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Number 71—Volume XIII.
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TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 181$.
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♦ ; r FURTHER DETAILS
^ Respecting the Dartmoor Massacre.
To tiie Editors of the
, 1 * Commercial Advertiser.
Iew-Yor£, June 10.
’ conceive it will be a gratifica-
tibn to the citizens cf* the United
States to know -the particulars of the
^distressing event which took place at
Dartmoor prison on the 6th of April
send you a copy of the original
* iopart, made bV the committee aft-
pointed by the prisoners to investigate
the affair, and beg you will give it pub-
J* lication as early as possible. I am, sirj
. fygpr obedient servant.
Henhy Alien.
' We, the undersigned, being each se
verally sworn on tire holy Evangelists
of Almighty God, for the investiga
tion of the circumstances attending the
was come up with by the soldiers,
whom, he implored for mercy, but in
vain, five of the hardened /wretches
immediately levelled their pieces at
him, and shot him dead on the spot.
The soldiers who were posted on the
walls, manifested equal cruelty, by
keeping'up a constant fire on every
prisoner they could see iii the yard en-'
deavoring to get in the prison, when
their, numbers were very few, and
when not the least shadow op resis
tance could be made or expected!
Several” of them had got into No. 6.
prison cook-house, which was pointed
out by the soldiers on the walls, to
those who were marching in from the
square—they immediately went up
and fired into the same, which wound
ed several—one of the prisoners ran
out with the intention of gaining his
prison, but was killed before he reach
ed the door.
On an impartial consideration of all
late horrid massacre, and having heard
ihb depositions cf a great number of' the circumstances of the case, we are
vitnesses—from our own personal j induced to believe that it whs a preme-
jb'6wledge, and from the depositions ! ditatecl scheme in the mind of captain
"lbin as aforesaid, w r^^nc «.-#• win
REYORT AS FOLLOWS
, That, on the 6th of April, about six
f- ' O’clock in the evening, when the pri-
?•’ Sonars were all quiet in their respec-
» ^tive yards, it being about tire usual
time of turning in for the right, and
ll- the greater part of the prisoners being
fchen in the prisons, the alarm bell was
EUtlg, and many of the prisoners ran up
to the-market-square to learn the oc
casion of the alarm. There were then
• drawn un in the square, several hun-
« ildiers*miih captain Shortland
er»t] at their head; it was Iike-
>served at the same time, that
additional numbers of soldiers were
posting themselves on the walls round
the prison yards. One of them' ob
served to the prisoners, that they had
better go into the prisons, for they
would be charged upon directly.—
This, of course, occasioned considera
ble alarm among them. In this mo-
jxitht of uncertainty, they were run.
ttttling in different directions, enqur ing
£xhs cause of the alarm—some toward
their respective prisons, and some to
ward the market-square. When about
f one- hundred were collected in the
square, captain Shortland ordered the j °
soldiers to charge upon them, which ( "
hortland, for reasons which we will
now proceed to give—as an ellucidt-
tion of its origin we will recur back to
an event which happened some days
previous. Captain Shortland was a<
the time absent at Plymouth, but be
fore going he ordered the contractor
or his clerk to serve out one pound
of indifferent hard bread, instead of one
pound and an half of soft bread, their
usual allowance—this the prisoners re
fused to receive—they waited all day
in expectation of their usual allowance
being served out, but at sunset, find
ing this would not be the case, burst
open the lmv -r gates, and went up to
the store demanding to have their
bread.
The officers of the garrison, on be
ing alarmed, and informed of these
proceedings, observed that it was no
more than right the prisoners should
have the ir usual allowance, and strong
ly reprobated the conduct of captain
Shortland in withholding it from them
—they were accordingly served with
their bread, and quietly returned to
their prison. This circumstance, with
the censures that were thrown on his
conduct, reached the ears qf Shortland
; on his return home, and he must then
ave determined on the diabolical plan
order the soldiers were reluctant obrv- i [>f seizing the first slight pretext to turi
' m the military, to butcher the prison
ers fir the gratification of his malice
mg, as tne prisoners were using no vio
lence ; but oii the order being repeat-
* cd, they made a charge, and the pri
soners retreated out of the square into
the prison yards, and shut the gates
after them. Captain Shortland, him
self, opened the gates, and ordered the
A soldiers to fire in among the prisoners,
who were all retreating in different
h directions towards their respective pri-
I Seals. It appeal’s there was some he
sitation in the minds of the officers,
whether or not. it was proper to fire
Bp upon the prisoners in that situation ;
SP on which Shortland seized a musket
■oul of the Hands of u soldier, which he
fireij. Immediately afters the fi e be
came general, and many of the prison
ers weije.letther killed or wounded —
The remainder were endeavoring to
" pet into the prisons, when going to
wards the lower doors, the soldiers on
wfUl^ipommenced firing on them
4lfi|pom,lSa^uarter v which i HHl some!
und ” wounded others. After much
* dificwltjvPal! the'dodrs/heing closed j ven ? £SRCe * . . ,
in the entrance, but one in each prison] :, ,? d f. P ccilh f «\ thc
the survivors succee ded in gaining; btln.1 of its being a p emeditated, de-
thp prisons; immediately after which i terRunt ' d massacre, a.e, ^
t^ttics-cf soldiers came to the doors of J First—The sanguinary disposition
-fjsos. 3 and 4 prisons, and fired several | manifested on every occasion by Short-
yodlies into.them through the windows , land, he having, prior to this time, or-
Sand'&oors, which kilted one man in dered the soldiers to fire into the pri-
' each prison and severely wounded] sons through the prison windows.
Others. I upon unarmed prisoners asleep in their.
- ji> ltriiljBf wise appears, that the prece-1 hammocks, on account of a light be'
butchery “" ’ -! * 1
di>p
and revenge. It unfortunately hap
pened, that in the afternoon of the 6th
of April, some boys who were playing
ball in No. 7. yard, knocked their ball
over into the barrack yard, and on the
sentry in that yard refusing to throw it
back to them, they pi< ked a hole in
the wall to get in after it.
This afforded Shortland his wished
f w pretext, and he took his measures
accordingly ; he had all the garrison
drawn up in the military walk, ac
tional numbers posted on the walls, and
every thing ready prepired, before the
alarm bell was rung ; this he naturally
concluded, would draw the attention
of a great number of prisoners to
wards the gates, to learn the cause of j dneed the least shadow of a reason or
the alarm, while the turnkeys were dis- ] inducement for that intention, the pri-
patched into the yards, to lock all the ] soners daily expecting to be released,
doors but one of each prison, to pre- j and embark on board cartels for their
vent the prisoners retreating out of the j native country. And we likew ise so-
way before he had sufficiently wreak- i lemitly assert, that there was no intea-
r--»- . j —
they passed through the hammocks of,
men then asleep in them. He having j
also ordered the soldiers to fire upon
the prisoners in the yard of No. '7. pri
son, bfgausethey would not deliver up
to him a rtian who had escaped from
his cnchot which order the command
ing officer of the soldiers refused to
obey; and generally:, he having seized
or every slight pretext te injure the
prisoners, by stopping their marketing
for ten d;i s repeatedly, and once a
third .'part of their, provision . for the
same length of time.
Secondly—He having been heard to
say, when the boys had picked the
hole in the wall, and some time before
the a'arm bell rung, while all the prison
ers were quiet as usual in their respec
tive y.rd>—“ I\lfix the damn'd rascals
directly ”
Thirdly—His having all the soldiers
on their posts, and the garrison fully
prepared before the alarm bell rung,
ft could not then, of course, be rung
to assemble the soldiers, but to alarm-
the prisoners, and create confusion
among them.
Fourthly—The soldiers upon the
wall, previous to the alarm bell being
rung, informing the prisoners that they
would be charged upon directly.
Fifthly The turnkeys going into
the yards and closing all the doors but
one in each prison, while the attention
of the prisoners was attracted by the
alarm bell. This was done about fif
teen minutes sooner than usual, and
without informing the prisoners it yvas
time to shut up. It was ever the inva
riable practice of the turnkeys, from
which they never deviated before that
night, when coming into the yard to
shut up, to halloo to the prisoners, so
loud .os to be heard throughout the
yards,: 4 * turn in, turn in /” while on
that night it was done so secretly, that
not one man in a hundred knew they
were shut; and in particular their shut
ting the door of No. 7- prison, which
the prisoners usually go in a; d out at,
(and which was formerly always closed
last) and leaving one open in the other
end of the pi ison, which was exposed
to a cross fire from the soldiers on the
walls, and which the prisoners had to
pass in gaining the prisons.
• It appears to us that the foregoing
reasons sufficiently warrant the c inclu
sions we have drawn therefrom.
We likewise believe, from the de
positions of men who yvere eye yvitnes
ses of a part of Shortland’s conductor
the cv ningofthe fith of April, that lit
was intoxica’ed with liquor at the
time, from his brutality in beating a
prisoner then supporting another se
verely yvounded ; from the blackguard
and abusive language he made use of,
and from his having frequently been
seen in the same state. His being
drunk yvas of course the means of in
flaming his bitter enmity against the
prisoners, and no doubt was the cause
of the indiscriminate butchery, and of
no quarter being slioyvn.
We here solemnly aver, that there
yvas no preconcerted plan to attempt
breaking out. There cannot be pro-
WooLE Number 2531;' T;(
l , V
FOREIGN NEWSi
TRANSLATED FOR THE BALTIMORE
PTARIOT.
From the Paris Moniteut, 1 tth
1315.
EXTRACT FROM 3 HE REGISTERS O#
T1IE SECRETARY OF STATE.
barbarity,• *•$?!.
, , Ortip Than who \vasfseveri
td in No. 7 prison yart^Bii
able to make Jimvay to
T . ‘ r> 4 «. ■'••ll .•"*>■:•■ —
then conimitfed. was owing to anover-
nuling Providence alone , for the balls,
I were picked up in the prison, where
tinri of resisting, in any manner, the
authority of tliis depot.
N. B. Seven yvere killed, thirty
dangerously wounded, and thirty slight
ly do. Total, sixty seven killed and
yvounded.
Wk.B Orne,
Wm. Kobart,
James Boggs,
James Adams,
Francis Joseph,
John F. Trobridge, f g
John Rust,
Henry Allen,
Walter Colton,
Thomas B, Mott,
Dartmoor Prison t April 17$, 13
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS.
Sitting oj IFednesday, 2 9th of March.
The duke of Oranlo, ministi
general police] gar r e notice, that hi
going to read to the council a
claration dated Vienna, 13th of March,
and yvhich is supposed to have ema
nated from the congress; that that
declaration, provoking "the assassina
tion of the emperor, appeared to hart,
apocryphal; and, if really true, noth
ing of the kind could be found in the
history of the world. The libellous
style in which it is yvritten, gives rea
son to think that it is to be considered
as one of those fabricated productions
of party spirit, and bv some of those „
writers, yvho, without authority, have,
lately intermeddled in all theaftairsof
state ; that it is supposed to have been
signed by the Hritish ministers, and
that it is impossible to believe that
the ministers of a free nation, and
above all, that lord V\ elliogton,
should have done an act so contrary
to the legislation of their country* ai d
to their personal character; that it is
supposed to have been signed by the
Austrian ministers, and that it is im
possible to conceive, rvhatever differ
ence, in political opinions may other
wise exist, that a father may invite to
have his son assassinated : that con-
tiary to every moial and religious
principle, it is too degrading-to the
loyal character of the august sover
eigns whose ministers are thus traduc
ed by libellers ; that, that declaration
has been known for several days past,
but that from toe foregoing consider
ations, it yvas deemed proper to treat
it yvith the utmost contempt ; and was
not thought deserving; the minister’s
attention, until official r ports hao bten
reciived from Sirasburg aid Vietz,
from whi :h it appears that it yvas
brought to France by couriers from
t ; *e prince of Bcnevento ; a fact as
certained from the examination and
interrogation of those couriers; final
ly, that is demonstrated that, that de
claration, cannot have been signed by
the ministers of Austria, Russia, Eng
land and Prussia, and must have ema-
nati d from the legation of the count
de Li!’-c at Vienna; yvhich legation
has added to the crime of provoking
assassination, that of falsifying the sig
natures of the members of congress.
The pretended declaration of the
congress, together with the reports
from Strasburg and Metz, the inquest
and interrogatories yvhich have taken
place by order of the minister of gen
eral police and yvhich prove that the
said declaration has emanated from the
count de Lille at Vienna, shall be
transmitted to the several presidents
of sections of the council.
Certified true copy.
The Minister Secretary of State,
Duke cf Bassano.
[Here follows the declaration already
published in the Republican.]
Extract from the Registers of the .y_
Secretary of State.
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS,
Sitting of Sunday, 2d. April.
Report from the commission of ■
the Presidents of .the Council of State, or.
• The commission composed. of the:- J
presidents of the sections of the coun- f-
cil of state, have taken under consider- f
ation, the declaration ot the I3th ofSfM
March, the report of the minister^'*
of general police, and other papers
connected thcreyvith and referred
them.
The declaration is d r ayvn up insu^
an unusqal form, conceived in ter
so very strange, expresses, such at
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