The Escape of General Exelmans and Colonel de la Grange

I wrote previously on the Napoleonic officers held as prisoners of war in Chesterfield. Whilst there were many interesting stories that came from that topic, I thought it best to tell of the story that first inspired my research into the prisoners at Chesterfield. That story is the escape of General Joseph Exelmans and Colonel …

Napoleonic Prisoners of War in Chesterfield

The number of prisoners of war captured during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars with France was unlike those seen previously in British campaigns. By 1809, after over fifteen years of war, the numbers had risen to a staggering 40,000, which was just over three times the population of Derby at the time. In the early …

Explore Your Archive – On This Day: French Prisoners of War

From the Derby Mercury, 14th November 1811: On Wednesday the 6th inst. Dominique Ducasse, Captain and Aid-de-Camp to Gen. Dufour, Tugdual Antoine Kerenor, Lieutenant, and Julien Deslories, Ensign, three French prisoners of war at Chesterfield, were conducted from the house of correction there, by a military escort, on their way to Norman Cross Prison, for …