Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 9780788464478

This is a transcription of American prisoner of war records from the U.S. Navy, privateers and merchant vessels (plus some civilians) who were captured and then interned by the British Empire at the Dartmoor Depot in England during the War of 1812. There are also some U.S. Army soldiers, volunteers and militiamen included in these transcriptions. This book was compiled from copies of the General Entry Book of American Prisoners of War (GEB) ledger of the British Admiralty made by the Public Records Office in London, Great Britain (ADM 103 series). These ledgers contain the information on 6,553 American prisoners of war who were interned between 2 April 1813 and 26 March 1815 at the Dartmoor Depot. Eight-hundred-sixty-seven of these Americans are listed as Negroes, Blacks, Colored, Men of Color or Mulattos on the GEB ledgers, which amounts to 13% of the total American POW population. Sixteen men are listed as Creoles and there was one Chinese American. Fifty-nine American men entered British service, that is, they enlisted in either the British army, navy or merchant marines to avoid internment in Dartmoor Depot. Fifty-three Americans escaped from Dartmoor Depot, while 272 died and were buried in the American Cemetery near Dartmoor Depot. Mr. Johnson is a lineal descendant of five veterans of the War of 1812 and he is the past president of the Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Ohio (2008-2011). He is currently the Archivist General for the General Society of the War of 1812 and has served as the Historian General (2011-2014) for this society.