Chapter XXIII: Part 23

2. When Shortland saw the hole it was just about the time for locking up; and the warders had begun to do this, and had locked all the doors of the prison houses except one in each for the ingress of those who were still in the yards. There was no evidence that this was done purposely before the proper time.

3. He ordered the alarm bell to be pealed and kept ringing, so that the prisoners did not hear the summons to all to go within. This was the real fact.

4. Then, surprised by the ringing of the bell, the prisoners in the several houses ran out, and pressed against the gate fastened with a chain; and one with a bolt or bar broke the chain, and with the pressure of the crowd the gate was burst open, and the prisoners surged forth into the outer or market square, which was also supplied with an iron gate, then open.

5. Shortland thereupon drew up the militia across the yard, and going before the line of soldiers, remonstrated with the prisoners and urged them to retreat; but this they were unable to do, owing to those who had entered the outer yard being pushed forward by those behind.

6. Thereupon he ordered the military to charge with fixed bayonets; and as the prisoners were slow in retiring, he or some one else or the soldiers on their own initiative fired on the crowd, and drove them through the inner gate into the inner yard, where the soldiers were assailed with insulting epithets, and some stones were thrown at them.

7. Some of the military ran up on the platform of the outer wall, and thence enfiladed the flying prisoners. There was no evidence that Shortland had placed these men on the wall before this took place.

8. Shortland then, possibly, retired into the outer yard and busied himself with the wounded, and left the military to do as they thought best in the inner yard, where they continued to fire volleys, driving the frightened prisoners in at the doors of their respective houses, fired in on them huddled together inside through the doorways and windows.

9. Major Joliffe at the time was in the barrack half a mile from the prison, when news reached him, whilst at mess, that there was a riot in the prison. He at once called out his grenadiers and marched to the prison, where he found firing going on, and he entered the inner yard and stopped the firing. The firing was done by the Somersetshire and Derbyshire militia.

10. Shortland at the same time or a little earlier, and conjointly with Joliffe, urged the soldiers to cease from firing.

Such, as far as can be made out from the account given by the witnesses on oath, both before the coroner and, subsequently, before the magistrates and the commissioners, appears to have been the sequence of events. Captain Shortland was not drunk at the time; indeed, as Dr. Magrath, the prison surgeon, testified that “having observed him on the evening of the 6th, no man could be more free from it; and from my acquaintance with him and with his general habits in his family, I do not think any man can be more abstemious.”

Governor Thomas George Shortland, Captain, R. N., gave his account on oath later, before the commissioners, and from it he appears to have been unarmed and in undress. His account is very confused, and speaks for the condition of his mind at the time--that he had lost his head, and did not know well what he did or did not do. It shall be given verbatim, only omitting unimportant particulars:--

“On the evening of the 6th, a little before 7 o’clock, Mr.
Holmsden, 1st clerk, came to my house and informed me there was a
disposition of the prisoners to be riotous, as they had got between
the railings and wall of No. 7 yard; in consequence, I walked down
to the upper gate. On coming there, I was informed the prison
barrack wall had been breached. I went to the yard and saw a large
hole, and the military guarding it under an officer whom I since
know to be Lieutenant Avelyn. On getting to the breach I observed
the prisoners using an iron bar to enlarge it. I remonstrated and
told them it was the prison barrack-yard, and that it would be
dangerous for them to attempt to force in; the prisoners shouted
and threw stones through the breach, and still continued at times
to enlarge it. I then heard some one say they were breaking the
wall above the cook-house in the prison barrack-yard, and nearly at
the same time there was a call out that they were forcing the lower
gates, while I was still in the lower barrack-yard. I immediately
left the yard and Lieutenant Avelyn followed me, leaving the breach
with a party and a sergeant. When I arrived at the blacksmith’s
shop I saw a rush of prisoners between the iron rails under the
platform: the gate was at this time forced, and the prisoners
were without the gates in the market square, where they are not
allowed to be. Seeing this, and having in my mind the breach in
the barrack wall and the reported breach above the cook-house,
bearing this in mind with the reported threats that had been
constantly told me that the prisoners would liberate themselves
on or before the 10th April, I ordered the alarm bell to be rung.
At this time part of the west guard, which is called the piquet,
had gone round to turn the prisoners out of the railway in No. 7
yard, and another part of the same piquet was in the barrack-yard;
so that the force was reduced to the north guard only; Lieutenant
Avelyn formed that guard and marched down into the market square.
I preceded them, and about half-way down the guard formed in a
line, keeping their left close to the hospital wall. At this time
I should suppose there were from 4 to 500 prisoners in the market
square; I was perfectly unarmed, and went down to remonstrate with
them, using all persuasions in my power to make them return to
their prisons, stating that the military guard was formed about
them, and it was dangerous to attempt to use force. I was at this
time about six paces in front of the guard, and the prisoners kept
still pressing up, and pressing me on the military; they appeared
to want to get round the left of the military, keeping close to
the hospital wall. At this time I looked back,[44] and said, ‘For
God’s sake, soldiers, keep your ground!’ bearing in mind that there
was not a single soldier above these to prevent escape through the
outer gates. Almost immediately, about twelve or fifteen soldiers
charged down towards No. 1, towards the hospital gates, about 5 or
6 paces, and they returned into line again. I was still at this
time in front and had gone forward again, urging the prisoners who
had retreated when a discharge of musketry took place. While I was
in that position, being to the right of the centre of the guard,
and not near the hospital wall, a musket ball grazed my temple
in that discharge, when I retreated into line with the soldiers;
the prisoners retreated and advanced again, and about this time
Major Joliffe gave the orders to fire, conceiving he had done so
from seeing the Major appear at the moment. Indeed in a former
conversation with General Brown, in the presence of Major Gladding,
being asked if an attempt were made to resist the authority of the
depôt I should order the military to fire, I told General Brown
as well as the Major, that I did not think myself authorized to
command the military to fire, because it was their duty to do it
when they thought it necessary. I don’t recollect a suspension of
the ringing the bell and then commencing again; it was a continual
ringing; I ordered it in consequence of seeing that the prisoners
had broken through the breach in the wall, and the other reported
breach. I did not hear any orders to fire. It must be understood
that I was with the prisoners, who were making a great noise,
hurrahing and rioting at the time.... I was not out of the market
square until all the firing had ceased. I was not in No. 7 yard
until an hour after the whole was over. I recollect a man coming
up the market square with a wounded man, and after being told to
go away he would not, and I gave him a push; he said that I must
recollect I had struck him, but I made him no answer. Taking into
consideration the apparent temper and resolution of the prisoners,
and my remonstrances having no effect, I do not think they could
have been driven back without firing.”

Captain Shortland dated the commencement of the antipathy of the prisoners towards him from the time when he got the Transport Board to prosecute some men for tattooing others.

The evidence of Captain Shortland is remarkably meagre and unsatisfactory. According to him, every one acted on his own initiative, and he himself had little to do in the matter but make useless expostulations. He says nothing about the fastening of the inner gate being broken. The charge with bayonets took place without his orders, as did also the firing on the prisoners. But he made the astounding statement that in his opinion the military might fire on the prisoners if they saw fit, without having received orders to do so. But he believed that Major Joliffe had ordered the volleys, whereas Major Joliffe with the grenadiers did not arrive till the firing had begun and was in progress.

On 8 April, a coroner’s inquest was held at the prisons, by Joseph Whitford, coroner; the jury consisted of Dartmoor farmers, and they returned a verdict of “Justifiable homicide.” But the American representative demanded a further examination, and accordingly Mr. Larpent, an Englishman, and Charles King, an American, were appointed to investigate the matter; and their investigation was made on 26 April. When their report was sent to Mr. Adams, the Minister of the United States to the British Court, it was accompanied by a letter from Charles King, in which he states his own independent opinion.

“In considering it of much importance that the report, whatever
it might be, should go forth under our joint signatures, I have
forborne to press some of the points which it involves, as far as
otherwise I might have done; and it therefore may not be improper
in this letter to enter into some little explanation of such parts
of the report. Although it does appear that a part of the prisoners
were, on that evening, in such a state and under such circumstances
as to have justified, in the view which the commander of the depôt
could not but take it, the intervention of the military force, and
even in a strict sense the first use of firearms, yet I cannot
but express it as my settled opinion, that by a conduct a little
more temporizing this dreadful alternative of firing upon the
unarmed prisoners might have been avoided.... When the firing
became general, as it afterwards appears to have done, and caught
with electric rapidity from the square to the platforms, there
was no plea nor shadow of excuse for it, except in the personal
exasperation of the soldiers: nor for the more deliberate, and
therefore more unjustifiable, firing which took place into three
of the prisons ... after the prisoners had retired into them, and
there was no longer any pretence of apprehension as to their escape.

“As to whether the order to fire came from Captain Shortland, I
yet confess myself unable to form any satisfactory opinion, though
perhaps the bias of my mind is that he did give such an order.”

I now subjoin the report signed by both Commissioners:--

“During the period which has elapsed since the arrival in this
country of the account of the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent,
an increased degree of restlessness and impatience of confinement
appears to have prevailed amongst the American prisoners at
Dartmoor; which, though not exhibited in the shape of any
violent excesses, has been principally indicated by threats of
breaking out, if not soon released. On the fourth of the month in
particular, only two days previous to the event, the subject of
this inquiry, a large body of the prisoners rushed into the Market
Square, from whence by the regulations of the prison they are
excluded, demanding bread instead of biscuit, which had on that day
been issued by the officers of the depôt. Their demands, however,
having been then almost immediately complied with, they returned
to their own yards, and the employment of force, on that occasion,
became unnecessary.

“On the evening of the 6th, about six o’clock, it was clearly
proved to us, that a breach or hole had been made in one of the
prison walls, sufficient for a full-sized man to pass; and that
others had been commenced in the course of the day, near the same
spot, though never completed; that a number of prisoners were
over the railing, erected to prevent them from communicating with
the sentinels on the walls, which was, of course, forbidden by
the regulations of the prison; and that, in the space between the
railing and these walls, they were tearing up pieces of turf, and
wantonly pelting each other in a noisy and disorderly manner. That
a much more considerable number of the prisoners were collected
together at that time, in one of their yards, near the place where
the breach was effected; and that, although such collection of
prisoners was not unusual at other times (the gambling tables
being commonly kept in that part of the yard), yet when connected
with the circumstances of the breach, and the time of day, which
was after the horn (the signal for the prisoners to retire to their
respective prisons) had ceased to sound;[45] it became a natural
and just ground of alarm to those who had charge of the depôt.

“It was also in evidence, that in the building formerly the petty
officers’ prison, but now the guard barracks, which stands in the
yard, to which the hole in the wall would serve as a communication,
a part of the arms of the guards who were on duty were usually kept
in the racks; and though there is no evidence that this was in any
respect the motive which induced the prisoners to make the opening
in the wall, or even that they were acquainted with the fact, it
naturally became at least a further cause for suspicion and alarm,
and an additional reason for precaution.

“Upon these grounds Captain Shortland appears to us to have been
justified in giving the order, which about this time he seems
to have given, to sound the alarm bell, the usual signal for
collecting the officers of the depôt, and putting the military
on the alert. However reasonable and justifiable this was, as a
matter of precaution, the effects produced thereby in the prisons,
but which could not have been intended, were most unfortunate and
deeply to be regretted. A considerable number of prisoners in the
yards where no disturbance existed before, and who were either
already within their respective prisons, or quietly returning as
usual towards them, immediately upon the sound of the bell, rushed
back, from curiosity, towards the gates, where, by that time, the
crowd had assembled; and many who were absent at the time from
the yards, were also, from the plan of the prison, compelled, in
order to reach their own homes, to pass by the same spot. And thus,
that which was merely a measure of precaution, in its operation
increased the evil it was intended to prevent.

“Almost at the same instant that the alarm bell rang (but whether
before or subsequent, is upon the evidence doubtful, though Captain
Shortland states it positively as one of his further reasons for
causing it to ring) some one or more of the prisoners broke the
iron chain which was the only fastening of No. 1 gate, leading into
the Market Square, by means of an iron bar; and a very considerable
number of the prisoners immediately rushed towards that gate, and
many of them began to press forward as fast as the opening would
permit into the square.

“There is no direct proof before us of previous concert or
preparation on the part of the prisoners, and no evidence of their
intention or disposition to effect their escape on this occasion,
excepting that which arose by inference from the whole of the above
detailed circumstances connected together.

“The natural and almost irresistible inference to be drawn,
however, from the conduct of the prisoners, by Captain Shortland
and the military, was, that an intention on the part of the
prisoners to escape was on the point of being carried into
execution, and it was at least certain that they were by force
passing beyond the limits prescribed to them at a time when they
ought to have been quietly going in for the night.

“It was also in evidence that the outer gates of the Market Square
were usually opened about the time to let the bread-wagon pass and
repass to the store, although at the period in question they were,
in fact, closed.

“Under these circumstances and with these impressions necessarily
operating upon his mind, and the knowledge that if the prisoners
once penetrated through the square the power of escape was
almost to a certainty afforded to them, if they should be so
disposed,--Captain Shortland, in the first instance, proceeded
down the square, towards the prisoners, having ordered a part of
the different guards, to the number of about fifty only at first
(though they were increased afterwards) to follow him. For some
time, both he and Dr. Magrath endeavoured by quiet means and
persuasion to induce the prisoners to retire to their own yards,
explaining to them the fatal consequences which must ensue if they
were refused, as the military would in that case be necessarily
compelled to employ force. The guard was by this time formed in
the rear of Captain Shortland, about two-thirds of the way down
the square: the latter is about one hundred feet broad, and the
guards extended nearly all across. Captain Shortland, finding that
persuasion was in vain, and that although some were induced by it
to make an effort to retire, others pressed on in considerable
numbers, at last ordered about fifteen file of the guard, nearly in
front of the gate which had been forced, to charge the prisoners
back to their own yards.

“The prisoners were in some places so near the military that, one
of the soldiers states, he could not come fairly to the charge, and
the military were unwilling to act as against an enemy.[46] Some
of the prisoners also were unwilling and reluctant to retire, and
some pushing and struggling ensued between the parties, arising
partly from intention, but mainly from the pressure of those behind
preventing those in front from getting back. After some little
time, however, this charge appears to have been so far effective,
and that with little or no injury to the prisoners, as to have
driven them for the most part quite down out of the square, with
the exception of a small number who continued their resistance
about No. 1 gate.

“A great crowd still remained collected after this in the passage
between the square and the prisoners’ yards, and in the part
of those yards in the vicinity of the gates. This assemblage
still refused to withdraw, and according to most of the English
witnesses, and some of the American, was making a noise, insulting
and provoking and daring the military to fire; and according to
the evidence of several of the soldiers, and some others, was
pelting the military with large stones, by which some were actually
struck. This circumstance is however denied by many of the American
witnesses; and some of the English, upon having the question put
to them, stated that they saw no stones thrown previously to the
firing, although their situation at the time was such as to enable
them to see most of the other proceedings in the square.

“Under these circumstances the firing commenced. With regard
to any order having been given to fire, the evidence is very
contradictory; several of the Americans swear very positively,
that Captain Shortland gave the order, but the manner in which,
from the confusion of the moment, they describe this part of
the transaction is so different in its details, that it is very
difficult to reconcile their testimony. Many of the soldiers and
other English witnesses heard the word given by some one, but no
one of them can swear it was by Captain Shortland or by any one
in particular, and some, amongst whom is the officer commanding
the guard, think if Captain Shortland had given such an order,
that they must have heard it, which they did not. In addition to
this, Captain Shortland denies the fact, and from the situation in
which he appears to have been placed at the time, even according
to the American witnesses, in front of the soldiers, it may
appear somewhat improbable that he should then have given such an
order.[47] But, however it may remain a matter of doubt whether the
firing first began in the square by order, or was a spontaneous act
of the soldiers themselves, it seems clear that it was continued
and renewed both there and elsewhere without orders, and that on
the platform, and about the prison, it was certainly commenced
without any authority.

“The fact of an order having been given at first, provided the
firing was under the existing circumstances justifiable, does not
appear very material in any other point of view, than as showing a
want of discipline and self-possession in the troops if they should
have fired without orders.

“With regard to the above most important consideration of whether
the firing was justifiable or not; we are of opinion, under all the
circumstances of the case, from the apprehension which the soldiers
might fairly entertain, owing to the number and conduct of the
prisoners, that their firing, to a certain extent, was justifiable
in a military point of view, in order to intimidate the prisoners,
and compel them thereby to desist from all acts of violence, and
to retire as they were ordered, from a situation in which the
responsibility of the agent and military could not permit them with
safety to remain.

“From the fact of the crowd being so close and the firing at first
being attended with very little injury, it appears probable that
a large proportion of the muskets were, as stated by one or two
witnesses, levelled over the heads of the prisoners, a circumstance
in some respects to be lamented, as it induced them to cry out
‘blank cartridges,’ and merely irritated and encouraged them to
renew the insults to the soldiery, which produced a repetition of
the firing in a manner much more destructive.

“The firing in the square having continued for some time, by
which several of the prisoners sustained injuries, the greater
part of them appear to have been running back with the utmost
confusion and precipitation to their respective prisons--and the
cause for further firing seems at this period to have ceased. It
appears accordingly, that Captain Shortland was in the Market
Square exerting himself and giving orders to that effect, and that
Lieutenant Fortye had succeeded in stopping the fire of his part of
the guard.

“Under these circumstances it is very difficult to find any
justification for the further renewal and continuance of the firing
which certainly took place both in the prison yards and elsewhere,
though we have some evidence of subsequent provocation given to the
military, and resistance to the turnkeys in shutting the prisons,
and of stones being thrown out from within the prison doors.

“The subsequent firing appears to have arisen from the state of
individual irritation and exasperation on the part of the soldiers
who followed the prisoners into their yards, and from the absence
of nearly all the officers who might have restrained it, as well as
from the great difficulty of putting an end to a firing when once
commenced under the circumstances. Captain Shortland was from this
time busily occupied with the turnkeys in the square receiving and
taking care of the wounded. Ensign White remained with his guard
at the breach, and Lieutenants Avelyne and Fortye, the only other
subalterns known to have been present, continued in the square with
the main bodies of their respective guards.

“The time of day, which was the officers’ dinner hour, will in some
measure explain this, as it caused the absence of every officer
from the prison whose presence was not indispensable there. And
this circumstance, which has been urged as an argument to prove
the intention of the prisoners to take this opportunity to escape,
tended to increase the confusion and to prevent those greater
exertions being made, which might perhaps have obviated at least a
portion of the mischief which ensued. At the time that the firing
was going on in the square, a cross-fire was also kept up from
several of the platforms on the walls round the prison, where the
sentinels stand, by straggling parties of soldiers who ran up there
for that purpose.[48] As far as this fire was directed to disperse
the men assembled round the breach, for which purpose it was most
effectual, it seems to stand upon the same ground as that in the
first instance in the square. But that part which it is positively
sworn was directed against straggling parties of prisoners running
about the yards and endeavouring to reach the few doors, which the
turnkeys, according to their usual practice, had left open, does
seem, as stated, to have been wholly without object or excuse, and
to have been a wanton attack upon the lives of defenceless and, at
the time, unoffending individuals.

“In the same, or even in more severe terms, we must remark upon
what was proved, as to the firing into the doorways of the prisons,
more particularly into that of No. 3 prison, at a time when the men
were in crowds at the entrance.

“From the position of the prison and of the door, and from the
marks of the balls, which were pointed out to us, as well as from
the evidence, it was clear the firing must have proceeded from
soldiers a very few feet from the doorway; and though it was
certainly sworn that the prisoners were at the time of part of the
firing, at least, continuing to insult and occasionally to throw
stones at the soldiers, and that they were standing in the way of
and impeding the turnkey who was there for the purpose of closing
the door--yet still there was nothing stated which could in any
view at all justify such excessively harsh and severe treatment of
helpless and unarmed prisoners, when all idea of escape was at an
end.

“Under these circumstances we used every endeavour to ascertain if
there was the least prospect of identifying any of the soldiers
who had been guilty of the particular outrages here alluded to, or
of tracing any particular death, at that time, to the firing of
any particular individual, but without success, and all hopes of
bringing the offenders to punishment should seem to be at an end.

“In conclusion, we the undersigned have only to add, that whilst we
lament, as we do most deeply, the unfortunate transaction which has
been the subject of this inquiry, we find ourselves totally unable
to suggest any steps to be taken as to those parts of it which seem
most to call for redress and punishment.

“(Signed) /Charles King/,
/Francis Seymour Larpent/.
“/Plymouth/, _26th April_, 1815.”

This report was obviously drawn up so as to smooth the matter over, lest the newly established peace should be broken by the angry resentment of the Americans at the treatment which their fellow citizens had received.

The prisoners at once presented a Remonstrance against the perfunctory way in which the investigation had been carried out. They indignantly complained that although their committee had named fifty men as witnesses, only some of these were called, and these not the most important. They had written a letter of complaint to the Commissioners, who did not even trouble themselves to answer it.

The British Government and the American agent now bestirred themselves to dispatch the prisoners to the States as speedily as might be. The American Minister asked that Captain Shortland might be placed on his trial, but did not press the demand, as this would have entailed the bringing back of the principal witnesses against him from their homes in the States. Lord Castlereagh promised on the part of the British Government ample indemnification in money to the wounded and maimed for life, and to the widows of those who had been killed, but this the United States Government with dignity declined.

It is remarkable how reticent on the event were the English papers at the time. Both England and America were heartily tired of the war which profited neither, and were willing to let the unfortunate affair drop out of consideration. Before the prisoners departed from Princetown, they held a mock trial and condemnation of Mr. Beasley, and hung him in effigy. Even when they departed, he took no pains to provide them with suitable clothes, and some of them had to tramp barefooted to Plymouth. They departed, marching under a banner on which was depicted Columbia weeping over her murdered citizens. They were dismissed from the prison on 19th April, but the investigation into the whole affair was begun at Princetown and in Plymouth before the magistrates, on the 21st April, and carried on to the 24th, Sunday included, in the presence of two Commissioners, who, as we have seen, drew up their report on the 26th.

It will be well now to look at the depositions of such witnesses as the Commissioners were pleased to summon, and to see how far they confirm or contradict the account of the transaction as given by Captain Shortland.

According to the Governor of the prison, the part he played in the “massacre” was almost _nil_. He was the angel of peace hovering about, soothing excited feelings, urging a cessation of the firing, and ministering to the wounded. He gave no further directions than that to ring the alarm bell. He neither ordered the soldiery to form in line, nor to charge, nor to fire. It is impossible from his account to obtain any connected idea as to the sequence of events.

I can only summarize the depositions in reference to the “massacre.”

_John Mitchell_, one of the clerks in the office of the Governor, deposed “that this informant saw Capt. Shortland in the front of the prison.... That Capt. Shortland advanced towards the prisoners, calling on the guard to follow, form and be steady, and directed them to keep possession of the Market Square. That this informant followed Capt. Shortland, keeping between him and the military, and this informant heard Capt. Shortland desire the prisoners to return quietly to their prisons.... But they still continued advancing, speaking in a riotous manner. That this informant observed a large body of prisoners assembled at the other gate, at the opposite side of the Market Square.... Hearing a noise he turned around and observed the prisoners were much further up the square, and part of the guards had charged their bayonets towards the prisoners to force them down, and almost at the same moment he, this informant, heard the report of a musket discharged.... That he, this informant, did not hear any person give orders to fire. That several muskets were fired in the Market Square, and immediately after the firing had ceased he heard Capt. Shortland call for turnkeys to take up the wounded.... That this informant did not observe anything thrown by the prisoners at the military, nor see the prisoners armed with any offensive weapons.”

_Richard Arnold_, one of the turnkeys, after stating the fact of the hole in the wall and Captain Shortland’s examination of it: “This informant then returned to the Market Square leaving Capt. Shortland in the barrack-yard, and the horn was then sounding for the prisoners to turn into their respective prisons,[49] when he observed a large body of prisoners collected between the iron railing in the front of the prisons, and they were attempting to force the gates.... That this informant went away to call the guard, and met Capt. Shortland at the upper gate. That the guard was outside the guard-house drawn out, and Capt. Shortland called to them to follow him, and this informant returned with him, and by this time the prisoners had forced the gate, and many hundreds had assembled in the Market Square. That Capt. Shortland desired the soldiers to draw up, be steady, and keep their ground, and the soldiers formed across the square. That this informant saw Capt. Shortland go up in front of the military and heard him desire the prisoners to go in, or otherwise he should be obliged to use means which he should be very sorry for. That the prisoners were very riotous, calling out ‘Keeno’ several times, and advanced instead of retiring, when some of the soldiers came to a charge, and this informant made the best of his way to the rear, and just after he got in the rear he heard a single musket, and soon after he heard several muskets discharged, but the muskets were at first elevated high, that he does not think a single shot touched either of the prisoners ... when some of them called out, ‘Fire, you----, you have no shot in your guns,’ when the military fired again, ... and almost immediately he heard Capt. Shortland call for the turnkeys to help the wounded away. That this informant did not hear any person give any orders to fire, that he was near to Capt. Shortland when the firing first begun, and if Capt. Shortland had given any orders to fire he thinks that he must have heard them.... That he did not see the prisoners armed with any offensive weapons, nor did he see them throw any stones at the military.”[50]

_Stephen Hall_, one of the turnkeys, gave information almost identical with that of Richard Arnold. He did not hear any orders given to fire.

_Richard Cephus_, an American prisoner of war, gave no evidence of value, as he was not present in the affray.

_George Magrath_, surgeon of the hospital at the prison. Hearing the alarm bell he ran from his dwelling into the Market Square, where he saw a line of soldiers drawn up and the prisoners breaking out at the inner gate. “He advanced towards them and began to exhort them to return quietly into the prison ... that this informant observed to them that their detention appeared to be entirely the fault of their own agent, Mr. Beasley ... that this informant heard a voice, but whose it was this informant did not know, ordering the soldiers to charge; that at this time Captain Shortland was near to this informant, and he seemed to be employing means to induce the prisoners to return to the prison; that on hearing the word ‘Charge’ given, he looked round and found himself on the point of the soldiers’ bayonets ... that he found it necessary to attempt to extricate himself and succeeded in getting round the left wing, which rested on the wall.... Whilst this informant was endeavouring to get around, the firing commenced, at first he heard two or three muskets, but afterwards the discharges became more frequent, and almost amounted to a volley.” He then retired to attend to the wounded.

It must be added that the prisoners unanimously speak of Dr. Magrath with high praise, as most kind and attentive to their wants and ailments.

_John Odiorne_, a citizen of the United States. “He was at the store in the Market Square, standing by the door; and the wagon with the bread was partly unladen, when this informant heard some persons talking loud at the gate at the uppercut (i.e. the main entrance) and went round the wagon to see who it was, and saw Captain Shortland advancing into the yard; and he was giving his orders to the turnkeys at the lodge in a loud voice; and Richard Arnold spoke to him, and told him something about the wall, when Captain Shortland said, ‘D---- you, why did not you tell me about it before? Ring the bell, call the guard out.’ That the guard immediately followed Captain Shortland into the yard, when he ordered them to form across the yard, about two-thirds of the way down.... That just as Captain Shortland gave the orders, this informant saw the prisoners force the gate No. 1, and before this time this informant had not seen a single prisoner in the Market Square, except those who were employed with him (in unlading the bread wagon). He was on the steps, at the store, which is about ten feet high and commands a complete view of the square. That after the prisoners had advanced to the distance of between twenty-five or thirty feet, Captain Shortland then ordered the men to charge upon them, and the soldiers charged upon the prisoners, when they retreated into the yard. That after the prisoners had retreated within the prison ... he heard an order given to fire by Captain Shortland, as the informant supposed, for he was looking directly at him. That the order was not instantly complied with ... but in a few seconds a musket was fired by a person at the right of Capt. Shortland, a few paces in advance of the others, and immediately after two muskets were fired to the left of Capt. Shortland, and after that there was a general discharge. And immediately after the general discharge a party of soldiers marched into No. 1 yard, through the gate, and fired a volley, and then wheeled about and returned into the square, and after the soldiers had returned into the square and formed into line the officer ordered them to fire, and immediately the whole line across the square fired into the yard, after which the line broke up and advanced into the yard, and this informant could not see any further, but he heard the reports of guns in the yard.”

The evidence of John Odiorne is of special value, as he and Arnold were the only witnesses of what took place in the Market-yard, who were not actively engaged in the affray.

_Addison Holmes_, citizen of the United States. “Understanding that a hole had been broken through the wall in the prison No. 7 by the boys, to get at their balls, he was going to see it; and hearing the alarm bell rung, he went into the Market Square, having found the gate open,[51] and there were about a dozen prisoners in the square, and a great many more followed after him; he was going up to see what the alarm bell was rung for, when he saw the troops entering the outer gate of the square, and Captain Shortland was with them. That as the troops came through the gate, they were paraded across the square; and this informant saw Dr. Magrath at the left of the troops, talking to about a dozen prisoners, advising them to go down to the prison quietly. That at this time there was a considerable body of prisoners in the rear. That Captain Shortland was in front of the troops, speaking to one man, who wanted to say something to him; but it appeared that the captain would have no conversation with him, and pushed him from him twice, when the man turned about and was going down slowly.[52] The captain then turned him round and ordered the troops to charge their bayonets, twice; but they did not do so until they were ordered by one of their own officers, and then the troops charged their bayonets and the prisoners were forced on before them, and Dr. Magrath, being in front, stepped in between two bayonets, and got to the rear. That this informant stepped aside, and got between two sentry-boxes, and the troops passed him; and by this time the prisoners were forced to the gate, had got inside the prison, and shut the gate after them; but Captain Shortland, who was in front of the troops, shoved the gate open, and this informant thinking it was a good opportunity for him to get in, pushed on between two men, and then saw that Captain Shortland had hold of a musket, and immediately that musket was discharged; but whether Capt. Shortland pulled the trigger or not, this informant does not know, and immediately after there was firing at the left. That Capt. Shortland had ordered the troops to fire before he took hold of the musket, but he was not obeyed, and then took hold of the musket, and he believes the soldier had hold of it at the same time. That just after the firing at the left, as he, this informant, was passing between two men, one of whom had discharged his musket, this man was hauling his musket back to stab this informant, and before he drew it past this informant, he, this informant, unshipped the bayonet, and threw it on the ground, and then pushed off the bayonet on the left, with his arm, and got in round the gate, when the soldiers immediately fired another round, and he saw a man fall. That this informant stopped a few minutes, and the soldiers fired several rounds, and the soldiers were firing from the walls up the prison. That two rounds were fired into the prison door, which killed one man and wounded another.”

_John Arnold_, steward of the prisoners, was engaged with Odiorne in unlading the bread-wagon, when he heard the alarm bell rung, and the drums beat to arms, and the horns sounded; “And soon after this informant saw a great body of prisoners between the railing and the Market Square.... That Captain Shortland came into the square, and the soldiers marched in with their officers. That this informant ordered the wagon away, and just then the prisoners burst open the gate and rushed into the Market Square in a very large body.... That the soldiers were formed across the square, and had advanced in a body ... when the soldiers charged upon the prisoners, but this informant did not hear any order to charge given, and this informant thinks, that from the noise made by the prisoners, it was impossible to hear any word of command.” After describing the charge, he asserts that “stones were thrown at the military.... That this informant never heard Captain Shortland give any directions to the soldiers to fire, and he was so near Odiorne, that if orders had been given which he might have heard, he, the informant, must have heard also. And this informant further saith, that the firing was very irregular, and it did not seem like firing in obedience to order; and this informant further saith, that it appeared to him the soldiers were in danger from the stones thrown at them by the prisoners.”

_William Gifford_, private in the 1st Regiment of Somerset Militia, was posted as sentinel at the inner gate. “That this informant saw a prisoner who broke the lock of the gate, where this informant was sentinel, with an iron bar, and the prisoners rushed out as fast as they could come, crying out ‘Keeno’; whereupon the alarm bell was rung, and part of the north guard came into the Market Square, and Capt. Shortland was with them ... that Capt. Shortland ordered the soldiers to charge, which they did, and forced the prisoners almost to the prison gate ... that the prisoners began to throw stones at the soldiers, and this informant saw several of the men’s caps knocked off with the stones ... this informant heard the word ‘Fire!’ given by some person, but by whom he does not know; that this informant immediately heard a discharge of musketry, and saw that the muskets were presented in the air; that the prisoners still continued throwing stones, when the soldiers began to fire towards the prisoners, and this informant afterwards saw two men lying in the market-place, apparently dead. That the soldiers then went into the different prison yards to turn the prisoners in, and this informant heard some firing in the yards. That Major Joliffe had the command of the 1st Somersetshire Regiment of Militia, but he was not present when the first firing commenced.... That this informant was near to Capt. Shortland, and he never saw Capt. Shortland with a musket in his hand, or attempt to take a musket; if he had, he, this informant, thinks that it was impossible for him not to have seen it. That he never heard Capt. Shortland give any orders to fire, and the informant was so near him, that he thinks he must have heard him, if he had given any such orders.”

_James Groves_, private in the 1st Regiment of Somerset Militia, was sentinel in the barrack yard, and gave evidence that at 5 p.m. or thereabouts a ball was thrown over the wall. He was relieved at 6 p.m., and by that time no attempt had been made to knock a hole in the wall.

_David Spencer Warren_, citizen of the United States. On hearing the alarm bell he went to the gate, which was already burst open, and the prisoners had got into the Market-yard. “A number of soldiers were in the square, and Capt. Shortland was at the head of one party of them, and he was forming a line across the yard, which after he had done, he told them to charge. That the soldiers did charge on the prisoners, who ran back into the prison yard, and as they got inside the gate, they flung one of them to. That Capt. Shortland ordered one of the soldiers to fire, and immediately there was a soldier with his musket turned to the right, and Capt. Shortland caught hold of the musket and pointed it towards a man that stood by the gate, and said, ‘God d---- you, fire!’ that directly after this a fire of musketry became general. That this informant did not see any of the officers with the soldiers when Capt. Shortland gave the orders to fire. That after the firing began he saw some stones thrown by the prisoners over the wall into the square.”

_James Greenlaw_, a citizen of the United States, heard the alarm bell ring, and went to the railing giving admission to the Market Square, which was already burst open, and some prisoners in the square. “At the same time he saw the troops coming through the market-gate, with Capt. Shortland at their head, and saw him form the men in one line, extending across the square, and he then ordered them to charge, whereupon the prisoners retreated into the prison yard, when the informant heard Capt. Shortland give orders for the soldiers to fire upon the prisoners, whereupon this informant ran into No. 4 yard, for shelter, and saw two black men fall. That as soon as this informant thought the firing had ceased, he ran up towards the grating to speak to Capt. Shortland, and asked him if he would allow him to speak to him, when Capt. Shortland said, ‘No, you d---- d rascal!’ whereupon two soldier officers put their swords through the iron railing towards the informant, and one soldier pricked him with his bayonet. That this informant then retreated into No. 3 yard, and he then heard two distinct volleys.... That this informant did not see any stones thrown until the firing had commenced, and then he saw two stones thrown over the wall.”

_Thomas Burgess Mott_, citizen of the United States, gave evidence as to the firing on the prisoners from the walls, and at the door of No. 5 prison.

_Enoch Burnham_, citizen of the United States, gave very similar evidence. He confirmed the statement made by Andrews in his narrative of the murder of the man against the wall.

_Robert Holmden_, first clerk to Captain Shortland, had informed the Governor of the breach in the wall and went with him to inspect it. “Whereupon Captain Shortland ordered the alarm bell to be rung; and as soon as the guard could be collected, he went with them into the Market Square.... He heard one shot fired, which was followed by several others. He did not go down among the prisoners, or see what took place there.”

_Homer Hull_, citizen of the United States, saw a man with a bolt in his hand break the lock of the gate. “Just at the time the gate was forced open, he saw some soldiers come into the Market Square; when Capt. Shortland gave the soldiers orders to charge, and the soldiers accordingly charged; when the prisoners retreated into the prisons, and one of them shut to the gates; then the soldiers marched down a little further, when Capt. Shortland ordered them to fire.... That he did not see any stones thrown before the musketry began to be discharged, but afterwards he saw a stone thrown from the prison yard towards the square.”

_Robert McFarlane_, assistant surgeon at the prison, had assisted Dr. Magrath to persuade the prisoners to retire. “This informant heard no order to fire. Capt. Shortland was at the south end of the guard, and this informant thinks if he had given orders to fire he must have heard it--that at the time the first musket was fired nearly one-third of the Market Square was filled with the prisoners, making a great noise in a very riotous and disorderly manner, and stones were thrown by the prisoners from all quarters.”

_John Tozer_, turnkey, gave testimony of no importance.

_Joseph Manning_, sergeant of the 1st Somerset Regiment of Militia, was sent by Captain Shortland to fetch Major Joliffe, “who put himself at the head of the grenadiers, and before Major Joliffe had gone ten yards from the south guard gate the firing commenced. That it was impossible for Major Joliffe to give orders to fire, as he was not near the spot when the firing first began.”

These are all the depositions taken before the coroner. Others taken before the commissioners were as follows:--

_John Rust_, one of the prisoners and one of the Committee that drew up the report already given. “About 6 o’clock in the evening I came from the place where I was taking supper, and persuaded the prisoners to leave the breach. At the time I went to the breach the horn had not sounded; it sounded but a few minutes before the firing. I heard the alarm bell ring before the firing took place. The firing continued at intervals about fifteen minutes.... I saw nothing of the firing in the Market Square.”

_John T. Trowbridge_, another of the Prisoners’ Committee, made no part of the report from his own knowledge.

_John Boggs_, another of the Committee, “made no part of the report from my own knowledge.”

_Amos Wheeler_, sergeant of the north guard, “was ordered by Capt. Shortland to march to the Market Square; the officer of the guard was not then with it.... There were not many prisoners in the Market Square when our guard entered. The alarm bell had rung before we marched. When we entered, the prisoners were endeavouring to burst the gates below.... When they had succeeded in bursting them there was a great rush towards the soldiers. They threw stones at the soldiers before there was any firing. They were not armed with anything that I saw.... Captain Shortland ordered the soldiers to bring their muskets down to the charge. I believe Capt. Shortland was in front of the guard, at this time, desiring the prisoners to go back. I saw none of the prisoners wresting the arms from the soldiers. I saw none of them attempt to seize the arms.... I heard no order to fire, nor do I know how it began; did not hear any of the prisoners challenging the soldiers to fire.... I did not see the officer of the guard at this time. The firing was in an independent manner, three or four muskets being discharged at a time. After the firing commenced the prisoners began to retire towards their prisons. I did not hear any cheering among them, or see them rally after the fire.... I did not go into the prison yard.”