Page:Harper's New Monthly Magazine - v109.djvu/594



SUPPOSE that there is no subject less known to the reader of the present day than the history of those gallant seamen who manned and fought our ships, and who were taken prisoners and carried to England during the war of 1812.

These prisoners were at first confined in hulks, generally old line-of-battle ships, cut down to suit the purpose, and anchored at a distance from the shore. On entering the hulk each man was examined as to citizenship, health, and rating. The officers were allowed parole, and all having the rank of commander and first lieutenant of privateers of fourteen guns, or of captains and first mates of merchantmen, were sent to Ashburton in Devon, or Heading in Berkshire, where they were registered, and allowed by the British government 1s. 6d. a day for food, lodging, and clothes. Their lives were indeed happy compared to those who were confined in hulks or in the great war prison on Dartmoor. When a prisoner was entered in the hulks he was given one hammock, one bed-bag filled with straw, three or four pounds of flock made of chopped rags, and one coarse blanket; these were to last for one and a half years from date of issue. The doctor's inspections were irregular, and unless a prisoner was very ill or dying he was kept in the hulk; if the case was very bad, he was removed to a hospital-ship.

The prisoners did the work of the ship, and cooked their own rations, which were one and a half pounds of coarse bread, one-half pound of beef with bone, one-third ounce of salt, one-third ounce of barley, and two turnips for each man. This was for five days a week. On the other days each prisoner was allowed one pound of salt fish, one pound of potatoes, and one and a half pounds of bread.