Topsail Island, NC - Captain Otway Burns, among many occupations during his lifetime serving the state of North Carolina, was a War of 1812 Privateer. Raised in Swansboro and often spending time upon Topsail Island, he was known to take a crew of over one hundred onto his small vessel, the Snap Dragon, when he went to sea to capture British merchant ships or to engage the British fleet in a tall sail ship battle.  The normal compliment of crew required for a vessel similar to the Snap Dragon was between ten and fifteen.  Due to a recent collaboration between the author and two of England’s leading historians known for their in-depth knowledge of specific areas of the War of 1812, new information has unfolded that may be a tale worth mentioning, dealing with Captain Burns and his crew.

Starting in the late summer of 1812, on behalf of the United States Navy, Captain Burns served as a Privateer for nearly twenty months.  During his time of service he was credited for capturing not less than thirty-five vessels—the largest with a value of one-half million dollars.  He also received a “bounty” for each enemy crewmember and slave captured.  He brought his “prizes” to various ports along the East Coast but, primarily kept to Wilmington, Top Sail Island, Beaufort and New Bern, N.C, if at all possible. 

During the war on the high seas, when an enemy ship was captured, there was a practice of placing your own crew onto the captured vessels and bring them into an American or neutral port.  This would allow a Privateer to remain at sea to capture more enemy vessels, hence, the need for a large number of crewmembers.  Captain Burns did not initiate this process but, he did master it.  Some of his personally appointed crew, however, who were set aboard the captured enemy vessels never finished their assigned duties—loosing captured bounty, vessel, and their own freedoms. 

When Captains of British vessels captured American ships and their crew, on occasion, shot those who they felt were traitors for not supporting the efforts of Her Majesty Queen of England.  On the open sea, captains often “exchanged” prisoners, for example, while in neutral ports or upon arrival to England or Nova Scotia, a British stronghold port during the war.

The most common act committed upon American prisoners was to send them to England to be held, in chains, upon Prison Barges or, one of the many prisons within England’s various ports—one of the most feared was Dartmoor Prison.  A story has been told about Captain Burns that while being chased, to avoid a battle between the Snap Dragon and a much larger, more armored British war ship, many of the crew of the Snap Dragon were in their quarters packing their belongings.  They were certain that at any minute they would be run down, captured and sent to Dartmoor Prison.

Captain Burns turned over his captured vessels to selected crewmembers.  After he gave precise orders to sail a route towards southern Florida then to follow the coast toward their home port, the prize and her American crew headed west on the open seas.   The Snap Dragon then went in search of other ships to battle and hopefully capture.  When Captain Burns returned home after his tours of four to six month at sea, jumping off of his vessel, the first place he would have gone was the customs office, to stake his claim on his prizes and receive his full payment due. 

One can easily imagine what mannarism and explosive language spoken by Burns when he was told that some of his prizes never arrived to port but, instead were recaptured and her crew taken as Prisoners of War (P.O.W.).  With local sympathizers for British victory in the war, living within Burns’ homeport of New Bern, N.C., word of where his men were taken was often known.  Most went to Dartmoor.  As the war was ending, interestingly, when the Snap Dragon was finally captured under the command of another Captain, her entire crew was immediately exchanged. 

Above right:  The Dartmoor Cemetary gate

It is the incarcerated crewmembers of the Snap Dragon, who faced the horrid conditions of prison barges or within England’s Dartmoor Prison we wish to address.  All served with honor.  The proof of such heroics is as follows: when the only thing an American prisoner had to do, which in most all cases would provide an instant dismissal of all charges and provide instant freedom, was to denounce America’s way of life and take an oath to Her Majesty.  An American P.O.W. preserved his strongest of will and remained Americans, which immediately caste them into the sub-levels of Dartmoor Prison among the vermin, dampness and disease.  Many of Captain Burns’ crew never made it out of Dartmoor Prison—to come home to their country, to feel the freedom they so well fought to gain, for all Americans.

Barbie Thompson, a noted and respected Historian and lecturer, living in England contacted me pertaining to my previous research paper in which I wrote an article for Topsail Info Internet site dealing with a local captured civilian, who had been placed upon a British Prison Barge.  In turn, as any good Historian, I asked her if she was acquainted with the Snap Dragon or knew of any files, in England’s various archives or museums, that might shed light on the captured crewmembers of Captain Burns’ vessel.  Over a short period of time Ms. Thompson provided images and a point of contact. 

I was informed by Ms. Thompson that a Mr. Ron Roy, former Director and Historian of Dartmoor Prison Museum, now retired, has intimate details of what occurred within Dartmoor Prison during the American Revolution and events that took place during the War of 1812. He toured the United States on numerous occasions, lecturing on the topic.  Barbie Thompson then wrote and told me an interesting aspect of war and, how as time went by, feelings changed from a period of hatred toward defiant Americans to a time where old battle wounds healed and brotherhood became common placed.

I found out, through the greatest of assistance of Barbie Thompson, that Dartmoor Prison has a P.O.W. cemetery just within the gates of the prison.  Within this now honored site is a section of graves of American Prisoners who now lay at rest, in peace.  In addition, nearby, there is a large statue honoring those Americans who died within the prison grounds.  In the early twentieth century the museum placed a plaque upon its main door in memory of American prisoners. 

Left:  The American Prisoner's Monument

Within the list of names that were compiled by Ron Joy and his associates are late crewmembers of the Snap Dragon.  Upon reviewing the provided list of names, however, I discovered additional North Carolinians that appeared on the death roster.  As in other wars or conflicts Americans have fought, some veterans never come home.  I am proud, along with the staff of the TopSail Island Info, to present a list of sailors who fought and died for their country’s freedoms, freedoms that they themselves never obtained.

As I end this article, I ponder on how Captain Burns may have acted or thought while he was alone, at a table in a darken part of a room, drinking his ale.  Maybe at the helm of his ship as she sailed gracefully through the waters.  Secluded from his friends, associates, and crewmembers what did Captain Burns think about the members of his crew that were being held in Dartmoor Prison?  By himself near the end of his life, walking alone along the shoreline, listening only to his private thoughts, some of these men may have been on his mind and how their sacrifices did not go unnoticed, at least not by him.

The following list of names, being presented as compiled for the first time, are of Captain Burns’ crewmembers and other North Carolinians who served in battle and died for their country as American Prisoners of War between 1812-1815: 

Name:   P.O.W.#: Position: Vessel:  Date Died: Home Port:

Clark, Simon  4202367  Seaman  Snapdragon  24 Jan 1815  N.C.

Fulford, {Frilford} Joseph 4202354 Seaman   Snapdragon  27 Jan 1815  N.C.

Hopson, John   4202337  Seaman  Snapdragon  14 Mar 1815  N.C.

Meads, William  4303271  Seaman  Snapdragon  24 Jul 1815  N.C.

Miller, Richard  4202351  Seaman  Snapdragon  20 Nov 1814  Penn  **

** No official explanation can be located to explain how R. Miller enlisted onto the Snap Dragon.

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Addition sailors, from the state of North Carolina, who died within Dartmoor Prison:

Name:   P.O.W.#: Position: Vessel:  Date Died: Home Port:

Adams, James  4404851  Seaman  Greyhound  06 Nov 1814  N.C.

Adams, William  4404848  Seaman  Hawk   24 Apr 1815  N. C.

Brien, Lewis   4303549  Seaman  Hawk   05 Nov 1814  N.C.

Coleman, William  4303547  Seaman  Hawk   05 Nov 1814  N.C.

Gayler, James   4302541  Seaman  America  03 Dec 1814  N.C.

Harrison, Samuel  4303571  Seaman  Hawk   06 Jan 1815  N.C.

Johnson, Wm Alexan. 4303574  Seaman  William  02 Nov 1814   N.C.

Kitre, Dumpy   4100491  Seaman  Paul Jones  23 Dec 1814  N.C.

Rogers, Luke   4404856  Seaman  Fairy   13 Nov 1814  N.C.

Tyren, William  4100412  Seaman  Viper   25 Feb 1814  N.C.

[Compiled by: Jack Robinson, 9 June 2008]

[http://my.execpc.com/~sril/dartmoor/d_pow.htm 9 June 2008]