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'>* jdn \mam :: Number 71—Volume XIII. r Mf' - ■ TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 181$. = «• ♦ ; 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 $ a