The American War of 1812-15, repatriation of prisoners held in England

 

The Treaty of Ghent which ended the war between Britain and America was signed on 24 December 1814 though the end-date is more often given as 1815 when the Treaty was ratified in the USA. It took additional time to deal with such matters as the repatriation of prisoners of war with thousands of American prisoners held in England, most at the very grim Dartmoor Prison where conflict with prisoner fatalities erupted in 1815. The British were distracted by Napoleon’s escape from Elba and return to France which meant that ships which might have returned prisoners to America were deployed elsewhere. The brief letter transcribed below is dated 24 December 1816 and  allowing for the time it took for Captain Syms to get to America and then back and report mission accomplished it implies that prisoner returns were completed at the earliest between  mid- and late-1816. The ship he captained (The Princess of Wales)was probably never intended for Atlantic crossings.

Colonel Aspinwall was American Consul in London from 1816 to 1854; the writer of the letter was probably an Admiralty clerk.

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Transcription

Addressed to: Col. Thomas Aspinwall     American Consul General &c &c &c Broad Street

Datelined: London Dec 24 1816

Docketing note: London 24^th Decr 1816 Wm. Vaughan   Rd. Ad. [Received Answered]

 

Colonel Thomas Aspinwall

I have received from Captain Syms a Certificate of the American Seamen that went out in the Princess of Wales. They are all landed but one who died on his passage. Your acknowledgment of the same will much oblige.

Sir Your most obedient humble servant Wm Vaughan

London Dec 14 1816

The Certificate states that 81 men were ship’d and Eighty landed in America one dying in the passage

 

References

Nicholas Guyatt,  The Hated Cage: An American Tragedy in Britain’s Most Terrifying Prison (2022)

Wikipedia: Thomas Aspinwall (consul)