BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE: THE UNCERTAIN FATE OF NAPOLEONIC PRISONERS OF WAR

From Iberia to Russia, in the colonies and at sea, thousands of French soldiers were taken prisoner during the Napoleonic Wars. What fate awaited them in captivity? There were no legally enforceable international conventions of the sort that began to appear in the later nineteenth century. The terms of any surrender were often left to the generals in the fi eld, though they knew that it was in their interest to show some mercy since the fate of their own men might depend on their decisions. Nonetheless, the terms imposed varied hugely. A lucky few might hope to be the subject of prisoner exchanges. Officers could expect to be paroled in approved towns where they were on their honour not to escape. Other ranks were less fortunate, and were usually held in prisons, in secure camps, or offshore on hulks. The article gives particular attention to the conditions in which French prisoners were held in Britain during the war years.