Athens gazette. (Athens, Ga.) 1814-18??, July 13, 1815, Image 1
VOL. 11. PRINTED WEEKtIi 3T BODGE*& M i DONNELL, *4* «.-■ *.■• *< •£L S( ; ■• # .;■ ms CONDITIONS. ‘ * Ist The Annual i Subscrip Mon vrill be tßree r o i, lars, half in advance. ■ 24, Sulwcribers living out of the State will pay* the whole subscription upon the delivery of ’ the first number, ‘:- v b , 3d. No Subscriptions will be received for less than one year; and no paper shall be dis continued unt|j!-arrearages are paid. 4th. Advertisements will be inserted at the customary rates. ‘ 1 ■ «.;v i fCT* Letters addressed to the Edi *oks must be pest paid, •__ f-f ♦ • - ] . * .. * ®9 9 ® 99 ® 9Q^ss**"*"**"* \ FURTHER DETAILS Respecting the Dartmoor Massacre • Toth Editor of the Commercial Advertiser • l New-York, June 10. As I cbflceive it will be a gratification to the citizens of the Ignited State* to know the particulars of the. distressing eve lit which took place at Dartmoor pri son on: the 16th April last, I send yop a cop:/ of the original report, made by the committee appointed bf the prison ers t<» investigate the affair, and beg Iyou will give it publication as early as possible. I am, su*, yoar obedient ser *• -% ’ ’ rv i * HENRY almost: We, the undersigned, being each se ▼ej a*y sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, for the* investigation of the circumstances attending the late hpre and m tssacre, and having heard the depositions of a great number, of witnes ses-—from our personal knowledge, and from the depositions given in aforesaid. REPORTS AS FOLLOWS : That, on the 6th April, about six o’- clock m the evening, when the prison ers, were all quiet in tneir respective yards, it being about the usual time of lurbnig in for the night* and the grea ter part of life prisoners being then in the prisons, the alarm bell was rung,, A and many of the prisoners, ran up to *the market square tp learn the occasion of the alarm. There were then drawn up in the square, several hundred soldiers with captain Shortlancf ftlie agent] at their hpad ; it was likewsse observed at the same time, that additional numbers of soldiers were posting themselves on walls round the prison yards. One of them observed to the prisoners, that they had better go ihto the prisons for v they would be charged upon directly This, of conrse, occasioned considerable alarm among them- In this moment of unct: iinty,,they were running in dis , enquiring the cause* 1 oi the alarm—some towards their res- j pective prisons, and some towards the ! market-square. When about one hun- j dred were collected in the square, cap tain Shortland ordered the ‘ soldiers to- j Charge upon them, which order the sol- , diers reluctantly Obeyiug, as the prison- | ers were using no violence ; but on the 1 order being repeated’, they made a charge* and the prisoners returned oht otibe square into the prison yards, and , shut the gates after them* Captain Shortland, himself, opeired the gates, j and ordered the soldiers to fire in among j the prisoners* who were all returning ‘ in different directions towards ,their ; respective prisons. It • appears that j there was some hesitation m the minds ! of the officers, whether or not it was pro- _ per to*fire upon the prisoners in that situation ; cm which Shdrtland seized a musket out of the hands of a soldier, which he fired. Immediately after, the fire became general, and many.ot tiie prisoners were either killed -or wouiv* ded—The remainder were endeavoring to getintothe prisons, when “going to wards the lower doors, the soldiers on the walls commenced firing on tnera from that quarter* which killed some and wounded others. After much diffi culty, [all the doors being closed tu the entrance, but one in each prison} the survivors succeeded in gaining the pn of Soldiers came to the doors oi Nos. 3 and 5, prisons, and fired several voilies . ATHENS , THURSDAY , JULT 13, 1815. into them through the Windows andi doors, which killed one man in each I prison and severely wounded others. It likewise appears, that *the prece ding butchery was followed up with a disposition of pecu iar inveteracy and barparily. One man being severely \vounded in No. 7 prison yard, and being unable to make his Way to the prison .was come up with by the soldiers, whom, he im plored for mercy, but in vain, five of the haidened wretdhes immediately levelled their peiCes at him, and shot him dead on the spot. The soldiers who were posted on the walls, manifested equa cruelty, by keeping up x constant fire on every prisoner they could see in th< yard endeavoring to get in the prison when there numbers were very few, ano when not the least shadow of resistance 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 matching in from the square—they i m mediately went up and fired into the Same, which ‘Wounded several—one of the prisoners ran out with the intention of gaining his prison, but was-killed be fore he reached the door. „ On an impartial consideration of all* the circumstances of the* case, we are induced to believe that it was a preme ditated scheme in the mind of captain Shortland for reasons which we will noAv proceed to give—as an elucidation of its prigin we will recur back to an event winch happened some days previous. Captain Shortland was ft the time absent at Plymouth', but before going he order ed the contractor or his clerk |o serve out one pound of indifferent hal’d bread, instead of one pound and an half of soft ; bread, their usual allowance—this the prisoners refused to receiVe—they wai ted all clay in expectation oCtheir usual allowance being served out, but at sun set, finding this would not be the case, burst open the lower gates, and went up to the store demanding to haVe their Jbread. * ✓ ’ Y * he officers of the garrison, on be*’ ig alarmed, and informed of these procee dings. observed that it was no more than right ihfc prisoners should have their us ual allowance, and strongly reprobated tire conduct of captain Shortland in withholding it from thefn—they were accordingly served with their bread, and f Quietly returned to their prison. This circumstance, with the censures that were thrown on his conduct, reached the ears of Shortland on his return home, and he must then have determin ed on the diabolical plan of seizing the first alight pretext to turn m the milita j ry, to butcher the prisoners for the gra : tification ol his malice and reyengc. It u fortunately happened, that in the af l ternoori of the 6th of April, some boys ■ who were playing ball in No-7 yard, \ knocked their ball over into the barrack i and on the sentry in that yard re i fusing to throw it back to thenpi, they ; picked a hole irt the wall to get in after kit*’ - • ->v .■ >’ . ** I” ‘ t# This afforded Shortland his wished for pretext, and he took his measures accor dmgly ; he had all the garrison drawn up in the military walk, additional num bers posted on the walls, and every thing * ready prepared, before the alarm bfll was rung ; this he naturally concluded, t would draw the attention of a great I number of prisoners toivards the gates, ! to learn the cause of the alarm, while i the turnkeys were dispatched, info the yards, to lock all the doors but one of each prison# to prevent the prisoners returning out of the way before he had sufficiently wreaked his vengeance. What adds particular weight to the belief of its being a premeditated, deter jn ned massacre, are, first —The sanguinary diposjtion ma on every occasion by Shortland, he having, prior to this time, ordered the sold ers to fire into the prisons through \he prison wmows, upon unar med prisoners asleep in their ham mocks, on account of a light being seen in toe prisons ; which barbarous act as was repeated several nights successively* That murder was not then committed, was owing to an overruling Providence alone, tor the balls were picked up in tfie prisons, where they passed through the hammocks of men then asleep in them, tie having also ordered the sol diers to fire upon the prisoners in the , yard of No. 7. prison, because they would not defiver up to him a man who had escaped from hjs cachot which order the commanding officer of the soldiers refused to obey ; and generally* he ha ying seized on every slight pretext to injure the prisoners, by stopping then* marketing for ten diys repeatedly, and once a third part of their provision for the same length of time. Secondly —fie .having been heard to sa y, when the boys had picked the hole in the wall* and some time before the alarm bell rung, while all the prisoners were quiet as usual in their respective yards—“ PU Jix th r darn'd rascals direct ly£ Thirdly^ His having all the soldiers on their posts, and the grrison fully prepared before the alarm .bell rung. It could not then*of course, be rung to as senffile the soldiers, but to alarm the prisoners, and create confusion among , them v Fourthly— The soldiers upon the wall, previous to the alarm Bell being rung, informed their prisoners that they would be charged upon directly. Fifthly. The turnkeys* going into the } ards, and closing all the doors but one in each prison, while the attention of the prisoners was attracted by the a larm bell. This was done about fifteen minutes sooner than usual* and without informing the prisoners it was time to shut up It was ever the invariable practice of the turnkeys, from, which they never deviated before that night* when coming into the yard to shut up, to halloo to the prisoneis»so lond as, to be heard throughout the yards, turn in, turn ml” whiie on that night it was’ done so secretly, that not one man in a hundred knew they were shut ; and in particular their shutting the door of No- 7 prison, which the prisoners usUall) go in and ou'. at, (and which was for inerly always closed rnd leaving one open in the other end of the prison, which was exposed to a cross fire from the soldiers on the wall, and which the prisoners had to pass in gaining the prisons. r It appears to us that the foregoing reasons sufficiently warrant the conclu sions we nave drawn therefrom. We likewise believe, from the depo sitions oi men who were eye witnesses of a part or Shortland's conduct on ti.e evening of the 6th of April, that he was intoxicated with liquor at the tilde from his brutality in beating a prisoner then supporting another severely woun ded ; from the blackguard and abusive language he made use of, and from his having frequently been seen in the same state. His being drunk’ was of course the means of inflaming his bitter enmi ty against the prisoners, and no doubt was the cause of the indiscriminate butchery, and of no qua.lers being shown. j. We here solemnly aver that there was no preconcerted plan to attempt breaking out* There cannot be produ ced the least shadow of a reason or in ducement for that intention, the prison ers daily ex ecung to be released, and embark on ooad cartels for their native country. And we likewise solemnly as sert that there was no intention of resis ting in any manner, authority of this despot. N. B. beven were killed, thirty dan gerously wounded, and thirty slightly do. i otai* sixty killed and wounded. COMMIT! HE—Wm* B. Orne, Wip. Hobart* James Boggs, James Aderns, Francis Joseph, Jonn F. John Rust, Henry Allen, Walter Colton, ihomasß Moit. v : Dartmoor Prison , {7th, 1815 Boston, j|lie 19. OF THE ALGERINES, fee. -Arrived at this port* on Friday even ing last, the prize brig Fallas* twenty nine days irom Cadiz—particular en- * quiries have been made of the passen gers relative to the Algerines, and some of them * state as their belief, that a small sqUadron of 8 or >0 sail had bee*; oft Capt bu Vincent the latter end ol . April, or Ist that they re passedtbe Gut previous to the 10th May and they give it as their opinion that none were out the Streights when they left Cadiz Capt Page informs that he Conversed with a Spanish captain who arrived a fortnight or three weeks before he sailed, and he informed that his vessel had ‘been ‘boarded by an Alge rine frtgate.off Cape St. Vincent and suffered to proceed. A lew days pre vious to the sailing of the Pallas, sever al reports, were in circulation, that a large Algerine fleet were off St Vin cent, that they had captured several American vessels &c. but they could not be traced to any source, and were generally, not credited. \ Ihe passengers .also state that about 25 sail of Dutch vessels bound tp Holland had been detained at Cadiz nearly 2 months and a half, fearing to put to sea, in cottsequc rice of the numerous reports of an Algerine squadron being off Cape St. Vincent V that the Dutch Admiral at Portsmouth* f Eng.J had written to the Dutch Consul at Cadiz, requesting him to have all the Dutch vessels in port ready for siea, when he appeared off there, (which he stated would be near ly if not (juite, as soon as he received the that he might convoy them clear of the coast 1 the Dutch squadron of three ?4’s, four frigates, Sc several smaller passed in the night and arrived at Gibraltar about the 11th or 12th of May ; that as soon as they heard at Cadiz of their arrival, all the Dutch vessels in port ready for sea sailed, conceiving the coast to be clear. Oheof the passengers informs that he saw a letter from Algiers, to Mr Hack ley, American Consul at Cadiz, dated 23d April, which stated that the Alge rine fleet were all in port excepting 4 .or 5 which were out and they did not go °ut of sight of land, for fear ol being cut off from the port by the Dutch squadron, which was hourly expected on there ; that captain Smith and his mate, oi Salem, and Mr. Poland of Nor folk, weie in good heaph, and comforta bly situated at the house of the Swedish Consul ; and that the American seamen tareu very well, (having one dollar per day allowed each, by our government, which was paid by the Swedish consulJ and were not compelled to do any very laborious work. Mr. Maya one of the passengers in the Pallas was informed by Mr. Hackley our consul, a few days before he sailed, that lie had endeavored to trace the numerous reports of an Algvnne fleet being outside the Straights to some source, but was unable, and gave it as his opin.on that those reports were all without foundation. MU • Extract of a letter from the Hon . Benja* min Barker to Governor Posey r dated Vtncenncsi March 9, 1815. H Since the Indians left here, some of the Miamies, Kidfapods* and Putta wattamies, have had a council near Fort Harrison. Their orator announced that the British had ‘Sent a large wampum belt to the Indians at the Vermillipni with an invitation to the several tribes on the YVabash, to send a chief from each to Malden. He said that he suppo sed the object of the English in.solici ting ; his visit was to inform them that peace has been, made between the Uni ted States and Great Britain ; but, de clared that they were determined faith* fully perform the engagement the/ had entered into with me at this place* Little Eyes however informed Broyillet that Richardville at the instance of the British had invited Labosime Stone Ea ter, &c, with theib young warriors, to repair to Malden without delay ; that tney were informed by the British, through Richardville, that peace has not been made between the United States and <jreat Britain--- that the poverty of the Indians was owing to the frauds practised upon them by the Americans m respect tu their lands—and that the whole coun try of the Ohio belongs to them. La* i ai'bois says that the British are persua* aihg the Indians that peace has not yet been made between the United States and G, untam, i give you the above as F nave received it, and have no doubt of its truth * “ With what paiticuiar view the Bri tish agents .have circulated these false* uoods, and invited the Indians, even in NO. LXXIV. \ H* ‘ V..