What Happened to Portchester’s Caribbean Prisoners?
When Britain and Revolutionary France went to war in 1793, their Caribbean colonies were also caught up in the conflict. Many people from Caribbean islands such as St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada fought in French military units against the British. In 1796 over 2,000 free French black soldiers were captured and taken to Portchester Castle in England.
After their release, these soldiers were forced to negotiate complex ideologies around slavery, race and colonial rule. Here we trace just a few of their journeys.