In the summer of 1806, Messrs. Boyce, Devonshire, and Matthias, naval officers, went out in company with a Mr. Meller, one of the detenus, to catch larks, near Thierville, when the village guard, accusing them of having occasioned damage in a field of corn, conducted them before the Mayor. They gave in their names and habitations, and were about to return to Verdun, when a woman ran to inform them, that three gendarmes and a horse soldier were in pursuit of some English. Upon this they divided into two parties, and went to meet them, to inquire if it were them they were seeking. Mr. Meller and Mr. Boyce were proceeding leisurely homeward, when they perceived two horsemen galloping towards them. One of them nearly rode over Mr. Meller, - he then dismounted, knocked him down, used the most opprobrious epithets, bade him rise, and then put a rope round his neck, holding it so tight he almost strangled him with it whilst he exclaimed - "Villain! I will strangle thee, — I am going to kill thee! Thou cur! I'll run my sword through thee. If I were the General, I'd have all the English shot on the parade." It was in vain Mr. Meller affirmed his innocence to this ruffian, or demanded the cause of such treatment. "Point de questions B-, ou bien je tu tue." The cord was made fast around the naked neck of Mr. Meller; - it was short, and as he rode along, he jerked and pulled him violently along, accompanying his actions with the bitterest execrations. Mr. Boyce was treated less cruelly; - when they arrived at the village, they found Messrs. Devonshire and Matthias, with their hands bound with ropes, — and all this violence was totally unprovoked. — none of the parties having been beyond their limits. It was in vain Mr. Meller complained of the atrocious indignity he had suffered; nor was Captain Woodriffe, who was the then senior naval captain at Verdun, able to obtain any redress. The General (Wirion) falsely pretended the ruffians had been sent away on a distant mission, and should be severely punished WHEN they returned- which, of course, did not happen.
Such were the excesses committed under the eye of General Wirion, during the height of Buonaparte's power in France! This Wirion seemed a perfect courtier! Whilst he was thus dishonouring the reign of Napoleon, and undermining his throne, no one was louder in professing of almost an idolatrous attachment. It is not improbable but this officer was dismissed as soon as his delinquencies were know to the Emperor; and the care taken to supply his place with officers of the most refined honour, and gentle manners, looks as though he were sensible what injury the vile conduct of General Wirion was calculated to effect.
During the years of captivity passed by the detenus and prisoners of war at Verdun, the principal persons gave a number of costly entertainments; but even those amusements were not suffered to pass unalloyed by the vile despotism of General Wirion and his lady, who either obtruded their detested presence, or maliciously contrived, if uninvited, to render miserable those who gave or attended at these fetes ; and, as might be expected from the long confinement of such an heterogeneous assemblage of persons who resided at Verdun, (exclusive of the prisoners of war, there are lawyers, artists, tradesmen and adventurers of all kinds, and a considerable number of domestic servants, without masters or occupation) the passions of hatred, envy, and jealousy were carried to great lengths;- and many British subjects were accused of acting as spies upon their own countrymen, and betraying them to the malice of this worthless commandant. Lieutenant W.C.C. Dalyell, and his friend Mr. Innes, also of the navy, gave, during the winter of 1807, what the Chevalier Lewis terms, a most elegant ball and supper, which lasted all night: the absence of Madame Wirion, says Mr. Lewis, contributed not a little to the gaiety and good humour of the entertainment, and enabled some of the most distinguished families to accept the invitation. Several of the male visitors, as if loath to quit the festive scene, stole off to the morning appel at nine o'clock, and then returned to breakfast with the ladies. After supper, a Mr. Temple, probably one of thc detenus, sung " the detenu's" song, written for the purpose by Mr. Lewis. Now, as this fete was given by naval officers, and no doubt a great proportion of the auditors were likely to be naval gentlemen, we are of opinion the poet should have introduced more naval traits into his song; it could then with propriety have been given a place in the Naval Chronicle.
We shall select another instance of the brutality and insolence exercised upon the naval prisoners of war, not by the French military alone, but by the Bourgeoise, who benefited so greatly by the British being confined in their city. On the 8th May, 1806, Lieut. Hawkey, of the R.N. and Lieut. Alexander Eckford, of the marines (both of whom were still confined in December last, 1813), were returning in the evening with some ladies from a dinner in the country, when a paltry fellow, named LAMELLE, an apothecary of Verdun, accompanied by another shopkeeper, rode along in so mad a style, that they had nearly galloped over the ladies. Lieutenant Hawkey called out, begging them to mind how they rode. Exasperated at this admonition, the apothecary, who was a remarkably stout man, sprung from his horse, and rushing on Mr. Hawkey, suddenly knocked him down, - stamped with his heavy boots on his face, and broke out one of his fore teeth. This cowardly and ruffian-like assault happened close to the Paris gate, and the gendarmes, roused by the cries of the females, released Mr. Hawkey, covered with blood, from the power of this ruffian. Although the outrage was seen by many witnesses, the apothecary, LAMELLE, was suffered to mount his horse and ride off in triumph; nor was any legal address ever procured by the sufferers.
No retreat was sufficiently obscure to protect a British prisoner from the malice or the power of General Wirion ; and if he chanced not to have any peculiar desire of tormenting the individual, - yet, if he happened to lodge in the house of an inhabitant who was disliked by the despot, the prisoner was sure to suffer, in order to punish the landlord. One of the many hard mandates of Wirion decreed that no one, without his permission, should change his lodgings. Thus, if the landlord happened to be a creature of Wirion's, the British lodger was liable to the most infamous treatment, without hope of release or redress. And if he chanced to be agreeably lodged, the genera], if he disliked the landlord, would issue his mandate for the prisoner to remove! - These tacts are almost incredible,--but they have been for years openly affirmed.
A Mr. Halford, a naval officer, lodged at the house of a man named Varennes, whose house, overlooking the Bishop's garden and the adjoining country, afforded one of the finest views in Verdun; they were in other respects very agreeably lodged; when, most unexpectedly, an order arrived from the malignant Commandant, Wirion, ordering them to remove! Exposition or entreaty was alike in vain- they were forced to quit their lodgings. Now, the fact was, that Monsieur Varennes belonged to the police, and received twelve livres a day for acting as a spy over the English; he was paid this honourable stipend by General Wirion; but, M. Varennes gave information at Paris against the proceedings of his paymaster. The general having, by means of a friend at Paris, learned this fact, he sent for M. Varennes, and informed him, that some secret enemy had been calumniating him to the Emperor! M. Varennes affected the utmost surprise, - commended the public conduct of Wirion, and loaded with execrations the vile denunciator! - On this the general, without farther comment, opens a drawer, and puts into the hand of his astonished visitant the identical letter in which he had denounced him!- Varennes retired, covered with confusion,-and the two British officers were commanded to quit his house!
Although the picture may be generally true, there are many honourable exceptions; and even of the midshipmen, exposed as they were for so many years to all the perils of seducing vice and yielding youth, - no one became a public spectacle, and many applied themselves assiduously to useful and honourable tasks.
From the Naval Chronicle Vol XXXII, July- December 1814.
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