8. forton, near portsmouth
although the fortune prison, as it seems to have been very generally called, had been used for war-prisoners during the seven years’ war, its regular adaptation to that purpose was probably not before 1761, in which year 2,000 prisoners were removed thither from portchester ‘guarded by the old buffs’. during the war of american independence many prisoners of that nationality were at forton, and appear to have been ceaselessly engaged in trying to escape. in 1777 thirty broke out, of whom nineteen were recaptured and were so harshly punished that they complained in a letter which somehow found its way into the london papers. the next year, the westminster militia, encamped on weovil common, attracted by alarm guns at forton, marched thither, and found american and french prisoners escaping through a hole in the outer wall, but were too late to prevent five-and-twenty from getting away altogether. the attempt was supposed to be the sequel of a plot by which, a fortnight previously, eleven americans had escaped. on the same day there was a mutiny in the prison hospital, provoked, it was alleged, by the neglect and the callous treatment of patients by the doctors and their subordinates.
in the same year, 1778, another batch of no less than fifty-seven americans made a desperate attempt to get out. the black hole at forton was underneath part of the prisoners’ sleeping quarters. a hole large enough for the passage of a man was made in the floor of a sleeping room, being covered by a bed—that is, a mattress—and through this the earth from a tunnel which led from the black hole to beyond the prison walls, was brought and hidden in the chimney and in hammocks until opportunities came for its removal elsewhere. as no 216report was published of the recapture of these men, we may presume that they got away.
in 1779 howard made his report upon forton. he found there 251 americans and 177 frenchmen. the condition of the former, he says, was satisfactory—probably a result of the generous public subscription of the previous year in aid of them.
of the french part of the prison he speaks badly. the meat was bad, the bread loaves were of short weight, the straw in the mattresses had been reduced to dust by long use, and many of them had been emptied to clear them of vermin. the floors of the hospital and the sleeping quarters, which were laid rough, were dirty and offensive.
the prisoners complained to howard, who told them to write to the commissioners of the ‘sick and hurt’ office. they replied that, as every letter had to be examined by the agent, this would be of no good.
howard emphasizes severely the evident roguery of the contractors employed in the furnishing of provisions and clothing.
the year 1793 was marked at forton, as elsewhere, by a general insubordinate feeling among the frenchmen, of whom there were 850 in the prison. in april, a sentry on guard outside the palisade heard a mysterious scraping sound beneath his feet, and gave the alarm. examination revealed two loose planks in one of the sleeping-rooms, which, being taken up, exposed the entrance to a tunnel, afterwards found to run twenty-seven feet to the outer side of the palisade. one of the prisoners confessed that a plot had been made to kill the agent and his officers.
in july the following report was made upon forton:
‘the french at forton continue extremely restless and turbulent, and cannot bear their captivity with moderation and temper though they are exceedingly well supplied with provisions and every necessity their situation requires. a sailor made a desperate attempt to disarm a sentinel through the bar of the compartment where he was confined. the sentry with great exertion disengaged himself, and fired at the offender, but wounded unfortunately another prisoner, not the aggressor. friday se’nnight, the guard discovered a plot by which several 217prisoners had planned an escape over the wall by tying together their hammocks and blankets. the sentry on duty fired in at the windows, and hit one of the rioters, who is since dead.
‘three french prisoners were dangerously wounded while endeavouring to escape from forton. one of them with a drawn knife rushed upon the guard, a private of the anglesea militia, who fired at him. the frenchman seized him by the coat, whereupon the guard ran the offender through the body.’
general hyde, the commandant at portsmouth, ordered, in consequence of the insubordination fomented by the french political excitement of the time, that no prisoners should be allowed to wear the national cockade, or to scribble seditious statements on the prison walls, or to play any national music, under penalty of the cachot. it is almost unnecessary to say that the enforcement of these orders was physically impossible.
in 1794 an epidemic at forton caused the deaths of 200 prisoners in one month.
in 1806 the great amount of sickness at forton brought about an official inquiry, the result of which was the superseding of the head surgeon.
in 1807, a fire broke out one day in the prison at 2 p.m., which continued until 9 a.m. the prisoners behaved very well, helping to put the fire out, and not attempting to escape.
in november, 1810, no less than 800 prisoners were on the sick list.
in 1811, sous-lieutenant doisy de villargennes, of the 26th french line regiment, arrived at portsmouth, a prisoner of war, taken after fuentes d’o?oro, and was allowed to be on parole ashore pending his dispatch to an inland parole town. he knew that his foster-brother was in prison at forton, and got leave to visit him. i am particularly glad to give the testimony of a french prisoner of war to the improved state of affairs—at forton, at any rate. he says:
‘il y régnait l’ordre le plus parfait, sous un règlement sévère mais humain. nous n’entend?mes pas de sanglots de désespoir, nous ne v?mes point la tristesse dans les yeux des habitants, mais de tous c?tés, au contraire, c’étaient des éclats de rire ou des chansons patriotiques qui résonnaient. . . . mon frère de lait me conduisit vers un petit coin confortable qu’il occupait en compagnie d’un camarade. j’y remarquai un lit 218de bonne apparence, ainsi que d’autres meubles modestes qu’ils avaient pu acheter avec leur propre argent. la cuisine occupait le compartiment voisin; elle servait à 200 hommes, et l’odeur qu’elle répandait ne faisait nullement présumer que les habitants pussent être affamés. je restai à d?ner. je ne dirai pas que le repas était somptueux, mais les mets étaient suffisants et de bonne qualité, et bien que servis dans des plats et assiettes d’étain, avec des couteaux et des fourchettes du même métal, ils étaient accompagnés d’une si cordiale réception que le souvenir de ce d?ner m’a toujours laissé sous une agréable impression.’
there were no wines or liqueurs, but abundance of ‘the excellent ale which england alone produces’. doisy asked whence came the money to pay for all this abundance. his host told him that, being a basket-maker’s son, and knowing the trade, he got permission to work at it and to sell his goods. for a time this was very successful, but the large output of cheap, untaxed work from the prison brought remonstrance from the straw-workers of portsmouth, barnstaple, and other places, with the result that government prohibited it. but the ingenious frenchman soon found another string for his bow, and he became, with many others, a manufacturer of ornaments and knick-knacks, boxes, combs, toys, and especially ship models, from the bones of his food. these beef and mutton bones were carefully saved on all sides, and those who could not work them, sold them at good prices to those who could. germain lamy, his foster-brother, told doisy that he and his comrade worked at the bone model of a seventy-four, with rigging made of hair, for six months, and sold it for ￡40.
lamy was released at the peace of 1814. he took back to france 16,500 francs; bought a little farm, married, and settled down, but died of cholera in 1832.
in 1813 took place the ‘brothers murder,’ a crime which made a very great and lasting sensation.
three frenchmen—fran?ois relif, jean marie dauze, and daniel du verge, escaped from forton, and engaged george brothers, a pilot and boatman, to take them, they said, from the point to one of the ships at spithead. off the block-house they told him that they intended to escape, and proposed that he should take them over to france. he refused: they 219threatened, but he persisted and tried to signal the shipping. whereupon they attacked him, stabbed him in sixteen places, threw his body overboard, and set their course seaward. this was seen from the shore, a fleet of boats set off in pursuit, and, after a smart chase—one account says of fifteen miles—the fugitives were captured, although it was thought that they would have escaped had they known how to manage a sailing boat. they were taken on board h.m.s. centaur, searched, and upon them were found three knives and a large sum of money. they were taken then to jail ashore. one of the prisoners was found to have thirty crown pieces concealed about him, and confessed that having saved up this money, which he had made by the sale of lace, toys, and other manufactures, he had bought a suit of decent clothes, and, mixing with visitors to the dép?t, thus disguised had got off. in the meanwhile the body of brothers had been recovered, placed first in one of the casemates of point battery, and then taken amidst an enormous crowd to his house in surrey street, landport.
the three murderers were executed at winchester. the funeral of brothers in kingston churchyard was the occasion of a large public demonstration, and, be it recorded, the prisoners at forton expressed their abhorrence of the crime by getting up a subscription for the murdered man’s widow and children, to which it is said one of the murderers contributed ￡7.
