The Hated Cage

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The formidable Dartmoor Prison was the first permanent facility for prisoners of war on British soil. Known as the "hated cage, " American captives-Black and white-from the War of 1812 languished in it for years, even after the war ended, stewing in frustration and rage. Although the prisoners had been racially integrated as sailors on American naval ships, Dartmoor became deeply segregated, like the United States itself. Then, on April 6, 1815, a minor flashpoint between the prisoners and the guards turned into a massacre, as guards opened fire. Nine Americans were killed, and dozens injured. It was the last time Britons intentionally killed Americans in a war-and it also led to the prisoners developing a shared national identity that began to trump their racial differences. The Hated Cage provides astonishing insight into the War of 1812, a conflict which proved embarrassing to both sides, by illuminating the tensions between a massive power with a foothold still in the Americas and the upstart nation desperate for true sovereignty. Celebrated historian Nicholas Guyatt brings to vivid life the forgotten story of how these prisoners came into British custody and of how they negotiated and renegotiated their racial identities as they faced a common enemy. Drawing on extensive material from archives in Britain and the United States, The Hated Cage reveals how, in unlikely and dire circumstances, the men trapped within Dartmoor came together to chart a new sense of themselves-as Americans"--