Napoleon's American Prisoners
Anne Morddel
Publisher : Boydell Press (June 17, 2025)
Hardcover : 288 pages
ISBN: 9781837651160
Tells the story of the 1,500 or so common seamen of the American merchant marine who were held as prisoners of war in France during the Napoleonic Wars.
Based on extensive original research, this book tells the story of the 1,500 or so common seamen of the American merchant marine who were held as prisoners of war in France during the Napoleonic Wars. Although the United States was neutral, Napoleon interpreted neutrality narrowly, and included among the enemy merchants doing business with the enemy and seamen working on enemy vessels. Drawing on remarkably full source material in French, American and British archives, including the seamen's letters, their pleas for help to the consuls, the correspondence about them between the French authorities and the US diplomatic service, and the British Admiralty lists of prisoners, the book reveals a great deal about who these seamen were, and about their vastly different experience in French prisons. It contrasts their fate with that of British seamen and officers, discusses the labyrinthine maritime laws that ensnared the seamen and how their nationality, in an era before passports, was determined, charts the establishment of the US consular service, first established at this time to help "distressed American seamen", and relates the American seamen's experiences to the wider scholarly literature. Throughout, the book includes fascinating case studies of the adventures and misadventures of individual seamen.
I didn't imagine a such number
Bulletin of November 2, 1807
The United States Minister has requested 69 American sailors held as prisoners of war in various British POW's depots; His Majesty has ordered them to be handed over.
Bulletin of November 7, 1807
69 American prisoners are to be returned from various depots. Wirion gives details of those at Verdun; among them, Schaw, a shipowner, is taking with him a young African whom he claims to be the son of the King of the Congo.
Bulletin of November 9, 1807
Verdun. Depot of Prisoners of War. 18 Americans to be returned. Wirion says that the English prisoners made a collection for them; Gordon, the English captain, wanted to hand it over to Haig; the Americans refused: "National spirit was the sole cause of this refusal."
La Police Secrète du Premier Empire
Bulletins quotidiens adressés par Fouché à L'Empereur
Ernest d'Hauterive
******************************************************************************************
The need to complete the crews led the Emperor to call for a levy of sailors in Danzig in June 4th 1811.
23 American sailors were forcibly enlisted and sent to Antwerp and then to Rochefort where they were employed on board the Squadron's vessels. In June and July, the Minister of Foreign Affairs received several protests and complaints from the American chargé d'affaires. He alerted the Emperor, who requested information from the Minister of the Navy. Bassano strongly insisted that the Americans be released quickly so that public opinion in the United States would not equate this incident with the press that England was exerting against American sailors. This is not the time, he essentially reminded, to do anything that might distance America from France.
On December 12, the Emperor signed the order handing over the 23 Americans to the United States Legation.
La France les Etats-Unis et la guerre de course 1797-1815
Ulane Bonnel