The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-14
Story OF Massacre
AT DartInoor Prison
By An Eye Witness
HOW AMERICAN PRISONERS OF
WAR WERE SHOT DOWN BY
ORDER OF A BRITISH
OFFICER IN 1918.
Story Told by Capt. Benjamin, Native
of and Resident of Stratford For
Many Years After the War
Was Ended.
Especial ito the Farmer.)

Especial ito the Farmer)
Stratford. March 14.-Capt. D. Pulas-
XII Benjamin was born in Stra fo-d,
May %, 1886. and the following account
Of his experiences as a prisoner OF
war in England was told by himself
and Transcribed in January, 1879:
81 was but boy on board of the
ship Pallas bound for Cadiz and we
were in sight Of that town when our
ship was overhauied and captured on
December "a. 1872, by the British ship
Of war Schcff and sent into Gibraltar;
kept there fo: some time and then sent
with other prisoners to England in
a British 74-gun ship, arriving there
in April, 1879. We were then con-
fired ON ore of a number or old pri@pn
hulks moored in the river Midway n ar
Chatham On board this Old ship
called the Glory there were LOO
French prisoners and 2A0 of US Amer
leans. After While a vessel took
home some of the American pr oners
and the rest of US were kept in this
prison ship till the fall Of 1914, about
year and a half, when in October
We were sent around to Dartmoor. 1t
took several ships to carry us all We
were landed at Plymouth and from
moor. This was the first time I had
SET my foot on Mother Earth for over
two years. Dartmoor is noted for Re
ing the site of a prison built in 1879
for the custody of French prisoners
of war during the long war with Ma
poleon. At one time the prisoners
numbered 10000 including French and
Americans captured ON the high seas)
The prison area covered about 80 acres
and is circular Enclosure with a high
wall of stone which ahounds in that
locality, of more than a mile N c1rcu1n-
ference. A wall also divided it into
two parts, on one side of which was
the prison and on the other the bar
racks, hospital, &c. The storms Of the
Atlantic sweep over it in winter and
a more desolate looking place 1t would
be d'f7cult to ina CINE. I STAYED thee
all winter On the oath of Decem Der
1914, the treaty CT peace between the
United States and Great Rri ain vas
signed at Client, but it Yves long after
that before we got our liberty, as
there was so much red tape 20 be gone
through. l was amo~g tire first to leave
but it was not until May 10, 1914 that
l 'oreathed the air OF freedom and was
bound for the Tnf'ed States. 1t re-
quired many vessels to TRANSPORT 2,A0o
American rrieoners. L wfs after the
treaty of Client. on April 6. 1875 that
the massacre occurred and l will tell
you how it hapTened for [ do not
think a.nv printed account has heen
quite correct T-e~e Wee 5000 F -ench
and 2,400 American prisoners red
here The prisoners We're in the hab-
it of PLAYING hall and sometimes he
ball would go over the wall on the
so'9ie~s' side and thew would throw
it Rack, and we would throw theirs
ba tx when it came on our SIDE out
this time they did not return the FalL
AMI ore OF the American prisoners
made q hole in the division wall and
era wled though ard got the hall. As
soon as this was discovered by the
guard. the alarm bell rt1re. ard we al
rushed to see what was the matter, as
very few OF us knew ANYTHING about
the ball The troors We're drawn u
in the Square and a. the order Of Cant
Shorthand the comma 6irsr oefrer. FIR
ed at us as we wee all hudd' ed togeth-
err ki'line ard wourdirg 40. Ten
We're killed outright, more died later
from their Wounds You see there
were 5000 or 1000 of us in the inc'o-
sure. I think many more of us would
have met the same fate hut the SOL
dies knowine TIE injustice of the Or
der to fire. aimed high. 1t was moth
irr less than a ~assacre for it was
wholly unnrovoked.
ance a.. which he wished to ish us.
The previous week he bad gwen or
ders to se~ve out to each Of us
rourd of shin biscuits instead Of one
and one-ha'f pounds of coarse brown
bread which we usually had. This
sweet and we refused to accent the
sea biscuit. Our allowance
ca CHI dav was ore and ore-half ponds
of bread, one-half pound of meat,
three ounces Of Scotch barley, hale an
ounce of salt, quarter Of an ounce
of onions to each man. All TINS was
put into huge boilers and roade into
soun. thus YOU see the bread was an
important item. On account of our
~efusal they called out the troops and
threatened to fire on us. This was
~epea ted several times hut we would
-ot give in ard finally at mi6ri"ht we
rot our bread fresh from the ovens
rs they had to bake it for US. Then
re went quietly to our prisons Short |
and was very angry that he could not
make us eat his mouldv biscuits and
said he world FIX the damned Yankees |
he first chance he had One month az |
ter the massacre 1 was sent to Bos- !
ton"
Cant Renianoin was a respected res
.Sart oe StratfO~1 for many years af- |
ter he returned from his English pris- |
on ALTHOUGH be lived to see all diff |
eererces retween the ma lions apparent
w healed he never forgave the Eng
i,Sh TO" tH'S GU" Wy lt'T So = Ni'
could never he made to believe thore |
was any good in Frol'sh character.
Pe rose in his profession and was
ma ster OF sOroe of the f~e~t clippers
which sailed from New E'e'and and
on oa. eed IN the Fast india trade The
Pe,,ia rims now in town are from the
serne stock.
In comra risnn with the sturdy de-
eance Of American ~eo-'e in the two
decisive wars in which Great Britain
was thoroughly trourced is the atti- |
tude assumes nv good norton Of
the peolle of this county, to-day.