On the fourth, a circumstance occurred, which may lead to the recital of other circumstances, which many to whose hand this work may come, may be inclined to doubt the veracity of; but I can appeal, not only to those who have certified this work, but to nearly six thousand of my fellow prisoners, who upon their solemn oath can attest to the truth of what is herein contained.
During the whole of this day the prisoners remained without bread, and the captain of the prison gone to Plymouth: we were obliged to subsist on the four and a half ounces of beef, and the soup made of it; we demanded of the contractor the reason of our not drawing our usual allowance of bread; he answered, that it could not be obtained till to-morrow; we waited as patiently as our feelings would allow, till the expiration of thirty-six hours from the time we had received the last bread, when hunger became so pressing, that it drove us to a state of desperation, and we could no longer endure it, as the whole allowance was scarcely sufficient to sustain life. At dusk in the evening, we again demanded the reason of our not receiving our allowance of bread as usual, as the store-house we well knew contained a sufficiency of both hard and soft bread. The contractor’s clerk informed us, that a quantity of damaged hard bread, which had been kept in reserve for times of extreme necessity, now remained on hand, and that unless we would accept of one pound of that in lieu of the pound and a half of soft bread allowed by the Transport Board, until all they had was expended, he should not serve us with any bread, until Capt. Shortland returned from Plymouth.
The prisoners then collected themselves into companies, to consider of this very extraordinary conduct in the contractor; and after mature deliberation, they all concluded that it must be a design in the contractor to get rid of his damaged bread, before we went away, and had taken this opportunity, while the captain was absent, to compel us to receive it by starving us till we were willing; we therefore concluded rather to die by the sword, than the famine, and determined to remain no longer in this starving condition, for we had all this time lived solely on the four and a half ounces of beef. Thus desperate by starvation, we determined to force open the gates in front of the prison, disarm the soldiers, break open the store-house and supply ourselves; and provided the garrison should charge or fire upon us, to make a general attack, and take possession of the guard house and barracks, and stand the consequences let come what might. Accordingly at dark, the prisoners were ordered, as usual, inside the prisons to be locked up for the night, but instead of complying with orders, a signal previously agreed on was given, and passed like lightning through every prison, and every prisoner appeared instantly at the gate in one solid body; on approaching the gates, and bursting open the first three, the soldiers and turnkeys stationed there, fled in the utmost confusion and consternation to the main body in the guard house. The alarm-bells rung and the drums in every direction around the garrison beat to arms; the women in the different houses connected to the depot, flew in confusion and terror in every direction from the depot; in a few moments the alarm had reached the neighboring villages for many miles, and the militia assembled in arms to assist the garrison, which was at this time twelve hundred. We stood arranged in front of the store-house ready to receive the attack of the soldiery, or receive our usual allowance of bread; in a few moments the soldiers arrived and advanced with charged bayonets within two yards of the prisoners. The soldiers were then brought to a stand by the threats of the prisoners who all declared, in the most determined tone, that if they attempted to fire or make a charge on them, they must abide by any consequences that would follow: we told them that we were confident that no such orders had been issued by the government of Great Britain; we also told them, that unless the bread was served out immediately, that the store-house should be levelled with the ground, and every prisoner should march out of the prison. The contractor, clerks, &c. then immediately came forward and entered into this engagement, that if the prisoners would retire into the prison yards, that the bread should be immediately served to them; the prisoners agreed and retired, and for the securing the fulfilment of the engagement, they took with them as a hostage one of the clerks inside of the prison, and there to remain till every prisoner had received his usual allowance of bread, which was not till after twelve o’clock at night. During this time, the guards, soldiers, keepers, and every person connected with the prison, remained in the greatest apprehension, fearing the prisoners had some further intention than merely to obtain their bread; they feared their troubles would end in a more serious way, and the prisoners all make their escape. But next morning showed that the prisoners had no intention of escaping, for during the confusion of the night, many of them had taken the opportunity to scale the walls in an opposite direction, while the attention of the guard was taken up with the main body of them.
Those that had gone out after remaining all night, came and demanded admittance into prison again. This movement in the prisoners astonished the natives of the moor, who left vacant their huts and fled for safety; and the women and children had retired to the nearest towns, and there took refuge, and the men had joined the garrison for protection.
During the night an express was sent to Plymouth to acquaint Capt. Shortland of the event, and that the prisoners had complete possession of the whole garrison, and the control of all things at Dartmoor. In the morning Capt. Shortland arrived with a reinforcement of two hundred soldiers; but found all things quiet and tranquil; as the prisoners had obtained their usual allowance of bread, they were satisfied and sought nothing more. Capt. Shortland made an apology for the conduct of the contractor, and things passed on tolerably well; but great suspicions remained among the people who had formerly attended the market, and these had spread abroad and become the general opinion outside the walls, that the American prisoners being detained so long since the ratification had arrived, now three weeks, in which time Mr. Beasley might have had all discharged and on their passage to the United States, had grown impatient; and as no ships had yet sailed from London to receive them, their forbearance was quite exhausted, and from some threats that had been thrown out by some of the prisoners in presence of the market people, that if the agent of their country did not procure their release within one month from the arrival of the treaty, that they would take their liberty in a body, being determined to risk their lives at all hazards, and depend on their own exertions for their liberty among armed soldiers, rather than remain in the wretched condition they were then in. These suspicions had gone so much abroad, that every body about the prison was apprehensive the prisoners would make the attempt to escape in a body, and some unhappy issue grow out of it. But the prisoners generally had no design of escaping, as by that means they would lose their opportunity of returning home in the cartels. On the sixth, we addressed a letter to Mr. Beasley, on the subject of our discharge, and informed him that we had made application to the British Government to interfere in forwarding our release, as he, Mr. Beasley, had delayed the time already nearly one month, and had only procured three ships, and them still in London, when at the same time ships could have been procured at Plymouth, on equally as good terms as at London, which would, with very little exertion on the part of Mr. Beasley, have released the greater part of the prisoners in two weeks from the arrival of the ratification of the treaty.
The story I am about to relate is of the deepest concern, as well to every citizen of the United States as to those who were the immediate subjects of it. The event concerns the interest of both governments, and deserve to be treated in the most candid and impartial manner; every transaction whereby the intention of those acting in it can be discovered, require to be shown in the purest and most open view.
That the public may have all that can be known on this important subject, I purpose to lay before them, in the first instance, what passed within my own knowledge, that I myself was witness to; then to give them the report of the committee appointed by the prisoners to investigate the circumstances of the massacre; and lastly, to give the report of the agents appointed by the two governments.
What one of that Nation, or what soldier of that hardened, wretched band, can refrain from tears even while he relates the murderous deeds?
“What blind, detested madness could afford,
Such horrid license to the murd’ring sword!”