Americans in Britain's Most Terrifying Prison

While working in Plymouth I hiked quite a bit on Dartmoor - I was quite surprised to learn that it was a man made landscape - which has a immense variety of outlook. I did of course have a look - fortunately only from the outside - on Dartmoor prison, as with all prisons - quite a grim view.

While I could live with closing the prison I was dismayed when the MOD closed down Stonehouse and Haslar.

In addition to the "It's only wrong if Naps did it" canard, I thought we'd also moved past accepting, much less believing in, publishers' rank hyperbole. The works of Beckett, Dawson, Franklin, and others come readily to mind, guaranteeing to offer The Untold Story, The Truth, The Never-Before Revealed [fill in that blank], and always, always, using Never Before Seen Archival Documents.

One of my other hobbies growing up was Magic. Every trick was always “Amazing”, “Easy to do”, “Finishes clean” and promised to “Astound your friends”. Like manifesto promises, we never really believed them, and I believe we should apply the same skepticism here. Not all publisher’s are equally guilty though. I’ve found @Andrew Bamford’s for his Reason to Revolution series a little better. If anything I’ve tended to be more impressed by the real thing. I suppose if you are the professor of American studies, and it’s about US sailors and your potential readership have never heard of Dartmoor prison you want to use inflammatory language like ‘massacre’. Likewise ‘never before’ means ‘never before for a less specialist audience’. If it’s about snagging more general readership into our world, it might have some utility. The only problem is when we fix on some of the more inflammatory language. As @Hans - Karl Weiß pointed out we should really reserve judgement until we read the work. However, this is several months into the future, and that reply button is only a click away!

@david Tomlinson There reports reproduced here https://www.1812privateers.org/Riot.htm

indicate that there was apprehension that the rioters might reach the armoury where weapons were kept but that there was no indication those who had broken out were even aware of that possibility. The fact that at the moment of the compound gates being broken open, the main gates had been opened to admit supply wagons added to the state of alarm. When the militia detachment advanced on the rioters they showed a reluctance to engage the most recalcitrant internees with force; hesitating to charge their bayonets when there was a risk of men directly in front from being pushed onto them and then initially firing over the heads of the crowd. Moreover at that point the worst of the unrest seemed to have been contained. There seemed to be no clear explanation as to why firing then broke out but, overall, indiscipline at first and subsequently bloody-mindedness on the part of unidentified individuals are the primary explanations offered for the initial discharge of weapons and continued firing after the threat had subsided. Provocative behaviour on the part of some more persistent rioters may have have been a catalyst. The absence of most of the officers at dinner exacerbated all those factors.

Thank you @john fortune . Still doesn’t quite fit “the indiscriminate slaughter of many people” that would fit the title of massacre. But then again ‘riot that got out of hand’ doesn’t sell many books!

@david Tomlinson No, that was my point entirely.

Exactly my point. Artillery in an urban environment is a much more indiscriminate weapon. Not really the same thing.

Thank's to the links John Fortune provided - I changed my point of view about the Whiff of grapeshot, and see it differently now. Learning on the other hand that Boney was neither the cic nor the 2nd in command and that his role was pumped up by the usual propaganda machine still in full swing even till today.

@Hans - Karl Weiß The "Fall of Robespierre" book shows how Barras was named to be in charge of the NG in Paris to protect the Convention during Thermidor.

7 dead, 31 wounded, is my understanding (though perhaps some died later of their wounds).