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

THE NATIONAL. REGISTER.

cumstances of the breach, and the time of the day, which
tai after the hour the signal for the prisoners ro retire to
their . raspectiVe..prfsons,,had ceased to sound, it became a
natuiatintdlttstirotinal of alarm to those wilt) had charge of
the depot. It was also in evidence that in the building.
'formerly the petty offiters' "prison, .hut now the guard
barrack, with stands in the yard to which the hole in the
wall would serve as a communication, a part of the arms
of the guard who .were off duty were usually, kept in -the
tracks, and though there was no evidence that this was in any
respect the motive which induced the prisoners. to make the
opening in the wall, or even that they were ever ac-
7quainted with the fact, it naturally became at least a ((tither
cause of suspicion and alarm, and an additional reason for pre-
caution. Upon these grounds Captain Shortland appears- to
us to have been justified in giving the order, which about
this time he seems to have Over, to sound the alarm bell,
the usual signal for collecting the officers of the depot and
putting the military upon the alert.
Ifoaever reasonable and justifiable this was as a islealure
of precaution, the effects produced thereby in the prisons,
but which could not have been intended, were most unfor-
tunate, and deeply to be regretted. A con,itieraln; moldier
of the prisoners in the yards where no distil' haloes existed
before, and who were either already within their respective
prisons, or quietly retiring as usual towards them, imme-
diately upon the sound of the bell rushed ha. k from cu-
riosity (as i: appears) towards the gates, where, by that
time, the crowd had assembled, and many who were at the
time absent from their raids weie also, from the plan of the
prison, compellvd, -in order to teach their own ii-mes, to
pass by the same spot, and thus that which was merely a mea—
sure of precaution, in • its .operation i"creasetl the evil it
was intended to prevent. Almost at the same instant that
the alarm bell rang ',but whether before or subsequent is
union the evidence doubtful, though Capt. Shortland states
it positively as one of his further reasons for causing it to
ring) some one or more of the prisoners broke tar iron
chain, which was the only fastening of No. 1 gate, leading
into the market square, by means of an iron bar; :Ind a
very considerablenumber of the prisoners rushed towards
that gate, and many of them began to press foi ward as fast
as. the opening would permit into the square. There was no
direct proof before us of previous concert or preparation
on the part of the prisoners, and no evidence of their
intention or disposition to effect their escape on this occa-
sion, excepting that which arose by inference from the
whole of the above detailed circumstances connected to-
gether. The natural and almost irresistible irifelence to
be drawn, however...l4mm the conduct of the prisoners by
.Capt. Shortland and the military was, that an intention on
the part of. the• prisoners to .escape was on the pint of
being carried into exectition ; and it was at least certain
that they were by force pasting beyond the limits prescribed
to them, at a time .when they ought to have been quietly
goiug in for the night. It. was also in evidence that the
outer gates of the market.aquare were usual 4 .oletted about
this time, to let the hreaer4aggon pass and repass to the
atore,..although, at the period in question, they were, in
fact, closed. Un,der these circumstances, and with these
impressions necessarily operating upon his mind, and a
knoWledge that if the prisoners once penetrated through
the square, the power of escape was ahnost to A (.:,lattity
.afroided to them, should they :he. so disposed, Capt. short-
land, in the first instance, proceeded clown the s(piale to-

wards the• prisoners, having mitered a part of the different
guards, to the number of aiioot .5(1 only at firFt, though
They were increabed afterwaids, to fully* hint. For ,aloe

56t

time birth he and Dr. Magrath endeavoured, by quiet means 1
and persuasion, to induce the prisoners to retire to their
own yards, explaining to them the fatal consequences
which must ensue if they refused, as the military would in
that case be necessarilycompelled to employ force. The
Guard was by this time formed in the roar of Captain
Shortland, about two-thirds of the way down the square ;
the latter is about one hundred feet broad, and the guard
extended nearly all across. Captain Shortland finding that
persuasion was all in vain, and• that, although some were
it.duced by it to make an effort to retire, others pressed
or i~t considerable numbers, at last ordered about fifteen
fi:e of the guard, nearly in from of the gate, which bad
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, that he could not come fairly
down to the charge; and the military were unwilling to act
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
efective, and that with little or no injury to the prisoners,
ac to have driven them for the most part quite down out
cf 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, in the vicinity
of the gates. This assemblage still refused to withdraw,
and, according to most of the English wittleses. and some
cf the American, was making a noise, hallooing, insulting,
and provoking, and daring the military to fire; and, ac
cording to the evidence of several of the soldiers and
some others. was pelting the military with large stnno,
by which some of them were actually struck. This circum-
stance is, however, denied by many of the American
witnesses; and some of the English, upon having the
question put to" them, stated, 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 proceed-
ings in the square.

Under these circitms'ances the filing commenced. With
regal(' to any order having been given to fire, the evi;
dence is very contradictory. Several of the Americans
swear positively, that Captain Shortland gave that order;
but the manner in which. from the confusion of the nfo-
rnent, they describe this part of the transaction, is so different
in its details, that it very difficult to reconcile their tes-
timony. 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 par-
ticular, and some, amongst whom is the offi, er command-
ing 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, how-
ever, 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 seemed clear that it was con-
tinued and renewed, both there and elsewhere, without
ni (lets ; and that on the platfbrms, and in several places
atr..nt the prkon, it was certainly commenced without any
audio-14v. The fact of an order baying been given at first,

-StP'r. 3.

provided the firing was, under existing circumstances,
justifiable, does not appear very material in any ether point
of view than as shcwing a want of self-posse,:sion and dis-
cipline in the troops, if they should have fired without
order.

With regard to the above important consideration, of
whether the firing was justifiable or not, we are of opinion,
under all the circumstances of the case, from the Appre-
hension which the soldiers might fairly entertain, owing to
the numbers and conduct of the prisoners, that this firing to
a certain extent, was justifiable, in a military pain' of view,
in order to intimidate the prisoners, and compel theca
thereby to desist from all acts of violence, and to retire as
they were ordered, from a situation in which the respon-
sibility of the agents, and the 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 of the witnesses.
levelled over the heads of the prisoners ; a circumstance
in some respects to be lamented, as it induced them to renew
their 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 precipitation and cctifusion, to their respective pri-
sons. and the cause for further firing seems at this period
to have ceased. It appears, accordingly, that Captain Shore
hand was in the market-square, exerting himself and giving
orders to that effect, and that Lieutenant Fortye had suc-
ceeded in stopping the fire of his part of the guard.
Under these circumstances, it is very difficult to find any
justification for the continuance and renewal of the filing,
which certainly took place both in the prison yards and else-
where: though we have some evidence of subsequent pro-
vocation given to the military, and resistance to the turn•
keys in shutting the prisons, and of stones being thrown out
from within the prison doors. The subsequent firing rather
appears to have arisen from individual irritation and exas-
peration on the part of the soldiers who followed the pri-
soners into their yards, and from the absence of nearly all
the officers who might have restrained it ; as yell as from
the great difficulty of putting an end to a firing when once
commenced under such 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 Lieu-
tenants A velyne 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 the day, which
was the officers dinner hour, will in some measure explain
this, as it caused the absence of every officer fr. m the pri-
son whose presence was not indispensable there—and this
ciecumstance, which has been urged as an argument to prove
the intention of the prisoners to take this opportunity to es-
cape, tended to increase the confusion, and to prevent tl►o~e
great exertions being made which might perhaps have ob-
viated a portion, at least, of the mischief which ensues.
At the same time that the firing was going on in the square,
a cross fire was also kept up from several of the platfoi ins on
the walls round the prison where the sentries stand, by strag-
gling parties of soldiers, who run up there fur 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 gle square. But that part which it is positively sworn as

I.

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SEPT. 3.

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directei Ayr iost straggling parties of prisoners running about
the wilds and 'endeavouring to enter in the few doors
which the nkeys, accot ding to their usual practice, had left
open, does seem, as stated, to have been wholly without ob-
ject or excuse, and to have been a wanton attack upon the
lives of defenceless, and at that time, unoffending indivi.
duals. In the !nue. or even more severe terms, we must
remark upon what was proved as to the firing into the door
ways of the prisons, more particularly into that of No. S
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 •he balls which were pointed out to us, as n ell
as from the evidence, it was clear this firing must have pro-
ceeded from soldiers a very few fees from the door way, and
although it was certainly sworn that the prisoners were at
the time of part of the filing at least continuing to insult
a»d 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 nwhing stated which could in our view at
al justify such excessively harsh and severe tieatment 'of
helpless and unarmed prisoners when all idea of escape
was at an end. Under these impressions, we used every en-
deavour. to ascertain if there was the least prospect of iden-
tifying any of the soldiers who bad been guilty of the partictr-
Jar outraaes here alluded to, or of tracing any particular death
nt that time to the firing of any particular individual, but
without success ; and all hopes of bringing the offenders to
punishment should seem to he at an end.
In col.ciusion, we, the undersigned, have only to add,
that whilst we lament, as we do most deeply. the unfortu-
nate ttaokaction which has been the subject of this inquiry,
we find ourselves totally unahte to suggest any steps to be
taken as to those parts of it which seem most to call for
redress and punishment.
(Signed) CUARLES ktwo.
FaANCIS SEYMOUR LARPENT.

Plymouth, April 28, 1815.
pursuance cf instructions received from Messrs.
Clay and Gallatin, I have now the honour to transmit to
you the report prepared by Mr. Larpent and myself on behalf
of our respective Governments, in relation to;the unfortunate
transactions at Dartmoor prison of war, on the Gth of the
present month. 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
one, 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 cir-
cumstances, as to have justified, in the view which the
commander of the depot could not but take of it, the in-
tervention of the military force, and even, in a strict sense,
the first use of fire arms, yet I cannot but express it as my
settled opinion, that by conduct a little more temporising,
this dreadful alternative of firing upon unarmed prisoners
might have been avoided. Yet as this opinion has been the
iesult of subsequent examination, and after having ac-
quired a knowledge of the comparatively harmless state of
the prisoners, it may be but fair to consider, whether in
such a moment of confusion and alarm, as that appears to have
been, the officer commanding could have fairly estimated
his danger. or have measured out with precision the extent
and nature of the force necessary to guard against
Jut when the firing became general, as it afterwards appears
to have done,. and caught with electric rapidity from (be

square to the platforms, there is no plea nor shadow of ex-
cuse for it.t.xcept in the personal exasperation of the sot
diery, nor for the more deliberate, and therefore more Ull
justifiable, firing, which took place into three of the pri
sons, Nos. 1, S, and 4, but more particularly into No. S,
after the prisoners had retired into them, and there was no
longer any pretence of apprehensions as to their escape.
Upon this ground, as you, Sir, will perceive by the report.
Mr. Larpent and myself Lad no difference of opinion ; and
I am fully persuaded that my own regret was not greater
than his, at perceiving how hopeless would he the attempt
to trace to any individuals of the military these outrageous
proceedings. As to whether the order to fire came from.
Captain Shortland, I yet confess my self unable to form
any satisfactory opinion, though, perhaps, the bl'as of my:
mind is, that be did give such an order. But his anxiety
and exertions to stop it after-it had continued for some
little time are fully proved, and his general conduct pre-
vious to this occurrence, as far as we could with propriety
enter into such details, appears to have been characterised
with tenderness, and even kindness, in the light in which he
stood towards the prisoners. On the subject of any complain►s
against their own Government existing among the pri-
soners, it was invariably answered to several distinct ques-
tions put by me on that head, that none whatsoever existed
or had been expressed by them, although they confessed'
themselves to entertain some animosity against Mr. Beasley,
to whom they attributed their detention in this country—
with what justice, you, Sir, will be better able to judge.
They made no complaint whatsoever as to their pros i.io,ts
and general mode of living and treatment in the prison. I
have transmitted to Mr. Beasley a list of the killed at•.tl
wounded on this melancholy occasion, with a request that
he would forward it to the United States for the inforr.-.a-
tion of their friends at home, and I am pleased to have it
in my power to say, that the wounded are for the most part
doing well.• I have also enclosed to Mr. Beasley the notes
taken by me of the evidence adduced before us, with a re-
quest that he would have them fairly copied ; as also a copy
of the depositions taken before the Co►oner, and . desire&
him to submit them to you when in order. I cannot soul
elude, Sir. without expressing my high sense of the impar-
tiality and manly fairness with which this enquiry has been
conducted on the part of Mr. Larpent, nor without re7n.
tioning that 4very facility was afforded to us in its prosecu-
tion, as well by the military officers commanding here and
at the prison, as by the Magistrates in the vicinity. I
have the honour to be, with much respect, your most obe-
dient humble servant,

(Signed) CHARLES KING.
His Excellency J. Q. Adam•, &c.

London, April 18, ISIS.
Sltt,—At the recpiest of Lord Castlereagh, we have had
interviews with him and Mr. Goulburn, on the subject of the
ransportation of the American prisoners now in this coun-
try, to the United States, and of the late unfortunate
event at the depot of Dartmoor. On the first subject, we
agreed to advise your acceptance of the proposition of Lord
Castlereagh, to transport the prisoners at the joint expence
of the two countries, reserving the construction of thd
article{ of the treaty, which provldes for the mutual
restoration of. prisoners, for future adjustment. It was
stated by us, and was so understood, that the joint expence,
thus to be incurred, is to comprehend as well the requisite
tonnage, as the subsistence of the prisoners; and more-
over, that measures of precaution should be adopted relative
to the health and conduct of the risque% similar to thoie

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