very much the conduct of the Bavarians for using a

1 This was probably the town of Stockach.

2 This small town had suffered greatly by fire, and had been lately
entirely new built. It is situated on the Danube, thirty-three miles
N.W. of Constance.



COMMISERATION OF THE GUARDS 183

British officer with such cruelty. I was in great hopes of
staying here all night, as there was at first a difficulty in
procuring a carriage. However, the Bavarians did not
deem this prudent, and they got a common waggon, which
was filled with straw, and placed me in the centre between
them. They were not wrong in doing so, for had I remained
there that night I certainly should have been rescued.

At midnight we changed our waggon at Rothweil. At
dawn we again changed ; and at four in the afternoon we
passed through Gegenbach ; and about midnight arrived
at Offenburg, a fortified town in Baden, and only five or
six leagues from Strasbourg. Here we went to bed, my
guards having first placed their bedsteads on each side of
mine.

My mind was too much occupied with the misery that
awaited me to admit of sleep. The dungeons, in which I
was perhaps inevitably doomed to drag out a miserable
existence, appeared to my imagination with all their
horrors. Bitche was the place that had been originally
allotted for me, and I was of opinion, from the different
accounts that I had received of this wretched place, that a
prisoner's life was prolonged, only to make his punishment
the greater. My depression of spirits became extreme ;
and even my guards greatly commiserated my distress,
and frequently expressed their regret at its being their lot
to deliver me again into the hands of my enemies.

In justice to these, my conductors, I must say that
they used their authority with as much mercy as possible.
They anticipated as well as they could all my wants ; and,
in fact, in every respect they made me as comfortable as
possible under our relative circumstances and positions.
When I reflect on these and many similar facts, and, above



184 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN CTBRIEN

all, when I reflect on the kind old wife of the gaoler of
Lindau, I am bound to say that I found the Germans
generally honest and kind-hearted, and the females of that
country particularly so.

At eight the next morning we quitted Offenburg for
Strasbourg, and at eleven we breakfasted at Kehl. This
was our last stage, and here we procured our last change
of horses. We crossed the bridge at one, and were most
strictly searched by custom-house officers. All they found
upon me was the heavy chains and the as heavy padlock.
Would to heavens they had deemed those contraband
goods, and had deprived me of them ! These fellows, as
well as the sentries, were enraged when I told them that
they had not been so very particular a few mornings
before, when I had passed the bridge without their deign-
ing to speak to me. I put the latter into a most furious
passion when I quizzed them upon their muffling them-
selves up in their warm cloaks, and keeping themselves in
their sentry-boxes, whilst I was slipping by them amidst
the cattle. How mad they were ! but the joke now was
all against myself, for in half-an-hour I found myself
securely lodged in the military gaol of Strasbourg. Thus
ended all my hopes.

The keeper of this prison was, thank God, excessively
civil and kind ; and civility and kindness are by no means
common qualities amongst the gaolers of this most civilised
and polite nation. He showed me into an apartment
where there was a tolerably good bed, and even asked me
if I wished to have a fire. A good fire in a damp room of
a gaol, on a bitterly frosty day of December, was certainly
a great addition to a poor prisoner's comforts, and I
frankly replied that there was nothing, under his roof at



A GAOLER'S GRATITUDE 185

least, that I should like so much to see as a blazing hearth;
but I as honestly added that I had not one farthing to
pay for it. The little money that I had possessed had
been almost all spent by the Bavarians in getting me a
shirt and a pair of stockings, and I saw them give the
remainder, which was a mere trifle, to the French gen-
darmes when they handed me over to their custody. " In
that case, 1 ' replied the feeling gaoler, " you shall go to my
apartment and warm yourself, and you shall want for
nothing that I can help you to." This was a very
different reception from what I had anticipated. It is
astonishing what an effect kindness has upon the heart,
and especially upon the heart of the afflicted and miserable.
This man's charity quite disarmed me from any thoughts
of escape. Nothing could have induced me, by any mis-
conduct, to have brought so good a man under rebuke or
punishment from the authorities above him.

Shivering with cold, I left my dark, damp room, and
soon found myself in a very comfortable apartment, and
my eyes were greeted with the sight of a blazing fire,
whilst the crackling of the burning logs " discoursed sweet
music to my ears."

My frank and charitable Samaritan soon gave me a
reason why the benevolence of his nature was now poured
forth so cordially towards me. He was an old soldier,
and had twice been made a prisoner by the English during
the last war. He had been captured up the Mediterranean,
and on both occasions the English, he said, had treated
him kindly ; and he conceived that he was only paying off
a debt of gratitude in availing himself of an opportunity
to be kind to an English officer in distress. Never was
logic more conclusive to my mind, or never did a debtor



186 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN O'BRIEN

and creditor account of favours received and returned
sound more delightfully to my ears.

He introduced me to his wife, a German woman, who
insisted on my taking a seat near the fire ; and the frank,
hospitable creature seemed to vie with her husband in
mitigating my sufferings. After the very many hours I
had been almost perishing with the cold, and cramped and
numbed with my chains, I need not say how comfortable
I found myself. I supped with my worthy host and hostess,
and next day I breakfasted and dined at their table.

This day the lieutenant of the gendarmerie of the
Strasbourg district, with another officer, came to inter-
rogate me with respect to my escape, the direction I had
taken, and all the other circumstances of my flight. I was
frank and communicative, and they both were very much
astonished at the sufferings I had endured, and expressed
their wonder at my having been able to cross the bridge
of Kehl without detection. They informed me, to my
grief, that Bitche was the place of my destination ; and
that at daylight the next morning I should be escorted to
that fortress, in company with eleven Corsican soldiers
who had lately deserted from their regiment at Deuxponts,
carrying with them their arms, accoutrements, and knap-
sacks. These unfortunate fellows, they added, were all to
be shot. I must confess that I by no means liked to travel
in such company ; but my informants assured me, that
although they were sensible of the indignity, and sorry for
it, it was out of their power to prevent it, and that I must
submit with patience to my fate. I had only to express
my resignation with the best grace I could assume.

The gaoler, being well aware of what sort of dungeons
I should be placed in during my journey to Bitche, told me



HAGENAU GAOL 187

he had received only nine livres about seven shillings and
sixpence sterling, which was all that had been handed over
to the gendarmes as my property by the Bavarians ; and
as my funds were so very low he would demand only two
shillings and sixpence for everything I had received at his
table ; and he gave the remainder of my money to my
guard, to advance as I might have occasion for it. I felt
grateful for this man's generosity and disinterestedness.
His was, indeed, the most reasonable bill I ever had paid
in France, and I requested he would take more, as I was
certain it must be in consequence of my reduced finances
that his demands were so moderate ; however, he resolutely
refused, so I took my leave of him and his wife, 1 and got
into my place, which was by the eleventh Corsican's side,
to whom I was chained and handcuffed, whilst another
chain was also passed through the whole of the party,
which completely linked us all together. About noon our
guards were changed. The brigade that now escorted us
consisted of the most cruel scoundrels I ever beheld. They
placed the chain round my neck, under my handkerchief;
and on my observing to them that it must certainly be
their design to strangle me by putting the chain on so

tight, they took in another link, d d me for a rascally

Englishman, and clapped on an immense padlock, which
was dangling as an ornament under my chin the whole
way ; they afterwards screwed on my handcuffs until the
skin was literally twisted off the wrists. They knew my
name perfectly, and that I had lately escaped from my
guards.

At night we arrived at Hagenau gaol, and the next

1 This is the persoii I alluded to as an exception, with the kind
gaoler at Arras, to all others that I met with in France.



188 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN O'BRIEN

morning at daylight went on our way. We were placed
in the same order, with this exception the chain was
passed over the shoulder and under the arm, like a soldier's
belt, instead of round the neck. At about five in the
afternoon we arrived at an open town, Niederbronn. The
cold was very intense snowing hard all day. For our
comfort, we were put into one of the most filthy dungeons
that ever mortal beheld, with scarcely room to turn round,
and only a small hole in the door to admit air. The
Corsicans appeared to feel a great deal for my situation ;
and observed, " that they ought not to complain, when a
British officer was used in so horrid a manner? They
were permitted to go out of the dungeon to get some
refreshments, which the charitable inhabitants sent them ;
but the sacre Anglais was not suffered to move; and I
had great difficulty to procure a morsel of food, which was
handed me through the air-hole, and for which they charged
double price. This air-hole was so small, and there was
such an abominable smell, that I never expected to survive
it. Two of these unfortunate wretches were seized with
an illness, a sort of cholera, which continued the whole
night, and added greatly to the mauvaise odeur we already
had. I never passed a more dreadful night. At last the
cheering moment arrived, which was announced by the
usual sounds rattling of keys, creaking of doors, bolts,
etc. A gendarme presented himself, and, with a gruff,
overbearing voice, desired us to prepare for our march. He
had very little difficulty in getting this summons obeyed ;
but he told us we must first of all clean out our cell !
" Where is the Englishman ? " roared the brute ; " let him
do that part by himself ! " I was full of disgust and indig-
nation; and advancing boldly towards him, I resolutely



BRUTALITY OF THE GUARD 189

told him that I would not. The fellow was getting into
a furious rage, and I doubted not but that the consequences
would have been serious to me, when, fortunately, the
soldiers interfered, and said that as they had caused the evil,
it was but just that they should clear out the cell. This
done, we proceeded on our journey, in the manner of the
preceding day.

The two sick soldiers, though the poor wretches looked
extremely ill, were not exempted from their chains and
fetters, although the weather was excessively inclement,
and the heavy snow was drifted in our faces by a fierce
and hard wind. They were evidently in a high state of
fever, and wherever they saw a frozen rivulet they en-
treated that they might be allowed to halt, to procure
either ice or water; but the flinty -hearted brutes were
deaf to all supplication, and the wretched sufferers were
obliged to eat handfuls of snow in order to allay their
raging thirst. The cruel, savage behaviour of these guards
exceeded everything I had witnessed ; and yet I had seen
and experienced enough to make nature shudder. They
also accused the poor wretches of being traitors to their
countryman, Napoleon.

At about noon, on the 21st of December 1807, the
high turrets and massive towers of the gloomy fortress in
which I was going to be incarcerated presented themselves
to my sight. Their very appearance was sufficient to
strike the mind with horror; and I cannot but believe
that the engineer had this object in view when he gave
such outward forms to his structure. The prospect of
being shut up in that detestable fortress, perhaps for the
remainder of my days, could only be relieved by the
probability that my length of life would be shortened by



190 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN O'BRIEN

the nature of my imprisonment. Death itself was prefer-
able to protracted persecution, and I sometimes devoutly
wished to be at rest. In this train of thought and feel-
ing I proceeded ; and so absorbed was I by my affliction,
that I was almost unconscious of any objects or circum-
stances around me, until I was roughly awakened from
my stupor and found myself in the centre of the fortress
of Bitche.



CHAPTER XII

Conjectures of the prisoners as to my country and crimes Infer-
ences from my chains that I had committed murder Mr.
Ashworth and Mr. Tuthill, with Mr. Baker, rejoin me
Lieutenant Essel dashed to pieces in attempting to descend the
ramparts of Bitche My grief at his death The immense
height of the ramparts My horrible dungeon Its revolting
state of filth Interview with the commandant An application
to be allowed to take the air granted for two hours a day
Meditations upon an escape Our efforts baffled A Christmas
night in a dungeon Reminiscences of home and friends A
sentinel firing on his prisoners I am removed to a cell with
fifty prisoners Again removed to a higher cell with only twelve
Improved condition Hear of a scheme of the prisoners below
to effect their escape Contrive to join them Stratagem to
drown the noise of working-tools Successful undermining
Noise in opening the third door Sentinels alarmed The
guards enter Search, and discover our engineering Fury of
the French officers Mr. Brine, answering to the name of
O'Brien, is captured instead of me I escape from the dungeon
and regain my own cell Feign illness, and avoid suspicion.

As soon as I could collect my scattered senses and
compose my distracted mind, I found that I was stared
at from all sides by my unhappy countrymen, who at
that moment happened to be out of their souterrains, on
their permission to take those few gasps of fresh air
that were essential to their being able to exist for the
rest of the day in their noxious dungeons. I could hear
some of these poor fellows questioning whether I was a

191



192 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN O'BRIEN

British subject. "He must have been at the head of
some banditti ! " said one. " He looks like it," observed
another. " Perhaps," remarked a third, " he is the captain
of the soldiers he is chained to." "Very likely," rejoined
another. " At all events," said a fifth, " whether he is an
Englishmen or a foreigner, it is clear he is not a prisoner
of war, for they never would load a prisoner of war of any
nation so heavily with chains." In this opinion, and in
this alone, did they all agree ; and I was set down by
universal consent as some daring criminal that had com-
mitted one, or even a host of atrocious crimes. At length
some of my old friends saw and recognised me. " Good
heavens ! " exclaimed one, " it is our old friend O'Brien."
" But why such chains, and with such a gang ? " was the
reply. None dared approach to ask a question ; and, as I
afterwards found, the general inference was, that, in my
attempt to escape, I had killed some officer or soldier who
had opposed me, and that I was led here thus secured
preparatory to my trial and execution for murder.

But it was not many minutes before my old friends and
companions, Ashworth and Tuthill, found means to get
at me.

I was never more thunderstruck in my life, for I had
flattered myself that they had effected their escape, and
had been happy in the thought, which had worked itself
into my mind as a fact, that they had arrived safely in
England. Mr. Baker, of the merchant service, and in a
short time all my old companions, surrounded me, except
poor Lieutenant Essel; and on my anxiously inquiring
for him, to my great grief was I informed that he had
been dashed to pieces in endeavouring to get over the
walls, in a fresh attempt to escape. Mr. Ashworth and



THE FORTRESS OF BITCHE 193

Tuthill told me that they had been arrested or recaptured
about two hours after they had parted from me in the
wood. It had, in fact, been so suddenly surrounded by
soldiers and peasantry that it was impossible to escape
from it. They added that they never had been able to
account for my getting clear. The other prisoners had
not taken advantage of the diversion we had made in
their favour, but had remained in the waggon.

The melancholy intelligence of my poor fellow- sufferer
EssePs violent death was an additional pang to my mis-
fortunes and anguish. I was anxiously asking the par-
ticulars, when the guard came up, and angrily drove my
friends to their respective dungeons for daring to com-
municate with me. I, with the Corsicans, was most
unceremoniously conducted to a different part of the
fortress, called La Grosse Tete.

I shall not attempt to describe the fortress of Bitche.
To give a minute detail of its strength, souterrains, etc.,
would fill a volume. At this moment it is sufficient
for me to say that it is reckoned one of the strongest
fortifications of France, and is built on the summit of an
immensely high rock, out of which all its subterranean
caves are hollowed. It has, on one side, three ramparts.
The first is from 90 to 100 feet high ; the second, from
40 to 50 ; and the third, from 25 to 30, with redoubts,
entrenchments, and all contrivances of military engineer-
ing, almost innumerable. 1 As I surveyed these stupendous
heights and depths, it appeared to me a physical im-

1 In the Franco -German war of 1870-71 Bitche was still so
strong even against modern artillery, that it maintained itself long 1
after Strasburg, Mete, and all the other eastern fortresses had
fallen, and was, along with Belfort, the only place where a really
lengthy and obstinate defence was made,





194 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN O'BRIEN

possibility to escape from it, and I was filled with de-
spair. Nothing but madness could entertain a thought of
attempting to escape. Being now arrived at the wretched
dungeon I was to inhabit, my handcuffs and chains were
taken off, and the Corsican deserters were conducted to the
condemned cells. They were, I believe, soon afterwards
shot. A dismal dungeon was unlocked, in which it seemed
that I was doomed to be entombed alive. Solitude
appeared to me dreadful, and I looked upon a " living
death " as my final lot ; but I found in the dungeon Mr.
Worth, midshipman, and a Captain Brine of the merchant
service. The latter was one of those who came from
Verdun with me. They were on a door, which they had
managed to unhinge, and which lay as a platform to keep
them out of the excrement and wet, that were more than
ankle deep : they had a little straw and a blanket. They
informed me, they had been companions of the un-
fortunate Essel in the late attempt to get over the
ramparts. Six of them had broken out of their cave,
had got a rope made of sheets, and were on the point of
lowering themselves down, when they were discovered and
the alarm given, which made four of them clap on the
rope together, though only strong enough to lower one at
a time, or two at most ; the rope, in consequence, broke.
One was dashed to pieces, and the three others I think
their names were Nason, Potts, and Adams so severely
mangled and bruised that little hopes were at first
entertained of their recovery ; Worth and Brine were
soon seized by the guards on the embrasure. The others
were then improving fast, and they expected them in the
dungeon in a few days, as soon as the surgeon had re-
ported them well enough ; after which they would have



INTERVIEW WITH THE COMMANDANT 195

to remain in this receptacle of filth for thirty-one days,
which was the usual time of being buried alive in the
first and most horrible gradation of our captivity. It was
fifty deep stone steps under ground, for I have often
counted them, and the most dark and intricate passages
led from it to the gaoler's house, who had the watching
and superintending of the prisoners, in conjunction with
a guard.

I had not been more than half-an-hour in this dismal
and filthy abode, when a gendarme came, and desired le
nouveau arrive to follow him. I imagined it was to
liberate me (that is to say, from this dungeon), and to
place me with my companions, Messrs. Ashworth and
Tuthill, in one of the caves, which was deemed a kind of
indulgence, they having a bed and fire allowed in the
latter ; but I was greatly in error.

I followed my guide through all the before-mentioned
passages, and at last arrived at the gaoler's house ; where
I was accosted, in the following words, by a man who wore
a leathern cap and frock-coat :

" You, sir, are the person who has given us so much
trouble, and been the cause of the gendarmes having been
transported to the galleys."
" Not to my knowledge."

" You are, sir, and merit the greatest severity that can
be inflicted."

This induced me to request to be informed what he
meant.

" I mean, sir," revociferated he, " that you deserve the
severest punishment, for not resting quietly with your
guards, and for being accessory to the punishment of
them."



196 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN O'BRIEN

I replied, " I was conscious that I had only done my
duty in endeavouring to escape from slavery, tyranny,
and oppression, and every other cruelty that could be
invented."

I showed him the marks I then had on my wrists and
different parts of my body, expressing very warmly at the
same time my detestation of a country that could counte-
nance such treatment.

" Pray," said he, " do you know who you are thus
accosting ? "

"I really do not."

" Then, sir, I would have you to know, that I am com-
mandant over all the prisoners confined in this fort ; that
I have very great power invested in me, and could place
you, in a moment, where you would never be seen or
heard of."

I replied, " That I was not aware he was commandant
I had not the smallest doubt with regard to his power
was far from having a wish to give him the least offence
that I was entirely in his power he could therefore
act by me as he thought proper."

He listened with great attention ; became quite soft
and mild; was extremely sorry, but could not avoid
punishing me. He accordingly ordered me to be con-
ducted back to the dungeon I had just left. My com-
panions procured me something to eat ; and I absolutely
felt happy, although in so miserable a place, at being with
my own countrymen : I had nothing now to fear but the
guillotine, or slavery in the galleys.

Thus, my mind being a little at ease, and my spirits
somewhat recruited, I gathered together a few of the
scattered straws, laid myself down on the platform that



EXHILARATING NEWS 197

had been contrived by my comrades in adversity, and fell
fast asleep. When I awoke, the night was far advanced.
My companions, by some means or other, had procured a
flint, tinder-box, and candle, and we struck a light. They
were anxious to have an account of my adventures, with
which I indulged them, and they in return narrated to me
their misfortunes and sufferings. In this manner did I
pass my first night in this horrible dungeon.

There were three, and but three, livres of my money
still remaining, and with this, by dint of bribery, we pro-
cured some brandy from the gaoler. This stimulus we
found very necessary, for the effluvium from this noxious and
pestiferous place was as strong, and almost as offensive,
as that of the last dungeon at Niederbronn, in which I had
been confined with the Corsican soldiers. We had recourse
also to smoking tobacco, which to a great degree mitigated
the effects of the fetidity of this revolting place, although
it made me very sick. I now received secret intelligence,
that a Madame B 1 a d, in the little town of Bitche,
had lately received, through the medium of my worthy
friend, the Rev. Launcelot C. Lee, an order to supply my
pecuniary wants to a certain extent ; and I need not say