Napoleonic wars had remarkable impact on Scotland’s home front

Jim Millar recounts tales of French prisoners of war in Scotland

The looming 200th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s death has led to calls for more recognition of the French military leader’s impact on Scotland’s “home front”.

Scottish regiments such as The Black Watch and Gordon Highlanders played a pivotal role in the Napoleonic wars and in the ultimate defeat of the man whose imperial ambitions led to his coronation as emperor in 1804.

As the French forces swept across Europe and beyond, battles on land and sea resulted in a rapid growth in the number of prisoners of war, captured enemy vessels and privateers, all of which became an issue for the British government.

In Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was one of a number of locations used to hold prisoners, while the formidable, purpose-built jail in Perth was completed in 1812.

There, prisoners made items from bone, straw and wood which were sold to local people.

Scottish ports including Arbroath, Aberdeen, Dundee and Peterhead also played host to a number of captured enemy vessels.

Prisoners north of the border appear to have received better treatment than their counterparts in England but some still sought to escape.

Plans were hatched, including tunnel-digging and even an elaborate scheme involving hot air balloons.

In 1813, a number of French prisoners who had escaped from Perth got to within a mile of Arbroath before being recaptured.

Another, who appeared to have broken free from a number of prisons with Houdini-like tenacity, eventually ended up in Montrose.

He fled again, after unscrewing the locks of three doors, having been given tools by a local woman.

Ahead of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death in 2021, Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP and historical novelist Murdo Fraser is calling for greater awareness of the area’s role in the Napoleonic era.

He said: “Bonaparte continues to fascinate many, but too often the focus is on the high-level international events and battles.

“I think we have an opportunity to examine the impact of the war at home and how people interacted with the prisoners of war.

“It’s an area of history we should not lose sight of.”

Around 7,000 French Napoleonic prisoners-of-war were held at Perth Prison between 1810 and 1812.

Records state that French officers were often “paroled” into the city and would stay with local families.”

All of the French prisoners were repatriated after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and thousands of Perth people turned out to wave them off.

“I think we have an opportunity to examine the impact of the war at home and how people interacted with the prisoners of war.

French artist’s heroic oil painting of “The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812”.

Perth prison was purpose-built to house French prisoners of war.