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

SEPT. 3.

OFFICIAL PAPERS.

RENQAT •
Rtiat:re to the &ging and if of :thc American
Citizens impriioned at Dartmoor. •
(FROM THE NATIONAL INTELLta'ENICER. Jaffa) •

Plrnouth, April OG, 1815..
We, the undersigned Commissioners, appointe&on helialf
of our respective Governments, to inquire into and report
upon, the unfortunate occurrence of the 6th 'of April just.
at Dartmoor prison, having carefully perused the proceed-
ings of the several Courts of Inquiry, instituted inirnedi-
rod% after that event, by the orders of Admiral Sir Jelin 114.
Duckworth and Major-General Brown, respectively, as well
ai the depositions taken at the coroner's inquest, upon the
bodies of the prisoners who lost their lives upon that me-
lancholy occasion ; upon which inquest the jury found a
verdict of justifiable homicide I proceeded immediately to
the examination upon oath, in the presence of one or more
of the Magistrates of the vicinity, of all the witnesses,
both American and English, who offered themselves for
that purpose, or who could be discoverid as likely to
afford any material information on the subject, as well those
who had been previously examined before the coroner as
otherwise, to the number in the whole of abriut 80. We
further proceeded to a minute examination of the pri-
sons, firr the purpose of clearing up some points which, upon
the evidence alone, were scarcely intelligible ; obtaining
front the prisoners, and from the officers of the depot, all the
necessary assiirance and explanation; premising, that we
have been from necessity compelled to draw many of our
conclusions from statements and evidence highly contra-
dictory, we do now make upon the whole proceedings the
following report:,
During the period which has elapsed since the arrival in
this country of the account of the ratification of the Treaty
of Ghent, an increased degree of restlessness and impa-
tience of confinement appears to have prevailed amongst
the American prisoners at Dartmoor, which, though not
exhibited in the shape of any violent excesses, has been
priorioaily indicated by threats of breaking out if not soon
released. On the 4th of this month in particular, only two
.days previous to the events, the subject of this inquiry, a
large body of the prisoners rushed into the market square,
from whence, by the regulations of the prison, they are ex. '
eluded, demanding bread, instead of biscuit, which had on
that day been issued by the officers of the depot ; their de-
mands, however, having been then almost immediately corn-•
plied with, they returned to their own yards, and the employ'
ment of force on .that occasion became unnecessary. On
the evening of the 6th, about six o'clock, it was clearly
proved to us, that a breach or hole had been made in
one of the prison walls sufficient for a full sized man to
pass, and that others had been commenced in the course of
the day near the same spot, though never completed.
That a number of the prisoners went . over the failing,
erected to prevent them from communicating with the centi-
rels on the walls, which was of course forbidden by the regu-
lations of the prison, and that iu the space between the
railing and those walls they were tearing up pieces of turf,
and wantonly pelting each other in a noisy and disorderly
manner. That a much more considerable number of the
prisoners was ollected together at that time in one of their
yards near the place where the breach was effected, and
that although such collection of prisoners was not sunning'
at other times (the gambling tables being usually kept in
tt:at part, of the yard), yet, when connected with the.:cir-.1