitting unimportant particulars:—
"On the evening of the 6th, a little before 7 o'clock, Mr. Holmsden, 1st clerk, came to my house and informed me there was a disposition of the prisoners to be riotous, as they had got between the railings and wall of No. 7 yard; in consequence, I walked down to the upper gate. On coming there, I was informed the prison barrack wall had been breached. I went to the yard and saw a large hole, and the military guarding it ​under an officer whom I since know to be Lieutenant Avelyn. On getting to the breach I observed the prisoners using an iron bar to enlarge it. I remonstrated and told them it was the prison barrack-yard, and that it would be dangerous for them to attempt to force in; the prisoners shouted and threw stones through the breach, and still continued at times to enlarge it. I then heard some one say they were breaking the wall above the cook-house in the prison barrack-yard, and nearly at the same time there was a call out that they were forcing the lower gates, while I was still in the lower barrack-yard. I immediately left the yard and Lieutenant Avelyn followed me, leaving the breach with a party and a sergeant. When I arrived at the blacksmith's shop I saw a rush of prisoners between the iron rails under the platform: the gate was at this time forced, and the prisoners were without the gates in the market square, where they are not allowed to be. Seeing this, and having in my mind the breach in the barrack wall and the reported breach above the cook-house, bearing this in mind with the reported threats that had been constantly told me that the prisoners would liberate themselves on or before the l0th April, I ordered the alarm bell to be rung. At this time part of the west guard, which is called the piquet, had gone round to turn the prisoners out of the railway in No. 7 yard, and another part of the same piquet was in the barrack-yard; so that the force was reduced to the north guard only; Lieutenant Avelyn formed that guard and marched down into the market square. I preceded them, and about half-way down the guard formed in a line, keeping their left close to the hospital wall. At this time I should suppose there were from 4 to 500 prisoners in the market square; I was perfectly unarmed, and went down to remonstrate with them, using all persuasions in my power to make them return to their ​prisons, stating that the military guard was formed about them, and it was dangerous to attempt to use force. I was at this time about six paces in front of the guard, and the prisoners kept still pressing up, and pressing me on the military; they appeared to want to get round the left of the military, keeping close to the hospital wall. At this time I looked back, and said, 'For God's sake, soldiers, keep your ground!' bearing in mind that there was not a single soldier above these to prevent escape through the outer gates. Almost immediately, about twelve or fifteen soldiers charged down towards No. 1, towards the hospital gates, about 5 or 6 paces, and they returned into line again. I was still at this time in front and had gone forward again, urging the prisoners who had retreated when a discharge of musketry took place. While I was in that position, being to the right of the centre of the guard, and not near the hospital wall, a musket ball grazed my temple in that discharge, when I retreated into line with the soldiers; the prisoners retreated and advanced again, and about this time Major Joliffe gave the orders to fire, conceiving he had done so from seeing the Major appear at the moment. Indeed in a former conversation with General Brown, in the presence of Major Gladding, being asked if an attempt were made to resist the authority of the depôt I should order the military to fire, I told General Brown as well as the Major, that I did not think myself authorized to command the military to fire, because it was their duty to do it when they thought it necessary. I don't recollect a suspension of the ringing the bell and then commencing again; it was a continual ringing; I ordered it in consequence of seeing that the prisoners had broken through the breach in the wall, and the other reported breach. I ​did not hear any orders to fire. It must be understood that I was with the prisoners, who were making a great noise, hurrahing and rioting at the time. … I was not out of the market square until all the firing had ceased. I was not in No. 7 yard until an hour after the whole was over. I recollect a man coming up the market square with a wounded man, and after being told to go away he would not, and I gave him a push; he said that I must recollect I had struck him, but I made him no answer. Taking into consideration the apparent temper and resolution of the prisoners, and my remonstrances having no effect, I do not think they could have been driven back without firing."
Captain Shortland dated the commencement of the antipathy of the prisoners towards him from the time when he got the Transport Board to prosecute some men for tattooing others.
The evidence of Captain Shortland is remarkably meagre and unsatisfactory. According to him, every one acted on his own initiative, and he himself had little to do in the matter but make useless expostulations. He says nothing about the fastening of the inner gate being broken. The charge with bayonets took place without his orders, as did also the firing on the prisoners. But he made the astounding statement that in his opinion the military might fire on the prisoners if they saw fit, without having received orders to do so. But he believed that Major Joliffe had ordered the volleys, whereas Major Joliffe with the grenadiers did not arrive till the firing had begun and was in progress.
On 8 April, a coroner's inquest was held at the prisons, by Joseph Whitford, coroner; the jury consisted of Dartmoor farmers, and they returned a verdict of "Justifiable homicide." But the American representative demanded a further examination, and ​accordingly Mr. Larpent, an Englishman, and Charles King, an American, were appointed to investigate the matter; and their investigation was made on 26 April. When their report was sent to Mr. Adams, the Minister of the United States to the British Court, it was accompanied by a letter from Charles King, in which he states his own independent opinion.
"In considering it of much importance that the report, whatever it might be, should go forth under our joint signatures, I have forborne to press some of the points which it involves, as far as otherwise I might have done; and it therefore may not be improper in this letter to enter into some little explanation of such parts of the report. Although it does appear that a part of the prisoners were, on that evening, in such a state and under such circumstances as to have justified, in the view which the commander of the depôt could not but take it, the intervention of the military force, and even in a strict sense the first use of firearms, yet I cannot but express it as my settled opinion, that by a conduct a little more temporizing this dreadful alternative of firing upon the unarmed prisoners might have been avoided. … When the firing became general, as it afterwards appears to have done, and caught with electric rapidity from the square to the platforms, there was no plea nor shadow of excuse for it, except in the personal exasperation of the soldiers: nor for the more deliberate, and therefore more unjustifiable, firing which took place into three of the prisons … after the prisoners had retired into them, and there was no longer any pretence of apprehension as to their escape.
"As to whether the order to fire came from Captain Shortland, I yet confess myself unable to form any satisfactory opinion, though perhaps the bias of my mind is that he did give such an order."
​I now subjoin the report signed by both Commissioners:—
"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 excesses, has been principally indicated by threats of breaking out, if not soon released. On the fourth of the month in particular, only two days previous to the event, 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 biscuit, which had on that day been issued by the officers of the depôt. 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 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 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 these 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 were 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 day, which was after the horn (the signal for the prisoners to retire to their respective prisons) had ceased to sound; it became a natural and just ground of alarm to those who had charge of the depôt.
"It was also in evidence, that in the building formerly the petty officers' prison, but now the guard barracks, which stands in the yard, to which the hole in the wall would serve as a communication, a part of the arms of the guards who were on duty were usually kept in the racks; and though there is 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 acquainted with the fact, it naturally became at least a further cause for 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 depôt, and putting the military on the alert. However reasonable and justifiable this was, as a matter 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 prisoners in the yards where no disturbance existed before, and who were either already within their respective prisons, or quietly returning as usual towards them, immediately upon the sound of the bell, rushed back, from curiosity, towards the gates, where, by that time, the crowd had assembled; and ​many who were absent at the time from the 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 forward as fast as the opening would permit into the square.
"There is 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 the 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 the 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,—Captain 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 endeavoured 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 were 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 Captain Shortland, about two-thirds of the way down the square: the latter is about one hundred feet broad, and the guards extended nearly all across. Captain Shortland, finding that persuasion was 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 fifteen 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 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 those 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, insulting and provoking and daring the military to fire; and according to the evidence of several of the soldiers, and some others, was pelting the military with large stones, by which some 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 that 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 very positively, that Captain Shortland gave the 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 Captain Shortland or by any one in particular, and some, amongst whom is the officer commanding the guard, think if Captain Shortland had given such an order, that they must have heard it, which they did ​not. In addition to this, Captain 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 seems clear that it was continued and renewed both there and elsewhere without orders, and that on the platform, and 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 discipline and self-possession in the troops if they should have fired without orders.
"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 number and conduct of the prisoners, that their 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 agent and 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 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 the 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 confusion and precipitation to their respective prisons—and the cause for further firing seems at this period to have ceased. It appears accordingly, that Captain Shortland was in the Market Square exerting himself and giving orders to that effect, and that Lieutenant 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 renewal and continuance 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 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 the circumstances. Captain 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 Lieutenants 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 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 greater exertions being made, which might perhaps have obviated at least a portion of the mischief which ensued. At the 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 sentinels 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 straggling parties of prisoners running about the yards and endeavouring to reach 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 the time, unoffending individuals.
"In the same, or even in more severe terms, we must remark upon what was proved, as to the firing into the doorways 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 the firing must have proceeded from soldiers a very few feet from the doorway; and though 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 any 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 circumstances we used every endeavour 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 most to call for redress and punishment.
"(Signed) CHARLES KING,
FRANCIS SEYMOUR LARPENT.
"plymouth, 26th April, 1815."
This report was obviously drawn up so as to smooth the matter over, lest the newly established peace should be broken by the angry resentment of the Americans ​at the treatment which their fellow citizens had received.
The prisoners at once presented a Remonstrance against the perfunctory way in which the investigation had been carried out. They indignantly complained that although their committee had named fifty men as witnesses, only some of these were called, and these not the most important. They had written a letter of complaint to the Commissioners, who did not even trouble themselves to answer it.
The British Government and the American agent now bestirred themselves to dispatch the prisoners to the States as speedily as might be. The American Minister asked that Captain Shortland might be placed on his trial, but did not press the demand, as this would have entailed the bringing back of the principal witnesses against him from their homes in the States. Lord Castlereagh promised on the part of the British Government ample indemnification in money to the wounded and maimed for life, and to the widows of those who had been killed, but this the United States Government with dignity declined.
It is remarkable how reticent on the event were the English papers at the time. Both England and America were heartily tired of the war which profited neither, and were willing to let the unfortunate affair drop out of consideration. Before the prisoners departed from Princetown, they held a mock trial and condemnation of Mr. Beasley, and hung him in effigy. Even when they departed, he took no pains to provide them with suitable clothes, and some of them had to tramp barefooted to Plymouth. They departed, marching under a banner on which was depicted Columbia weeping over her murdered citizens. They were dismissed from the prison on 19th April, but the ​investigation into the whole affair was begun at Princetown and in Plymouth before the magistrates, on the 21st April, and carried on to the 24th, Sunday included, in the presence of two Commissioners, who, as we have seen, drew up their report on the 26th.
It will be well now to look at the depositions of such witnesses as the Commissioners were pleased to summon, and to see how far they confirm or contradict the account of the transaction as given by Captain Shortland.
According to the Governor of the prison, the part he played in the "massacre" was almost nil He was the angel of peace hovering about, soothing excited feelings, urging a cessation of the firing, and ministering to the wounded. He gave no further directions than that to ring the alarm bell. He neither ordered the soldiery to form in line, nor to charge, nor to fire. It is impossible from his account to obtain any connected idea as to the sequence of events.
I can only summarize the depositions in reference to the "massacre."
John Mitchell, one of the clerks in the office of the Governor, deposed "that this informant saw Capt. Shortland in the front of the prison. … That Capt. Shortland advanced towards the prisoners, calling on the guard to follow, form and be steady, and directed them to keep possession of the Market Square. That this informant followed Capt. Shortland, keeping between him and the military, and this informant heard Capt. Shortland desire the prisoners to return quietly to their prisons. … But they still continued advancing, speaking in a riotous manner. That this informant observed a large body of prisoners assembled at the other gate, at the opposite side of the Market Square. … Hearing a noise he turned around and observed ​the prisoners were much further up the square, and part of the guards had charged their bayonets towards the prisoners to force them down, and almost at the same moment he, this informant, heard the report of a musket discharged. … That he, this informant, did not hear any person give orders to fire. That several muskets were fired in the Market Square, and immediately after the firing had ceased he heard Capt. Shortland call for turnkeys to take up the wounded. … That this informant did not observe anything thrown by the prisoners at the military, nor see the prisoners armed with any offensive weapons."
Richard Arnold, one of the turnkeys, after stating the fact of the hole in the wall and Captain Shortland's examination of it: "This informant then returned to the Market Square leaving Capt. Shortland in the barrack-yard, and the horn was then sounding for the prisoners to turn into their respective prisons, when he observed a large body of prisoners collected between the iron railing in the front of the prisons, and they were attempting to force the gates. … That this informant went away to call the guard, and met Capt. Shortland at the upper gate. That the guard was outside the guard-house drawn out, and Capt. Shortland called to them to follow him, and this informant returned with him, and by this time the prisoners had forced the gate, and many hundreds had assembled in the Market Square. That Capt. Shortland desired the soldiers to draw up, be steady, and keep their ground, and the soldiers formed across the square. That this informant saw Capt. Shortland go up in front of the military and heard him desire the prisoners to go in, ​or otherwise he should be obliged to use means which he should be very sorry for. That the prisoners were very riotous, calling out 'Keeno' several times, and advanced instead of retiring, when some of the soldiers came to a charge, and this informant made the best of his way to the rear, and just after he got in the rear he heard a single musket, and soon after he heard several muskets discharged, but the muskets were at first elevated high, that he does not think a single shot touched either of the prisoners … when some of them called out, 'Fire, you ——, you have no shot in your guns,' when the military fired again, … and almost immediately he heard Capt. Shortland call for the turnkeys to help the wounded away. That this informant did not hear any person give any orders to fire, that he was near to Capt. Shortland when the firing first begun, and if Capt. Shortland had given any orders to fire he thinks that he must have heard them. … That he did not see the prisoners armed with any offensive weapons, nor did he see them throw any stones at the military."
Stephen Hall, one of the turnkeys, gave information almost identical with that of Richard Arnold. He did not hear any orders given to fire.
Richard Cephus, an American prisoner of war, gave no evidence of value, as he was not present in the affray.
George Magrath, surgeon of the hospital at the prison. Hearing the alarm bell he ran from his dwelling into the Market Square, where he saw a line of soldiers drawn up and the prisoners breaking out at the inner gate. "He advanced towards them and began to exhort them to return quietly into the prison ​… that this informant observed to them that their detention appeared to be entirely the fault of their own agent, Mr. Beasley … that this informant heard a voice, but whose it was this informant did not know, ordering the soldiers to charge; that at this time Captain Shortland was near to this informant, and he seemed to be employing means to induce the prisoners to return to the prison; that on hearing the word 'Charge' given, he looked round and found himself on the point of the soldiers' bayonets … that he found it necessary to attempt to extricate himself and succeeded in getting round the left wing, which rested on the wall. … Whilst this informant was endeavouring to get around, the firing commenced, at first he heard two or three muskets, but afterwards the discharges became more frequent, and almost amounted to a volley." He then retired to attend to the wounded.
It must be added that the prisoners unanimously speak of Dr. Magrath with high praise, as most kind and attentive to their wants and ailments.
John Odiorne, a citizen of the United States. "He was at the store in the Market Square, standing by the door; and the wagon with the bread was partly unladen, when this informant heard some persons talking loud at the gate at the uppercut (i.e. the main entrance) and went round the wagon to see who it was, and saw Captain Shortland advancing into the yard; and he was giving his orders to the turnkeys at the lodge in a loud voice; and Richard Arnold spoke to him, and told him something about the wall, when Captain Shortland said, 'D—— you, why did not you tell me about it before? Ring the bell, call the guard out.' That the guard immediately followed Captain Shortland into the yard, when he ordered them to form across the yard, ​about two-thirds of the way down. … That just as Captain Shortland gave the orders, this informant saw the prisoners force the gate No. 1, and before this time this informant had not seen a single prisoner in the Market Square, except those who were employed with him (in unlading the bread wagon). He was on the steps, at the store, which is about ten feet high and commands a complete view of the square. That after the prisoners had advanced to the distance of between twenty-five or thirty feet, Captain Shortland then ordered the men to charge upon them, and the soldiers charged upon the prisoners, when they retreated into the yard. That after the prisoners had retreated within the prison … he heard an order given to fire by Captain Shortland, as the informant supposed, for he was looking directly at him. That the order was not instantly complied with … but in a few seconds a musket was fired by a person at the right of Capt. Shortland, a few paces in advance of the others, and immediately after two muskets were fired to the left of Capt. Shortland, and after that there was a general discharge. And immediately after the general discharge a party of soldiers marched into No. 1 yard, through the gate, and fired a volley, and then wheeled about and returned into the square, and after the soldiers had returned into the square and formed into line the officer ordered them to fire, and immediately the whole line across the square fired into the yard, after which the line broke up and advanced into the yard, and this informant could not see any further, but he heard the reports of guns in the yard."
The evidence of John Odiorne is of special value, as he and Arnold were the only witnesses of what took place in the Market-yard, who were not actively engaged in the affray.
​Addison Holmes, citizen of the United States. "Understanding that a hole had been broken through the wall in the prison No. 7 by the boys, to get at their balls, he was going to see it; and hearing the alarm bell rung, he went into the Market Square, having found the gate open, and there were about a dozen prisoners in the square, and a great many more followed after him; he was going up to see what the alarm bell was rung for, when he saw the troops entering the outer gate of the square, and Captain Shortland was with them. That as the troops came through the gate, they were paraded across the square; and this informant saw Dr. Magrath at the left of the troops, talking to about a dozen prisoners, advising them to go down to the prison quietly. That at this time there was a considerable body of prisoners in the rear. That Captain Shortland was in front of the troops, speaking to one man, who wanted to say something to him; but it appeared that the captain would have no conversation with him, and pushed him from him twice, when the man turned about and was going down slowly. The captain then turned him round and ordered the troops to charge their bayonets, twice; but they did not do so until they were ordered by one of their own officers, and then the troops charged their bayonets and the prisoners were forced on before them, and Dr. Magrath, being in front, stepped in between two bayonets, and got to the rear. That this informant stepped aside, and got between two sentry-boxes, and the troops passed him; and by this time the prisoners were forced to the gate, had got inside the prison, and shut the gate after them; but Captain Shortland, who was in ​front of the troops, shoved the gate open, and this informant thinking it was a good opportunity for him to get in, pushed on between two men, and then saw that Captain Shortland had hold of a musket, and immediately that musket was discharged; but whether Capt. Shortland pulled the trigger or not, this informant does not know, and immediately after there was firing at the left. That Capt. Shortland had ordered the troops to fire before he took hold of the musket, but he was not obeyed, and then took hold of the musket, and he believes the soldier had hold of it at the same time. That just after the firing at the left, as he, this informant, was passing between two men, one of whom had discharged his musket, this man was hauling his musket back to stab this informant, and before he drew it past this informant, he, this informant, unshipped the bayonet, and threw it on the ground, and then pushed off the bayonet on the left, with his arm, and got in round the gate, when the soldiers immediately fired another round, and he saw a man fall. That this informant stopped a few minutes, and the soldiers fired several rounds, and the soldiers were firing from the walls up the prison. That two rounds were fired into the prison door, which killed one man and wounded another."
John Arnold, steward of the prisoners, was engaged with Odiorne in unlading the bread-wagon, when he heard the alarm bell rung, and the drums beat to arms, and the horns sounded; "And soon after this informant saw a great body of prisoners between the railing and the Market Square. … That Captain Shortland came into the square, and the soldiers marched in with their officers. That this informant ordered the wagon away, and just then the prisoners burst open the gate and rushed into the Market Square in a very large body. ​… That the soldiers were formed across the square, and had advanced in a body … when the soldiers charged upon the prisoners, but this informant did not hear any order to charge given, and this informant thinks, that from the noise made by the prisoners, it was impossible to hear any word of command." After describing the charge, he asserts that "stones were thrown at the military. … That this informant never heard Captain Shortland give any directions to the soldiers to fire, and he was so near Odiorne, that if orders had been given which he might have heard, he, the informant, must have heard also. And this informant further saith, that the firing was very irregular, and it did not seem like firing in obedience to order; and this informant further saith, that it appeared to him the soldiers were in danger from the stones thrown at them by the prisoners."
William Gifford, private in the 1st Regiment of Somerset Militia, was posted as sentinel at the inner gate. "That this informant saw a prisoner who broke the lock of the gate, where this informant was sentinel, with an iron bar, and the prisoners rushed out as fast as they could come, crying out 'Keeno'; whereupon the alarm bell was rung, and part of the north guard came into the Market Square, and Capt. Shortland was with them … that Capt. Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge, which they did, and forced the prisoners almost to the prison gate … that the prisoners began to throw stones at the soldiers, and this informant saw several of the men's caps knocked off with the stones … this informant heard the word 'Fire!' given by some person, but by whom he does not know; that this informant immediately heard a discharge of musketry, and saw that the muskets were presented in the air; that the prisoners still continued ​throwing stones, when the soldiers began to fire towards the prisoners, and this informant afterwards saw two men lying in the market-place, apparently dead. That the soldiers then went into the different prison yards to turn the prisoners in, and this informant heard some firing in the yards. That Major Joliffe had the command of the 1st Somersetshire Regiment of Militia, but he was not present when the first firing commenced. … That this informant was near to Capt. Shortland, and he never saw Capt. Shortland with a musket in his hand, or attempt to take a musket; if he had, he, this informant, thinks that it was impossible for him not to have seen it. That he never heard Capt. Shortland give any orders to fire, and the informant was so near him, that he thinks he must have heard him, if he had given any such orders."
James Groves, private in the 1st Regiment of Somerset Militia, was sentinel in the barrack yard, and gave evidence that at 5 p.m. or thereabouts a ball was thrown over the wall. He was relieved at 6 p.m., and by that time no attempt had been made to knock a hole in the wall.
David Spencer Warren citizen of the United States. On hearing the alarm bell he went to the gate, which was already burst open, and the prisoners had got into the Market-yard. "A number of soldiers were in the square, and Capt. Shortland was at the head of one party of them, and he was forming a line across the yard, which after he had done, he told them to charge. That the soldiers did charge on the prisoners, who ran back into the prison yard, and as they got inside the gate, they flung one of them to. That Capt. Shortland ordered one of the soldiers to fire, and immediately there was a soldier with his musket turned to the right, and Capt. Shortland caught hold of the musket and ​pointed it towards a man that stood by the gate, and said, 'God d—— you, fire!' that directly after this a fire of musketry became general. That this informant did not see any of the officers with the soldiers when Capt. Shortland gave the orders to fire. That after the firing began he saw some stones thrown by the prisoners over the wall into the square."
James Greenlaw, a citizen of the United States, heard the alarm bell ring, and went to the railing giving admission to the Market Square, which was already burst open, and some prisoners in the square. "At the same time he saw the troops coming through the market-gate, with Capt. Shortland at their head, and saw him form the men in one line, extending across the square, and he then ordered them to charge, whereupon the prisoners retreated into the prison yard, when the informant heard Capt. Shortland give orders for the soldiers to fire upon the prisoners, whereupon this informant ran into No. 4 yard, for shelter, and saw two black men fall. That as soon as this informant thought the firing had ceased, he ran up towards the grating to speak to Capt. Shortland, and asked him if he would allow him to speak to him, when Capt. Shortland said, 'No, you d——d rascal!' whereupon two soldier officers put their swords through the iron railing towards the informant, and one soldier pricked him with his bayonet. That this informant then retreated into No. 3 yard, and he then heard two distinct volleys. … That this informant did not see any stones thrown until the firing had commenced, and then he saw two stones thrown over the wall."
Thomas Burgess Mott, citizen of the United States, gave evidence as to the firing on the prisoners from the walls, and at the door of No. 5 prison.
​Enoch Burnham, citizen of the United States, gave very similar evidence. He confirmed the statement made by Andrews in his narrative of the murder of the man against the wall.
Robert Holmden, first clerk to Captain Shortland, had informed the Governor of the breach in the wall and went with him to inspect it. "Whereupon Captain Shortland ordered the alarm bell to be rung; and as soon as the guard could be collected, he went with them into the Market Square. … He heard one shot fired, which was followed by several others. He did not go down among the prisoners, or see what took place there."
Homer Hull, citizen of the United States, saw a man with a bolt in his hand break the lock of the gate. "Just at the time the gate was forced open, he saw some soldiers come into the Market Square; when Capt. Shortland gave the soldiers orders to charge, and the soldiers accordingly charged; when the prisoners retreated into the prisons, and one of them shut to the gates; then the soldiers marched down a little further, when Capt. Shortland ordered them to fire. … That he did not see any stones thrown before the musketry began to be discharged, but afterwards he saw a stone thrown from the prison yard towards the square."
Robert McFarlane, assistant surgeon at the prison, had assisted Dr. Magrath to persuade the prisoners to retire. "This informant heard no order to fire. Capt. Shortland was at the south end of the guard, and this informant thinks if he had given orders to fire he must have heard it that at the time the first musket was fired nearly one-third of the Market Square was filled with the prisoners, making a great noise in a very riotous and disorderly manner, and stones were thrown by the prisoners from all quarters."
​John Tozer, turnkey, gave testimony of no importance.
Joseph Manning, sergeant of the 1st Somerset Regiment of Militia, was sent by Captain Shortland to fetch Major Joliffe, "who put himself at the head of the grenadiers, and before Major Joliffe had gone ten yards from the south guard gate the firing commenced. That it was impossible for Major Joliffe to give orders to fire, as he was not near the spot when the firing first began."
These are all the depositions taken before the coroner. Others taken before the commissioners were as follows:—
John Rust, one of the prisoners and one of the Committee that drew up the report already given. "About 6 o'clock in the evening I came from the place where I was taking supper, and persuaded the prisoners to leave the breach. At the time I went to the breach the horn had not sounded; it sounded but a few minutes before the firing. I heard the alarm bell ring before the firing took place. The firing continued at intervals about fifteen minutes. … I saw nothing of the firing in the Market Square."
John T. Trowbridge, another of the Prisoners' Committee, made no part of the report from his own knowledge.
John Boggs, another of the Committee, "made no part of the report from my own knowledge."
Amos Wheeler, sergeant of the north guard, "was ordered by Capt. Shortland to march to the Market Square; the officer of the guard was not then with it. … There were not many prisoners in the Market Square when our guard entered. The alarm bell had rung before we marched. When we entered, the prisoners were endeavouring to burst the gates below. …When they had succeeded in bursting them there was a great rush towards the soldiers. They threw stones at the ​soldiers before there was any firing. They were not armed with anything that I saw. … Captain Shortland ordered the soldiers to bring their muskets down to the charge. I believe Capt. Shortland was in front of the guard, at this time, desiring the prisoners to go back. I saw none of the prisoners wresting the arms from the soldiers. I saw none of them attempt to seize the arms. … I heard no order to fire, nor do I know how it began; did not hear any of the prisoners challenging the soldiers to fire. … I did not see the officer of the guard at this time. The firing was in an independent manner, three or four muskets being discharged at a time. After the firing commenced the prisoners began to retire towards their prisons. I did not hear any cheering among them, or see them rally after the fire. … I did not go into the prison yard."
John Saunders, private in the 1st Regiment of Somerset Militia. "I was with the first party of soldiers that marched into the Market Square; at that time the gate was broken open the prisoners were coming through in a crowd. The alarm bell rang at the time we reached the west guard-house; the officer of the guard was with us, I believe. I believe it was he who ordered us into the square. … Capt. Shortland, after some discourse with the prisoners, ordered to charge with some difficulty we got the prisoners back to the gates, some of them retiring through the gates. … The square was nearly clear of prisoners before the firing—they did not return into the square, but threw some stones through the rails. I heard the word 'Fire!' given, but do not know by whom. There were no prisoners in the Market Square when the first shots were fired. The prisoners had the command of the gates, so as to open them when they thought proper. I fired my musket. The prisoners closed the gates after them, which we ​opened, and we received orders from the commanding officer to charge the men to their prisons. No muskets were fired in compelling them to their prisons. Just before the firing the prisoners were throwing stones, and insulting the soldiers. Saw no prisoners attempting to wrest the arms from the soldiers. Several shots were fired into No. 3—they were fired into the doorway. I heard no order given for this fire, and heard none to cease firing; there was much disturbance among the prisoners going in, and a stone was thrown out."
William Smith, private in the 1st Somerset Militia. "I heard no order to fire. The firing was in an independent manner, one after another, till nearly all the guard had fired, and then they loaded again. No order was given to fire."
John Tutt, private. "Can't say exactly who ordered us to charge, but think it was Captain Shortland's voice. … While charging, a stone knocked off my cap. … I heard the order for the firing in the square; it commenced while I was picking up my cap."
William Rowles, private. "Captain Shortland gave the order to charge. … I heard an order to fire, but don't know from whom. … I entered the prison yard, saw a soldier level his musket into prison No. 3. I heard no order to the soldier to fire into No. 3; saw no officer there at this time."
John Hamlet, private. "I heard the order to charge by Capt. Shortland. … I was struck by a stone in advancing. … I heard an order to fire given before any firing took place, but don't know by whom."
John Williams, sergeant. "I heard no order to fire; our guard seeing the state the prisoners were in began firing of their own accord."
​John Tivyford Jolliff, major commanding, handed in a written statement, dated 7 April, 1815: "Yesterday evening, between the hours of six and seven o'clock, soon after the officers' dinner, the mess-waiter came into the mess-room and said that the American prisoners had broken out of the prison, and were attempting their escape. I immediately ordered the troops composing the garrison to fall in at the alarm post. Whilst the troops were forming, I heard several shots fired, upon which I immediately took the grenadiers and proceeded to the west guard. … Upon my arrival several of the troops were formed in the marketplace, and had fired some shots. I immediately called out to them to cease firing, and finding that the prisoners still refused to go into their prison, I took a party of grenadiers and went into two of the prison yards, and told the soldiers [prisoners?] to go into their prisons, which they very reluctantly did. Several stones were thrown at the military. … The military fired a few shot at the prisoners in the yard, in consequence of their throwing stones and refusing to go into the prison, but the firing was without any orders, and I conceive took place owing to the military being so exasperated. As soon as the prisoners were all gone into their different prisons and properly secured, I returned to the barracks." He added, "Several shots were fired in the prison yards, but entirely without any command."
George Pett, sergeant, testified to the efforts made by Major Joliffe to put an end to the firing.
Henry Burgoyne, private, was on the platform when the alarm bell rang, but left it for the Market Square. "I heard an order to fire, but don't know who gave it."
Edward Jackson, private of the Derby Militia, was on the platform. "I think there had been two volleys in ​the Market Square before the men on the platform fired. No order was given to fire on my platform; to the best of my recollection I think I heard a command ’to commence firing from the right.' I saw no tumult in the yard before the firing."
Thomas Burgess Mott, prisoner, gave unimportant evidence. "I did not hear the horn sound before the firing."
Walter Cotton, prisoner and one of the Committee, did not hear the horn. Entirely repudiated any intention on the part of the prisoners to break out; he complained of acts of barbarity committed previously by Captain Shortland; but gave no evidence relative to the " massacre."
William Hobart, one of the Prisoners' Committee, had not heard the horn sound before the alarm bell rang. Hearing the bell, he went out to know the cause, but did not pass into the Market Square, though within a few yards of the gate; and finding there was danger returned to his ward. He also complained of acts of barbarity previously committed by the Governor.
William B. Orne, one of the Committee, gave no evidence of importance.
Niel M’ Kinnon, prisoner. "I heard an order given to charge and fire, but don't know by whom." Seeing a man, Haywood, killed, he went to the gate to speak to Captain Shortland, and begged him to make the firing cease. He told Orne to go to his prison. "I went down to No. 4 yard; while going down the yard a volley was fired into it by the soldiers in the Market Square; there were many prisoners then in the yard … Was going up the yard, when I met a party of military with an officer, driving along four or five prisoners. I went up to the officer, who I understood was Major Joliffe, and remonstrated with him on the harsh ​treatment the prisoners were receiving. He put his fist in my face, and swore 'By God, they would not be trifled with any longer by us.' I was driven with the rest into No. 4. I entered the prison with my face to the soldiers … at that moment a musket was fired close to me, which wounded a little boy, who screamed and dropped down; he died next day." He repudiated any intent of the prisoners to escape.
John G. Gatchell, prisoner. "I heard an order to fire, but don't know by whom; the first volley one man fell. I went to him; he said he was wounded in the breast. I called assistance, and was trying to get him to the receiving-house, when Captain Shortland entered No. 7 gate with two soldiers, and said something which induced the two others to run away and leave the wounded man with me; upon which Captain Shortland, seeing I did not run, said, 'Kill the d——d rascal!' The soldiers charged on me, and a bayonet pierced my clothes and skin, going in about a quarter of an inch. I was then forced to leave the wounded man and run, when a soldier followed me, and Capt. Shortland, urging him on, repeated several times, ’Kill the d——d rascal!' While running on I was pricked three times, and would have been killed, but stepping aside the bayonet ran under my arm, and the soldier with the force of the thrust fell on his knees, by which means I escaped into the prison. While getting in No. 7 I saw Captain Shortland running down the yard towards No. 5 with the soldiers, and heard him order them to fire. He was facing me at the time; was running towards No. 5, and ordering them to fire as they ran, which they did. I did not see that the soldiers hesitated to fire when ordered; they did fire. … Two soldiers came into the gate abreast of Capt. Shortland, but many followed him, thirty or forty ​per. After the soldiers were in the yard those on the ramparts did not fire. … While the prisoners were running to No. 7 they were cut off by a cross-fire from the ramparts."
Andrew Davis, prisoner. "I went up to No. 1 gate; when I got there, five or six men were bringing a man, who appeared to be badly wounded, into the Market Square. I heard Capt. Shortland order them to let go the wounded man; one of them (this was John Hubbard) remonstrated against it, and Capt. Shortland struck him with his fist. The man then went outside of the gate into the passage, between the two gates, and said to Capt. Shortland, 'You'll recollect you have struck me twice; and I'll have satisfaction for it?' Captain Shortland told him to go into the prison, or he would order the men to fire on him."
John Odiorne, prisoner, had given evidence before the coroner. He repeated now: "I heard an order to fire, which was from Capt. Shortland as near as I could judge of any man, who had his back to me; it was Captain Shortland's voice; he was about 100 yards from me. I am as positive as I can be under such circumstances that the order came from him. Captain Shortland appeared to be in a great passion. When entering the square he looked very red, and spoke loud; am confident there was no disposition to break out."
Gerard Smith, prisoner, gave no material evidence.
Robert Johnson, prisoner. "I know Gatchell; I was at the gate No. 7 when Captain Shortland spoke to him. I ran directly into the gate from No. 5; at the first firing a wounded man lay about five yards from the gate. Gatchell and two or three others came up to take him away to the receiving-house. When he got into the passage, between the railings, Captain Shortland ​came in with two or three soldiers, and told him to go back or he would kill them; the soldiers followed. In rushing in, Capt. Shortland stumbled over the wounded man; Gatchell did not go away immediately. Capt. Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge on him; one did charge on him, and another on me. I then made my escape into the prison. I am quite sure Captain Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge. I heard no abusive language from Capt. Shortland."
James N. Bushfield, prisoner, testified mainly to the making the hole in the wall. "I do not suppose a man in the yard knew there was arms in the barrack yard."
William Clements, prisoner. "I heard no order to fire. … I saw Capt. Shortland in the yard, but whether it was him or the other officer who first came in I don't know."
John Hubbard, prisoner. "I was carrying a wounded man to the hospital. Capt. Shortland came up to me … he ordered me to drop the man. I told him I should not, for I wanted to take him to the hospital. He gave me a crack on the neck with his fist and ordered the soldiers to charge on us; I then went back and ran in. When I got in I called to Capt. Shortland and told him 'You will recollect, Sir, you struck me, if you are brought to account for this.'"
John Reeves, prisoner. His evidence is not particularly trustworthy, as he admitted, "I was rather groggy that evening. … I heard Captain Shortland sing out 'Fire!' twice. … After we were inside No. 1 prison, being mad at being pricked (with a bayonet) I flung a stone myself out at the soldiers. The soldiers had fired into the prison before I did so."
William Mitchell, prisoner, did not hear the horn or the alarm bell.
​David Spencer Warren, prisoner, who had given evidence before the coroner, now added: "I was within seven or eight feet of Captain Shortland when I heard him give orders to fire. I was inside my own prison yard and Capt. Shortland was close to the gate; that was the first firing I heard; there had been none before. Soldiers had broken up their line when Captain Shortland led them into the prison yard. Captain Shortland was at the head of them, when I heard him tell the men to fire. They did not fire the first time he said 'Fire!'; it was about a minute afterwards before they fired. He said ’Fire!' three times." He repeated his story of Shortland taking hold of the musket.
Richard Walker, private of the Derby Militia. "I heard no order to fire; first one musket was fired; it was by a sentry posted at the bottom of the square, in consequence of the prisoners abusing him. I saw this. I saw them throw no stones before, but after it was fired they did. It might be two minutes before there was firing again. As soon as the prisoners threw stones there was more firing. Don't recollect I heard any order to fire. Heard several call out ’Fire!' and supposed it might be the prisoners who were calling out. … Saw Capt. Shortland come down, break through the guard, and heard him order them to cease firing."
William Ward, private in the Derby Militia. "I came up just after (the firing had begun). Capt. Shortland, after it had continued some time, came up and ordered the soldiers to cease firing. They immediately ceased."
Some turnkeys were examined, but their evidence was immaterial, as they were employed elsewhere or in taking the wounded to the hospital, except James Carley, who was with the bread-wagon; but he could say no more than that he saw Shortland come down ​"with his hands in his breeches' pockets "; and William Wakelin, who deposed to Shortland pushing one of the prisoners (James Reeves).
John Bennett, store clerk. "I heard Captain Shortland tell the prisoners in the market-place to go back to their different prisons, and say how sorry he should be to use force. … Some minutes after a musket went off, and soon after many others. I was then so near Capt. Shortland that I am sure I should have heard it had he given the orders to fire; but I did not, nor did I hear an order from anybody. I did not see the charge."
John Collard, sergeant of the 1st Somerset Militia, heard Shortland give the order to charge. "An order was then given to fire on them (the prisoners); I heard the word given to fire by some one; I think the word given was in my rear. … The prisoners were crying out 'Fire!' I could not then see Captain Shortland. I did not look out for him. I had something else to think of when the order to fire was given. Two or three men fired; immediately they obeyed the order; one musket was discharged first, and one or two very soon after. … I think the soldiers fired over their heads; then some prisoner or prisoners said, 'You——why don't you fire? You have nothing but blank cartridges.' Afterwards the firing became general, and the prisoners were driven into the yard. I heard no word of command for the second firing; the firing was not in a volley, but in small numbers at a time. … I know nothing of what happened afterwards in the prison yard."
Stephen Lapthorn, private in the 1st Somersetshire Militia. "I heard an order given to fire, but don't know who gave it. I can't say whose voice it was; am not sure whether it was from the prisoners or the ​military. … I heard Major Joliffe give orders to cease firing."
John Soathern, private in the Derby Militia. "We went close to the railings; my bayonet pricked them; when we got there, the prisoners began throwing stones; one stone struck me. Just then the firing commenced. After some time Capt. Shortland came in front and said, holding his hands up, 'For God's sake, men, cease firing.' Captain Shortland was not near me when it commenced. The order to fire was given on the left, and it passed through the ranks one after another."
Lieutenant Avelyne, of 1st Somerset Militia. "When I came into the Market Square with Captain Shortland the prisoners had burst No. 1 gate and were rushing through in a crowd. … Capt. Shortland went forward to speak to them. … The soldiers did not charge by my order, nor did I hear Capt. Shortland order it. I considered myself under Capt. Shortland's orders. … I heard the first musket fired. I could not see where it was fired from. … There was at first a single shot, and almost instantly after several others were fired. I heard no distinct order to fire. … I did not go into the prison yard."
Lieutenant Fortye, of 1st Somerset Militia. "My guard took up the firing from others without any orders."
Cornelius Rowe, prisoner. "I saw the military come down the square and heard Capt. Shortland order them to charge."
Thomas Tindale, prisoner. "I heard Captain Shortland give orders to fire … he gave orders twice to fire. I was not ten steps from him when I heard him. I heard every word he said; I saw him plainly; the firing commenced by one musket first, then two, and ​afterwards a whole volley. The firing began when Captain Shortland gave the word the second time. I heard him tell the soldiers to fire low. He was then standing inside the muzzles of the foremost muskets. When I heard the order to fire I was about the middle of gate No. 4; the soldiers charged up to the railings and then fell back four or five paces, when Capt. Shortland gave the order to fire."
The evidence of Captain Shortland has been already given. He denied the truth of Gatchell's statements that he had run down the yard; and as to that of Hubbard, he would only admit that he had pushed, not struck him.
In reviewing the depositions it appears evident that the American witnesses were hostile to the Governor, and that their bitterness of feeling coloured their testimony. There is evidence that Captain Shortland entered the inner yard, though he denied it; but that Major Joliffe was there is certain, and it cannot be admitted that he acted with the promptitude that he should have displayed. It is certain that by this time the soldiers had got out of control, and it was no doubt difficult to restrain them.
Captain Shortland was not really a brutal Governor, and the barbarities of which he was accused were not barbarities at all, but the exercise of very necessary discipline. But he was lacking in capacity for such a responsible post, at such a time.
So the British Government must have considered him, for he was promoted to be Superintendent of Port Royal Dockyard in Jamaica, where he died of yellow fever in 1825.
The most thoroughly reliable authority for the "massacre" is the "Message from the President of the United States, transmitting a Report of the ​Secretary of State, prepared in obedience to a Resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th inst., in relation to the Transactions at Dartmoor Prison, in the month of April last, so far as the American Prisoners of war, there confined, were affected by such Transactions," January 31, 1816, "Read and ordered to lie upon the table," Washington, 1816. Next come "The Prisoners' Memoirs, or Dartmoor Prison; containing a Complete and Impartial History of the entire captivity of the Americans in England, from the commencement of the late War between the United States and Great Britain, until all Prisoners were released by the treaty of Ghent. Also a particular detail of all the occurrences relative to that Horrid Massacre at Dartmoor, on the fatal evening of the 6th April, 1815. The whole carefully compiled from the Journal of Charles Andrews, a Prisoner in England from the commencement of the War, until the release of all the Prisoners." New York, 1815.
According to him 269 American prisoners died on Dartmoor between April, 1813, and 20 April, 1815, and twenty-one succeeded in making their escape.
Waterhouse (Henry), Journal of a Young Man of Massachusetts, confined at Dartmoor Prison. Boston, 1816.
He arrived at the Dartmoor Prison but a short while before the outbreak. His account confirms that of Andrews. He gives the Remonstrance of the prisoners on the hasty and hardly impartial manner in which the Commissioners investigated the circumstances.
The Dartmoor Massacre, by I. H. W. (Isaac H. Williamson, of New Jersey), 1815. This is, however, a mere rhymed account, based on the narrative in the Boston papers and the New York Commercial Advertiser of 6 June, 1815. "Being the Authentic and Particular ​Account of the tragic Massacre at Dartmoor Prison in England, on the 6th April last (1815), in which sixty-seven American sailors, prisoners there, fell the victims to the jailor's revenge, for obtaining their due allowance of bread which had been withheld from them by the jailor's orders."
Melish (John), Description of Dartmoor Prison. Philadelphia, 1815.
He confirms the account of Andrews, and insists that the examination was not properly and honestly carried out; and he asserts positively that Capt. Shortland gave the order to fire.
Justin Winsor, in his Narrative and Critical History of America, has treated of the matter in a temperate spirit.
I subjoin the names of those killed and those wounded.
KILLED: John Haywood, Thomas Jackson, John Washington, James Mann, Joseph Toker Johnson, William Leverage, and James Campbell.
WOUNDED: Thomas Smith, needed amputation of the thigh. Philip Ford, severely wounded in the back. John Gray, arm had to be amputated. Robert Willet Tawney, required to have the thigh amputated. James Bell, bayonet wound in the thigh. Thomas Truely, gun-shot wound in thigh and other serious injury. Joseph Beyeck, gun-shot wound in the thigh, through which the ball passed. John Willet, fractured hip and shattered upper jaw. James Esdell, gun-shot wound in the hip. Henry Montcalm, gun-shot wound in the knee. Frederick Howard, gun-shot wound in the leg. William Penn, gun-shot wound in the thigh. Robert Fittey, gun-shot wound in the penis. Cornelius Garrison, gun-shot wound in the thigh. Edward Whittlebanks, bayonet wound in the back, producing ​paralysis in the lower extremities. James Turnbull, amputated arm. Stephen Phipps, bayonet wounds in abdomen and thigh. James Wells, gun-shot fracture of sacrum and gun-shot fracture of both bones of the left arm. Caleb Codding, gun-shot wound of the leg. Edward Gardner, gun-shot fracture of left arm. Jacob Davis, gun-shot wound of the thigh. John Hagabets, gun-shot wound of the hip. Peter Wilson, gun-shot fracture of the hand. John Perry, gun-shot wound of the shoulder. John Peach, gun- shot wound of the thigh. John Roberts, gun-shot wound of the thigh. John Gair, amputated thigh. Ephraim Lincoln, gun-shot wound of the knee. John Wilson, bayonet wound. William Blake, bayonet wound.
The rest were not seriously wounded.
* ↑ Whitfeld, Plymouth and Devonport, in War and Peace, p. 244.
* ↑ This is probably the second man shot when crouching against the wall mentioned by Andrews.
* ↑ Neither of these charges was investigated by the Commissioners, as beyond the scope of their inquiry, which was confined to the actual "massacre."
* ↑ Both Dr. Magrath and Lieut. Avelyn deny in their depositions that on this occasion Captain Shortland was intoxicated.
* ↑ "He went down with the military with both hands in his breeches pockets." Evidence of James Carley, turnkey.
* ↑ This contravenes the statement made by the prisoners in their memorandum.
* ↑ Captain Shortland pretended that the soldiers charged without his having given the command—all evidence to the contrary. The Commissioners did not believe him.
* ↑ David Spencer Warren, one of the witnesses, said: "Captain Shortland, when he told them to fire, was in front, one soldier beside him. They might have fired at his side or over him without hurting him."
* ↑ This disposes of the allegation of the prisoners that Shortland had placed the soldiers there before the ringing of the alarm bell.
* ↑ This disposes of the charge made by the prisoners that no proper notice was given them that they were to turn in.
* ↑ The stone-throwing did not take place in the outer yard or Market Square where these two warders were, but later in the inner yard.
* ↑ This is disingenuous. He says nothing about the forcible breaking open of the gate.
* ↑ This was James Greenlaw.
* ↑ This is contrary to the general evidence, and contrary to his subsequent admission.