Friday, November 25, 2011

From The New Encyclopedia of Social.....



During the War of 1812 Great Britain transported to England a number of American soldiers and seamen who had been captured and confined them in a prison on Dartmoor.  Ill-fed and neglected the men rebelled, and during a riot that ensued (April 6, 1815) seven of the prisoners were killed and thirty-five wounded.  The Prince Regent (afterward George IV) ordered an investigation, and on receiving a report of the incident severely censured the officers in charge of the prisoners of war.  A pleasant contrast was afforded by the treatment accorded to American seamen who, having been taken prisoners during several naval engagements, in 1815, were conveyed to Bermuda, where they kept in confinement, but where such Bermudians as were permitted to have access to them, extended "generous and tender sympathy" which "prompted the kindest attention" to the living and honored those who died during detention.

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