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DARTMOOR PRISON. • T= . From ihe National Inteflrgtnccr of July 14* We this day Jay before the public deefff .pients received from England, relative to the killing and wnwding of ihe American citizens imprifoe-ed at Dartmoor : Plymouth, 2 dlh April, I 8 15. We, the undesigned commiflioners, ap¬ pointed on behalf of our refpedive govern¬ ments, to enquire into, and report upon, the unfortunate occurrence of the 6'h April fnft, at Dartmoor Prifon ; having caref pern fed the proceedings of the feveral courts of inquiry iuftituted immediately after- that event, by the orders of Admiral Sir John T. Duckworth and Major General Brown, tefpectively, as wdlas the dcpofitions taken at the coroner's inqueft upon the bodies of the prisoners, who loll their lives upon that lion upon oath in the prefence of one or WOW of the magistrates of the vicinity, -,f all the witneffes both American and Eng- Jifti, who offered themfelves for that pur- pofe; or who could be difcovered as iikely to afford anv material information on the fubjed, as welJ thofe who had been pre- vioufly examined before the coroner, as otherwife, to the numbet in the whole of about eighty. We further proceeded to a minute examination of the prifons, for the purpofe of clearing up feme points which upon the evidence alone were fcarcely intel¬ ligible ; obtaining from the prifoners, and from the officers cf the depot, all the neces¬ sary afiillancc and explanation : and premis¬ ing, that we have been from neceflity com¬ pelled to draw many of our conelufions from ftatements and evidence highly contrajdido- iy, we do now mike upon the whole pro¬ ceedings the following report:— During the peri id which has elapfed fiuce the arrival in this county of the accounts of the ratification of the treaty of Ghent, an Xncreafed degree of rcltleflnefs and impa¬ tience of confinement appears to have pre¬ vailed among!! the American prifoners at Dartmoor, which, though no: exhibited in ihe (hape of any violent exceiTcs, has been principally indicated by threats of breaking out if not foon relented. On the 4th of this month in particular, only two day? previous to the event* the fubjed of this inquiry, a la»-ge body of the prifoners rufned into the market fquare, from V'tiencc, by the ve£uW.tbn<> of the prifon, they are excluded, demand ng bre?.d, inftead of bifcuit, which hzd on rim day been iflu- ed by the officers of the depit; their de¬ mands however having been then almoft im¬ mediately complied with, they returned to , their own yards, and the employment of force on that occalion became unnecelTary. On the evening of the 6th, about fix o'¬ clock, it was clearly proved to us, that a breach or hole had been made in one of the .* prifon walls, fufficient for a full fized man to pafs, a id that others had been commen¬ ced in the courfe of the day near the fame fpot. though never completed. That a number of the piif.mers were over the railing ereded to prevent thrm from communicating with the cenunels on the walls, which was of cour "e forbidden by the regulations of the prifon, and that i.V the fpace between the railing and thofe walls they were 1 earing up pieces of turf, and vanronly pelting each other in a noify and dif-uderly manner. That a much more confiderable number t)f the prifoners was collected together at that time in one of their yards near the place where the breach was effected, and that although foeh collection of prifoners •was not unufual at other times (the Gamb¬ ling Tables being ufually kept in that part 1 of the yard) yet, when connected with the ci-cumftances of the breach, and the time of *the day, which was after the hour the fignal for ihe prifoners to retire to their respective prifons had era fed to found, it became a nat¬ ural and jutt ground of alarm to thofe who -bad charge of the depot. It was alfo in evidence that in the building formerly the petty officers' prifon, but now guard barrack, which ftan.ls in the yard to which the hole in the wall would ferve as a communication^ partofthe arms of the guard who weieoff duty, were ufually kept )n the racks, & tho' there wa* no evidence that this *M in any r fpedthe motive which induced the prifoners to make the opening i„ the wall, or even that they were ever acquainted With the fad, it mt.irally became at leaft 3 ft. - and an ar> further caufe of fufpicfon and alarm, additional reafon for precaution. Upon thefe grounds capt. Shortland peers to us to have been jtiltificd in giving the order, which about this time he fecms to have given, to found the alarm bell, the Bfual fignd for colleding the officers of the d^pot and putting the military on the alert. Hoy/ever rcafonable and juftifiablc this wa* a* a meafure of precaution, the effects produced thereby in the prifons but which could not have been intended, were molt un- confidcraWc number of the pn&nerf. fotfa yards where no dillurbance exifted heroic,, and who were either already within their re¬ fpedive prilons, or quietly returning as ufu- al towardsthe.r., immediately upon the found of the bell ruined back f'onl cufioiny (as it po ore ler-biit the manner fn winch, from the con, ftan nc? in the fdnarfc fe.-t t+K ?-^ sv ;,< fufion of the moment, they oefenbe this part ofthetranfadfon is fo different m its de¬ tails, that it Is very difficult to recofic, e their tellimony. Many of the foldiers a..J o'her , L - , , Enrrlilh witneffes, heard the word given by ppears) towards the gate,, where, by that g^gj no one of thcm can fwear it ime,thc crowd had aflembled, and man;/ ^TfuZ ,T Khnnland. or bV any one in onwQtef and CWPJ *0 be regretted 4 who were at the timeabfent from their yards were alfo, from the plan of the prifett, com¬ pelled, in order to reach their own homes, to pafs bv the fame fpot, and thus that which was merely a meafure of precaution,, 10 its operation i'nereafod the evil k was intended to prevent. A'lmbil at the fame irtftant tnatthe alarm bell rang, (but whether before or fubfe- quent is upon the evidence doubtful, though capt. Shortland Hates it pofitively as one of his further reafons for caufing it to ring) fome one or more of the prifoners bfuke the ' iron chain, which was the only fattening of No. I gate, leading into the market Gjmfo bv means of an iron bar ; and a very con- fiderable number of the prifoners immediate¬ ly rained toward* that gate ; and many of them began to prefs forwards as fall as the opening would permit into the fquare. There w*as no direct proof before us of previous conceit or preparation on the part of the prifonerc> and no evidence of their in¬ tention or difpofition to cited their efcape on this occalion, excepting that whic» arofe by inference from the whole of the above detailed cirCnmlla^ees conneded together. The natural and almoft irrefillible infer¬ ence to be drawn, however, from the con- duct of the prifoners by capt. Shortla'd and the military wa^ that an intention on the part of the pi ifoners to efcape was «>n the point of being carried into execution* and it was at leatt certain that they w^re by force paffing beyond the limits preferred to them at a time when thty ought t*> have been quietly going in for the night. It was alio in evidence that the outer gates P» the mark't fquare were (dually opened about this time to let the bread waggon p?is and repafs to the (tore, although at the period in que (lion they were in fact clofed. Under thefe ciicumilance*, and wit?* thefe imprclu* ms neceffarily operating tippn his mind, and a knowledge that if the pn*oners once penetrated into the fquare, the power of escape was almoit to a certain ay afforded to them, if they fliould be fo dilpofed, Capt. Shortland in the Sift infiance pfofeeded down the fquare towards the prifoners* hav¬ ing ordered a part of the different guards, to the number only of about fifty a1 hrit (though they Were increafed after\vard-) to foikiw him. ' F01 fome time bo-th he and Du Magrath endeavored by quiet feieausand periuafion, to induce the priloncrs, to retiie to their own yards, explaining to them the fata'1 contequeiices which mult en fine if they refufed, as the military Would in that cafe be neeeffjriiy compelled to employ force.-— The guard was by this time forened in the rear of capt. Short;a:id, about two* thirds of the way do\vn the lquaie—the- latter is about 100 feet broad, and the guan-d extend¬ ed nearly all acrofs. Capt ShortJand rind¬ ing that perfuafion was all ,i 1 vain> and that although fome were induced by it to make an effort to retire, others preffed on in coii- fiderable numbeis, at lalt ordered about rj file of the guard, nearly in front of the gate which had been forced, to charge the prifon¬ ers back to their own yards. The prifoners vsere in fome places fo near the military, that one of the foldiers ftatcS that he could not come faidy down to the charge ; and the military were unwilling to ad as a^ainlt an enemy. Some of the pifn- oners alfo wcie unwilling and rtludant to retire, and fome pufhing and ftrugg'ing en- fued between the parties, arifing partly from intention, but mainly from the pre/Tore of thofe behind preventing thofe in front from getting back. After iome jft'le time how¬ ever, this charge appears to have been fo far effective, and that with little or no injury to the prifoners, as to have driven thcm for the mod part quite down out of the fquare, with the exception of a frnall number who con¬ tinued their refinance about No. 1 gate* A great crowd dill remained collected af¬ ter thi3 in the paffage between the fquare and the prifoners yards, and in the part of thefe yards in the vkinity of the gates.— This affemblage itill refufed to withdraw, and according fo mo/l of the En^hffi wit¬ neffes, and fome of the American, was mak¬ ing a noife, hallooing, infulting and provok¬ ing, and daring the military to h>£t and ac¬ cording to the evidence of feveral 9$ the fol- diers, and fome others, was pelting the mili¬ tary with large (tones, by v/hichV Tome of them were actually (truck. TM* circum- ftancc is however denied by many of the A- merican witneffes ; and fome of tfre Englifh Upon having the quell ion put to try-em» ftated they faw no ft0lies thrown previously to the firing, although their fit nation a* the t/me was fuch as to enable them to fee &*°& of the other proceedings in tlie fquare. Under thefe circumflauces the r>r:ng com¬ menced. With regard to any or ^cr having been given to fire, the evidence is very con¬ tradictory. ScvcraJ gf the Amo fte*w fvv«ar t was by capt. Shortland, or by any one n. particular, and fome, amo.ngft #hom n the officer commanding the guard, think, if cap- ain Shortland had given fuch tfn order that they mud have l.eifd it, which they did riot. In addition to this capt. Shortla-cl denies the fad ; and from the duration in which he appears to have been placed at the time, even according to the American witneffes, in ftont of the foldters, it may appear fomewhat improbable that he fliould then have given fuch an order* But, however, it may remain a matter of doubt whether the firing fidt began in the fquare by order, or Was a fpontaueous act of the foldiers themfelves, it feemed clear that it was continued and renewed both there and elf«where without orders ; and that on the platforms, and in feveral places about the prifon, it was certainly commenced with¬ out any authority. The fad of an order having been given at firft, providing the firing was under the €x- ifting circumftances, jultifiable, does not ap¬ pear very material i.i any other point of view* than as Ihewing a want of felf poHemon, and discipline in the troops, if they (hould have fired without order. With regard to the above nioft important coniideration, of whether the firing was jus¬ tifiable or not, we are of opinion, under all thefe circumilances of the cafe, from the ap- prehenlion which the foldiera might fairly entertain, owing to the numbers and con dp ft of the prifoners, that this firing to a certain extent was juftifiable in a military point of view, in order to intimidate the prifoners, and compel them thereby to defift from all ads of violence, and to retire as thev were 0 ordered, ft om a fit nation fn whichthe refpon- fibility of the agent*, and the military, could not permit them with fafety to remain. From the fact of 1 he crowd being fo dofe, and the (i ing at firlt being attended with very little injury, it appears probable that a la'ge proport on of the muskets were as ftat- ed by one or two of the witneffes, levelled over the bends of the prifoneis; a circum- (b.nce in fome refpeds to be lamented, as it induced them to cry out "blank cartridges," jed or excule, and to have been a wa attack up.n the lives of defeneelcft J, hat time, unoffending individual!?: ' V% In the fame, or even more fevere te-m we mutt remark upon what Ifcj^ to the firing imp the d<-or ways of the-" t and merely irritated and encouraged them to renew their infults to the (oldiery, which produced a repitition of the filing in a man- • • * uced a repitition of the filing in a man ner much more deft motive* The firing in the fquare having continued for fome time by which feveral of the pris* oners fuitained injuries, the greater part of them appear to have been running back with the utaioft precipitation and onfufion to their refptdive pufons, and the caufe for further firing feems at this period t * have cealcd. It appears accordingly that captain Shortland was in the market fquare exerting hiinfc.f and giving orders to that effed, and that Lieut. Foitye had fucceeded in flop¬ ping the tire of his part of the guard. Under thefe circum(lances it is very diffi¬ cult to find any juiUfication for the further continuance and renewal of the firing which certainly took place both in the prifon yarda and ciicwhere j though we have fome evU denee ot ftibfequent piovt>cati -n given to the military, and reliilai.ee to the turnkeys in (h itiing the prifons, and of (tores being thrown.out from whhm the ptiifon doors. The fubiequeut firing rather appears to have ar/fen from the ftate of individual irri¬ tation and exai'peration on the part of the foldiers- who followed the prifoners into their yards, and from the abfence of nearly all the officers who might hare reit rained it • as well as from the great difficulty of puttino- an end to a firing when once commenced under fuch circumftances. Capt. Shorlaud was from this time bufily occupied with the turnkeys in the fquare, lecewing and taking care of the wounded. Enfign White re¬ mained with his guard at the breach, and Lieut*. Avelyne and Fortye, the only oth¬ er fubalteni known to have been present, continued in the fquare with the main bo¬ dies of their refpedive guards. The time of the day, which was the offi¬ cers dinner hour, will in fome meafure ex¬ plain this, as it caufed the abience of every officer from the prifon v/hofe prefence was not indifpenfable there. And this circtim- itance which has been urged as an argument to prove the intention of the prifoners to take this opportunity of efcape, tended to increafe the confufion, and to prevent thofe great exertions being made which might perhaps have obviated a portion at leaft of the mifchief which enfucd. At Che fame time that the firing was go¬ ing on in the fquare, ♦ crofs fire was alfo kept up from feveral of the plat-forms on the walls round1 the prifon, where the fen- tries ftand, by (trailing parties of foldiers who ran up there for that purpofe. As far asjhis fire was directed to difperfe the men prii- affembled round the breach, for which pur- perg arrived at Monte Caflnno on ti*t[ pofe it was moft effedud, it fcems to ftand and was ordered to meet Gt*$&J^'t upon the fome ground as that In tV ftrft in- on the 4th at W*^nMj ons, more particularly into that of W prifon, at a time when the m&>m3 crowds at the entrance. From t»ie p^ of the prifon and of tWdW, and 4,'? marks of the bads which weie pointed n- to us, as well as from the evidence, it was 1 this firing inuft have proceeded fronnnlJ* a very few feet from the door wav- ««i , tho' it was certainly fworn that theprifonm were at the time of part of the firing tty continuiur. to infult, and occafionally to throw ft Ones at the foldiers, and'that^. Were (landing in the way of, and impedin'- the turnkey, who was there for the purp^ ofdofing the door, yet ftill there was n* thing Hated which could in our view at all juftify fuch exceftively har/11 and fevere treat. ment of helplefs and unarmed prifoners, whej all idea of efcape was at an end. Under thefe i-rpreffions/we tiferj evcrr endeavor to afcertnin if there wasthejeaic profped of identifying any of the foldien who had been guilty1 of the particular out. rages here alluded to, or of tracing any par- tictilar death at tint time to the tiring of any particular individual, but wiihoiit fuc- cefs, and all hooes of bringing the offendcra to pufliffim'ent fhoufd feem to be at an rnd. In conclufion, We, the undeifigned, have only to add, that whilft we lament, as we do deeply, the unfortunate tranfactton which has bean the fubjed of this inquiry, -we find ourfelves totally unable to fnggeft any fcfl to be taken as to thofe paitsof it which feem moft to call for redrefs and punift- ment. (Signed) CHAS. KING. FRAS. SETMOUR URPEXl (To be Concluded in our next-J • _______— LONDON, M.ir2t. Infurrecllon in la FtuM -Since iM«mg our remarks for the day, m have teew* the following fatisfadory iufonnatinn, vM confirms what we have (hid refpeAmg W rifin. in La VmdeCi ^^f^t inten%euce has been received from 1^^ of Brittainny, and La Vendee h ^ iufurredion D-:ainft Bonatorte k'Jr the ral, and the White cockade CvJ ^ flying i and that feveral «mJ » have joined thefe brave and Wal f l-°7s the good King Loui.-XVllI. JT^rf La Vendee alone, from 50 to 60t^ are in arms/' 0,Co* ** The following is an extract from d t pena] Proclamation publffhcd at St P burgh, on the i/,th of April, ^J» the French nation, 3 .d which re3cU yefterday by the Gottenburgh M3i|. " ^V^T? enlc:ed ^ U^ unprovoked, wnh fire and fword, Y0Unl ' defed and deltroyed whefever gj? you entered my capital, which y0u \A wafte. 1 entc red your territories,- an(J took your capital, but deftro^ed nothing A gain, unprovoked, you Talk the Avord' and deftroythe peace of nations, l^m enter your terntoiies once more, toconfluof peace ; and wherever I meet with reiiftance 1 w-!l utterly deftroy you for your perfidy] May 23. The following Telegraphic drfpatch waj yefterday received from Portfmoiith j" U Vendee is i,i a general ftate of in fur rection." The nevi's was brought by a brig of wat. Private letters are alfo in town, which con. tain the fame intelligence, with the addi- tional fad of feveral General Officers hav« ing joined the rcyalifts, whole numbers«e perhaps too zealoufly fated at 5o,eoo mea. Chareteand Oleron are among ft thcm. May 24. It is faid that the infurreotron in the'weft. ern departments of France extends along the coaft from the mouth of the river Vilsi»ist© the GiVonde, and that it ftreacches7 tiUmri to the verv heart of France. The Lieotflb Jtnt of Police of the third diftrict, enum^ rates departmenfa which amount to near)/ one fifth of France. A bulletin from the foreign office appear*. in the fecund edition of the evening papers. It Mates, that letters have oeen received from Lord Burgherm containing information that Gen. Bia'nchi was on the morning of the jd iultant engaged with three divifions of the Napolttan army in an action which terminal ed in their total difcomfittne, and the ad* vance of the Auftri.iiH En within a fhorC-dif- tance of Macerirta :—Mnrat then retreated: he was perfued with adivity till dark, n«'f* ly one thoufand prifoners were made, w fequent letters from Lord Burghefh, (W Rome, May yth, ftafcj, that Gen. Niep* 7 - the $ 4 us