Lieutenant-Colonel George L'Estrange was the military commander in
Manchester in 1819. On 14th August
he received a request from William Hulton
to provide military assistance to prevent trouble at the meeting at
St. Peter's Field on 16th August.. L'Estrange decided to employ 600
members of the 15th Hussars, and several hundred infantrymen in the
31st and 88th Foot. He also had a detachment of the Royal Horse Artillery,
400 members of the Cheshire Yeomanry and 120 members of the Manchester
and Salford Yeomanry Cavalry.
Lieutenant-Colonel L'Estrange's plan was to surround the St.
Peter's Field with troops. The cavalry were in the front and were
to be used to disperse the crowd if the magistrates decided on that
action. The infantrymen were to be called in if the meeting turned
into a riot. L'Estrange decided that the Royal Horse Artillery would
only be used in a emergency.
At about
12.30 William Hulton came to the conclusion
that "the town was in great danger". Hulton therefore decided
to instruct Joseph Nadin, Deputy Constable
of Manchester, to arrest Henry Hunt, Joseph
Johnson, John Saxton and James Moorhouse,
who were on the hustings at the time. Nadin replied that this could
not be done without the help of the military. Hulton then wrote two
letters and sent them to Lieutenant Colonel L'Estrange, the commander
of the military forces in Manchester
and Major Trafford, the commander of the Manchester
& Salford Yeomanry.
Major Thomas Trafford, who was positioned only a few yards away at
Pickford's Yard, was the first to receive the order to arrest the
men. Major Trafford chose Captain Hugh Birley,
his second-in-command, to carry out the order. Local eyewitnesses
claimed that most of the sixty men who Birley led into St.
Peter's Field were drunk. Birley later insisted that the troop's
erratic behaviour was caused by the horses being afraid of the crowd.
When L'Estrange arrived at St. Peter's Field he asked William
Hulton what was happening. Hulton replied: "Good God, Sir,
don't you see they are attacking the Yeomanry? Disperse them."
L'Estrange ordered Lieutenant Jolliffe
and the 15th Hussars to rescue the Manchester
& Salford Yeomanry. In the next few minutes eleven people
were killed and about 400, including 100 women, were wounded.
That night Lieutenant-Colonel George L'Estrange wrote a report on
the day's proceedings and sent it to Major General Sir John Byng,
Commander of the Northern District.
(1)
The Manchester Chronicle (21st August,
1819)
The Magistrates, the Boroughreeves and Constables of Manchester and
Salford, an immense body of Special Constables, and the various force
of military and artillery were in motion for their appointed duties.
The latter consisted of our own Yeomanry Cavalry, under Major Trafford;
the Prince Regent's Cheshire Yeomanry were under Lieutenant-Colonel
Townsend; the 15th Hussars from the Barracks, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Dalrymple; a detachment of the 88th Foot, now stationed in the King
Street Barracks, under Colonel McGregor; the Royal Horse Artillery,
under Major Dyneley; and a detachment of the 31st Foot, under Lieutenant-Colonel
L'Estrange, the able, intelligent, and active officer who commanded
the whole and made all the necessary arrangements for the occasion.
(2) At eight o'clock on 16th
August, 1819, Lieutenant-Colonel George L'Estrange, wrote a report
for Major General Sir John Byng, Commander of the Northern District,
on what had taken place at St. Peter's Field that day. L'Estrange
makes a mistake when he refers to Sykes. No one with that name was
involved in organising the meeting. The fourth man named by the magistrates
was James Moorhouse.
The magistrates assembled
here in consequence of the disturbed state of the district, directed
me to have the troops in readiness to assist the civil power in case
of necessity, at the time of the meeting proposed for this day. The
magistrates were in attendance near St. Peter's Church: and Mr. Trafford,
a Justice of the Peace for the counties of Chester and Lancaster,
was appointed to remain with the cavalry.
Early in the afternoon, the civil power finding it necessary that
the troops should act in aid of them, it was deemed expedient that
the cavalry should advance; and a warrant was executed, preceded by
the civil authority under which two persons Hunt and Johnson, named
therein were arrested; as were also two persons named Saxton and Sykes
who were active, as I am told on the hustings. This service was performed
with the assistance of the cavalry.
The infantry was in readiness, but I was determined not to bring them
into contact with the people, unless compelled to do so by urgent
necessity; not a shot therefore has been fired by the populace against
the troops. I have, however, great regret in stating that some of
the unfortunate people who attended this meeting have suffered from
sabre wounds, and many from the pressure of the crowd. One of the
Manchester Yeomanry, if not dead, lies without hope of recovery; it
is understood he was struck with a stone. One of the special constables
has been killed.
The Manchester Yeomanry, under Major Trafford, and the Cheshire Yeomanry
under Lieutenant-Colonel Townsend, who had come on a very short notice
from the county magistrates (many of them from a great distance) were
most active and efficient in discharge of their duty. The committee,
now sitting, consider it necessary to keep all the troops ready, though
every means will be adopted to prevent the necessity of their acting.
(3)
Lieutenant Jolliffe was interviewed by
George Pellew about the Peterloo Massacre. Jolliffe's account appeared
in George Pellew's book Viscount Sidmouth in 1847. Jolliffe
explained what happened after the meeting had been broken up.
Carriages were brought to convey
the wounded to the Manchester Infirmary. For some time the town was
patrolled by the troops, the streets being nearly empty, and the shops
for the most part closed. We then returned to the barracks.
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