CHAPTER 1

Marching Into Captivity

The eighteenth century was period of frequent conflict as the European powers jostled for continental supremacy, at the same time expanding their overseas empires, while attempting to limit the imperial ambitions of their rivals. The century saw France, Spain and Holland arrayed as frequent enemies of Great Britain. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the Seven Years War (1756–1763) and the American Revolutionary War on the side of the American colonists were all clashes in which these nations fought against Britain. Each war was characterized by conflict on land and sea across the globe, and resulted in many prisoners of war arriving in Britain. As the century progressed, armies and navies became larger, and consequently the numbers of prisoners taken became greater.

The extent of the conflict during the American Revolution prompted an attempt at regulating the business of repatriating prisoners of war. Exchange of prisoners had always been erratic, but in 1780 a treaty was agreed between Britain and France stating that vigorous attempts would be made to exchange all prisoners of war as speedily as possible after capture, man for man, rank for rank. If there were no prisoners of equal rank to exchange, then the numbers would be made up of a proportion of lesser ranks, or a cash equivalent could be substituted.1

This treaty was regarded as the gentlemanly way to conduct prisoner of war affairs, but it only worked when there were gentlemen on both sides who could reach an agreement. However, 1789 saw events in France that changed the situation. The French Revolution removed French gentlemen from the scene, either by guillotining them or forcing them to flee for their lives. While these momentous events were changing the social and political climate in that country, they were also to change the conduct of war.

Prior to 1789, European conflict was conducted in a ‘civilized’ manner between monarchs who, while pitting their relatively small but professional armies against each other, respected their mutual positions as heads of state. The French Revolution, under the bannerliberté,égalité,fraternité, overturned the idea of royal and aristocratic privilege. This had two immediate effects. First, the French were infused with a national fervour to export their revolutionary principles to the rest of Europe. Second, this forced the nations of Europe to co-operate against a common foe. War was about to be waged on a scale never seen before.2

The Revolutionary War began in 1792 with the French demonstrating the effectiveness of alevée en masse by fighting off an Austro-Prussian alliance, at the same time as the abolition of the monarchy by the National Convention in Paris. 1793 began dramatically with the execution of Louis XVI in January; the following month resulting in France declaring war upon Britain, Spain and the United Provinces (Holland). While countries such as Spain and Holland later found themselves allied to France, Great Britain remained an implacable foe until the short-lived peace resulting from the Treaty of Amiens in 1801.

War between Britain and a France now under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte (he became Emperor in 1804) erupted in 1803. Again Britain found herself at war, actively or otherwise, against most European nations as alliances were made and broken. This war lasted until the defeat of the Emperor in 1814. After a short-lived exile to Elba he returned to claim the French throne, only to be finally defeated in the Waterloo campaign of 1815.

To understand how the war prison system developed in Britain, it is important to look at the events and activities that generated the reason for its existence: prisoners of war. During t