The prisoners' memoirs, or, Dartmoor prison

by C. Andrews

There’s honor still in me.

The back house was at some distance, and the snow drifted in from ten to fifteen feet deep; this formed an impassable barrier; but Capt. Shortland, at the head of two hundred French prisoners, all the horse of the garrison, and clerks, turnkeys, &c., after working one whole day, shovelled a passage sufficient for wagons to pass. For should the weather continue as cold as it then was, all communication between that place and Plymouth, whence the provisions were brought, being totally stopped by the great depth of snow, they were in danger of starving. On the twenty-fifth the weather began to moderate and the snow began to dissolve.

The eighth man, who made his escape, had wandered over the moor, through the deep snow, till by chance he came to a single hut on the moor; the peasants suspected him to be a prisoner, as no person could travel in such tedious weather, and after examining him some time, he confessed he had made his escape from prison. They brought him back, and he received the same sentence as his unsuccessful companions. During his absence, all the officers and prisoners were much concerned at the miserable fate they were confident he must have shared, as it was impossible for him long to live, for if he survived the storm, he must starve in a few days: but it seemed he had reached the hut on the second day, without being frozen in any part. The officers and guards considering his attempt so bold and fearless of death, and showed such a noble longing for liberty, were really sorry to see him brought back, and declared that a man so dauntless as to dare such perils, deserved his liberty, and a reward; and had it been in their power he would have been released.

Here I must beg leave, though I fear the repetition of our distress may tire the reader, to appeal to the feeling of my fellow-citizens, at this time at ease beyond the great Atlantic: what would you have done, could you have seen your fellow-citizens at Dartmoor, the coldest winter there has been for half a century, without fire or light, during the night, without stockings, and many without shoes, and nearly naked, half starved, buried in snow, upon the top of an uninhabited and uncultivated mountain, the camp distemper among them, and overrun with vermin; great numbers dying, and death grimly threatening every man?

Say, would you not have pitied and flew to their relief, and left the gay circle of your amusement?

But few entered the service of the enemy this month; the weather being so very cold, they dreaded the removal to Plymouth.

February, 1814.—The weather was more moderate, and snow dissolving very fast.

We received a letter from Mr. Beasley, for the first time since our confinement, which had continued ever since April, 1813. This is the first scrap in writing any prisoner in England had ever received from him. It reads as follows:—“Fellow-citizens, I am authorized by the government of the United States to allow you one penny halfpenny per day, for the purpose of procuring you tobacco and soap, which will commence being paid from the first day of January, and I earnestly hope it will tend towards a great relief in your present circumstances. I likewise would advise you to appoint a committee, by which means you can convey to me any intelligence through the Board of Transport.” Immediately after the reception of this letter, we formed a committee of six, five besides myself, who were to see that every man had his money, and gave a receipt to Capt. Shortland, who was authorized by Mr. Beasley to pay it.

In conformity to these arrangements, we received, on the 5th of February, three halfpence sterling per day (less than three cents). This money was to be paid every thirty-two days: as one month had passed from the time it was to commence, we received the payment for all that time. The day’s allowance of cash would purchase two pounds of potatoes, or three chews of tobacco, which latter was five shillings and six-pence sterling all over England. We returned to Mr. Beasley a letter, acknowledging the receipt of the money, and stated the great alteration this little attention had made in the prisoners; every man was animated beyond description to find himself again acknowledged by the United States; that before that time they concluded that during the twelve months they had been immured in prisons, so far from their country, that they were entirely forgotten by her, and that she did not any more remember she had such sons as those at Dartmoor. The gloom that had so long clouded their countenances now began a little to disappear, and the prospect a little brightened, and we had hopes of life; but still our nakedness was grievous to bear. In a letter of thanks to our government, through the medium of Mr. Beasley, we stated every particular of our situation, our past and our present sufferings. We stated to him that it could not be possible that the Congress of the United States had allowed that small sum for those few articles, and had not made any provision for clothing, which ought to have occupied their first attention, for without clothes we did not need soap. We must, therefore, conclude this sum was allowed by himself out of the United States funds, and that we were extremely grateful for it; that the United States, were they acquainted with all the particulars of our situation, would make immediately all requisite arrangements for clothing, which his Honor Mr. Beasley must be well satisfied we were much in need of. After this correspondence with Mr. Beasley, we formed resolutions to expel all gambling, and were fully confident that some greater arrangement would be made for us.

Before this time seventy-five had entered the British service out of nine hundred Americans at this depot; but now not a man mentioned such a thing; he could not be persuaded to do it. This shows how much effect so little attention of Mr. Beasley had upon the prisoners. We, on the 22d of this month, petitioned to have the black prisoners separated from the white, for it was impossible to prevent these fellows from stealing, although they were seized up and flogged almost every day. Our petition was granted, and we greatly relieved, and the blacks, ninety in number, occupied the upper stories.